A Start in Life [18]
at being lectured on the threshold of the Lion d'Argent.
"Well, now good-bye, mamma. We shall start soon; there's the horse all
harnessed."
The mother, forgetting that she was in the open street, embraced her
Oscar, and said, smiling, as she took a little roll from her basket:--
"Tiens! you were forgetting your roll and the chocolate! My child,
once more, I repeat, don't take anything at the inns; they'd make you
pay for the slightest thing ten times what it is worth."
Oscar would fain have seen his mother farther off as she stuffed the
bread and chocolate into his pocket. The scene had two witnesses,--two
young men a few years older than Oscar, better dressed than he,
without a mother hanging on to them, whose actions, dress, and ways
all betokened that complete independence which is the one desire of a
lad still tied to his mother's apron-strings.
"He said MAMMA!" cried one of the new-comers, laughing.
The words reached Oscar's ears and drove him to say, "Good-bye,
mother!" in a tone of terrible impatience.
Let us admit that Madame Clapart spoke too loudly, and seemed to wish
to show to those around them her tenderness for the boy.
"What is the matter with you, Oscar?" asked the poor hurt woman. "I
don't know what to make of you," she added in a severe tone, fancying
herself able to inspire him with respect,--a great mistake made by
those who spoil their children. "Listen, my Oscar," she said, resuming
at once her tender voice, "you have a propensity to talk, and to tell
all you know, and all that you don't know; and you do it to show off,
with the foolish vanity of a mere lad. Now, I repeat, endeavor to keep
your tongue in check. You are not sufficiently advanced in life, my
treasure, to be able to judge of the persons with whom you may be
thrown; and there is nothing more dangerous than to talk in public
conveyances. Besides, in a diligence well-bred persons always keep
silence."
The two young men, who seemed to have walked to the farther end of the
establishment, here returned, making their boot-heels tap upon the
paved passage of the porte-cochere. They might have heard the whole of
this maternal homily. So, in order to rid himself of his mother, Oscar
had recourse to an heroic measure, which proved how vanity stimulates
the intellect.
"Mamma," he said, "you are standing in a draught, and you may take
cold. Besides, I am going to get into the coach."
The lad must have touched some tender spot, for his mother caught him
to her bosom, kissed him as if he were starting upon a long journey,
and went with him to the vehicle with tears in her eyes.
"Don't forget to give five francs to the servants when you come away,"
she said; "write me three times at least during the fifteen days;
behave properly, and remember all that I have told you. You have linen
enough; don't send any to the wash. And above all, remember Monsieur
Moreau's kindness; mind him as you would a father, and follow his
advice."
As he got into the coach, Oscar's blue woollen stockings became
visible, through the action of his trousers which drew up suddenly,
also the new patch in the said trousers was seen, through the parting
of his coat-tails. The smiles of the two young men, on whom these
signs of an honorable indigence were not lost, were so many fresh
wounds to the lad's vanity.
"The first place was engaged for Oscar," said the mother to Pierrotin.
"Take the back seat," she said to the boy, looking fondly at him with
a loving smile.
Oh! how Oscar regretted that trouble and sorrow had destroyed his
mother's beauty, and that poverty and self-sacrifice prevented her
from being better dressed! One of the young men, the one who wore top-
boots and spurs, nudged the other to make him take notice of Oscar's
mother, and the other twirled his moustache with a gesture which
signified,--
"Rather pretty figure!"
"Well, now good-bye, mamma. We shall start soon; there's the horse all
harnessed."
The mother, forgetting that she was in the open street, embraced her
Oscar, and said, smiling, as she took a little roll from her basket:--
"Tiens! you were forgetting your roll and the chocolate! My child,
once more, I repeat, don't take anything at the inns; they'd make you
pay for the slightest thing ten times what it is worth."
Oscar would fain have seen his mother farther off as she stuffed the
bread and chocolate into his pocket. The scene had two witnesses,--two
young men a few years older than Oscar, better dressed than he,
without a mother hanging on to them, whose actions, dress, and ways
all betokened that complete independence which is the one desire of a
lad still tied to his mother's apron-strings.
"He said MAMMA!" cried one of the new-comers, laughing.
The words reached Oscar's ears and drove him to say, "Good-bye,
mother!" in a tone of terrible impatience.
Let us admit that Madame Clapart spoke too loudly, and seemed to wish
to show to those around them her tenderness for the boy.
"What is the matter with you, Oscar?" asked the poor hurt woman. "I
don't know what to make of you," she added in a severe tone, fancying
herself able to inspire him with respect,--a great mistake made by
those who spoil their children. "Listen, my Oscar," she said, resuming
at once her tender voice, "you have a propensity to talk, and to tell
all you know, and all that you don't know; and you do it to show off,
with the foolish vanity of a mere lad. Now, I repeat, endeavor to keep
your tongue in check. You are not sufficiently advanced in life, my
treasure, to be able to judge of the persons with whom you may be
thrown; and there is nothing more dangerous than to talk in public
conveyances. Besides, in a diligence well-bred persons always keep
silence."
The two young men, who seemed to have walked to the farther end of the
establishment, here returned, making their boot-heels tap upon the
paved passage of the porte-cochere. They might have heard the whole of
this maternal homily. So, in order to rid himself of his mother, Oscar
had recourse to an heroic measure, which proved how vanity stimulates
the intellect.
"Mamma," he said, "you are standing in a draught, and you may take
cold. Besides, I am going to get into the coach."
The lad must have touched some tender spot, for his mother caught him
to her bosom, kissed him as if he were starting upon a long journey,
and went with him to the vehicle with tears in her eyes.
"Don't forget to give five francs to the servants when you come away,"
she said; "write me three times at least during the fifteen days;
behave properly, and remember all that I have told you. You have linen
enough; don't send any to the wash. And above all, remember Monsieur
Moreau's kindness; mind him as you would a father, and follow his
advice."
As he got into the coach, Oscar's blue woollen stockings became
visible, through the action of his trousers which drew up suddenly,
also the new patch in the said trousers was seen, through the parting
of his coat-tails. The smiles of the two young men, on whom these
signs of an honorable indigence were not lost, were so many fresh
wounds to the lad's vanity.
"The first place was engaged for Oscar," said the mother to Pierrotin.
"Take the back seat," she said to the boy, looking fondly at him with
a loving smile.
Oh! how Oscar regretted that trouble and sorrow had destroyed his
mother's beauty, and that poverty and self-sacrifice prevented her
from being better dressed! One of the young men, the one who wore top-
boots and spurs, nudged the other to make him take notice of Oscar's
mother, and the other twirled his moustache with a gesture which
signified,--
"Rather pretty figure!"