old man goriot

Chapter 4 Civilian Apartments (3)
Old Man Goriot was about 69 years old. After taking over the business, he came to live in the apartment of Madame Vauquer in 13; at first he lived in the apartment of Madame Couture, and the annual board and board cost [-] francs. , as if five louis more than five louis less was nothing.Madame Vauquer, for a compensation in advance, refurbished the three rooms inside, and added, it is said, some crude furnishings, such as curtains of yellow cloth, and lacquered wood armchairs covered in Utrecht velvet. , a few glue drawings, and the kind of wallpaper you don't even want in a suburban tavern.At that time, old man Goriot was still honored as Mr. Goriot. Perhaps it was his indifference and wealth that made others regard him as a fool who knew nothing about the market.When he came, he had a well-stocked box and a decent outfit, which showed that this old businessman did not treat him badly.Mrs. Vauquer admired his eighteen imitation Dutch muslin shirts; the noodle merchant also fastened two pins on the brocade, connected by thin chains, and each pin was set with a large diamond, which further showed the shirting material. delicate.He usually wears a light blue coat, and changes into a white piqué waistcoat every day. He has a big pear-shaped belly, and a gold chain with small ornaments, which heaves and falls heavily with his belly.His snuff-box was also gold, and there was a locket full of hair in it, which seemed to indicate that he had had some other affairs.When the landlady said that he was flirtatious, it was like scratching his itch, and a happy smile appeared on his mouth.His cupboards (he said the word with a commoner accent) were full of household silverware.The widow's eyes lit up as she graciously assisted him in unpacking and tidying up the large spoons, seasoning spoons, cutlery, oil bottles, saucers, plates, gilt and silver breakfast saucers, in short, every piece, no matter how beautiful it was. The degree, the considerable weight, and the things he is reluctant to let go of.These presents reminded him of all the pomp and circumstance experienced at home.

He took a plate and a small soup bowl covered with two turtledoves kissing, and said to Madame Vauquer: "This is the first present my wife gave me on my wedding anniversary. Poor good man! She spent her girl savings on it. Do you see, ma'am? I'd rather scratch the ground with my fingers than let it go. Thank God! I'll drink coffee from this bowl every morning as long as I live I don't want pity, I've had enough bread for a long time."

At the end, Madame Vauquer, with her magpie eyes, saw clearly the several national bonds. The bonds roughly add up, and the great Goriot has an annual income of about eight thousand to ten thousand francs.From this day on, Mrs. Vauquer, whose maiden name was Confran, was in her forties, but only admitted to being 39 years old, made up her mind.Although the inner canthus of Goriot's eyes were turned out, swollen, and drooping, and he had to wipe them frequently, Madame Vauquer thought him good-looking and correct.In addition, his fleshy and protruding calves, together with his square long nose, imply that he has some advantages that the widow seems to value very much. His face looks like a full moon, and his honest and honest appearance is also a good proof .This must be a strong-headed animal capable of giving all its energies to its affections.His hair was dove-winged, and the polytechnic barber came every morning to powder it and comb his low forehead with five peaks to make his face look good.Rustic though he was, he was always smartly dressed; he pinched his tobacco ostentatiously, and snuffed his snuff in a way that seemed to indicate that his pipe was always full of makubas.Therefore, on the day Mr. Goriot moved into the apartment, Mrs. Vauquer lay on the bed at night, like a partridge wrapped in fat slices, roasting on the fire. O start anew; get married again, sell the apartment, marry this burgher elite, become a prominent lady of the district, collect donations for the poor, visit Choisy, Soisy, Gentilly on Sundays, do whatever you want Going to the theater, sitting in a box, no need to wait for guests to send her a few coupons in July; she had the golden dream of ordinary Parisian petty bourgeois.She never mentioned to anyone that she had forty thousand francs accumulated from coin to coin.Of course, she felt that her status was okay in terms of property.

"As for the rest, I'm perfectly worthy of him, too," she thought, tossing and turning on the bed, as if she wanted to show her attractive figure; so every morning, fat Sylvie always found that there was a pressed depression in the bed.

For almost three months from this day, the widow Vauquer spent some money on dressing up with M. Goriot's hairdresser, saying that it would be appropriate to have some decent guests coming and going in and out of the apartment.She went to great lengths to screen the tenants, claiming that she would only receive the best in every respect from now on.When strangers came to her house, she boasted how much M. Goriot, one of the most famous and respected merchants in Paris, was fond of her apartment.She also distributed advertisements, and the big words on the top were particularly eye-catching: Vogue Apartment.

And then: "The oldest and most famous pension in the Latin Quarter, with a panoramic view of the Gobelins (you have to go up to the fourth floor to see it), elegant gardens, shaded by linden trees, and quiet paths." Also mentioned the fresh air and quiet environment.

