From: Louis V. <se...@ci...> - 2023-05-20 10:47:48
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE> <META content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=x-apple-disable-message-reformatting> <META name=viewport content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <STYLE type=text/css> body, .maintable { height:100% !important; width:100% !important; margin:0; padding:0;} img, a img { border:0; outline:none; text-decoration:none;} p {margin-top:0; margin-right:0; margin-left:0; padding:0;} .ReadMsgBody {width:100%;} .ExternalClass {width:100%;} .ExternalClass, .ExternalClass p, .ExternalClass span, .ExternalClass font, .ExternalClass td, .ExternalClass div {line-height:100%;} img {-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;} body, table, td, p, a, li, blockquote {-ms-text-size-adjust:100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%;} </STYLE> <!-- Genevieve, take them off for me; the earrings will square all! They --><!-- shall not say you have been disgraced on account of the child--no, not --><!-- even if I must pledge a bit of my flesh! My watch, my earrings, and my --><!-- ring--get rid of all of them for me at the goldsmith's; pay the woman, --><!-- and let the little fool go to sleep. Give him me, Genevieve; I will put --><!-- him to bed." --><!-- And, taking the baby from the arms of his mother, he carried him with a --><!-- firm step to his cradle. --><!-- It was easy to perceive the change which took place in Michael from this --><!-- day. He cut all his old drinking acquaintances. He went early every --><!-- morning to his work, and returned regularly in the evening to finish the --> <STYLE type=text/css> @media only screen and (max-width: 480px) { .rtable {width: 100% !important;} .rtable tr {height:auto !important; display: block;} .contenttd {max-width: 100% !important; display: block; width: auto !important;} .contenttd:after {content: ""; display: table; clear: both;} .hiddentds {display: none;} .imgtable, .imgtable table {max-width: 100% !important; height: auto; float: none; margin: 0 auto;} .imgtable.btnset td {display: inline-block;} .imgtable img {width: 100%; height: auto !important;display: block;} table {float: none;} .mobileHide {display: none !important; width: 0 !important; max-height: 0 !important; overflow: hidden !important;} .desktopHide {display: block !important; width: 100% !important; max-height: unset !important; overflow: unset !important;} .noresponsive p {display: table; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%; word-wrap: break-word;} } @media only screen and (min-width: 481px) { .desktopHide {display: none !important; width: 0 !important; max-height: 0 !important; overflow: hidden !important;} } </STYLE> <!-- day with Genevieve and Robert. Very soon he would not leave them at all, --><!-- and he hired a place near the fruit-shop, and worked in it on his own --><!-- account. --><!-- They would soon have been able to live in comfort, had it not been for --><!-- the expenses which the child required. Everything was given up to his --><!-- education. He had gone through the regular school training, had studied --><!-- mathematics, drawing, and the carpenter's trade, and had only begun to --><!-- work a few months ago. Till now, they had been exhausting every resource --><!-- which their laborious industry could provide to push him forward in his --><!-- business; and, happily, all these exertions had not proved useless: the --> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 11.00.9600.17037"></HEAD> <BODY style="OVERFLOW: auto; CURSOR: auto; FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: Sitka Subheading; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #feffff"> <TABLE style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #feffff" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top> <TABLE class=rtable style="WIDTH: 600px; MARGIN: 0px auto" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=600 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TH class=contenttd style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; WIDTH: 600px; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #feffff"> <TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left><!-- seed had brought forth fruit, and the days of harvest were close by. --><!-- While I was thus recalling these remembrances to my mind, Michael had --><!-- come in, and was occupied in fixing shelves where they were wanted. --><!-- During the time I was writing the notes of my journal, I was also --><!-- scrutinizing the joiner. --><!-- The excesses of his youth and the labor of his manhood have deeply marked --><!-- his face; his hair is thin and gray, his shoulders stoop, his legs are --><!-- shrunken and slightly bent. There seems a sort of weight in his whole --><!-- being. His very features have an expression of sorrow and despondency. --><!-- He answers my questions by monosyllables, and like a man who wishes to --> <TBODY> <TR style="HEIGHT: 2494px" height=2494><!-- avoid conversation. Whence comes this dejection, when one would think he --><!-- had all he could wish for? I should like to know! --><!-- Ten o'clock.--Michael is just gone downstairs to look for a tool he has --><!-- forgotten. I have at last succeeded in drawing from him the secret of --><!-- his and Genevieve's sorrow. Their son Robert is the cause of it! --><!-- Not that he has turned out ill after all their care--not that he is idle --><!-- or dissipated; but both were in hopes he would never leave them any more. --><!-- The presence of the young man was to have renewed and made glad their --><!-- lives once more; his mother counted the days, his father prepared --><!-- everything to receive their dear associate in their toils; and at the --><!-- moment when they were thus about to be repaid for all their sacrifices, --><!-- Robert had suddenly informed them that he had just engaged himself to a --><!