PART ONE

provincial town

picturesque in Franche-Comté, the town of Verrières is located in the valley of the river Doubs. From the north it is protected by Mount Vera, which is already covered with snow in October. A mountain stream crosses Verrières and drives many sawmills. However, the town did not get rich thanks to the sawmill. The factory of printed fabrics became a source of prosperity. There is also a nail factory in the town, striking the traveler with a terrible roar of huge hammers. It belongs to the mayor of Verrieres, Mr. de Renal.

n de Renal - "a cavalier of several orders, he has a large forehead, an aquiline nose and generally fairly regular features." But the new man "is uncomfortably struck by the expression of self-satisfaction and arrogance, mixed with what mediocrity and narrow-mindedness." It is felt that his main talent is the ability to demand accurate payment of debts from people, and he himself can not pay his own debts for a longer time.

The mayor lives in a beautiful house, around which there are good gardens behind iron bars.

It is said that Monsieur de Renal "comes from an old Spanish family who settled in this country long before its conquest by Louis XIV."

In Franche-Comte, you can win the respect of your neighbors only when you have a lot of walls around your land. That is why the mayor persuaded the stubborn and rude peasant Sorel to move his sawmill away and sell the land to him. Later, Monsieur de Renal realized that 6,000 francs was too expensive, and the honor of the townspeople was dearer to him. Public opinion in Franche-Comte was as dumb as in other provincial towns in France, but even the mayor could not help but reckon with her.

Mr Mayor

Walking along the city boulevard, the townspeople could admire one of the most picturesque landscapes in France. But every spring, rain torrents washed away the paths of this boulevard. There was a need to build a huge retaining wall along the hillside. This difficult task, perpetuating his name, was done by Monsieur de Renal. "Despite the opposition of the city council, the mayor ordered earth to be filled along the entire length of the great retaining wall, and thus widened the boulevard by more than six feet." Gardeners planted luxurious plane trees. Twice a year, these trees were mercilessly amputated, and "the hand of the city gardener became much more ruthless, since Mr. Vicar Maslon began to appropriate the fruits of this haircut."

Once an old regimental doctor, a member Italian company, complained to the mayor to mutilate these wonderful trees. M. de Renal replied that he ordered the trees to be trimmed so that they would give shade. He did not understand "what else can a tree serve for when it does not give a profit, like, for example, a walnut."

“Here is the great word that decides everything in Verrieres: to make a profit; this is the only thought of more than three-quarters of the entire population.

The stranger, fascinated by the beauty and freshness of the valleys, at first imagines that the inhabitants are sensitive to beauty, because they talk so much about the beauty of their country. Yes, they value it, but only because this beauty "gives profit to the city."

“One fine autumn day, M. de Renal was walking along the Avenue of Fidelity (the name of the boulevard) with his wife” and three boys. The mayor angrily told Madame de Renal that master APER came from Paris and “he managed to visit not only the prison and the Verrieres asylum for the poor, but also the hospital, which the mayor, together with the city’s landlords, ran free of charge.”

property of the poor

Mr. APER had a letter of recommendation to the curate of Verrieres. The eighty-year-old abbot Shelan retained iron health and iron nature. Together with Mr. Alero, he visited the prison, the hospital, the orphanage, and asked many questions. “Despite strange answers, I did not allow myself a single word of blasphemy.”

A few hours later they returned to the prison again. "At the entrance they were met by the jailer, a bow-legged giant six feet tall." He told the priest, received the strictest order from the prefect not to let Mr. APER into the prison. And now he can be removed from office.

In the morning, the Mayor, accompanied by Mr. Valeno, the director of the asylum for the poor, went to the curate to express his extreme displeasure. The priest had no patrons and understood what consequences this conversation threatened him with. But the fear of losing the position could not force the curate to make an agreement with his conscience.

M. de Renal lived in harmony with his wife. She was a good mother, attentive, calm, reasonable companion. “At one time she was known as the first beauty in the whole region. ... It was said that Mr. Valno, a rich man, the director of an orphanage, courted her, but was not successful. She was very annoyed by the irrepressible fussiness of this tall, strongly built young man, with a ruddy face and thick black sideburns. She never knew how to use her popularity, she liked to wander alone in the garden.

“It was a simple and naive soul, she never dared to judge her husband, did not admit to herself that she was bored with him ... Finally, Monsieur de Renal seemed to her much less boring than all the other men she knew.”

Father and son

Mr. de Renal decided to take Sorel, the sawmiller's son, as a tutor to his sons, who knows Latin well and will force the children to study. Uncle Sorel was very surprised, and even more delighted, when he heard the mayor's proposal regarding his son Julien. The cunning old man could not figure out why such a respected person wanted to take his lazy son to him, but just in case he dragged out the conversation.

Old Sorel went to the sawmill, where his older sons, real giants, hewed trunks. Julien, instead of following the progress of the saw, sat and read. “Nothing could cause Sorel such trouble, he could somehow give Julien his delicate posture, unsuitable for physical labor and so unlike the posture of his older sons, but this passion for reading was disgusting to him; he himself could not read. Sorel knocked the book out of his son's hands, almost knocked the young man off his feet with a second blow to the back of the head, and, grimacing with his fist in the back, drove Julien home. The dear boy looked sadly at the stream where his book had fallen.

