Part 3 Book 3 Chapter 1 An Ancient Salon
When M. Gillenormand lived in the Rue Servandoni, he had frequented many very good and very aristocratic salons. Although a bourgeois, M. Gillenormand was received in society. As he had a double measure of wit, in the first place, that which was born with him, and secondly, that which was attributed to him, he was even sought out and made much of. He never went anywhere except on condition of being the chief person there. There are people who will have influence at any price, and who will have other people busy themselves over them; when they cannot be oracles, they turn wags. M. Gillenormand was not of this nature; his domination in the Royalist salons which he frequented cost his self-respect nothing. He was an oracle everywhere. It had happened to him to hold his own against M. de Bonald, and even against M. Bengy-Puy-Vallee.
About 1817, he invariably passed two afternoons a week in a house in his own neighborhood, in the Rue Ferou, with Madame la Baronne de T., a worthy and respectable person, whose husband had been Ambassador of France to Berlin under Louis XVI. Baron de T., who, during his lifetime, had gone very passionately into ecstasies and magnetic visions, had died bankrupt, during the emigration, leaving, as his entire fortune, some very curious Memoirs about Mesmer and his tub, in ten manuscript volumes, bound in red morocco and gilded on the edges. Madame de T. had not published the memoirs, out of pride, and maintained herself on a meagre income which had survived no one knew how.
Madame de T. lived far from the Court; "a very mixed society," as she said, in a noble isolation, proud and poor. A few friends assembled twice a week about her widowed hearth, and these constituted a purely Royalist salon. They sipped tea there, and uttered groans or cries of horror at the century, the charter, the Bonapartists, the prostitution of the blue ribbon, or the Jacobinism of Louis XVIII., according as the wind veered towards elegy or dithyrambs; and they spoke in low tones of the hopes which were presented by Monsieur, afterwards Charles X.
The songs of the fishwomen, in which Napoleon was called Nicolas, were received there with transports of joy. Duchesses, the most delicate and charming women in the world, went into ecstasies over couplets like the following, addressed to "the federates":--
Refoncez dans vos culottes[20] Le bout d' chemis' qui vous pend. Qu'on n' dis' pas qu' les patriotes Ont arbore l' drapeau blanc?
[20] Tuck into your trousers the shirt-tail that is hanging out. Let it not be said that patriots have hoisted the white flag.
There they amused themselves with puns which were considered terrible, with innocent plays upon words which they supposed to be venomous, with quatrains, with distiches even; thus, upon the Dessolles ministry, a moderate cabinet, of which MM. Decazes and Deserre were members:--
Pour raffermir le trone ebranle sur sa base,[21] Il faut changer de sol, et de serre et de case.
[21] In order to re-establish the shaken throne firmly on its base, soil (Des solles), greenhouse and house (Decazes) must be changed.
Or they drew up a list of the chamber of peers, "an abominably Jacobin chamber," and from this list they combined alliances of names, in such a manner as to form, for example, phrases like the following: Damas. Sabran. Gouvion-Saint-Cyr.--All this was done merrily. In that society, they parodied the Revolution. They used I know not what desires to give point to the same wrath in inverse sense. They sang their little Ca ira:--
Ah! ca ira ca ira ca ira! Les Bonapartistes a la lanterne!
Songs are like the guillotine; they chop away indifferently, to-day this head, to-morrow that. It is only a variation.
In the Fualdes affair, which belongs to this epoch, 1816, they took part for Bastide and Jausion, because Fualdes was "a Buonapartist." They designated the liberals as friends and brothers; this constituted the most deadly insult.
Like certain church towers, Madame de T.'s salon had two cocks. One of them was M. Gillenormand, the other was Comte de Lamothe-Valois, of whom it was whispered about, with a sort of respect: "Do you know? That is the Lamothe of the affair of the necklace." These singular amnesties do occur in parties.