-- contractor at Versailles. --> <TH class=contenttd style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; WIDTH: 590px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-TOP: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"> <P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: Sitka Subheading; COLOR: #2d2d2d; TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 18px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; mso-line-height-rule: exactly" align=center>If you can't read this email, please <A title="" style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline; COLOR: #2d2d2d" href="https://x.4fntl.ru/2s5df4a/df6g596wer.html" target=_blank>view it online</A></P><!-- Every remonstrance and every prayer were useless; he brought forward the --><!-- necessity of initiating himself into all the details of an important --><!-- contract, the facilities he should have in his new position of improving --><!-- himself in his trade, and the hopes he had of turning his knowledge to --><!-- advantage. At, last, when his mother, having come to the end of her --><!-- arguments, began to cry, he hastily kissed her, and went away that he --><!-- might avoid any further remonstrances. --><!-- He had been absent a year, and there was nothing to give them hopes of --><!-- his return. His parents hardly saw him once a month, and then he only --><!-- stayed a few moments with them. --><!-- "I have been punished where I had hoped to be rewarded," Michael said to --><!-- me just now. "I had wished for a saving and industrious son, and God has --><!-- given me an ambitious and avaricious one! I had always said to myself --><!-- that when once he was grown up we should have him always with us, to --> <TABLE class=imgtable style="MARGIN: 0px auto" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px" align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none"><A href="https://x.4fntl.ru/2s5df4a/df6g596wer.html" target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block" hspace=0 alt="Exclusive Offer: Massive Discounts on LV Bags - Limited Time Only!" src="https://x.4fntl.ru/b8a837ec4ee24b16a8a0cdfbfaff9746.png" width=586></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- recall our youth and to enliven our hearts. His mother was always --><!-- thinking of getting him married, and having children again to care for. --><!-- You know women always will busy themselves about others. As for me, I --><!-- thought of him working near my bench, and singing his new songs; for he --><!-- has learnt music, and is one of the best singers at the Orpheon. --><!-- A dream, sir, truly! Directly the bird was fledged, he took to flight, --><!-- and remembers neither father nor mother. Yesterday, for instance, was --><!-- the day we expected him; he should have come to supper with us. No --><!-- Robert to-day, either! He has had some plan to finish, or some bargain --><!-- to arrange, and his old parents are put down last in the accounts, after --><!-- the customers and the joiner's work. Ah! if I could have guessed how it --><!-- would have turned out! Fool! to have sacrificed my likings and my money, --><!-- for nearly twenty years, to the education of a thankless son! Was it for --><!-- this I took the trouble to cure myself of drinking, to break with my --><!-- friends, to become an example to the neighborhood? The jovial good --><!-- fellow has made a goose of himself. Oh! if I had to begin again! No, --> <TABLE class=imgtable style="MARGIN: 0px auto" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px" align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none"><A href="https://x.4fntl.ru/2s5df4a/df6g596wer.html" target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block" hspace=0 alt="Get Ready for Luxury: Unbeatable Discounts on LV Bags Await!" src="https://x.4fntl.ru/e7888d79fbf24c16b6590f3de7a91309.png" width=586></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- no! you see women and children are our bane. They soften our hearts; --><!-- they lead us a life of hope and affection; we pass a quarter of our lives --><!-- in fostering the growth of a grain of corn which is to be everything to --><!-- us in our old age, and when the harvest-time comes--good-night, the ear --><!-- is empty!" --><!-- While he was speaking, Michael's voice became hoarse, his eyes fierce, --><!-- and his lips quivered. I wished to answer him, but I could only think of --><!-- commonplace consolations, and I remained silent. The joiner pretended he --><!-- needed a tool, and left me. --><!-- Poor father! Ah! I know those moments of temptation when virtue has --><!-- failed to reward us, and we regret having obeyed her! Who has not felt --><!-- this weakness in hours of trial, and who has not uttered, at least once, --><!-- the mournful exclamation of Brutus? --><!-- But if virtue is only a word, what is there then in life that is true --><!-- and real? No, I will not believe that goodness is in vain! It does not --><!-- always give the happiness we had hoped for, but it brings some other. --><!-- In the world everything is ruled by order, and has its proper and --><!-- necessary consequences, and virtue cannot be the sole exception to the --><!-- general law. If it had been prejudicial to those who practised it, --><!-- experience would have avenged them; but experience has, on the contrary, --><!-- made it more universal and more holy. We only accuse it of being a --><!-- faithless debtor because we demand an immediate payment, and one apparent --><!-- to our senses. We always consider life as a fairytale, in which every --> <TABLE class=imgtable style="MARGIN: 0px auto" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px" align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none"><A href="https://x.4fntl.ru/2s5df4a/df6g596wer.html" target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block" hspace=0 alt="" src="https://x.4fntl.ru/fc5bffaca1eb43a3b7edd8bcf9e1bc93.png" width=590></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- good action must be rewarded by a visible wonder. We do not accept as --><!