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the stroke with the mechanical precision of the figures which are made

to move by springs in the German toys。 He would then advance slowly

towards the players; give them a glance like the automatic gaze of the

Greeks and Turks exhibited on the Boulevard du Temple; and say

sternly; 〃Go away!〃 There were days when he had lucid intervals and

could give his wife excellent advice as to the sale of their wines;

but at such times he became extremely annoying; and would ransack her

closets and steal her delicacies; which he devoured in secret。

Occasionally; when the usual visitors made their appearance he would

treat them with civility; but as a general thing his remarks and

replies were incoherent。 For instance; a lady once asked him; 〃How do

you feel to…day; Monsieur Margaritis?〃 〃I have grown a beard;〃 he

replied; 〃have you?〃 〃Are you better?〃 asked another。 〃Jerusalem!

Jerusalem!〃 was the answer。 But the greater part of the time he gazed

stolidly at his guests without uttering a word; and then his wife

would say; 〃The good…man does not hear anything to…day。〃



On two or three occasions in the course of five years; and usually

about the time of the equinox; this remark had driven him to frenzy;

he flourished his knives and shouted; 〃That joke dishonors me!〃



As for his daily life; he ate; drank; and walked about like other men

in sound health; and so it happened that he was treated with about the

same respect and attention that we give to a heavy piece of furniture。

Among his many absurdities was one of which no man had as yet

discovered the object; although by long practice the wiseheads of the

community had learned to unravel the meaning of most of his vagaries。

He insisted on keeping a sack of flour and two puncheons of wine in

the cellar of his house; and he would allow no one to lay hands on

them。 But then the month of June came round he grew uneasy with the

restless anxiety of a madman about the sale of the sack and the

puncheons。 Madame Margaritis could nearly always persuade him that the

wine had been sold at an enormous price; which she paid over to him;

and which he hid so cautiously that neither his wife nor the servant

who watched him had ever been able to discover its hiding…place。



The evening before Gaudissart reached Vouvray Madame Margaritis had

had more difficulty than usual in deceiving her husband; whose mind

happened to be uncommonly lucid。



〃I really don't know how I shall get through to…morrow;〃 she had said

to Madame Vernier。 〃Would you believe it; the good…man insists on

watching his two casks of wine。 He has worried me so this whole day;

that I had to show him two full puncheons。 Our neighbor; Pierre

Champlain; fortunately had two which he had not sold。 I asked him to

kindly let me have them rolled into our cellar; and oh; dear! now that

the good…man has seen them he insists on bottling them off himself!〃



Madame Vernier had related the poor woman's trouble to her husband

just before the entrance of Gaudissart; and at the first words of the

famous traveller Vernier determined that he should be made to grapple

with Margaritis。



〃Monsieur;〃 said the ex…dyer; as soon as the illustrious Gaudissart

had fired his first broadside; 〃I will not hide from you the great

difficulties which my native place offers to your enterprise。 This

part of the country goes along; as it were; in the rough;〃suo modo。〃

It is a country where new ideas don't take hold。 We live as our

fathers lived; we amuse ourselves with four meals a day; and we

cultivate our vineyards and sell our wines to the best advantage。 Our

business principle is to sell things for more than they cost us; we

shall stick in that rut; and neither God nor the devil can get us out

of it。 I will; however; give you some advice; and good advice is an

egg in the hand。 There is in this town a retired banker in whose

wisdom I haveI; particularlythe greatest confidence。 If you can

obtain his support; I will add mine。 If your proposals have real

merit; if we are convinced of the advantage of your enterprise; the

approval of Monsieur Margaritis (which carries with it mine) will open

to you at least twenty rich houses in Vouvray who will be glad to try

your specifics。〃



When Madame Vernier heard the name of the lunatic she raised her head

and looked at her husband。



〃Ah; precisely; my wife intends to call on Madame Margaritis with one

of our neighbors。 Wait a moment; and you can accompany these ladies

You can pick up Madame Fontanieu on your way;〃 said the wily dyer;

