The story "Gobsek" was published by Honore de Balzac in 1830, and in 1842 became one of key works « human comedy" by entering the section "Scenes privacy"("Studies on Morals"). Today is the most readable work Balzac, it is included in the school and university programs, is the subject of many scientific research, wide field for analysis and a rich source of inspiration.
Like many of Balzac's works, Gobseck was originally published in installments. The first episode, entitled "The Pawnbroker", appeared in the pages of Fashion magazine in February 1830. Then the story appeared under the title "Papa Gobsek" and was divided into semantic parts - "Pawnbroker", "Lawyer", "Death of a Husband". In 1842, the story was included in the "Human Comedy" under the laconic title "Gobsek" without division into chapters. It is this type of work that is considered classical.
Central character- usurer Jean Esther van Gobsek In addition to the work in which he is a soloist, Gobsek also appears in "Father Goriot", "Caesar Biroto", " marriage contract"" Officials ". Lawyer Derville, who is also a narrator, is the hero of "Father Goriot", "Colonel Chaberet", "Dark Affairs", the novel "Shine and Poverty of Courtesans".
This cult work has two film incarnations. In 1936, the story was filmed Soviet director Konstantin Eggert ("The Bear's Wedding", "The Lame Master"), the role of Gobsek was played by Leonid Leonidov. In 1987, a film of the same name was released under the direction of Alexander Orlov (“The Woman Who Sings”, “The Adventures of Chichikov”), this time Gobsek was played by Vladimir Tatosov.
Let's remember the plot of this immortal masterpiece from the brilliant Honore de Balzac.
The action of the story begins to develop in the salon of the viscountess de Granlier. It was the winter of 1829-30. Snow was falling outside the window, and none of the midnight inhabitants of the living room wanted to move away from the cozy warmth of the fireplace. The Vicomtesse de Ganlier was the most distinguished, richest and most respected lady in the Faubourg Saint-Germent. At such a late hour, she reprimanded her seventeen-year-old daughter Camille for the too obvious disposition she showed towards the young Count Emile de Restaud.
A family friend, lawyer Derville, becomes a witness to this scene. He sees how Camille's cheeks glow at the mention of the name of the Comte de Resto. No doubt, the girl is in love! But why does the countess oppose the union of young hearts? There is a good reason for this, the Countess explains. It's no secret how inappropriately his mother behaved. Now, of course, she has settled down, but her past leaves an indelible imprint on posterity. Besides, de Resto is poor.
What if you're not poor? Derville grins mischievously.
“That would change things a bit,” the viscountess says evasively.
“Then I will tell you one romantic story which happened to me many years ago.
Jean Esther van Gobseck
When Derville was twenty-five years old, he rented a room in a poor Parisian hotel. His neighbor was a well-known usurer named Gobsek. Without meeting Gobseck personally, Derville had already heard a lot about him. Jean Esther van Gobseck lived alone in his neat, modest apartment. His past was hidden in secrets. They say that at the age of ten he was given as a ship's cabin boy. For a long time Gobsek sailed the seas and oceans, and then came to Paris and became a usurer.
Last refuge for the afflicted
Every day visitors came to his little room, but they were not good friends, but heartbroken, miserable suppliants strangled by vices and their own gluttony. In his modest chambers there were once successful merchants, young dandies, noble ladies, bashfully covering their faces with veils.
They all came to Gobsek for money. They prayed to Gobsek like a god, and, throwing off their arrogance, humbly pressed their hands to their breasts.
For inexorability and callousness, Gobsek was hated. He was called the "golden idol" and the familiar "father Gobsek", his philosophy was considered soulless, and his unsociableness was at least strange - "if humanity is considered a kind of religion, then Gobsek could be called an atheist." But all this did not affect the number of clients of father Gobsek. They went to him, because only he could give a chance for salvation, or at least delay complete collapse.
One day, young Derville also appeared on the doorstep of his neighbor's house. He did not have a penny for his soul, but, having received an education, he dreamed of starting his own legal business. The ambitious young man liked the old man Gobsek, and he agreed to invest in him with the condition of paying a solid percentage. Thanks to talent, backed up by diligence and healthy frugality, Derville finally paid off Gobseck in full. During the cooperation, the lawyer and the moneylender became good friends. They met twice a week for lunch. Conversations with Gobsek were for Derville the richest source life wisdom seasoned with the unusual philosophy of the pawnbroker.
When Derville made the last payment, he asked why Gobsek continued to charge him, his friend, huge interest, and did not render the service disinterestedly. To this the old man wisely replied: “My son, I have spared you gratitude, I have given you the right to think that you do not owe me anything. And that's why we're the best friends in the world."
Now Derville's business is flourishing, he married for love, his life is uninterrupted happiness and prosperity. So that's enough about Derville, because a happy person is an unbearably boring topic.
Once Derville brought to Gobsek his friend Maxime de Tray - a handsome man, a brilliant Parisian ladies' man and a rake. Maxime was in dire need of money, but Gobsek refused de Tray a loan because he knew of his many unpaid debts. The next day, a beautiful lady comes to ask for Maxim. Looking ahead, we note that this was the Countess de Resto, the mother of the same Emile de Resto, who today is unsuccessfully wooing Camille de Granier.
