L\'Assommoir

E >> Emile Zola >> L\'Assommoir

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

"For one whole week," resumed the lace mender, "you have kept me
waiting. You have told me falsehood after falsehood. You have sent
your apprentice to tell me that there was an accident--something had
been spilled on the shirts, they would come the next day, and so on.
I have been unnecessarily annoyed and worried, besides losing much
time. There is no sense in it! Now what have you brought home? Are
the shirts here which you have had for a month and the skirt which
was missing last week?"

"Yes," said Gervaise, almost inaudibly; "yes, the skirt is here.
Look at it!"

But Mme Goujet cried out in indignation.

That skirt did not belong to her, and she would not have it. This was
the crowning touch, if her things were to be changed in this way. She
did not like other people's things.

"And the shirts? Where are they? Lost, I suppose. Very well, settle it
as you please, but these shirts I must have tomorrow morning!"

There was a long silence. Gervaise was much disturbed by seeing that
the door of Goujet's room was wide open. He was there, she was sure,
and listening to all these reproaches which she knew to be deserved
and to which she could not reply. She was very quiet and submissive
and laid the linen on the bed as quickly as possible.

Mme Goujet began to examine the pieces.

"Well! Well!" she said. "No one can praise your washing nowadays.
There is not a piece here that is not dirtied by the iron. Look at
this shirt: it is scorched, and the buttons are fairly torn off by the
root. Everything comes back--that comes at all, I should say--with the
buttons off. Look at that sack: the dirt is all in it. No, no, I can't
pay for such washing as this!"

She stopped talking--while she counted the pieces. Then she exclaimed:

"Two pairs of stockings, six towels and one napkin are missing from
this week. You are laughing at me, it seems. Now, just understand,
I tell you to bring back all you have, ironed or not ironed. If in
an hour your woman is not here with the rest I have done with you,
Madame Coupeau!"

At this moment Goujet coughed. Gervaise started. How could she bear
being treated in this way before him? And she stood confused and
silent, waiting for the soiled clothes.

Mme Goujet had taken her place and her work by the window.

"And the linen?" said Gervaise timidly.

"Many thanks," said the old woman. "There is nothing this week."

Gervaise turned pale; it was clear that Mme Goujet meant to take away
her custom from her. She sank into a chair. She made no attempt at
excuses; she only asked a question.

"Is Monsieur Goujet ill?"

"He is not well; at least he has just come in and is lying down to
rest a little."

Mme Goujet spoke very slowly, almost solemnly, her pale face encircled
by her white cap, and wearing, as usual, her plain black dress.

And she explained that they were obliged to economize very closely.
In future she herself would do their washing. Of course Gervaise must
know that this would not be necessary had she and her husband paid
their debt to her son. But of course they would submit; they would
never think of going to law about it. While she spoke of the debt her
needle moved rapidly to and fro in the delicate meshes of her work.

"But," continued Mme Goujet, "if you were to deny yourself a little
and be careful and prudent, you could soon discharge your debt to us;
you live too well; you spend too freely. Were you to give us only ten
francs each month--"

She was interrupted by her son, who called impatiently, "Mother! Come
here, will you?"

When she returned she changed the conversation. Her son had
undoubtedly begged her to say no more about this money to Gervaise. In
spite of her evident determination to avoid this subject, she returned
to it again in about ten minutes. She knew from the beginning just
what would happen. She had said so at the time, and all had turned out
precisely as she had prophesied. The tinworker had drunk up the shop
and had left his wife to bear the load by herself. If her son had
taken her advice he would never have lent the money. His marriage
had fallen through, and he had lost his spirits. She grew very angry
as she spoke and finally accused Gervaise openly of having, with her
husband, deliberately conspired to cheat her simplehearted son.

"Many women," she exclaimed, "played the parts of hypocrites and
prudes for years and were found out at the last!"

"Mother! Mother!" called Goujet peremptorily.

She rose and when she returned said:

"Go in; he wants to see you."

Gervaise obeyed, leaving the door open behind her. She found the room
sweet and fresh looking, like that of a young girl, with its simple
pictures and white curtains.

Goujet, crushed by what he had heard from Mamma Coupeau, lay at full
length on the bed with pale face and haggard eyes.

