old man goriot

Chapter 12 Civilian Apartments (11)
"Alas! my dear neighbour, I am the son and brother of the family, as you are the father. You have reason to fear Countess Anastasia, who has fallen into the hands of Maxime de Tray, I will ruin her later."

Old Man Goriot muttered and withdrew, but Eugene couldn't hear what he said.

The next day, Rastignac went to the post office to deliver the letter.He hesitated until the last moment, but finally threw the letter into the mailbox and said, "I will succeed!" Most of them save lives.

A few days later, Eugene went to Madame de Restaud's house and was turned away.He went three times, and three times blocked the driver, although he always came to the door when Count Maxime de Tray was away.The Viscountess expected it well.College students no longer study hard, go to class just for roll call, and then run away.He has the idea of ​​most college students, and only works hard when the exam comes; he combines the second and third year courses together, preparing to read his law seriously at the last moment.That would give him fifteen months of leisure to cruise the Parisian seas, chase women, or make fortunes.During that week he saw Madame de Beauseant twice, both times after the arrival of the Marquis de Ajuda's carriage.This famous woman, the most poetic figure in the district of Saint-Germain, enjoyed a few more days and put on hold the marriage between Mademoiselle de Rochefield and the Marquis de Arjuda-Pinto.But Mrs. de Beauseant, who was afraid of losing her happiness, had been in a particularly enthusiastic mood these days, which may hastened the disaster.The Marquis de Ajuda, in collusion with the Roshfields, had long considered the quarrel and peace to be a good thing: I hope that Mrs. de Beausian will be mentally prepared for this marriage, and in the end she will be willing to pay for the man's life. Prospects sacrifice daily meetings.Therefore, although Mr. De Ajuda swore to each other every day, he was really acting, and the Viscountess was willing to be deceived by him. "She would rather roll down the stairs than jump solemnly from the window," said Madame de Langeais, her closest friend.These last gleams, however, were long enough to enable the Vicomtesse to remain in Paris to assist her young cousin, whose concern was almost superstitious, and which she believed to be rewarding.Eugene was very loyal and caring to her, and it was just when the woman couldn't see the eyes expressing pity and sincere comfort.A man who speaks softly to a woman at this time must have ulterior motives.

Rastignac, wanting to get the whole story right before he approached the Nucingens' house, wanted to know about Old Man Goriot's early life; some reliable information he gathered can be summarized as follows.

Before the Great Revolution, Jean-Joachim Goriot was an ordinary noodle maker, skilled, frugal, and quite courageous. When the first uprising broke out in [-], his owner occasionally suffered disasters, and he sold his shop; Opened on Xi'an Street, near the wheat market.He had great foresight, accepted the position of community director, and allowed his business to be looked after by people of extraordinary power during those dangerous times.This kind of intelligence is the root of his fortune.His fortune began in times of real or fake famine, when food prices in Paris were astonishingly high.Ordinary people are working hard in front of the bakery, and some people are just as peaceful as ever, buying spaghetti from the grocer.During that year, Citizen Goriot had amassed capital, and later set up a business, like a man with a lot of money, with the upper hand in everything.His experience is the experience of all finite people.His mediocrity saved him from disaster.Moreover, his wealth was not revealed until the era when money was no longer dangerous, so it did not arouse the envy of others.The trade in grain seemed to have exhausted his wits.As long as it involves wheat, flour, and grains, identifying the source of goods, paying attention to storage methods, estimating market prices, predicting whether the harvest will be good or bad, buying grain at low prices, and purchasing from Sicily and Ukraine, Goriot can be said to be unmatched.

