第 18 节
作者:散发弄舟      更新:2024-01-06 10:43      字数:9322
  were already brightening their myriad of brown twigs。 The shrubs; the
  birches; the willows; the poplars were showing their first diaphanous
  and tender foliage。 No soul resists these harmonies。 Love explained
  Nature as it had already explained society to Marie's heart。
  〃I wish you have never loved any one but me;〃 she said。
  〃Your wish is realized;〃 replied Raoul。 〃We have awakened in each
  other the only true love。〃
  He spoke the truth as he felt it。 Posing before this innocent young
  heart as a pure man; Raoul was caught himself by his own fine
  sentiments。 At first purely speculative and born of vanity; his love
  had now become sincere。 He began by lying; he had ended in speaking
  truth。 In all writers there is ever a sentiment; difficult to stifle;
  which impels them to admire the highest good。 The countess; on her
  part; after her first rush of gratitude and surprise; was charmed to
  have inspired such sacrifices; to have caused him to surmount such
  difficulties。 She was beloved by a man who was worthy of her! Raoul
  was totally ignorant to what his imaginary grandeur bound him。 Women
  will not suffer their idol to step down from his pedestal。 They do not
  forgive the slightest pettiness in a god。 Marie was far from knowing
  the solution to the riddle given by Raoul to his friends at Very's。
  The struggle of this writer; risen from the lower classes; had cost
  him the ten first years of his youth; and now in the days of his
  success he longed to be loved by one of the queens of the great world。
  Vanity; without which; as Champfort says; love would be but a feeble
  thing; sustained his passion and increased it day by day。
  〃Can you swear to me;〃 said Marie; 〃that you belong and will never
  belong to any other woman?〃
  〃There is neither time in my life nor place in my heart for any other
  woman;〃 replied Raoul; not thinking that he told a lie; so little did
  he value Florine。
  〃I believe you;〃 she said。
  When they reached the alley where their carriages were waiting; Marie
  dropped Raoul's arm; and the young man assumed a respectful and
  distant attitude as if he had just met her; he accompanied her; with
  his hat off; to her carriage; then he followed her by the Avenue
  Charles X。; breathing in; with satisfaction; the very dust her caleche
  raised。
  In spite of Marie's high renunciations; Raoul continued to follow her
  everywhere; he adored the air of mingled pleasure and displeasure with
  which she scolded him for wasting his precious time。 She took
  direction of his labors; she gave him formal orders on the employment
  of his time; she stayed at home to deprive him of every pretext for
  dissipation。 Every morning she read his paper; and became the herald
  of his staff of editors; of Etienne Lousteau the feuilletonist; whom
  she thought delightful; of Felicien Vernou; of Claude Vignon;in
  short; of the whole staff。 She advised Raoul to do justice to de
  Marsay when he died; and she read with deep emotion the noble eulogy
  which Raoul published upon the dead minister while blaming his
  Machiavelianism and his hatred for the masses。 She was present; of
  course; at the Gymnase on the occasion of the first representation of
  the play upon the proceeds of which Nathan relied to support his
  enterprise; and was completely duped by the purchased applause。
  〃You did not bid farewell to the Italian opera;〃 said Lady Dudley; to
  whose house she went after the performance。
  〃No; I went to the Gymnase。 They gave a first representation。〃
  〃I can't endure vaudevilles。 I am like Louis XIV。 about Teniers;〃 said
  Lady Dudley。
  〃For my part;〃 said Madame d'Espard; 〃I think actors have greatly
  improved。 Vaudevilles in the present day are really charming comedies;
  full of wit; requiring great talent; they amuse me very much。〃
  〃The actors are excellent; too;〃 said Marie。 〃Those at the Gymnase
  played very well to…night; the piece pleased them; the dialogue was
  witty and keen。〃
  〃Like those of Beaumarchais;〃 said Lady Dudley。
  〃Monsieur Nathan is not Moliere as yet; but〃 said Madame d'Espard;
  looking at the countess。
  〃He makes vaudevilles;〃 said Madame Charles de Vandenesse。
  〃And unmakes ministries;〃 added Madame de Manerville。
  The countess was silent; she wanted to answer with a sharp repartee;
  her heart was bounding with anger; but she could find nothing better
  to say than;
  〃He will make them; perhaps。〃
  All the women looked at each other with mysterious significance。 When
