old man goriot

Chapter 32: Father's Death (4)
"Even crime is merciless!" he thought. "Vautrin is much greater."

He saw the three faces of society: obedience, struggle and resistance; family, society and Vautrin.He didn't dare to make a rash decision.obey?Can't stand it; resist?Can't do it; struggle?Not sure.His thoughts went back to his family; the quiet life, the pure passions; the days when he was loved among his family.Those loved ones lived their family life step by step, and found a kind of full and lasting happiness in it, free from care.He had good thoughts in his heart, but he didn't have the courage to tell Danfina the belief of pure sentient beings, and he didn't dare to ask her to do good deeds with love.The education he had only begun to receive had paid off.His love has become selfish.He intuitively saw Danfina's inner essence; he expected that she would step on her father's body to go to the ball; but he had neither the strength to enlighten her, nor the courage to offend her, let alone leave her.

"She'll never forgive me for telling her wrong under the circumstances," he thought.

Then he considered the doctor's words again, and he was happy to think that the old man's condition was not as dangerous as he thought; in short, he found a lot of reasons in favor of the murderer, so as to excuse Danfina.Why doesn't she understand her father's condition?Why even if she went to visit, the old man himself would drive her back to the ball.The social norms will only follow the dogma, condemning and questioning at every turn; but within the family, due to different personalities, different interests, and situations vary widely, there will be many modifications to forgive those superficial sins.Eugene wants to deceive himself, ready to kill his conscience for his mistress.For two days his life had changed completely; he had been messed up by a woman; the woman had eclipsed the word family; she had taken everything for herself.Rastignac and Danfina had met at the right time, and had felt a love for each other with an extraordinary intensity.The love they had been brewing for a long time was inflamed even more vigorously in the act of killing love and in the pleasure-seeking.When Eugene possessed this woman, he realized that the past for her was nothing more than desire; he did not really fall in love with her until the second day of his first taste of happiness: perhaps love is but gratitude for pleasure.Vulgar or noble, he loved this woman, for he gave her pleasure and received pleasure from her; so, too, Fina loves Rastignac, as thirsty Tantalus loves Like the angel who came to bring him food and drink[85].

"What's the matter with my father?" Madame de Nucingen asked Eugene when he returned in ball attire.

"It's terrible," he answered, "and if you want to prove your love to me, let's go and see him."

"Well," she said, "but after the ball. Be good, my dear Eugene, and don't talk to me about ethics. Come."

They set off.For a while on the road, Eugene was silent.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked.

"I heard your father panting." He replied angrily.Then he told, in a youthful and impassioned tone, how Madame de Restore had been murdered out of vanity, how the father had worked so hard to bring about this fatal illness, and how Anastasia What a price to pay for her gold and silver brocade dress.But Fina was in tears.

"I'm going to be ugly," she thought, holding back her tears, and said, "I'll take care of my father, and stay by his bedside."

"Ah! that's what I wish you were," exclaimed Rastignac.

The headlights of five hundred carriages illuminated the surroundings of the Bausaiang mansion.On both sides of the bright gate, there is a mounted policeman in high spirits.The high-class dignitaries flocked here, and everyone was full of interest, wanting to look at this distressed lady.Therefore, when Madame de Nucingen and Rastignac entered, every room on the first floor of the mansion was already crowded.Since the time when the princess[86] and her lover were torn apart alive by Louis XIV, and the whole court flocked to the princess's house, no love tragedy has caused more sensation than Madame de Beauseant's.Even though the situation was imminent, the last daughter of the Burgundy royal family of the Tianhuang lineage was majestic and detached from the pain, until the end she still remained condescending, looking down on those dignitaries.Back then, she was willing to flirt with them, but it was just to exaggerate her pride in love.Every living room is graced by beauties from Paris, all dressed up and smiling.The Viscountess was surrounded by the most prominent figures in the palace, ambassadors from various countries, ministers from various ministries, and celebrities from all walks of life. They wore various medals and colorful ribbons on their chests.The melody played by the band lingers in the resplendent mansion; but in the eyes of the hostess, this place seems like a desert.Madame de Beauseant stood in front of the first drawing room to meet her so-called friends.She was dressed in white, with no decorations on her simple braids. She looked calm and serene, neither suffering nor noble, let alone pretending to be happy.No one can see her mind, just like a statue of Niobe.She smiled at a few good friends, sometimes with a sense of ridicule; but in the eyes of everyone, she was still the same as when she was spotlighted by happiness; even the most numb people were amazed when they saw it, just like Girls in ancient Rome applauded and applauded the fighters who died smiling.The dignitaries appeared to be well dressed to bid farewell to one of their queens.

