Eugenie Grandet

Author: (French) Balzac
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2004-09-01
Features: ▼Complete Content ▼Walnut Scent ▼Compact and Portable ▼Original Illustrations ▼Easy to Carry
Gottfried is a wealthy and influential merchant in the French town of Saumur. The town is renowned for its wine production, making wine barrels a valuable commodity. During the French Revolution of 1789, Gottfried was already a prosperous cooper. He could read and write, and at the age of forty, he married the daughter of a timber merchant. He acquired the best vineyard in the district, contracted to supply wine to the revolutionary army, and made a fortune. During Napoleon's reign, he became a district mayor and was awarded the Legion of Honor cross by Napoleon. In 1806, he inherited three estates from his mother-in-law, grandmother, and grandfather, becoming the "highest taxpayer" in the state. In good harvest years, he produced seven or eight hundred barrels of wine, owned thirteen farms, and one hundred and twenty-seven arpenières of grassland. He transformed from a merchant with only two thousand francs into a millionaire with seventeen million francs.
Gottfried was shrewd and cunning. He engaged in speculative trades, predicting with "astronomical accuracy"; his wealth-building skills were compared to a tiger or a python: "He would lie there, crouch there, study his prey for a while before pouncing, open his money and pour in piles of gold and silver, then go to sleep peacefully, like a snake full after a meal, motionless and cool, everything in order." During transactions, he haggled, feigned stuttering, and lured others into his traps, ultimately making them lose while he profited. Due to his stinginess and love of money, Gottfried was meticulous and exacting in family life. He directed everything, commanded everything, and personally arranged the daily meals. He even forbade using an extra sugar cube or lighting an additional candle. His wife submitted to him like a slave. To save money, the clothes for the entire family were sewn by his wife and daughter. They spent their days doing needlework, and by the time his daughter turned twenty-three, Gottfried had not even considered arranging her marriage. Household chores were handled by Nanon, who "protected the master's property like a loyal dog." She was tall and sturdy, like a grenadier, with a face covered in warts.
There were two families of six people who frequently visited Gottfried's house: the lawyer Cro?ets (lawyer Cro?et, his wife, and their nephew, Monsieur de Perce-neige) and the banker Turgot (Turgot and his son, Adolphe). These families came to Gottfried's house for his only daughter, Eugénie. The old, cunning Gottfried watched all this. He knew they were vying for his daughter for money and a dowry. So, he played along, using his daughter as bait to "fish" and benefit from both sides.
Gottfried's brother in Paris, unable to repay his debts, had gone bankrupt. He planned to commit suicide and sent his son Charles to seek refuge with his uncle. Charles was twenty-two, a year younger than Eugénie. He was a handsome and frivolous young man. He came with "the most beautiful hunting suit, the most beautiful hunting rifle, the most beautiful knife, and the most beautiful sheath in Paris," as well as "a complete set of exotic vests." Eugénie, who had never left Saumur since birth, spent her days sewing socks and mending her father's clothes, living in a greasy room. Rarely did guests visit the house. When she first saw her handsome cousin, she was utterly captivated. She thought Charles was a "miracle from heaven." His shiny, curly hair exuded a pleasant fragrance. She inhaled and smelled it, feeling dizzy with delight. His beautiful gloves made her long to touch them. She envied Charles's small hands, his fair skin, and his delicate, refined appearance. Charles's arrival worried both the lawyer and the banker, fearing Eugénie might be stolen by her cousin.
Eugénie was tall and strong. She did not possess the conventional beauty of most women, but her beauty was undeniable, captivating only artists. Her forehead had a slightly masculine yet elegant quality, resembling a statue of Cupid by the Greek sculptor Phidias. Her gray eyes shone with purity, and her calm, rosy face glowed like a blooming flower. She showed extraordinary concern for her cousin, secretly treating him well and using her own savings to entertain him. However, Gottfried refused to spend more money. He ordered Nanon to serve the nephew a stew made with crows. Nanon said crows were scavengers of the dead. Gottfried replied, "Then why don't we eat the dead? What is an inheritance?"
