文档介绍：DROLL STORIES
DROLL STORIES
THIRD TEN TALES
HONORE DE BALZAC
1
DROLL STORIES
PROLOGUE
Certain persons have interrogated the author as to why there was such
a demand for these tales that no year passes without his giving an
instalment of them, and why he has lately taken to mas mixed
up with bad syllables, at which the ladies publicly knit their brows, and
have put to him other questions of a like character.
The author declares that these treacherous words, cast like pebbles in
his path, have touched him in the very depths of his heart, and he is
sufficiently cognisant of his duty not to fail to give to his special audience
in this prologue certain reasons other than the preceding ones, because it is
always necessary to reason with children until they are grown up,
understand things, and hold their tongues; and because he perceives many
mischievous fellows among the crowd of noisy people, who ignore at
pleasure the real object of these volumes.
In the first place know, that if certain virtuous ladies--I say virtuous
mon and low class women do not read these stories,
preferring those that are never published; on the contrary, other citizens'
wives and ladies, of high respectability and godliness, although doubtless
disgusted with the subject-matter, read them piously to satisfy an evil
spirit, and thus keep themselves virtuous. Do you understand, my good
reapers of horns? It is better to be deceived by the tale of a book than
cuckolded through the story of a gentleman. You are saved the damage by
this, poor fools! besides which, often your lady es enamoured, is
seized with fecund agitations to your advantage, raised in her by the
present book. Therefore do these volumes assist to populate the land and
maintain it in mirth, honour and health. I say mirth, because much is to be
derived from these tales. I say honour, because you save your nest from
the claws of that youthful demon named cuckoldom in the language of the
Celts. I s