Chapter 18 sixteen

We set out from Brest without a single letter announcing our arrival. When we approached Varennes we jumped from the post-express and told the driver to take the longest road to Saint-Severn, while we cut our own way through the woods.My heart beats when I catch a glimpse of the great tree in the garden rising awe-inspiringly over the coppice, like a Druidic priest standing aloft in the midst of a prostrate throng of worshipers. It was so intense that I had to stop. ①Druidism, the religion practiced by the ancient Celts and Gauls. "What's the matter!" Marcus turned his head with an almost stern look, as if to reproach me for my weakness.

After a while, however, I noticed the same unexpected passion in his countenance.A short whine and the friction of a bushy tail between his legs made him shudder, and he let out a cry as he recognized Blalow.The poor animal, sniffing out its master from afar, rushed up with the swiftness of a child, and rolled before him.At first we thought the dog was going to die, and saw it curled up in a ball under Marcus's caress, and stood still; Patience's hut ran back. "Yes, tell my friend, good dog!" cried Marcus, "more friends than people." He turned to me, and I saw two large tears rolling down the cheeks of the expressionless Spanish nobleman.

We quickened our pace and walked towards the hut.The cottage has been visibly renovated.A pretty country garden spread around the house; the garden was surrounded by green hedges and behind the hedges was a row of rocks.We no longer passed a path full of gravel, but walked in along a beautiful path, with lush vegetables on both sides lined up in neat rows, like an army walking in unison.The vanguard consisted of a battalion of cabbages; carrots and lettuce formed the main force;Apple trees, already strong and upright, cast shade over these crops; pear trees, trimmed into spindles or fans, alternated with beds of sunflowers, thyme and sage blowing the roots of cinnamon.All this points to a strange change in Patience, a return to the notion of social order, and even to the habits of luxury.

This change was so conspicuous that I really thought that Patience would no longer be found in this residence.A more serious uneasiness seized me again; and I was almost convinced that my uneasiness was justified when I saw two young villagers busy trimming the rows of fruit trees planted on the wall.Our voyage lasted more than four months, so we heard nothing from the hermit for six months.But Marcus didn't seem worried; Blairo had told him that Patience was alive, and that the track the pup had just left on the sand showed the direction it had taken.Having said that, I was afraid to see such a happy day disturbed, and dared not ask the two gardeners about Patience.I silently followed Marcus, who scanned the new paradise with emotional eyes, and only one sentence came out of his cautious mouth: "It has changed!" Repeated several times.

Finally I got impatient; the trail was endless, despite the fact that it was short.I started running, my heart was beating with excitement. "Perhaps Edmee is here!" I said to myself. But she is not there.I only heard the voice of the hermit saying: "Ouch! What's the matter? Is the poor dog mad? Lie down, Blalow! You can't torture your master like this. That's what it's like to be spoiled!" "Blello is not mad," I said, as I entered the door; "are you so deaf that you cannot hear a friend approaching, Mr. Paccience?" Patience dropped the wad of money he was counting on the table, and greeted me as sincerely as ever.I embraced him; he was amazed and moved by my gaiety; then he looked me over from head to toe, amazed at the change that had taken place in me, until Marcus came to the door.

At this moment Patience's face showed a contented expression; he raised his big hand to the sky, and cried: "It's the words of the hymn! Now I can rest in peace, because my eyes see the person I was expecting." Marcus said nothing, raised his hat as usual, sat down on a chair, paled, and closed his eyes.His dog jumped on his lap and tried to show affection with a short bark that turned into a series of sneezes (he was born mute, you remember).Trembling with old age and joy, he stretched out his pointed nose towards his master's; but his master did not answer, as usual:

"Lie down, Blalow!" Marcus fainted. This amorous man, no more verbal than Blalow, was overwhelmed with utter bliss.Patience ran to get him a jug of local wine, from the next year, that is to say the oldest and best possible.After Marcus drank a few sips of this wine, he woke up under the stimulation of the sour taste of the wine.The last nobles of Spain attributed his fainting to fatigue and heat; he was unwilling or incapable of giving the real cause.There are such souls that, having burnt out for an incomparable spiritual perfection and nobility, go out, and never find a way, or even feel the need to express themselves to others.

