登陆注册
15697000000009

第9章 DEDICATION(9)

The exchange of roles was the beginning of an intellectual comradeship. Before long, Lucien told David of his own father's farsighted views of the application of science to manufacture, while David pointed out the new ways in literature that Lucien must follow if he meant to succeed. Not many days had passed before the young men's friendship became a passion such as is only known in early manhood. Then it was that David caught a glimpse of Eve's fair face, and loved, as grave and meditative natures can love. The et nunc et semper et in secula seculorum of the Liturgy is the device taken by many a sublime unknown poet, whose works consist in magnificent epics conceived and lost between heart and heart. With a lover's insight, David read the secret hopes set by the mother and sister on Lucien's poet's brow; and knowing their blind devotion, it was very sweet to him to draw nearer to his love by sharing her hopes and her self-sacrifice. And in this way Lucien came to be David's chosen brother.

As there are ultras who would fain be more Royalist than the King, so David outdid the mother and sister in his belief in Lucien's genius; he spoiled Lucien as a mother spoils her child.

Once, under pressure of the lack of money which tied their hands, the two were ruminating after the manner of young men over ways of promptly realizing a large fortune; and, after fruitless shakings of all the trees already stripped by previous comers, Lucien bethought himself of two of his father's ideas. M. Chardon had talked of a method of refining sugar by a chemical process, which would reduce the cost of production by one-half; and he had another plan for employing an American vegetable fibre for making paper, something after the Chinese fashion, and effecting an enormous saving in the cost of raw material. David, knowing the importance of a question raised already by the Didots, caught at this latter notion, saw a fortune in it, and looked upon Lucien as the benefactor whom he could never repay.

Any one may guess how the ruling thoughts and inner life of this pair of friends unfitted them for carrying on the business of a printing house. So far from making fifteen to twenty thousand francs, like Cointet Brothers, printers and publishers to the diocese, and proprietors of the Charente Chronicle (now the only newspaper in the department)--Sechard & Son made a bare three hundred francs per month, out of which the foreman's salary must be paid, as well as Marion's wages and the rent and taxes; so that David himself was scarcely making twelve hundred francs per annum. Active and industrious men of business would have bought new type and new machinery, and made an effort to secure orders for cheap printing from the Paris book trade; but master and foreman, deep in absorbing intellectual interests, were quite content with such orders as came to them from their remaining customers.

In the long length the Cointets had come to understand David's character and habits. They did not slander him now; on the contrary, wise policy required that they should allow the business to flicker on; it was to their interest indeed to maintain it in a small way, lest it should fall into the hands of some more formidable competitor; they made a practice of sending prospectuses and circulars--job-printing, as it is called--to the Sechard's establishment. So it came about that, all unwittingly, David owed his existence, commercially speaking, to the cunning schemes of his competitors. The Cointets, well pleased with his "craze," as they called it, behaved to all appearance both fairly and handsomely; but, as a matter of fact, they were adopting the tactics of the mail-coach owners who set up a sham opposition coach to keep bona fide rivals out of the field.

Inside and outside, the condition of the Sechard printing establishment bore testimony to the sordid avarice of the old "bear," who never spent a penny on repairs. The old house had stood in sun and rain, and borne the brunt of the weather, till it looked like some venerable tree trunk set down at the entrance of the alley, so riven it was with seams and cracks of all sorts and sizes. The house front, built of brick and stone, with no pretensions to symmetry, seemed to be bending beneath the weight of a worm-eaten roof covered with the curved pantiles in common use in the South of France. The decrepit casements were fitted with the heavy, unwieldy shutters necessary in that climate, and held in place by massive iron cross bars. It would have puzzled you to find a more dilapidated house in Angouleme; nothing but sheer tenacity of mortar kept it together. Try to picture the workshop, lighted at either end, and dark in the middle; the walls covered with handbills and begrimed by friction of all the workmen who had rubbed past them for thirty years; the cobweb of cordage across the ceiling, the stacks of paper, the old-fashioned presses, the pile of slabs for weighting the damp sheets, the rows of cases, and the two dens in the far corners where the master printer and foreman sat--and you will have some idea of the life led by the two friends.

One day early in May, 1821, David and Lucien were standing together by the window that looked into the yard. It was nearly two o'clock, and the four or five men were going out to dinner. David waited until the apprentice had shut the street door with the bell fastened to it; then he drew Lucien out into the yard as if the smell of paper, ink, and presses and old woodwork had grown intolerable to him, and together they sat down under the vines, keeping the office and the door in view. The sunbeams, playing among the trellised vine-shoots, hovered over the two poets, making, as it were, an aureole about their heads, bringing the contrast between their faces and their characters into a vigorous relief that would have tempted the brush of some great painter.

