His Masterpiece, Emile Zola [read ebook pdf .TXT] 📗

Distance Till They Seemed But So Much

Starry Dust. The Quays Stretched Away Showing Double Rows Of Those

Luminous Beads Whose Reverberation Glimmered On The Nearer Frontages.

On The Left Were The Houses Of The Quai Du Louvre,  On The Right The

Two Wings Of The Institute,  Confused Masses Of Monuments And

Buildings,  Which Became Lost To View In The Darkening Gloom,  Studded

With Sparks. Then Between Those Cordons Of Burners,  Extending As Far

As The Eye Could Reach,  The Bridges Stretched Bars Of Lights,  Ever

Slighter And Slighter,  Each Formed Of A Train Of Spangles,  Grouped

Together And Seemingly Hanging In Mid-Air. And In The Seine There

Shone The Nocturnal Splendour Of The Animated Water Of Cities; Each

Gas-Jet There Cast A Reflection Of Its Flame,  Like The Nucleus Of A

Comet,  Extending Into A Tail. The Nearer Ones,  Mingling Together,  Set

The Current On Fire With Broad,  Regular,  Symmetrical Fans Of Light,

Glowing Like Live Embers,  While The More Distant Ones,  Seen Under The

Bridges,  Were But Little Motionless Sparks Of Fire. But The Large

Burning Tails Appeared To Be Animated,  They Waggled As They Spread

Out,  All Black And Gold,  With A Constant Twirling Of Scales,  In Which

One Divined The Flow Of The Water. The Whole Seine Was Lighted Up By

Them,  As If Some Fete Were Being Given In Its Depths--Some Mysterious,

Fairy-Like Entertainment,  At Which Couples Were Waltzing Beneath The

River's Red-Flashing Window-Panes. High Above Those Fires,  Above The

Starry Quays,  The Sky,  In Which Not A Planet Was Visible,  Showed A

Ruddy Mass Of Vapour,  That Warm,  Phosphorescent Exhalation Which Every

Night,  Above The Sleep Of The City,  Seems To Set The Crater Of A

Volcano.

 

The Wind Blew Hard,  And Christine,  Shivering,  Her Eyes Full Of Tears,

Felt The Bridge Move Under Her,  As If It Were Bearing Her Away Amid A

Smash Up Of The Whole Scene. Had Not Claude Moved? Was He Not Climbing

Over The Rail? No; Everything Became Motionless Again,  And She Saw Him

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Still On The Same Spot,  Obstinately Stiff,  With His Eyes Turned

Towards The Point Of The Cite,  Which He Could Not See.

 

It Had Summoned Him,  And He Had Come,  And Yet He Could Not See It In

The Depths Of The Darkness. He Could Only Distinguish The Bridges,

With Their Light Framework Standing Out Blackly Against The Sparkling

Water. But Farther Off Everything Became Confused,  The Island Had

Disappeared,  He Could Not Even Have Told Its Exact Situation If Some

Belated Cabs Had Not Passed From Time To Time Over The Pont-Neuf,  With

Their Lamps Showing Like Those Shooting Sparks Which Dart At Times

Through Embers. A Red Lantern,  On A Level With The Dam Of The Mint,

Cast A Streamlet Of Blood,  As It Were,  Into The Water. Something Huge

And Lugubrious,  Some Drifting Form,  No Doubt A Lighter Which Had

Become Unmoored,  Slowly Descended The Stream Amid The Reflections.

Espied For A Moment,  It Was Immediately Afterwards Lost In The

Darkness. Where Had The Triumphal Island Sunk? In The Depths Of That

Flow Of Water? Claude Still Gazed,  Gradually Fascinated By The Great

Rushing Of The River In The Night. He Leant Over Its Broad Bed,  Chilly

Like An Abyss,  In Which The Mysterious Flames Were Dancing. And The

Loud,  Sad Wail Of The Current Attracted Him,  And He Listened To Its

Call,  Despairing,  Unto Death.

 

By A Shooting Pain At Her Heart,  Christine This Time Realised That The

Terrible Thought Had Just Occurred To Him. She Held Out Her Quivering

Hands Which The Wind Was Lashing. But Claude Remained There,

Struggling Against The Sweetness Of Death; Indeed He Did Not Move For

Another Hour,  He Lingered There Unconscious Of The Lapse Of Time,  With

His Eyes Still Turned In The Direction Of The Cite,  As If By A Miracle

Of Power They Were About To Create Light,  And Conjure Up The Island So

That He Might Behold It.

 

When Claude At Last Left The Bridge,  With Stumbling Steps,  Christine

Had To Pass In Front And Run In Order To Be Home In The Rue Tourlaque

Before Him.

 

 

 

 

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It Was Nearly Three O'clock When They Went To Bed That Night,  With The

Bitter Cold November Wind Blowing Through Their Little Room And The

Big Studio. Christine,  Breathless From Her Run,  Had Quickly Slipped

Between The Sheets So That He Might Not Know That She Had Followed

Him; And Claude,  Quite Overcome,  Had Taken His Clothes Off,  One

Garment After Another,  Without Saying A Word. For Long Months They Had

Been As Strangers; Until Then,  However,  She Had Never Felt Such A

Barrier Between Them,  Such Tomb-Like Coldness.