winking at his wife。



To pick out the greatest gossip; the sharpest tongue; the most

inveterate cackler of the neighborhood! It meant that Madame Vernier

was to take a witness to the scene between the traveller and the

lunatic which should keep the town in laughter for a month。 Monsieur

and Madame Vernier played their part so well that Gaudissart had no

suspicions; and straightway fell into the trap。 He gallantly offered

his arm to Madame Vernier; and believed that he made; as they went

along; the conquest of both ladies; for those benefit he sparkled with

wit and humor and undetected puns。



The house of the pretended banker stood at the entrance to the Valley

Coquette。 The place; called La Fuye; had nothing remarkable about it。

On the ground floor was a large wainscoted salon; on either side of

which opened the bedroom of the good…man and that of his wife。 The

salon was entered from an ante…chamber; which served as the dining…

room and communicated with the kitchen。 This lower door; which was

wholly without the external charm usually seen even in the humblest

dwellings in Touraine; was covered by a mansard story; reached by a

stairway built on the outside of the house against the gable end and

protected by a shed…roof。 A little garden; full of marigolds;

syringas; and elder…bushes; separated the house from the fields; and

all around the courtyard were detached buildings which were used in

the vintage season for the various processes of making wine。







CHAPTER IV



Margaritis was seated in an arm…chair covered with yellow Utrecht

velvet; near the window of the salon; and he did not stir as the two

ladies entered with Gaudissart。 His thoughts were running on the casks

of wine。 He was a spare man; and his bald head; garnished with a few

spare locks at the back of it; was pear…shaped in conformation。 His

sunken eyes; overtopped by heavy black brows and surrounded by

discolored circles; his nose; thin and sharp like the blade of a

knife; the strongly marked jawbone; the hollow cheeks; and the oblong

tendency of all these lines; together with his unnaturally long and

flat chin; contributed to give a peculiar expression to his

countenance;something between that of a retired professor of

rhetoric and a rag…picker。



〃Monsieur Margaritis;〃 cried Madame Vernier; addressing him; 〃come;

stir about! Here is a gentleman whom my husband sends to you; and you

must listen to him with great attention。 Put away your mathematics and

talk to him。〃



On hearing these words the lunatic rose; looked at Gaudissart; made

him a sign to sit down; and said; 〃Let us converse; Monsieur。〃



The two women went into Madame Margaritis' bedroom; leaving the door

open so as to hear the conversation; and interpose if it became

necessary。 They were hardly installed before Monsieur Vernier crept

softly up through the field and; opening a window; got into the

bedroom without noise。



〃Monsieur has doubtless been in business?〃 began Gaudissart。



〃Public business;〃 answered Margaritis; interrupting him。 〃I

pacificated Calabria under the reign of King Murat。〃



〃Bless me! if he hasn't gone to Calabria!〃 whispered Monsieur Vernier。



〃In that case;〃 said Gaudissart; 〃we shall quickly understand each

other。〃



〃I am listening;〃 said Margaritis; striking the attitude taken by a

man when he poses to a portrait…painter。



〃Monsieur;〃 said Gaudissart; who chanced to be turning his watch…key

with a rotatory and periodical click which caught the attention of the

lunatic and contributed no doubt to keep him quiet。 〃Monsieur; if you

were not a man of superior intelligence〃 (the fool bowed); 〃I should

content myself with merely laying before you the material advantages

of this enterprise; whose psychological aspects it would be a waste of

time to explain to you。 Listen! Of all kinds of social wealth; is not

time the most precious? To economize time is; consequently; to become

wealthy。 Now; is there anything that consumes so much time as those

anxieties which I call 'pot…boiling'?a vulgar expression; but it

puts the whole question in a nutshell。 For instance; what can eat up

more time than the inability to give proper security to persons from

whom you seek to borrow money when; poor at the moment; you are

nevertheless rich in hope?〃



〃Money;yes; that's right;〃 said Margaritis。



〃Well; Monsieur; I am sen

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