The Blockade of Phalsburg: An Episode of the End of the Empire

by Erckmann-Chatrian

  VI

  A DISAGREEABLE GUEST

  Now, Fritz, I am going to tell you something which has often made methink that the Lord takes an interest in our affairs, and that Heorders everything for the best. At first it seems dreadful, and weexclaim, "Lord have mercy on us!" and afterward we are surprised tofind that it has all been for our good.

  You know that Frichard, the secretary of the mayoralty, disliked me.He was a little, yellow, dried-up old man, with a red wig, flat ears,and hollow cheeks. This rascal was bent on doing me an injury, and hesoon found an opportunity.

  As the time of the blockade drew nearer, people were more and moreanxious to sell, and the day after I received the good news fromAmerica--it was Friday, a market-day--so many of the Alsatian andLorraine people came with their great dossers and panniers of fruit,eggs, butter, cheese, poultry, etc., that the market-place was crowdedwith them.

  Everybody wanted money, to hide it in his cellar, or under a tree inthe neighboring wood. You know that large sums were lost at that time;treasures which are now discovered from year to year, at the foot ofoaks and beeches, hidden because it was feared that the Germans andRussians would pillage and destroy everything, as we had done to them.The men died, or perhaps could not find the place where they had hiddentheir money, and so it remained buried in the ground.

  This day, the eleventh of December, it was very cold; the frostpenetrated to the very marrow of your bones, but it had not yet begunto snow. Very early in the morning, I went down, shivering, with mywoollen waistcoat buttoned up to my throat, and my seal-skin cap drawndown over my ears.

  Both the little and the great squares were already swarming withpeople, shouting and disputing about prices. I had only time to openmy shop, and to hang up my large scales in the arch, before a crowd ofcountry people stood about the door, some asking for nails, others ironfor forging; and some bringing their own old iron with the hope ofselling it.

  They knew that if the enemy came there would be no way of entering thecity, and that was what brought the crowd, some to sell and others tobuy.

  I opened shop and began to weigh. We heard the patrols passingwithout; the guard was everywhere doubled, the drawbridges in goodcondition, and the outside barriers fortified anew. We were not yetdeclared to be in a state of siege, but we were like the bird on thebranch; the last news from Mayence, Sarrebruck, and Strasburg announcedthe arrival of the allies on the other bank of the Rhine.

  As for me, I thought of nothing but my spirits of wine, and all thetime I was selling, weighing, and handling money, it was never out ofmy mind. It had, as it were, taken root in my brain.

  This had lasted about an hour, when suddenly Burguet appeared at mydoor, under the little arch, behind the crowd of country people, andsaid to me:

  "Moses, come here a minute, I have something to say to you."

  I went out.

  "Let us go into your passage," said he.

  I was much surprised, for he looked very grave. The peasants behindcalled out:

  "We have no time to lose. Make haste, Moses!"

  But I paid no attention. In the passage Burguet said to me:

  "I have just come from the mayoralty, where they are busy in making outa report to the prefect in regard to the state of feeling among ourpopulation, and I accidentally heard that they are going to sendSergeant Trubert to your house."

  This was indeed a blow for me. I exclaimed:

  "I don't want him! I don't want him! I have lodged six men in thelast fortnight, and it isn't my turn."

  He answered:

  "Be quiet, and don't talk so loud. You will only make the matterworse."

  I repeated:

  "Never, never shall this sergeant enter my house! It is abominable! Aquiet man like myself, who has never harmed any one, and who asksnothing but peace!"

  While I was speaking, Sorle, on her way to market, with her basket onher arm, came down, and asked what was the matter.

  "Listen, Madame Sorle," said Burguet to her; "be more reasonable thanyour husband! I can understand his indignation, and yet for all that,when a thing is inevitable we must submit to it. Frichard dislikesyou; he is secretary of the mayoralty; he distributes the billets forquartering soldiers according to a list. Very well; he sends youSergeant Trubert, a violent, bad man, I allow, but he needs lodging aswell as the others. To everything which I have said in your favor,Frichard has always replied: 'Moses is rich. He has sent away his boysto escape conscription. He ought to pay for them.' The mayor, thegovernor, everybody thinks he is right. So, you see, I tell you as afriend, the more resistance you make, so much the more the sergeantwill affront you, and Frichard laugh at you, and there will be no helpfor it. Be reasonable!"