The ad brought her the Countess de Lambermeny, thirty-six, the widow of a fallen general, who was awaiting a public pension.Mrs. Vauquer carefully prepared the meals for her. The fire in the living room has been lit for almost half a year. All the promises in the advertisement have been fulfilled, and she even posted some of her own money.The Countess, therefore, called her dear friend, and promised her to introduce her two friends, the Baroness de Vomeran and the widow of the Colonel Comte Piquasso, who lived in an apartment in the Marais for a fee. More expensive than the Vogue apartment, but the lease is about to expire.When the various units of the Ministry of National Defense have completed the formalities, the two ladies will have a lot of money. "However," she said, "the formalities of these units can never be completed." After dinner, the two widows went upstairs together and came to Madame Vauquer's room, chatting, drinking black tea wine, and eating the master's food. Sweets for own use.Madame de Lambermeny very much agreed with the landlady's opinion of Goriot, and thought it very wise, in fact, she guessed the landlady's mind from the first day; she thought Goriot was a perfect man.

"Oh, my dear madam," said the widow Vauquer to her, "he is perfectly healthy, well maintained, and gives women much pleasure."

Madame Vauquer's dress did not match her ambitions, and the countess gave her advice enthusiastically.

"You have to arm yourself," she said.

After some planning, the two widows went together to the palace market and bought a hat with feathers and a bonnet in the wooden gallery[16].The Countess took her friend again to Petit Arnett's, where she chose a dress and a shawl.With the outfit in place and fully armed, Madame Vauquer looks exactly like the fashion cow on the restaurant signboard.However, she thought that her image had been greatly improved, and she was very grateful to the countess.Although she was stingy with money, she asked Madame to accept a twenty-franc hat.In fact, she was going to entrust the other party to visit Goriot and say something nice for herself in front of him.Madame de Lambermeny followed suit very kindly, and she got the old noodle merchant under her wing, and they had a talk.She had intended to seduce Goriot under the pretense of public welfare, but she found that he was indifferent, if not indifferent, at least shy, to all kinds of temptations.Seeing him so vulgar, she came out angrily.

"My darling," she said to her dear friend, "you can't get anything out of this man! He's ridiculously suspicious; a miser, stupid and stupid, and will only disappoint you."

The meeting between M. Goriot and Madame de Lambermeny even made the countess never want to be with him again.She left the next day, forgetting to pay for six months' board and lodging, and leaving behind old clothes worth five francs.Mrs. Vauquer searched hard, but she couldn't get any news from Countess de Lambermeny in Paris.She often talked about this unlucky incident and blamed herself for trusting people too much. In fact, her suspicion was worse than that of cats; like many people, she was always on the defensive against people close to her, and was fooled at the first stranger she met.This is a strange but real psychological phenomenon, and it is not difficult to find its root in human psychology.Perhaps some people can no longer get anything from the people they live with; after exposing the emptiness of their hearts, they feel that others are speaking directly and pointing fingers behind their backs; They are desperately in need, or have advantages that they do not have, and try to appear to have them; therefore, they hope to win the respect or favor of strangers, regardless of whether they will fail one day.There is also a kind of people who are naturally mercenary, and they must not be convenient to relatives and friends, because that is their duty; it is no better than helping strangers, which can satisfy their self-esteem: the closer their emotional circle is to them, the less they will love and leave. The farther they are, the more attentive they are.These two natures, Madame Vauquer may have both, are essentially narrow, hypocritical, and vicious.

"If I had been here," said Vautrin to her, "you would not have been in such a misfortune! I would have exposed that deceitful face for you, which I know at a glance."

Madame Vauquer, like all ignorant people, can never jump out of the thing itself to infer its cause; she often likes to blame her own fault on others.After that loss, she thought the honest noodle merchant was the culprit, and according to her own account, she gave up on him ever since.When she admitted the futility of all the coyness and pompousness, she soon guessed why, and thought that the lodger belonged to her as she said.In short, the facts proved to her that her fanciful hopes were nothing but castles in the air, and the countess, like a connoisseur, had pointed out bluntly that there was nothing to be gained from this man.Madame Vauquer must have been more hostile later than she had been friendly at first.The reason for the hatred is not from her love, but from the shattered hopes.When human emotions are climbing to the peak of love, they can rest halfway, but when they are rushing down the steep slope of hatred, it is rare to stop.But Mr. Goriot was her lodger after all, and the widow had to restrain her wounded pride, bury her sighs after disappointment, and swallow the urge of revenge, like a monk at the mercy of the abbot.Generally, villains want to vent their emotions, no matter whether the emotions are good or bad, they will always make some small moves.Relying on the cunning of a woman, the widow came up with all kinds of secret ways to torture her enemy.She started by undoing the extra care that had been added to the apartment.

