[Footnote 1: To Madame Hanska, at Kreuznach.]
I have your letter! it is the great event of my life. In it I see two
atrocities; 1st, "Do not come, you would be so bored;" 2nd, "You do not
think enough of your health; you let yourself be worn-out by frantic
work; do take a little more diversion; amuse yourself." _Bored with
you! amuse myself without you!_ Is that enough insult and injustice? Am
I required to refute them?
I am quite well again this morning and I wish to announce that news for
a beginning, so that my dear troupe may feel no more uneasiness about
its illustrious leader.
My doctor is coming to dinner to-day with Méry (one of your believers),
Léon Gozlan and Laurent-Jan. That ought to fully reassure you; I am
now only a man without strength, food, or appetite. But the intestines
are all right again, I believe; and next week I shall finish with the
"Constitutionnel."
August 2.
Dear fraternal soul, I have just finished "Le Parasite," for such
will be, as I told you, the definitive title of what I have hitherto
called "Le Bonhomme Pons," "Le Vieux Musicien," etc. It is--to me at
least--one of those fine works of extreme simplicity which contain
the whole of the human heart; it is as grand as the "Curé de Tours,"
but more clear and quite as heart-breaking. I am enchanted with it; I
will bring you the proofs, and you must tell me your impressions. Now,
I am going to work on "La Cousine Bette," a terrible novel, for the
principal character is a composition of my mother, Madame Valmore and
your aunt. It is the history of many families.
Yesterday my dear star seemed veiled for me; I had many annoyances.
"Le Messager" was ready to reproduce, for one thousand francs, "Madame
de la Chanterie," the proofs of which you and I corrected together
at Lyon; but the publisher, assignee of Chlendowski, was inexorable;
he would not consent to the publication, even in receiving part of
the price. The "Messager" is sent gratuitously to peers and deputies;
it prints a thousand copies. So I failed through the greatest piece
of ill-will I ever met with in my life. This will show you what the
business of literature and publishing is. I am going to send you the
"Courier," in which George Sand is bringing out a novel; for I perceive
that you are reading only the ministerial newspapers, and you ought
also to read a little of the Opposition ones, in order to understand
something of our political mess.
August 4.
At last I have your letter; and now that I have it after wishing for
it so much, I fear that it tired you to write it in such heat. Be
tranquil in mind, as you ought to be in heart; I only bought the Greuze
and the Van Dyck because I have a purchaser at a higher price for
two of my pictures,--namely, "Les Sorcières" by Paul Brill, and the
sketch that Miville sold to me at Bâle. I have exchanged the little
picture bought for fifty francs, which Chenavard said was not worth
two sous, for a delicious little sketch of the birth of Louis XIV.,
called an "Adoration of the Shepherds," in which the shepherds are
bewigged in the fashion of the times. Louis XIII. and his ministers
are represented. Well, well! I shall win your confidence sooner or
later, in bric-à-brac at any rate. You can't imagine to what point I
am fretted and what anxiety fills my mind when I discover that I have
something inferior as a matter of art in my collection. Therefore set
your mind at rest; I follow your good advice exactly; I continually
deny myself; I never yield to any spontaneous fancy; I buy nothing
without consulting, examining, reflecting; and that is the same as
telling you I buy nothing but fine things.
I write to you in 50 degrees of heat, as you will have seen by the
"Débats." My study is 15 degrees higher than that; for the laundry-man
below me keeps a coal fire like that of a locomotive, and above my head
is a zinc roof; in short, I live in a stove. But in spite of this heat
my health gets better and better; nourishment no longer distresses me;
and the intestines are coming back to a normal state. The doctor says
my illness came only from heat, which is to me what it is to you. One
must cling to doing one's duty, as I do, in order to work under this
physical dissolution.
Adieu; proofs are calling me, and I have not, as at Lyon, an
intelligent comrade to correct them cleverly and gaily. I have still
twenty-six sheets to write.
August 5.