Let us add the following: in the bourgeoisie, honored situations decay through too easy relations; one must beware whom one admits; in the same way that there is a loss of caloric in the vicinity of those who are cold, there is a diminution of consideration in the approach of despised persons. The ancient society of the upper classes held themselves above this law, as above every other. Marigny, the brother of the Pompadour, had his entry with M. le Prince de Soubise. In spite of? No, because. Du Barry, the god-father of the Vaubernier, was very welcome at the house of M. le Marechal de Richelieu. This society is Olympus. Mercury and the Prince de Guemenee are at home there. A thief is admitted there, provided he be a god.
The Comte de Lamothe, who, in 1815, was an old man seventy-five years of age, had nothing remarkable about him except his silent and sententious air, his cold and angular face, his perfectly polished manners, his coat buttoned up to his cravat, and his long legs always crossed in long, flabby trousers of the hue of burnt sienna. His face was the same color as his trousers.
This M. de Lamothe was "held in consideration" in this salon on account of his "celebrity" and, strange to say, though true, because of his name of Valois.
As for M. Gillenormand, his consideration was of absolutely first-rate quality. He had, in spite of his levity, and without its interfering in any way with his dignity, a certain manner about him which was imposing, dignified, honest, and lofty, in a bourgeois fashion; and his great age added to it. One is not a century with impunity. The years finally produce around a head a venerable dishevelment.
In addition to this, he said things which had the genuine sparkle of the old rock. Thus, when the King of Prussia, after having restored Louis XVIII., came to pay the latter a visit under the name of the Count de Ruppin, he was received by the descendant of Louis XIV. somewhat as though he had been the Marquis de Brandebourg, and with the most delicate impertinence. M. Gillenormand approved: "All kings who are not the King of France," said he, "are provincial kings." One day, the following question was put and the following answer returned in his presence: "To what was the editor of the Courrier Francais condemned?" "To be suspended." "Sus is superfluous," observed M. Gillenormand.[22] Remarks of this nature found a situation.