Patience, in contrast to his friend, was a man of sensuality; and when his first impulse had calmed down, he turned to me and said: "Hey! My officer, I don't think you want to stay here long. Let us hurry to where you are so anxious to go. I assure you, someone will be very surprised and very happy." We enter the garden; as we pass, Patience explains to us his abode and the sudden change in his life.He said: "As for me, you see I haven't changed. Same clothes, same manners; just now I gave you wine, but I didn't stop drinking water. I've got money, land, and workers, yes! It's not up to me, as you will know. Miss Edmee told me about three years ago that she had difficulty in doling out doles properly. Priests are no better at it than she is. They are cheated out of money every day. go, put to bad use, and the self-respecting, hard-working day laborers are short of food and clothing, and no one knows. She is afraid that if she asks their needs, they will be considered as a humiliation; Always would rather be cheated than miss the chance of relief. In this way, she gave a lot of money, but did little good. So I let her understand that money is not the most needed thing for the poor; , not to be able to dress better than others, to go to the tavern on Sundays, to show off white stockings and red elastic garters on the knees at high mass, not to be able to say: 'My stallion, my cow, my grape , my barn, etc.,' but from infirmity and bad harvests, unable to defend against severe cold. Severe heat, sickness, unable to escape from hunger and thirst. I told her not to judge the strength and strength of farmers by me. to understand their ailments and needs in person. These people are not philosophers; Willing to save a sum of money for a real emergency. In short, they are not good at managing money; they tell you that you are in debt, and even if it is, they don't really want to use your relief money to pay off the debt. They don't care about the future, they want them Will pay as much interest as you want; they use your money to buy a marijuana field or a set of furniture to impress and envy the neighbors in the neighborhood. But the debt grows every year and eventually you have to sell the marijuana field and furniture because The creditor is always one of them, urging them to pay, or demanding interest they cannot pay. It's all over, their funds pay principal, income pay interest. Men are too old to work; children abandon you, Because you did not bring them up well, and because they had the same tastes and the same vanity as you; you had to pick up your begging bags and go begging from door to door, because you were used to bread, not like the wizard Pash Anse can survive by eating grass roots and bark; Patience, a person abandoned by nature, everyone hates and despises him because he did not allow himself to become a beggar.

"Besides, a beggar is no less unfortunate than a day laborer, and may be better off. U4 Hanako no longer has respectable or stupid pride; he no longer suffers. The local people are well-meaning; there is no 'begging bag man' There will be a lack of shelter and food when begging. The farmers load him with bread cubes, so that he can feed the poultry and pigs in the small hut. Nothing to do but count the few centimes he received. The poor money was often spent on the luxuries of idleness. Small peasants seldom smoked; Bread is more urgent. So beggars deserve no more sympathy than laborers. They are neither bad nor vicious (there are, after all, very few bad ones), but corrupt.

"I said to Edmee: 'Well, that's what ought to be done; the abbé told me that's the opinion of your philosophers too. A benevolent man like you should not ask the applicant what he likes, but find out. Help when they really need it.' "Edmee answered that it was impossible for her to do so, and that would require investigation all day, leaving Mr. Knight alone, but he was getting old enough to read and do nothing without his daughter's eyes and mind. No. The priest was too fond of consulting the books of the sages to have time for other distractions. "I said to her: 'Look, what's the use of knowledge; such knowledge makes a man forget to do good.'