Blinded by passion for the scoundrel de Tray, the countess pawned for him young lover family diamonds. It must be said that a few years ago the Countess paid the first bill of de Trey precisely with Papa Gobsek. The amount was small, but even then Gobsek predicted that this scoundrel would extract all the money from the de Resto family.
Soon the Comte de Restaud, the lawful husband of the extravagant countess and the owner of the pawned diamonds, broke into Gobsek. The moneylender refused to return the jewels, but advised the count to secure his inheritance, otherwise his children would not be destined to see the money. After consulting with Derville, the count transfers all his property to Gobsek and draws up a counter receipt stating that the sale of property is fictitious - when the eldest son becomes an adult, the usurer will transfer the rights to manage the property to the rightful heir.
The count conjures Derville to keep the receipt, because he does not trust his greedy wife. However, by an evil mockery of fate, he falls seriously ill and does not have time to hand over the document, on which the fate of his boy depends. While the count is bedridden in unconsciousness, the countess does not leave his room, believably portraying heartbroken spouse. No one, except Gobsek and Derville, knows the true background of this "attachment". Like a predator, the countess is waiting for the cherished hour when her victim will emit last breath.
Soon the count dies. Derville and Gobsek rush to the house de Resto and become witnesses scary picture. Everything in the count's room was turned upside down, in the midst of this chaos, disheveled with sparkling eyes, the countess rushed about. She was not embarrassed by the presence of the deceased, his body was contemptuously thrown back to the edge of the bed, like a more unnecessary thing.
Some papers were burning in the fireplace. It was a receipt. "What have you done? Derville cried out. “You have just ruined your own children. These documents provided them with wealth ... "
It seemed that the countess would have a stroke. But it was already impossible to fix anything - Gobsek became the full owner of de Resto's fortune.
Gobsek refused to help the young heir de Restaud. "Misfortune - the best teacher. In misfortune, he will learn a lot, learn the value of money, the value of people ... Let him swim on the waves of the Parisian sea. And when he becomes a skilled pilot, we will make him a captain.”
The humanist Derville could not understand the cruelty of Gobsek. He moved away from his friend, over time, their meetings came to naught. Derville made his next visit to Gobsek many years later. They say that all these years Gobsek led a prosperous life, and in Lately became completely unsociable and did not leave his magnificent chambers.
Derville found Gobsek dying. The usurer informed an old friend that he had made him his executor. He bequeathed all the acquired fortune to his sister's great-granddaughter, a public girl nicknamed Ogonyok. “She is as good as Cupid,” the dying man smiled weakly, “look for her, my friend.” And let the legitimate inheritance now return to Emile de Resto. He must have become a good man.
Examining the house of Gobsek after death, Derville was shocked: the storerooms were bursting with food, most of which was gone. Everything deteriorated, swarmed with worms and insects, but the distraught miser did not sell his goods to anyone. “I saw how far stinginess can go, turning into an unaccountable passion devoid of any logic.”
Fortunately, Gobsek managed to transfer his own and return someone else's wealth. Madame de Grandlier listened to the lawyer's story with great interest. “Well, dear Derville, we will think about Emile de Resto,” she said, “besides, Camille does not need to see her mother-in-law often.”
The story of Honore de Balzac "Gobsek": a summary
5 (100%) 3 votesContinuing to look at the site, I often wonder who is actually here goodies, and who are negative? And I can not clearly answer this question. It would seem that the most bad guys, later, they do very good deeds, and the heroes, it would seem, are positive - quite the contrary.
Books by Jean-Esther van - the miser from the works of Balzac's The Human Comedy
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Jean-Esther van Gobsek is a character in 13 works of the Human Comedy, a Parisian usurer. Balzac compares his appearance with the face and smile of Voltaire, Talleyrand.
Source: Collected Works "Human Comedy"
This is a man of manic passion - stinginess, the desire for accumulation. The "man-promissory note" has subordinated himself, his whole life, to one entertainment - the financial subordination of people. He enjoys knowing all the secrets human soul, the lives of their debtors. He feels himself the master of their destinies, considers his mind "the scales on which the inheritances and selfish interests of all Paris are weighed."
He developed his own philosophy, his very name Gobsek means "stomach", this contradictory personality combines meanness and honesty, base and sublime. The Comte de Resto resorts to his services to save his fortune for the children, since his wife squanders it on her lover. Avarice reaches the limit, gold becomes the subject of a manic attachment. After his death, in addition to wealth, huge spoiled supplies remain. The name Gobsek became a household name, denoting a miser moneylender.
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Probably you like negative characters because they are the first beautiful, the second they all have sad story, thirdly, they must be smart, fourthly, he must be unhappy and lonely. But I think that the negative characters are mysterious, brave, but it's a pity that sometimes these characters often die at the end of the movie or at the end of the anime... But some heroes realize their guilt and start fighting for the side of good.