"Listen!" he said. "You must not mind my mother's words; she does not
understand. You do not owe me anything."

He staggered to his feet and stood leaning against the bed and looking
at her.

"Are you ill?" she said nervously.

"No, not ill," he answered, "but sick at heart. Sick when I remember
what you said and see the truth. Leave me. I cannot bear to look at
you."

And he waved her away, not angrily, but with great decision. She went
out without a word, for she had nothing to say. In the next room she
took up her basket and stood still a moment; Mme Goujet did not look
up, but she said:

"Remember, I want my linen at once, and when that is all sent back
to me we will settle the account."

"Yes," answered Gervaise. And she closed the door, leaving behind her
all that sweet odor and cleanliness on which she had once placed so
high a value. She returned to the shop with her head bowed down and
looking neither to the right nor the left.

Mother Coupeau was sitting by the fire, having left her bed for the
first time. Gervaise said nothing to her--not a word of reproach or
congratulation. She felt deadly tired; all her bones ached, as if she
had been beaten. She thought life very hard and wished that it were
over for her.

Gervaise soon grew to care for nothing but her three meals per day.
The shop ran itself; one by one her customers left her. Gervaise
shrugged her shoulders half indifferently, half insolently; everybody
could leave her, she said: she could always get work. But she was
mistaken, and soon it became necessary for her to dismiss Mme Putois,
keeping no assistant except Augustine, who seemed to grow more and
more stupid as time went on. Ruin was fast approaching. Naturally, as
indolence and poverty increased, so did lack of cleanliness. No one
would ever have known that pretty blue shop in which Gervaise had
formerly taken such pride. The windows were unwashed and covered with
the mud scattered by the passing carriages. Within it was still more
forlorn: the dampness of the steaming linen had ruined the paper;
everything was covered with dust; the stove, which once had been kept
so bright, was broken and battered. The long ironing table was covered
with wine stains and grease, looking as if it had served a whole
garrison. The atmosphere was loaded with a smell of cooking and of
sour starch. But Gervaise was unconscious of it. She did not notice
the torn and untidy paper and, having ceased to pay any attention to
personal cleanliness, was hardly likely to spend her time in scrubbing
the greasy floors. She allowed the dust to accumulate over everything
and never lifted a finger to remove it. Her own comfort and
tranquillity were now her first considerations.

Her debts were increasing, but they had ceased to give her any
uneasiness. She was no longer honest or straightforward. She did not
care whether she ever paid or not, so long as she got what she wanted.
When one shop refused her more credit she opened an account next
door. She owed something in every shop in the whole _Quartier_. She
dared not pass the grocer or the baker in her own street and was
compelled to make a lengthy circuit each time she went out. The
tradespeople muttered and grumbled, and some went so far as to call
her a thief and a swindler.

One evening the man who had sold her the furniture for Lantier's room
came in with ugly threats.

Such scenes were unquestionably disagreeable. She trembled for an hour
after them, but they never took away her appetite.

It was very stupid of these people, after all, she said to Lantier.
How could she pay them if she had no money? And where could she get
money? She closed her eyes to the inevitable and would not think of
the future. Mamma Coupeau was well again, but the household had been
disorganized for more than a year. In summer there was more work
brought to the shop--white skirts and cambric dresses. There were
ups and downs, therefore: days when there was nothing in the house
for supper and others when the table was loaded.

Mamma Coupeau was seen almost daily, going out with a bundle under her
apron and returning without it and with a radiant face, for the old
woman liked the excitement of going to the Mont-de-Piete.

Gervaise was gradually emptying the house--linen and clothes, tools
and furniture. In the beginning she took advantage of a good week
to take out what she had pawned the week before, but after a while
she ceased to do that and sold her tickets. There was only one thing
which cost her a pang, and that was selling her clock. She had sworn
she would not touch it, not unless she was dying of hunger, and
when at last she saw her mother-in-law carry it away she dropped
into a chair and wept like a baby. But when the old woman came back
with twenty-five francs and she found she had five francs more than
was demanded by the pressing debt which had caused her to make the
sacrifice, she was consoled and sent out at once for four sous' worth
of brandy. When these two women were on good terms they often drank
a glass together, sitting at the corner of the ironing table.

