Works of Honore De Balzac

by Honoré de Balzac

  Nor must we forget to mention, to the disgrace of our age, the howl of disapprobation which greeted the title “Duke of Neptunado,” selected by Philip II. for the inventor, a howl in which educated readers will refuse to join, but which was so overwhelming at the presentation of the piece that after its first utterance the actors omitted the term during the remainder of the evening. This howl was raised by an audience of spectators who read in the newspapers every morning the title of the Duke of Vittoria, given to Espartero, and who must have heard of the title Prince of Paz, given to the last favorite of the last but one of the kings of Spain. How could such ignorance as this have been anticipated? Who does not know that the majority of Spanish titles, especially in the time of Charles V. and Philip II. refer to circumstances under which they were originally granted?

  An admiral took that of Transport-Real, from the fact that the dauphin sailed with him to Italy.

  Navarro was given the title La Vittoria after the sea-fight of

  Toulon, though the issue of the conflict was indecisive.

  These examples, and as many others, are outdone by that of the famous finance minister, a parvenu broker, who chose to be entitled the Marquis Insignificant (l’Ensenada).

  In producing a work, constructed with all the dramatic irregularity of the early French and Spanish stage, the author has made an experiment which had been called for by the suffrages of more than one “organ of public opinion,” as well as of all the “first-nighters” of Paris. He wished to meet the genuine public and to have his piece represented in a house filled with a paying audience. The unsatisfactory result of this ordeal was so plainly pointed out by the whole press, that the indispensability of claqueurs has been now forever established.

  The author had been confronted by the following dilemma, as stated by those experienced in such matters. If he introduced into the theatre twelve hundred “dead heads,” the success secured by their applause would undoubtedly be questioned. If twelve hundred paying spectators were present, the success of the piece was almost out of the question. The author chose to run the risk of the latter alternative. Such is the history of this first representation, where so many people appeared to be made so uncomfortable by their elevation to the dignity of independent judges.

  The author intends therefore to return to the beaten track, base and ignoble though it be, which prejudice has laid out as the only avenue to dramatic success; but it may not be unprofitable to state here, that the first representation of The Resources of Quinola actually redounded to the advantage of the claqueurs, the only persons who enjoyed any triumph in an evening entertainment from which their presence was debarred!

  Some idea of the criticism uttered on this comedy may be gained from the fact that out of the fifty newspapers, all of which for the last twenty years have uttered over the unsuccessful playwright the hackneyed phrase, “the play is the work of a clever man who will some day take his revenge,” not one employed it in speaking of The Resources of Quinola, which they were unanimous in consigning to oblivion. This result has settled the ambition of the author.

  Certain persons, whose good auguries the author had done nothing to call forth, encouraged from the outset this dramatic venture, and thus showed themselves less critical than unkind; but the author counts such miscalculations as blessings in disguise, for the loss of false friends is the best school of experience. Nor is it less a pleasure than a duty thus publicly to thank the friends, like M. Leon Gozlan, who have remained faithful, towards whom the author has contracted a debt of gratitude; like M. Victor Hugo, who protested, so to speak, against the public verdict at the first representation, by returning to witness the second; like M. de Lamartine and Madame de Girardin, who stuck to their first opinion, in spite of the general public reprobation of the piece. The approval of such persons as these would be consoling in any disaster.

  LAGNY, 2 April, 1842.

