THAT morning, in the little pavilion of Chantebled, on the verge1 of the woods, where they had now been installed for nearly a month, Mathieu was making all haste in order that he might catch the seven-o'clock train which every day conveyed him from Janville to Paris. It was already half-past six, and there were fully2 two thousand paces from the pavilion to Janville. Afterwards came a railway journey of three-quarters of an hour, and another journey of at least equal duration through Paris, from the Northern Railway terminus to the Boulevard de Grenelle. He seldom reached his office at the factory before half-past eight o'clock.
He had just kissed the children. Fortunately they were asleep; otherwise they would have linked their arms about his neck, laughed and kissed him, being ever unwilling3 to let him go. And as he hastily returned to the principal bedroom, he found his wife, Marianne, in bed there, but awake and sitting up. She had risen a moment before in order to pull back a curtain, and all the glow of that radiant May morning swept in, throwing a flood of gay sunshine over the fresh and healthy beauty of her four-and-twenty years. He, who was three years the elder, positively4 adored her.
"You know, my darling," said he, "I must make haste, for I fear I may miss the train--and so manage as well as you can. You still have thirty sous left, haven't you?"
She began to laugh, looking charming with her bare arms and her loose-flowing dark hair. The ever-recurring pecuniary5 worries of the household left her brave and joyous6. Yet she had been married at seventeen, her husband at twenty, and they already had to provide for four children.
"Oh! we shall be all right," said she. "It's the end of the month to-day, and you'll receive your money to-night. I'll settle our little debts at Janville to-morrow. There are only the Lepailleurs, who worry me with their bill for milk and eggs, for they always look as if they fancied one meant to rob them. But with thirty sous, my dear! why, we shall have quite a high time of it!"
She was still laughing as she held out her firm white arms for the customary morning good-by.
"Run off, since you are in a hurry. I will go to meet you at the little bridge to-night."
"No, no, I insist on your going to bed! You know very well that even if I catch the quarter-to-eleven-o'clock train, I cannot reach Janville before half-past eleven. Ah! what a day I have before me! I had to promise the Moranges that I would take dejeuner with them; and this evening Beauchene is entertaining a customer--a business dinner, which I'm obliged to attend. So go to bed, and have a good sleep while you are waiting for me."
She gently nodded, but would give no positive promise. "Don't forget to call on the landlord," she added, "to tell him that the rain comes into the children's bedroom. It's not right that we should be soaked here as if we were on the high-way, even if those millionaires, the Seguins du Hordel, do let us have this place for merely six hundred francs a year."
"Ah, yes! I should have forgotten that. I will call on them, I promise you."
Then Mathieu took her in his arms, and there was no ending to their leave-taking. He still lingered. She had begun to laugh again, while giving him many a kiss in return for his own. There was all the love of bounding health between them, the joy that springs from the most perfect union, as when man and wife are but one both in flesh and in soul.
"Run off, run off, darling! Remember to tell Constance that, before she goes into the country, she ought to run down here some Sunday with Maurice."
"Yes, yes, I will tell her--till to-night, darling."
But he came back once more, caught her in a tight embrace, and pressed to her lips a long, loving kiss, which she returned with her whole heart. And then he hurried away.
He usually took an omnibus on his arrival at the Northern Railway terminus. But on the days when only thirty sous remained at home he bravely went through Paris on foot. It was, too, a very fine walk by way of the Rue8 la Fayette, the Opera-house, the Boulevards, the Rue Royale, and then, after the Place de la Concorde, the Cours la Reine, the Alma bridge, and the Quai d'Orsay.
Beauchene's works were at the very end of the Quai d'Orsay, between the Rue de la Federation9 and the Boulevard de Grenelle. There was hereabouts a large square plot, at one end of which, facing the quay10, stood a handsome private house of brickwork with white stone dressings11, that had been erected13 by Leon Beauchene, father of Alexandre, the present master of the works. From the balconies one could perceive the houses which were perched aloft in the midst of greenery on the height of Passy, beyond the Seine; whilst on the right arose the campanile of the Trocadero palace. On one side, skirting the Rue de la Federation, one could still see a garden and a little house, which had been the modest dwelling14 of Leon Beauchene in the heroic days of desperate toil15 when he had laid the foundations of his fortune. Then the factory buildings and sheds, quite a mass of grayish structures, overtopped by two huge chimneys, occupied both the back part of the ground and that which fringed the Boulevard de Grenelle, the latter being shut off by long windowless walls. This important and well-known establishment manufactured chiefly agricultural appliances, from the most powerful machines to those ingenious and delicate implements16 on which particular care must be bestowed17 if perfection is to be attained18. In addition to the hundreds of men who worked there daily, there were some fifty women, burnishers and polishers.
