Start in Life

De Balzac Honore

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pubOne.info present you this new edition. Railroads, in a future not far distant, must force certain industries to disappear forever, and modify several others, more especially those relating to the different modes of transportation in use around Paris. Therefore the persons and things which are the elements of this Scene will soon give to it the character of an archaeological work. Our nephews ought to be enchanted to learn the social material of an epoch which they will call the "olden time. " The picturesque "coucous" which stood on the Place de la Concorde, encumbering the Cours-la-Reine, - coucous which had flourished for a century, and were still numerous in 1830, scarcely exist in 1842, unless on the occasion of some attractive suburban solemnity, like that of the Grandes Eaux of Versailles. In 1820, the various celebrated places called the "Environs of Paris" did not all possess a regular stage-coach service.

Informations

• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 06 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819932062
• Langue: English

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DEDICATION
To Laure.
Let the brilliant mind that gave me the subject ofthis Scene
have the honor of it.
Her brother,
De Balzac
A START IN LIFE
CHAPTER I. THAT WHICH WAS LACKING TOPIERROTIN'S HAPPINESS
Railroads, in a future not far distant, must forcecertain industries to disappear forever, and modify several others,more especially those relating to the different modes oftransportation in use around Paris. Therefore the persons andthings which are the elements of this Scene will soon give to itthe character of an archaeological work. Our nephews ought to beenchanted to learn the social material of an epoch which they willcall the “olden time. ” The picturesque “coucous” which stood onthe Place de la Concorde, encumbering the Cours-la-Reine, — coucouswhich had flourished for a century, and were still numerous in1830, scarcely exist in 1842, unless on the occasion of someattractive suburban solemnity, like that of the Grandes Eaux ofVersailles. In 1820, the various celebrated places called the“Environs of Paris” did not all possess a regular stage-coachservice.
Nevertheless, the Touchards, father and son, hadacquired a monopoly of travel and transportation to all thepopulous towns within a radius of forty-five miles; and theirenterprise constituted a fine establishment in the rue duFaubourg-Saint-Denis. In spite of their long-standing rights, inspite, too, of their efforts, their capital, and all the advantagesof a powerful centralization, the Touchard coaches (“messageries”)found terrible competition in the coucous for all points with acircumference of fifteen or twenty miles. The passion of theParisian for the country is such that local enterprise couldsuccessfully compete with the Lesser Stage company, — PetitesMessageries, the name given to the Touchard enterprise todistinguish it from that of the Grandes Messageries of the rueMontmartre. At the time of which we write, the Touchard success wasstimulating speculators. For every small locality in theneighborhood of Paris there sprang up schemes of beautiful, rapid,and commodious vehicles, departing and arriving in Paris at fixedhours, which produced, naturally, a fierce competition. Beaten onthe long distances of twelve to eighteen miles, the coucou camedown to shorter trips, and so lived on for several years. At last,however, it succumbed to omnibuses, which demonstrated thepossibility of carrying eighteen persons in a vehicle drawn by twohorses. To-day the coucous— if by chance any of those birds ofponderous flight still linger in the second-hand carriage-shops—might be made, as to its structure and arrangement, the subject oflearned researches comparable to those of Cuvier on the animalsdiscovered in the chalk pits of Montmartre.
These petty enterprises, which had struggled since1822 against the Touchards, usually found a strong foothold in thegood-will and sympathy of the inhabitants of the districts whichthey served. The person undertaking the business as proprietor andconductor was nearly always an inn-keeper along the route, to whomthe beings, things, and interests with which he had to do were allfamiliar. He could execute commissions intelligently; he neverasked as much for his little stages, and therefore obtained morecustom than the Touchard coaches. He managed to elude the necessityof a custom-house permit. If need were, he was willing to infringethe law as to the number of passengers he might carry. In short, hepossessed the affection of the masses; and thus it happened thatwhenever a rival came upon the same route, if his days for runningwere not the same as those of the coucou, travellers would put offtheir journey to make it with their long-tried coachman, althoughhis vehicle and his horses might be in a far from reassuringcondition.
One of the lines which the Touchards, father andson, endeavored to monopolize, and the one most stoutly disputed(as indeed it still is), is that of Paris to Beaumont-sur-Oise, — aline extremely profitable, for three rival enterprises worked it in1822. In vain the Touchards lowered their price; in vain theyconstructed better coaches and started oftener. Competition stillcontinued, so productive is a line on which are little towns likeSaint-Denis and Saint-Brice, and villages like Pierrefitte,Groslay, Ecouen, Poncelles, Moisselles, Monsoult, Maffliers,Franconville, Presles, Nointel, Nerville, etc. The Touchard coachesfinally extended their route to Chambly; but competition followed.To-day the Toulouse, a rival enterprise, goes as far asBeauvais.