Need to download an essay? Press and save - "Jean-Esther van Gobseck is a miser from the works of Balzac's Human Comedy. And the finished essay appeared in the bookmarks. Jean Esther van Gobseck- the character of 13 works of the "Human Comedy", the title character of the story of the same name, a Parisian usurer. G. a native of Antwerp, the son of a Dutchman and a Jewess, is an old man with ash-gray hair and impassive, motionless features, like Talleyrand, with small yellow eyes and a sharp nose; twice Balzac compares his appearance, and especially his sarcastic smile, with that of Voltaire. G. - “man-machine”, “man-promissory note”, he saves vital energy and suppresses everything human feelings speaks softly and never gets excited. G. stingy and ruthless to customers; him speaking surname: "Gobsek" means "liver"; even his signature is “a hieroglyph, where the first and last letters form an insatiable shark mouth”, which captures and devours everyone in a row. Entertainment for G. is the penetration into the life of his debtors, into "the most intimate bends human heart". G. is alien to their passions and enjoys the fact that he is aware of himself as the ruler of their destinies, and his mind is "the scales on which the inheritances and selfish interests of all Paris are weighed." Two creatures live in G.: a miser and a philosopher, a vile creature and a sublime creature; he willingly participates in financial speculation, but outside this sphere he is a man of the most scrupulous honesty in all of Paris. It is to the help of G. that the Count de Resto resorts to save his fortune for the children, which his wife, the Countess de Resto, squanders on her lover, Maxime de Tray: in this situation, the plebeian usurer behaves more worthy than the secular dandy. Gold for G. is not only a source of power, but also an object of manic attachment. The passion that owns G. is stinginess. The symbol of this unaccountable, senseless stinginess is the spectacle that Derville saw in G.'s house after his death: in the room adjacent to the bedroom of the deceased, countless gifts presented to him by clients are stored, including all kinds of supplies covered with mold; all this is teeming with worms and insects. The name G. has become a household name for a miser usurer.^ SHINE AND Poverty of Courtesans
Roman (1838-1847)
Esther van Gobsek- the character of 11 works of the "Human Comedy", main character. E. - daughter of Sarah Gobsek, nicknamed the Beautiful Dutch, great-niece Gobsek. E. is endowed with impeccable beauty: satin skin, thin as Chinese paper, blue-gray eyes under the superciliary arches of an exceptionally clear pattern, hair that reaches the ground in loose form (Balzac hesitates about their color, calling E. either a blonde or a burning brunette , i.e. referring her beauty to European, then to Asian). In the eyes and appearance of E. "after 18 centuries after the exile, the East again shone." Having chosen, after her mother, the craft of a courtesan, E. reached extraordinary perfection in it. She acts on men so exciting that she was nicknamed Torpil (electric stingray). All the brilliant dandies of Paris were "more or less her lovers", but none of them can say that she is his mistress; "she is always free to possess them, but they never have her." The meeting with Lucien de Rubempre transforms E. Having fallen in love with Lucien, she tries to start living an honest labor, but, discovering that others still recognize her as a courtesan, she decides to commit suicide. Abbot Carlos Herrera rescues E. and places her in a monastery boarding school, where she receives a religious upbringing and becomes a Catholic. After that, Carlos Herrera settles her in a specially rented apartment, where she lives locked up, seeing no one but Lucien, and enjoying his love. E. leaves the apartment only at night, when the guide Pakkar, a faithful servant of Herrera, takes her out for a walk in one of the Parisian parks. On one of these walks, the girl is accidentally noticed by Baron de Nu-singen and falls in love with a mysterious stranger so passionately that he is ready to give any money, if only she was found and provided to him. Carlos Herrera uses the passion of Nucingen to pump out of him all the big and large sums required for Lucien. For the sake of her beloved, E. agrees to desecrate her love for him and become a courtesan again; she lives a double life, despising "the vile, dishonorable role played by the body in the presence of the soul". E. flirts with Nucingen, accepts his gifts and settles in the mansion bought for her, but constantly postpones the day of the final triumph of the baron and his fall. The next morning after that night, when she finally gives herself to the baron, E. takes poison, bequeathing 750 thousand francs that Nucingen gave her to Lucien and never knowing that she is the owner of 7 million due to her under the will of Gobsek.
^ EUGENIA GRANDE
Tale (1833)
Eugenia Grande Daughter of Felix Grande. G. is a large and dense girl, with a round face and gray radiant eyes, beautiful with majestic beauty and innate nobility. Prior to the arrival in Saumur, the Parisian cousin Charles Grande, the capital's dandy, E. does not think about either his position or the character of his father. The appearance of Charles, with whom E. immediately falls in love, awakens in her many new thoughts and sensations: she realizes the poverty of her father's house, guesses that she should hide her love from her father. She begins to judge her father for being mean and feel forced in his presence. For the first time good and evil collide in her heart, for the first time she commits an act of which she is ashamed: while cousin Charles is sleeping, she reads his letters to her mistress and friend. Love makes her dare to rebel, to outright disobedience to her father: she lends her ancient gold coins to her cousin, impoverished due to his father’s bankruptcy, and when old Grande wants to look at them, she refuses to explain the reason for their disappearance. E. is her father's daughter, and her passion - love for Charles - is as powerful as papa Grande's passion - love for gold. Having hung a map of the hemispheres in her room, E. mentally follows her cousin, who went to the East Indies to make a fortune, she draws happiness from the memories of the only kiss she exchanged with Charles, and these memories help her calmly endure the anger of her father, who put her on bread and water. E.'s tragedy lies in the futility of her life. Having become the owner of untold wealth after the death of his mother and father, E. continues to live in the same uncomfortable cold house; she manages her estate as her father bequeathed to her, and even adopts some of his words, for example, the manner of saying: "We'll see" when you don't want to give a direct answer. Many grooms dream of taking a million-strong bride for themselves, but she is waiting for Charles, while Charles, who has grown rich through the slave trade and hardened in soul, marries an ugly aristocrat, because, unlike the Somurs, he does not know how rich his cousin is. E. marries the chairman of the Saumur Court of First Instance, Cruchot de Bonfon, having previously taken a promise from him that the marriage will remain fictitious. Having been widowed, she remains the same old maid, in whom the holiness and nobility of suffering are combined with petty provincial habits.