"I'm afraid you won't come," she said to Rastignac.

"Madame," replied Rastignac, thinking that the words were reproachful, in an excited voice, "I will stay until the end of my visit."

"Well," she said, holding his hand, "here, you may be the only person I can trust. My friend, if you can love a woman forever, you should love it. Don't throw it away."

She took Rastignac by the arm, led him into the card-room, sat down on a sofa, and said to him:

"Please go to the Marquis. My servant Jacques will take you there, and he will give you a letter, which is for the Marquis. I ask him for my letter back. I think he will give it all to you." Yes. When you get it, come back upstairs to my bedroom. The servant will report to me."

Her best friend, the Duchesse de Langeais, was also there, and she rose to greet her.Rastignac left, and went to the Rochefield mansion to look for the Marquis de Arjuda, who was said to be there tonight; and he found it.The Marquis led him to his home, handed the student a box, and said to him, "It's all in here."

He seemed to want to talk to Eugene, either to ask about the ball and the vicomtesse, or to reveal that he was probably disappointed in the marriage, which he did.Suddenly a gleam of self-importance flashed in his eyes, and he with admirable courage kept secret the noblest sentiments.

"My dear Eugene, tell her nothing about me."

He shook Rastignac's hand firmly, earnestly and sentimentally, and beckoned him to go.Eugene returned to the Bossian Mansion and was taken to the Viscountess' bedroom, where it looked like she was about to leave.He sat down by the fire, looked at the cedar box, and fell into deep sorrow.In his mind, Madame de Beauseant was no different from the goddess in the epic "Iliad".

"Ah! my friend," said the Vicomtesse, putting her hand on Rastignac's shoulder.

He saw his cousin with tears in her eyes, looking up at the sky, with one hand trembling and the other raised.Suddenly she took the box, put it in the fire, and watched it burn.

"They're dancing! They're all here on time, and Death is lingering. Hush, friend," Rastignac was about to say, putting a finger on his mouth, and continued, "I'll never see Paris again." I don't see anyone anymore. At five o'clock in the morning, I'm going to go away to Normandy and live in seclusion. From three o'clock in the afternoon, I have to make various preparations, sign papers, and manage affairs; I have no one to send to... ..." She paused.

"He must be..."

She was in so much pain that she hesitated to speak.At this moment, everything is painful, and some words can't be said.

"Anyway," she went on, "I was just waiting for you to do this last favor tonight. I want to send you something as a token of friendship. I will think of you often, and I think you are kind and noble, young and honest, It's rare in today's world. I hope you think of me sometimes." She looked around. "Here, here's the box where I keep my gloves. Whenever I pick up my gloves before going to the ball or the theater, I always feel beautiful because I was happy then; whenever I touch this box, there is always a little reverie in it, there are many breaths of me in it, and the whole Madame de Beauseant who has gone. Please take it. I will call later sent to your place in the Rue d'Artois. Madame de Nucingen was splendid tonight, and you must love her. We shall never see each other again, my friend, but please believe me, I will bless you, you have always been I'm all right. Let's go downstairs, I don't want them to think I'm crying. I've got plenty of time in the future, and when I'm alone, no one will bother with my tears. I'll see this bedroom again."

She stopped; then covered her eyes with her hands, wiped them, washed them with cold water, and took the student's arm.

"Let's go!" she said.

Enduring such suffering with such nobility, Rastignac saw the ups and downs of his heart and felt the excitement he had never felt before.

Back on the dance floor, Eugene and Madame de Beauseant walked around the stage, which was the last tribute to everyone from this elegant lady.

Presently he caught a glimpse of the two sisters, Madame de Restaut and Madame de Nucingen.The countess showed all the diamonds, and she was very handsome indeed; but they were probably very hot to her, and she wore them for the last time.Although she is usually proud and passionate, she can't stand her husband's gaze.This situation made Rastigne sad.When he saw the Italian colonel, he thought of Vautrin; when he saw the diamonds worn by the sisters, he thought of the poor bed where old man Goriot lay.The Viscountess misunderstood his melancholy and withdrew her arm.

"Go! I don't want you to sacrifice your happiness," she said.

Eugene was soon invited by Danfina.She was in the limelight, and she was very unhappy.She wholeheartedly hopes to become a member of this circle, and now that she has won respect, she is eager to dedicate her gains to the feet of college students.

"What do you think of Naxi?" she asked.

"She even killed her father," replied Rastignac.