"He was a short youth of eighteen or nineteen years old, frail in appearance, with irregular but delicate features and an aquiline nose."

Since childhood, he was weak and everyone in the family despised him. He hated his brothers and his father, but with all his heart he fell in love with the old regimental doctor, who gave him lessons in Latin and history, dying, told him the cross of the Legion of Honor, the rest of his pension and three or four dozen books.

Negotiation

Old Sorel tried to ask his son how he knew Madame de Renal, who invites him to be a tutor to her children, but Julien himself did not understand anything. The only thing he wanted in the mayor's house was the privilege of eating not with the servants, but with the masters. “The horror of eating with servants he borrowed from Rousseau's Confessions. It was the only book with which his imagination drew the high life for him."

“Early on the morning of the second day, Monsieur de Renal sent for old Sorel; forcing himself to wait an hour or two, then finally he came ... "The cunning Sorel demanded that they show him his son's room, his clothes," there were numerous points considered that had to determine Julien's new position; the fee was not only increased from three hundred to four hundred francs, but it had to be issued in advance.

When Sorel realized that he could achieve nothing more, he promised to send his son to the castle.

Since childhood, Julien dreamed of making his way - to escape from Verien. He hated his homeland and plunged into dreams with pleasure, imagining how he would meet the Parisian beauties, how some brilliant lady would love him, how de Beauharnais fell in love with the poor and unknown Bonaparte.

At first he raved about a military career, but later, having learned that a priest at the age of forty receives a salary three times greater than the famous generals of Napoleon, he decided to become a priest. To do this, he squeezed out theology, read church books day and night, made friends with the ingenuous curate.

Before leaving for the mayor, Julien entered the church, because he decided that it would be useful for his hypocrisy. On the bench, the boy noticed a piece of paper on which was printed: “Details of the execution and the last minutes of the life of Louis Genrel, who was executed in Besancon ...” Julien was surprised that the name of the executed was consonant with his name.

“When Julien came out, it seemed to him that blood was shining near the bowl: it was holy water, but from the Red curtains on the windows it seemed to be blood.”

Julien's heart sank as he entered the mayor's house. But the mistress of the house was completely shocked that what kind of stranger would stand between her and the children. “She already imagined a nasty, rude, disheveled subject who is allowed to scold her children just because he knows Latin…”

Madame de Renal once went out of the drawing room into the garden when she saw at the entrance a very pale and tear-stained young man in a clean white shirt. The eyes of this young peasant were so tender that the lady at first thought she was a girl in disguise. How quickly and cheerfully she laughed when she found out that this was the tutor whom she imagined to be a dirty slob.

Madame de Renal invited Julien into the house. She asked the guy to become a friend to her children, not to beat the boys for pranks. Julien was surprised at the meek expression on the face of this charming woman. He asked forgiveness in advance for his possible mistakes, because he never talked to anyone, the regimental doctor and the curate, and never went to school.

Mr. de Renal, hearing their conversation, turned to Julien with the reservation never to meet with either relatives or comrades, "because their manners are not suitable for the mayor's sons", never to give money to his father. Then he took the guy to the cloth shop and bought him a suit.

When the mayor and Julien returned, Madame de Renal was surprised at the changes that had taken place with the guy. It was a completely different person.

Julien met the children, showed them the Bible, recited a whole page by heart.

He was talking and talking in Latin when the footman came to the drawing-room door, then the maid and the cook appeared. Everyone was fascinated and captivated. At the end of the triumph, Monsieur Valenod, owner of fine Normandy horses, and Monsieur Charcot de Maugiron, super-prefect of the district, entered the drawing room.

“Julien managed to put himself in such a way that less than a month after his appearance in the house, even Monsieur de Renal began to respect him.”

kinship of souls

“The kids adored him. He didn't like them at all... Cold, fair, indifferent... he was a good educator." In his heart he felt hatred for high society. Sometimes he could hardly contain his disgust at everything that surrounded him.

One day, walking alone in the woods along the Alley of Fidelity, Julien met two of his brothers. “A good black suit, Julien’s extremely neat appearance and his frank disdain for the brothers aroused such fierce hatred in them that they beat him half to death and left him unconscious and bloody.” Madame de Renal, Monsieur Valenod, and the superprefect found him by chance. The woman was so excited that Mr. Valeno felt jealousy.

"He worried prematurely." Julien almost hated Madame de Renal for her beauty.

“Elise, Madame de Renal's maid, soon fell in love with the young tutor, and this aroused in the lackey hatred of Julien. Mr. Valeno also hated the young man for his beauty and concern for his appearance.

Madame de Renal learned that Julien had little linen, decided to give him a few louis and asked him not to talk about de deux to her husband. Julien was deeply offended by this and read it out. He secretly loved her, and she felt respect and admiration for him. The young man was not like those moneybags for whom money was of great value and among whom she had to live.

To atone for her guilt before Julien, “Madame de Renal bought ten louis books to give to her children. But these were exactly the books that – she knew – Julien wanted to have.”