Mamma Coupeau had a wonderful talent for bringing a glass in the
pocket of her apron without spilling a drop. She did not care to have
the neighbors know, but, in good truth, the neighbors knew very well
and laughed and sneered as the old woman went in and out.

This, as was natural and right, increased the prejudice against
Gervaise. Everyone said that things could not go on much longer;
the end was near.

Amid all this ruin Coupeau thrived surprisingly. Bad liquor seemed
to affect him agreeably. His appetite was good in spite of the amount
he drank, and he was growing stout. Lantier, however, shook his head,
declaring that it was not honest flesh and that he was bloated. But
Coupeau drank all the more after this statement and was rarely or ever
sober. There began to be a strange bluish tone in his complexion. His
spirits never flagged. He laughed at his wife when she told him of
her embarrassments. What did he care, so long as she provided him with
food to eat? And the longer he was idle, the more exacting he became
in regard to this food.

He was ignorant of his wife's infidelity, at least, so all his friends
declared. They believed, moreover, that were he to discover it there
would be great trouble. But Mme Lerat, his own sister, shook her head
doubtfully, averring that she was not so sure of his ignorance.

Lantier was also in good health and spirits, neither too stout nor
too thin. He wished to remain just where he was, for he was thoroughly
well satisfied with himself, and this made him critical in regard to
his food, as he had made a study of the things he should eat and those
he should avoid for the preservation of his figure. Even when there
was not a cent he asked for eggs and cutlets: nourishing and light
things were what he required, he said. He ruled Gervaise with a rod of
iron, grumbled and found fault far more than Coupeau ever did. It was
a house with two masters, one of whom, cleverer by far than the other,
took the best of everything. He skimmed the Coupeaus, as it were, and
kept all the cream for himself. He was fond of Nana because he liked
girls better than boys. He troubled himself little about Etienne.

When people came and asked for Coupeau it was Lantier who appeared
in his shirt sleeves with the air of the man of the house who is
needlessly disturbed. He answered for Coupeau, said it was one and
the same thing.

Gervaise did not find this life always smooth and agreeable. She had
no reason to complain of her health. She had become very stout. But
it was hard work to provide for and please these two men. When they
came in, furious and out of temper, it was on her that they wreaked
their rage. Coupeau abused her frightfully and called her by the
coarsest epithets. Lantier, on the contrary, was more select in his
phraseology, but his words cut her quite as deeply. Fortunately people
become accustomed to almost everything in this world, and Gervaise
soon ceased to care for the reproaches and injustice of these two men.
She even preferred to have them out of temper with her, for then they
let her alone in some degree; but when they were in a good humor they
were all the time at her heels, and she could not find a leisure
moment even to iron a cap, so constant were the demands they made upon
her. They wanted her to do this and do that, to cook little dishes for
them and wait upon them by inches.

One night she dreamed she was at the bottom of a well. Coupeau was
pushing her down with his fists, and Lantier was tickling her to make
her jump out quicker. And this, she thought, was a very fair picture
of her life! She said that the people of the _Quartier_ were very
unjust, after all, when they reproached her for the way of life into
which she had fallen. It was not her fault. It was not she who had
done it, and a little shiver ran over her as she reflected that
perhaps the worst was not yet.

The utter deterioration of her nature was shown by the fact that she
detested neither her husband nor Lantier. In a play at the Gaite she
had seen a woman hate her husband and poison him for the sake of her
lover. This she thought very strange and unnatural. Why could the
three not have lived together peaceably? It would have been much
more reasonable!

In spite of her debts, in spite of the shifts to which her increasing
poverty condemned her, Gervaise would have considered herself quite
well off, but for the exacting selfishness of Lantier and Coupeau.

Toward autumn Lantier became more and more disgusted, declared he
had nothing to live on but potato parings and that his health was
suffering. He was enraged at seeing the house so thoroughly cleared
out, and he felt that the day was not far off when he must take his
hat and depart. He had become accustomed to his den, and he hated to
leave it. He was thoroughly provoked that the extravagant habits of
Gervaise necessitated this sacrifice on his part. Why could she not
have shown more sense? He was sure he didn't know what would become
of them. Could they have struggled on six months longer, he could
have concluded an affair which would have enabled him to support
the whole family in comfort.

