Personal Library -- Euonyme Grandet

Author: (French) Balzac
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Grandet is a wealthy and influential merchant in the French town of Saumur. The town is known for its wine production, so the price of wine barrels is quite good. During the French Revolution of 1789, Grandet 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 bought the best vineyard in the district; he 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 Cross of the Legion of Honor. 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 could produce seven or eight hundred barrels of wine, and he also owned thirteen farms and one hundred twenty-seven arpenons of grassland. He transformed from a merchant with only two thousand francs into a millionaire with seventeen million francs. Grandet was shrewd and cunning; he engaged in speculative trades, predicting "with the accuracy of an astronomer"; when it came to his methods of making money, "Mr. Grandet was a tiger, a python: he would lie there, crouch there, size up his prey for a long time before pouncing, opening his money bag with a gaping mouth, pouring in piles of gold and silver, and then going to sleep peacefully, as if a snake had just had a full meal, motionless and calm, everything in order." During transactions, he haggled, feigned stuttering, and confused the other party, luring them into his trap and ultimately making them lose while he profited. Due to his stinginess and love of money, Grandet was a meticulous and penny-pinching figure in his family life. He directed everything, commanded everything, and personally arranged the daily meals. He even forbade using an extra piece of sugar or an extra candle. His wife submitted to him like a slave. To save money, all the family's clothes were sewn by his wife and daughter. They spent their days doing needlework, and by the time his daughter turned twenty-three, Grandet had not even thought about arranging her marriage. Household chores were handled by the maid Nanon, who "protected the master's property like a loyal dog." She was tall and strong, like a grenadier, with a face covered in warts. There were two families of six people who frequently visited Grandet's house: the lawyer Cruchot family (the lawyer, the priest Cruchot, his wife, and their nephew, Monsieur de Fontaine) and the banker T. de Restif family (Mr. and Mrs. Restif and their son Adolphe). The purpose of these visits was Grandet's only daughter, Eugénie. The old, cunning Grandet watched all this. He knew they were competing for his daughter for money and a dowry. So he played along, using his daughter as bait to "fish" and benefit from both sides. Grandet's brother in Paris, who was bankrupt due to unpaid debts, prepared to commit suicide. Before his death, he sent his son Charles to seek refuge with his uncle. Charles was twenty-two years old, one year younger than Eugénie. He was a handsome and frivolous young man. He brought "the most beautiful hunting suit, the most beautiful hunting rifle, the most beautiful knife, and the most beautiful sheath" from Paris. He also brought a complete set of "novelty vests" to his uncle's house. Eugénie had never left Saumur since her birth. She spent her days sewing socks and mending her father's clothes, living in a room covered in grease. Rarely were there guests in the house. When she first saw such a handsome cousin, she was utterly captivated. She thought Charles was a "miracle man who had fallen from the sky." His shiny, curly hair exuded a pleasant fragrance. She inhaled and sniffed it, feeling as if she were floating. She longed to touch his beautiful, exquisite gloves. She envied Charles's small hands, his fair skin, and the delicate and refined appearance of his face. Charles's arrival caused both the lawyer and the banker to worry. They feared Eugénie might be taken away by her cousin, Charles. Eugénie was tall and strong. She did not possess the ordinary kind of beauty, but her beauty was unmistakable, and only an artist would be captivated by it. Her forehead had a slightly masculine look but was very refined, resembling a statue of Cupid by the Greek sculptor Phidias. Her chaste life made her gray eyes shine. Her quiet, rosy face glowed like a blooming flower. She showed extraordinary concern for her cousin. She tried to hide from her father and treat Charles well, even using her own savings to entertain him. However, Grandet was unwilling to spend more money. He wanted Nanon to serve Charles a stew made with crows. Nanon said the crows were for eating the dead. Grandet replied, "Then why don't we eat the dead? What is an inheritance?" From his brother's letter, Grandet learned that his brother had gone bankrupt and entrusted his son to him. However, Grandet was unwilling to take on any obligations and even more unwilling to carry the burden of Charles. He planned to send Charles to India immediately. But that night, he changed his mind and said he wanted to restore his brother's reputation. However, he wanted to do so without spending a penny and to gain the reputation of an "honorable brother." So, Grandet held his third dinner party in his life. The guests were naturally the lawyer and banker families again. Since he was