Well, child, she said, in a totally different voice, "are you satisfied?"
Mme. Cibot stared stupidly at the sorceress, and could not answer.
Ah! you would have the grand jeu; I have treated you as an old acquaintance. I only want a hundred francs—
Cibot,—going to die? gasped the portress.
So I have been telling you very dreadful things, have I? asked Mme. Fontaine, with an extremely ingenuous air.
Why, yes! said La Cibot, taking a hundred francs from her pocket and laying them down on the edge of the table. "Going to be murdered, think of it—"
Ah! there it is! You would have the grand jeu; but don't take on so, all the folk that are murdered on the cards don't die.
But is it possible, Ma'am Fontaine?
Oh, I know nothing about it, my pretty dear! You would rap at the door of the future; I pull the cord, and it came.
It, what? asked Mme. Cibot.
Well, then, the Spirit! cried the sorceress impatiently.
Good-bye, Ma'am Fontaine, exclaimed the portress. "I did not know what the grand jeu was like. You have given me a good fright, that you have."
The mistress will not put herself in that state twice in a month, said the servant, as she went with La Cibot to the landing. "She would do herself to death if she did, it tires her so. She will eat cutlets now and sleep for three hours afterwards."
Out in the street La Cibot took counsel of herself as she went along, and, after the manner of all who ask for advice of any sort or description, she took the favorable part of the prediction and rejected the rest. The next day found her confirmed in her resolutions—she would set all in train to become rich by securing a part of Pons' collection. Nor for some time had she any other thought than the combination of various plans to this end. The faculty of self-concentration seen in rough, uneducated persons, explained on a previous page, the reserve power accumulated in those whose mental energies are unworn by the daily wear and tear of social life, and brought into action so soon as that terrible weapon the "fixed idea" is brought into play,—all this was pre-eminently manifested in La Cibot. Even as the "fixed idea" works miracles of evasion, and brings forth prodigies of sentiment, so greed transformed the portress till she became as formidable as a Nucingen at bay, as subtle beneath her seeming stupidity as the irresistible La Palferine.
About seven o'clock one morning, a few days afterwards, she saw Remonencq taking down his shutters. She went across to him.
How could one find out how much the things yonder in my gentlemen's rooms are worth? she asked in a wheedling tone.
Oh! that is quite easy, replied the owner of the old curiosity shop. "If you will play fair and above board with me, I will tell you of somebody, a very honest man, who will know the value of the pictures to a farthing—"
Who?
M. Magus, a Jew. He only does business to amuse himself now.
Elie Magus has appeared so often in the Comedie Humaine, that it is needless to say more of him here. Suffice it to add that he had retired from business, and as a dealer was following the example set by Pons the amateur. Well-known valuers like Henry, Messrs. Pigeot and Moret, Theret, Georges, and Roehn, the experts of the Musee, in fact, were but children compared with Elie Magus. He could see a masterpiece beneath the accumulated grime of a century; he knew all schools, and the handwriting of all painters.
He had come to Paris from Bordeaux, and so long ago as 1835 he had retired from business without making any change for the better in his dress, so faithful is the race to old tradition. The persecutions of the Middle Ages compelled them to wear rags, to snuffle and whine and groan over their poverty in self-defence, till the habits induced by the necessities of other times have come to be, as usual, instinctive, a racial defect. Elie Magus had amassed a vast fortune by buying and selling diamonds, pictures, lace, enamels, delicate carvings, old jewelry, and rarities of all kinds, a kind of commerce which has developed enormously of late, so much so indeed that the number of dealers has increased tenfold during the last twenty years in this city of Paris, whither all the curiosities in the world come to rub against one another. And for pictures there are but three marts in the world—Rome, London, and Paris.