"Edmee answered: 'You are quite right; but what is to be done?' "I promise to think about it. Here, here's what I've come up with. Instead of walking this side of the woods as I used to, I'll walk every day over the field. It's hard for me; I like to be alone, how much Over the years, I have avoided people everywhere, and I will not associate with them anymore. But this is an obligation after all, I have to do it. I approached the farmer's house, first through the fence, and then into the inner room, and asked what I wanted to know through conversation. At first , they treated me like a dry-season mourner; I saw the disgust and suspicion in the faces of these people, and couldn't help hiding my annoyance. I don't want to live among people, but I love them. I know them I'm more unhappy than bad. I'm sad for their misery all day long, and I rage at those who caused their misfortune. When I first see that it's possible to do something for some people, they catch a glimpse of me coming from afar and hurry Shut the door; and their children, the pretty ones I love so much, hid in the ditches to avoid the fever, which I was told would catch me if I looked at them. But Edmee's friendship to me was known, and dared not speak of it openly. I drove away, and at last I learned what we were interested in. Whatever danger I told Edmee she helped. A house with cracks; when a girl put on a cotton apron at four francs a foot , the rain fell on the grandmother's bed and the child's cradle. We sent men to repair the roof and walls, and we supplied the materials and paid for the labor; but the money for the gorgeous apron was not given. Elsewhere, an old woman a beggar, she obeyed her heart, and gave all her property to her children; they drove her out of the house, or made her unable to stay at home, and preferred to go out and wander. We acted as lawyers for the old woman, claiming that Provide legal costs, take the case to court, so as to obtain a pension for her, and then add some money to the pensioners when it is not enough. We persuade some elderly people in the same situation to join together and live together; we give them Because he is an industrialist, he is powerful and his business is prosperous, his children come to make peace with him and ask permission to help him in his business. ① Refers to the ancient chi, which is about 1.20 per ancient chi rice. "We did a lot of other things too, I won't go into the details, you'll know later. I say 'we' because gradually, although I don't want to be involved in anything other than what I've done, the body Involuntarily, compelled to do and do, to intervene in many things, in the end, in all things. In short, it was I who investigated, presided over, and negotiated everything. Miss Edmee wanted me to be in charge of a sum of money without first consulting her. Opinions can be used; that's something I won't allow, and she never once contradicted my ideas. But all this, you see, makes me tired and worried. The residents know that I am a little After Durgo prostrated before me, and it pained me to see it. I have therefore some friends whom I do not take care of, and some enemies which I exclude. The false poor hate me for not being fooled by them; the ignorant and The scumbags always think that other people get more, and they get less. Amidst this noise and these troubles, I no longer walk at night, nor sleep during the day; I am Mr. Patience, No longer a wizard from the Tower of Gazzo, but I'm no longer a hermit either. Believe me, I sincerely wish that the born selfish man could drop the collar and restore my solitary life and my freedom .” We congratulate Patience on this statement; but we venture to question his alleged self-sacrifice; this fine garden shows that he has compromised with the "superfluous necessities" which he always lamented. thing. "These?" said he, stretching out his arms toward the enclosed garden, "I have nothing to do with them; they did it against my will; but they are warm-hearted people, and my refusal would hurt them, so I have to put up with it. You know, even though I have done many unpleasant things, I have done some things which are thankful. No, there are two or three families I have helped to try to please me; I refuse all rewards, They wanted to give me unexpected joy. Once, I was entrusted to me for a few days in Beitnu; because I was imagined to be a great genius, people easily jumped from one extreme to the other. Back When I found this garden demarcated, planted, and hedged, as you see it, I raged in vain, saying that I would not labor, that I was old and not worth the pleasure of eating a few more fruits and labored to maintain the garden; they built it regardless of my opinion, saying that they were in charge of planting the plants for me, and that I had nothing to do. Indeed, for two years, enthusiastic people kept coming, and sometimes this person , sometimes that man, spends the time necessary to keep the garden in order according to the season. Besides, although I have not changed my way of life, the produce of this garden is useful to me. In winter I can feed a few poor people with my vegetables ;the fruit won me the friendship of the children, who stopped crying 'Wolf is coming' when they saw me, and even took courage to kiss the wizard. And I was forced to accept wine, and sometimes white bread and milk cheese; all these Only to enable me to be courteous to the elders of the village, who come from time to time to state my local needs and entrust me to convey to the lord of the castle. You see, these honors do not make me dizzy; I may even say that when I roughly When I'm done with what I have to do, I'll put aside all considerations of honor and go back to my philosopher's life, maybe back to Garzo Tower, who knows?" Our walk is