^ Felix Grande Father of Eugenia Grande G. is a Saumur cooper who became rich during the revolution of 1789-1794, when he managed to buy up the best farms and vineyards in the area for next to nothing. Wealth helped him turn from "Papa Grande", as the inhabitants of Saumur called him, into "Mr. Grandet" and even become the mayor of his native city. G. - a stocky, thick man with a round, clumsy, pockmarked face, with a calm, predatory expression in his eyes, "what people attribute to a basilisk"; his face betrays "dangerous cunning, cold honesty and selfishness." The passion that completely owns G. is stinginess; for the sake of money, G. is ready for anything; in commerce, he “looked like a tiger”: he lay in wait for prey, then “opened the mouth of his wallet, swallowed another share of the ecu and calmly laid down, like a snake digesting food; he did all this dispassionately, coldly, methodically. G. keeps his relatives - his wife and only daughter - in a black body, arbitrarily dictates to them the rules of life in his house; the older he gets, the stronger his avarice becomes; all his senses are concentrated on gold; for him, happiness is to own gold, to count gold coins at night. Therefore, having learned that Eugenia gave her gold to her cousin Charles, G. puts her daughter on bread and water. From grief, Eugenia's mother, G.'s wife, falls ill and dies. G. is saddened by the loss of his wife, but something else really shocks him: after the death of Madame Grande, Eugenia, her heiress, can demand the division of property, and then he, G., will lose part of the state. At eighty-two, G. breaks paralysis, but he continues to watch how his daughter receives payments from tenants, and spends all his time in an armchair near the door to a small office where his gold is stored; while he has the strength to open his eyes, he worries about his louis and demands that his daughter lay them out on the table in front of him. His last words addressed to his daughter are also dedicated to money: “Take care of the gold, take care of it! You will give me an account in the next world!
Nanetta Hulk- a maid in the house of Grande's father. N. - “a female creature, built like Hercules, standing firmly on her feet, like a sixty-year-old oak tree on its roots, a creature with wide hips and a square back, with the hands of a draft cabman and unshakable honesty, like her untouched chastity.” N. cooks, washes, cleans Grande's house and blindly obeys her master, whom she has served since the age of twenty-two, she is the embodiment of loyalty, not only a maid, but also a member of the family. After the death of the old owner, she receives a lifetime pension from Eugenia Grande and, becoming a rich bride, at the age of fifty-nine she marries the chief caretaker of the Grande lands.
Victor Hugo
(1802-1885)
Victor Hugo - the great French romantic writer, poet, playwright, novelist (poetry collections Odes and Miscellaneous Poems (1822), Oriental Motives (1829), Songs of Twilight (1835), Retribution (1853), The Terrible Year (1872); the dramas Hernani (1829), The King Amuses himself (1832), Ruy Blas (1838); the novels The Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris"(1831), "Les Miserables" (1862), "The Man Who Laughs" (1869), "The Ninety-Third Year" (1874); political pamphlet "Napoleon the Small" (1852); nonfiction book"History of one crime" (in two volumes, 1877-1878), etc.). World fame came to Hugo as the author of novels, but in France he is justly valued as a wonderful poet. He was born in Besancon in the family of an officer in the Napoleonic army. The mother of the future writer, on the contrary, hated Napoleon and was a royalist, in other words, a supporter of the exiled royal Bourbon dynasty. Parents separated when Victor was still a child, and in early youth Hugo shared his mother's political sympathies. Only in adulthood did he develop democratic convictions. Hugo's literary talent manifested itself very early: from the age of thirteen he began to write, at fourteen he published a literary magazine with his brother, at fifteen he became a laureate of two literary academies, and at seventeen he received a pension from the king for his ode. At the same time, Hugo is one of the most notable "long-livers" in literature, his artistic gift did not fade until his death, and his later poems and novels - beautiful to that certificate. Hugo was the leader French romanticism, the author of the famous Romantic Manifesto, headed a literary circle. The authority of the writer helped him in social activities, where Hugo was always on the side of the oppressed, persecuted, outcasts, and by this he also won love and appreciation all over the world, as well as with his work.
