old man goriot

Chapter 6 Civilian Apartments (5)
"Hey! Good guy!" Rastignac thought to himself, and saw the old man stretch out his protruding arms, twisting the gold-plated silverware with a rope silently, like kneading dough. "Is he a thief or a concealer? Is he pretending to be a fool and living a beggar's life in order to do his job safely?" Eugene stood upright for a while thinking.

The college student put his eyes on the keyhole again.Old Man Goriot had already untied the rope. He picked up the silver nuggets, spread a blanket on the table, and rolled the silver nuggets on it, rolling them into round strips. He did this neatly.

"I'm afraid he is as strong as King August of Poland?" Eugene thought to himself when the round bars were about to be formed.

Peering at his work sadly, with tears in his eyes, Old Man Goriot blew out the candle for the silver wrench; Eugene heard him lay down on his bed with a sigh.

"He's crazy," thought Eugene.

"Poor boy!" Old Man Gao said loudly.

Hearing this sentence, Rastignac, for the sake of prudence, felt that it was better to keep the matter silent, and he could not casually conclude that the neighbor was a bad person.He was about to go back to his room when he suddenly heard an indescribable sound, as if someone was going upstairs wearing cloth shoes.Eugene listened attentively, and sure enough, he heard the sound of two people's breathing one after another; he heard neither the door knock nor the footsteps of people, but suddenly saw a faint light leaking from Mr. Vautrin's room on the third floor.

"Such strange things in a common people's apartment!" he thought.

He went down a few steps and listened carefully; the sound of gold coins hit his ears.After a while, the lights went out, and there was no sound of opening the door, but the breathing of two people was heard again.Then, the two men walked downstairs, and their voices gradually became smaller.

"Who is it?" asked Madame Vauquer sharply, opening the bedroom window.

"I'm back, Mother Vauquer." Vautrin replied in a rough voice.

"Strange! Christophe has locked the door," murmured Eugene, returning to his room. "In Paris, you really have to stay up all night to figure out what's going on around you." He was just showing off his ambitions in love, but was interrupted by these little episodes, and now he started to work hard.However, he could not concentrate, and he still had doubts about old man Goriot. What's more, Madame de Restor's face appeared in front of him from time to time, as if announcing the bright future of the future; when he went to bed, he fell asleep. cooked.Young people promise to read at night, and seven out of ten nights are spent sleeping.If you want to stay up late, you have to be over 20 years old.

The next morning, Paris was so thick and smoggy that even the most punctual people got the time wrong.The agreed negotiation was all wrong.It's twelve o'clock at noon, everyone still thinks it's eight o'clock. At 09:30, Madame Vauquer was still on the bed.Christophe and Fat Sylvie were also late up, drinking coffee steadily with the topskin of the lodger's milk.Sylvie boiled it for a long time, so that Madame Vauquer could not see that they were taking advantage of it.

"Sylvie," said Christophe, soaking his first slice of toast, "Mr. Vautrin is a good man, and he saw two more people last night. If Madame asks, don't say a word." She brought it up."

"Did he give you something?"

"Give me five francs, which is a reward for this month, and means to keep my mouth shut."

"Except for him and Mrs. Couture who are not stingy, everyone else wants to take back what is given by the right hand on New Year's Day!" Sylvie said.

"Besides, what do they give!" said Christophe. "Five francs a dime! Old Man Goriot has been shining his shoes for two years, and that cheap Poiret just saved the money for the polish. I'd rather drink it in my stomach than spend it on his old shoes. As for the skinny student, he'll only give me two francs. Two francs isn't enough for me to buy shoe brushes, and besides, he sells old clothes. What a loser. The place!"

"Come on!" said Sylvie, sipping his coffee, "we've got the best job in the district, and we're doing pretty well. Well, speaking of fat old Vautrin, Christophe, yes Didn't someone tell you something?"

"Yes. I met a gentleman on the street the other day, and he asked me, 'Is there a fat man with dyed sideburns living there?' And I said, 'No, sir, he didn't. Sideburns. A jovial man like him doesn't have the time.' I told this to M. Vautrin, who took me up and said: 'You're right, boy! That's the answer from now on.' The most irritating thing is to let people know about our problems, that way we won’t even be able to get a wife.'”

"No! I was in the market, and some people tried to coax me, telling me whether I saw him wearing a shirt. It's funny, isn't it! Oh," Sylvie stopped talking, and said, "Enggu's knocking nine It's a quarter to three, and no one has moved."

"Come on! They're all going out. Madame Couture and her little girl are off to Saint-Etienne for communion at eight o'clock. Old Man Goriot has gone out with a little bag. The student will leave at ten." I just came back from class. When I was cleaning the stairs, I saw them go. The small bag in the old man's hand touched me. It was as hard as iron. What is he doing, old man? Others manipulated him like a spinning top But Ren is a good man, better than them all. He doesn't give me any money, but the house he sent me to, the ladies are generously rewarded and dressed beautifully."