[22] Suspendu, suspended; pendu, hung.
At the Te Deum on the anniversary of the return of the Bourbons, he said, on seeing M. de Talleyrand pass by: "There goes his Excellency the Evil One."
M. Gillenormand was always accompanied by his daughter, that tall mademoiselle, who was over forty and looked fifty, and by a handsome little boy of seven years, white, rosy, fresh, with happy and trusting eyes, who never appeared in that salon without hearing voices murmur around him: "How handsome he is! What a pity! Poor child!" This child was the one of whom we dropped a word a while ago. He was called "poor child," because he had for a father "a brigand of the Loire."
This brigand of the Loire was M. Gillenormand's son-in-law, who has already been mentioned, and whom M. Gillenormand called "the disgrace of his family."
吉诺曼先生住在塞尔凡多尼街时，他经常在几处极好极高贵的客厅里走动。吉诺曼先生虽然是个资产阶级，但也受到接待。由于他有双重智慧，一是他原有的智慧，二是别人以为他有智慧，甚至大家还邀请他和奉承他。他每到一处就一定要出人头地，否则他宁可不去。有些人总爱千方百计地左右别人，使人家另眼看待他们，如果不能当头领，也一定要当小丑。吉诺曼的性情却不是那样，吉诺曼先生在他平时出入的那些保王派客厅里取得了出人头地的地位，却丝毫没有损及他的自尊心。处处都以他为权威。他居然和德·波纳德先生①，甚至和贝奇－皮伊－瓦莱先生②分庭抗礼。
一八一七年前后，他每星期必定要到附近的弗鲁街上T．男爵夫人家里去消磨两个下午，那是一位值得钦佩和尊敬的妇人，她的丈夫在路易十六时期当过法国驻柏林大使。T．男爵生前酷爱凝视和显圣③，在流亡期间他资财荡尽而死，留下的遗产只是十册红羊皮封面的金边精装手稿，内容是对麦斯麦和他的木盆的一些相当新奇的回忆。T．夫人因门第关系，没有把它发表，只靠一笔不知怎么保留下来的微薄年金过日子。T．夫人不和宫廷接近，她说那是一种“相当杂的地方”，她过的是一种高尚、寂寞、清寒、孤芳自赏的生活。少数几个朋友每星期在她只身独守的炉边聚会两次，于是组成了一种纯粹保王派的客厅。大家在那里喝着茶，随着各人一时的兴致，低沉或兴奋，而对这个世纪、宪章、波拿巴分子、卖蓝佩带给资产阶级的蠹政、路易十八的雅各宾主义等问题发出哀叹或怒吼，并且低声谈着御弟，日后的查理十世给予人们的希望。
①德·波纳德（Bonald，1754-1840），子爵，法国政治活动家和政论家，保王派，复辟时期的贵族和教权主义反动派的思想家之一。
②贝奇－皮伊－瓦莱（BengyAPuyAVallée，1743-1823），制宪议会右派议员，后逃往国外。复辟时期撰文论述法国社会宗教和政治的关系。
③指巫术中定睛凝视鬼魂重现等手法。
大家在那里把那些称拿破仑为尼古拉的鄙俚歌曲唱得兴高采烈。公爵夫人们，世界上最雅致最可爱的妇女，也在那里欢天喜地地唱着这一类的叠歌，例如下面这段指向盟员①的歌：
把你拖着的衬衫尾巴
塞进裤子里。
免得人家说那些爱国主义者
挂起了白旗②！
①盟员，指一八一五年拿破仑从厄尔巴岛回国时号召组织的志愿军。
②白旗是投降的旗帜，也是法国当时王朝的旗帜。
他们唱着自以为能吓坏人的隐语和无伤大雅而他们却认为有毒的文字游戏如四行诗，甚至是对句来消遣，例如德索尔内阁，一个温和派内阁，有德卡兹和德赛尔两个阁员，他们这样唱道：
为了从基础上巩固这动摇了的宝座，
必须换土壤，换暖室，换格子。①