Elie Magus lived in the Chausee des Minimes, a short, broad street leading to the Place Royale. He had bought the house, an old-fashioned mansion, for a song, as the saying is, in 1831. Yet there were sumptuous apartments within it, decorated in the time of Louis XV; for it had once been the Hotel Maulaincourt, built by the great President of the Cour des Aides, and its remote position had saved it at the time of the Revolution. You may be quite sure that the old Jew had sound reasons for buying house property, contrary to the Hebrew law and custom. He had ended, as most of us end, with a hobby that bordered on a craze. He was as miserly as his friend, the late lamented Gobseck; but he had been caught by the snare of the eyes, by the beauty of the pictures in which he dealt. As his taste grew more and more fastidious, it became one of the passions which princes alone can indulge when they are wealthy and art-lovers. As the second King of Prussia found nothing that so kindled enthusiasm as the spectacle of a grenadier over six feet high, and gave extravagant sums for a new specimen to add to his living museum of a regiment, so the retired picture-dealer was roused to passion-pitch only by some canvas in perfect preservation, untouched since the master laid down the brush; and what was more, it must be a picture of the painter's best time. No great sales, therefore, took place but Elie Magus was there; every mart knew him; he traveled all over Europe. The ice-cold, money-worshiping soul in him kindled at the sight of a perfect work of art, precisely as a libertine, weary of fair women, is roused from apathy by the sight of a beautiful girl, and sets out afresh upon the quest of flawless loveliness. A Don Juan among fair works of art, a worshiper of the Ideal, Elie Magus had discovered joys that transcend the pleasure of a miser gloating over his gold—he lived in a seraglio of great paintings.
His masterpieces were housed as became the children of princes; the whole first floor of the great old mansion was given up to them. The rooms had been restored under Elie Magus' orders, and with what magnificence! The windows were hung with the richest Venetian brocade; the most splendid carpets from the Savonnerie covered the parquetry flooring. The frames of the pictures, nearly a hundred in number, were magnificent specimens, regilded cunningly by Servais, the one gilder in Paris whom Elie Magus thought sufficiently painstaking; the old Jew himself had taught him to use the English leaf, which is infinitely superior to that produced by French gold-beaters. Servais is among gilders as Thouvenin among bookbinders—an artist among craftsmen, making his work a labor of love. Every window in that gallery was protected by iron-barred shutters. Elie Magus himself lived in a couple of attics on the floor above; the furniture was wretched, the rooms were full of rags, and the whole place smacked of the Ghetto; Elie Magus was finishing his days without any change in his life.
The whole of the ground floor was given up to the picture trade (for the Jew still dealt in works of art). Here he stored his canvases, here also packing-cases were stowed on their arrival from other countries; and still there was room for a vast studio, where Moret, most skilful of restorers of pictures, a craftsman whom the Musee ought to employ, was almost always at work for Magus. The rest of the rooms on the ground floor were given up to Magus' daughter, the child of his old age, a Jewess as beautiful as a Jewess can be when the Semitic type reappears in its purity and nobility in a daughter of Israel. Noemi was guarded by two servants, fanatical Jewesses, to say nothing of an advanced-guard, a Polish Jew, Abramko by name, once involved in a fabulous manner in political troubles, from which Elie Magus saved him as a business speculation. Abramko, porter of the silent, grim, deserted mansion, divided his office and his lodge with three remarkably ferocious animals—an English bull-dog, a Newfoundland dog, and another of the Pyrenean breed.
Behold the profound observations of human nature upon which Elie Magus based his feeling of security, for secure he felt; he left home without misgivings, slept with both ears shut, and feared no attempt upon his daughter (his chief treasure), his pictures, or his money. In the first place, Abramko's salary was increased every year by two hundred francs so long as his master should live; and Magus, moreover, was training Abramko as a money-lender in a small way. Abramko never admitted anybody until he had surveyed them through a formidable grated opening. He was a Hercules for strength, he worshiped Elie Magus, as Sancho Panza worshiped Don Quixote. All day long the dogs were shut up without food; at nightfall Abramko let them loose; and by a cunning device the old Jew kept each animal at his post in the courtyard or the garden by hanging a piece of meat just out of reach on the top of a pole. The animals guarded the house, and sheer hunger guarded the dogs. No odor that reached their nostrils could tempt them from the neighborhood of that piece of meat; they would not have left their places at the foot of the poles for the most engaging female of the canine species. If a stranger by any chance intruded, the dogs suspected him of ulterior designs upon their rations, which were only taken down in the morning by Abramko himself when he awoke. The advantages of this fiendish scheme are patent. The animals never barked, Magus' ingenuity had made savages of them; they were treacherous as Mohicans. And now for the result. One night burglars, emboldened by the silence, decided too hastily that it would be easy enough to "clean out" the old Jew's strong box. One of their number told off to advance to the assault scrambled up the garden wall and prepared to descend. This the bull-dog allowed him to do. The animal, knowing perfectly well what was coming, waited for the burglar to reach the ground; but when that gentleman directed a kick at him, the bull-dog flew at the visitor's shins, and, making but one bite of it, snapped the ankle-bone clean in two. The thief had the courage to tear him away, and returned, walking upon the bare bone of the mutilated stump till he reached the rest of the gang, when he fell fainting, and they carried him off. The Police News, of course, did not fail to report this delightful night incident, but no one believed in it.