"The daughters he was talking about, eh? A dozen of them."

"I've only been to two, the two that have been here."

"The madam is up; there's going to be a yell in a minute, and I must go up. You look after the milk, Christopher, and watch out for the cat."

Sylvie went upstairs into the mistress' room.

"What? Sylvie, it's a quarter to ten, and what kind of sleep do you make me do! It's never happened before!"

"That's the mischief of thick fog, so thick that it needs to be chopped with a knife."

"What about the lunch [17]?"

"That's right! Those tenants have seen the devil. They ran out in the first day."

"The word is right, Sylvie," said Madame Vauquer, "it should be Daybreak."

"Oh! Ma'am, I can say whatever you want me to say. You will have dinner at ten o'clock. Lao Mi and Lao Po haven't moved yet. Only the two of them are at home, sleeping like pigs."

"Sylvie, you put them both together as if..."

"Like what?" said Sylvie with a loud smirk. "Two make a pair."

"How strange, Sylvie, how could M. Vautrin come in when Christophe had bolted the door last night?"

"No, ma'am. He heard M. Vautrin come back, and went down to open the door for him. Do you think—"

"Give me the jacket, and hurry up to arrange lunch. Add some potatoes to the leftover mutton, and serve the boiled pears. It's the kind that costs two cents apiece."

After a while, Madame Vauquer came downstairs, and her cat had just lifted the lid off the saucer with one paw, and hurriedly licked the milk in the bowl.

"Ghost cat!" she yelled, and the cat ran away, only to come back to rub against her legs. "All right, all right, you sucker, old cunning!" she said to the cat. "Sylvie! Sylvie!"

"Ah, ah, what's the matter, ma'am!"

"Look what the cat drank!"

"It's all Christopher's bastard's fault. I asked him to set the table. Where's he? Don't worry, ma'am, just pour it into old Goriot's coffee. I'll put some water in it, and he won't Will find out. He doesn't care about anything, not even what he eats."

"Where has he gone, this monster?" asked Madame Vauquer, laying out the plate.

"Who knows? Do business with ghosts."

"I have slept too long," said Madame Vauquer.

"So madam, you are as fresh as a rose..."

At this moment the doorbell rang, and Vautrin entered the drawing-room, singing in a rough voice:
I have traveled the world for a long time,
Everyone sees me everywhere...

"Oh! Oh! Hello, Madam Vauquer," said he, catching sight of the landlady, and embracing her courteously.

"Okay, let go."

"You're free to say it!" he added. "Well, tell me. You want to talk, don't you? Well, I'll set the table with you. Hey, how nice I am, don't I?"

Chasing women one by one,

Love and sigh...

"I saw a strange thing just now..."

...all by chance.

"What's the matter?" said the widow.

"Old Man Goriot was at the silversmith's shop in Dauphine Street at 08:30, the one that buys old cutlery and silver epaulets. He sold a gilded household silverware there for a good fortune; don't think he's not doing it It’s okay, the goods are screwed beautifully.”

"Come on! Really?"

"Of course. I have a friend who has gone abroad and sent him back to the Royal Transport Company; I waited for Old Man Goriot to see some jokes. He turned back to Gray Street in this district, and went to Gobsek, who was a famous loan shark. ;Gobsek is a complete villain, and will make dominoes out of his old man's bones; what a Jew, Arab, Greek, Bohemian, it's not easy to rob him of his money, he deposits it all in the bank gone."

"What the hell is this old man doing?"

"Nothing," said Vautrin, "he eats everything. The fool is foolish enough to lose his fortune in love with dubious women..."

"Here he comes!" said Sylvie.

"Christopher," cried old man Goriot, "you come upstairs with me."

Christophe went with old man Goriot, and came down again after a while.

"Where are you going?" Madame Vauquer asked her servant.

"Something for Monsieur Goriot."

"What is this?" said Vautrin, drawing an envelope from Christophe's hand, and read, "Countess Anastasia de Resto." He returned the letter to Christopher, asked again, "Are you going now?"

"Elder Street. I must give this to the Countess."

"What's inside?" Vautrin said, holding the letter up to the light. "Bills? Not like that." He opened the envelope a little. "It's a paid bill," he said aloud. "Hey! He's still very flirtatious, old urchin. Go ahead, old slick." As he spoke, he put his big hand over Christopher's head and turned him around like a dice. , "Your reward is indispensable."

Knives and forks are already set.Sylvie was boiling the milk.Madame Vauquer was lighting the stove, and Vautrin was helping, humming:

I have traveled the world for a long time,
Everyone sees me everywhere...

Everything was ready, and Mrs. Couture and Miss Tayfan returned.

"Where is this morning, my lady?" asked Madame Vauquer to Madame Couture.

"We are praying at the Church of Saint-Etienne. Aren't we going to Monsieur Taypin's today? Poor little girl, trembling like a leaf." Madame Couture sat down in front of the fire and stretched out her shoes. Towards the mouth of the furnace, the shoes suddenly emitted heat.