The entry to the workshops and offices was in the Rue de la Federation, through a large carriage way, whence one perceived the far-spreading yard, with its paving stones invariably black and often streaked19 by rivulets20 of steaming water. Dense21 smoke arose from the high chimneys, strident jets of steam emerged from the roof, whilst a low rumbling22 and a shaking of the ground betokened23 the activity within, the ceaseless bustle24 of labor25.
It was thirty-five minutes past eight by the big clock of the central building when Mathieu crossed the yard towards the office which he occupied as chief designer. For eight years he had been employed at the works where, after a brilliant and special course of study, he had made his beginning as assistant draughtsman when but nineteen years old, receiving at that time a salary of one hundred francs a month. His father, Pierre Froment,* had four sons by Marie his wife--Jean the eldest26, then Mathieu, Marc, and Luc--and while leaving them free to choose a particular career he had striven to give each of them some manual calling. Leon Beauchene, the founder27 of the works, had been dead a year, and his son Alexandre had succeeded him and married Constance Meunier, daughter of a very wealthy wall-paper manufacturer of the Marais, at the time when Mathieu entered the establishment, the master of which was scarcely five years older than himself. It was there that Mathieu had become acquainted with a poor cousin of Alexandre's, Marianne, then sixteen years old, whom he had married during the following year.
* Of _Lourdes_, _Rome_, and _Paris_.
Marianne, when only twelve, had become dependent upon her uncle, Leon Beauchene. After all sorts of mishaps28 a brother of the latter, one Felix Beauchene, a man of adventurous29 mind but a blunderhead, had gone to Algeria with his wife and daughter, there to woo fortune afresh; and the farm he had established was indeed prospering31 when, during a sudden revival32 of Arab brigandage33, both he and his wife were murdered and their home was destroyed. Thus the only place of refuge for the little girl, who had escaped miraculously34, was the home of her uncle, who showed her great kindness during the two years of life that remained to him. With her, however, were Alexandre, whose companionship was rather dull, and his younger sister, Seraphine, a big, vicious, and flighty girl of eighteen, who, as it happened, soon left the house amid a frightful35 scandal--an elopement with a certain Baron36 Lowicz, a genuine baron, but a swindler and forger37, to whom it became necessary to marry her. She then received a dowry of 300,000 francs. Alexandre, after his father's death, made a money match with Constance, who brought him half a million francs, and Marianne then found herself still more a stranger, still more isolated38 beside her new cousin, a thin, dry, authoritative39 woman, who ruled the home with absolute sway. Mathieu was there, however, and a few months sufficed: fine, powerful, and healthy love sprang up between the young people; there was no lightning flash such as throws the passion-swayed into each other's arms, but esteem40, tenderness, faith, and that mutual41 conviction of happiness in reciprocal bestowal42 which tends to indissoluble marriage. And they were delighted at marrying penniless, at bringing one another but their full hearts forever and forever. The only change in Mathieu's circumstances was an increase of salary to two hundred francs a month. True, his new cousin by marriage just vaguely43 hinted at a possible partnership44, but that would not be till some very much later date.
As it happened Mathieu Froment gradually became indispensable at the works. The young master, Alexandre Beauchene, passed through an anxious crisis. The dowry which his father had been forced to draw from his coffers in order to get Seraphine married, and other large expenses which had been occasioned by the girl's rebellious45 and perverse46 conduct, had left but little working capital in the business. Then, too, on the morrow of Leon Beauchene's death it was found that, with the carelessness often evinced in such matters, he had neglected to leave a will; so that Seraphine eagerly opposed her brother's interests, demanding her personal share of the inheritance, and even suggesting the sale of the works. The property had narrowly escaped being cut up, annihilated47. And Alexandre Beauchene still shivered with terror and anger at the recollection of that time, amidst all his delight at having at last rid himself of his sister by paying her in money the liberally estimated value of her share. It was in order to fill up the void thus created in his finances that he had espoused48 the half-million represented by Constance--an ugly creature, as he himself bitterly acknowledged, coarse male as he was. Truth to tell, she was so thin, so scraggy, that before consenting to make her his wife he had often called her "that bag of bones." But, on the other hand, thanks to his marriage with her, all his losses were made good in five or six years' time; the business of the works even doubled, and great prosperity set in. And Mathieu, having become a most active and necessary coadjutor, ended by taking the post of chief designer, at a salary of four thousand two hundred francs per annum.