Magus at this time was seventy-five years old, and there was no reason why he should not live to a hundred. Rich man though he was, he lived like the Remonencqs. His necessary expenses, including the money he lavished on his daughter, did not exceed three thousand francs.
“怎么樣,孩子?你滿意嗎?……”她的聲音和預(yù)言的聲音完全不同。
西卜太太眼睛直勾勾地瞪著老妖婆,一句話都說不上來。
“哎!你不是要起大課嗎?我是把你當(dāng)熟人看待的。只收你一百法郎吧……”
“西卜會死?……”門房女人叫著。
“難道我告訴了你很可怕的事嗎?……”封丹太太問話的口氣非常天真。
“可不是!……”西卜女人從袋里掏出一百法郎放在桌子邊上,“要給人謀殺!……”
“哦!只怪你自己要起大課!……可是放心,牌上說要給人謀殺的,不是每一個(gè)都應(yīng)驗(yàn)的?!?/p>
“封丹太太,到底可能不可能?”
“哎??!我的小乖乖,那我怎么知道呢?你要去敲未來的門,我就替你拉了鈴,他就來了!”
“他,他是誰?”西卜太太問。
“仙人呀,不是仙人是誰?”老妖婆表示不耐煩了。
“再會,封丹太太!我沒見過起大課,你真把我嚇壞了,你!……”
老媽子把看門女人送到樓梯口,說道:“太太一個(gè)月也不起兩回大課的!過后她真累死了。她要吃好幾塊豬排,睡三個(gè)鐘點(diǎn)……”
走在街上,西卜太太像一個(gè)人隨便跟人家商量什么以后的心理,把預(yù)言中對自己有利的部分都信以為真,把所說的災(zāi)難都認(rèn)為不可能。第二天,主意更堅(jiān)決了,她想大舉進(jìn)攻,把邦斯美術(shù)館的東西弄上一部分,發(fā)一筆財(cái)。她幾天之內(nèi)只盤算著怎樣把各種方法配合起來,達(dá)到她的目的。上面說過,粗人從來不像上等人那樣隨時(shí)隨地消耗智力,所以他們執(zhí)著一念的時(shí)候,精神上仿佛添了武器,力量格外的強(qiáng)。這些現(xiàn)象,在西卜女人身上表現(xiàn)得特別顯著。執(zhí)著一念的囚犯能夠造成越獄的奇跡,平常人執(zhí)著一念能夠產(chǎn)生感情上的奇跡。這個(gè)看門女人的貪心,也使她變得像紐沁根受困之下一樣強(qiáng)悍,面上愚蠢而實(shí)際和拉·巴番里納一樣精明。
幾天之后早上七點(diǎn)光景,雷蒙諾克正在開鋪門,她就眉開眼笑地走過去問:
“堆在我先生家里的東西,怎么樣才能知道一個(gè)確實(shí)的價(jià)錢呢?”
“那容易得很。倘使你跟我公平交易,我可以介紹你一個(gè)估價(jià)的人,挺老實(shí)的,他能知道那些畫的價(jià)值,差不了一兩個(gè)銅子……”
“誰?”