It occurred to Julien to persuade Monsieur de Renal to register one of the servants as a subscriber in a bookstore in order to be able to receive necessary books. The mayor agreed because he thought it was all for the kids.

Madame de Renal enjoyed talking with Julien in company, but when they were alone, both were embarrassed and fell silent.

“Madame de Renal, a rich heiress of a pious aunt, married at sixteen to an elderly nobleman, in her entire life has not experienced anything that even slightly resembled love ... Thanks to this ignorance of Madame de Renal, she was completely carried away by Julien, was happy, and she even in the head did not come to reproach for that.

small events

“The angelic meekness of Madame de Renal. changed her a little only when she remembered her maid Eliza. The girl received an inheritance and confessed to the curate that she loved Julien and wanted to marry him. But favorite Shelan resolutely refused Mademoiselle's advantageous offer.

The curé warned Julien that he should not succumb to illusions, because the dignity of a priest might not give the expected. The cure was worried for the young man's soul.

Julien felt for the first time in his life that he was loved, and was very touched. But he wanted to deceive a man who saw all the innermost movements of his soul. For his age, he very successfully covered his hypocrisy with the right words and gestures.

Madame de Renal fell ill and even took to her bed when she found out that the maid was dreaming of marriage with Julien. Eliza began to irritate her terribly. But, having learned that Julien refused, Madame de Renal felt relieved and promised Eliza to talk to the tutor.

“On the second day, after breakfast, Madame de Renal gave herself up to a magical pleasure - to defend the cause of her rival and to see how, for an hour, Julien stubbornly refuses the hand and wealth of Eliza ... A stormy stream of happiness poured into her soul after so many days of despair, broke her strength. She passed out."

Recovering herself, she was very surprised and finally asked: “Is it possible that I fell in love with Julien? But this discovery did not frighten her, did not cause remorse. “She has already learned a little trickery since she fell in love.” She was only more deeply affected by her husband's ridiculous jokes.

With the onset of the first days of spring, Monsieur de Renal moved with his family to the countryside. So did the nobility of the court, and the mayor diligently imitated her customs.

In Vergy there was a castle with four towers, which belonged to Monsieur de Renal. Near the castle there was a park, and further - an apple orchard.

“Madame de Renal seemed to feel the beauty of nature for the first time, she was carried away by everything to the point of madness. Love, permeated her, made her adventurous and resolute. Without the consent of her husband, she, on the advice of Julien, ordered a path to be laid through the entire garden. "This allowed the children to walk in the morning without the risk of getting their shoes soaked in dew."

Madame de Renal spent whole days in the garden with her children. They caught butterflies with large nets, "Julien told them about the strange customs of these unfortunate insects."

Eliza, the maid, wondered why Madame de Renal was now taking so much care of her toilets and changing her dresses three times a day. But the mistress was so attentive to her toilet without intentions. “Without any hidden thought, she made new outfits with Eliza,” bought new fabric for summer dresses.

“She brought with her to Vergy her young relative, Madame Derville, with whom she had studied at the Secre Coeur monastery.” A friend noticed that Madame de Renal was very happy.

Julien no longer needed to be cunning and restrained. Far from human eyes, he gave himself up to the joys of life. He showed Madame Derville landscapes that were no longer poisoned for him by the envy of his brothers and the presence of a despotic and grouchy father. Julien no longer hid with books, he enthusiastically read arguments about women.

Often, on dark, hot evenings, Julien and the women sat under a huge linden tree a few steps from the house. One day he accidentally touched Madame de Renal's hand. “She immediately withdrew her hand, but then Julien thought that it was his duty to ensure that in the future her hand would not avoid his touch.” He considered it his duty, but the fear of being in a humiliating position instantly poisoned all his joy.

Evening at the manor

The next day, Julien looked at Madame de Renal with a strange look: "he was watching her, as if he were an enemy that he would have to fight." She couldn't take her eyes off him.

Having finished his lessons with the children much earlier, Julien was immersed in thoughts that “he absolutely needs to get her to leave her hand in his red hair today.”

A dark, stuffy night was falling, the decisive moment was approaching, and Julien's heart was pounding furiously.

Madame de Renal, Madame Derville, and Julien sat down in the garden. The young man could not concentrate on the conversation, he was terribly nervous and afraid to fulfill his promise to himself, he considered it his duty. “Indignant at his cowardice, he said to himself: “As soon as the clock strikes ten o’clock, I will do what I promised myself to do all day in the evening, otherwise I will go to my place and shoot myself.”

Each blow of the tower clock was reflected in his chest, and when the tenth struck, Julien "took the hand of Madame de Renal - she immediately hurriedly pulled it back." Little understanding, the guy grabbed the woman's hand again and defeated her last effort to break free.

“His soul was filled with happiness; not because he loved Madame de Renal, but because this terrible torment was finally over. Madame Derville noticed that Madame de Renal's voice was trembling, and suggested that they go home. Madame de Renal was about to get up, but at that moment Julien tightly squeezed the hand that was obediently left to him, and the woman remained.

Madame de Renal took great pleasure in having her hand clasped by Julien's. She stood up for a minute, adjusted the flowerpot, “but as soon as she sat down again, she gave him her hand, almost without resistance, as if it had been agreed between them beforehand.”