"Come warm, Vidoline," said Madame Vauquer.

"Yes, madam, to pray to God to change your father's mind," said Vautrin, moving a chair for the abandoned daughter, "but that is not enough, and a friend must go and talk about this ugly thing; it is said that this The ghost has 300 million, but he won't give you a dowry fee. In this day and age, beautiful girls have to have a dowry."

"Poor boy," said Madame Vauquer, "well, dear boy, your ghost father will be punished."

Tears welled up in Vidoline's eyes at these words; and the widow, seeing Madame Couture beckoning to her, fell silent.

"If only we could see him, if only I could talk to him, and give him his wife's suicide note," continued the quartermaster's widow, "I've been afraid to send it through the post office; he knows mine. Handwriting..."

"Oh! innocent woman, misfortune, misfortune," interrupted Vautrin, loudly, "that's exactly what you are doing now! I'll take care of the matter in a few days, and everything will be all right."

"Oh, sir," said Vidorine, giving Vautrin a warm look with her moist eyes, and Vautrin was unmoved, "if you have any means of seeing my father, please tell him, Said I value my father's kindness and my mother's reputation more than all the riches in the world. If you could persuade him a little of his hard heart, I would pray for you before God; believe me, I would appreciate it endless..."

"I have traveled the world for a long time," Vautrin sang mockingly.

At this moment Goriot, Mademoiselle Michno, and Poiret all came downstairs, perhaps smelling the soup that Sylvie had made to pour over the overnight mutton.The seven diners greeted each other and sat down at the table as the clock struck ten and the footsteps of the students came from the street.

"Ah! very nice, Monsieur Eugene," said Sylvie, "to-day you dined with the company."

The college student greeted all the tenants and sat down beside Old Man Gao.

"I have an adventure," he said, scooping up some mutton, and cutting a loaf of bread; Madame Vauquer's eyes were fixed on it, estimating the weight of the loaf.

"Adventure?" said Poiret.

"Ah! what are you making a fuss about, old chap?" said Vautrin to Poiret. "Sir, he is a man of talent, and there will be adventures."

Miss Taifan glanced timidly at the young student.

"Tell us about your adventure," suggested Madame Vauquer.

"Yesterday I went to the ball of the Vicomtesse de Beauseant, my cousin, who has a beautiful house, and every room is decorated with silk and satin. Anyway, she gave us a big party, and I was very happy." like an emperor..."

"The oriole," Vautrin interrupted decisively.

"Monsieur," Eugene asked immediately, "what do you mean?"

"I say like a squirrel, because the squirrel is much happier than the emperor."

"Yes, I'd rather be one of those carefree little birds," said Poiret, the respondent, "than some kind of emperor, because..."

"In short," continued the student, interrupting him, "I danced with the most beautiful lady at the ball, a lovely and charming countess, the most beautiful beauty I have ever seen. She had peach blossoms on her head and a And the best bouquet, all fragrant flowers. Oh! You have to see it with your own eyes. The woman dances so hard, it is hard to describe. Anyway, at nine o'clock this morning, I saw this fairy like a Countess, walking down Gray Street. Oh! My heart is beating, I thought . . . "

"Thought she came here," said Vautrin, casting a meaningful look at the student. "Perhaps she is looking for old Gobseck, the usurer. If you dig into the heart of a Parisian woman, you will find the usurer first, and then the lover. Your Countess, named A Nastaci de Resto, of Elder Street."

As soon as he heard the name, the university student decided on Vautrin.Old Man Gao suddenly raised his head and looked at the two people who were talking back and forth. His twinkling eyes were full of worry, which surprised all the tenants.

"Christopher must be too late, she's gone there already," muttered Old Man Goriot bitterly.

"I guessed it." Vautrin said in Madame Vauquer's ear.

Goriot ate without knowing what he was eating; he had never been so stupid and absent-minded as before.

"Monsieur Vautrin, who told you her name?" asked Eugene.

"Oh! Well," replied Vautrin, "Old Man Goriot knows! Why can't I know?"

"Monsieur Goriot," cried the student.

"What!" said the poor old man, "was she very pretty yesterday?"

"Who?"

"Madame de Resto."

"Look at that old stingy fellow," said Madame Vauquer to Vautrin, "with bright eyes."

"Could it be that he keeps that woman?" Miss Michno whispered to the student.

"Oh! yes, she is very pretty," said Eugene, while old Goriot kept looking at him eagerly. "If Madame de Beauseant hadn't been present, that celestial countess would have been the queen of the ball; the eyes of the young men were fixed on her alone, and I registered No. 12, and there was not a single quadruplet. She and the other ladies are all very angry. If there was anyone who was proud of herself yesterday, it would be her. Some people say that there is nothing more beautiful in the world than a battleship with sails, a galloping horse, and a dancing girl. It is really good."

(End of this chapter)