"Notre Dame Cathedral" - the best historical novel 19th century, written in romantic style. The writer paints a picture of the life of France at the end of the Middle Ages, at the end of the 15th century. Hugo masterfully conveys the flavor of the era. However, he does not depict any specific historical events, but skillfully recreates everyday life in a romantic way, brightly and colorfully. Historical characters, such as Louis XI, are relegated to the background by fictional heroes. However, the names of all the characters are not invented by the author, but taken from old sources. The heroes of the novel are both painterly-concrete and symbolic. The writer sharply confronts positive and negative characters, opposing them to each other, while showing a contrasting discrepancy appearance and the inner content of people: the ugliness of Quasimodo is paradoxically combined with his devotion and kindness, the beauty of Phoebus de Chateauper hides his insignificance and stupidity. The most acute conflict unfolds between Esmeralda, the embodiment of both external charm and inner spiritual beauty, and the cruel and rude fanatic Claude Frollo, passionately in love with her, who killed the heroine. But the meaning of this conflict is primarily in the clash of epochs: the outgoing Middle Ages and the coming Renaissance. At the same time, Hugo also finds something in common in the appearance of these two centuries. It is no coincidence that one of the main symbols of the novel is the Cathedral of Notre Dame - in fact, the eternal historical image.
"Claude Gay" (1834) - a story in which we are talking about fate real person- a worker sentenced to death for the murder of a prison guard. The author comes to the conclusion that it is the fault itself modern society, because it is poverty that pushes people from the people "on the path of crime and into the abyss of debauchery." At the same time, the system of punishments seems to the writer extremely cruel and merciless. It is no coincidence that Hugo was one of the first in the 19th century to advocate the abolition of death penalty.
The novel "Les Misérables" (1862) is the pinnacle of Hugo's work both as a novelist and as a defender of the people. This is a social epic novel, again in the spirit of romanticism. The idea to write about the life of the poorest strata of society arose from the writer at the beginning creative way. In 1823, Hugo began to collect information about the life of convicts, the idea of the novel was determined in 1830, and in 1852 the first edition of the work appeared. Drawing the story of the courageous Jean Valjean, who spent nineteen years in hard labor, Fantine, who survived seduction, separation from her daughter, poverty, the boy Gavroche, who was thrown into the street by his own parents and yet not only did not lose his love of life and kindness, but managed to become a heroic defender on the barricades, Hugo seeks to denounce social evil and find a way to overcome it. The dilemma of how to fix society - by mercy or revolutionary transformation, is solved throughout the entire novel, it is difficult to solve, dramatically intense and at the same time artistically bright and colorful. The heroes of "Les Misérables" - Jean Val-jean, Cosette, Gavroche - are one of the most memorable images in world literature. This novel was especially popular in Russia. Leo Tolstoy considered him the greatest French novel XIX V. F. Dostoevsky loved him very much.
^ CATHEDRAL OF NOTHER DAME OF PARIS
Roman (1831)
In the corners of one of the towers of the great cathedral, someone's long-decayed hand inscribed the word "rock" in Greek. Over time, the word itself disappeared. But out of it was born a book about a gypsy, a hunchback and a priest.
January 6, 1482, on the occasion of the celebration of baptism in the Palace of Justice, they give the mystery " righteous judgment Blessed Virgin Mary." A huge crowd gathers in the morning. Ambassadors from Flanders and the Cardinal of Bourbon should be invited to the spectacle. Gradually, the audience begins to grumble, and the schoolchildren rage the most: among them stands out the sixteen-year-old blond demon Jean, the brother of the learned archdeacon Claude Frollo. Nervous author of the mystery Pierre Gringoire orders to begin. But the unfortunate poet is unlucky: as soon as the actors uttered the prologue, the cardinal appears, and then the ambassadors. Citizens from Flemish city Gen-ta are so colorful that the Parisians stare only at them. General admiration is evoked by the hosiery master Copinol, who, without pretense, is having a friendly conversation with the disgusting beggar Clopin Trouillefou. To Gringoire's dismay, the accursed Fleming honors last words his mystery and offers to do a much more fun thing - to elect a buffoon's dad. They will be the one who makes the most terrible grimace. Applicants for this high title poking their faces out of the window of the chapel. The winner is Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, who doesn't even need to grimace, he's so ugly. The monstrous hunchback is dressed in a ridiculous robe and carried on his shoulders to pass, according to custom, through the streets of the city. Gringoire is already hoping for a continuation of the ill-fated play, but then someone shouts that Esmeralda is dancing in the square, and all the remaining spectators are blown away by the wind. Gringoire, in anguish, wanders to the Place de Greve to look at this Esmeral Du, and an inexpressibly lovely girl appears before his eyes - either a fairy, or an angel, who, however, turned out to be a gypsy. Gringoire, like all the spectators, is completely fascinated by the dancer, but the gloomy face of a not yet old but already bald man stands out in the crowd: he viciously accuses the girl of witchcraft, because her white goat beats a tambourine with a hoof six times in response to the question, what date is today . When Esmeralda begins to sing, a voice full of frenzied hatred is heard female voice-- the recluse of the Roland Tower curses the gypsy offspring. At this moment, a procession enters the Place Greve, in the center of which Quasimodo flaunts. A bald man rushes to him, frightening a gypsy, and Gringoire recognizes his teacher of sealants - father Claude Frollo. He tears off the tiara from the hunchback, tears the mantle to shreds, breaks the staff, and the terrible Quasimodo falls to his knees before him. The day, rich in spectacle, comes to an end, and Gringoire, without much hope, wanders after the gypsy. Suddenly, he hears a piercing scream: two men are trying to cover Esmeralda's mouth. Pierre calls the guards, and a dazzling officer appears - the head of the royal shooters. One of the kidnappers is captured - this is Quasimodo. The gypsy does not take her enthusiastic eyes off her savior - Captain Phoebus de Chateauper.