-- payment a peaceful conscience, self-content, or a good name among men-- --><!-- treasures that are more precious than any other, but the value of which --><!-- we do not feel till after we have lost them! --><!-- Michael is come back, and has returned to his work. His son has not yet --><!-- arrived. --><!-- By telling me of his hopes and his grievous disappointments, he became --><!-- excited; he unceasingly went over again the same subject, always adding --><!-- something to his griefs. He had just wound up his confidential discourse --><!-- by speaking to me of a joiner's business which he had hoped to buy, and --><!-- work to good account with Robert's help. The present owner had made a --><!-- fortune by it, and, after thirty years of business, he was thinking of --><!-- retiring to one of the ornamental cottages in the outskirts of the city, --><!-- a usual retreat for the frugal and successful workingman. Michael had --><!-- not indeed the two thousand francs which must be paid down; but perhaps --> <TABLE class=imgtable style="MARGIN: 0px auto" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px" align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none"><A href="https://x.4fntl.ru/2s5df4a/df6g596wer.html" target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block" hspace=0 alt="" src="https://x.4fntl.ru/89368575b64d4682ac734dcab37d08b8.png" width=590></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- he could have persuaded Master Benoit to wait. Robert's presence would --><!-- have been a security for him, for the young man could not fail to insure --><!-- the prosperity of a workshop; besides science and skill, he had the power --><!-- of invention and bringing to perfection. His father had discovered among --><!-- his drawings a new plan for a staircase, which had occupied his thoughts --><!-- for a long time; and he even suspected him of having engaged himself to --><!-- the Versailles contractor for the very purpose of executing it. The --><!-- youth was tormented by this spirit of invention, which took possession of --><!-- all his thoughts, and, while devoting his mind to study, he had no time --><!-- to listen to his feelings. --><!-- Michael told me all this with a mixed feeling of pride and vexation. I --><!-- saw he was proud of the son he was abusing, and that his very pride made --><!-- him more sensitive to that son's neglect. --><!-- Six o'clock P.M.--I have just finished a happy day. How many events have --> <TABLE class=imgtable style="MARGIN: 0px auto" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px" align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none"><A href="https://x.4fntl.ru/2s5df4a/df6g596wer.html" target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block" hspace=0 alt="" src="https://x.4fntl.ru/85ca30dbf34044898b1a3bdd91a9b8b7.png" width=586></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- happened within a few hours, and what a change for Genevieve and Michael! --><!-- He had just finished fixing the shelves, and telling me of his son, while --><!-- I laid the cloth for my breakfast. --><!-- Suddenly we heard hurried steps in the passage, the door opened, and --><!-- Genevieve entered with Robert. --><!-- The joiner gave a start of joyful surprise, but he repressed it --><!-- immediately, as if he wished to keep up the appearance of displeasure. --><!-- The young man did not appear to notice it, but threw himself into his --><!-- arms in an open-hearted manner, which surprised me. Genevieve, whose --><!-- face shone with happiness, seemed to wish to speak, and to restrain --><!-- herself with difficulty. --><!-- I told Robert I was glad to see him, and he answered me with ease and --><!-- civility. --><!-- "I expected you yesterday," said Michael Arout, rather dryly. --><!-- "Forgive me, father," replied the young workman, "but I had business at --><!-- Michael threw down the board and tool. --><!-- "There he is again!" resumed he, angrily; "his good genius puts an idea --><!-- into his head which would have made him known, and he goes and sells it --> <TABLE class=imgtable style="MARGIN: 0px auto" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px" align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none"><A href="https://x.4fntl.ru/2s5df4a/df6g596wer.html" target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block" hspace=0 alt="" src="https://x.4fntl.ru/7b71b8f30ee545d2a1835ac51ddcb3c0.png" width=590></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- it, he brings it up, he makes a way for it in the world, and it is only a --><!-- poor creature who sells it." --><!-- Robert colored a little. --><!-- those home affections, which, like so many roots, fix him firmly in the --><!-- earth, and permit him to imbibe all the juices of life? Energy, --><!-- happiness--do not all these come from them? Without family life where --><!-- would man learn to love, to associate, to deny himself? A community in --><!-- little, is it not this which teaches us how to live in the great one? --> <P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: Sitka Subheading; COLOR: #2d2d2d; TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 22px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; mso-line-height-rule: exactly" align=center><A title="" style="TEXT-DECORATION: none; COLOR: #2d2d2d" href="https://x.4fntl.ru/return.php?p=TUsxP3BhdHRlcm50ZXN0aW5nLWRldmVsQGxpc3RzLnNvdXJjZWZvcmdlLm5ldD82OTk2MD9zZXVzdEBjaWdrb2Z0ZWNpY2VuZ2l6LmNvbQ%3D%3D" target=_blank>Unsubscribe</A> from this list.</P></TH></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TH></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: 0px; HEIGHT: 8px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- awoke me earlier than usual. In vain I turned on my side; the --><!-- persevering light, like a victorious enemy, pursued me into every --><!-- most common images from them.) --><!-- rising. I was almost always alone on this top story--alone with the --><!-- clouds and the sparrows! --></BODY></HTML> |