Ball of Suet: Selected Short Stories by Maupassant

Chapter 28 Family (4)
It's almost 8pm.Mr. Galawang went into the old lady's room, closed the window, and lit some new candles.He no longer had the restlessness of the day, and he did everything calmly, as if the old lady had been dead for a long time, and he had long been numb to all this.He took a closer look at the body and found no signs of decay.After a while, at dinner, he reported the latest inspection results.Mrs. Galawang added: "Yeah, you are right. She is like a piece of wood that is intact and can be preserved for at least a year."

They continued to eat and drink soup.The two children played frantically during the day, and by this time they were already too tired to sleep soundly.The husband and wife didn't ask much questions, and there was silence at the dinner table.

Suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed.

Soon, Mrs. Galawang picked out the wick, and the wick of the oil lamp squeaked.It turned out that the oil under the wick was almost gone.After a few rings like this, the oil lamp was completely extinguished.The family was so busy that they even forgot to buy lamp oil.At this time, I will go to the grocery store to buy lamp oil, and I am afraid I will not be able to eat dinner.However, fortunately, there are still a few candles by the old lady's bed upstairs, so let's make do with it for the night.

Mrs. Galawang made up her mind, and immediately woke Mary Louise to go upstairs to get two candles.The people at the dinner table had to wait in the dark.

The sound of the little girl going up the stairs echoed around, and then, there was no sound.In a blink of an eye, she suddenly ran down from upstairs, opened the door of the restaurant in a panic, and shouted at the people present: "It's not good, it's not good, Dad, do you know? Get dressed." The little girl's voice was full of fear, which seemed to be worse than the night before.

Mr. Galawang jumped up with a "chuckle", and then the chair behind him fell backwards. "What?... What did you say?... Your grandma..."

Mary Louise's panic had not yet left, and she spoke intermittently: "Grandma...grandma she...she is getting dressed and will come downstairs soon!"

Mr. Galawang couldn't believe his ears. After hearing what his daughter said, he lost his composure and quickly ran up to the third floor.However, when he reached the door of that room, he stopped again.Obviously he was a little timid, he didn't know what would happen inside.His wife, who had been following behind him, was more courageous and twisted the doorknob without any scruples.When the door opened, they walked in.

The room seemed darker than before.There was a figure in the middle who couldn't stop shaking.The figure was tall and thin, and it turned out to be an old lady putting on clothes.She woke up from her lethargy and got out of bed at this time.Seeing four candles burning by the bedside, she blew out three of them.She kept looking for clothes, but found that her wardrobe was missing, feeling very strange in her heart.Fortunately, she found her clothes in a wooden box and put them on calmly.There was a branch of boxwood and a dish full of water, so she poured out the water and hung the branch behind the mirror.She also put the chairs around the bed back in place, and when she was about to go downstairs, her son and daughter-in-law came upstairs.

Mr. Galawang rushed over, grabbed his mother's hand and kissed it, with tears in his eyes.The expression of the wife standing behind him changed, and she quickly put on a pose and said, "This is really joy from heaven, joy from heaven!"

However, the old lady ignored their joy, as if she didn't know what was going on around her.She stood there straight, with no expression on her face, and just asked coldly: "Is dinner ready?" The son was still immersed in joy, and replied vaguely: "It's ready, just waiting for you Let's go down to eat!" After finishing speaking, the son supported his mother's arm and prepared to go downstairs.At this time, the daughter-in-law took the lead, and with a candle in her hand, she retreated step by step from the stairs, illuminating the stairs in front of her.She did the same when her husband lowered the marble slab last night in the middle of the night.

When we got down to the second floor, another group of people came up and almost collided with Mrs. Galawang.It turned out to be Mrs. Bro, the old lady's daughter.The son-in-law followed closely behind.They lived in Charenton, and rushed over after hearing the news.

Galawang's younger sister is tall and bloated, with a big belly, and her upper body is leaning back as if she is sick.Seeing the old lady walking down, she almost turned around and ran away in fright.Her husband was quite calm.He is not tall, with an unshaven beard that almost buried his nose, and looks like a monkey.He was a socialist who made his living as a shoemaker.Seeing his mother-in-law coming down the stairs, the bold son-in-law couldn't help but wondered, "Why did he come back to life? It's incredible!"

When Mrs. Galawang saw them, she quickly waved her hands in a dejected gesture to them.She opened her voice and said, "Oh, why are you here? I really can't think of it!"

At this time, Mrs. Bro was frightened, and her mind was even more confused.She didn't understand Mrs. Galawang's words, and said softly, "Huh? Didn't you send us a telegram to come here? We thought mother was going to die soon!"

The husband standing behind her gave his wife a hard pinch, signaling her to stop talking.Then, a treacherous smile appeared under his full beard, and he said, "We came here in a hurry after receiving your invitation." This sentence clearly verified the relationship between the two families Not harmonious.The old lady is still going down the stairs, and there are two more steps to the bottom.The son-in-law hurried up to meet her, approached the old lady's face with his bearded mouth, and touched it a few times.Then, he shouted loudly into the old lady's ear: "Mom, how are you doing recently? I think your body is still so strong!"

Mrs. Bro was originally here to go to the funeral after receiving the news, but when she came here to see her mother getting up and walking, she was naturally frightened to death, and she dared not go up to kiss the old lady.With a big belly, she stood motionless at the top of the stairs, and the people next to her couldn't move around at will.