Morange, the chief accountant, whose office was near Mathieu's, thrust his head through the doorway49 as soon as he heard the young man installing himself at his drawing-table. "I say, my dear Froment," he exclaimed, "don't forget that you are to take dejeuner with us."
"Yes, yes, my good Morange, it's understood. I will look in for you at twelve o'clock."
Then Mathieu very carefully scrutinized50 a wash drawing of a very simple but powerful steam thresher, an invention of his own, on which he had been working for some time past, and which a big landowner of Beauce, M. Firon-Badinier, was to examine during the afternoon.
The door of the master's private room was suddenly thrown wide open and Beauchene appeared--tall, with a ruddy face, a narrow brow, and big brown, protruding51 eyes. He had a rather large nose, thick lips, and a full black beard, on which he bestowed great care, as he likewise did on his hair, which was carefully combed over his head in order to conceal52 the serious baldness that was already coming upon him, although he was scarcely two-and-thirty. Frock-coated the first thing in the morning, he was already smoking a big cigar; and his loud voice, his peals53 of gayety, his bustling54 ways, all betokened an egotist and good liver still in his prime, a man for whom money--capital increased and increased by the labor of others--was the one only sovereign power.
"Ah! ah! it's ready, is it not?" said he; "Monsieur Firon-Badinier has again written me that he will be here at three o'clock. And you know that I'm going to take you to the restaurant with him this evening; for one can never induce those fellows to give orders unless one plies55 them with good wine. It annoys Constance to have it done here; and, besides, I prefer to entertain those people in town. You warned Marianne, eh?"
"Certainly. She knows that I shall return by the quarter-to-eleven-o'clock train."
Beauchene had sunk upon a chair: "Ah! my dear fellow, I'm worn out," he continued; "I dined in town last night; I got to bed only at one o'clock. And there was a terrible lot of work waiting for me this morning. One positively needs to be made of iron."
Until a short time before he had shown himself a prodigious56 worker, endowed with really marvellous energy and strength. Moreover, he had given proof of unfailing business instinct with regard to many profitable undertakings57. Invariably the first to appear at the works, he looked after everything, foresaw everything, filling the place with his bustling zeal58, and doubling his output year by year. Recently, however, fatigue59 had been gaining ground on him. He had always sought plenty of amusement, even amid the hard-working life he led. But nowadays certain "sprees," as he called them, left him fairly exhausted60.
He gazed at Mathieu: "You seem fit enough, you do!" he said. "How is it that you manage never to look tired?"
As a matter of fact, the young man who stood there erect12 before his drawing-table seemed possessed61 of the sturdy health of a young oak tree. Tall and slender, he had the broad, lofty, tower-like brow of the Froments. He wore his thick hair cut quite short, and his beard, which curled slightly, in a point. But the chief expression of his face rested in his eyes, which were at once deep and bright, keen and thoughtful, and almost invariably illumined by a smile. They showed him to be at once a man of thought and of action, very simple, very gay, and of a kindly62 disposition63.
"Oh! I," he answered with a laugh, "I behave reasonably."
But Beauchene protested: "No, you don't! The man who already has four children when he is only twenty-seven can't claim to be reasonable. And twins too--your Blaise and your Denis to begin with! And then your boy Ambroise and your little girl Rose. Without counting the other little girl that you lost at her birth. Including her, you would now have had five youngsters, you wretched fellow! No, no, I'm the one who behaves reasonably--I, who have but one child, and, like a prudent64, sensible man, desire no others!"
He often made such jesting remarks as these, through which filtered his genuine indignation; for he deemed the young couple to be over-careless of their interests, and declared that the prolificness65 of his cousin Marianne was quite scandalous.
Accustomed as Mathieu was to these attacks, which left him perfectly66 serene67, he went on laughing, without even giving a reply, when a workman abruptly68 entered the room--one who was currently called "old Moineaud," though he was scarcely three-and-forty years of age. Short and thick-set, he had a bullet head, a bull's neck, and face and hands scarred and dented69 by more than a quarter of a century of toil. By calling he was a fitter, and he had come to submit a difficulty which had just arisen in the piecing together of a reaping machine. But, his employer, who was still angrily thinking of over-numerous families, did not give him time to explain his purpose.
