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第42章

the crime of sylvestre bonnard(西维斯特·博拉德的罪行)-第42章


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these   facts   one to   another? And   in   saying   this;  Monsieur   Bonnard;  I   am 

supposing that the historian has positive evidence before him; whereas in 

reality he feels confidence only in such or such a witness for sympathetic 

reasons。 History is not a science; it is an art; and one can succeed in that 

art only through the exercise of his faculty of imagination。〃 

     Monsieur   Gelis   reminds   me   very   much   at   this   moment   of   a   certain 

young   fool   whom   I   heard   talking   wildly   one   day   in   the   garden   of   the 

Luxembourg;   under   the   statue   of   Marguerite   of   Navarre。   But   at   another 

turn of the conversation we find ourselves face to face with Walter Scott; 

whose      work     my     disdainful     young     friend    pleases    to   term    〃rococo; 

troubadourish;       and    only    fit  to  inspire   somebody       engaged      in  making 

designs for cheap bronze clocks。〃 Those are his very words! 

     〃Why!〃   I   exclaim;  zealous to defend   the   magnificent   creator   of   'The 

Bride of Lammermoor' and 'The Fair Maid of Perth;' 〃the whole past lives 

in those admirable novels of his;that is history; that is epic!〃 

     〃It is frippery;〃 Gelis answers me。 

     And;will   you   believe   it?this   crazy   boy   actually   tells   me   that   no 

matter how learned one may be; one cannot possibly know just how men 

used   to   live   five   or   ten   centuries   ago;   because   it   is   only   with   the   very 

greatest difficulty that one can picture them to oneself even as they were 

only   ten   or   fifteen   years   ago。   In   his   opinion;   the   historical   poem;   the 

historical   novel;   the   historical   painting;   are   all;   according   to   their   kind; 

abominably false as branches of art。 

     〃In all the arts;〃 he adds; 〃the artist can only reflect his own soul。 His 

work; no matter how it may be dressed up; is of necessity contemporary 

with himself; being the reflection of his own mind。 What do we admire in 

the 'Divine Comedy' unless it be the great soul of Dante? And the marbles 

of Michael Angelo; what do they represent to us that is at all extraordinary 

unless it be Michael Angelo himself? The artist either communicates his 

own life to his creations; or else merely whittles out puppets and dresses 

up dolls。〃 

     What a torrent of paradoxes and irreverences! But boldness in a young 

man is not displeasing to me。 Gelis gets up from his chair and sits down 

again。    I  know     perfectly   well    what    is  worrying     him;   and    whom   he     is 



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waiting for。 And now he begins to talk to me about his being able to make 

fifteen hundred francs a year; to which he can add the revenue he derives 

from   a   little   property   that   he   has   inheritedtwo   thousand   francs   a   year 

more。   And   I   am   not   in   the   least   deceived   as   to   the   purpose   of   these 

confidences on his part。 I know perfectly well that he is only making his 

little financial statements in order to persuade me that he is comfortably 

circumstanced;   steady;   fond   of   home;   comparatively   independentor;   to 

put   the   matter   in   the   fewest   words   possible;   able   to   marry。   Quod   erat 

demonstrandum;as the geometricians say。 

     He has got   up and sat   down just twenty  times。 He now  rises for the 

twenty…first time; and; as he has not been able to see Jeanne; he goes away 

feeling as unhappy as possible。 

     The moment he has gone; Jeanne comes into the City of Books; under 

the   pretext   of   looking   for   Hannibal。   She   is   also   quite   unhappy;   and   her 

voice becomes singularly plaintive as she calls her pet to give him some 

milk。 Look at that sad little face; Bonnard! Tyrant; gaze upon thy work! 

Thou hast been able to keep them from seeing each other; but they have 

now both of them the same expression of countenance; and thou mayest 

discern   from   that   similarity   of   expression   that   in   spite   of   thee   they   are 

united in thought。 Cassandra; be happy! Bartholo; rejoice! This is what it 

means   to   be   a   guardian!   Just   see   her   kneeling   down there   on   the   carpet 

with Hannibal's head between her hands! 

     Yes; caress the stupid animal!pity him!moan over him!we know 

very  well;   you   little   rogue;  the   real   cause   of   all   these   sighs   and   plaints! 