“一個(gè)叫作瑪古斯的猶太人,他現(xiàn)在做買賣不過是玩玩罷了?!?/p>
埃里·瑪古斯在《人間喜劇》中已是老角色,可以無須介紹[1];只要知道他那時(shí)已不做古畫古玩的買賣,而是以商人資格采取了收藏家邦斯的辦法。以估價(jià)出名的人,例如已故的亨利,在世的比育、莫萊、丹萊、喬治洛恩,以及美術(shù)館的專家等等,跟瑪古斯一比簡直都是小孩子。他對百年塵封的古畫能辨別出是否杰作,他認(rèn)得所有的畫派和所有畫家的筆跡。
這個(gè)從波爾多搬到巴黎來的猶太人,一八三五年起就不做買賣,但依舊穿得破破爛爛,因?yàn)檫@是多數(shù)猶太人的習(xí)慣,而猶太人是最守傳統(tǒng)的民族。中世紀(jì)各國對猶太人的迫害,使他們?yōu)榱吮苋俗⒛抗室獯┑靡律酪h褸,老是哭喪著臉,裝窮嘆苦。習(xí)慣成自然,當(dāng)年出于不得已的行為,慢慢地成為民族的本能和習(xí)慣了?,敼潘箯那百I賣鉆石、古畫、花邊、琺瑯、高等古玩、細(xì)巧的雕刻、古時(shí)的金銀器物,靠這一行規(guī)模越來越大的生意,暗暗地掙了一份很大的財(cái)產(chǎn)。的確,巴黎是世界上古玩珍寶薈萃之地,近二十年古董商的人數(shù)加多了十倍。至于畫,只有在羅馬、倫敦、巴黎三大城市才有交易。
瑪古斯住在通往王家廣場的一條寬而短的彌尼末街,那兒他有所古老的宅子,在一八三一年上買進(jìn)的,價(jià)錢簡直便宜得不像話。屋子當(dāng)初是有名的審計(jì)官摩朗古蓋的,其中有路易十五時(shí)代裝修得最華麗的幾間房,大革命時(shí)因地位關(guān)系并沒受到損壞。老猶太人違反民族的習(xí)慣而置產(chǎn)是有他的理由的。他晚年也跟我們老來一樣染上一種近乎瘋狂的嗜好。雖然和他故世的老朋友高勃薩克同樣吝嗇,他卻不知不覺地對手里進(jìn)出的寶物著了迷。但像他那種眼光越來越高、條件越來越苛的癖,只有國王才夠得上資格有,還得是個(gè)有錢有鑒賞力的國王。據(jù)說普魯士的第二個(gè)王[2]挑選擲彈兵,要身高六英尺才合意,那時(shí)他會不惜重金羅致,放進(jìn)他的擲彈兵博物館;同樣,那位退休的古董商看得中的畫,既要沒有一點(diǎn)毛病,又要沒有經(jīng)過后人修補(bǔ),還得是那個(gè)畫家最精的作品。所以逢到大拍賣,他從不缺席,他巡閱所有的市場,跑遍整個(gè)的歐洲。這顆唯利是圖的心像冰山一般的冷,看見一件精品可馬上會熱起來,正如玩膩了女人的老色鬼,到處尋訪絕色的美女,一朝碰見完美的姑娘就不由得神魂顛倒。他崇拜理想的美,對藝術(shù)品的瘋魔好比唐·璜對女人,從欣賞中體味到比守財(cái)奴瞧著黃金更高級的樂趣。他置身于名畫中左顧右盼,儼如蘇丹進(jìn)了后宮。
存放那些寶物的地方,不下于王爺?shù)膬号畟冏〉摹,敼潘拱颜麄€(gè)二樓裝修得美輪美奐地養(yǎng)它們。窗上掛著威尼斯的金線鋪繡做窗簾。地下鋪著薩伏伊最漂亮的地毯。一百幅左右的畫上富麗堂皇的框子,全部由賽爾威很古雅地重新描過金?,敼潘拐J(rèn)為他是巴黎唯一認(rèn)真的描金匠,親自教他用英國金描漆,因?yàn)橛鸬馁|(zhì)地比法國的好得多。描金業(yè)中的賽爾威,正如裝訂業(yè)中的多佛南,是個(gè)愛好自己作品的藝術(shù)家。屋內(nèi)所有的窗都釘著鐵皮的護(hù)窗板?,敼潘棺约涸谌龑禹敇巧献≈鴥砷g房,里面全是些破家具破衣服,一望而知是猶太人住的地方,因?yàn)樗嚼弦矝]改變他的生活方式。