"And you, old Moineaud, how many children have you?" he inquired.
"Seven, Monsieur Beauchene," the workman replied, somewhat taken aback. "I've lost three."
"So, including them, you would now have ten? Well, that's a nice state of things! How can you do otherwise than starve?"
Moineaud began to laugh like the gay thriftless Paris workman that he was. The little ones? Well, they grew up without his even noticing it, and, indeed, he was really fond of them, so long as they remained at home. And, besides, they worked as they grew older, and brought a little money in. However, he preferred to answer his employer with a jest which set them all laughing.
After he had explained the difficulty with the reaper70, the others followed him to examine the work for themselves. They were already turning into a passage, when Beauchene, seeing the door of the women's workshop open, determined71 to pass that way, so that he might give his customary look around. It was a long, spacious72 place, where the polishers, in smocks of black serge, sat in double rows polishing and grinding their pieces at little work-boards. Nearly all of them were young, a few were pretty, but most had low and common faces. An animal odor and a stench of rancid oil pervaded73 the place.
The regulations required perfect silence there during work. Yet all the girls were gossiping. As soon, however, as the master's approach was signalled the chatter74 abruptly ceased. There was but one girl who, having her head turned, and thus seeing nothing of Beauchene, went on furiously abusing a companion, with whom she had previously75 started a dispute. She and the other were sisters, and, as it happened, daughters of old Moineaud. Euphrasie, the younger one, she who was shouting, was a skinny creature of seventeen, light-haired, with a long, lean, pointed76 face, uncomely and malignant77; whereas the elder, Norine, barely nineteen, was a pretty girl, a blonde like her sister, but having a milky78 skin, and withal plump and sturdy, showing real shoulders, arms, and hips79, and one of those bright sunshiny faces, with wild hair and black eyes, all the freshness of the Parisian hussy, aglow80 with the fleeting81 charm of youth.
Norine was ever quarrelling with Euphrasie, and was pleased to have her caught in a misdeed; so she allowed her to rattle82 on. And it thereupon became necessary for Beauchene to intervene. He habitually83 evinced great severity in the women's workshop, for he had hitherto held the view that an employer who jested with his workgirls was a lost man. Thus, in spite of the low character of which he was said to give proof in his walks abroad, there had as yet never been the faintest suggestion of scandal in connection with him and the women in his employ.
"Well, now, Mademoiselle Euphrasie!" he exclaimed; "do you intend to be quiet? This is quite improper85. You are fined twenty sous, and if I hear you again you will be locked out for a week."
The girl had turned round in consternation86. Then, stifling87 her rage, she cast a terrible glance at her sister, thinking that she might at least have warned her. But the other, with the discreet88 air of a pretty wench conscious of her attractiveness, continued smiling, looking her employer full in the face, as if certain that she had nothing to fear from him. Their eyes met, and for a couple of seconds their glances mingled89. Then he, with flushed cheeks and an angry air, resumed, addressing one and all: "As soon as the superintendent90 turns her back you chatter away like so many magpies91. Just be careful, or you will have to deal with me!"
Moineaud, the father, had witnessed the scene unmoved, as if the two girls--she whom the master had scolded, and she who slyly gazed at him--were not his own daughters. And now the round was resumed and the three men quitted the women's workshop amidst profound silence, which only the whir of the little grinders disturbed.
When the fitting difficulty had been overcome downstairs and Moineaud had received his orders, Beauchene returned to his residence accompanied by Mathieu, who wished to convey Marianne's invitation to Constance. A gallery connected the black factory buildings with the luxurious92 private house on the quay. And they found Constance in a little drawing-room hung with yellow satin, a room to which she was very partial. She was seated near a sofa, on which lay little Maurice, her fondly prized and only child, who had just completed his seventh year.
"Is he ill?" inquired Mathieu.
The child seemed sturdily built, and he greatly resembled his father, though he had a more massive jaw93. But he was pale and there was a faint ring round his heavy eyelids94. His mother, that "bag of bones," a little dark woman, yellow and withered95 at six-and-twenty, looked at him with an expression of egotistical pride.
"Oh, no! he's never ill," she answered. "Only he has been complaining of his legs. And so I made him lie down, and I wrote last night to ask Dr. Boutan to call this morning."