Nevertheless; it makes a very pretty picture。 I look at it for a long time; 

then; throwing a glance around my library; I exclaim; 

     〃Jeanne; I am tired of all those books; we must sell them。〃 

       September 20。 

       It is done!they are betrothed。 Gelis; who is an orphan; as Jeanne is; 

did not make his proposal to me in person。 He got one of his professors; an 

old colleague of mine; highly esteemed for his learning and character; to 

come to me on his behalf。 But what a love messenger! Great Heavens! A 

bearneat a bear of the Pyrenees; but a literary bear; and this latter variety 

of bear is much more ferocious than the former。 



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     〃Right   or   wrong   (in   my   opinion   wrong)   Gelis   says   that   he   does   not 

want any  dowry;   he   takes   your   ward   with   nothing   but   her  chemise。  Say 

yes; and the thing is settled! Make haste about it! I want to show you two 

or three very curious old tokens from Lorraine which I am sure you never 

saw before。〃 

     That   is   literally   what   he   said   to   me。   I   answered   him   that   I   would 

consult Jeanne; and I found no small pleasure in telling him that my ward 

had a dowry。 

     Her dowrythere it is in front of me! It is my library。 Henri and Jeanne 

have     not   even    the   faintest   suspicion     about    it;  and   the  fact   is  I  am 

commonly believed to be much richer than I am。 I have the face of an old 

miser。 It is certainly a lying face; but its untruthfulness has often won for 

me   a   great deal   of   consideration。 There is nobody  so   much   respected in 

this world as a stingy rich man。 

     I  have   consulted Jeanne;but   what   was the  need of   listening   for  her 

answer? It is done! They are betrothed。 

     It   would   ill become   my   character   as   well   as   my  face   to   watch   these 

young people any longer for the mere purpose of noting down their words 

and   gestures。   Noli   me   tangere:that   is   the   maxim  for   all   charming   love 

affairs。 I know my duty。 It is to respect all the little secrets of that innocent 

soul intrusted to me。 Let these children love each other all they can! Never 

a word of their fervent outpouring of mutual confidences; never a hint of 

their    artless  self…betrayals;     will   be  set   down     in  this  diary   by   the   old 

guardian whose authority was so gentle and so brief。 At all events; I am 

not going to remain with my arms folded; and if they have their business 

to attend   to; I  have mine   also。  I am  preparing a  catalogue of   my  books; 

with a view to having them all sold at auction。 It is a task which saddens 

and   amuses   me   at   the   same   time。   I   linger   over   it;   perhaps   a   good   deal 

longer than I ought to do; turning the leaves of all those works which have 

become so familiar to my thought; to my touch; to my sighteven out of 

all necessity and reason。 But it is a farewell; and it has ever been in the 

nature of man to prolong a farewell。 

     This ponderous volume here; which has served me so much for thirty 

long years; how can I leave it without according it every kindness that a 



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faithful servant deserves? And this one again; which has so often consoled 

me by its wholesome doctrines; must I not bow down before it for the last 

time; as to a Master? But each time that I meet with a volume which led 

me into error; which ever afflicted me with false dates; omissions; lies; and 

other plagues of the archaeologist; I say to it with bitter joy: 〃Go! imposter; 

traitor; false…witness! flee thou far away from me for ever;vade retro! all 

absurdly   covered   with   gold   as   thou   art!   and   I   pray   it   may   befall   thee 

thanks to thy usurped reputation and thy comely morocco attire to take 

thy   place   in   the   cabinet   of   some   banker…bibliomaniac;   whom   thou   wilt 

never   be   able   to   seduce   as   thou   has   seduced   me;   because   he   will   never 

read one single line of thee。〃 

     I laid aside some books I must always keepthose books which were 

given to me as souvenirs。 As I placed among them the manuscript of the 

〃Golden Legend;〃 I could not but kiss it in memory of Madame Trepof; 

who   remained   grateful   to   me   in   spite   of   her   high   position   and   all   her 

wealth; and who became my benefactress merely to prove to me that she 

felt I had once done her a kindness。。。。 Thus I had made a reserve。 It was 

then that; for the first time; I felt myself inclined to commit a deliberate 

crime。   All   through   that   night   I   was   strongly   tempted;   by   morning   the 

temptation had become irresistible。 Everybody else in the house was still 

asleep。 I got out of bed and stole softly from my room。 

     Ye powers of darkness!   ye   phantoms of   the   night! if   while   lingering 

within my home after the crowing of the cock; you saw me stealing about 

on tiptoe in the City of Books; you certainly never cried out; as Madame 

Trepof   did   at   Naples;   〃That   old   man   has   a   good…natured   round   back!〃   I 

entered the library; Hannibal; with his tail perpendicularly erected; came 

to rub himself against my legs and purr。 I seized a volume from its shelf; 

some   venerable   Gothic   text   or   some   noble   poet   of   the   Renaissancethe 

jewel; the treasure which I had been dreaming about all night; I seized it 

and slipped it away into the very bottom of the closet which I had reserved 

for those books I intended to retain; and which soon became full almost to 

bursting。 It is horrible to relate: I was stealing from the dowry of Jeanne! 

And when the crime had been consummated I set myself again sturdily to 

the   task   of   cataloguing;   until   Jeanne   came   to   consult   me   in   regard   to 



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something   about   a   dress   or   a trousseau。   I   could   not  pos

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