底層到處擺著猶太人還在買進(jìn)賣出的畫和從國外運(yùn)來的箱子;另有一間極大的畫室,現(xiàn)代修補(bǔ)古畫最好的一個(gè)藝術(shù)家,應(yīng)該由美術(shù)館聘請的名手,莫萊,差不多給瑪古斯長期包著在這兒工作。女兒諾愛彌的房間也在樓下。她是猶太人晚年生的,長得秀美,就像亞洲種族的特征表現(xiàn)得特別純粹、特別高雅的那種猶太女子。和她做伴的是兩個(gè)頑固的猶太老媽子,還有一個(gè)叫作阿勃朗谷的波蘭猶太人做前哨。他不知怎么陰差陽錯(cuò)地,牽入了波蘭的革命運(yùn)動,瑪古斯有心利用,把他救了出來派做門房。阿勃朗谷守著這所又靜又陰氣又荒涼的屋子,住著一間門房,帶了三條兇猛無比的狗,一條是紐芬蘭種,一條是比萊南種,一條是英國種的斗牛狗。
這樣,猶太人可以放心大膽地出門旅行,可以高枕無憂地睡覺,既不用怕人家來奪他的第一件寶貝,女兒,也不必為他的畫跟黃金操心。他這種安全是根據(jù)極深刻的世故得來的。第一,阿勃朗谷的工資每年加二百法郎,可是主人故世之后再沒有什么遺贈的了;同時(shí)瑪古斯又把他教會了在街坊上放印子錢。有人來的時(shí)候,阿勃朗谷要不先從裝著粗鐵桿的門洞里張望一下,決不開門。這個(gè)大力士般的門房愛戴瑪古斯,仿佛桑丘·潘沙愛戴堂·吉訶德。其次,三條狗白天都給關(guān)著,沒有一點(diǎn)東西吃;晚上阿勃朗谷把它們放出來,照老猶太人精明的辦法,教一條狗守在花園里一根柱子下面,柱子高頭放著一塊肉;一條守在院子里,也有一根同樣的柱子;第三條關(guān)在樓下大廳內(nèi)。要知道狗本能就是守家的,如今又被饑餓給拴住了,哪怕見到最漂亮的母狗,它們也不肯離開高懸食物的柱子,更不會東嗅西嗅地隨便亂跑了。一有陌生人,三條狗就以為是來搶它們的肉吃;而那塊肉是要等天明之后,阿勃朗谷才拿給它們的。這個(gè)刁鉆古怪的辦法真有說不盡的妙處。那些狗都一聲不叫,瑪古斯恢復(fù)了它們的野性,變得像印第安人一樣狡猾。有一天,幾個(gè)賊覺得屋子里靜悄悄的,便大著膽子,以為一定能偷到老猶太人的錢。其中一個(gè)當(dāng)先鋒的,爬上花園的墻想跳下去。斗牛狗明明聽到了,只是不理;等到那位先生的腳走近了,它就一口咬下,吃掉了。受傷的賊居然迸發(fā)著勇氣翻過墻頭,仗著腿上的骨頭走路,直到同伴身邊才暈倒,由他們抬了走。《司法日報(bào)》把這條極有風(fēng)趣的巴黎夜新聞給登出來,大家還認(rèn)為是杜撰的笑話。
七十五歲的瑪古斯可能活到一百歲。盡管有錢,他的生活和兩個(gè)雷蒙諾克的差不多。連對女兒予取予求的費(fèi)用在內(nèi),他每月的開支也只要三千法郎。
注解:
[1] 埃里·瑪古斯在《復(fù)仇》《婚約》《皮埃爾·格拉蘇》等幾部小說中都出現(xiàn)過。
[2] 普魯士的第二個(gè)王是腓特烈·威廉一世,為腓特烈一世之子,有名的腓特烈二世之父。
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