同类推荐
  • 送陈嘏登第作尉归觐

    送陈嘏登第作尉归觐

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 香销酒醒词

    香销酒醒词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 语资

    语资

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 壬归

    壬归

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 驻梦词

    驻梦词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 重生逆袭:天才小妖女

    重生逆袭:天才小妖女

    穿越异世,在机缘巧合下获得神器八卦神卷一张。人善被人欺,马善被人骑。身遇渣女坑男,修为尽失!神卷在手,天下我有。重生逆袭,装逼逆袭,且看重生魔女如何玩转异世,定要让欺负她的人百倍奉还!管你是人是仙是魔,只要是美男全都得败在本姑娘的石榴裙下!“什么?说我是妖女!你是什么时候瞎的?”某女人畜无害的笑着,脑子飞快飞快旋转着,随时准备致命一击!感谢阅文书评团提供书评支持!
  • 综漫盖亚

    综漫盖亚

    盖亚系列的第一部《综漫盖亚》基本已经算是完本了,虽然还有最终卷《创世纪》(只是用于设定,所以不急着写)和食灵卷的坑要填,不过这些都不是问题。至于拳皇、圣斗士、高达等等这些后续就要第二部了。虽然第二部一开始前两卷看着似乎是换了主角,但这只是错觉,即使化身发光鸡蛋,主角依然是主角,盖亚始终是盖亚,剧情是与《综漫盖亚》连续的,并不是另开的新书。敬请关注第二部《游戏与综漫的旅程》
  • 我本冷情怎暖你心

    我本冷情怎暖你心

    主角本乖巧,很小的时候父母便离婚,没人管她。她奶奶对她很不好,经常折磨她。她上到初中,就变得叛逆、高冷。直到遇到上官雪,她才慢慢地有了几个朋友.后和叶宸凡成男女朋友
  • 末日最强王者

    末日最强王者

    (请无视逆战征文,本文lol体系,完整体验,包您满意!)饕餮末日,生化危机。未知病毒席卷全球。作为偷渡者的苏潜来到加拿大后发现国外真是一个人吃人的世界。浩浩荡荡的丧尸大潮就如同海潮拍岸似得涌动着,吞噬着街上的一切,钢筋水泥铸成的城市仿佛成了这一片尸潮中的唯一礁石。而活下来的幸存者们,蜷缩在他们认为绝对安全的角落,畏惧着,等待着。“在末日里,要么死亡,要么疯狂。”——苏潜.而得到英雄联盟系统的他,选择猖狂!
  • 寒冰魂

    寒冰魂

    个皇子,出生成长战争战斗,冥冥之中,仿佛总有一双大手在操控着一切。神秘的紫气,是天降祥瑞还是噩梦的根源;强大的力量,是神赐的恩惠,还是罪恶的体现……皇家的阴谋,人心的丑恶,杀戮的血腥,亲情与纷争,权力与悲愤,兄弟与残斗,爱人与绝望,力量与希望,他该何去何从……
  • 疯狂的兔子

    疯狂的兔子

    张南,一个落魄的网络农民,说好听点就是职业玩家。和卡森组建军团只不过是看重军团的谋利方式和利润,比个人操作要来钱快。联盟的利益对他来说和邻居家的老大妈一般,没有一点吸引力。为了钱包着想,疯狂的扩张占地盘发展后勤是根本的王道。张南与舞动你心带着兔子们疯狂的转战在世界各国玩家面前。但是疯狂的兔子们最终能走多远,张南一直在考虑着这个问题!一天二更!QQ群:62955845(刚开的!)
  • 一路守候

    一路守候

    公子颜,孤儿院长大的一个女孩。每年的生日一束百合总会如期而至送到她面前,谁是送花人?她一直在寻找这个答案。直到十八岁那年,所有的真相慢慢揭开了序幕。
  • 重生之我是作家

    重生之我是作家

    唐轩,23岁,乃是碧水城的高三学生、起点中文网的扑街写手,至于笔名?那不重要。为了读者的需求,连续码字一天一夜。终于可以睡个好觉了,又在睡梦中死亡!然后......又离奇的“活”了过来!重生带给了唐轩很多感悟和对今后生活的憧憬。也带来了强大的记忆力以及......作家系统?!(好书,点赞!)
  • 追寻你的香气

    追寻你的香气

    我以为自己是个局外人,可从他注意到我的那一刻起就注定纠缠不休。无论是在大学的那四年还是进了社会总会有他的身影出现。很多人都说他喜欢我,连我自己也这么认为,可始终抵不过事实。是他先走进了我的生活,然而当我朝他靠近时,他却逃开了,当我想放弃的时候他又出现在我的视线里。“你喜欢我吗?”“嗯,你很香”。“……。”
  • 武道圣尊

    武道圣尊

    重生回到过去,武道修炼,报仇雪恨,誓要踏上武道巅峰,成为最强武者。天不可压,地不过欺,武道圣尊!