 

She Struggled For Nearly A Quarter Of An Hour Against The Sleepiness

Coming Over Her. She Was Very Tired,  And A Kind Of Torpor Numbed Her;

Still She Would Not Give Way,  Feeling Anxious At Leaving Him Awake.

She Thus Waited Every Night Until He Dozed Off,  So That She Herself

Might Afterwards Sleep In Peace. But He Had Not Extinguished The

Candle,  He Lay There With His Eyes Open,  Fixed Upon Its Flame. What

Could He Be Thinking Of? Had He Remained In Fancy Over Yonder In The

Black Night,  Amid The Moist Atmosphere Of The Quays,  In Front Of Paris

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Studded With Stars Like A Frosty Sky? And What Inner Conflict,  What

Matter That Had To Be Decided,  Contracted His Face Like That? Then,

Resistance Being Impossible,  She Succumbed And Glided Into The Slumber

Following Upon Great Weariness.

 

An Hour Later,  The Consciousness Of Something Missing,  The Anguish Of

Uneasiness Awoke Her With A Sudden Start. She At Once Felt The Bed

Beside Her,  It Was Already Cold: He Was No Longer There,  She Had

Already Divined It While Asleep. And She Was Growing Alarmed,  Still

But Half Awake,  Her Head Heavy And Her Ears Buzzing,  When Through The

Doorway,  Left Ajar,  She Perceived A Ray Of Light Coming From The

Studio. She Then Felt Reassured,  She Thought That In A Fit Of

Sleeplessness He Had Gone To Fetch Some Book Or Other; But At Last,  As

He Did Not Return,  She Ended By Softly Rising So As To Take A Peep.

What She Beheld Quite Unsettled Her,  And Kept Her Standing On The

Tiled Floor,  With Her Feet Bare,  In Such Surprise That She Did Not At

First Dare To Show Herself.

 

Claude,  Who Was In His Shirt-Sleeves,  Despite The Coldness Of The

Temperature,  Having Merely Put On His Trousers And Slippers In His

Haste,  Was Standing On The Steps In Front Of His Large Picture. His

Palette Was Lying At His Feet,  And With One Hand He Held The Candle,

While With The Other He Painted. His Eyes Were Dilated Like Those Of A

Somnambulist,  His Gestures Were Precise And Stiff; He Stooped Every

Minute To Take Some Colour On His Brush,  And Then Rose Up,  Casting A

Large Fantastic Shadow On The Wall. And There Was Not A Sound;

Frightful Silence Reigned In The Big Dim Room.

 

Christine Guessed The Truth And Shuddered. The Besetting Worry,  Made

More Acute By That Hour Spent On The Pont Des Saints-Peres,  Had

Prevented Him From Sleeping And Had Brought Him Once More Before His

Canvas,  Consumed With A Longing To Look At It Again,  In Spite Of The

Lateness Of The Hour. He Had,  No Doubt,  Only Climbed The Steps To Fill

His Eyes The Nearer. Then,  Tortured By The Sight Of Some Faulty Shade,

Upset By Some Defect,  To Such A Point That He Could Not Wait For

Daylight,  He Had Caught Up A Brush,  At First Merely Wishing To Give A

Simple Touch,  And Then Had Been Carried On From Correction To

Correction,  Until At Last,  With The Candle In His Hand,  He Painted

There Like A Man In A State Of Hallucination,  Amid The Pale Light

Which Darted Hither And Thither As He Gesticulated. His Powerless

Creative Rage Had Seized Hold Of Him Again,  He Was Wearing Himself

Out,  Oblivious Of The Hour,  Oblivious Of The World; He Wished To

Infuse Life Into His Work At Once.

 

Ah,  What A Pitiful Sight! And With What Tear-Drenched Eyes Did

Christine Gaze At Him! At First She Thought Of Leaving Him To That Mad

Work,  As A Maniac Is Left To The Pleasures Of His Craziness. He Would

Never Finish That Picture,  That Was Quite Certain Now. The More

Desperately He Worked At It,  The More Incoherent Did It Become; The

Colouring Had Grown Heavy And Pasty,  The Drawing Was Losing Shape And

Showing Signs Of Effort. Even The Background And The Group Of

Labourers,  Once So Substantial And Satisfactory,  Were Getting Spoiled;

Yet He Clung To Them,  He Had Obstinately Determined To Finish

Everything Else Before Repainting The Central Figure,  The Nude Woman,

Which Remained The Dread And The Desire Of His Hours Of Toil,  And

Which Would Finish Him Off Whenever He Might Again Try To Invest It

With Life. For Months He Had Not Touched It,  And This Had

Tranquillised Christine And Made Her Tolerant And Compassionate,  Amid

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Her Jealous Spite; For As Long As He Did Not Return To That Feared And

Desired Mistress,  She Thought That He Betrayed Her Less.

 

Her Feet Were Freezing On The Tiles,  And She Was Turning To Get Into

Bed Again When A Shock Brought Her Back To The Door. She Had Not

Understood At First,  But Now At Last She Saw. With Broad Curved

Strokes Of His Brush,  Full Of Colour,  Claude Was At Once Wildly And

Caressingly Modelling Flesh. He Had A Fixed Grin On His Lips,  And Did

Not Feel The Burning Candle-Grease Falling On His Fingers,  While With

Silent,  Passionate See-Sawing,  His Right Arm Alone Moved Against The

Wall,  Casting Black Confusion Upon It. He