  I was still more angry on finding that I owed these misfortunes toFrichard. I would have exclaimed, but my wife laid her hand on my arm,and said:

  "Let me speak, Moses. Monsieur Burguet is right, and I am much obligedto him for telling us beforehand. Frichard has a spite against us.Very well; he must pay for it all, and we will settle with him by andby. Now, when is the sergeant coming?"

  "At noon," replied Burguet.

  "Very well," said my wife; "he has a right to lodging, fire, andcandles. We can't dispute that; but Frichard shall pay for it all."

  She was pale, and I listened, for I saw that she was right.

  "Be quiet, Moses," she said to me afterward, "and don't say a word; letme manage it."

  "This is what I had to say to you," said Burguet, "it is an abominabletrick of Frichard's. I will see, by and by, if it is possible to ridyou of the sergeant. Now I must go back to my post."

  Sorle had just started for the market. Burguet pressed my hand, and asthe peasants grew more impatient in their cries, I had to go back to myscales.

  I was full of rage. I sold that day more than two hundred francs'worth of iron, but my indignation against Frichard, and my fear of thesergeant, took away all pleasure in anything. I might have sold tentimes more without feeling any better.

  "Ah! the rascal!" I said to myself; "he gives me no rest. I shall haveno peace in this city."

  As the clock struck twelve the market closed, and people went away bythe French gate. I shut up my shop and went home, thinking to myself:

  "Now I shall be nothing in my own house; this Trubert is going to ruleeverything. He will look down upon us as if we were Germans orSpaniards."

  I was in despair. But in the midst of my despair on the staircase, Isuddenly perceived an odor of good things from the kitchen, and I wentup in surprise, for I smelt fish and roast, as if it were a feast day.

  I was going into the kitchen, when Sorle appeared and said:

  "Go into your chamber, shave yourself, and put on a clean shirt."

  I saw, at the same time, that she was dressed in her Sabbath clothes,with her ear-rings, her green skirt, and her red silk neckerchief.

  "But why must I shave, Sorle?" I exclaimed.

  "Go quick; you have no time to lose!" replied she.

  This woman had so much good sense, she had so many times set thingsright by her ready wit, that I said nothing more, and went into mybedroom to shave myself and put on a clean shirt.

  As I was putting on my shirt I heard little Safel cry out:

  "Here he is, mamma! here he is!"

  Then steps were heard on the stairs, and a rough voice called:

  "Holla! you folks. Ho!"

  I thought to myself: "It is the sergeant," and I listened.

  "Ah! here is our sergeant!" cried Safel, triumphantly.

  "Oh! that is good," replied my wife, in a cheerful tone. "Come in, Mr.Sergeant, come in! We were expecting you. I knew that we were to havethe honor of having a sergeant; we were glad to hear it, because wehave had only common soldiers before. Be so good as to come in, Mr.Sergeant."

  "BE SO GOOD AS TO COME IN, MR. SERGEANT."]

  She spoke in this way as if she were really pleased, and I thought tomyself:

  "O Sorle, Sorl
e! You shrewd woman! You sensible woman! I see throughit now. I see your cunning. You are going to mollify this rascal!Ah, Moses! what a wife you have! Congratulate yourself! Congratulateyourself!"

  I hastened to dress myself, laughing all the while; and I heard thisbrute of a sergeant say:

  "Yes, yes! It is all very well. But that isn't the point! Show me myroom, my bed. You can't pay me with fine speeches; people knowSergeant Trubert too well for that."

  "Certainly, Mr. Sergeant, certainly," replied my wife, "here is yourroom and your bed. See, it is the best we have."

  Then they went into the passage, and I heard Sorle open the door of thehandsome room which Baruch and Zeffen occupied when they came toPhalsburg.

  I followed them softly. The sergeant thrust his fist into the bed tofeel if it was soft. Sorle and Safel looked on smilingly behind him.He examined every corner with a scowl. You never saw such a face,Fritz; a gray bristling mustache, a long thin nose, hooked over themouth; a yellow skin, full of wrinkles: he dragged the butt-end of hisgun on the floor, without seeming to notice anything, and mutteredill-naturedly:

  "Hem! hem! What is that down there?"

  "It is the wash-basin, Mr. Sergeant."

  "And these chairs, are they strong? Will they bear anything?"

  He knocked them rudely down. It was evident he wanted to find faultwith something.

  On turning round he saw me, and looking at me sideways, asked:

  "Are you the citizen?"

  "Yes, sergeant; I am."

  "Ah!"

  He put his gun in a corner, threw his knapsack on the table, and said:

  "That will do! You may go."

  Safel had opened the kitchen door, and the good smell of the roast cameinto the room.