"Pooh!" exclaimed Beauchene with a hearty96 laugh, "women are all the same! A child who is as strong as a Turk! I should just like anybody to tell me that he isn't strong."
Precisely97 at that moment in walked Dr. Boutan, a short, stout98 man of forty, with very keen eyes set in a clean-shaven, heavy, but extremely good-natured face. He at once examined the child, felt and sounded him; then with his kindly yet serious air he said: "No, no, there's nothing. It is the mere7 effect of growth. The lad has become rather pale through spending the winter in Paris, but a few months in the open air, in the country, will set him right again."
"I told you so!" cried Beauchene.
Constance had kept her son's little hand in her own. He had again stretched himself out and closed his eyes in a weary way, whilst she, in her happiness, continued smiling. Whenever she chose she could appear quite pleasant-looking, however unprepossessing might be her features. The doctor had seated himself, for he was fond of lingering and chatting in the houses of friends. A general practitioner99, and one who more particularly tended the ailments100 of women and children, he was naturally a confessor, knew all sorts of secrets, and was quite at home in family circles. It was he who had attended Constance at the birth of that much-spoiled only son, and Marianne at the advent30 of the four children she already had.
Mathieu had remained standing101, awaiting an opportunity to deliver his invitation. "Well," said he, "if you are soon leaving for the country, you must come one Sunday to Janville. My wife would be so delighted to see you there, to show you our encampment."
Then he jested respecting the bareness of the lonely pavilion which they occupied, recounting that as yet they possessed only a dozen plates and five egg-cups. But Beauchene knew the pavilion, for he went shooting in the neighborhood every winter, having a share in the tenancy of some extensive woods, the shooting-rights over which had been parcelled out by the owner.
"Seguin," said he, "is a friend of mine. I have lunched at your pavilion. It's a perfect hovel!"
Then Constance, contemptuous at the idea of such poverty, recalled what Madame Seguin--to whom she referred as Valentine--had told her of the dilapidated condition of the old shooting-box. But the doctor, after listening with a smile, broke in:
"Mme. Seguin is a patient of mine. At the time when her last child was born I advised her to stay at that pavilion. The atmosphere is wholesome102, and children ought to spring up there like couch-grass."
Thereupon, with a sonorous103 laugh, Beauchene began to jest in his habitual84 way, remarking that if the doctor were correct there would probably be no end to Mathieu's progeny104, numerous as it already was. But this elicited105 an angry protest from Constance, who on the subject of children held the same views as her husband himself professed106 in his more serious moments.
Mathieu thoroughly107 understood what they both meant. They regarded him and his wife with derisive108 pity, tinged109 with anger.
The advent of the young couple's last child, little Rose, had already increased their expenses to such a point that they had been obliged to seek refuge in the country, in a mere pauper's hovel. And yet, in spite of Beauchene's sneers110 and Constance's angry remarks, Mathieu outwardly remained very calm. Constance and Marianne had never been able to agree; they differed too much in all respects; and for his part he laughed off every attack, unwilling as he was to let anger master him, lest a rupture111 should ensue.
But Beauchene waxed passionate112 on the subject. That question of the birth-rate and the present-day falling off in population was one which he thought he had completely mastered, and on which he held forth113 at length authoritatively114. He began by challenging the impartiality115 of Boutan, whom he knew to be a fervent116 partisan117 of large families. He made merry with him, declaring that no medical man could possibly have a disinterested118 opinion on the subject. Then he brought out all that he vaguely knew of Malthusianism, the geometrical increase of births, and the arithmetical increase of food-substances, the earth becoming so populous119 as to be reduced to a state of famine within two centuries. It was the poor's own fault, said he, if they led a life of starvation; they had only to limit themselves to as many children as they could provide for. The rich were falsely accused of social wrong-doing; they were by no means responsible for poverty. Indeed, they were the only reasonable people; they alone, by limiting their families, acted as good citizens should act. And he became quite triumphant120, repeating that he knew of no cause for self-reproach, and that his ever-growing fortune left him with an easy conscience. It was so much the worse for the poor, if they were bent121 on remaining poor. In vain did the doctor urge that the Malthusian theories were shattered, that the calculations had been based on a possible, not a real, increase of population; in vain too did he prove that the present-day economic crisis, the evil distribution of wealth under the capitalist system, was the one hateful cause of poverty, and that whenever labor should be justly apportioned122 among one and all the fruitful earth would easily provide sustenance123 for happy men ten times more numerous than they are now. The other refused to listen to anything, took refuge in his egotism, declared that all those matters were no concern of his, that he felt no remorse124 at being rich, and that those who wished to become rich had, in the main, simply to do as he had done.
