A week after the marriage, Camille distinctly told his mother that he intended quitting Vernon to reside in Paris. Madame Raquin protested: she had arranged her mode of life, and would not modify it in any way. Thereupon her son had a nervous attack, and threatened to fall ill, if she did not give way to his whim2.
"Never have I opposed you in your plans," said he; "I married my cousin, I took all the drugs you gave me. It is only natural, now, when I have a desire of my own, that you should be of the same mind. We will move at the end of the month."
Madame Raquin was unable to sleep all night. The decision Camille had come to, upset her way of living, and, in despair, she sought to arrange another existence for herself and the married couple. Little by little, she recovered calm. She reflected that the young people might have children, and that her small fortune would not then suffice. It was necessary to earn money, to go into business again, to find lucrative3 occupation for Therese. The next day she had become accustomed to the idea of moving, and had arranged a plan for a new life.
"This is what we will do," said she to her children. "I will go to Paris to-morrow. There I will look out for a small mercery business for sale, and Therese and myself will resume selling needles and cotton, which will give us something to do. You, Camille, will act as you like. You can either stroll about in the sun, or you can find some employment."
"I shall find employment," answered the young man.
The truth was that an idiotic5 ambition had alone impelled6 Camille to leave Vernon. He wished to find a post in some important administration. He blushed with delight when he fancied he saw himself in the middle of a large office, with lustring elbow sleeves, and a pen behind his ear.
Therese was not consulted: she had always displayed such passive obedience7 that her aunt and husband no longer took the trouble to ask her opinion. She went where they went, she did what they did, without a complaint, without a reproach, without appearing even to be aware that she changed her place of residence.
Madame Raquin came to Paris, and went straight to the Arcade9 of the Pont Neuf. An old maid at Vernon had sent her to one of her relatives who in this arcade kept a mercery shop which she desired to get rid of. The former mercer found the shop rather small, and rather dark; but, in passing through Paris, she had been taken aback by the noise in the streets, by the luxuriously10 dressed windows, and this narrow gallery, this modest shop front, recalled her former place of business which was so peaceful. She could fancy herself again in the provinces, and she drew a long breath thinking that her dear children would be happy in this out-of-the-way corner. The low price asked for the business, caused her to make up her mind. The owner sold it her for 2,000 francs, and the rent of the shop and first floor was only 1,200 francs a year. Madame Raquin, who had close upon 4,000 francs saved up, calculated that she could pay for the business and settle the rent for the first year, without encroaching on her fortune. The salary Camille would be receiving, and the profit on the mercery business would suffice, she thought, to meet the daily expenses; so that she need not touch the income of her funded money, which would capitalise, and go towards providing marriage portions for her grandchildren.
She returned to Vernon beaming with pleasure, relating that she had found a gem11, a delightful12 little place right in the centre of Paris. Little by little, at the end of a few days, in her conversations of an evening, the damp, obscure shop in the arcade became a palace; she pictured it to herself, so far as her memory served her, as convenient, spacious13, tranquil14, and replete15 with a thousand inestimable advantages.
"Ah! my dear Therese," said she, "you will see how happy we shall be in that nook! There are three beautiful rooms upstairs. The arcade is full of people. We will make charming displays. There is no fear of our feeling dull."
But she did not stop there. All her instinct of a former shopkeeper was awakened16. She gave advice to Therese, beforehand, as to buying and selling, and posted her up in all the tricks of small tradespeople. At length, the family quitted the house beside the Seine, and on the evening of the same day, were installed in the Arcade of the Pont Neuf.
When Therese entered the shop, where in future she was to live, it seemed to her that she was descending17 into the clammy soil of a grave. She felt quite disheartened, and shivered with fear. She looked at the dirty, damp gallery, visited the shop, and ascending18 to the first floor, walked round each room. These bare apartments, without furniture, looked frightful19 in their solitude20 and dilapidation21. The young woman could not make a gesture, or utter a word. She was as if frozen. Her aunt and husband having come downstairs, she seated herself on a trunk, her hands rigid22, her throat full of sobs23, and yet she could not cry.
Madame Raquin, face to face with reality, felt embarrassed, and ashamed of her dreams. She sought to defend her acquisition. She found a remedy for every fresh inconvenience that was discovered, explaining the obscurity by saying the weather was overcast24, and concluded by affirming that a sweep-up would suffice to set everything right.