  "Mr. Sergeant," said Sorle very pleasantly, "allow me to ask a favor ofyou."

  "You!" said he, looking at her over his shoulder, "ask a favor of me!"

  "Yes. It is that since you now lodge with us, and will be in somerespects one of the family, you will give us the pleasure of diningwith us, at least for once."

  "Ah, ah!" said he, turning his nose toward the kitchen, "that isanother thing!"

  He seemed to be considering whether to grant us this favor or not. Wewaited for him to answer, when he gave another sniff and threw hiscartridge-box on the bed, saying:

  "Well, so be it! We will go and see!"

  "Wretch!" thought I, "if I could make you eat potatoes!"

  But Sorle seemed satisfied, and said:

  "This way, Mr. Sergeant; this way, if you please."

  When we went into the dining-room I saw that everything was prepared asif for a prince; the floor swept, the table carefully laid, a whitetable-cloth, and our silver knives and forks.

  Sorle placed the sergeant in my arm-chair at the head of the table,which seemed to him the most natural thing in the world.

  Our servant brought in the large tureen and took off the cover; theodor of a good cream soup filled the room, and we began our dinner.

  Fritz, I could tell you everything we had for dinner; but believe me,neither you nor I ever had a better. We had a roasted goose, amagnificent pike, sauerkraut, everything, in fact, which could bedesired for a grand dinner, and all served by Sorle in the most perfectmanner. We had, too, four bottles of Beaujolais warmed in napkins, aswas the custom in winter, and an abundant dessert.

  Well! do you believe that the rascal once had the grace to seem pleasedwith all this? Do you believe that all through this dinner, whichlasted nearly two hours, he once thought of saying, "This pike isexcellent!" or, "This fat goose is well cooked!" or, "You have verygood wine!" or any of the other things which we know are pleasant for ahost to hear, and which repay a good cook for his trouble? No, Fritz,not once! You would have supposed that he had such dinners every day.The more even that my wife flattered him, and the more kindly she spoketo him, the more he rebuffed her, the more he scowled, the moredefiantly he looked at us, as if we wanted to poison him.

  From time to time I looked indignantly at Sorle, but she kept onsmiling; she kept on giving the nicest bits to the sergeant; she kepton filling his glass.

  Two or three times I wanted to say, "Ah, Sorle, what a good cook youare! How nice this force-meat is!" But suddenly the sergeant wouldlook down upon me as if to say, "What does that signify? Perhaps youwant to give me lessons? Don't I know better than you do whether athing is good or bad?"

  So I kept silence. I could have wished him--well, in worse company; Igrew more and more indignant at every morsel which he swallowed insilence. Nevertheless Sorle's example encouraged me to put a good faceon the matter, and toward the end I thought, "Now, since the dinner iseaten, since it is almost over, we will go on, with God's help. Sorlewas mistaken, but it is all the same; her idea was a good one, exceptfor such a rascal!"

  And I myself ordered coffee; I went to the closet, too, to get somecherry-brandy and old rum.

  "What is that?" asked the sergeant.

  "Rum and cherry-brandy; old cherry-brandy from the 'Black Forest,'" Ireplied.

  "Ah," said he, winking, "everybody says, 'I have got some cherry-brandyfrom the Black Forest!' It is very easy to say; but they can't cheatSergeant Trubert; we will see about this!"

  In taking his coffee he twice filled his glass with cherry-brandy, andboth times said, "He! he! We will see whether it is genuine."

  I could have thrown the bottle at his head.

  As Sorle went to him to pour a third glassful, he rose and said, "Thatis enough; thank you! The posts are doubled. This evening I shall beon guard at the French gate. The dinner, to be sure, was not a badone. If you give me such now and then, we can get along with eachother."

  He did not smile, and, indeed, seemed to be ridiculing us.

  "We will do our best, Mr. Sergeant," replied Sorle, while he went intohis room and took his great-coat to go out.

  "We will see," said he as he went downstairs, "we will see!"

  Till now I had said nothing, but when he was down I exclaimed, "Sorle,never, no never, was there such a rascal! We shall never get alongwith this man. He will drive us all from the house."

  "Bah! bah! Moses," she replied, laughing, "I do not think as thoudost! I have quite the contrary idea; we will be good friends, thou'ltsee, thou'lt see!"

  "God grant it!" I said; "but I have not much hope of it."

  She smiled as she took off the table-cloth, and gave me too a littleconfidence, for this woman had a good deal of shrewdness, and Iacknowledged her sound judgment.