the vicar of tours-第4章
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by carrying my candlestick upstairs; she meant to make me understand
it。 What does it all mean?〃 he said aloud; roused by the gravity of
these circumstances; and rising as he spoke to take off his damp
clothes; get into his dressing…gown; and do up his head for the night。
Then he returned from the bed to the fireplace; gesticulating; and
launching forth in various tones the following sentences; all of which
ended in a high falsetto key; like notes of interjection:
〃What the deuce have I done to her? Why is she angry with me? Marianne
did NOT forget my fire! Mademoiselle told her not to light it! I must
be a child if I can't see; from the tone and manner she has been
taking to me; that I've done something to displease her。 Nothing like
it ever happened to Chapeloud! I can't live in the midst of such
torments asAt my age〃
He went to bed hoping that the morrow might enlighten him on the
causes of the dislike which threatened to destroy forever the
happiness he had now enjoyed two years after wishing for it so long。
Alas! the secret reasons for the inimical feelings Mademoiselle Gamard
bore to the luckless abbe were fated to remain eternally unknown to
him;not that they were difficult to fathom; but simply because he
lacked the good faith and candor by which great souls and scoundrels
look within and judge themselves。 A man of genius or a trickster says
to himself; 〃I did wrong。〃 Self…interest and native talent are the
only infallible and lucid guides。 Now the Abbe Birotteau; whose
goodness amounted to stupidity; whose knowledge was only; as it were;
plastered on him by dint of study; who had no experience whatever of
the world and its ways; who lived between the mass and the
confessional; chiefly occupied in dealing the most trivial matters of
conscience in his capacity of confessor to all the schools in town and
to a few noble souls who rightly appreciated him;the Abbe Birotteau
must be regarded as a great child; to whom most of the practices of
social life were utterly unknown。 And yet; the natural selfishness of
all human beings; reinforced by the selfishness peculiar to the
priesthood and that of the narrow life of the provinces had
insensibly; and unknown to himself; developed within him。 If any one
had felt enough interest in the good man to probe his spirit and prove
to him that in the numerous petty details of his life and in the
minute duties of his daily existence he was essentially lacking in the
self…sacrifice he professed; he would have punished and mortified
himself in good faith。 But those whom we offend by such unconscious
selfishness pay little heed to our real innocence; what they want is
vengeance; and they take it。 Thus it happened that Birotteau; weak
brother that he was; was made to undergo the decrees of that great
distributive Justice which goes about compelling the world to execute
its judgments;called by ninnies 〃the misfortunes of life。〃
There was this difference between the late Chapeloud and the vicar;
one was a shrewd and clever egoist; the other a simple…minded and
clumsy one。 When the canon went to board with Mademoiselle Gamard he
knew exactly how to judge of his landlady's character。 The
confessional had taught him to understand the bitterness that the
sense of being kept outside the social pale puts into the heart of an
old maid; he therefore calculated his own treatment of Mademoiselle
Gamard very wisely。 She was then about thirty…eight years old; and
still retained a few pretensions; which; in well…behaved persons of
her condition; change; rather later; into strong personal self…esteem。
The canon saw plainly that to live comfortably with his landlady he
must pay her invariably the same attentions and be more infallible
than the pope himself。 To compass this result; he allowed no points of
contact between himself and her except those that politeness demanded;
and those which necessarily exist between two persons living under the
same roof。 Thus; though he and the Abbe Troubert took their regular
three meals a day; he avoided the family breakfast by inducing
Mademoiselle Gamard to send his coffee to his own room。 He also
avoided the annoyance of supper by taking tea in the houses of friends
with whom he spent his evenings。 In this way he seldom saw his
landlady except at dinner; but he always came down to that meal a few
minutes in advance of the hour。 During this visit of courtesy; as it
may be called; he talked to her; for the twelve years he had lived
under her roof; on nearly the same topics; receiving from her the same
answers。 How she had slept; her breakfast; the trivial domestic
events; her looks; her health; the weather; the time the church
services had lasted; the incidents of the mass; the health of such or
such a priest;these were the subjects of their daily conversation。
During dinner he invariably paid her certain indirect compliments; the
fish had an excellent flavor; the seasoning of a sauce was delicious;
Mademoiselle Gamard's capacities and virtues as mistress of a
household were great。 He was sure of flattering the old maid's vanity
by praising the skill with which she made or prepared her preserves
and pickles and pates and other gastronomical inventions。 To cap all;
the wily canon never left his landlady's yellow salon after dinner
without remarking that there was no house in Tours where he could get
such good coffee as that he had just imbibed。
Thanks to this thorough understanding of Mademoiselle Gamard's
character; and to the science of existence which he had put in
practice for the last twelve years; no matter of discussion on the
internal arrangements of the household had ever come up between them。
The Abbe Chapeloud had taken note of the spinster's angles;
asperities; and crabbedness; and had so arranged his avoidance of her
that he obtained without the least difficulty all the concessions that
were necessary to the happiness and tranquility of his life。 The
result was that Mademoiselle Gamard frequently remarked to her friends
and acquaintances that the Abbe Chapeloud was a very amiable man;
extremely easy to live with; and a fine mind。
As to her other lodger; the Abbe Troubert; she said absolutely nothing
about him。 Completely involved in the round of her life; like a
satellite in the orbit of a planet; Troubert was to her a sort of
intermediary creature between the individuals of the human species and
those of the canine species; he was classed in her heart next; but
directly before; the place intended for friends but now occupied by a
fat and wheezy pug which she tenderly loved。 She ruled Troubert
completely; and the intermingling of their interests was so obvious
that many persons of her social sphere believed that the Abbe Troubert
had designs on the old maid's property; and was binding her to him
unawares with infinite patience; and really directing her while he
seemed to be obeying without ever letting her percieve in him the
slightest wish on his part to govern her。
When the Abbe Chapeloud died; the old maid; who desired a lodger with
quiet ways; naturally thought of the vicar。 Before the canon's will
was made known she had meditated offering his rooms to the Abbe
Troubert; who was not very comfortable on the ground…floor。 But when
the Abbe Birotteau; on receiving his legacy; came to settle in writing
the terms of his board she saw he was so in love with the apartment;
for which he might now admit his long cherished desires; that she
dared not propose the exchange; and accordingly sacrificed her
sentiments of friendship to the demands of self…interest。 But in order
to console her beloved canon; Mademoiselle took up the large white
Chateau…Renaud bricks that made the floors of his apartment and
replaced them by wooden floors laid in 〃point de Hongrie。〃 She also
rebuilt a smoky chimney。
For twelve years the Abbe Birotteau had seen his friend Chapeloud in
that house without ever giving a tho