  PERSONS OF THE PROLOGUE

  Philip II., King of Spain

  Cardinal Cienfuegos, Grand Inquisitor

  The Captain of the Guards

  The Duke of Olmedo

  The Duke of Lerma

  Alfonso Fontanares

  Lavradi, known as Quinola

  A halberdier

  An alcalde of the palace

  A familiar of the Inquisition

  The Queen of Spain

  The Marchioness of Mondejar

  PERSONS OF THE PLAY

  Don Fregose, Viceroy of Catalonia

  Grand Inquisitor

  Count Sarpi, secretary to the Viceroy

  Don Ramon, a savant

  Avaloros, a banker

  Mathieu Magis, a Lombard

  Lothundiaz, a burgess

  Alfonso Fontanares, an inventor

  Lavradi, known as Quinola, servant to Fontanares

  Monipodio, a retired bandit

  Coppolus, a metal merchant

  Carpano, a locksmith

  Esteban, workman

  Girone, workman

  The host of the “Golden Sun”

  A bailiff

  An alcalde

  Faustine Brancadori

  Marie Lothundiaz, daughter to Lothundiaz

  Dona Lopez, duenna to Marie Lothundiaz

  Paquita, maid to Faustine

  SCENE: Spain — Valladolid and Barcelona

  TIME: 1588-89

  PROLOGUE

  SCENE FIRST

  (The scene is laid at Valladolid, in the palace of the King of Spain. The stage represents the gallery which leads to the chapel. The entrance to the chapel is on the spectators’ left, that to the royal apartment on the right. The principal entrance is in the centre. On each side of the principal door stand two halberdiers. At the rise of the curtain the Captain of the Guards and two lords are on the stage. An alcalde of the palace stands in the centre of the gallery. Several courtiers are walking up and down in the hall that leads to the gallery.)

  The Captain of the Guards, Quinola (wrapped in his mantle) and a halberdier.

  The halberdier (barring the way to Quinola)

  No one passes this way, unless he has the right to do so. Who are you?

  Quinola (lifting up the halberd)

  An ambassador.

  (All look at him.)

  Halberdier

  From what state?

  Quinola (passing in)

  From what state? From a state of misery.

  The Captain of the Guards Go and bring the major-domo of the palace, that he may render to this ambassador the honors that are due him. (To the halberdier) Three days’ imprisonment.

  Quinola (to the Captain)

  You are a very droll rascal.

  Quinola (taking him aside)

  Are not you the cousin of the Marchioness of Mondejar?

  The Captain

  What if I am?

  Quinola Although she is high in favor, she is on the brink of an abyss, into which she may fall and lose her head in falling.

  The Captain All people of your class trump up these stories! — Listen, you are the twenty-second person, and we have only reached the tenth of the month, who has made an attempt to be introduced to the favorite, for the purpose of squeezing a few pistoles from her. Take yourself off or else —

  Quinola My lord, it is better to be misled by twenty-two poor devils, twenty-two times, than once to miss the opportunity of heeding him who is sent by your good angel; and you see, I may also say (he opens his mantle) I am wearing her wings.

  The Captain

  Let us end this, and tell me what proof of your errand you can give?

  Quinola (handing him a letter) This little message you must return to me so that the secret remains in our possession, and hang me if you do not see the marchioness swoon when she reads it. Believe moreover that I profess, in common with an immense majority of Spaniards, a deep-seated aversion for — the gallows.

  The Captain And suppose that some ambitious woman has paid for your life, that she give it in exchange for another’s?


  Quinola Should I be in rags? My life is as good as Caesar’s. Look here, my lord. (He unseals the letter, smells it, folds it up again, and gives it to him) Are you satisfied?

  The Captain (aside)

  I have yet time. (To Quinola) Remain where you are, I am going to her.

  SCENE SECOND

  Quinola (alone, in the front of the stage, looking at the departing captain) That is all right! O my dear master, if the torture chamber has not broken your bones, you are likely to get out of the cells of the holy — the thrice holy Inquisition — saved by your poor cur Quinola! Poor? — why should I say poor? My master once free, we will end by cashing our hopes. To live at Valladolid for six months without money, and without being nabbed by the alguazils, argues the possession of certain small talents, which, if applied to — other ends, might bring a man to — something different in fact! If we knew where we were going no one would stir a step — I purpose speaking to the king, I, Quinola. God of the rapscallions, give me the eloquence — of — a pretty woman, of the Marchioness of Mondejar —

  SCENE THIRD

  Quinola and the Captain.

