the magic skin-第47章
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But; on my word; it cost us a lot of money! And; after all; M。
Porriquet; he said to me at last:
〃 'Jonathan; you will look after me as if I were a baby in long
clothes;' Yes; sir; 'long clothes!' those were his very words。 'You
will think of all my requirements for me。' I am the master; so to
speak; and he is the servant; you understand? The reason of it? Ah; my
word; that is just what nobody on earth knows but himself and God
Almighty。 It is quite inconciliable!〃
〃He is writing a poem!〃 exclaimed the old professor。
〃You think he is writing a poem; sir? It's a very absorbing affair;
then! But; you know; I don't think he is。 He wants to vergetate。 Only
yesterday he was looking at a tulip while he was dressing; and he said
to me:
〃 'There is my own lifeI am vergetating; my poor Jonathan。' Now;
some of them insist that that is monomania。 It is inconciliable!〃
〃All this makes it very clear to me; Jonathan;〃 the professor
answered; with a magisterial solemnity that greatly impressed the old
servant; 〃that your master is absorbed in a great work。 He is deep in
vast meditations; and has no wish to be distracted by the petty
preoccupations of ordinary life。 A man of genius forgets everything
among his intellectual labors。 One day the famous Newton〃
〃Newton?oh; ah! I don't know the name;〃 said Jonathan。
〃Newton; a great geometrician;〃 Porriquet went on; 〃once sat for
twenty…four hours leaning his elbow on the table; when he emerged from
his musings; he was a day out in his reckoning; just as if he had been
sleeping。 I will go to see him; dear lad; I may perhaps be of some use
to him。〃
〃Not for a moment!〃 Jonathan cried。 〃Not though you were King of
FranceI mean the real old one。 You could not go in unless you forced
the doors open and walked over my body。 But I will go and tell him you
are here; M。 Porriquet; and I will put it to him like this; 'Ought he
to come up?' And he will say Yes or No。 I never say; 'Do you wish?' or
'Will you?' or 'Do you want?' Those words are scratched out of the
dictionary。 He let out at me once with a 'Do you want to kill me?' he
was so very angry。〃
Jonathan left the old schoolmaster in the vestibule; signing to him to
come no further; and soon returned with a favorable answer。 He led the
old gentleman through one magnificent room after another; where every
door stood open。 At last Porriquet beheld his pupil at some distance
seated beside the fire。
Raphael was reading the paper。 He sat in an armchair wrapped in a
dressing…gown with some large pattern on it。 The intense melancholy
that preyed upon him could be discerned in his languid posture and
feeble frame; it was depicted on his brow and white face; he looked
like some plant bleached by darkness。 There was a kind of effeminate
grace about him; the fancies peculiar to wealthy invalids were also
noticeable。 His hands were soft and white; like a pretty woman's; he
wore his fair hair; now grown scanty; curled about his temples with a
refinement of vanity。
The Greek cap that he wore was pulled to one side by the weight of its
tassel; too heavy for the light material of which it was made。 He had
let the paper…knife fall at his feet; a malachite blade with gold
mounting; which he had used to cut the leaves of the book。 The amber
mouthpiece of a magnificent Indian hookah lay on his knee; the
enameled coils lay like a serpent in the room; but he had forgotten to
draw out its fresh perfume。 And yet there was a complete contradiction
between the general feebleness of his young frame and the blue eyes;
where all his vitality seemed to dwell; an extraordinary intelligence
seemed to look out from them and to grasp everything at once。
That expression was painful to see。 Some would have read despair in
it; and others some inner conflict terrible as remorse。 It was the
inscrutable glance of helplessness that must perforce consign its
desires to the depths of its own heart; or of a miser enjoying in
imagination all the pleasures that his money could procure for him;
while he declines to lessen his hoard; the look of a bound Prometheus;
of the fallen Napoleon of 1815; when he learned at the Elysee the
strategical blunder that his enemies had made; and asked for twenty…
four hours of command in vain; or rather it was the same look that
Raphael had turned upon the Seine; or upon his last piece of gold at
the gaming…table only a few months ago。
He was submitting his intelligence and his will to the homely common…
sense of an old peasant whom fifty years of domestic service had
scarcely civilized。 He had given up all the rights of life in order to
live; he had despoiled his soul of all the romance that lies in a
wish; and almost rejoiced at thus becoming a sort of automaton。 The
better to struggle with the cruel power that he had challenged; he had
followed Origen's example; and had maimed and chastened his
imagination。
The day after he had seen the diminution of the Magic Skin; at his
sudden accession of wealth; he happened to be at his notary's house。 A
well…known physician had told them quite seriously; at dessert; how a
Swiss attacked by consumption had cured himself。 The man had never
spoken a word for ten years; and had compelled himself to draw six
breaths only; every minute; in the close atmosphere of a cow…house;
adhering all the time to a regimen of exceedingly light diet。 〃I will
be like that man;〃 thought Raphael to himself。 He wanted life at any
price; and so he led the life of a machine in the midst of all the
luxury around him。
The old professor confronted this youthful corpse and shuddered; there
seemed something unnatural about the meagre; enfeebled frame。 In the
Marquis; with his eager eyes and careworn forehead; he could hardly
recognize the fresh…cheeked and rosy pupil with the active limbs; whom
he remembered。 If the worthy classicist; sage critic; and general
preserver of the traditions of correct taste had read Byron; he would
have thought that he had come on a Manfred when he looked to find
Childe Harold。
〃Good day; pere Porriquet;〃 said Raphael; pressing the old
schoolmaster's frozen fingers in his own damp ones; 〃how are you?〃
〃I am very well;〃 replied the other; alarmed by the touch of that
feverish hand。 〃But how about you?〃
〃Oh; I am hoping to keep myself in health。〃
〃You are engaged in some great work; no doubt?〃
〃No;〃 Raphael answered。 〃Exegi monumemtum; pere Porriquet; I have
contributed an important page to science; and have now bidden her
farewell for ever。 I scarcely know where my manuscript is。〃
〃The style is no doubt correct?〃 queried the schoolmaster。 〃You; I
hope; would never have adopted the barbarous language of the new
school; which fancies it has worked such wonders by discovering
Ronsard!〃
〃My work treats of physiology pure and simple。〃
〃Oh; then; there is no more to be said;〃 the schoolmaster answered。
〃Grammar must yield to the exigencies of discovery。 Nevertheless;
young man; a lucid and harmonious stylethe diction of Massillon; of
M。 de Buffon; of the great Racinea classical style; in short; can
never spoil anythingBut; my friend;〃 the schoolmaster interrupted
himself; 〃I was forgetting the object of my visit; which concerns my
own interests。〃
Too late Raphael recalled to mind the verbose eloquence and elegant
circumlocutions which in a long professorial career had grown habitual
to his old tutor; and almost regretted that he had admitted him; but
just as he was about to wish to see him safely outside; he promptly
suppressed his secret desire with a stealthy glance at the Magic Skin。
It hung there before him; fastened down upon some white material;
surrounded by a red line accurately traced about its prophetic
outlines。 Since that fatal carouse; Raphael had stifled every least
whim; and had lived so as not to cause the slightest movement in the
terrible talisman。 The Ma