"Then, logically, this is the end of France, eh?" Boutan remarked maliciously126. "The number of births ever increases in Germany, Russia, and elsewhere, while it decreases in a terrible way among us. Numerically the rank we occupy in Europe is already very inferior to what it formerly127 was; and yet number means power more than ever nowadays. It has been calculated that an average of four children per family is necessary in order that population may increase and the strength of a nation be maintained. You have but one child; you are a bad patriot128."
At this Beauchene flew into a tantrum, quite beside himself, and gasped129: "I a bad patriot! I, who kill myself with hard work! I, who even export French machinery130!... Yes, certainly I see families, acquaintances around me who may well allow themselves four children; and I grant that they deserve censure131 when they have no families. But as for me, my dear doctor, it is impossible. You know very well that in my position I absolutely can't."
Then, for the hundredth time, he gave his reasons, relating how the works had narrowly escaped being cut into pieces, annihilated, simply because he had unfortunately been burdened with a sister. Seraphine had behaved abominably132. There had been first her dowry; next her demands for the division of the property on their father's death; and the works had been saved only by means of a large pecuniary sacrifice which had long crippled their prosperity. And people imagined that he would be as imprudent as his father! Why, if Maurice should have a brother or a sister, he might hereafter find himself in the same dire133 embarrassment134, in which the family property might already have been destroyed. No, no! He would not expose the boy to the necessity of dividing the inheritance in accordance with badly framed laws. He was resolved that Maurice should be the sole master of the fortune which he himself had derived135 from his father, and which he would transmit to his heir increased tenfold. For his son he dreamt of supreme136 wealth, a colossal137 fortune, such as nowadays alone ensures power.
Mathieu, refraining from any intervention138, listened and remained grave; for this question of the birth-rate seemed to him a frightful one, the foremost of all questions, deciding the destiny of mankind and the world. There has never been any progress but such as has been determined by increase of births. If nations have accomplished139 evolutions, if civilization has advanced, it is because the nations have multiplied and subsequently spread through all the countries of the earth. And will not to-morrow's evolution, the advent of truth and justice, be brought about by the constant onslaught of the greater number, the revolutionary fruitfulness of the toilers and the poor?
It is quite true that Mathieu did not plainly say all these things to himself; indeed, he felt slightly ashamed of the four children that he already had, and was disturbed by the counsels of prudence140 addressed to him by the Beauchenes. But within him there struggled his faith in life, his belief that the greatest possible sum of life must bring about the greatest sum of happiness.
At last, wishing to change the subject, he bethought himself of Marianne's commission, and at the first favorable opportunity exclaimed: "Well, we shall rely on you, Marianne and I, for Sunday after next, at Janville."
But there was still no answer, for just then a servant came to say that a woman with an infant in her arms desired to see Madame. And Beauchene, having recognized the wife of Moineaud, the fitter, bade her come in. Boutan, who had now risen, was prompted by curiosity to remain a little longer.
La Moineaude, short and fat like her husband, was a woman of about forty, worn out before her time, with ashen141 face, pale eyes, thin faded hair, and a weak mouth which already lacked many teeth. A large family had been too much for her; and, moreover, she took no care of herself.
"Well, my good woman," Constance inquired, "what do you wish with me?"
But La Moineaude remained quite scared by the sight of all those people whom she had not expected to find there. She said nothing. She had hoped to speak to the lady privately142.
"Yes, monsieur, it's my little Alfred; he's ten months old and I've had to wean him, for I couldn't feed him any longer. I had nine others before this one, but three are dead. My eldest son, Eugene, is a soldier in Tonquin. You have my two big girls, Euphrasie and Norine, at the works. And I have three left at home--Victor, who is now fifteen, then Cecile and Irma, who are ten and seven. After Irma I thought I had done with children for good, and I was well pleased. But, you see, this urchin144 came! And I, forty too--it's not just! The good Lord must surely have abandoned us."
