old man goriot

Chapter 31: Father's Death (3)
Eugene sent Dafina all the way home, but he was thinking of Goriot who had been left behind, and refused to accompany her to eat; he returned to Vauquer's apartment; he saw that old Goriot had risen, and was about to sit down to eat.Bi Anxun had already sat down to observe the face of the noodle vendor.The college student saw that he picked up the bread and smelled it to judge the quality of the flour, and realized that he had no so-called behavioral awareness in this move, so he made a bad gesture.

"Come to me, intern at the Cochamp Hospital," Eugene said.

Bianxun was happy to move, because he could be near the elderly tenant.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Rastignac.

"Unless I'm mistaken, he's finished! There must be something abnormal about him, and I think he's going to have a big stroke at any moment. The lower half of his face is fine, but the lines on the upper half are pulling involuntarily toward his forehead, you see. And the eyes are too Something is wrong, which means that blood has begun to enter the brain. Don’t his eyes seem to be covered with fine dust? I will know it in the morning.”

"Is there any medicine to cure it?"

"No. If there's a way to keep the reaction in the extremities, in the legs, maybe he'll be able to hold off for a while. Tomorrow night the symptoms won't be stable, and the poor man's gone. What's the cause of this sickness, you know." Is it? He must have suffered a severe blow, and his spirit collapsed all at once."

"Yes," said Rastignac, remembering the successive blows to his father's heart by his two daughters.

"At least, Danfina is filial to his father!" Eugene thought to himself.

At the Italian Theater in the evening, Rastignac was careful not to frighten Madame de Nucingen with his direct approach.

"Don't worry," she said after hearing Eugene say a few words, "Father is in good health. But this morning, we stimulated him a little. There is something wrong with our property , do you know how big the disaster is? In the past, people would have died of sorrow; if your love hadn't made me care about these things, I really couldn't live on. Now there is only one worry, and there is only one disaster for me. It's the loss of this love, which gave me a taste of the joys of life. Other than that, I don't think anything else matters. I have no other love in the world. You are my everything. If I say, I feel the happiness of being rich, It was also to please you more. Ashamed to say, my love is more than my filial piety. Why? I don't know. My whole life is in you. My father gave me a heart, and you make it beat You have no right to blame me. As long as you write off the sins I committed, people in the world can talk to me all they want. I don’t care! Do you think I’m an unfilial daughter? Oh, no, How can a good father like us not love. But our unhappy marriage, how can I prevent him from seeing the inevitable consequences? Why didn’t he stop such a marriage in the first place? Shouldn’t he be thinking about us I know, to this day he suffers as much as we do; but what can we do? Go and comfort him! We have nothing to comfort him. Let's swallow it, it hurts him more than our reproaches and complaints. Some things in life, Everything is bitter."

The true feelings were expressed so openly that Eugene was so moved that he could not utter a word.Although Parisian women are often hypocritical, vain, self-conscious, frivolous and cruel, but once they really fall in love with someone, they will definitely sacrifice more emotions for love than other women, and they can get rid of all pettiness and vulgarity, and become great and noble .Moreover, when there was a special feeling that separated women from the love of flesh and blood, and after a distance was established, Eugene was also secretly surprised by the depth and pertinence she expressed when she judged that natural feeling.Madame de Nucingen felt displeased at Eugene's silence.

"What are you thinking?" she asked Eugene.

"I'm still thinking about what you said to me. I always thought you loved me less than I loved you."

She smiled, trying to restrain her joy so that the conversation would not be out of line.Young and true love had some touching words of its own, which she had never heard before.After listening to a few more words, she couldn't hold herself anymore.

"Eugene," she said, turning around, "don't you know what happened? Tomorrow all the dignitaries in Paris will be at Madame de Beauseant's. The Marquis de Dar has made an appointment, and nothing will leak out; the king will approve their marriage tomorrow, and your poor cousin is still in the dark. She must entertain everyone, and the Marquis will not attend the ball. Let everyone talk about it."

"Everyone is making fun of a despicable act, but they still want to get involved! Don't you know that Mrs. de Beausian will die of anger because of it?"

"No," said Dafinard, smiling, "you don't know this kind of woman. All the greats of Paris go to her house, and I will too! It's thanks to you!"

"However," said Rastignac, "there are so many rumors about Paris. Could it be some speculation?"

"We'll find out tomorrow."