At about four o'clock in the morning, the people in the living room gradually thinned out.Soon the music also stopped.Only the Duchesse de Langeais and Rastignac remained in the great drawing room.The Viscountess approached, thinking only the university students were there.She had just said good-bye to M. de Beauseant, who, as he went to bed, said to her again and again: "Why do you, my dear, go into seclusion at your age! Stay with us." Bar."

Madame de Beauseant gave an exclamation when she saw the Duchess.

"I guessed what you meant, Clara," said Madame de Langeais, "you are going away and never coming back; don't hurry, listen to me, we want to talk."

She took her girlfriend's arm and went to the living room next door, looked at her with tears in her eyes, hugged her in her arms, and kissed her on both cheeks.

"I don't want to part with you coldly, my dear, but my conscience cannot bear it. You can rely on me as you do yourself. You are great tonight; I feel worthy of you and want to ask you Prove it. There are things I've done to you in the past, I wasn't always so good, please forgive me, darling; I may have hurt you before, and I'm ashamed of all that, I take my words back. Adversity makes friends, I don't know which of us is the most unfortunate. M. de Montriveau is not here tonight, do you understand? Anyone who sees you at this ball, Clara, will never forget you. Me, I'm trying One last try; and if you fail, go to a convent! And you? Where are you going?"

"To Courselle in Normandy, to love and to pray, until the day God calls me from this world."

"Come here, Monsieur de Rastignac," said the vicomtesse, remembering the young man waiting.

The college student bent his knees, took his cousin's hand and kissed it.

"Goodbye, Antoinette!" said Mrs. de Beauseant, "I wish you happiness." She said to the college student again: "As for you, you are already happy, you are young, and you can still have faith. In my When you leave this society, you will be like those lucky dying people, surrounded by pious and true feelings!"

About five o'clock Rastignac left.Before that, he watched Madame de Beauseant get into the carriage, and watched her tearfully bid him a final farewell.It can be seen from this that people with the highest social status are not like some people who cater to the public say that they can escape the laws of emotion and live a carefree life.Eugene walked back to Vauguet's apartment in the damp and cold air.His education is over.

Rastignac went into the neighbor's house, and Bianchon said to him: "We can't save poor old Goriot."

Eugene looked at the sleeping old man, and said to Anxun, "My friend, since you are not ambitious, you should go on your ordinary path. I have already fallen into hell, and I have to stay in hell." .No matter how bad people say about high society, just believe it! There is no such writer as Juvenal today, who can write all the ugliness covered by gold and silver jewels."

The next day, when it was almost two o'clock in the afternoon, Bi Anxun was about to go out, so he woke up Rastignac and took over his shift.Old man Gao's condition deteriorated seriously in the morning.

"The old man has less than two days to live, perhaps less than six hours," said the medical student, "but we can't stop with his illness. He has to be given some expensive treatment. We can give him Nursing, but I have no money. I rummaged through his pockets and cabinets, and they were all empty. I asked him when he was awake, and he said he didn’t have any money. What about you, do you have any?”

"Twenty francs left," replied Rastignac, "but I'll bet on it."

"Was lost?"

"Ask for his son-in-law and daughter."

"Why don't they give it?" Bianxun asked again. "The most urgent thing right now is not to raise money, but to apply medicine to him, use hot mustard paste, and wrap his lower limbs all over, from the soles of his feet to the middle of his thighs. If he screams, there is hope. You know How to do it. Besides, Christophe will help you. I will go to the pharmacist and take charge of dispensing medicines on credit. It is a pity that he cannot be moved at the time. It would be much better in our hospital. Come, I will tell you how to stand; If I don't come back, you can't leave him."

The two boys went into the room where the old man lay.Eugene couldn't help being startled, the old man's face was convulsed and deformed, colorless and lifeless.

"How is it, old man?" Eugene asked him, leaning over the poor bed.

Goriot raised his dull eyes, looked at Eugene carefully, but did not recognize him.The college student couldn't stand the scene, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Bianxun, do you want to hang curtains on the windows?"

"No. The weather has no effect on him. It would be nice for him to have a sense of heat and cold. But we still need to build a fire to boil medicine and so on. I'll ask someone to bring you some firewood, let's deal with it." , slowly gather more firewood. I burned all your firewood and the old man's peat all day and night last night. It was very wet before, and the walls were dripping water, and the house was not completely dry. Christophe cleaned the house It's almost like a stable; I burned some juniper, otherwise it would be too smelly."

"My God!" said Rastignac, "but his two daughters!"

(End of this chapter)