文档介绍：Sarrasine
Sarrasine
by Honore de Balzac
Translated by Clara Bell and others
1
Sarrasine
DEDICATION
To Monsieur Charles Bernard du Grail.
2
Sarrasine
SARRASINE
I was buried in one of those profound reveries to which everybody,
even a frivolous man, is subject in the midst of the most uproarious
festivities. The clock on the Elysee-Bourbon had just struck midnight.
Seated in a window recess and concealed behind the undulating folds of a
curtain of watered silk, I was able to contemplate at my leisure the garden
of the mansion at which I was passing the evening. The trees, being partly
covered with snow, were outlined indistinctly against the grayish
background formed by a cloudy sky, barely whitened by the moon. Seen
through the medium of that strange atmosphere, they bore a vague
resemblance to spectres carelessly enveloped in their shrouds, a gigantic
image of the famous /Dance of Death/. Then, turning in the other direction,
I could gaze admiringly upon the dance of the living! a magnificent salon,
with walls of silver and gold, with gleaming chandeliers, and bright with
the light of many candles. There the loveliest, the wealthiest women in
Paris, bearers of the proudest titles, moved hither and thither, fluttered
from room to room in swarms, stately and gorgeous, dazzling with
diamonds; flowers on their heads and breasts, in their hair, scattered over
their dresses or lying in garlands at their feet. Light quiverings of the body,
voluptuous movements, made the laces and gauzes and silks swirl about
their graceful figures. Sparkling glances here and there eclipsed the lights
and the blaze of the diamonds, and fanned the flame of hearts already
burning too brightly. I detected also significant nods of the head for lovers
and repellent attitudes for husbands. The exclamation of the card-players
at every unexpected /coup/, the jingle of gold, mingled with music and the
murmur of conversation; and to put the finishing touch to