Then Dr. Boutan began to question her. He avoided looking at the Beauchenes, but there was a malicious125 twinkle in his little eyes, and it was evident that he took pleasure in recapitulating145 the employer's arguments against excessive prolificness. He pretended to get angry and to reproach the Moineauds for their ten wretched children--the boys fated to become food for powder, the girls always liable to misfortune. And he gave the woman to understand that it was her own fault if she was in distress146; for people with a tribe of children about them could never become rich. And the poor creature sadly answered that he was quite right, but that no idea of becoming rich could ever have entered their heads. Moineaud knew well enough that he would never be a cabinet minister, and so it was all the same to them how many children they might have on their hands. Indeed, a number proved a help when the youngsters grew old enough to go out to work.
Beauchene had become silent and slowly paced the room. A slight chill, a feeling of uneasiness was springing up, and so Constance made haste to inquire: "Well, my good woman, what is it I can do for you?"
"_Mon Dieu_, madame, it worries me; it's something which Moineaud didn't dare to ask of Monsieur Beauchene. For my part I hoped to find you alone and beg you to intercede147 for us. The fact is we should be very, very grateful if our little Victor could only be taken on at the works."
"But he is only fifteen," exclaimed Beauchene. "You must wait till he's sixteen. The law is strict."
"No doubt. Only one might perhaps just tell a little fib. It would be rendering148 us such a service--"
"No, it is impossible."
Big tears welled into La Moineaude's eyes. And Mathieu, who had listened with passionate interest, felt quite upset. Ah! that wretched toil-doomed flesh that hastened to offer itself without waiting until it was even ripe for work! Ah! the laborer149 who is prepared to lie, whom hunger sets against the very law designed for his own protection!
When La Moineaude had gone off in despair the doctor continued speaking of juvenile150 and female labor. As soon as a woman first finds herself a mother she can no longer continue toiling151 at a factory. Her lying-in and the nursing of her babe force her to remain at home, or else grievous infirmities may ensue for her and her offspring. As for the child, it becomes anemic, sometimes crippled; besides, it helps to keep wages down by being taken to work at a low scale of remuneration. Then the doctor went on to speak of the prolificness of wretchedness, the swarming152 of the lower classes. Was not the most hateful natality of all that which meant the endless increase of starvelings and social rebels?
"I perfectly understand you," Beauchene ended by saying, without any show of anger, as he abruptly brought his perambulations to an end. "You want to place me in contradiction with myself, and make me confess that I accept Moineaud's seven children and need them, whereas I, with my fixed153 determination to rest content with an only son, suppress, as it were, a family in order that I may not have to subdivide154 my estate. France, 'the country of only sons,' as folks say nowadays--that's it, eh? But, my dear fellow, the question is so intricate, and at bottom I am altogether in the right!"
Then he wished to explain things, and clapped his hand to his breast, exclaiming that he was a liberal, a democrat155, ready to demand all really progressive measures. He willingly recognized that children were necessary, that the army required soldiers, and the factories workmen. Only he also invoked156 the prudential duties of the higher classes, and reasoned after the fashion of a man of wealth, a conservative clinging to the fortune he has acquired.
Mathieu meanwhile ended by understanding the brutal157 truth: Capital is compelled to favor the multiplication158 of lives foredoomed to wretchedness; in spite of everything it must stimulate159 the prolificness of the wage-earning classes, in order that its profits may continue. The law is that there must always be an excess of children in order that there may be enough cheap workers. Then also speculation160 on the wages' ratio wrests161 all nobility from labor, which is regarded as the worst misfortune a man can be condemned162 to, when in reality it is the most precious of boons163. Such, then, is the cancer preying164 upon mankind. In countries of political equality and economical inequality the capitalist regime, the faulty distribution of wealth, at once restrains and precipitates165 the birth-rate by perpetually increasing the wrongful apportionment of means. On one side are the rich folk with "only" sons, who continually increase their fortunes; on the other, the poor folk, who, by reason of their unrestrained prolificness, see the little they possess crumble166 yet more and more. If labor be honored to-morrow, if a just apportionment of wealth be arrived at, equilibrium167 will be restored. Otherwise social revolution lies at the end of the road.
But Beauchene, in his triumphant manner, tried to show that he possessed great breadth of mind; he admitted the disquieting168 strides of a decrease of population, and denounced the causes of it--alcoholism, militarism, excessive mortality among infants, and other numerous matters. Then he indicated remedies; first, reductions in taxation169, fiscal170 means in which he had little faith; then freedom to will one's estate as one pleased, which seemed to him more efficacious; a change, too, in the marriage laws, without forgetting the granting of affiliation171 rights.