The old lady kept silent all the time, staring at a pair of small eyes, looking at one thing for a while, and then another for a while, showing sharp and cold eyes, and carefully looked at everyone present.Although she didn't know what happened at the beginning, and was even a little confused, but looking at the expressions of the people around her now, she guessed that it was almost inseparable.Her sons and daughters were a little embarrassed when she looked at them.

Mr. Galawang took the initiative to stand up and wanted to explain, so he said to the old lady: "Mother was not feeling well at first, but now she is completely fine! Isn't it, mother?"

The old lady didn't pay much attention to him, she walked forward and murmured, "For a while, I seemed to faint. But, what did you do and what did you say? Chu." Although the voice was extremely weak, as if it came from far away, everyone present heard it.

After that, there was a scene of embarrassment all around.Everyone walked into the restaurant together, sat down and prepared to eat.However, the things on the table are not very rich, as if they were put together improvised.

There was a circle of people around the dining table.No one spoke much, only Mr. Brow sat there as if nothing had happened.From time to time, his ferocious face showed a strange look, and he said something here and there, looking relaxed and at ease.However, when the people present heard his cynicism, they felt something different in their hearts.

At this time, the doorbell always rang one after another.Mrs. Galawang was at a loss, but asked her husband to check who had come over and over again.The husband couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and run out.The brother-in-law sitting on the side asked him maliciously if today was the day to entertain guests.He hesitated and didn't know how to answer, and muttered, "Nothing...Maybe, maybe it's from the delivery, it's not what you said!"

After a while, someone delivered a package.Mr. Galawang recklessly opened the package, only to find that it was an obituary.There was still a black frame around the obituary.His face was flushed immediately, he wrapped it up in a hurry, and stuffed it into his vest indiscriminately.

A clock stood on the fireplace, its gilded pendulum swinging constantly.The old lady kept staring at it, not noticing what had just happened.No one spoke, and the embarrassment became more and more serious.

The old lady's face was already covered with wrinkles, like an old witch.Suddenly, she turned her face to her daughter and said slowly, "Bring your little daughter over next Monday, I want to see her."

After hearing this, Mrs. Bro was extremely excited, and her happy expression was beyond words.She readily agreed: "Don't worry, mother!" Mrs. Galawang, who was sitting by the side, turned pale immediately and almost passed out.

At this time, the two men at the dinner table chatted vividly, and after a while, they debated some small issues with great fanfare.Bro was a little excited, and his two bony eyes kept rolling on his bearded face.He believed in communism and a variety of revolutionary theories, and took this opportunity to promote his high-profile: "When it comes to wealth, it is all bought by the working people with their blood and sweat. Whoever takes it for himself is exploiting the working people. ...and the land, which belongs to everyone, whoever wants to inherit such property is unreasonable, vulgar and rascal!..." At this point, he suddenly choked, and did not continue , like a very stupid person who suddenly realizes his mistake without saying anything.Then, his tone changed, and he said in an extremely peaceful tone: "However, the time to discuss these issues is not yet ripe."

The doorbell rang again.Then "Doctor" Chenai came in.When he saw the scene in the room, he was a little surprised at first, and then calmed down.The old lady was still sitting there, and he stepped forward and said, "Ah, old lady, today's weather is fine! I knew you would be fine. I was thinking on the way just now that you must get out of bed and move around." It seems that you are right!" He said enthusiastically, and at the same time, he patted the old lady's back lightly with his hand, and then said: "Look at your body, it is very strong, just like the bridge in Paris. Possibly. Maybe, we will all be gone in the future, and you will still have to attend our funeral."

He sat down at the dining table, took a cup of coffee, and quickly joined the debate just now.He fully agrees with Bro's opinion.Because the Paris Commune had involved him.

The old lady was tired at this time and wanted to go upstairs to rest.Mr. Galawang hurriedly stood up and went to help him, but she ignored him, just stared at him blankly, and then said, "Hurry up and move my cabinet and clock upstairs!" The son hesitated. Said: "Well, I see, mother..." The old lady grabbed the arm of the daughter beside her, got up and left, as if she didn't want to hear any more words from him.

Facing the old lady's expression, the Galawang couple couldn't help but turn pale with shock, and they didn't know what to do, they just stood there blankly.They knew in their hearts that things were all screwed up!Their brother-in-law was sitting there full of air, continuing to drink coffee, rubbing his hands from time to time, showing a happy look.

Suddenly, Mrs. Galawang couldn't bear it anymore, she rushed towards Bro crazily, and shouted furiously: "You rascal, you are really nothing...you shameless guy, I really want to spit on you!" A face full of spittle... I bah..." She was trembling with anger, out of breath, and yelled loudly but didn't know what to scold.But Bro sat there, motionless, drinking his coffee with a smile on his face, not paying attention to it.

At this time, my sister-in-law came down from upstairs.Mrs. Galawang yelled at her again.Of these two women, one was tall, with a big belly, and was imposing; the other was small and brash, with arrogance.If you say something to me, the two sides can't argue.

"Doctor" Chennai and Bro came up to try to persuade them to fight.Bro dragged his wife out of the door and kept yelling at her: "Come on, don't embarrass yourself here, you idiot!"

The couple were walking on the street, still arguing and arguing, their voices slowly disappearing.

"Doctor" Chenay also left soon after.

Galawang and his wife looked at each other, but remained silent.

Later, the husband thought of something thoughtfully, and slumped on a chair beside him.Cold sweat dripped from his head, and he said to himself, "Oh, what should I do? How can I answer the section chief?"

(End of this chapter)