Fate brings the ill-fated poet to the Court of Miracles - the kingdom of beggars and thieves. The stranger is seized and taken to the Altyn King, in whom Pierre, to his surprise, recognizes Clopin Trouillefou. The local morals are severe: you need to pull out the wallet from the stuffed animal with bells, so much so that they do not ring, - a noose awaits the loser. Gringoire, who made a real chime, is dragged to the gallows, and only a woman can save him - if there is one that wants to take her as a husband. No one coveted the poet, and he would have been swinging on the crossbar if Esmeralda had not released him out of the kindness of her soul. The emboldened Gringoire tries to claim marital rights, but the fragile songstress has a small dagger in this case - in front of the astonished Pierre, the dragonfly turns into a wasp. The ill-fated poet lies down on a skinny bedding, for he has nowhere to go.
The next day, Esmeralda's kidnapper is put on trial. In 1482 the disgusting hunchback was twenty years old, and his benefactor Claude Frollo was thirty-six. Sixteen years ago, a little freak was placed on the porch of the cathedral, and only one person took pity on him. Having lost his parents during a terrible plague, Claude was left with the baby Jean in his arms and fell in love with him with a passionate, devoted love. Perhaps the thought of his brother made him pick up the orphan, whom he named Quasimodo. Claude fed him, taught him to write and read, put him on the bells, so Quasimodo, who hated all people, was dog-like devoted to the archdeacon. Perhaps more he loved only the cathedral - home, homeland, his universe. That is why he unquestioningly carried out the order of his savior - and now he had to answer for this. The deaf Quasimodo gets to the deaf judge, and it ends in tears - he is sentenced to whips and pillory. The hunchback does not understand what is happening until they start flogging him to the hooting of the crowd. The torment does not end there: after the scourging, the good townspeople throw stones and ridicule at him. He hoarsely asks for a drink, but is answered with bursts of laughter. Suddenly, Esmeralda appears in the square. Seeing the culprit of his misfortunes, Quasimodo is ready to incinerate her with his eyes, and she fearlessly climbs the stairs and brings a flask of water to his lips. Then tears roll down the ugly physiognomy - the changeable crowd applauds "the majestic spectacle of beauty, youth and innocence, which came to the aid of the embodiment of ugliness and malice." Only the recluse of the Roland Tower, barely noticing Esmeralda, bursts into curses.
A few weeks later, at the beginning of March, Captain Phoebus de Chateaupere is courting his fiancee Fleur-de-Lys and her bridesmaids. For fun, for the sake of the girl, they decide to invite a pretty gypsy girl who dances on Cathedral Square into the house. They quickly repent of their intention, for Esmeralda overshadows them all with grace and beauty. She herself gazes intently at the captain, puffed up with complacency. When the goat puts the word "Phoebus" out of letters - apparently familiar to her, Fleur-de-Lys faints, and Esmeralda is immediately expelled. She also attracts the eye: Quasimodo looks at her with admiration from one window of the cathedral, Claude Frollo gloomily contemplates her from the other. Next to the gypsy, he spotted a man in a yellow-and-red tights - before she always performed alone. Going downstairs, the archdeacon recognizes his disciple Pierre Gringoire, who disappeared two months ago. Claude eagerly asks about Esmeralda: the poet says that this girl is a charming and harmless creature, a true child of nature. She keeps chastity, because she wants to find her parents through an amulet - and he allegedly helps only virgins. Everyone loves her for her cheerful disposition and kindness. She herself believes that in the whole city she has only two enemies - the recluse of the Roland Tower, who for some reason hates the gypsies, and some priest who constantly pursues her. With the help of a tambourine, Esmeralda teaches her goat tricks, and there is no witchcraft in them - it took only two months to teach her how to add the word "Phoebus". The archdeacon becomes extremely excited and on the same day he hears how his brother Jean calls the captain of the royal shooters by name in a friendly manner. He follows the young rake to the tavern. Phoebus gets drunk a little less than the schoolboy, because he has an appointment with Esmeralda. The girl is so in love that she is ready to sacrifice even an amulet - since she has Phoebus, why does she need a father and mother? The captain begins to kiss the gypsy, and at that moment she sees a dagger raised above him. The face of the hated priest appears before Esmeralda; she loses consciousness - waking up, she hears from all sides that the sorceress stabbed the captain.