One day it came to pass that there was not a mouthful in the house,
not even a radish. Lantier sat by the stove in somber discontent.
Finally he started up and went to call on the Poissons, to whom he
suddenly became friendly to a degree. He no longer taunted the police
officer but condescended to admit that the emperor was a good fellow
after all. He showed himself especially civil to Virginie, whom he
considered a clever woman and well able to steer her bark through
stormy seas.

Virginie one day happened to say in his presence that she should like
to establish herself in some business. He approved the plan and paid
her a succession of adroit compliments on her capabilities and cited
the example of several women he knew who had made or were making their
fortunes in this way.

Virginie had the money, an inheritance from an aunt, but she
hesitated, for she did not wish to leave the _Quartier_ and she
did not know of any shop she could have. Then Lantier led her into
a corner and whispered to her for ten minutes; he seemed to be
persuading her to something. They continued to talk together in
this way at intervals for several days, seeming to have some secret
understanding.

Lantier all this time was fretting and scolding at the Coupeaus,
asking Gervaise what on earth she intended to do, begging her to
look things fairly in the face. She owed five or six hundred francs
to the tradespeople about her. She was behindhand with her rent, and
Marescot, the landlord, threatened to turn her out if they did not pay
before the first of January.

The Mont-de-Piete had taken everything; there was literally nothing
but the nails in the walls left. What did she mean to do?

Gervaise listened to all this at first listlessly, but she grew angry
at last and cried out:

"Look here! I will go away tomorrow and leave the key in the door.
I had rather sleep in the gutter than live in this way!"

"And I can't say that it would not be a wise thing for you to do!"
answered Lantier insidiously. "I might possibly assist you to find
someone to take the lease off your hands whenever you really conclude
to leave the shop."

"I am ready to leave it at once!" cried Gervaise violently. "I am
sick and tired of it."

Then Lantier became serious and businesslike. He spoke openly of
Virginie, who, he said, was looking for a shop; in fact, he now
remembered having heard her say that she would like just such a
one as this.

But Gervaise shrank back and grew strangely calm at this name of
Virginie.

She would see, she said; on the whole, she must have time to think.
People said a great many things when they were angry, which on
reflection were found not to be advisable.

Lantier rang the changes on this subject for a week, but Gervaise said
she had decided to employ some woman and go to work again, and if she
were not able to get back her old customers she could try for new
ones. She said this merely to show Lantier that she was not so utterly
downcast and crushed as he had seemed to take for granted was the
case.

He was reckless enough to drop the name of Virginie once more, and she
turned upon him in a rage.

"No, no, never!" She had always distrusted Virginie, and if she wanted
the shop it was only to humiliate her. Any other woman might have it,
but not this hypocrite, who had been waiting for years to gloat over
her downfall. No, she understood now only too well the meaning of the
yellow sparks in her cat's eyes. It was clear to her that Virginie had
never forgotten the scene in the lavatory, and if she did not look out
there would be a repetition of it.

Lantier stood aghast at this anger and this torrent of words, but
presently he plucked up courage and bade her hold her tongue and told
her she should not talk of his friends in that way. As for himself, he
was sick and tired of other people's affairs; in future he would let
them all take care of themselves, without a word of counsel from him.

January arrived, cold and damp. Mamma Coupeau took to her bed with
a violent cold which she expected each year at this time. But those
about her said she would never leave the house again, except feet
first.

Her children had learned to look forward to her death as a happy
deliverance for all. The physician who came once was not sent for
again. A little tisane was given her from time to time that she might
not feel herself utterly neglected. She was just alive; that was all.
It now became a mere question of time with her, but her brain was
clear still, and in the expression of her eyes there were many things
to be read--sorrow at seeing no sorrow in those she left behind her
and anger against Nana, who was utterly indifferent to her.

One Monday evening Coupeau came in as tipsy as usual and threw
himself on the bed, all dressed. Gervaise intended to remain with
her mother-in-law part of the night, but Nana was very brave and
said she would hear if her grandmother moved and wanted anything.

About half-past three Gervaise woke with a start; it seemed to her
that a cold blast had swept through the room. Her candle had burned
down, and she nastily wrapped a shawl around her with trembling hands
and hurried into the next room. Nana was sleeping quietly, and her
grandmother was dead in the bed at her side.