coming to an end.When I stepped up the steps of the castle, I suddenly felt a pious feeling, folded my hands, and prayed for God's blessing in fear.A vague sense of dread awakened in me.I envision everything that might stand in the way of my happiness, hesitate to cross the threshold, and rush forward.A shadow passed before my eyes, and a humming filled my ears.I met St. John, who did not recognize me, and threw himself upon me with a cry, to prevent my unannounced entry.I pushed him aside; he sank into a chair in the antechamber in shock, and I rushed to the drawing-room door.But just as I was about to slam the door open, I stopped, feeling a sudden new terror; I opened it timidly, and caught a glimpse of Edmee, busy embroidering on a trestle, without raising my eyes, thinking that the slight sound It just means the usual submissiveness of St. John.The knight fell asleep, and did not wake, and the tall and lean old man, like all Mauprats, collapsed in the great easy-chair; A bony face carved in oak is very similar.Although the sun was balmy, and a bright light fell on his white-haired head, making the head shine like silver, his feet were stretched out before the fire of the dried grapevines.How can I describe to you how Edmee's gesture made me feel?She leaned over the velvet, raising her eyes to her father from time to time to observe the slightest movement in his sleep.What patience and obedience she displayed in her whole being!Edmee disliked needlework, her mind was too serious to value the neatness of stitch after stitch and the effect of subtle differences in color from thread to thread.Besides, she was young, and as long as the mind was not absorbed by intellectual work, she had to be out of doors for physical activity.But since her father was stricken with old age and could hardly leave his easy chair anymore, she could not leave him for a moment; she could not always read the newspapers and use her brains, and felt obliged to learn from women."Women reds are a pastime in captivity," she says, and in this way she restrains her character in heroic fashion.In these obscure struggles, often wrought under our watchful eyes, without our imagining their value, she has done far more than overcome her own character, she has changed the circulation of her blood.I noticed that she was thin, and that the delicate color of youth had faded from her face, which was like a thin frost on the fruit by the morning breath, which, although undamaged by the heat of the sun, would fade away at the slightest external impact. Disappeared.Yet there was an indescribable charm in this morbid thinness and premature pallor.Her deeper, ever-unfathomable gaze was no longer so haughty, and more melancholy than ever.The changeable corners of her mouth were no longer so contemptuous when she smiled, and her expression became more delicate.When she spoke to me, I seemed to see two persons in her; the old and the new; and I felt that, far from losing her beauty, she was growing toward ideal perfection.But I heard some women of the time say that she had "changed a great deal," that is, that, according to them, Edmee had lost much of her beauty.But beauty is like a sanctuary, and the layman only sees the magnificent appearance.The artist's supernatural thoughts are only revealed when he meets his soulmate; every detail of a wonderful masterpiece contains an inspiration, which is invisible to ordinary people.I think one of your modern writers has said this in other words, and expresses it more clearly.As for me, there was no moment in Edmee's life when I thought she was less beautiful than another.Even in pain, when beauty in the material sense seemed to disappear, her beauty was apotheosis to my eyes, transformed into a new spiritual beauty, reflected in her radiant face.Besides, as far as art is concerned, I am of average talent; if I were a painter, I might reproduce but one image—the image that fills my soul; for in all my long life there has been only one woman who has seemed to me to be truly beautiful. Yes, this woman was Edmee. I stared at her for a while, her face was pale and moving, melancholy and serene, the embodiment of filial piety, her strength bound by love.Then I rushed over and fell at her feet, unable to say a word.She neither uttered a sound nor exclaimed; but she threw her arms around my head, and held it against her heart for a long time.In this powerful embrace, in this silent joy, I recognize the lineage of our family, my sister.The good knight awoke with a start, bent forward with his elbows on his knees, looked at us intently, and said: "Okay, what does that mean?" He could not see my face, which was hidden in Edmee's arms; she pushed me towards him; the old man embraced me in his feeble arms with kindness and generosity, and the impulse of emotion revived him instantly with youthful vigor. I leave you to imagine the multitude of questions asked of me and the infinite care I received.Edmee was a real mother to me.There was something so holy about this spontaneous kindness and trust that it was impossible for me to think about her all day long, except that I was indeed her son. I was deeply moved by the arrangements they had made to surprise the abbe on my return; I saw in it a sure evidence of his heartfelt delight.They hid me under Edmee's frame, and covered me with the great green cloth of her work.The priest sat down next to me; I caught his legs and made him cry out.This is a joke I used to play with him a lot in the old days.He had a very odd look of mixed joy and horror on his face when I suddenly toppled the frame, sending all the balls of wool rolling to the floor, and jumped out of my hiding place. But I will no longer describe to you all these scenes of domestic life, which I recall too easily involuntarily.