beautiful friend

Chapter 18

Finally, a servant came to announce that supper was ready.It seemed to Duroy that this dinner lasted a particularly long time, as if it had no end.The three ate in silence without speaking, crushing the bread with their fingers.The servants in charge came in and out without hearing any sound.As Forestier hated to hear footsteps, the servants wore soft-soled slippers.In the silent room, only the wooden wall clock made a mechanical and regular "tick" sound. After dinner, Duroy returned to his room on the pretext of being tired from the journey.He leaned against the window and looked up at the starry sky.A full moon is like a giant lamp, casting a layer of hazy cold light on the white walls of each villa; the rippling sea surface is sparkling.Duroy racked his brains, hoping to find a reason to leave here as soon as possible; in the end, he decided to lie about receiving an urgent call from Mr. Walter, and he must rush back to the museum immediately.

But when he woke up the next day, he felt that this excuse was really untenable. Madame Forestier would never believe it, and he still couldn't leave.And his getting cold feet will negate all the benefits of his loyalty.He said to himself: "Oh, what a trouble! But forget it, there will always be some things that don't go well in life. Besides, he can't delay for a few days."

Today, the weather is fine.The blue sky unique to the southern country makes people feel happy.Duroy thought it would be premature to see Forestier at this time, so he walked alone to the seaside for a walk.

He didn't come back until lunchtime.As soon as he entered, the servant said to him:

"Sir, the master has asked about you two or three times. Please go upstairs and see the master."

Duroy went upstairs.Forestier sat in an armchair and seemed to be asleep.His wife is lying on the sofa reading a book.

Forestier looked up.Duroy asked:

"How do you feel? I think you look good today."

Forestier replied:

"Yes, I'm much better today, and I've recovered some of my strength. You and Madeleine should go eat quickly, and we'll go out by car later."

After leaving the room, Madame Forestier said to Duroy:

"You see, he thought he was cured of his serious illness. We got up together this morning and started making plans. Later, we're going to buy some painted pottery near Juan Bay, and we'll bring it back to Paris to decorate our room. He insisted on going out, But I'm worried about what's going to happen on the road. How can he stand the bumps in the road?"

The carriage arrived, and Forestier, supported by a servant, walked down the stairs step by step.When he saw the carriage, he had the hood removed.

His wife resolutely objected: "Are you crazy? You'll catch a cold."

Forestier insisted: "No, I'm better, I know it."

The car drove to the forest path full of flowers, looking around, there was an English-style forest garden scenery, which is a major feature of Cannes.Then, the carriage arrived at Antipo Avenue and galloped along the seashore.

Forestier introduced the scene before them: first the villa of the count of Paris, and then some other buildings.Although he seemed to be in high spirits, others could tell at a glance that his interest was just faking and could not conceal his weakness at all.He had no strength to raise his arms, so he could only point his fingers at the sights.

"Look! That's Saint-Marguerite Island and the castle where General Bazin escaped. In order not to let future generations forget this history, the castle has been completely preserved."

Afterwards, Forestier recalled the life in the barracks before, and chatted about several officers and some past events.At this time, the carriage turned a corner, and the whole Ju'ang Bay could be seen in sight.At one end was the whitewashed village, and at the other was Cape Antipo.

Suddenly, Forestier exclaimed excitedly like a child: "Ah, the fleet, we will see the fleet soon!"

In the middle of the wide bay, six giant ships are parked; from a distance, they look like several mountain rocks covered by green trees.The ship has a strange shape and is extremely large, with various towers standing on it; the bow is down, as if it is going to plunge deep into the bottom of the sea.

The ship looks very bulky, as if it is fixed on the bottom of the sea, and people can't figure out how it moves.The rotating circular fort shaped like a watchtower is like a lighthouse standing on the reef.

A large three-masted ship raised its white sails, happily passed by the warship, and sailed to the open sea.Compared with the hideous steel monster floating on the water, the masted ship looked very light and delicate.

Forestier tried to identify the ships and said one by one: "Corbert, Suffren, Admiral Dupellet, Dreadnought, Annihilation." Immediately, he corrected: "No, no, That ship is the Doom"

At this time, they came to a large building.The sign reads: "Juang Bay Art Painted Pottery Store".The carriage went around a lawn and stopped at the door of the store.

Forestier wanted to buy two vases to put on the bookshelves.Unable to get out of the car, people had to bring samples one by one for him to choose.He chose for a long time, and from time to time he consulted his wife and Duroy. "You know, I want to put the vase on the innermost bookshelf in the study; you can see it as long as you sit on the office chair. I want to choose an antique one, preferably with a Greek style." Picking, looking at the back, but also want to see the front.In the end, he finally settled on two pieces.After paying the money, he ordered the clerk to deliver it to his villa immediately. "In a few days, I'm going back to Paris." He said.

When the carriage returned, a biting cold wind suddenly blew from the depths of the valley along the bay.Forestier began to cough.

At the beginning, I just coughed twice slightly.Gradually, the cough became more severe each time, and finally he was panting, making hoarse wheezing sounds.

