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he drew a flourish in the air

with his stick.

 

“The nature of his wound has no doubt made him childish,” said

Derville.

 

“Childish! he?” said another old pauper, who was looking on. “Why,

there are days when you had better not tread on his corns. He is an

old rogue, full of philosophy and imagination. But to-day, what can

you expect! He has had his Monday treat.—He was here, monsieur, so

long ago as 1820. At that time a Prussian officer, whose chaise was

crawling up the hill of Villejuif, came by on foot. We two were

together, Hyacinthe and I, by the roadside. The officer, as he walked,

was talking to another, a Russian, or some animal of the same species,

and when the Prussian saw the old boy, just to make fun, he said to

him, ‘Here is an old cavalry man who must have been at Rossbach.’—‘I

was too young to be there,’ said Hyacinthe. ‘But I was at Jena.’ And

the Prussian made off pretty quick, without asking any more

questions.”

 

“What a destiny!” exclaimed Derville. “Taken out of the Foundling

Hospital to die in the Infirmary for the Aged, after helping Napoleon

between whiles to conquer Egypt and Europe.—Do you know, my dear

fellow,” Derville went on after a pause, “there are in modern society

three men who can never think well of the world—the priest, the

doctor, and the man of law? And they wear black robes, perhaps because

they are in mourning for every virtue and every illusion. The most

hapless of the three is the lawyer. When a man comes in search of the

priest, he is prompted by repentance, by remorse, by beliefs which

make him interesting, which elevate him and comfort the soul of the

intercessor whose task will bring him a sort of gladness; he purifies,

repairs and reconciles. But we lawyers, we see the same evil feelings

repeated again and again, nothing can correct them; our offices are

sewers which can never be cleansed.

 

“How many things have I learned in the exercise of my profession! I

have seen a father die in a garret, deserted by two daughters, to whom

he had given forty thousand francs a year! I have known wills burned;

I have seen mothers robbing their children, wives killing their

husbands, and working on the love they could inspire to make the men

idiotic or mad, that they might live in peace with a lover. I have

seen women teaching the child of their marriage such tastes as must

bring it to the grave in order to benefit the child of an illicit

affection. I could not tell you all I have seen, for I have seen

crimes against which justice is impotent. In short, all the horrors

that romancers suppose they have invented are still below the truth.

You will know something of these pretty things; as for me, I am going

to live in the country with my wife. I have a horror of Paris.”

 

“I have seen plenty of them already in Desroches’ office,” replied

Godeschal.

 

PARIS, February-March 1832.

ADDENDUM

The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.

 

Bonaparte, Napoleon

The Vendetta

The Gondreville Mystery

Domestic Peace

The Seamy Side of History

A Woman of Thirty

 

Crottat, Alexandre

Cesar Birotteau

A Start in Life

A Woman of Thirty

Cousin Pons

 

Derville

Gobseck

A Start in Life

The Gondreville Mystery

Father Goriot

Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life

 

Desroches (son)

A Bachelor’s Establishment

A Start in Life

A Woman of Thirty

The Commission in Lunacy

The Government Clerks

A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life

The Firm of Nucingen

A Man of Business

The Middle Classes

 

Ferraud, Comtesse

The Government Clerks

 

Godeschal, Francois-Claude-Marie

A Bachelor’s Establishment

A Start in Life

The Commission in Lunacy

The Middle Classes

Cousin Pons

 

Grandlieu, Vicomtesse de

Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life

Gobseck

 

Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier

The Chouans

The Seamy Side of History

The Gondreville Mystery

Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life

The Ball at Sceaux

The Lily of the Valley

The Government Clerks

 

Murat, Joachim, Prince

The Vendetta

The Gondreville Mystery

Domestic Peace

The Country Doctor

 

Navarreins, Duc de

A Bachelor’s Establishment

The Muse of the Department

The Thirteen

Jealousies of a Country Town

The Peasantry

Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life

The Country Parson

The Magic Skin

The Gondreville Mystery

The Secrets of a Princess

Cousin Betty

 

Vergniaud, Louis

The Vendetta

 

End of The Project Gutenberg Etext Colonel Chabert, by Honore de Balzac

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