A month passes. Gringoire and the Court of Miracles are in terrible anxiety - Esmeralda has disappeared. One day, Pierre sees a crowd at the Palace of Justice - they tell him that they are judging the she-devil who killed the military man. The gypsy stubbornly denies everything, despite the evidence - a demonic goat and a demon in a priest's cassock, which was seen by many witnesses. But she cannot stand the torture with a Spanish boot - she confesses to witchcraft, prostitution and the murder of Phoebus de Chateauper. According to the totality of these crimes, she is sentenced to repentance at the portal of the Notre Dame Cathedral, and then to hanging. The goat must be subjected to the same punishment. Claude Frollo comes to the casemate, where Esmeralda is looking forward to death. On his knees, he begs her to run away with him: she turned his life upside down, before meeting her he was happy - innocent and pure, lived only by science and fell, seeing a wondrous beauty not created for human eyes. Esmeralda rejects both the hated priest's love and his proposed salvation. In response, he angrily shouts that Phoebus is dead. However, Phoebus survived, and the fair-haired Fleur-de-Lys again settled in his heart. On the day of execution, lovers coo gently, looking out the window with curiosity - the jealous bride will be the first to recognize Esmeralda. The gypsy, seeing the beautiful Phoebus, falls unconscious; at this moment Quasimodo picks her up and rushes to the cathedral with a cry of "refuge". The crowd greets the hunchback with enthusiastic cries - this roar reaches the Greve Square and the Roland Tower, where the recluse does not take her eyes off the gallows. The victim slipped away, hiding in the church.
Esmeralda lives in a cathedral, but she cannot get used to the terrible hunchback. Not wanting to annoy her with his ugliness, the deaf man gives her a whistle - he is able to hear this sound. And when the archdeacon pounces on the gypsy, Quasimodo almost kills him in the dark - only the ray of the moon saves Claude, who begins to be jealous of Esmeralda for the ugly ringer. At his instigation, Gringoire raises the Court of Miracles - beggars and thieves storm the cathedral, wanting to save the gypsy. Quasimodo desperately defends his treasure - young Jean Frollo dies from his hand. Meanwhile, Gringoire secretly takes Esmeralda out of the cathedral and involuntarily hands her over to Claude, who takes her to the Place de Grève, where he offers his love for the last time. There is no escape; the king himself, having learned about the rebellion, ordered that the sorceress be found and hanged. The gypsy recoils in horror from Claude, and then he drags her to the Roland Tower - the recluse, sticking her hand out from behind the bars, tightly grabs the unfortunate girl, and the priest runs after the guards. Esmeralda begs to let her go, but Paquette Shant-Fleury only laughs angrily in response - the gypsies stole her daughter, now let their offspring die too. She shows the girl her daughter's embroidered slipper - Esmeralda has exactly the same one in her amulet. The recluse almost loses her mind with joy - she has found her child, although she has already lost all hope. Too late, mother and daughter remember the danger: Paquette tries to hide Esmeralda in her cell, but in vain - the girl is dragged to the gallows. In a last desperate impulse, the mother sinks her teeth into the hand of the executioner - she is thrown away, and she falls dead. From the height of the cathedral, the archdeacon looks at the Greve square. Quasimodo, who has already suspected Claude of kidnapping Esmeralda, sneaks after him and recognizes the gypsy - a noose is put around her neck. When the executioner jumps on the girl’s shoulders and the body of the executed woman begins to beat in terrible convulsions, the priest’s face is distorted with laughter - Quasimodo does not hear him, but he sees a satanic grin, in which there is nothing human anymore. And he pushes Claude into the abyss. Esmeralda on the gallows, and the archdeacon prostrate at the foot of the tower, that was all the poor hunchback loved.
^ E. D. Murashkintseva
It isnot mine! he exclaimed, waving his hand. - Gold! I have? Would I live like this if I were rich!
In the mornings he brewed coffee for himself on an iron stove that stood in a smoky corner of the fireplace; lunch was brought to him from the restaurant. The old doorkeeper at the appointed hour came to clean up his room. And his last name, by chance, which Stern would call predestination, was very strange - Gobsek. Later, when he assigned me to manage his affairs, I learned that by the time I met him, he was almost seventy-six years old. He was born in 1740 on the outskirts of Antwerp; his mother was Jewish, his father was Dutch, his full name was Jean Esther van Gobsek. You, of course, remember how the murder of a woman nicknamed "The Beautiful Dutchwoman" occupied all of Paris. Once, in a conversation with my former neighbor, I accidentally mentioned this incident, and he said, without showing the slightest interest or even surprise:
This is my great-niece.
It was only these words that caused him the death of his only heiress, the granddaughter of his sister. On litigation I learned that the name of the Beautiful Dutchwoman was Sarah van Gobsek. When I asked Gobseck to explain the astonishing fact that his sister's granddaughter bore his surname, he answered with a smile:
In our family, the women never married.