Forestier was having difficulty breathing, and whenever he inhaled, there would be a violent chest cough in his throat; there was nothing he could do to stop it and relieve his pain.They had to carry him from the car back to the room.Duroy lifted his lower body and felt that every time his lungs twitched, his legs would also tremble.

The warm blanket did not make any improvement in his condition, and the violent cough continued until midnight.Finally, the use of anesthetics finally eased the fatal cough.Forestier leaned against the head of the bed with his eyes open until dawn.

This morning, the first thing he said was to get someone to shave him.Shaving in the morning has been his habit for many years.But when he got out of bed to shave, his breathing immediately became short of breath, and everyone had to help him lie down again.Madame Forestier panicked and sent someone to wake Duroy who had just gone to bed and ask him to go to the doctor.

Duroy quickly invited Dr. Cavo.The doctor prescribed a decoction and gave some instructions.Duroy specially sent the doctor out to hear his opinion. "The patient will not last long," said the doctor, "and it does not seem to last tonight. Tell the poor lady to send for a priest. There is nothing I can do. But I am at your disposal if need be." .”

Duroy had his servants call Madame Forestier, and said:

"He's dying. The doctor suggested a priest. What do you think?"

Madame Forestier pondered for a while, and after careful consideration, she said word by word:

"Yes, in all respects... it's better... I'll have to prepare him and tell him that the priest wants to see him... But I don't understand anything. Fortunately you're here, if you please Find a priest for me, and be sure to choose an honest one. Tell him that he is only here to listen to the confession of the sick, and don't care about other things.

Duroy soon brought in an elderly priest who was willing to help.The priest entered the sick room, and Madame Forestier withdrew immediately, and sat down with Duroy in the adjoining room.

"He looked very disturbed," she said, "and when I said the word 'Father,' he had a terrible look...as if...as if realizing...you know...he knew he was hopeless , there is not much time left..."

Madame Forestier paled, and continued:

"I will never forget his expression. At that moment, he must have seen the god of death. He must have seen it. At this moment, they heard the voice of the priest. Because of hearing loss, the voice of the priest was very loud:
"No, no, your condition is not that bad. You are indeed ill, but not life-threatening, and I am visiting you today as a friend and neighbor."

They could not hear what Forestier said, but the priest said:
"No, no, I'm not here to make you receive Holy Communion. We'll talk about it when you're a little better. If you want to confess, I'm more than happy to listen. I'm a priest, and I'll take every opportunity, Instruct my disciples."

Then there was a long silence.Forestier must have said something out of breath.

After a while, the voice of the priest suddenly came; it was completely different from before, as if reciting scriptures on the altar:
"God is very merciful. My child, please recite the Confession. Maybe you have forgotten, so I will help you, please say with me: Confite or Deoomni potenti Beatae Mariaesem pervirgini..." The priest stopped now and then, so that Forestier kept pace with him.Then he said:

"Now, please repent..."

Madame Forestier and Duroy listened quietly, agitated and disturbed by the anxious waiting. Forestier muttered for a while, and the priest said:

"My child, you are saying that you have had moments of undeserved triumph... of what nature?
Upon hearing this, Madame Forestier stood up and said to Duroy:

"We shouldn't listen to his secrets. Let's go for a walk in the garden."

So they went downstairs and sat down on a bench by the door.Above the head, there is a rose tree full of flowers; a clump of carnations is planted not far in front, and the strong fragrance of flowers floats towards them from time to time.

After a moment of silence, Duroy asked:
"Are you going to stay here for a while before returning to Paris?"

Madame Forestier replied: "No. I will go back as soon as the business is over."

"Ten days?"

"Ten days at most."

Duroy then asked: "Has he no other relatives?"

"No, except for a few distant relatives. His parents died when he was very young."

At this time, a butterfly was collecting honey in the carnation.The two stared at it in unison.The butterfly flapped its wings incessantly, from one carnation to another; even when it stopped, the wings were still beating gently.The two of them sat like this in silence until a servant came to inform them that the priest had heard the confession.

They went back upstairs together.

Compared with the previous night, Forestier seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

The priest shook his hand and said:

"Goodbye, boy, I'll be back tomorrow morning."

After saying goodbye, he left.

As soon as the priest left, Forestier, out of breath, stretched out his hands to his wife with difficulty, and said intermittently:

"Help me, save me, my dear, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, oh! Help me! I'll listen to you, go to the doctor... He will give me any medicine... ...I don't want to die...I don't want to die..."

As he spoke, he began to cry.Big tears flowed down the cheeks; the corners of the shriveled mouth were wrinkled, like a sad child.

His hands were put back on the bed, moving slowly and regularly, as if trying to grab something from the quilt.

His wife broke down in sobs, choked up and said:

"Don't talk nonsense, how can it be so serious? This is just a temporary episode, because you were too tired yesterday, and you will be fine tomorrow."

Forestier was short of breath, and spoke in such a feeble voice that he could hardly hear him.

He kept saying:

"I don't want to die! Oh! God... God... God! What will happen to me? I can't see... nothing... never see... Oh! God!"

Forestier's eyes were staring ahead, as if seeing something terrible that others couldn't see, showing a look of horror.At the same time, both hands are still repeating the action just now.

