The Seven Cardinal Sins: Envy and Indolence. Эжен Сю

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СКАЧАТЬ whom I ensconced in the sort of cave at Grand Sire's Rock. 'Now, Sigismond, listen carefully to what I am going to say to you,' I began. 'The chevalier will soon be here. You are to count one thousand, so as to give him time to press his suit. I, too, will count a thousand, but not until we get to nine hundred and ninety-eight will I show any signs of softening toward the chevalier. Then you must begin to utter your osprey cries.' 'Capital, marquise, capital!' 'Hush, you bad boy, and listen to me. I shall say to the chevalier, "Oh, that horrid bird! I am frightfully superstitious about the osprey. Run to the château and get a gun to kill the hateful thing, and afterward we will see." The chevalier will run to get the gun, and then, my dear Sigismond, I will join you in the cave.' 'Really, marquise, you are the most charming little devil imaginable!' 'Hide, hide quick! here comes the chevalier.' And poor Lunel withdrew into his hole and began to count one, two, three, four, etc., while I went to join the chevalier."

      "I can see the dear president's face now, as he carefully counted one, two, three, four, while the chevalier was with you," exclaimed Zerbinette, laughing like mad.

      "All I can tell you, girl, is that though I had promised poor Lunel not to soften toward the chevalier until we had got to nine hundred and ninety-eight, I really didn't count more than ten. After awhile, the president, who had finished his thousand, began to play the osprey with all his might, and his strange, shrill, wild cries seemed to disturb the chevalier so much that I said:

      "'It is the osprey. Run to the château and get a gun to kill the horrid thing. I hate the abominable creature so I long to tear it in pieces with my own hands. Run and get the gun. I will wait for you here.' 'What a strange whim, marquise. It is getting very dark, and you will be afraid here in the forest alone.' 'Nonsense, chevalier, I am no coward. Run to the château and come back as soon as you can.' It was quite time, my girl, for when I went to the poor president, his voice had begun to fail him, but fortunately he was all right again in a minute."

      "And when the chevalier returned, madame?"

      "He found the president and me not far from the place where we are now. 'You have come at last, chevalier,' I called out to him at a distance; 'but for the president, whom I met by chance, I should have died of fear.' 'I told you so, marquise,' he replied. 'And the osprey, I think I must have frightened him off, for I haven't heard him since I met the marquise,' replied the president. 'But, by the way, my dear chevalier,' added poor Lunel, innocently, 'do you know that the cry of the osprey always indicates some calamity?' and as he spoke the president slyly squeezed my left arm. 'Yes, my dear president, I have always heard that the cry is prophetic of evil,' responded the chevalier, squeezing my right arm. Afterward, when I went crazy over that actor, Clairville, he and I had many a good laugh over this little affair with the president and the chevalier, so for a long time 'It is the osprey' was a sort of proverb among the people of our set."

      "Alas! those were fine times, madame."

      "Oh, hush up, Zerbinette, with your alases! Those good times will come again."

      "But when, madame?"

      "Why, in the next world, of course. That was what I used to nearly wear myself out telling Abbé Robertin, who used to go nearly crazy over those delicious white truffles my cousin Doria used to send me. 'Well, madame la marquise, it is surely better to believe in that sort of an immortality than in nothing at all,' he used to reply, while he went on cramming himself. In other words, my girl, I expect to get my girlhood again, and all that goes with it, when I reach paradise."

      "God grant it, madame," responded Zerbinette, devoutly. "Sixteen is certainly a delightful age."

      "That is exactly what I said to myself yesterday while I was watching my grandson. What ardour and enthusiasm he displayed during the hunt! He's a handsome – But look, here is Grand Sire's Rock. It was in that little cave that the poor president played the part of an osprey."

      "Don't go any closer to it, for Heaven's sake, madame. There may be some wild beast in it."

      "I thought of going in to rest awhile."

      "Don't think of such a thing, madame. It must be as damp as a cellar in there."

      "That's a fact, so set my chair under this oak-tree, there on the sunny side. That is right. Where will you find a seat, Zerbinette?"

      "Over there on that rock. It is a little closer to the cave than I like, but never mind."

      "We were speaking of my grandson just now. He is a handsome fellow, there is no doubt about it."

      "There is a certain viscountess who seems to be of the same opinion. It is always M. Raoul this, or M. Raoul that, and I have seen – "

      "You have seen, you have seen – Why, you see nothing at all, girl. The viscountess takes a little notice of the boy merely to blind her idiot of a husband, so he won't get mad and make a fuss when M. de Monbreuil, the viscountess's lover arrives, for I have invited him to come in a few days. There is nothing that makes a house as lively and interesting as to have a lot of lovers about, so I invite all I know; but it is strange you haven't seen through the lady's manœuvre. I warned my grandson, for I feared the innocent, unsophisticated fellow might come to grief, the viscountess is so charming."

      "Innocent, unsophisticated!" exclaimed Zerbinette, shaking her head. "You're mistaken about that, madame, for his infatuation for the mistress doesn't keep him from playing the deuce with her maid."

      "Dear boy! Is that really true, Zerbinette? Is there anything worth looking at among the women the viscountess brought with her?"

      "There is one tall blonde with dark eyes, plump as a partridge, with a complexion like milk, and the loveliest figure – "

      "And you think that Raoul – "

      "You know, madame, that at his age – "

      "Pardi!" exclaimed the marquise, taking another pinch of snuff. "That reminds me," she continued, after a moment's reflection, "you know all about everybody in the neighbourhood, who is it that leads the life of a hermitess in that lonely farmhouse on the Pont Brillant road? You know the place; the house is covered with vines, and there is a porch of rustic work very much like that house my grandson has just been building for his fawns."

      "Oh, yes, I know, madame. It is Madame Bastien who lives there."

      "And who is Madame Bastien?"

      "Did you hear that, madame?" asked Zerbinette, breathlessly.

      "What?"

      "Why, there in the cave. I heard something moving in there."

      "Nonsense, Zerbinette, how silly you are! It is the wind rustling the ivy leaves."

      "Do you really think so, madame?"

      "There isn't the slightest doubt of it. But, tell me, who is this Madame Bastien?"

      "She is the wife of a real estate agent. I suppose you would call him that, for he travels about the country buying tracts of land which he afterward subdivides and sells. He is scarcely ever at home."

      "Ah, he is scarcely ever at home, that would be a great advantage, eh, Zerbinette. But tell me, is it true that this little Bastien is as pretty as people say?"

      "She's a beauty, there's no doubt about it, madame. You remember Madame la Maréchale de Rubempré, don't you?"

      "Yes, and this young woman?"

      "Is as beautiful as she was, perhaps even more so."

      "And СКАЧАТЬ