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第86章

sons of the soil-第86章

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a turn of the road a man armed with a gun came from behind a bush。



〃General;〃 he said; 〃this is the third time I have had you at the end

of my barrel; and the third time that I give you your life。〃



〃Why do you want to kill me; Bonnebault?〃 said the general; without

showing the least emotion。



〃Faith; if I don't; somebody else will; but I; you see; I like the men

who served the Emperor; and I can't make up my mind to shoot you like

a partridge。 Don't question me; for I'll tell you nothing; but you've

got enemies; powerful enemies; cleverer than you; and they'll end by

crushing you。 I am to have a thousand crowns if I kill you; and then I

can marry Marie Tonsard。 Well; give me enough to buy a few acres of

land and a bit of a cottage; and I'll keep on saying; as I have done;

that I've found no chances。 That will give you time to sell your

property and get away; but make haste。 I'm an honest lad still; scamp

as I am; but another fellow won't spare you。〃



〃If I give you what you ask; will you tell me who offered you those

three thousand francs?〃 said the general。



〃I don't know myself; and the person who is urging me to do the thing

is some one I love too well to tell of。 Besides; even if you did know

it was Marie Tonsard; that wouldn't help you; Marie Tonsard would be

as silent as that wall; and I should deny every word I've said。〃



〃Come and see me to…morrow;〃 said the general。



〃Enough;〃 replied Bonnebault; 〃and if they begin to say I'm too

dilatory; I'll let you know in time。〃



A week after that singular conversation the whole arrondissement;

indeed the whole department; was covered with posters; advertising the

sale of Les Aigues at the office of Maitre Corbineau; the notary of

Soulanges。 All the lots were knocked down to Rigou; and the price paid

amounted to two millions five hundred thousand francs。 The next day

Rigou had the names changed; Monsieur Gaubertin took the woods; Rigou

and Soudry the vineyards and the farms。 The chateau and the park were

sold over again in small lots among the sons of the soil; the

peasantry;excepting the pavilion; its dependencies; and fifty

surrounding acres; which Monsieur Gaubertin retained as a gift to his

poetic and sentimental spouse。



*



Many years after these events; during the year 1837; one of the most

remarkable political writers of the day; Emile Blondet; reached the

last stages of a poverty which he had so far hidden beneath an outward

appearance of ease and elegance。 He was thinking of taking some

desperate step; realizing; as he did; that his writings; his mind; his

knowledge; his ability for the direction of affairs; had made him

nothing better than a mere functionary; mechanically serving the ends

of others; seeing that every avenue was closed to him and all places

taken; feeling that he had reached middle…life without fame and

without fortune; that fools and middle…class men of no training had

taken the places of the courtiers and incapables of the Restoration;

and that the government was reconstituted such as it was before 1830。

One evening; when he had come very near committing suicide (a folly he

had so often laughed at); while his mind travelled back over his

miserable existence calumniated and worn down with toil far more than

with the dissipations charged against him; the noble and beautiful

face of a woman rose before his eyes; like a statue rising pure and

unbroken amid the saddest ruins。 Just then the porter brought him a

letter sealed with black from the Comtesse de Montcornet; telling him

of the death of her husband; who had again taken service in the army

and commanded a division。 The count had left her his property; and she

had no children。 The letter; though dignified; showed Blondet very

plainly that the woman of forty whom he had loved in his youth offered

him a friendly hand and a large fortune。



A few days ago the marriage of the Comtesse de Montcornet with

Monsieur Blondet; appointed prefect in one of the departments; was

celebrated in Paris。 On their way to take possession of the

prefecture; they followed the road which led past what had formerly

been Les Aigues。 They stopped the carriage near the spot where the two

pavilions had once stood; wishing to see the places so full of tender

memories for each。 The country was no longer recognizable。 The

mysterious woods; the park avenues; all were cleared away; the

landscape looked like a tailor's pattern…card。 The sons of the soil

had taken possession of the earth as victors and conquerors。 It was

cut up into a thousand little lots; and the population had tripled

between Conches and Blangy。 The levelling and cultivation of the noble

park; once so carefully tended; so delightful in its beauty; threw

into isolated relief the pavilion of the Rendezvous; now the Villa

Buen…Retiro of Madame Isaure Gaubertin; it was the only building left

standing; and it commanded the whole landscape; or as we might better

call it; the stretch of cornfields which now constituted the

landscape。 The building seemed magnified into a chateau; so miserable

were the little houses which the peasants had built around it。



〃This is progress!〃 cried Emile。 〃It is a page out of Jean…Jacques'

'Social Compact'! and II am harnessed to the social machine that

works it! Good God! what will the kings be soon? More than that; what

will the nations themselves be fifty years hence under this state of

things?〃



〃But you love me; you are beside me。 I think the present delightful。

What do I care for such a distant future?〃 said his wife。



〃Oh yes! by your side; hurrah for the present!〃 cried the lover;

gayly; 〃and the devil take the future。〃



Then he signed to the coachman; and as the horses sprang forward along

the road; the wedded pair returned to the enjoyment of their

honeymoon。



1845。











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