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第29章

history of friedrich ii of prussia v 16-第29章

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ust come home again instantly; job undone; lies not untold; you!' Hirsch; with money in hand; appears not to have wanted for a briskish trade of his own in the Dresden marts。 But this of cutting off his supplies brings him instantly back:〃and at Berlin; DECEMBER 16th; new facts emerge again of a definite nature。

〃WEDNESDAY; 16th DECEMBER; 1750。 'To…day the King with Court and Voltaire come to Berlin for the Carnival;' 'Rodenbeck; i。 209。' to…day also Voltaire; not in Carnival humor; has appointed his Jew to meet him。 In the Royal Palace itself;we hope; well remote from Friedrich's Apartment!this sordid conference; needing one's choicest diplomacy withal; and such exquisite handling of bit and spur; goes on。 And probably at great length。 Of which; as the FINALE; and one clear feature significant to the fancy; here is; for record of what they call 'COMPLETE SETTLEMENT;' which it was far from turning out to be:

       DOCUMENT FOURTH (in Hirsch's hand; First Piece of it)。

 〃'Pour quittance generale promettant de rendre a Mr。 de Voltaire tous billets; ordres et lettres de change a moy donnez jusqu'a ce jour; 16 Decembre; 1750。   〃'Account all settled; I promising to return M。 de Voltaire all Letters; Orders and Bills of Exchange given me to this day; 16th December; 1750。

'Hirsch signs。 But you have forgotten something; Monsieur Hirsch! Whereupon'    et promets de donner a Mr。 de Voltaire dans le jour de demain ou apres au plustard deux cent guatre…vingt frederics d'or au lieu de deux cent quatre…vingt louis d'or; que je lui ai payez; le tout pour quittance generale; ce 16 Decembre; 1750; a berlin   And promise to give M。 de Voltaire; in the course of to…morrow; or the day after to…morrow at latest; 280 FREDERICS D'OR; instead of 280 LOUIS D'OR 'gold FREDERICS the preferabe coin; say experts' which I have now paid him; whereby All will be settled。

'Hirsch again signs; but has again forgotten something; most important thing。 And'

 je lui remettrai surtout les 40;000 livres de billets de change sur paris qu'il mavoit donnez et fiez'  I will especially return him the Bill on Paris for 40;000 livres (1;600 pounds) which he had given and trusted to me;'but has since protested; as is too evident。

'and Hirsch signs for the last time'。〃 'Klein; pp。 258; 260。' Symptomatic; surely; of a haggly settlement; these THREE shots instead of one!〃Voltaire's return is:

 〃'Pour quittance generale de tout compte solde entre nous; tout paye au sieur abraham hersch a berlin; 16 Decembre; 1750。Voltaire'   〃'Account all settled between us; payment of the Sieur Abraham Hirsch in full: Berlin; 16th Deember; 1750。'

'which Second Piece; we perceive; is to lie in Hirsch's hand; to keep; if he find it valuable'。

〃This 'COMPLETE SETTLEMENT;'little less than miraculous to Voltaire and us;one finds; after sifting; to have been the fruit of Voltaire's exquisite skill in treating and tuning his Hirsch (no harshness of rebuke; rather some gleam of hope; of future bargains; help at Court): (Your expenses; compensation for protesting of that Bill on Paris? Tush; cannot we make all that good! In the first place; I will BUY of you these Jewels 'this one discovers to have been the essence of the operation!'; all or the best part of them; which I have here in pawn for Papa's Bill: 650 pounds was it not? Well; suppose I on the instant take 450 pounds worth; or so; of these Jewels (I want a great many jewels); and you to pay me down a 200 or so of gold LOUIS as balance;gold LOUIS; no; we will say FREDERICS rather。 There now; that is settled。 Nothing more between us but settles itself; if we continue friends!' Upon which Hirsch walked home; thankful for the good job in Jewels; wondering only what the Allowance for Expenses and Compensation will be。 And Voltaire steps out; new…burnished; into the Royal Carnival splendors; with a load rolled from his mind。

