Ball of Suet: Selected Short Stories by Maupassant

Chapter 17 The Woman Who Repairs the Upholstered Chair (1)
This novel describes the love story of a homeless woman.She has been traveling around since she was a child. When she fell in love with a man and saved money for him, she found that the other man was only greedy for her own money.She later tried to commit suicide, but was unsuccessful, but before she died, she decided to leave all her property to this man.

On this day, the Marquis Bertrand held a banquet at home to celebrate the good start of the hunting activity.The hall was newly decorated, and it looked very luxurious under the warm lighting, and there were bright flowers dotted among the dishes on the table.All the eleven hunters were present, and there was also a doctor and eight young women. Everyone was talking and laughing with high spirits, and they didn't stop talking until the dinner was over.

It happened to be talking about love at this time, and everyone has their own opinions on love, so they seemed to be very proactive, expressing their opinions in a hurry, for fear of being squeezed by others.They debate one question tirelessly: How many times can a person have true love?Some people say that there is only one true love, and some people say that as long as a person gives sincerely, then every share is true love.Both sides insisted on their own views, constantly citing examples to prove their views.In the eyes of men, as long as a person has had a passionate love once, he will be addicted to love like a drug addict, and he will not stop until he loves vigorously. Of course, this will also have bad effects. Love made him heartbroken, and if he couldn't get it no matter how hard he pursued it, the huge blow would make him unable to stand up forever.This point of view is actually correct. In reality, some people will crazily pursue passionate love, but women's aesthetic and romantic thoughts make them more inclined to true love once in a lifetime. They believe that there can only be a vigorous and heartfelt love in a person's life. It is like a lightning bolt that instantly ignites the spark of love between two people. They no longer exist, they no longer pay attention to the admiring eyes of others, and they no longer fantasize about dreams that have nothing to do with them.

The Marquis is a man with a lot of experience in the world and a lot of knowledge, and he has also experienced a lot of love, so he disagrees with the ladies. He said to everyone:

"I think true love can happen many times in a person's life, as long as you give your true love and treat your significant other with simplicity and sincerity in each love. Those who die in love are stupid, I can guarantee that as long as they survive After the initial pain, there will still be vigorous love happening to them in the future. As long as they have enough courage and confidence and look at the future with optimism, true love will accompany them into the grave. One can imagine how many precious loves have been missed by those who died in love Love does turn people into addicts. No matter how much you love, you can’t love enough, and you always want to have a love that is more unforgettable than the last time. This kind of behavior is actually greed, and it is an instinct deep in the human bone marrow.”

What the Marquis said was not unreasonable, but there were still some people who insisted on opposing the Marquis, and everyone’s debate was fruitless. It happened that one of the guests was an old doctor who had retired from Paris, so people invited this old man from a big city Express opinion.

But the old man stood in a neutral position, and he said to everyone:
"Everyone has a different personality and therefore sees things differently. I agree with Mr. Marquis; I can't judge who is right or wrong, but I have heard of a love that lasted 55 years. It It has always existed in the hearts of the parties involved, but the death of the parties also put a stop to this love."

The Marquise showed great enthusiasm for the old doctor's words, she clapped her hands and praised:

"It's really a romantic and sincere love! Isn't this the kind of love we're after? 55 years of uninterrupted love, how great is the person who gave, and how happy is the person who got it! This person who got such a great love A man is undoubtedly the luckiest person in the world, and God's favor for him is enviable."

The old man pursed his lips, smiled and said:
"You are right, ma'am, it is indeed a man who got this love. You should know Mr. Sugai who owns the pharmacy? He is the man in our town. And the woman who gave this love , Speaking of which, you also know each other, the soft seat in your home is repaired by an old woman every year, and she is that woman."

When the young woman heard that the protagonist of her love turned out to be a person of low status, she couldn't help showing contempt, and her curiosity about this love disappeared.They believe that love belongs only to noble, elegant and well-bred people.

The old man began to narrate slowly:
One day three months ago, this old lady came to the town with a carriage full of all her belongings. The skinny horse pulling the carriage and the two big black dogs that served as guards and friends must have been seen by everyone present. been.She knew that her life was about to come to an end, so she asked me and the priest to testify to her will. When I arrived, I found that her condition was more serious than I thought, and she had only her last breath left.After saying the will, she told us about her life experience, so that we would not misunderstand her will.After listening to her experience, I couldn't help feeling pity for the old woman in front of me. Her story is really sad.

Since she was a child, she has been wandering around with her parents who are chair repairers. Home is a vague concept for her. Wherever she goes, her home is there.

The long-term homeless life made the little girl sloppy and casual. Her clothes were always tattered and there were lice growing on her body.Every time they arrived at a village, the parents settled the carriage near the entrance of the village, fed the horses, and went into the village to find a job repairing chairs; the dog sat on the ground and slept with its head on its outstretched paws; the little girl Playing in the side grass, and if the parents got a job, they sat under the big tree by the road and repaired chairs.The family seldom communicated and chatted with each other, and wandering made them lose their good yearning for life.Sometimes they would exchange a few words with each other, but usually they would urge each other to go to the village to get work, shouted "repair the chair" a few times; A roar: "Come back quickly, don't cause trouble!" Although this is a harsh sentence, it can even be said to be a sentence without warmth and full of reprimands, but in the little girl's heart, it is the only sentence that expresses concern for herself. .

The little girl grew up slowly and was able to do some things for her parents. She began to collect discarded seat cushions everywhere, so she also met many peers, mostly boys, but she couldn't get along with them friendly. Boys When parents see their children playing with a ragged girl, they will always yell at them: "Don't play with her! You naughty child, come back soon, you can't be with beggars in the future!  … ..."

Other children would throw stones at her and secretly laugh at her.

Of course, there are also kind-hearted people, usually kind-hearted women, who will give her some rewards, and she will accumulate them bit by bit.

When she was 11 years old, her family came to our town. She passed by the cemetery inadvertently and saw a little boy crying sadly. He was Su Gai.Su Gai's behavior made her curious.It turned out that two of Su Gai's coins were stolen by his classmates, but the little girl didn't feel very sad about it, because Su Gai's family opened a shop, and he should live in joy and happiness. Children living in poverty should cry.But the little girl didn't think much about it. She gave all her only property, seven sous, to the little boy. Su Gai looked at the coins in his hand, stopped crying, and was not embarrassed, as if the money It was originally his.Seeing that Su Gai did not object, the girl immediately showed a surprised expression. She couldn't restrain the excitement in her heart, and she didn't know where the courage came from, so she actually kissed Su Gai.The little boy was focusing all his attention on the coins at the moment, so he didn't reject the girl's bold behavior.Now the little girl became even more excited. The first success made her kiss him for the second time. Su Gai was like a treasure. She hugged him hard, for fear that others would snatch him away. After some enthusiasm, the little girl let go Sugai left.

The innocent little girl obviously couldn't understand her bold behavior, what happened to her?There is no doubt that she likes Su Gai, but how did this feeling come about?Did he get his first kiss, or did he get the property he had worked so hard to accumulate?It is said that only adults are troubled, but children also have troubles that bother them.

Over the next few months, the boy who showed up at the cemetery and took all of her savings was on her mind.She couldn't wait to see him again, and in order to save some extra money, she often took the change from the repair bill when her parents weren't looking, or lied about the expenses when she went shopping.

(End of this chapter)