At night, Madame de Renal did NOT close her eyelids, experiencing new feelings for herself. “Julien, completely exhausted by the struggle that timidity and pride had been waging in his heart all day, suddenly fell into a deep sleep, and in the morning he did not remember the woman, forgetting about his victory. “Going down to the living room, he half-jokingly thought: I will have to tell this woman that I love her.”

And below, Monsieur de Renal was waiting for him, not hiding his displeasure that the children had been beating their thumbs all morning. Every caustic word of her husband against Julien tormented the heart of Madame de Renal, and the tutor rather sharply replied: "I am sick." This only fueled the mayor's anger, and he exploded into abuse. Julien did not hide his crushing glances at Monsieur and Madame de Renal. But only Madame Derville noticed how much fury and boundless contempt were in Julien's eyes. "Of course, it is precisely such moments of humiliation that create Robespierre."

Everyone went out into the garden, and Julien found himself between two friends who took him by the arms. They said sweet things to him, but "he despised these two women and all their tender feelings."

Incidentally, Madame de Renal said that her husband had ordered the mattresses in the whole house to be shaken. Julien then looked at her strangely and quietly asked Madame de Renal to find the box with the portrait in his room in the corner of the mattress and hide it. He insisted that the woman not look at the portrait, because it was his secret.

Madame de Renal thought that the box contained a portrait of a woman Julien loves. In fact, there was a portrait of Napoleon, whom the young man idolized.

Noble heart and small incomes

Julien met Monsieur de Renal in the house and angrily warned him that he would leave this house if he heard again about his neglect of his duties. Instead of apologizing, de Renal increased the tutor's pay. He decided that Monsieur Valenod was luring Julien to him, and wanted to do something to prevent this.

Julien asked to go to confession to Monsieur Chelan, but went into the mountains to think about what Monsieur de Renal was so afraid of, having increased his salary.

"Clean mountain air filled his soul with peace and even joy."

Returning, Julien met Monsieur Valeno, whom he told that his salary had been increased.

In the evening Julien went into the garden, where Madame Derville and Madame de Renal were already waiting for him. He tried to seize Madame de Renal's hand, but "after some hesitation, it was torn out."

M. de Renal approached, began to talk boringly about politics, and Julien repeated the maneuver and took possession of the hand of Madame de Renal, although her husband was four steps away from them.

Madame de Renal felt that she loved Julien. This feeling was new to her, and she was bewildered by a passion that had never been experienced before.

Julien was pleased to hold the hand of this charming woman, kiss her tenderly in the darkness of the garden, but he went with pleasure to his room, where an unfinished book was waiting for him.

“Madame de Renal could not sleep. She experienced in her mind the bliss that seized her when she felt Julien cover her hand with passionate kisses. But his soul periodically plunged into the abyss of terrible torment, because she, a married woman, committed a sin by loving another man. These thoughts made her sick.

Journey

the next day Julien took three days off. Before leaving, he wanted to see Madame de Renal and went out into the garden. After a while she came, and Julien was fascinated by the beauty of the agitated woman. But her expression was markedly cold. Julien decided that he was despised, he felt a burning annoyance, said nothing about leaving, bowed and left.

Julien walked merrily along the path into the mountains to his friend Fouquet, the timber merchant. "Almost sheer slope of one of the rocks, he noticed a small grotto." Julien climbed into this grotto and felt completely free and happy. "In the boundless darkness that surrounded him, his soul was immersed in the contemplation of the pictures of his future life in Paris." He dreamed of a woman with a high soul who loves him. And he parted with his beloved only in order "to cover himself with glory and become even more worthy of her love."

Julien spent the night in the grotto, and in the morning he went to Fouquet and told his friend about the quarrel with Monsieur de Renal. Fouquet invited Julien to become his companion. But Julien refused, because this proposal blocked his path to glory.

Fishnet stockings

Julien did not think of Madame de Renal for three days. Returning to the castle, he thought with pleasure about the offer of Fouquet, which gave him the opportunity to get rich and feel independent.

“All the time Julien was absent, Madame de Renal suffered inexpressibly: her torments were very different, but equally unbearable.”

Before his arrival, Madame de Renal put on fishnet stockings, a new dress of fashionable fabric. Madame Derville also noticed that, while talking with Julien, her friend turned pale, and her "eyes, full of anxiety, were riveted on the young tutor."

In the evening, in the dark garden, Julien wanted to take advantage of his privilege, took Madame de Renal by the hand, felt her handshake, "however, this was not pleasant to him." He could not believe in the sincerity of the feelings of this charming woman, because it seemed to him that she always sees him "in the form of a working guy who, blushing to the very hair, stood at the door of the house, not daring to call."

English scissors

Fouquet's proposal made Julien unhappy, he could not choose one, and therefore decided to continue the affair with the hostess, "made himself a detailed plan of the campaign and wrote it down on paper." This stupid plan stifled Julien's lively mind. He often did not find an answer to simple questions, and therefore Madame de Renal believed that "he has such a look as if he is thinking everything over and counting every action in advance."

