第82章 BOOK Ⅵ(9)

'Willingly，'returned Mahiette，'but it is very evident that you have lived in Paris not to know it！Well，you must know—but there is no need for us to stand still while I tell you the story—that Paquette la Chantefleurie was a pretty girl of eighteen when I too was one—that is to say，eighteen years ago—and has had only herself to blame if she's not，like me，a buxom，hearty woman of six-and-thirty，with a husband and a fine boy.But there！—from the time she was fourteen it was too late！I must tell you，then，that she was the daughter of Guybertaut，a boat-minstrel at Reims，the same that played before King Charles VII at his coronation，when he went down our river Vesle from Sillery to Muison，and had Mme.la Pucelle—the Maid of Orleans—in the same boat with him.The old father died when Paquette was quite little，so she had only her mother，who was sister to M.Pradon，a master-brasier and tinsmith in Paris，Rue Parin-Garlin，and who died last year—so you see，she was of good family.The mother was a simple，easy-going creature，unfortunately，and never taught her anything really useful—just a little needlework and toy-making，which did not prevent her growing tall and strong，and remaining very poor.They lived together at Reims，by the river-side，in the Rue de Folle-Peine—mark that！—for I believe that is what brought trouble to Paquette.Well，in'61—the year of the Coronation of our King Louis XI，whom God preserve！—Paquette was so gay and so fair that she was known far and wide as'La Chantefleurie'—poor girl！She had pretty teeth，and she was fond of laughing，to show them.Now，a girl who is overfond of laughing is well on the way to tears；pretty teeth are the ruin of pretty eyes—and thus it befell Chantefleurie.She and her mother had a hard struggle to gain a living；they had sunk very low since the father's death—their needlework brought them in barely six deniers a week，which is not quite two liards.Time was when Guybertaut had got twelve sols parisis at a coronation for a single song！One winter—it was that same year of'61—the two women had not a log or a fagot，and it was very cold，and this gave Chantefleurie such a beautiful colour in her cheeks that the men all looked after her and she was ruined.—Eustache！just let me see you take a bite out of that cake！—We saw in a moment that she was ruined when one Sunday she came to church with a gold cross on her neck，At fourteen—what do you say to that？The first was the young Vicomte de Cormontreuil，whose castle is about three-quarters of a mile from Reims；then it was Messire Henri de Triancourt，the King's outrider；then，coming down the scale，Chiart de Beaulion，a man-at-arms；then，still lower，Guery Aubergeon，king's carver；then Macé de Frépus，barber to Monsieur the Dauphin；then Thévenin le Moine，one of the royal cooks；then，still going down，from the young to the old，from high to low birth，she fell to Guillaume Racine，viol player，and to Thierry de Mer，lamp-maker.After that，poor Chantefleurie，she became all things to all men and had come to her last sou.What think you，damoiselles，at the coronation，in that same year'61，it was she who made the bed for the chief of the bawdies！—in that same year！'Mahiette sighed and wiped away a tear.

'But I see nothing so very extraordinary in this story，'said Gervaise，'and there is no word either of Egyptians or children.'

'Patience，'returned Mahiette；'as for the child，I am just coming to that.In'66，sixteen years ago this month，on Saint-Paul's day，Paquette was brought to bed of a little girl.Poor creature，she was overjoyed—she had long craved to have a child.Her mother，foolish woman，who had never done anything but close her eyes to what was going on，her mother was dead.Paquette had no one in the world to love or to love her.For the five years since she had fallen，poor Paquette had been a miserable creature.She was alone，all alone in the world，pointed at，shouted at through the streets，beaten by the sergeants，and jeered at by little ragged boys.Besides，she was already twenty，and twenty means old age for a courtesan.Her frailty now began to bring her in no more than did her needlework formerly：for every line in her face she lost a crown in her pocket.Winter came hard to her again，wood was growing scarce in her fire-place and bread in her cupboard.She could not work，because，by giving way to pleasure she had given way to idleness，and she felt hardships the more because by giving way to idleness she had given way to pleasure.At least，that is how Monsieur the Curé of Saint-Rémy explains why those sort of women feel cold and hunger more than other poor females do when they get old.'

'Yes，'observed Gervaise，'but about these gipsies？'

'Wait a moment，Gervaise，'said Oudarde，who was of a less impatient temperament；'what should we have at the end if everything was at the beginning？Go on，Mahiette，I pray you.Alas，poor Chantefleurie！'