This a strange man never once wanted to see any of the representatives of the four female generations that made up his relatives. He hated his heirs and did not even allow the thought that someone would take over his fortune even after his death. His mother placed him as a cabin boy on a ship, and at the age of ten he sailed to the Dutch possessions of the East Indies, where he wandered for twenty years. The wrinkles of his yellowish forehead kept the secret of terrible trials, sudden terrible events, unexpected successes, romantic vicissitudes, immense joys, hungry days, trampled love, wealth, ruin and newly acquired wealth, mortal dangers, when a life hanging by a thread was saved by instantaneous and, perhaps cruel actions justified by necessity. He knew Monsieur de Lally, Admiral Simez, Monsieur de Kergaruet and d'Estaing, Bailly de Suffren, Monsieur de Portenduer, Lord Cornwells, Lord Hastings, Tippo-Sahib's father, and Tippo-Sahib himself. The savoyar who served in Delhi Raja Mahaji Sindiahu and was an accomplice of the power of the Maharatt dynasty did business with him. He also had some connections with Victor Hughes and other famous corsairs, since he lived for a long time on the island of Saint-Thomas. He tried everything to get rich, even tried to find the notorious treasure - gold buried by a tribe of savages somewhere in the vicinity of Buenos Aires. He was involved in all the vicissitudes of the war for the independence of the United States. But about India or America, he spoke only to me, and then very rarely, and every time after that he seemed to repent of his "talkativeness." If humanity, communication between people is considered a kind of religion, then Gobsek could be called an atheist. Although I set myself the goal of studying him, I must, to my shame, confess that until the last minute his soul remained a secret behind seven locks for me. Sometimes I even asked myself what gender he was. If all usurers are like him, then they surely belong to the category of sexless. Did he remain true to his mother's religion and look upon Christians as prey? Did he become a Catholic, a Mohammedan, a follower of Brahmanism, a Lutheran? I didn't know anything about his beliefs. He seemed more indifferent to matters of religion than unbelievers. One evening I went to see this man, who turned into a golden idol and was nicknamed by his victims in derision or by contrast "Papa Gobsek". He, as usual, sat in a deep chair, motionless as a statue, his eyes fixed on the ledge of the fireplace, as if rereading his accounting receipts and receipts. A smoky lamp on a shabby green stand cast light on his face, but this did not in the least enliven it with colors, but seemed even paler. The old man looked at me and silently pointed with his hand to my usual chair.
What is this creature thinking? I asked myself. “Does he know that there is a god in the world, feelings, love, happiness?”
And I even somehow felt sorry for him, as if he were seriously ill. However, I perfectly understood that if he had millions in the bank, then in his thoughts he could own all the countries that he had traveled, searched, weighed, evaluated, robbed.
Hello, Father Gobsek, I said.
He turned his head, and his thick black eyebrows moved a little, - this characteristic movement for him was tantamount to the most friendly smile of a southerner.
You are frowning today, as you were on the day when you received the news of the bankruptcy of the book publisher, whom you praised for his dexterity, although you were his victim.
Victim? he asked in surprise.
And remember, he got an amicable deal with you, rewrote his bills on the basis of an insolvency charter, and when his affairs got better, he demanded that you cut off his debt under this agreement.
Yes, he was cunning, - the old man confirmed. - But then I pinched him again.
Maybe you need to show some bills for collection? It seems today is the thirtieth day.
It was the first time I spoke to him about money. He looked up at me and somehow mockingly moved his eyebrows, and then in a squeaky quiet voice, very similar to the sound of a flute in the hands of an inept musician, said:
I am having fun.
So do you have fun sometimes?
And in your opinion, only the poet who publishes his poems? he asked, shrugging his shoulders and narrowing his eyes contemptuously.
"Poetry? In such a head? I was surprised, because I didn’t know anything about his life then.
And who's life can be as brilliant as mine? he said, and his eyes lit up. - You are young, your blood is playing, and there is fog in your head. You look at the burning brands in the fireplace and see in the flames female faces, and I see only coals. You believe everything, but I believe nothing. Well, save your illusions if you can. I will sum it up for you now human life. Whether you are a vagabond traveler, whether you are a homebody and do not part all the century with your fire and with your wife, the age still comes when all life is only a habit to your favorite environment. And then happiness consists in the exercise of one's abilities in relation to everyday reality. And besides these two rules, all the rest are false. My principles changed according to the circumstances, I had to change them depending on geographical latitudes. What causes delight in Europe is punished in Asia. What is considered a vice in Paris is recognized as a necessity outside the Azores. There is nothing lasting on earth, there are only conventions, and they are different in every climate. For someone who, willy-nilly, was applied to all social standards, all your moral rules and beliefs are empty words. Only one single feeling, embedded in us by nature itself, is unshakable: the instinct of self-preservation. In states European civilization this instinct is called self-interest. Here you live with mine, you will learn that of all earthly blessings there is only one, reliable enough to make it worth a person to chase after him, This is ... gold. All the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold. I traveled, I saw that all over the earth there are plains and mountains. The plains are boring, the mountains are tiring; in a word, in what place to live - it does not matter. As for morals, man is the same everywhere: everywhere there is a struggle between the poor and the rich, everywhere. And it is inevitable. So it’s better to push yourself than to allow others to push you. Everywhere muscular people work, and skinny people suffer. Yes, and the pleasures are the same everywhere, and everywhere they exhaust the forces in the same way; only one joy survives all pleasures - vanity. Vanity! It is always our "I". And what can satisfy vanity? Gold! Streams of gold. To realize our whims, time is needed, material possibilities or efforts are needed. Well! In gold, everything is contained in the germ, and it gives everything in reality.