Julien decided to oblige to correct his clumsiness before Madame de Renal "and, choosing the right moment, when they went from one room to another, obeying this duty, he kissed her." This inappropriate outburst terribly frightened and outraged the woman. "And all her virtue returned to her, because love was darkened." But Julien continued to carry out his plan of seduction. However, he clearly saw "that he does not at all manage to be not only seductive, but simply polite."

After breakfast, everyone gathered in the drawing room, and here our hero did not find anything better than to lightly step on Madame de Renal's small foot. She was frightened, but, as if by chance, she dropped scissors, a ball of wool, needles on the floor, so that Julien's gesture could seem like a clumsy attempt to pick up all the utensils for embroidery. This deceived everyone except Madame Derville. She understood well what these gestures meant.

Julien, who never had a mistress, stubbornly played the role of Don Giovanni all day long. Feeling like an unfinished fool, "he told Monsieur de Renal that he was going to Verrieres to the curate."

Mr. Chelan was fired, and Vicar Maslon took his place. Helping the good priest to move to new housing, Julien decided to write to Fouquet that he saw an unfair attitude towards the priests, and therefore, to save his soul, it would be better to refuse the priesthood and accept the offer of a friend.

Julien wanted "to leave himself a way out, to be able to engage in trade, if sad caution wins out heroism in him."

cock crow

When Julien Pishovu Verrières, all mistakes were forgotten. In the evening he suddenly announced to Madame de Renal with incredible boldness that he would come to her room at two o'clock in the morning. As he said this, he trembled in fear that she would agree. "The role of the seducer oppressed him", and he would have preferred to lock himself in his room "so as not to see these ladies."

Madame de Renal was very indignant, and in her answer "he distinctly heard the word" fu "".

When they had all left midnight, Julien decided with gloomy certainty that Madame Derville and Madame de Renal despised him profoundly. From these thoughts, he could not fall asleep and "felt deeply unhappy, when suddenly two hours struck on the castle clock."

"This sound woke him up just as the cock's crow woke St. Peter." Julien had never forced himself so much as now. His knees gave way as he walked past M. de Renal's room, who was snoring loudly.

A light was on in Madame de Renal's room. Julien's fear was so great that he "forgot all his ambitious plans and became himself." In response to the terrified woman's reproaches, "he threw himself at her feet, clasped her knees" and burst into tears.

A few hours later Julien left Madame de Renal's room. He was happy, but even in the sweetest moments of intimacy "he never for a moment allowed himself to forget his 'duty' and tried to play the role of the conqueror of women's hearts." Julien looked like a sixteen-year-old girl "with a magical complexion, who, going to a ball, foolishly puts rouge on her cheeks."

Mortally frightened by the appearance of Julien, Madame de Renal "considered herself a lost woman forever and, in order to drive away the ghost of hell from herself, showered Julien with the hottest caresses."

Julien, returning to his room, "was in that state of surprise and confusion that takes possession of the human soul, she had just achieved what she had been striving for a long time."

the next day

In the morning at breakfast Julien's behavior was impeccable. And Madame de Renal "could not look at him without blushing, and at the same time he could not live a minute without looking at him." Leaving the dining room for the garden, she grabbed and shook Julien's hand, and "he looked at her with a fiery gaze." These secret signs were not noticed by the mayor, but Madame Derville clearly saw them. For a whole day she pestered her friend with hints of danger, but only bored her. In the evening Madame Derville sat down between the lovers, and Madame de Renal's excitement increased this obstacle. She had gone to her room earlier, and two hours of waiting were like two centuries of torture for her. But at one in the morning Julien slipped into his mistress's room.

That night he no longer played a role. "He opened his eyes to see and his ears to hear." Julien liked that Madame de Renal was oppressed by the difference in age between them, but he did not understand her suffering.

"A few days passed, Julien fell in love with all the ardor of youth." He even confessed to Madame de Renal his youthful fears, and this caused a new outbreak of the Woman's love. “I could marry such a man and live with him like in paradise,” she often thought, leaning on her youthful shoulder. She taught him all sorts of everyday trifles and rules, raising him to her high position, and was immensely happy. "Only Madame Derville did not at all show such feelings." Convinced that her wise advice only irritated her friend, she suddenly left Vergy. "After the departure of Madame de Renal's friend, she spent almost whole days face to face with her lover."

First Assistant Mayor

One evening, Julien inadvertently mentioned that during the reign of Napoleon, young Frenchmen had the opportunity to get an education, and now the lack of money is the cause of the misfortunes of the poor. Madame de Renal thought that only servants could have such thoughts and frowned. Money did not matter to him, because she was very rich. Those furrowed brows dealt the first blow to Julien's illusions. He realized that she was from a hostile camp that would not allow any poor person to make a career. “In her entourage, everyone repeated that one must be wary of the emergence of a new Robespierre precisely from among these too well-educated young men from the lower strata.”

"Julien no longer dared to sincerely express his dreams." Now he decided to talk calmly about everything. It occurred to him that Madame de Renal would be safer to come to him than him to her. But he had books that he opened only at night, waiting for a date. From these books and from the upbringing that was carried out by a loving woman, Julien learned a lot of useful things about secular society, about the intrigues that weave around the Besancon prefect. The privileged society was deeply interested in M. de Moire, who had three houses on the royal highway, to go to the position of senior assistant. They were to be demolished. If M. de Moire had succeeded in his position, his houses and the houses of other wealthy townspeople would have been only slightly rebuilt and would have stood for another hundred years.