Eugene did not return to Vauguet's apartment.He could not make up his mind not to enjoy his new abode.The day before he had to leave Danfina at one o'clock in the middle of the night, and today Danfina left him at around two in the morning to go home.The next day he slept late, waiting for Madame de Nucingen to join him for dinner at noon.Young people are greedy for their own happiness, and Eugene almost forgot old Goriot.All these exquisite and incomparable things belonged to him, and using them one by one made him amused for a long time.In the presence of Madame de Nucingen everything took on a new value.At about four o'clock, the lovers remembered old man Gao, and thought that he wanted to move here to enjoy happiness.Eugene suggested that if the old man is sick, he should take it quickly.So he left Danfina and went to the apartment of Vogue.Old Man Goriot and Bianchon were not at the dinner table.

"Oh," told the painter, "Old Man Goriot is lying down; Bianchon is upstairs watching him. The old man saw one of his daughters, the Countess de Restorama; It's aggravating. We're about to lose a beautiful ornament."

Rastignac rushed up the stairs.

"Hi, Monsieur Eugene!"

"Monsieur Eugene! Madame is calling for you," cried Sylvie.

"Sir," the widow said to him, "Mr. Goriot and you should have moved out on the 15th of February. Three days have passed since the 15th, and today is the 18th; you two have to pay me a fee." Monthly money. If you are willing to guarantee for old man Gao, you just need to say a word. "

"What? You don't trust people?"

"Believe me! If the old man dies out of his senses, his two daughters won't give me a penny. All his rags are worth ten francs. This morning he took all the rest of the tableware." Gone, I don't know why. He made him look like a young man. God forgive me, I thought he was rejuvenated with rouge."

"It's all on me," said Eugene, trembling with panic, fearing that something might happen.

He went upstairs to old man Goriot's room.The old man was lying on the bed, and Bi Anxun stood beside him.

"Hello, old man." Eugene greeted.

The old man smiled at him, turned his dull eyes towards him, and said in response, "How is she?"

"Very well. How about you?"

"not bad."

"Don't let him bother you." Bianchon urged Eugene to a corner of the room.

"What's the matter?" Rastignac asked.

"It can only be saved by a miracle. The cerebral hemorrhage has already happened, and he is being given mustard puree; fortunately, he is sensitive to the medicine, and the medicine is working."

"Can you move him somewhere?"

"No. You have to stay here without any physical or emotional stimulation..."

"Mine is like Anxon," said Eugene. "Let us take care of him."

"I have already invited the chief physician of our hospital to come."

"How about it?"

"It won't be until tomorrow night. He promised me he'd be here after work. Unfortunately the devil had a bit of a mess this morning and he won't say why. He's as stubborn as a mule. I talk to him and he pretends He was deaf and couldn't hear. He kept sleeping and ignored me. He hummed when he opened his eyes. He went out in the morning and ran around the city. He didn't know where he was. He took everything of value and made some Damn deal, exhausting! He's got a daughter here."

"Is it the countess?" asked Eugene. "Is it the one tall, dark-haired, with good-looking eyes, good-looking feet, and a limp figure?"

"Yes."

"Leave me alone with him for a while," said Rastignac, "and I will make him speak, and he will tell me everything."

"I'll go to supper now. But, try not to get him too excited; we've got a little hope."

"do not worry."

"Tomorrow they must have a good time," old man Goriot said to Eugene when they were alone in the room, "they are going to a grand ball."

"What have you done this morning, old man, to make you so miserable to-night that you must lie in bed?"

"Nothing."

"Has Anastasia been here?" asked Rastignac.

"Yes." Old Man Gao replied.

"Well, don't hide anything from me. She asked you again what you want?"

"Oh!" he said with all his strength, "she's miserable enough, come on, boy! Since the diamond incident, Nasi has lost a penny. She ordered a dress for this ball." A brocade dress made of gold and silver threads must have looked like jewels on her. Unexpectedly, the seamstress was really worthless and refused to pay on credit. As a result, the maid paid a thousand francs as a deposit for the dress. Poor Naxi, what a fate! My heart is broken. But the maid saw that Restaut no longer believed in Naxi, and she was afraid that the money she had advanced would not be available, so she conspired with the tailor and waited until the thousand francs were paid off before she would send the clothes. The dance is tomorrow, the skirt It's ready. Nancy is desperate. She wants to borrow my cutlery to pawn. Her husband insists on her going to this ball, so that all Paris can see those diamonds. It is rumored that she sold them. Will she be right? The devil said something like this: 'I owe a thousand francs, will you pay it back?' Certainly not. I understand. Her sister Danfina must have gone in full dress. Of course Anastasia should not be among her sisters. Excuse me. And she weeps like tears, poor daughter! I was so ashamed yesterday that I couldn't come up with twelve thousand francs, and I wanted to spend the rest of my wretched life to make up for it. You see Right? I had the strength to get it all over, and it broke my heart that I couldn't afford the money. Hmph! I didn't hesitate, I tidied myself up, and picked myself up again; The buckle was sold for six hundred francs, and I pledged four hundred francs to the old Gobseck for a year's annuity. That's all! I'll eat bread from now on! When I was young I got by, and I can still do it now. At least, my Nasi is going to have a good night; and pretty. This one thousand franc note is under my pillow. Thinking that there is something to make poor Naxi happy under my head, I It's warm in my heart. She can drive out the nasty Victova. The servants can't trust her boss, who has seen it! I'll be fine tomorrow, and Naxi will come at ten o'clock. I don't want to They think I'm sick, so they won't go to the ball, and they'll come to wait on me. Naxi Minger will hug me like a child to her; as long as she touches me affectionately, it will be cured Well, besides, wouldn't I spend thousands of francs in the pharmacy? I would rather give it to Naxi, who can cure all diseases. At least I can comfort her when she is suffering; Annuity's faults can also be made up for. She's at the bottom of the abyss, and I can't help her up again. Oh! I'm going to go into business again; go to Odessa to buy grain. The wheat there is three times cheaper than here. Grain The import itself is forbidden, but the rule-making people who made the law never thought of banning the import of things made of wheat. Hey, hey! . . . I figured it out this morning! There is a lot to do in the starch business."