  Marie de Vandenesse departed Moina de Saint…Heren exclaimed:
  〃She adores him。〃
  〃And she makes no secret of it;〃 said Madame d'Espard。
  CHAPTER VII
  SUICIDE
  In the month of May Vandenesse took his wife; as usual; to their
  country…seat; where she was consoled by the passionate letters she
  received from Raoul; to whom she wrote every day。
  Marie's absence might have saved Raoul from the gulf into which he was
  falling; if Florine had been near him; but; unfortunately; he was
  alone in the midst of friends who had become his enemies from the
  moment that he showed his intention of ruling them。 His staff of
  writers hated him 〃pro tem。;〃 ready to hold out a hand to him and
  console him in case of a fall; ready to adore him in case of success。
  So goes the world of literature。 No one is really liked but an
  inferior。 Every man's hand is against him who is likely to rise。 This
  wide…spread envy doubles the chances of common minds who excite
  neither envy nor suspicion; who make their way like moles; and; fools
  though they be; find themselves gazetted in the 〃Moniteur;〃 for three
  or four places; while men of talent are still struggling at the door
  to keep each other out。
  The underhand enmity of these pretended friends; which Florine would
  have scented with the innate faculty of a courtesan to get at truth
  amid a thousand misleading circumstances; was by no means Raoul's
  greatest danger。 His partners; Massol the lawyer; and du Tillet the
  banker; had intended from the first to harness his ardor to the
  chariot of their own importance and get rid of him as soon as he was
  out of condition to feed the paper; or else to deprive him of his
  power; arbitrarily; whenever it suited their purpose to take it。 To
  them Nathan represented a certain amount of talent to use up; a
  literary force of the motive power of ten pens to employ。 Massol; one
  of those lawyers who mistake the faculty of endless speech for
  eloquence; who possess the art of boring by diffusiveness; the torment
  of all meetings and assemblies where they belittle everything; and who
  desire to become personages at any cost;Massol no longer wanted the
  place as Keeper of the Seals; he had seen some five or six different
  men go through that office in four years; and the robes disgusted him。
  In exchange; his mind was now set on obtaining a chair on the Board of
  Education and a place in the Council of State; the whole adorned with
  the cross of the Legion of honor。 Du Tillet and Nucingen had
  guaranteed the cross to him; and the office of Master of Petitions
  provided he obeyed them blindly。
  The better to deceive Raoul; these men allowed him to manage the paper
  without control。 Du Tillet used it only for his stock…gambling; about
  which Nathan understood next to nothing; but he had given; through
  Nucingen; an assurance to Rastignac that the paper would be tacitly
  obliging to the government on the sole condition of supporting his
  candidacy for Monsieur de Nucingen's place as soon as he was nominated
  peer of France。 Raoul was thus being undermined by the banker and the
  lawyer; who saw him with much satisfaction lording it in the
  newspaper; profiting by all advantages; and harvesting the fruits of
  self…love; while Nathan; enchanted; believed them to be; as on the
  occasion of his equestrian wants; the best fellows in the world。 He
  thought he managed them! Men of imagination; to whom hope is the basis
  of existence; never allow themselves to know that the most perilous
  moment in their affairs is that when all seems going well according to
  their wishes。
  This was a period of triumph by which Nathan profited。 He appeared as
  a personage in the world; political and financial。 Du Tillet presented
  him to the Nucingens。 Madame de Nucingen received him cordially; less
  for himself than for Madame de Vandenesse; but when she ventured a few
  words about the countess he thought himself marvellously clever in
  using Florine as a shield; he alluded to his relations with the
  actress in a tone of generous self…conceit。 How could he desert a
  great devotion; for the coquetries of the faubourg Saint…Germain?
  Nathan; manipulated by Nucingen and Rastignac; by du Tillet and
  Blondet; gave his support ostentatiously to the 〃doctrinaires〃 of
  their new and ephemeral cabinet。 But in order to show himself pure of
  all bribery he refused to take advantage of certain profitable
  enterprises which were started by mean