One day Julien found out about a saved institution for men, to which everyone contributes twenty francs, and where all the members of the institution address each other as “you”. The meetings on Fridays were attended by high-ranking citizens and their servants.

As time went on, the feelings between the lovers flared up more and more. Children could notice their affectionate glances, intimate gestures, and therefore lovers had to be especially attentive. Madame de Renal often caught herself thinking that she loved Julien as if she were her own child. And although while she had to answer his naive boyish question, "she imagined him either as a pope or as a first minister, like Richelieu."

King in Verrieres

On September 3rd, a mounted gendarme rode Verrieres. He said that on Sunday the king would arrive in the city. Monsieur de Renal set about organizing a guard of honor, and appointed Monsieur de Moire as its commander. The wives of the liberals asked Madame de Renal to help the mayor appoint their husbands to the guard of honor, and the woman in love conceived an unheard of thing: “she got Monsieur de Moire and the super-prefect where Mogiron to appoint Julien a guard of honor, although this place was claimed by p ' five or six young men from families of wealthy manufacturers ... "Mr. Valenod, who hated Julien, agreed to give him one of his Norman horses. Madame de Renal wanted to impress her lover with her costume. "She ordered him a full uniform, weapons, a cap - everything you need for an honorary guard" not in Verrieres, but why in Besançon.

"The king wanted to visit the relics of Saint Clement, kept in Bres-le-Hauts, a mile from Verrieres." The new curé did not want to allow the presence of the disgraced Monsieur Chelan at the ceremony, and Monsieur de Renal had to prove to the curate that the king was accompanied by the Marquis de la Mole, who "had known Abbé Chelan for thirty years." If he finds out about the disgrace of Shelan, then he himself will go to the old house. It all ended with the fact that Shelan sent an invitation to "take part in the solemn ceremony." M. Chelan demanded that Julien accompany him as a subdeacon.

From early Sunday morning, the streets of Verrières were filled with thousands of townspeople and peasants. Where at three o'clock all the bells rang: the king entered the territory of the department. The guard of honor moved. “Everyone admired the shiny uniforms, everyone recognized whether a relative or a friend.” In the ninth bench, the first to ride was "a very handsome, slender young man whom at first no one could recognize." Suddenly someone exclaimed that this was the son of the carpenter Sorel, and a commotion broke out in the crowd. “Everyone unanimously expressed indignation at the mayor, especially the liberals,” that a “craftsman”, “tutor”, “peasant offspring” had been appointed to the guard of honor.

Meanwhile, Julien felt himself the happiest man in the world. "He represented himself as Napoleon's adjutant, rushing to attack an enemy battery."

His Majesty had to go after dinner to venerate the relics of St. Clement. Julien, sighing, changed into his old black suit, mounted his horse, and in a few minutes was in Bres-le-Haut. A crowd of ten thousand crowded around the old abbey rebuilt during the Restoration. The holy relic was to be shown to the king by the young Bishop of Agde, the nephew of Monsieur de la Mole. “But now this bishop could not be found anywhere.” The impudent lackeys of the bishop did not let even Monsieur Chelan, who was rector of the chapter of Bres-le-Hauts and "had the privilege of entering at any time before. bishop of his church."

"The proud Julien nature was indignant at the insolence of the lackeys." He rushed so resolutely into the cell where the bishop was, that the servants did not dare to stop him. Julien saw the young bishop in a gloomy hall in front of a large mirror, Right hand he was sedately distributing blessings in the direction of the mirror.” It was not until later that Julien realized that the bishop, who was six or eight years older than him, was simply learning how to dispense blessings.

Julien, as a face, was attached to the abbe of Chelan, the nose was a canopy for the king and was six paces from his majesty during prayer before the altar in a small chapel.

After the service, Monsieur de la Mole ordered that ten thousand bottles of wine be distributed among the peasants. Before leaving, the king visited the mayor's house.

To think is to suffer

While cleaning the room where n de la Mole was staying, Julien found a letter, wrote to the Marquis n de Cholain. It was a request to give him the position of head of the Verrier lottery office.

This letter showed Julien the way he should go.

A week after the departure of the king from the gossip, ridiculous gossip, the objects of which were the king, the bishop, the marquis de la Mole, poor Moire, who fell from his horse in front of the king’s carriage, “there remained only talk of indecent shamelessness, with which they “puffed” into the ranks of the honorary the guard of Togo Julien Sorel, the carpenter's son."

The mayor's family returned to Vergy, and soon a little boy, Stanislas-Xavier, fell seriously ill. "Madame de Renal was suddenly pierced by cruel remorse." She began to reproach herself for her love for Julien, believing that this was God's punishment for the crime of adultery. She brought herself to the point that she was ready to confess to her husband her sinful love for the tutor. And no reasonable arguments of Julien not only did not reassure, but, on the contrary, irritated her. The young man understood her condition and loved her even more because she still loved him, even thinking that she was killing her son. Madame de Renal wanted to repent before God with her suffering and denial of love, but Julien's tears and persuasion changed her decision to tell everything to her husband.