From his brother's letter, Gottfried learned that his brother had gone bankrupt and entrusted his son to him. However, Gottfried was unwilling to take on any obligations and even wanted to offload Charles as a burden. He planned to send Charles to India immediately. But that night, he changed his mind, claiming to restore his brother's reputation. However, he wanted to do so without spending a single penny and gain the reputation of an "honorable brother." Thus, Gottfried hosted his third dinner in his life, with the lawyer and banker families again in attendance. Feeling indebted, Gottfried feigned stuttering. He stammered that he wanted to settle his brother's debts in Paris to avoid bankruptcy but needed to hold onto the creditor documents. The lawyer Cro?et offered to go to Paris but insisted Gottfried pay for the travel expenses. The banker, however, offered to go to Paris without any travel expenses. Gottfried naturally agreed to the banker's proposal and felt delighted.
Three days after the banker left for Paris, Gottfried had Charles sign a declaration renouncing his inheritance rights and filled out a passport for his trip to India. Then, he sent Charles to India. Eugénie secretly read Charles's letters to his friends, deepening her sympathy for the bankrupt cousin. She gave him all her savings of six thousand francs. Charles returned the favor with a gold jewelry box left by his mother. They secretly pledged their love. Eugénie vowed to wait for his return, and Charles promised the same. Then, he set off for India.
Every New Year, Gottfried had the habit of playing with his daughter's savings. In 1820, when the New Year arrived, he noticed his daughter's savings had vanished and demanded strict answers. Eugénie had no choice but to admit she had given the money to her cousin. Enraged, Gottfried locked his daughter in her room, giving her only bread and water. No one could persuade him to soften his stance. "He was stubborn, cruel, and cold, like a stone." His wife fell ill from fear. The lawyer Cro?et persuaded Gottfried to reconcile with his daughter, pointing out that if his wife died, Eugénie could inherit her mother's estate as a daughter, and their own property had never been divided. Fearing for his wife's health, Gottfried finally released his daughter.
One day, while Eugénie and her mother were admiring the jewelry box from Charles, Gottfried happened to walk in. Seeing the gold on the box, his eyes gleamed, and he lunged forward, snatching the box like a tiger attacking a sleeping infant. He grabbed the box and prepared to use a knife to pry off the gold. Eugénie panicked and declared that if her father dared to touch the gold, she would commit suicide with the knife. The father and daughter argued until Gottfried's wife fainted. After that, her health never recovered.
In October 1822, the poor and weak wife passed away. Through the lawyer, Gottfried had his daughter sign a document renouncing her inheritance rights, consolidating all the family wealth in his hands. By 1827, Gottfried was eighty-two and suffering from paresis, forcing him to reveal the secrets of estate management to his daughter. Unable to move, he sat in a rotating chair, personally directing his daughter to stack bags of money secretly. When his daughter returned the key to the savings room, he hid it in his vest pocket and stroked it from time to time. As he lay dying, he asked his daughter to place the gold on the table, staring at it as if a child who had just learned to see. He said, "This will warm my heart!"
A priest came to perform the last rites, placing a gold cross to his lips for a kiss. Seeing the gold, Gottfried made a horrifying gesture, trying to grab it. This effort took his life.
After his death, Eugénie was thirty and had never experienced the joys of life. Though she had become wealthy, she remained alone. For her, wealth was no comfort; what she needed was warmth and love. For seven years, she waited for Charles to return, treasuring the jewelry box he had left her. But he never returned, not even a word. Charles had become wealthy in India, engaging in slave trade, usury, smuggling, and everything in excess. He was ruthless and greedy, truly living up to Gottfried's lineage! He slept with women of all races, completely forgetting his cousin. In 1827, he returned to France with a fortune, meeting a nobleman, the Marquis de Mortimer. The Marquis had an ugly and unwed daughter (who looked like a dragonfly). To climb the social ladder, Charles married the Marquis's daughter. He wrote to Eugénie, repaid the six thousand francs he had received and added two thousand in interest. Shocked by Charles's heartless behavior, Eugénie was deeply traumatized.
Later, she agreed to marry the lawyer's son, the president of the court of first instance, Monsieur de Perce-neige, but only as a formality. Since Perce-neige pursued her only for money, she could give him the money while keeping her emotions free. A few years later, Perce-neige became the president of the court. However, on the eighth day after being elected a councilor in Saumur, he died. Eugénie was thirty-three and a widow. She paid one hundred and fifty thousand francs to settle her uncle's debts, allowing her cousin to live a happy and honorable life. She herself lived a life of solitude, piety, and kindness, "advancing toward heaven with a series of virtuous deeds."