Watching him manage business, explain the laws and regulations of grain import and export, study the principles of legislation, and grasp the defects of laws and regulations, some people will think that he is quite capable as a minister of state.He is patient and capable in handling affairs, has courage and perseverance, moves quickly, looks like an eagle, preempts everything, anticipates everything, knows everything, hides everything tightly, pays attention to strategy like a diplomat, and marches forward like a sergeant.But as soon as he left his profession, as soon as he left his dark, shabby shop, and stood at the door with his shoulder to the door frame at leisure, he became a dull and vulgar worker again, unable to understand sensible words and deaf to all spiritual pleasures. He is indifferent, and would doze off in the theater; he is a Dollywood[28] figure in Paris, who can only make a fool of himself.This kind of people is almost poured out of the same mold.You will find that almost all of them have noble feelings at heart.The noodle merchant's heart is occupied by only two emotions, sucked dry, as if the cleverness in his mind was exhausted for the grain business.His wife was the only daughter of a rich peasant in Buri. He praised her with a pious heart and loved her boundlessly.Goriot admired her because she was thin and strong, amorous and beautiful, in sharp contrast to himself.If it is said that there is a kind of emotion in a man's heart, isn't it the pride of being able to protect the weak at any time?Pride, together with love, which is really the passionate gratitude of sincere people to those who make them happy, makes possible an intelligible number of queer mental phenomena.After seven years of happy and harmonious life, Goriot's wife died; this was Goriot's misfortune, for at that time she was beginning to have some extra-emotional influence on him.Maybe she will train this dull person and teach him some things in the world and life.In this context, fatherly love develops to an irrational level in Goriot's heart.When his beloved wife died, he transferred all his love to his two daughters; at first they fully satisfied all his affections.Some businessmen and manor owners want to marry their daughters to him wholeheartedly, no matter how favorable the conditions are, he is unwilling to marry again.His father-in-law, the only man he respected, thought he knew what had happened, and said that Goriot had sworn never to do anything wrong to his wife, not even behind her back.The people of the Central Market did not understand this noble infatuation, so they made fun of it and gave Goriot an indecent nickname.One of them made a deal, and when the wine was hot, he was the first to call out this nickname. He was punched on the shoulder by the noodle merchant on the spot, and his head rushed forward until he hit a block on the side of O'Brien Street. on the stone.Without hesitation, Goriot was always consistent with his daughter, fearful and caring, and has been known far and wide. One day, a competitor who was competing with him wanted to take him out of the market so that he could control the market himself, so he said to him, but Fei Na was hit by a carriage.The noodle merchant suddenly turned pale, and hurriedly left the central market.It turned out to be a false alarm, and he was emotionally stimulated and sick for days.Instead of throwing a vicious old punch in the man's shoulder, he drove him out of the market by forcing him out of business at some critical moment.Of course, the education of the two daughters would not be reasonable.Rich with an income of more than 6 francs a year, he can't spend a thousand and two. Goriot's happiness lies in satisfying all kinds of whimsical ideas of his daughters: the best teachers are invited to train them all kinds of talents that a good education should have. ;there is also a young lady as a companion; luckily for the two daughters, the companion woman has brains and good taste.The two daughters have horses to ride and cars to ride, and the pomp and circumstance of life is no different from that of a mistress kept by a rich old lord: as long as he speaks, the father will rush to satisfy the most extravagant desires; In return, he only needs a little affectionate expression.Goriot, who offered his daughter like an angel, must be above him, poor man!He even liked the pain they gave him.When they reach the age of marriage, they can choose a husband as they like, and each of them can have half of his father's property as a dowry.Anastasia was admired by Count de Resto for her beauty, and she also had aristocratic complexes, so she left her father's house and jumped into the upper class.But Finer liked money, and married Nucingen, a German-born banker who was made a Baron of the Holy Reich.Goriot is still his noodle merchant.Soon, his daughter and son-in-law resented seeing him continue to do that business, even though it was his entire life.They begged for five years before he agreed to retire with the money from the shop and the profits of the last few years; he came to live in the Vauguet apartment.Madame Vauquer had estimated that the money would bring him between eight and ten thousand francs a year.He saw that his two daughters were under the pressure of their husbands, not only refused to let him live, but also refused to entertain him at home dignifiedly. In despair, he resolutely moved into this apartment.

The person who bought old man Gao's shop was a man named Miao Lei; the above is all he knows about old man Gao.The speculations that Rastignac had heard from the Duchess de Langeais were thus confirmed.Here ends the prologue to this inexplicable and terrible tragedy of Paris.

(End of this chapter)