Stanislav began to gradually recover, and the happiness of the lovers “from now on became uplifted, and the flame that dried them burned even more. They gave themselves to insane impulses… Now their happiness sometimes resembled a crime.”

One day Eliza went to Verrières and met Monsieur Valenod, who was very angry with Julien. It was from the maid that Mr. Valno learned the news that was insulting to himself: a brilliant woman in the district, “to whom he showed so much attention for six years,” and everyone saw this, “took for herself that artisan, who is a tutor,” as her lover.

the same evening, Monsieur de Renal received an anonymous letter, "in which the reporters informed him of what was happening in his house.

Anonymous letters

Julien saw Monsieur de Renal read the letter, looking furiously at the tutor, and therefore decided that today he should not meet with his mistress. And in the morning he received a note in which Madame de Renal wrote about her love and her suspicions about the author of the anonymous letter: it was Monsieur Valeno. To divert suspicion from herself, she suggested that Julien write another anonymous letter, already addressed to her, in which it would be said that the "author" knows about her sin and offers to break with the hillbilly forever. This letter must be written on Mr. Valeno's paper.

Then Madame de Renal will give this letter to her husband and convince him that it is Monsieur Valenod who takes revenge on her for her dislike and disgust for him.

According to her cunning plan, Julien was to go to Verrieres, settle down there, make friends with everyone, even with liberals. Let Verrieres think that he "intends to get a job as a tutor with Monsieur Valenod or someone else." Madame de Renal was sure that her husband would treat Julien "as public opinion dictates."

Dialogue with the ruler

For an hour Julien worked on an anonymous letter. Madame de Renal took it simply, resolutely, kissed the children, and quickly left. Julien was struck by the majestic calmness of his mistress.

Mr. de Renal, having received an anonymous letter, suffered a terrible shock. He was now afraid to admit to himself that there were no friends at all with whom he could consult. Falcos and Ducrot, childhood friends, he pushed away with his vanity in 1814. "They were not from the nobility, and he wanted to end the tonal equality that had been established between them since childhood."

A storm raged in his soul. He understood that he would no longer find such a smart, beautiful and rich wife as Louise. If a quarrel breaks out in the mayor's family, then the whole city will laugh out of him. But you can't forgive betrayal.

After many hours of hesitation, de Renal went out into the garden and suddenly met in the alley the one whom he had recently wished for death. His wife was walking from the church. She gave him a letter. “This abomination,” she said, “was given to me by ... some suspicious person. I demand one thing from you: that you immediately send this Monsieur Julien to your father.

M. de Renal furiously crumpled up this letter and silently walked away with long strides. Later, a conversation took place between the spouses, after which Monsieur de Renal, believing in the innocence of his wife, gave Julien leave on the condition that he would go to Verrieres.

This is what they did in 1830.

M. de Renal ordered Julien to live in M. Chelan's house. On the third day of his stay at the abbe, Monsieur Superprefect where Mogiron came, praised the modesty of the drunken tutor for a long time, and then suggested that he leave his job as Monsieur de Renal forever and go to one official to raise his children. Julien diplomatically expressed his gratitude for the proposal, spoke a lot about his respect for the mayor and for Verrier society. "No talkative minister has ever managed to say so many words without saying so little." The super-prefect never got anything definite from Julien.

Later, Julien was given an invitation to dine with M. Valno. He, respectfully, arrived earlier and “found this significant person in front of a pile of files with cases. Thick black sideburns, incredible hair, a fez ... a huge pipe, embroidered shoes, massive gold chains ... "made Julien want to bang this provincial money ace with a stick.

At dinner, a tax collector, an excise inspector, a gendarmerie officer, two or three officials with their wives, several wealthy liberals. The guests were hosted by Valeno's wife, one of the most distinguished ladies in Verrieres. “She had a rough, masculine face, for the sake of a solemn occasion she heavily blushed ...” Julien remembered the beauty and sophistication of Madame de Renal. Servants in rich liveries poured expensive wine, and Julien thought that here, behind the wall, were the hungry inhabitants of the orphanage. "Despite all the hypocrisy he so often resorted to, he felt a large tear roll down his cheek." He thought about the wonderful times of Napoleon's reign, when people won happiness in battles and fought against meanness. And his dreams were interrupted by one of the guests, who asked Julien to demonstrate knowledge of the Latin language. Julien recited passages from the New Testament by heart, translated Latin phrases. The guests applauded and whispered enthusiastically. The dinner was over, and before leaving, "Julien received four or five invitations to dinner."

In the dining room, the tipsy guests were still talking about Julien's remarkable abilities, but he had already said goodbye. Going out the gate, Julien breathed in the fresh air with pleasure. “Well, the company! he thought. “Even if they gave me even half of what they steal, I still would not agree to live with them.”

However, he has become fashionable and, following the order of Madame de Renal, must attend such dinners several more times. “Among the crowd of these new people for him, Julien found, as it seemed to him, one honest person: it was a mathematician named Gro, who was considered a Jacobin.”