  The Captain (to Quinola) Here are fifty doubloons which the marchioness sends you, that you may be enabled to make your appearance here in decent guise.

  Quinola (pouring the gold from one hand into the other) Ah, this burst of sunshine has been long expected! I will return, my lord, radiant as that amorous valet, whose name I have assumed; Quinola at your service, Quinola soon to be lord of wide domains, where I shall administer justice, from the time — (aside) I cease to fear its ministers.

  SCENE FOURTH

  The Courtiers and the Captain.

  The Captain (alone at the front of the stage) What secret has this miserable creature discovered? My cousin almost fainted away. She told me that it concerned all my friends. The king must have something to do in the matter. (To a lord) Duke of Lerma, is there anything new in Valladolid?

  The Duke of Lerma (whispering) It is said that the Duke of Olmedo was murdered this morning, at three o’clock, just before dawn. It happened a few paces from the Mondejar palace.

  The Captain It is quite likely he should be assassinated for prejudicing the king’s mind against my cousin; the king, like all great statesmen, esteems as true everything that appears to be probable.

  The Duke It is said that enmity between the duke and the marchioness was only a pretence, and that the assassin is not to be prosecuted.

  The Captain Duke, this ought not to be repeated unless it can be proved, and even then could not be written excepting with a sword dipped in my blood.

  The Duke

  You asked me the news.

  (The duke retires.)

  SCENE FIFTH

  The same persons, and the Marchioness of Mondejar.

  The Captain Ah! here is my cousin! (To the marchioness) Dear marchioness, you are still very much agitated. In the name of our common salvation, control yourself; you will attract attention.

  The Marchioness

  Has that man come back?

  The Captain Now, how can a man of such base condition as he is throw you into such terror?

  The Marchioness He holds my life in his hands; more than my life, indeed; for he holds in his power the life also of another, who, in spite of the most scrupulous precautions, cannot avoid exciting the jealousy —

  The Captain Of the king! — Did he cause the assassination of the Duke of Olmedo, as is rumored?

  The Marchioness Alas! I do not know what to think. — Here I am alone, helpless — and perhaps soon to be abandoned.

  The Captain You may rely upon me — I shall constantly be in the midst of all our enemies like a hunter on the watch.

  SCENE SIXTH

  The same persons and Quinola.

  Quinola

  I have only thirty doubloons left, but I have had the worth of sixty.

  — Ah! what a lovely scent! The marchioness can now talk to me without

  fear.

  The Marchioness (pointing out Quinola)

  Is this our man?

  The Captain

  Yes.

  The Marchioness Keep watch, my cousin, so that I may be able to talk without being overheard. (To Quinola) Who are you, my friend?

  Quinola (aside)

  Her friend! As soon as you have a woman’s secret, you are her friend.

  (Aloud) Madame, I am a man superior to all considerations and all

  circumstances.

  The Marchioness

  You have reached a pretty good height, at any rate.

  Quinola

  Is that a threat or a warning?

  The Marchioness

  Sir, you are very impertinent.

  Quinola Do not mistake farsightedness for impertinence. You must study me, before coming to a decision. I am going to describe my character to you; my real name is Lavradi. At the moment Lavradi ought to be serving a ten years’ sentence in Africa, at the presides, owing to an error of the alcaldes of Barcelona. Quinola is the conscience, white as your fair hands, of Lavradi. Quinola does to know Lavradi. Does the soul know the body? You may unite the soul, Quinola, to the body, Lavradi, all the more easily because this morning Quinola was at the postern of your garden, with the friends of the dawn who stopped the Duke of Olmedo —

  The Marchioness

  What has happened to him?

  Quinola Lavradi would take advantage of this moment, which is full of promise, to ask a pardon; but Quinola is a gentleman.

