Friend Patience
by Guy de Maupassant
(1850-1893)
Translators: Albert M.C. McMaster, A.E. Henderson, Mme. Quesada, & others.
by Guy de Maupassant
(1850-1893)
Translators: Albert M.C. McMaster, A.E. Henderson, Mme. Quesada, & others.
"What became of Leremy?"
"He is captain in the Sixth
Dragoons."
"And Pinson?"
"He's a subprefect."
"And Racollet?"
"Dead."
We were searching for other names which
would remind us of the youthful faces of our younger days. Once in a while we
had met some of these old comrades, bearded, bald, married, fathers of several
children, and the realization of these changes had given us an unpleasant
shudder, reminding us how short life is, how everything passes away, how
everything changes. My friend asked me:
"And Patience, fat Patience?"
I almost, howled:
"Oh! as for him, just listen to this.
Four or five years ago I was in Limoges, on a tour of inspection, and I was
waiting for dinner time. I was seated before the big cafe in the Place du
Theatre, just bored to death. The tradespeople were coming by twos, threes or
fours, to take their absinthe or vermouth, talking all the time of their own or
other people's business, laughing loudly, or lowering their voices in order to
impart some important or delicate piece of news.
"I was saying to myself: 'What shall
I do after dinner?' And I thought of the long evening in this provincial town,
of the slow, dreary walk through unknown streets, of the impression of deadly
gloom which these provincial people produce on the lonely traveller, and of the
whole oppressive atmosphere of the place.
"I was thinking of all these things
as I watched the little jets of gas flare up, feeling my loneliness increase
with the falling shadows.
"A big, fat man sat down at the next
table and called in a stentorian voice:
"'Waiter, my bitters!'
"The 'my' came out like the report of
a cannon. I immediately understood that everything was his in life, and not
another's; that he had his nature, by Jove, his appetite, his trousers, his
everything, his, more absolutely and more completely than anyone else's. Then
he looked round him with a satisfied air. His bitters were brought, and he
ordered:
"'My newspaper!'
"I wondered: 'Which newspaper can his
be?' The title would certainly reveal to me his opinions, his theories, his
principles, his hobbies, his weaknesses.
"The waiter brought the Temps. I was
surprised. Why the Temps, a serious, sombre, doctrinaire, impartial sheet? I
thought:
"'He must be a serious man with
settled and regular habits; in short, a good bourgeois.'
"He put on his gold-rimmed
spectacles, leaned back before beginning to read, and once more glanced about
him. He noticed me, and immediately began to stare at me in an annoying manner.
I was even going to ask the reason for this attention, when he exclaimed from
his seat:
"'Well, by all that's holy, if this
isn't Gontran Lardois.'
"I answered:
"'Yes, monsieur, you are not
mistaken.'
"Then he quickly rose and came toward
me with hands outstretched:
"'Well, old man, how are you?'
"As I did not recognize him at all I
was greatly embarrassed. I stammered:
"'Why-very well-and-you?'
"He began to laugh "'I bet you
don't recognize me.'
"'No, not exactly. It seems--however--'
"He slapped me on the back:
"'Come on, no joking! I am Patience,
Robert Patience, your friend, your chum.'
"I recognized him. Yes, Robert
Patience, my old college chum. It was he. I took his outstretched hand:
"'And how are you?'
"'Fine!'
"His smile was like a paean of
victory.
"He asked:
"'What are you doing here?'
"I explained that I was government
inspector of taxes.
"He continued, pointing to my red
ribbon:
"'Then you have-been a success?'
"I answered:
"'Fairly so. And you?'
"'I am doing well!'
"'What are you doing?'
"'I'm in business.'
"'Making money?'
"'Heaps. I'm very rich. But come
around to lunch, to-morrow noon, 17 Rue du Coq-qui-Chante; you will see my
place.'
"He seemed to hesitate a second, then
continued:
"'Are you still the good sport that
you used to be?'
"'I--I hope so.'
"'Not married?'
"'No.'
"'Good. And do you still love a good
time and potatoes?'
"I was beginning to find him
hopelessly vulgar. Nevertheless, I answered "'Yes.'
"'And pretty girls?'
"'Most assuredly.'
"He began to laugh good-humoredly.
"'Good, good! Do you remember our
first escapade, in Bordeaux, after that dinner at Routie's? What a spree!'
"I did, indeed, remember that spree;
and the recollection of it cheered me up. This called to mind other pranks. He
would say:
"'Say, do you remember the time when
we locked the proctor up in old man Latoque's cellar?'