Suddenly, he shivered, and his whole body trembled from top to bottom; then, he murmured:
"The cemetery... I...God..."

He didn't speak again, just lay there motionless, panting with panic on his face.

Time passed minute by minute.At twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, the bell of a nearby monastery suddenly rang.Duroy went out of the room and ate something.An hour later, he returned to the room.Madame Forestier wanted nothing to eat.Her husband lay motionless, still clutching the sheet with his gaunt hands, as if trying to pull it up to his face.

Madame Forestier sat in an armchair at the foot of the bed.Duroy pulled up a chair and sat beside her.The two waited quietly.

The nurse sent by the doctor had already arrived and was dozing off by the window.

Drowsy, Duroy suddenly felt as if something happened.He opened his eyes just in time to see Forestier's eyes closing slowly like two lamps about to go out.There was a slight noise in his throat, and two streams of blood gushed from the corners of his mouth and flowed onto his shirt; the horrible twitching of his hands stopped, and his breathing stopped.

His wife understood and uttered a whimper; she bent her legs and fell on the edge of the bed and wept.Duroy was at a loss, and subconsciously crossed himself on his chest.The female nurse who was awakened came to the bed and said: "He has already gone." Duroy quickly calmed down, as if he was finally relieved, and sighed: "I didn't expect him to go so fast."

After a few tears, the initial shock gradually disappeared; everyone started to deal with the funeral and notify the relevant parties.For this reason, Duroy kept running until dark.

When he came back, he was already hungry.Madame Forestier ate only a little.After dinner, the two went to the bedroom on the second floor to keep vigil for the deceased.

There were two lighted candles on the bedside table, and a sprig of acacia soaked in a saucer nearby, because they hadn't found the boxwood sprig they needed.

There were only the two of them in the room, a young man and a young woman, standing alone beside the dead Forestier.From time to time they looked up at the deceased, relatively silent and preoccupied.

Under the dim candlelight, the shadow around the corpse made Duroy deeply disturbed.He stared intently at the dead man's thin face; it looked even more sunken in the flickering light.At this moment, his mood is difficult to calm down.This is his friend, Charlie Forestier.Yesterday, this friend also talked to him!How terrifying it is for a living person to disappear like this!How incredible!Duroy couldn't help but think of what Nobel de Wallen once said to him "the dead cannot be resurrected".Although thousands of new lives come every day, they have noses, eyes, mouths, heads, and thoughts, but the one lying on the bed can never be resurrected.

In the years he lived, Forestier, like everyone else, could eat and drink, talk and laugh, enjoyed beautiful love, and was full of hope for life.But in the blink of an eye, he just disappeared.a life!In just a few days, it disappeared forever!Once a person is born, he will grow up slowly, taste the taste of life, embrace infinite hope, and then death will come.Neither men nor women can ever be resurrected from the dead.Despite this, people still hold the illusion of "immortality".In fact, human beings are just a small world in the vast universe, which will be wiped out in a blink of an eye and turned into nourishment for nurturing new shoots.Flowers, plants, trees, birds and animals, all living beings, a little bit of stars, and the vast world will all die after gaining life, and then transform into something else.Whether it is insects, humans, or planets, they will not reappear after they die.

In this vast world of nothingness where no one is spared, life is so short and insignificant.Thinking of these, Duroy felt heavy and filled with fear.Facing the power to destroy everything, he had no choice but to bow his head and obey orders.What is the difference between insects and ants with a life of only a few days or hours, or people with a life of decades, or even the earth with a life of centuries?It's just to see the morning sun a few more times.

Duroy looked away from the corpse.

Madame Forestier bowed her head, as if thinking of something painful; her blond hair was beautiful despite her sadness.Looking at her, Duroy couldn't help feeling a beautiful feeling that his wish was about to come true.He still has a long time to come, why bother to trouble himself now?
Duroy looked intently at the oblivious Madame Forestier, thinking to herself:

"In life, love is the only happiness. Being able to hold the one you love in your arms is the greatest joy in life."

I don't know what luck this dead friend had had to marry such a smart and charming wife.How did they meet?Why should she marry such a mediocre and incompetent wretch?How did he later become a figure in the press?

Many secrets in life puzzled Duroy.I remember that it was once rumored that this marriage was facilitated by an earl named de Wardrake, who provided her with a dowry.

Now, what is her plan?Who are you going to marry?Could it be, as Madame de Marais guessed, to marry a member of parliament, or a handsome man a hundred times stronger than Forestier, young and full of vigor?Does she have any specific ideas or plans?He wished he could find out everything!Why does he care so much about her future?Duroy thought about it, and found that his worries came from some hazy and ulterior thoughts in his heart; people often hide them, and they can only be discovered by digging deep into the soul.

Yeah, why didn't he try to win her over?If he can get her, his future will be smooth, and his future is limitless!
He will definitely succeed!He clearly felt that Mrs. Forestier was interested in him; and it was not just a general affection, but a tacit and mutual attraction between a man and a woman.She knew he was smart, courageous, enduring, and a man to trust.

(End of this chapter)