"Bah!" answered Camille, "all this is quite suitable. Besides, we shall only come up here at night. I shall not be home before five or six o'clock. As to you two, you will be together, so you will not be dull."
The young man would never have consented to inhabit such a den8, had he not relied on the comfort of his office. He said to himself that he would be warm all day at his administration, and that, at night, he would go to bed early.
For a whole week, the shop and lodging25 remained in disorder26. Therese had seated herself behind the counter from the first day, and she did not move from that place. Madame Raquin was astonished at this depressed27 attitude. She had thought that the young woman would try to adorn28 her habitation. That she would place flowers at the windows, and ask for new papers, curtains and carpets. When she suggested some repairs, some kind of embellishment, her niece quietly replied:
"What need is there for it? We are very well as we are. There is no necessity for luxury."
It was Madame Raquin who had to arrange the rooms and tidy up the shop. Therese at last lost patience at seeing the good old lady incessantly29 turning round and round before her eyes; she engaged a charwoman, and forced her aunt to be seated beside her.
Camille remained a month without finding employment. He lived as little as possible in the shop, preferring to stroll about all day; and he found life so dreadfully dull with nothing to do, that he spoke30 of returning to Vernon. But he at length obtained a post in the administration of the Orleans Railway, where he earned 100 francs a month. His dream had become realised.
He set out in the morning at eight o'clock. Walking down the Rue31 Guenegaud, he found himself on the quays32. Then, taking short steps with his hands in his pockets, he followed the Seine from the Institut to the Jardin des Plantes. This long journey which he performed twice daily, never wearied him. He watched the water running along, and he stopped to see the rafts of wood descending the river, pass by. He thought of nothing. Frequently he planted himself before Notre Dame1, to contemplate33 the scaffolding surrounding the cathedral which was then undergoing repair. These huge pieces of timber amused him although he failed to understand why. Then he cast a glance into the Port aux Vins as he went past, and after that counted the cabs coming from the station.
In the evening, quite stupefied, with his head full of some silly story related to his office, he crossed the Jardin des Plantes, and went to have a look at the bears, if he was not in too great a hurry. There he remained half an hour, leaning over the rails at the top of the pit, observing the animals clumsily swaying to and fro. The behaviour of these huge beasts pleased him. He examined them with gaping34 mouth and rounded eyes, partaking of the joy of an idiot when he perceived them bestir themselves. At last he turned homewards, dragging his feet along, busying himself with the passers-by, with the vehicles, and the shops.
As soon as he arrived he dined, and then began reading. He had purchased the works of Buffon, and, every evening, he set himself to peruse35 twenty to thirty pages, notwithstanding the wearisome nature of the task. He also read in serial36, at 10 centimes the number, "The History of the Consulate37 and Empire" by Thiers, and "The History of the Girondins" by Lamartine, as well as some popular scientific works. He fancied he was labouring at his education. At times, he forced his wife to listen to certain pages, to particular anecdotes38, and felt very much astonished that Therese could remain pensive39 and silent the whole evening, without being tempted40 to take up a book. And he thought to himself that his wife must be a woman of very poor intelligence.
Therese thrust books away from her with impatience41. She preferred to remain idle, with her eyes fixed42, and her thoughts wandering and lost. But she maintained an even, easy temper, exercising all her will to render herself a passive instrument, replete with supreme43 complaisance44 and abnegation.
The shop did not do much business. The profit was the same regularly each month. The customers consisted of female workpeople living in the neighbourhood. Every five minutes a young girl came in to purchase a few sous worth of goods. Therese served the people with words that were ever the same, with a smile that appeared mechanically on her lisp. Madame Raquin displayed a more unbending, a more gossipy disposition45, and, to tell the truth, it was she who attracted and retained the customers.
For three years, days followed days and resembled one another. Camille did not once absent himself from his office. His mother and wife hardly ever left the shop. Therese, residing in damp obscurity, in gloomy, crushing silence, saw life expand before her in all its nakedness, each night bringing the same cold couch, and each morn the same empty day.
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1
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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9
arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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11
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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16
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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dilapidation
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| n.倒塌；毁坏 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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overcast
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| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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25
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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29
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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30
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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32
quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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35
peruse
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| v.细读，精读 | |
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serial
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| n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的 | |
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consulate
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| n.领事馆 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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39
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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40
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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41
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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42
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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43
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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44
complaisance
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| n.彬彬有礼，殷勤，柔顺 | |
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45
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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