"And he laughed and banged the table
with his fist, and then he continued:
"'Yes-yes-yes-and do you remember the
face of the geography teacher, M. Marin, the day we set off a firecracker in
the globe, just as he was haranguing about the principal volcanoes of the
earth?'
"Then suddenly I asked him:
"'And you, are you married?'
"He exclaimed:
"'Ten years, my boy, and I have four
children, remarkable youngsters; but you'll see them and their mother.'
"We were talking rather loud; the
people around us looked at us in surprise.
"Suddenly my friend looked at his
watch, a chronometer the size of a pumpkin, and he cried:
"'Thunder! I'm sorry, but I'll have
to leave you; I am never free at night.'
"He rose, took both my hands, shook
them as though he were trying to wrench my arms from their sockets, and
exclaimed:
"'So long, then; till to-morrow
noon!'
"'So long!'
"I spent the morning working in the
office of the collector-general of the Department. The chief wished me to stay
to luncheon, but I told him that I had an engagement with a friend. As he had
to go out, he accompanied me.
"I asked him:
"'Can you tell me how I can find the
Rue du Coq-qui-Chante?'
"He answered:
"'Yes, it's only five minutes' walk
from here. As I have nothing special to do, I will take you there.'
"We started out and soon found
ourselves there. It was a wide, fine- looking street, on the outskirts of the
town. I looked at the houses and I noticed No. 17. It was a large house with a
garden behind it. The facade, decorated with frescoes, in the Italian style,
appeared to me as being in bad taste. There were goddesses holding vases,
others swathed in clouds. Two stone cupids supported the number of the house.
"I said to the treasurer:
"'Here is where I am going.'
"I held my hand out to him. He made a
quick, strange gesture, said nothing and shook my hand.
"I rang. A maid appeared. I asked:
"'Monsieur Patience, if you please?'
"She answered:
"'Right here, sir. Is it to monsieur
that you wish to speak?'
"'Yes.'
"The hall was decorated with
paintings from the brush of some local artist. Pauls and Virginias were kissing
each other under palm trees bathed in a pink light. A hideous Oriental lantern
was ranging from the ceiling. Several doors were concealed by bright hangings.
"But what struck me especially was
the odor. It was a sickening and perfumed odor, reminding one of rice powder
and the mouldy smell of a cellar. An indefinable odor in a heavy atmosphere as
oppressive as that of public baths. I followed the maid up a marble stairway,
covered with a green, Oriental carpet, and was ushered into a sumptubus parlor.
"Left alone, I looked about me.
"The room was richly furnished, but
in the pretentious taste of a parvenu. Rather fine engravings of the last
century represented women with powdered hair dressed high surprised by
gentlemen in interesting positions. Another lady, lying in a large bed, was
teasing with her foot a little dog, lost in the sheets. One drawing showed four
feet, bodies concealed behind a curtain. The large room, surrounded by soft
couches, was entirely impregnated with that enervating and insipid odor which I
had already noticed. There seemed to be something suspicious about the walls,
the hangings, the exaggerated luxury, everything.
"I approached the window to look into
the garden. It was very big, shady, beautiful. A wide path wound round a grass
plot in the midst of which was a fountain, entered a shrubbery and came out
farther away. And, suddenly, yonder, in the distance, between two clumps of
bushes, three women appeared. They were walking slowly, arm in arm, clad in
long, white tea-gowns covered with lace. Two were blondes and the other was
dark-haired. Almost immediately they disappeared again behind the trees. I
stood there entranced, delighted with this short and charming apparition, which
brought to my mind a whole world of poetry. They had scarcely allowed
themselves to be seen, in just the proper light, in that frame of foliage, in
the midst of that mysterious, delightful park. It seemed to me that I had
suddenly seen before me the great ladies of the last century, who were depicted
in the engravings on the wall. And I began to think of the happy, joyous, witty
and amorous times when manners were so graceful and lips so approachable.
"A deep voice male me jump. Patience
had come in, beaming, and held out his hands to me.
"He looked into my eyes with the sly
look which one takes when divulging secrets of love, and, with a Napoleonic
gesture, he showed me his sumptuous parlor, his park, the three women, who had
reappeared in the back of it, then, in a triumphant voice, where the note of
pride was prominent, he said:
"'And to think that I began with
nothing--my wife and my sister-in-law!'"
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário