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Paz



by Honore de Balzac



Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley






DEDICATION



Dedicated to the Comtesse Clara Maffei。









PAZ

(LA FAUSSE MAITRESSE)







I



In September; 1835; one of the richest heiresses of the faubourg

Saint…Germain; Mademoiselle du Rouvre; the only daughter of the

Marquis du Rouvre; married Comte Adam Mitgislas Laginski; a young

Polish exile。



We ask permission to write these Polish names as they are pronounced;

to spare our readers the aspect of the fortifications of consonants by

which the Slave language protects its vowels;probably not to lose

them; considering how few there are。



The Marquis du Rouvre had squandered nearly the whole of a princely

fortune; which he obtained originally through his marriage with a

Demoiselle de Ronquerolles。 Therefore; on her mother's side Clementine

du Rouvre had the Marquis de Ronquerolles for uncle; and Madame de

Serizy for aunt。 On her father's side she had another uncle in the

eccentric person of the Chevalier du Rouvre; a younger son of the

house; an old bachelor who had become very rich by speculating in

lands and houses。 The Marquis de Ronquerolles had the misfortune to

lose both his children at the time of the cholera; and the only son of

Madame de Serizy; a young soldier of great promise; perished in Africa

in the affair of the Makta。 In these days rich families stand between

the danger of impoverishing their children if they have too many; or

of extinguishing their names if they have too few;a singular result

of the Code which Napoleon never thought of。 By a curious turn of

fortune Clementine became; in spite of her father having squandered

his substance on Florine (one of the most charming actresses in

Paris); a great heiress。 The Marquis de Ronquerolles; a clever

diplomatist under the new dynasty; his sister; Madame de Serizy; and

the Chevalier du Rouvre agreed; in order to save their fortunes from

the dissipations of the marquis; to settle them on their niece; to

whom; moreover; they each pledged themselves to pay ten thousand

francs a year from the day of her marriage。



It is quite unnecessary to say that the Polish count; though an exile;

was no expense to the French government。 Comte Adam Laginski belonged

to one of the oldest and most illustrious families in Poland; which

was allied to many of the princely houses of Germany;Sapieha;

Radziwill; Mniszech; Rzewuski; Czartoryski; Leczinski; Lubormirski;

and all the other great Sarmatian SKIS。 But heraldic knowledge is not

the most distinguishing feature of the French nation under Louis…

Philippe; and Polish nobility was no great recommendation to the

bourgeoisie who were lording it in those days。 Besides; when Adam

first made his appearance; in 1833; on the boulevard des Italiens; at

Frascati; and at the Jockey…Club; he was leading the life of a young

man who; having lost his political prospects; was taking his pleasure

in Parisian dissipation。 At first he was thought to be a student。



The Polish nationality had at this period fallen as low in French

estimation; thanks to a shameful governmental reaction; as the

republicans had sought to raise it。 The singular struggle of the

Movement against Resistance (two words which will be inexplicable

thirty years hence) made sport of what ought to have been truly

respected;the name of a conquered nation to whom the French had

offered hospitality; for whom fetes had been given (with songs and

dances by subscription); above all; a nation which in the Napoleonic

struggle between France and Europe had given us six thousand men; and

what men!



Do not infer from this that either side is taken here; either that of

the Emperor Nicholas against Poland; or that of Poland against the

Emperor。 It would be a foolish thing to slip political discussion into

tales that are intended to amuse or interest。 Besides; Russia and

Poland were both right;one to wish the unity of its empire; the

other to desire its liberty。 Let us say in passing that Poland might

have conquered Russia by the influence of her morals instead of

fighting her with weapons; she should have imitated China which; in

the end; Chinesed the Tartars; and will; it is to be hoped; Chinese

the English。 Poland ought to have Polonized Russia。 Poniatowski tried

to do so in the least favorable portion of the empire; but as a king

he was little understood;because; possibly; he did not fully

understand himself。



But how could the Parisians avoid disliking an unfortunate people who

were the cause of that shameful falsehood enacted during the famous

review at which all Paris declared its will to succor Poland? The

Poles were held up to them as the allies of the republican party; and

they never once remembered that Poland was a republic of aristocrats。

From that day forth the bourgeoisie treated with base contempt the

exiles of the nation it had worshipped a few days earlier。 The wind of

a riot is always enough to veer the Parisians from north to south

under any regime。 It is necessary to remember these sudden

fluctuations of feeling in order to understand why it was that in 1835

the word 〃Pole〃 conveyed a derisive meaning to a people who consider

themselves the wittiest and most courteous nation on earth; and their

city of Paris the focus of enlightenment; with the sceptre of arts and

literature within its grasp。



There are; alas! two sorts of Polish exiles;the republican Poles;

sons of Lelewel; and the noble Poles; at the head of whom is Prince

Adam Czartoryski。 The two classes are like fire and water; but why

complain of that? Such divisions are always to be found among exiles;

no matter of what nation they may be; or in what countries they take

refuge。 They carry their countries and their hatreds with them。 Two

French priests; who had emigrated to Brussels during the Revolution;

showed the utmost horror of each other; and when one of them was asked

why; he replied with a glance at his companion in misery: 〃Why?

because he's a Jansenist!〃 Dante would gladly have stabbed a Guelf had

he met him in exile。 This explains the virulent attacks of the French

against the venerable Prince Adam Czartoryski; and the dislike shown

to the better class of Polish exiles by the shopkeeping Caesars and

the licensed Alexanders of Paris。



In 1834; therefore; Adam Mitgislas Laginski was something of a butt

for Parisian pleasantry。



〃He is rather nice; though he is a Pole;〃 said Rastignac。



〃All these Poles pretend to be great lords;〃 said Maxime de Trailles;

〃but this one does pay his gambling debts; and I begin to think he

must have property。〃



Without wishing to offend these banished men; it may be allowable to

remark that the light…hearted; careless inconsistency of the Sarmatian

character does justify in some degree the satire of the Parisians;

who; by the bye; would behave in like circumstances exactly as the

Poles do。 The French aristocracy; so nobly succored during the

Revolution by the Polish lords; certainly did not return the kindness

in 1832。 Let us have the melancholy courage to admit this; and to say

that the faubourg Saint…Germain is still the debtor of Poland。



Was Comte Adam rich; or was he poor; or was he an adventurer? This

problem was long unsolved。 The diplomatic salons; faithful to

instructions; imitated the silence of the Emperor Nicholas; who held

that all Polish exiles were virtually dead and buried。 The court of

the Tuileries; and all who took their cue from it; gave striking proof

of the political quality which was then dignified by the name of

sagacity。 They turned their backs on a Russian prince with whom they

had all been on intimate terms during the Emigration; merely because

it was said that the Emperor Nicholas gave him the cold shoulder。

Between the caution of the court and the prudence of the diplomates;

the Polish exiles of distinction lived in Paris in the Biblical

solitude of 〃super flumina Babylonis;〃 or else they haunted a few

salons which were the neutral ground of all opinions。 In a city of

pleasure; like Paris; where amusements abound on all sides; the

heedless gayety of a Pole finds twice as many encouragements as it

needs to a life of dissipation。



It must be said; however; that Adam had two points against him;his

appearance; and his mental equipment。 There are two species of Pole;

as there are two species of Englishwoman。 When an Englishwoman is not

very handsome she is horribly ugly。 Comte Adam belonged in the second

category of human beings。 His small face; rather sharp in expression;

looked as if it had been pressed in a vise。 His short nose; and fair

hair; and reddish beard and moustache made him look all the more like

a goat because he was small and thin; and his tarnished yellow eyes

caught you with that oblique look which Virgil celebrates。 How came

he; in spite of such obvious disadvantages; to possess reall

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