〃This COMPLETE SETTLEMENT; meanwhile; rests evidently on two legs; both of which are hollow。 'What will the handsome Compensation be; I wonder?' thinks Hirsch;and is horror…struck to find shortly; that Voltaire considers 60 thalers (about 9 pounds) will be the fair sum! 'More than ten times that!' is Hirsch's privately fixed idea。 On the other hand; Voltaire has been asking himself; 'My 450 pounds worth of Jewels; were they justly valued; though?' Jew Ephraim (exaggerative and an enemy to this Hirsch House) answers; 'Justly? I would give from 300 pounds to 250 pounds for them!'So that the legs both crumbling to powder; Complete Settlement crashes down into chaos: and there ensues;〃But we must endeavor to be briefer!

There ensues; for about a week following; such an inextricable scramble between the Sieur Hirsch and M。 de Voltaire as;as no reader; not himself in the Jew…Bill line; or paid for understanding it; could consent to have explained to him。 Voltaire; by way of mending the bad jewel…bargain; will buy of Hirsch 200 pounds worth more jewels; gets the new 200 pounds worth in hand; cannot quite settle what articles will suit: 〃This; think you? That; think you?〃 And intricately shuffles them about; to Hirsch and back。 Hirsch; singular to notice; holds fast by that Protested Paris Bill; on frivolous pretexts; always forgets to bring that: 〃May have its uses; that; in a Court of Justice yet!〃 Meetings there are; almost daily; in the Voltaire Palace…Apartment; DECEMBER 19th and DECEMBER 24th) there are Two DOCUMENTS (which we must spare the reader; though he will hear of them again; as highly notable; especially of one of them; as notable in the extreme!) indicating the abstrusest jewel…bargainings; scramblings; re…bargainings。

〃My Jewels are truly valued!〃 asseverates Hirsch always: 〃Ephraim is my enemy; ask Herr Reklam; chief Jeweller in Berlin; an impartial man!〃 The meetings are occasionally of stormy character; Voltaire's patience nearly out: 〃But did n't I return you that Topaz Ring; value 75 pounds? And you have NOT deducted it; you!〃 〃One day; Picard and he pulled a Ring 'doubtless this Topaz' off my finger;〃 says the pathetic Hirsch; 〃and violently shoved me out of the room; slamming their door;〃and sent me home; along the corridors; in a very scurvy humor! Thus; under a skin of second settlement; there are two galvanic elements; getting ever more galvanic; which no skin of settlement can prevent exploding before long。

Explosion there accordingly was; most sad and dismal; which rang through all the Court circles of Berlin; and; like a sound of hooting and of weeping mixed; is audible over seas to this day。 But let not the reader insist on tracing the course of it henceforth。 Klein; though faithful and exact; is not a Pitaval; and we find in him errors of the press。 The acutest Actuary might spend weeks over these distracted Money…accounts; and inconsistent Lists of Jewels bought and not bought; and would be unreadable if successful。 Let us say; The business catches fire at this point; the Voltaire…Hirsch theatre is as if blown up into mere whirlwinds of igneous rum and smoky darkness。 Henceforth all plunges into Lawsuit; into chaos of conflicting lies;undecipherable; not worth deciphering。 Let us give what few glimpses of the thing are clearly discernible at their successive dates; and leave the rest to picture itself in the reader's fancy。

It appears; that Meeting of DECEMBER 24th; above alluded to; was followed by another on Christmas…day; which proved the final one。 Final total explosion took place at this new meeting;which; we find farther; was at Chasot's Lodging (the CHAPEAU of Hanbury); who is now in Town; like all the world; for Carnival。 Hirsch does not directly venture on naming Chasot: but by implication; by glimmers of evidence elsewhere; one sufficiently discovers that it is he: Lieutenant…Colonel; King's Friend; a man glorious; especially ever since Hohenfriedberg; and that haul of the 〃sixty…seven standards〃 all at once。 In the way of Arbitration; Voltaire thinks Chasot might do something。 In regard to those 450 pounds worth of bought Jewels; there is not such a judge in the world! Hirsch says: 〃Next morning 'December 25th; morrow after that jumbly Account; with probable slamming of the do

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