"He's crazy," thought Eugene, looking at the old man. "Okay, you'd better rest and don't talk..." Bianchon went upstairs, and Eugene went down to eat.At night, the two took shifts to accompany the patients, one was reading medical books, and the other was writing letters to his mother and sister.The next day, according to Bianxun, the symptoms of the patient showed a turn for the better; but all kinds of nursing care could not be interrupted, which only the two college students could do.In addition to placing some leeches on the old man's sick body, he also had to apply ointment, soak his feet with water, and perform various nursing operations, all of which required the strength and enthusiasm of the two young people.Madame de Resto did not come; a messenger was sent to collect the money.

"I thought she would come in person. But that's good, so she won't worry about it." Old Man Gao said, it seemed that he was happy about it.At seven o'clock in the evening, Thérèse delivered a letter from Danfina.

What are you doing, friend?Could it be that I was left out just after being loved?In your heart-to-heart and personal words, your soul is so beautiful, you must belong to a person with delicate feelings and unswerving dedication.As you said when you heard the prayer of Moses,[84] "To some it is but a monotonous note; to others it is the music of endless heaven!" Remember, tonight I Waiting for you to go to Madame de Beauseant's ball together.Mr. de Arjuda's marriage contract was signed at the palace this morning, and the poor vicomtesse did not know it until two o'clock.All the dignitaries of Paris flocked to her house, just as ordinary people flock to the Place de la Plage to watch the execution.Isn't it too cruel to see if this woman will hide her pain and see death as home?Friends, if I have been to her house, I will definitely not go today; but she may not see any guests in the future, so wouldn't all my efforts in the past be superfluous?My situation is different from others.Besides, I went for you too.I am waiting for you.I don't know if I can forgive you for your injustice until you come to me in two hours.

Rastignac took up his pen and replied thus:
I am waiting for the doctor to know if your father is still alive.He is dying.I'll bring you the doctor's verdict, which I'm afraid will be a death sentence.Whether you can go to the ball, you will decide then.Kind regards.

At 08:30, the doctor came. Although he didn't say a good prognosis, he didn't think he would die immediately.He said that the condition has been repeated several times, and the old man's life and consciousness depend on the situation.

"He'd better die quickly." These were the last words of the doctor.

Eugene left old man Goriot in the care of Bianchon, and went himself to tell Madame de Nucingen the bad news; he was still full of family values, and thought that all entertainment should cease.

"Tell her to have fun as usual." Old Gao's head was sleeping in a daze, but when Rastignac was walking out, he suddenly sat up and said loudly to him.

The young man came to Danfina with a heavy heart, and saw that she had put on her shoes and hat, and only her ball gown remained.But just like the finishing touch of a painter's work, the finishing touches take more time than the painting itself on the canvas.

"Why, you didn't change your clothes?" she asked.

"But madam, your father..."

"It's my father again," cried Danfina, cutting him off. "I don't need you to teach me how to treat my father. I already know my father. Say no more, Eugene. Wait until you are dressed." , I will listen to you again. Thérèse has already prepared everything at your house; my carriage is already harnessed, so you go in and come back. On the way to the ball, we will talk about my father again. Let's go. We must leave early, if we are trapped in the carriages, we will be lucky to get in at eleven."

"lady!"

"Go! Don't talk about it," she said, rushing into the small living room to get the necklace.

"Go ahead, Monsieur Eugene, you're going to offend Madame," said Thérèse, pushing him; the young man was horrified by this way of killing his father without blood.

When he went to change his clothes, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion, feeling extremely chilled and frustrated.He sees this society as a big quagmire, into which people sink up to their necks.

(End of this chapter)