或者他们改编元老院的名单，认为“元老院的雅各宾臭味重得可怕”，他们把那名单上的名字连缀起来，把它们组成一个句子，如Damas，Sabran，Gouvion Saint－Cyr．于是感到乐不可支。
在那种客厅里大家丑化革命。他们都有那么一股味儿，想把同样的仇恨鼓起来，但是意思相反。他们唱着那可爱的《会好的呵》②：
会好的！会好的！会好的呵！
布宛纳巴分子被挂在街灯柱子上。
歌曲就好象是断头台，它不加区别地今天砍这个人的头，明天又砍那个人的头。那只是一种对象的改变而已。
弗阿尔台斯③案件正是在那时，一八一六年发生的，在这问题上，他们站在巴斯第德和若西翁④方面，因为弗阿尔台斯是一个“布宛纳巴分子”。他们称自由主义者为“弟兄们和朋友们”，那是最刻毒的咒骂了。
①de sol（土壤）和Dessolles（德索尔）同音，de serre（暖室）和Deserre（德赛尔）同音，de case（格子）和Decazkes（德卡兹）同音。
②《会好的呵》是一七八九革命时期的一首革命歌曲，其中有一句是“贵族挂在街灯柱子上”。这里，“贵族”被窜改为“布宛纳巴分子”。
③弗阿尔台斯（Fualdès）是一个被暗杀的官员。
④巴斯第德（Bastide）和若西翁（Jausion），被认为是暗杀弗阿尔台斯的凶手。
正和某些礼拜堂的钟楼一样，T．男爵夫人的客厅也有两只雄鸡。一只是吉诺曼先生，另一只是拉莫特－瓦罗亚伯爵，他们提到那伯爵，总怀着敬佩的心情凑到人家耳边说：“您知道？这就是项圈事件①里的拉莫特呀！”朋党和朋党之间常有那种奇妙莫测的妥协。
我们补充这一点：在资产阶级里，择交过分随便往往会降低自己的声誉和地位，应当注意交游的对象是什么样的人，正好象和身上穿不暖的人相处会失去自己身上的热一样，接近被轻视的人也能减少别人的敬意。古老的上层社会就是处在这条规律以及其他一切规律之上的。彭帕杜尔夫人②的兄弟马里尼③常去苏比斯亲王④家里。然而……不，因为……弗培尔尼埃夫人的教父杜巴丽⑤是黎塞留⑥大元帅先生家里极受欢迎的客人。那个社会，是奥林匹斯⑦，是墨丘利⑧和盖美内亲王的家园。一个贼也可以受到接待，只要他是神。
①一七八四年，拉莫特伯爵夫人怂恿一个红衣主教买一串极名贵的金刚钻项圈送给王后，她冒称王后早想得到那项圈。红衣主教为了逢迎王后，向珠宝商赊来交给拉莫特夫人转给王后。拉莫特夫人把那项圈遗失了，王后没收到，红衣主教付不出钱。事情闹开后激起了人民对王室和僧侣的憎恨。拉莫特夫人在广场上受到杖刑和烙印，被关在妇女救济院里，继而越狱逃往英国，在再次被捕时跳楼自杀。
②彭帕杜尔夫人（de la Pompadour，1721-1764），路易十五的情妇。
③马里尼（de Marigny，1721-1781），侯爵，王室房舍总管。
④苏比斯（de Soubise，1715-1787），元帅，嬖臣，彭帕杜尔夫人的忠实奉承者。
⑤杜巴丽（Du Barry），伯爵，他的妻是路易十五的情妇。
⑥黎塞留（Richelieu，1696-1788），红衣主教黎塞留的侄孙，路易十四和路易十五的嬖臣，以贪污出名。
⑦奥林匹斯，希腊神话中众神所居之山。
⑧墨丘利（Mercure），希腊神话中商业和盗贼的保护神。
拉莫特伯爵，在一八一五年已是个七十五岁的老头，值得重视的只是他那种沉静严肃的神气，处处棱角毕现的冷脸，绝对谦恭的举动，一直扣到领带的上衣，一双老交叉着的长腿，一条红土色的软长裤。他的脸和他的长裤是同一种颜色。这位拉莫特先生在那客厅里是有“地位”的，因为他很“有名”，而且，说来奇怪但却是事实，也因为他姓瓦罗亚①。
至于吉诺曼先生，他是深孚众望的。他是权威。尽管他举止佻挞，言语诙谐，但却有自己的一种风度使人敬服，他以仪表胜人，诚恳并有绅士的傲性，外加他那罕见的高龄。活上一个世纪那确是非同小可。岁月总会在一个人的头上加上一层使人仰慕的清辉。
此外，他的谈吐完全是一种太古岩石的火花。象这个例子，普鲁士王在帮助路易十八回朝后，假称吕邦伯爵来访问他，被路易十四的这位后裔接待得有点象勃兰登堡②侯爷那样，并还带着一种极微妙的傲慢态度。吉诺曼先生表示赞同。
“除了法兰西国王外，”他说，“所有其他的王都只能算是一省之王。”一天，有人在他面前进行这样的回答：“后来是怎样处理《法兰西邮报》的主笔的？”“停刊（suspendu）。”“sus③是多余的。”吉诺曼先生指出说。象这一类的谈话使他获得地位。
①瓦罗亚（Valois），法国卡佩王室的一支。
②勃兰登堡（Brandebourg），日耳曼帝国选侯之一，普鲁士王国的臣属。
③suspendu（暂时停刊）去掉词头成pendu（处绞刑）。
波旁王室回国周年纪念日举行了一次大弥撒，他望见塔列朗先生走过，说道：“恶大人阁下到了。”
吉诺曼经常由他的女儿陪着同来，当时他的女儿年过四十，倒象一个五十岁的人，陪他同来的还有一个七岁的小男孩，白净，红嫩，生就一双笑眯眯肯和人亲近的眼睛，他一走进客厅，总听见在座的人围着他齐声赞叹：“他多么漂亮！真可惜！可怜的孩子！”这孩子就是我们先头提到过的那个。大家称他为“可怜的孩子”，因为他的父亲是“一个卢瓦尔①的匪徒”。
①卢瓦尔（Loire），法国中部偏东之省。
这位卢瓦尔的匪徒是吉诺曼先生的女婿，我们在前面也已提到过，也就是吉诺曼先生所谓的“他的家丑”。