asking for something, Grandet feigned stuttering again. He stammered that he wanted to settle his brother's debts in Paris to avoid bankruptcy, but he must hold onto the certificates of debt. The lawyer Cruchot offered to go to Paris to handle this, but the travel expenses would be Grandet's. The banker, on the other hand, said he would not charge Grandet for travel expenses and could handle it in Paris. Grandet naturally agreed with the banker's proposal and felt delighted. Three days after the banker left for Paris, Grandet had Charles sign a declaration renouncing his right to inherit his father's estate and then filled out a passport for him to leave for India. Eugénie secretly read Charles's letters to his friends and grew even more sympathetic to her bankrupt cousin. She gave him all her savings of six thousand francs as traveling money. Charles returned the favor with a gold jewelry box left to him by his mother. They secretly pledged their love. Eugénie promised she would wait for him to return, and Charles pledged the same. Then, he set off for India. Every New Year, Grandet had the habit of playing with his daughter's savings. In 1820, New Year arrived, and he noticed his daughter's savings had vanished. He demanded strict answers. Eugénie had no choice but to admit she had given the money to her cousin. Grandet flew into a rage. He locked his daughter in her room, giving her only bread and water. No one's pleas could sway him. "He was stubborn, cruel, and cold, like a stone." As a result, his wife fell ill. The lawyer Cruchot persuaded Grandet to reconcile with his daughter, citing their mutual interests. He said that if Grandet's wife died, Eugénie could inherit her mother's estate as a daughter, and their joint property had never been divided. Frightened, Grandet finally released his daughter. One day, while Eugénie and her mother were admiring the jewelry box Charles had given them, Grandet happened to walk in. He saw the gold on the box and his eyes gleamed. He leaped forward and snatched the box, "like a tiger pouncing on a sleeping infant." He held the box and prepared to use a knife to dig out the gold. Eugénie panicked and claimed that if her father dared to touch the gold, she would commit suicide with the knife. The father and daughter argued until Grandet's wife fainted. After that, Grandet's wife never recovered. In October 1822, this poor and timid woman died. Through the lawyer, Grandet had his daughter sign a document renouncing her right to inherit her mother's estate, consolidating all the family property in his hands. In 1827, Grandet was eighty-two years old. He suffered from paresis and had to let his daughter learn the secrets of managing the property. He could no longer move but sat in a rotating chair, personally directing his daughter to stack bags of money secretly. When his daughter returned the key to the strongbox room to him, he hid it in his vest pocket and stroked it from time to time. Before his death, he asked his daughter to place the gold on the table and stared at it as if he were a child who had just learned to watch. He said, "This will warm my heart!" The priest came to perform the last rites and brought a gold-plated cross to his lips for a kiss. Seeing the gold, Grandet made a horrifying gesture, trying to grab it. This effort took his life. In his final moments, he called for Eugénie and said, "Take good care of everything! Account to me when you come to the other side!" He died. By the time Eugénie turned thirty, she had become wealthy, but she remained alone. For her, wealth was not comfort; what she needed was warmth and love. For seven years, she had waited for Charles to return. She carried the jewelry box he had left her as a precious treasure. But after he left, she heard nothing from him. Charles had made a fortune in India. He engaged in slave trading, usury, tax evasion, smuggling—anything to make money. He was ruthless and greedy to the extreme, truly worthy of being Grandet's descendant! He slept with women of all races and had long forgotten his cousin. In 1827, he returned to France with a million in wealth. On the ship, he met a nobleman, the Marquis de Obernion. The marquis had an ugly daughter (who looked like a dragonfly) who could not marry. Charles, seeking to climb the social ladder, married the marquis's daughter. He wrote to Eugénie and returned the six thousand francs he had given her, along with two thousand francs in interest. Eugénie was stunned by Charles's heartless behavior and deeply traumatized. Later, she agreed to marry the son of the lawyer, the president of the primary court, Monsieur de Fontaine, but only as a formal marriage. Since Fontaine pursued her only for money, she could give him the money while keeping her emotions free. A few years later, Fontaine became the president of the court. However, on the eighth day after being elected as a councilor in Saumur, he died. Eugénie was thirty-three when she became a widow. She paid one hundred fifty thousand francs to settle her uncle's debts and allowed her cousin to live a happy and honorable life. She herself lived a life of solitude, piety, and love, and "advanced to heaven through a series of good deeds and acts of kindness."