Eugenie Grandet - High Old Man - Translation - Library of Classics (021)

Author: Balzac
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: In some provincial cities, there are houses that evoke a sense of desolation. They resemble gloomy monasteries, desolate wildernesses, mournful ruins. Perhaps these houses combine the tranquility of monasteries, the austerity of wildernesses, and the decay of ruins. The houses are utterly silent, with not a trace of movement. If it weren’t for the sound of unfamiliar footsteps on the street, a face with a monk-like, expressionless countenance might suddenly appear at the window, glaring at the passerby with an eerie, indifferent gaze, making a newcomer likely mistake these houses for uninhabited empty dwellings. In the city of Somme, there is a residence located at the end of a winding street leading to an ancient castle high up. This house’s exterior embodies the aforementioned elements of sorrow and hardship. This street is now rarely traveled, with the summer being hot and the winter cold, and in some places, it is quite dark...