I met Potier in the Passy omnibus; I questioned and sounded him, and
gained the certainty that he has another purchaser in view for the
Beaujon house, and considers me only as a _pis aller_; but I cannot put
myself in the way of offering more than I have for the last year.
I saw Véron yesterday, who wants as many folios as I can write. He
told me that the public was not content with Sue's publication; it
was thought repulsive and shameful. The pretty sinners of the great
world think to rehabilitate themselves by making an outcry against
"such revolting immorality," as they call it. On the other hand, Véron
made me many compliments on "L'Instruction Criminelle." At the Palais
de Justice both magistrates and lawyers think it splendidly true and
irreproachably accurate. If they only remembered Popinot, they would
see that Popinot and Camusot are two aspects of the Judge.[1]
I see with joy, by your letter, that you are rather better; also that
you have had an earthquake, which must make Germany uneasy. Suppose a
crater were to open expressly to prove Georges' theories! Oh! how I
wish I knew when you will be really in possession of a prolongation
of your passport. I hope to leave here by the 15th or 20th, but I
absolutely must finish "Les Parents pauvres" first. I have booked my
place for the 15th, but I can exchange it for the 20th if necessary.
Ah! so you are not content with my title of "Le Parasite;" you think
it a comedy title of the eighteenth century, like "Le Méchant," "Le
Glorieux," "L'Indécis," "Le Philosophe marié," etc. Well, it shall
be as your autocratic and supreme will decides, and inasmuch as you
declare that the pendant to "La Cousine Bette," can only be "Le Cousin
Pons," "Le Parasite" will disappear from LA COMÉDIE HUMAINE and give
place to "Le Cousin Pons."
Work, occupation, difficulties in regulating the payments of the last
sixty thousand francs of debt, all that mass of fixed or floating
cares, repress within my heart the desire to see you, and the need
of consulting you and talking over with you my literary and pecuniary
affairs. But as you will not permit me to go to you until I have
finished "Les Paysans," or at least "La Cousine Bette," I endeavour
to obey you. It is the order of the day to me; and it bestows upon me
a strength for work I have never yet known. "Le Cousin Pons" and "La
Cousine Bette" will give me ten thousand francs; that will pay Hetzel,
and the seven thousand francs to my mother. If I can be with you next
winter, counting from September, I shall do three works: "Les Petits
Bourgeois," "Le Théâtre comme il est," and "Le Député d'Arcis," which,
according to my calculation, are worth, taken together, forty thousand
francs. So you see that not only will everything be paid, but I shall
even have money in hand for the rest of the winter. Dear sovereign
star, be very tranquil about my conduct; how do you suppose that at
my age any enthusiasm could make me compromise the result of fifteen
to sixteen years' labour? I shall not ruin myself in buying pictures
any more than I will "bind myself to write novels against the sum that
would free me entirely." In spite of that lofty wisdom of yours, you
are no more prudent and reasonable than I am. I am really ashamed to
repeat these things so often.
No news from Rome; I think there are as many reasons to fear as to
rejoice. To-morrow I write again; but _à bientôt_. I hope to see you.
It is Laurent-Jan and Achard who are doing Grimm's letters; and it is
Laurent-Jan who is just now publishing "Jeunesse" in the "Époque."
[Footnote 1: This refers to the examination of Lucien de Rubempré
before the _juge d'instruction_, and the description connected with it
of the Palais de Justice.--TR.]
August 7.
The heat is so dissolving I cannot write a line: I soak two shirts a
day by merely staying in my arm-chair and reading Walter Scott. I must
love you much to write even these few words; my hand and forehead are
streaming. This delays me and makes me groan. I expect Potier to-day;
I have decided to settle with him if possible before my departure; so
that everything may be done, repairs and all, during my absence, and I
can then remove there on my return.
Adieu, all my thoughts are with you, and with what can make you happy,
were it even at the cost of my life and happiness. Before the end of
the month I hope to see you! I shall work firmly, that there may be no
delay in my journey. I hope you will be satisfied with the work I bring
you. My dear critic will be too tenderly moved to be very severe.