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the nabob-第38章

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and scored without pity at the least criticism from the lady。

〃Don't disturb yourselves;〃 the good Nabob would signal with his hand; entering on tiptoe。 He would listen; shake his head with an admiring air; as he watched his wife: 〃She is astonishing!〃 for he himself understood nothing about literature; and there; at least; he could discover once again the superiority of Mlle。 Afchin。

〃She had the instinct of the stage;〃 as Cardailhac used to say; but; on the other hand; the maternal instinct was wanting in her。 Never did she take any interest in her children; abandoning them to the hands of strangers; and; when they were brought to her once a month; contenting herself with offering to them the flaccid and inanimate flesh of her cheeks between two puffs of cigarette…smoke; without making any inquiries into those details of their bringing up and of their health which perpetuate the physical bond of maternity and make the hearts of true mothers bleed at the least suffering of their children。

They were three big; dull and apathetic boys of eleven; nine; and seven years; having; with the sallow complexion and the precocious bloatedness of the Levantine; the kind; black; velvety eyes of their father。 They were ignorant as young lords of the middle ages。 At Tunis; M。 Bompain had directed their studies; but at Paris; the Nabob; anxious to give them the benefit of a Parisian education; had sent them to that smartest and most expensive of boarding…schools; the College Bourdaloue; managed by good priests who sought less to instruct their pupils than to make of them good…mannered and right… thinking men of the world; and succeeded in turning them out affectedly grave and ridiculous little prigs; disdainful of games; absolutely ignorant; without anything spontaneous or boyish about them; and of a desperate precocity。 The little Jansoulets were not very happy in this forcing…house; notwithstanding the immunities which they enjoyed by reason of their immense wealth; they were; indeed; utterly left to themselves。 Even the creoles in the charge of the institution had some friend whom they visited and people who came to see them; but the Jansoulets were never summoned to the parlour; no one knew any of their relatives; from time to time they received basketfuls of sweetmeats; piles of confectionery; and that was all。 The Nabob; doing some shopping in Paris; would strip for them the whole of a pastry…cook's window and send the spoils to the college; with that generous impulse of the heart mingled with negro ostentation which characterized all his actions。 It was the same in the matter of playthings。 They were always too pretty; tricked out too finely; uselessthose toys that are for show but which the Parisian does not buy。 But that which above all attracted to the little Jansoulets the respect both of pupils and masters; were their purses heavy with gold; ever ready for school subscriptions; for the professors' birthdays; and the charity visits; those famous visits organized by the College Bourdaloue; one of the tempting things in the prospectus; the marvel of sensitive souls。

Twice a month; turn and turn about; the pupils who were members of the miniature Society of St。 Vincent de Paul founded in the college upon the model of the great one; went in little squads; alone; as though they had been grown…up; to bear succour and consolation into the deepest recesses of the more densely populated quarters of the town。 This was designed to teach them a practical charity; the art of knowing the needs; the miseries of the lower classes; and to heal these heart…rending evils by a nostrum of kind words and ecclesiastical maxims。 To console; to evangelize the masses by the help of childhood; to disarm religious incredulity by the youth and /naivete/ of the apostles; such was the aim of this little society; an aim entirely missed; moreover。 The children; healthy; well…dressed; well…fed; calling only at addresses previously selected; found poor persons of good appearance; sometimes rather unwell; but very clean; already on the parish register and in receipt of aid from the wealthy organization of the Church。 Never did they chance to enter one of those nauseous dwellings wherein hunger; grief; humiliation; all physical and moral ills are written in leprous mould on the walls; in indelible lines on the brows。 Their visits were prepared for; like that of the sovereign who enters a guard…room to taste the soldiers' soup: the guard…room is warmed and the soup seasoned for the royal palate。 Have you seen those pictures in pious books; where a little communicant; with candle in hand; and perfectly groomed; comes to minister to a poor old man lying sick on his straw pallet and turning the whites of his eyes to heaven? These visits of charity had the same conventionality of setting and of accent。 To the measured gestures of the little preachers were corresponding words learned by heart and false enough to make one squint。 To the comic encouragement; to the 〃consolations lavished〃 in prize…book phrases by the voices of young urchins with colds; were the affecting benedictions; the whining and piteous mummeries of a church…porch after vespers。 And the moment the young visitors departed; what an explosion of laughter and shouting in the garret; what a dance in a circle round the present brought; what an upsetting of the arm…chair in which one had pretended to be lying ill; of the medicine spilt in the fire; a fire of cinders very artistically prepared!

When the little Jansoulets went out to visit their parents at home; they were intrusted to the care of the man with the red fez; the indispensable Bompain。 It was Bompain who conducted them to the Champs…Elysees; clad in English jackets; bowler hats of the latest fashionat seven years old!and carrying little canes in their dog… skin…gloved hands。 It was Bompain who stuffed the race…wagonette with provisions。 Here he mounted with the children; who; with their entrance…cards stuck in their hats round which green veils were twisted; looked very like those personages in Liliputian pantomimes whose entire funniness lies in the enormous size of their heads compared with their small legs and dwarf…like gestures。 They smoked and drank; it was a painful sight。 Sometimes the man in the fez; hardly able to hold himself upright; would bring them home frightfully sick。 And yet Jansoulet was fond of them; the youngest especially; who; with his long hair; his doll…like manner; recalled to him the little Afchin passing in her carriage。 But they were still of the age when children belong to the mother; when neither the fashionable tailor; nor the most accomplished masters; nor the smart boarding… school; nor the ponies girthed specially for the little men in the stable; nor anything else can replace the attentive and caressing hand; the warmth and the gaiety of the home…nest。 The father could not give them that; and then; too; he was so busy!

A thousand irons in the fire: the Territorial Bank; the installation of the picture gallery; drives to Tattersall's with Bois l'Hery; some /bibelot/ to inspect; here or there; at the houses of collectors indicated by Schwalbach; hours passed with trainers; jockeys; dealers in curiositie
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