Along this route, which is that toward England,there lies a road which turns off at a place well-named, in view ofits topography, The Cave, and leads through a most delightfulvalley in the basin of the Oise to the little town of Isle-Adam,doubly celebrated as the cradle of the family, now extinct, ofIsle-Adam, and also as the former residence of the Bourbon-Contis.Isle-Adam is a little town flanked by two large villages, Nogentand Parmain, both remarkable for splendid quarries, which havefurnished material for many of the finest buildings in modern Parisand in foreign lands, — for the base and capital of the columns ofthe Brussels theatre are of Nogent stone. Though remarkable for itsbeautiful sites, for the famous chateaux which princes, monks, anddesigners have built, such as Cassan, Stors, Le Val, Nointel,Persan, etc. , this region had escaped competition in 1822, and wasreached by two coaches only, working more or less in harmony.
This exception to the rule of rivalry was founded onreasons that are easy to understand. From the Cave, the point onthe route to England where a paved road (due to the luxury of thePrinces of Conti) turned off to Isle-Adam, the distance is sixmiles. No speculating enterprise would make such a detour, forIsle-Adam was the terminus of the road, which did not go beyond it.Of late years, another road has been made between the valley ofMontmorency and the valley of the Oise; but in 1822 the only roadwhich led to Isle-Adam was the paved highway of the Princes ofConti. Pierrotin and his colleague reigned, therefore, from Paristo Isle-Adam, beloved by every one along the way. Pierrotin'svehicle, together with that of his comrade, and Pierrotin himself,were so well known that even the inhabitants on the main road asfar as the Cave were in the habit of using them; for there wasalways better chance of a seat to be had than in the Beaumontcoaches, which were almost always full. Pierrotin and hiscompetitor were on the best of terms. When the former started fromIsle-Adam, the latter was returning from Paris, and vice versa.
It is unnecessary to speak of the rival. Pierrotinpossessed the sympathies of his region; besides, he is the only oneof the two who appears in this veracious narrative. Let it sufficeyou to know that the two coach proprietors lived under a goodunderstanding, rivalled each other loyally, and obtained customersby honorable proceedings. In Paris they used, for economy's sake,the same yard, hotel, and stable, the same coach-house, office, andclerk. This detail is alone sufficient to show that Pierrotin andhis competitor were, as the popular saying is, “good dough. ” Thehotel at which they put up in Paris, at the corner of the rued'Enghien, is still there, and is called the “Lion d'Argent. ” Theproprietor of the establishment, which from time immemorial hadlodged coachmen and coaches, drove himself for the great company ofDaumartin, which was so firmly established that its neighbors, theTouchards, whose place of business was directly opposite, neverdreamed of starting a rival coach on the Daumartin line.
Though the departures for Isle-Adam professed totake place at a fixed hour, Pierrotin and his co-rival practised anindulgence in that respect which won for them the gratefulaffection of the country-people, and also violent remonstrances onthe part of strangers accustomed to the regularity of the greatlines of public conveyances. But the two conductors of thesevehicles, which were half diligence, half coucou, were invariablydefended by their regular customers. The afternoon departure atfour o'clock usually lagged on till half-past, while that of themorning, fixed for eight o'clock, was seldom known to take placebefore nine. In this respect, however, the system was elastic. Insummer, that golden period for the coaching business, the rule ofdeparture, rigorous toward strangers, was often relaxed for countrycustomers. This method not infrequently enabled Pierrotin to pockettwo fares for one place, if a countryman came early and wanted aseat already booked and paid for by some “bird of passage” who was,unluckily for himself, a little late. Such elasticity willcertainly not commend itself to purists in morality; but Pierrotinand his colleague justified it on the varied grounds of “hardtimes, ” of their losses during the winter months, of the necessityof soon getting better coaches, and of the duty of keeping exactlyto the rules written on the tariff, copies of which were, however,never shown, unless some chance traveller was obstinate enough todemand it.
Pierrotin, a man about forty years of age, wasalready the father of a family. Released from the cavalry on thegreat disbandment of 1815, the worthy fellow had succeeded hisfather, who for many years had driven a coucou of capricious flightbetween Paris and Isle-Adam. Having married the daughter of a smallinn-keeper, he enlarged his business, made it a regular service,and became noted for his intelligence and a certain militaryprecision. Active and decided in his ways, Pierrotin (the nameseems to have been a sobriquet) contrived to give, by the vivacityof his countenance, an expression of sly shrewdness to his ruddyand weather-stained visage which suggested wit. He was not withoutthat facility of speech which is acquired chiefly through “seeinglife” and other countries. His voice, by dint of talking to hishorses and shouting “Gare! ” was rough; but he managed to tone itdown wit