Gervaise went to Lantier and waked him.

"She is dead," she said.

"Well, what of it?" he muttered, half asleep. "Why don't you go to
sleep?"

She turned away in silence while he grumbled at her coming to disturb
him by the intelligence of a death in the house.

Gervaise dressed herself, not without tears, for she really loved the
cross old woman whose son lay in the heavy slumbers of intoxication.

When she went back to the room she found Nana sitting up and rubbing
her eyes. The child realized what had come to pass and trembled
nervously in the face of this death of which she had thought much in
the last two days, as of something which was hidden from children.

"Get up!" said her mother in a low voice. "I do not wish you to stay
here."

The child slipped from her bed slowly and regretfully, with her eyes
fixed on the dead body of her grandmother.

Gervaise did not know what to do with her or where to send her. At
this moment Lantier appeared at the door. He had dressed himself,
impelled by a little shame at his own conduct.

"Let the child go into my room," he said, "and I will help you."

Nana looked first at her mother and then at Lantier and then trotted
with her little bare feet into the next room and slipped into the bed
that was still warm.

She lay there wide awake with blazing cheeks and eyes and seemed to
be absorbed in thought.

While Lantier and Gervaise were silently occupied with the dead
Coupeau lay and snored.

Gervaise hunted in a bureau to find a little crucifix which she had
brought from Plassans, when she suddenly remembered that Mamma Coupeau
had sold it. They each took a glass of wine and sat by the stove until
daybreak.

About seven o'clock Coupeau woke. When he heard what had happened he
declared they were jesting. But when he saw the body he fell on his
knees and wept like a baby. Gervaise was touched by these tears and
found her heart softer toward her husband than it had been for many
a long year.

"Courage, old friend!" said Lantier, pouring out a glass of wine as
he spoke.

Coupeau took some wine, but he continued to weep, and Lantier went off
under pretext of informing the family, but he did not hurry. He walked
along slowly, smoking a cigar, and after he had been to Mme Lerat's he
stopped in at a _cremerie_ to take a cup of coffee, and there he
sat for an hour or more in deep thought.

By nine o'clock the family were assembled in the shop, whose shutters
had not been taken down. Lorilleux only remained for a few moments and
then went back to his shop. Mme Lorilleux shed a few tears and then
sent Nana to buy a pound of candles.

"How like Gervaise!" she murmured. "She can do nothing in a proper
way!"

Mme Lerat went about among the neighbors to borrow a crucifix. She
brought one so large that when it was laid on the breast of Mamma
Coupeau the weight seemed to crush her.

Then someone said something about holy water, so Nana was sent to the
church with a bottle. The room assumed a new aspect. On a small table
burned a candle, near it a glass of holy water in which was a branch
of box.

"Everything is in order," murmured the sisters; "people can come now
as soon as they please."

Lantier made his appearance about eleven. He had been to make
inquiries in regard to funeral expenses.

"The coffin," he said, "is twelve francs, and if you want a Mass, ten
francs more. A hearse is paid for according to its ornaments."

"You must remember," said Mme Lorilleux with compressed lips, "that
Mamma must be buried according to her purse."

"Precisely!" answered Lantier. "I only tell you this as your guide.
Decide what you want, and after breakfast I will go and attend to
it all."

He spoke in a low voice, oppressed by the presence of the dead. The
children were laughing in the courtyard and Nana singing loudly.

Gervaise said gently:

"We are not rich, to be sure, but we wish to do what she would have
liked. If Mamma Coupeau has left us nothing it was not her fault and
no reason why we should bury her as if she were a dog. No, there must
be a Mass and a hearse."

"And who will pay for it?" asked Mme Lorilleux. "We can't, for we
lost much money last week, and I am quite sure you would find it
hard work!"

Coupeau, when he was consulted, shrugged his shoulders with a gesture
of profound indifference. Mme Lerat said she would pay her share.

"There are three of us," said Gervaise after a long calculation; "if
we each pay thirty francs we can do it with decency."

But Mme Lorilleux burst out furiously:

"I will never consent to such folly. It is not that I care for the
money, but I disapprove of the ostentation. You can do as you please."

"Very well," replied Gervaise, "I will. I have taken care of your
mother while she was living; I can bury her now that she is dead."

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20