"There's no need for gherkins and fish, they're all fools!" she told Sylvie the morning she restored the old chapter.

Mr. Goriot is a frugal person, just like most self-made people, the frugality of the past has become a habit.One meat and one vegetable plus a bowl of soup used to be, and always will be, his most satisfying dinner.It was therefore not easy for Madame Vauquer to punish her lodger, who could not go against his inclinations.Disappointed at meeting such an unassailable man, she was obliged to disparage him, and to spread her hostility towards Goriot to the other guests; who, for the amusement of her, vented it on her behalf.At the end of the first year, the widow's suspicions piled up, and she even murmured in her heart: This merchant is so rich, with an income of seven or eight thousand francs a year, with exquisite silverware, beautiful jewelry, The same goes for a woman, why come to live with her and only pay a fee for board and lodging that is disproportionately low compared to his property?During most of the first year, Goriot used to eat out once or twice a week for dinner, and then, unconsciously, it changed to twice a month.It was in Madame Vauquer's interest that Monsieur Goriot went out quietly to meet people; therefore, later on he gradually ate regularly at the apartment, which made Madame Vauquer angry.This change was supposed to be due partly to the gradual decline of his property, and partly to his deliberate embarrassment to the landlord.One of the most despicable habits of petty people is to think that others are as narrow-minded as they are.Unfortunately, at the end of the second year, M. Goriot actually confirmed the gossip about him and proposed to Madame Vauquer to move to the third floor and reduce the board and lodging expenses to nine hundred francs.He needs to save so much that he doesn't even have a fire in his house in winter.Mrs. Vauquer asked to pay in advance, and Mr. Goriot agreed, and she called him old man Goriot from then on.There is speculation about the reasons for his downfall.It's easier said than done to figure it out!The fake countess had said long ago that although old man Gao didn't talk much, he had ulterior motives.People with empty minds talk about nothing more than trivial things, so they all talk nonsense.According to their logic, those who keep silent about their own affairs are doing absolutely no good.So the so respectable businessman is a swindler, and the old Merry is nothing but an old monster.For a while, according to Vautrin, who moved into Vauquer's apartment at that time, Old Man Goriot ran the stock exchange. After losing his money, he was still playing around with annuities, to use the harsh financial jargon.At one moment he was a small gambler, trying his luck every evening and winning ten francs.In a short time he became a spy for the police again; but Vautrin did not think he was cunning enough for the job.It was also said that old man Goriot was a miser who lent short-term usury, or else he was a person who bet higher and higher and only bought lottery tickets with the same number.In short, everyone regards him as a very mysterious figure derived from villainy, shamelessness, and imbecility.However bad his conduct or vice may be, the hostility he arouses does not drive him out of the house: for his board and lodging are paid for.Besides, he also has his uses. Everyone can vent their good or bad moods on him, make jokes, and use him as a punching bag.The credibility seems to be relatively high, and it is widely recognized by everyone, represented by Mrs. Vauquer.According to her, this person who is so well maintained, has no problems at all, and can bring a lot of happiness to others, is really a romantic with all kinds of eccentricities.The widow of Vauquer said such bad things based on the following facts.The broom countess lived for free for half a year, and a few months after she slipped away, before Madame Vauquer got up one morning, she heard the hiss of a silk dress on the stairs and the slight footsteps of a young woman, and then she slipped away. Enter Goriot's room, and the door has long been tacitly opened.Fat Sylvie came at once to report to the mistress that there was a wickedly pretty girl, dressed like a fairy, with spotless woolen boots, who had slipped like an eel from the street into the kitchen, and asked her about Mr. Goriot. Where is your room.Madame Vauquer and the cook eavesdropped, and heard several gentle words of confiding; the guests stayed for a while, and M. Goriot sent his girl out, and the fat Sylvie immediately picked up the basket and pretended to be at the market. Appearance to follow the couple.

She came back and said to her mistress: "Madame, Mr. Goriot must have a lot of money to afford such a show. Just think, there is a luxurious carriage parked at the corner of the Rue Hanging, and the lady is like that." up."

At dinner in the evening, when the sun shone in Goriot's eyes, Madame Vauquer drew the curtains, fearing that he would not feel well.

"All beauties like you, Monsieur Goriot, and even the sun has found you," she said, alluding to the guests who came to see him. "Oh! You have a good eye, she is very pretty."

"That's my daughter." He said, with that kind of proud look, the guests in the apartment thought that the old man cared about his face, and there was a lot of inner pride in it.

A month after this visit, M. Goriot received another visitor.It was the first time his daughter came to wear morning clothes, and this time it was after dinner, dressed as if she was going to socialize.At that time, the tenants were chatting in the living room. The guest could be seen by them as a beautiful blond girl with a slender figure and great charm. That kind of elegant demeanor could not be the daughter of old man Gao.

(End of this chapter)