However, Boutan ended by interrupting him. "All the legislative172 measures in the world will do nothing," said the doctor. "Manners and customs, our notions of what is moral and what is not, our very conceptions of the beautiful in life--all must be changed. If France is becoming depopulated, it is because she so chooses. It is simply necessary then for her to choose so no longer. But what a task--a whole world to create anew!"
At this Mathieu raised a superb cry: "Well! we'll create it. I've begun well enough, surely!"
But Constance, after laughing in a constrained173 way, in her turn thought it as well to change the subject. And so she at last replied to his invitation, saying that she would do her best to go to Janville, though she feared she might not be able to dispose of a Sunday to do so.
Dr. Boutan then took his leave, and was escorted to the door by Beauchene, who still went on jesting, like a man well pleased with life, one who was satisfied with himself and others, and who felt certain of being able to arrange things as might best suit his pleasure and his interests.
An hour later, a few minutes after midday, as Mathieu, who had been delayed in the works, went up to the offices to fetch Morange as he had promised to do, it occurred to him to take a short cut through the women's workshop. And there, in that spacious gallery, already deserted174 and silent, he came upon an unexpected scene which utterly175 amazed him. On some pretext176 or other Norine had lingered there the last, and Beauchene was with her, clasping her around the waist whilst he eagerly pressed his lips to hers. But all at once they caught sight of Mathieu and remained thunderstruck. And he, for his part, fled precipitately177, deeply annoyed at having been a surprised witness to such a secret.
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1
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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6
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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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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federation
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| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
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quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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dressings
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| n.敷料剂；穿衣( dressing的名词复数 )；穿戴；（拌制色拉的）调料；（保护伤口的）敷料 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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13
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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14
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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streaked
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| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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22
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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25
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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26
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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mishaps
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| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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prospering
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的现在分词 ) | |
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revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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33
brigandage
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| n.抢劫；盗窃；土匪；强盗 | |
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miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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forger
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| v.伪造；n.（钱、文件等的）伪造者 | |
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38
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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39
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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41
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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42
bestowal
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| 赠与，给与； 贮存 | |
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43
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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44
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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45
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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46
perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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47
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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48
espoused
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| v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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50
scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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52
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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53
peals
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| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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54
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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55
plies
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的第三人称单数 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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56
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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57
undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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58
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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59
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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60
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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61
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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62
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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63
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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64
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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prolificness
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| 挥霍 | |
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66
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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67
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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68
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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69
dented
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| v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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70
reaper
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| n.收割者，收割机 | |
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71
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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72
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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73
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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75
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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78
milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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79
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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80
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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81
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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82
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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83
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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84
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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85
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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86
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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87
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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88
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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89
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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magpies
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| 喜鹊（magpie的复数形式） | |
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92
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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95
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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96
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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ailments
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| 疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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103
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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104
progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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105
elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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107
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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108
derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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109
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
sneers
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| 讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 ) | |
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111
rupture
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| n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂 | |
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112
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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113
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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114
authoritatively
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| 命令式地，有权威地，可信地 | |
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115
impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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116
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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117
partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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118
disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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119
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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120
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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121
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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122
apportioned
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| vt.分摊，分配（apportion的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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123
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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124
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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125
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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126
maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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127
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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128
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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129
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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130
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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131
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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132
abominably
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| adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地 | |
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133
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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134
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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135
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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136
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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137
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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138
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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139
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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140
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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141
ashen
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| adj.灰的 | |
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142
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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143
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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144
urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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145
recapitulating
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| v.总结，扼要重述( recapitulate的现在分词 ) | |
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146
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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147
intercede
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| vi.仲裁，说情 | |
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148
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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149
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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150
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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151
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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152
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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153
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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154
subdivide
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| vt.细分（细区分，再划分，重分，叠分，分小类） | |
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155
democrat
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员 | |
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156
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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157
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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158
multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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159
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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160
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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161
wrests
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| （用力）拧( wrest的第三人称单数 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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162
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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163
boons
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| n.恩惠( boon的名词复数 )；福利；非常有用的东西；益处 | |
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164
preying
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| v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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165
precipitates
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的第三人称单数 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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166
crumble
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| vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁 | |
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167
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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168
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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169
taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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170
fiscal
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| adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的 | |
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171
affiliation
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| n.联系，联合 | |
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172
legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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173
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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174
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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175
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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176
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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177
precipitately
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| adv.猛进地 | |
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