  The Marchioness

  You are taken up too much with yourself —

  Quinola And not sufficiently with him — that is just. The duke took us for foul assassins; we were simply asking him, at a rather too advantageous hour, to make us a loan, pledged by our rapiers as collateral. The famous Majoral, who was in command of us, being close pressed by the duke, was forced to disable him by a little thrust, of which he knows the secret.

  The Marchioness

  O! My God! —

  Quinola

  Happiness is cheap at such a cost, madame.

  The Marchioness (aside)

  Hush! He knows my secret.

  Quinola When we saw that the duke had not a maravedi about him, we left him where he was. As I was the least culpable of all the gang, I was charged to take him home; in adjusting his pockets, which had been turned inside out, I found the letter which he had written to you, and, learning your position at the court, I understood —

  The Marchioness

  That your fortune was made?

  Quinola

  Not at all — that my life was in danger.

  The Marchioness

  Indeed?

  Quinola

  To whom are you speaking? Quinola or Lavradi?

  The Marchioness Lavradi shall have his pardon. What does Quinola desire? To enter my service?

  Quinola Foundling children are of gentle birth; Quinola will deliver your letter to you with asking a maravedi, without obliging you to do anything unworthy of you, and he expects that you will refrain from desiring the services of a poor devil who carries under his wallet the heart of the Cid.

  The Marchioness

  How dear you are going to cost me, fellow!

  Quinola

  You said to me just now, “my friend.”

  The Marchioness

  Were you not my enemy?

  Quinola On account of that word I trust you, madame, and intend to tell you everything. But here — do not laugh — you must promise — I wish —

  The Marchioness

  You wish?

  Quinola I wish — to speak to the king — at the moment when he passes on his way to the chapel; I desire you to lend favor to my request.

  The Marchioness

  But what are you going to ask him?

  Quinola

  The most simple thing in the world — an audience for my master.

  The Marchioness

  Explain yourself, for time presses.

  Quinola Madame, I am the
servant of a philosopher; and if the mark of genius is poverty, we have a great deal too much genius, madame.

  The Marchioness

  To the point.

  Quinola Senor Alfonso Fontanares has come here from Catalonia to offer the king our master the sceptre of the sea. At Barcelona he was taken for a madman; here he is considered a sorcerer. When it becomes known what he proposes, he is scoffed at in the antechambers. One wishes to protest for the sake of ruining him; another, a philosopher, throws a doubt on the existence of our secret, with the view of filching it; others again make him a business proposition — capitalists who wish to entangle him in their meshes. As things go at present we do not know how they will turn out. No one certainly can deny the forces of mechanics and geometry, but the finest theorems have very little bodily nourishment in them, and the smallest of ragouts is better for the stomach; but, really, science is not to blame for that. During the past winter my master and myself warmed ourselves over our projects, and chewed the end of our illusions. . . . Well, madame, he is now in prison, for he has been accused of being on too friendly terms with the devil; and, unfortunately, the Holy Office is right, this time, for we have constantly seen him at the bottom of our purse. And now, madame, I implore you, inspire the king with curiosity to see a man who will give him a dominion as extended as that which Columbus gave to Spain.

  The Marchioness But since Columbus gave a new world to Spain, new worlds are being offered to us once in every fortnight!

  Quinola Ah! madame, every man of genius has one of his own to offer. By heavens, it is so rare that a man can make honestly a fortune both for himself and the state that the phenomenon deserves to be favored.

  The Marchioness

  But what is the project about?

  Quinola I must once more beg you not to laugh, madame. His plan is to make ships travel without sail or oar, against the wind, by means of a pot filled with water, which is kept boiling.

  The Marchioness What an idea! Where do you come from? What do you mean? Are you dreaming?

  Quinola That is just what they all say! Ah, common herd, ye are so constituted that the man of genius, who is right ten years before everybody else, passes for a madman for twenty-five years. I am the only one who believes in this man, and it is on this account I love him; to understand another is to be his equal.