You may well believe that the bargain was a long one. However, it was finished at length, and on these conditions:--
First--Jerome promised to give back, at the end of the year, a sack of corn of the same quality, and of the same weight, without missing a single grain. "This first clause is perfectly5 just," said he, "for without it Mathurin would give, and not lend."
Secondly--He engaged to deliver five litres on every hectolitre. "This clause is no less just than the other," thought he; "for without it Mathurin would do me a service without compensation; he would inflict6 upon himself a privation--he would renounce7 his cherished enterprise--he would enable me to accomplish mine--he would cause me to enjoy for a year the fruits of his savings8, and all this gratuitously9. Since he delays the cultivation10 of his land, since he enables me to realise a lucrative labour, it is quite natural that I should let him partake, in a certain proportion, of the profits which I shall gain by the sacrifice he makes of his own."
On his side, Mathurin, who was something of a scholar, made this calculation:--"Since, by virtue11 of the first clause, the sack of corn will return to me at the end of a year," he said to himself, "I shall be able to lend it again; it will return to me at the end of the second year; I may lend it again, and so on, to all eternity12. However, I cannot deny that it will have been eaten long ago. It is singular that I should be perpetually the owner of a sack of corn, although the one I have lent has been consumed for ever. But this is explained thus:--It will be consumed in the service of Jerome. It will put it into the power of Jerome to produce a superior value; and, consequently, Jerome will be able to restore me a sack of corn, or the value of it, without having suffered the slightest injury: but quite the contrary. And as regards myself, this value ought to be my property, as long as I do not consume it myself. If I had used it to clear my land, I should have received it again in the form of a fine harvest. Instead of that, I lend it, and shall recover it in the form of repayment13.
"From the second clause, I gain another piece of information. At the end of the year I shall be in possession of five litres of corn over the one hundred that I have just lent. If, then, I were to continue to work by the day, and to save part of my wages, as I have been doing, in the course of time I should be able to lend two sacks of corn; then three; then four; and when I should have gained a sufficient number to enable me to live on these additions of five litres over and above each, I shall be at liberty to take a little repose14 in my old age. But how is this? In this case, shall I not be living at the expense of others? No, certainly, for it has been proved that in lending I perform a service; I complete the labour of my borrowers, and only deduct15 a trifling16 part of the excess of production, due to my lendings and savings. It is a marvellous thing that a man may thus realise a leisure which injures no one, and for which he cannot be envied without injustice17."
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1
alas
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int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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2
previously
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adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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3
lucrative
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adj.赚钱的,可获利的 | |
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4
devoted
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adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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5
perfectly
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adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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6
inflict
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vt.(on)把…强加给,使遭受,使承担 | |
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7
renounce
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v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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8
savings
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n.存款,储蓄 | |
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9
gratuitously
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平白 | |
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10
cultivation
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n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
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11
virtue
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n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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12
eternity
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n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷 | |
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13
repayment
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n.偿还,偿还款;报酬 | |
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14
repose
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v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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15
deduct
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vt.扣除,减去 | |
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16
trifling
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adj.微不足道的;没什么价值的 | |
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17
injustice
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n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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