Julien was very careful in his statements, carried out all the orders of Madame de Renal, but missed his mistress very much. But then one morning she came to him with the children. It was a happy, albeit brief, meeting. Julien listened to the chirping of children, was surprised at the tenderness of their voices, the simplicity and nobility in all their behavior "and felt the need to clear his imagination of all these vulgar manners, disgusting actions and thoughts, among which he was forced to exist in Verrieres."

Mr. de Renal was dissatisfied with the joyful mood of the family in his absence. Painful pride told him that Julien could become a hundred times nicer for children than he, the owner of the house.

Madame de Renal paid no attention to her husband's gloomy mood, it occurred to her to linger in Verrieres, and she announced that she wanted to do some shopping.

“Monsieur de Renal left his wife at the first haberdashery she went into: he had to visit some. He returned in an even gloomier mood, because he was convinced that the whole city was interested in him and Julien. Everyone wanted to know whether Julien would remain a teacher of the mayor's children for six hundred francs, "would go to eight hundred - to the director of the orphanage." Mr. Valno himself received Mr. de Renal very coldly: "in the provinces, rash acts are so rare that they are dealt with cruelly."

M. Valno was “under the authority of M. de Renal, but he was active, far more energetic than he, and, not disdaining anything, interfered in everything, tirelessly went to whom he went to, to whom he wrote. and, without claiming anything personally, ultimately shook the authority of his mayor in the eyes of the ecclesiastical authorities." He secured the release of the old curate Chelan, but found himself completely dependent on the senior vicar Freeler, who "now gave him rather strange assignments."

Mr. Valno wanted to retain the leadership of the orphanage, and therefore, in the fight against the mayor, he was looking for allies for himself, even among the liberals. “Never the ambition in the fight against the greedy, petty attachment to money has brought a person to the deplorable state in which Monsieur de Renal was” now.

An official's worries

"Immediately after dinner the whole family left for Vergy, but a day later Julien saw them all again at Verrieres." He noticed that Madame de Renal was hiding something from him, because when he appeared, the conversation was often interrupted. It seemed to Julien that she wanted to replace him with another lover, and "he became cold and reserved." But the conversation between the spouses was only about the sale of a large old house.

"Julien went to the auction." He stood among the crowd and listened to the conversations. A man was willing to pay eight hundred francs for the house, but the head of the prefectural office, Monsieur de Saint-Giraud, received the right to this house for only three hundred and thirty francs. Everyone understood that M. de Saint-Giraud must thank M. Valno for this, and even the mayor could not resist this.

“In the evening, everyone was silently sitting by the fireplace ...” Suddenly the bell rang, and “a very handsome gentleman with lush black sideburns entered the room.” It was the famous Italian singer, Signor Geronimo, who brought a letter from Madame de Renal from her cousin, the cavalier de Bovesi.

“The cheerful Neapolitan brought unexpected animation to this sad evening ... He sang a small duet with Madame de Renal. Then he charmed everyone with different stories about his studies at the conservatory and performances in the theater.

"The next day, Monsieur and Madame de Renal gave Signor Geronimo the letters necessary to be recommended to the French court." After his departure, Julien often thought alone about the role chance and good acquaintances play in a person's life.

M. de Renal's family had left the woods of Vergy, and Verrières' respectable society continued to slander about Mme. de Renal and Julien. These rumors reached Mr. Chelan, who, by the power of his authority, tried to convince the young man to leave the city. M. de Renal also spoke frankly with his wife. He confessed to her that public opinion in Verrieres was somehow strangely tuned, and therefore it was necessary to make sure that "Julien left Verrieres and entered the Besancon or Dijon seminary."

Madame de Renal was in despair. She thought that Julien would love another and forget her. But parting was inevitable. Julien asked M. de Renal for letters of recommendation, and the mayor joyfully exalted all his virtues.

From that moment Madame de Renal could only think of one thing: "I see him for the last time."

Big city

Julien arrived in Besancon, one of the most beautiful cities in France, and before burying himself behind the walls of the seminary, he decided to first inspect the high walls, deep ditches, formidable cannons of the fortress, and then dine in a cafe.

There was a game going on in the spacious hall of the cafe on two billiards. The players were tall, with a heavy gait, huge sideburns, in long frock coats. "These noble descendants of the ancient Bisontius did not speak, but shouted, pretending to be formidable warriors."

“The girl sitting behind the counter drew attention to the handsome face of the young provincial, who stood bashfully on the threshold of the cafe. She turned to him, and Julien politely ordered a cup of coffee and bread. The girl invited him to sit at a table at the counter, put a cup, sugar and bread in front of him. “Julien dreamed, comparing in his mind the beauty of this cheerful fair-haired girl with some of the exciting memories that now and then arose before him.”

The beautiful Amanda looked attentively into Julien's eyes and seemed to understand the reason for his embarrassment: he found himself in a big city without acquaintances. The girl wrote her address on a card and handed it to Julien, who said that he had fallen senselessly in love with her. "He was quoting 'New Eloise' to the enchanted Mademoiselle Amanda and was happy with his own bravery" when suddenly "one of her lovers appeared at the cafe door".

He went to the counter, unceremoniously poured himself a glass of vodka, and stared at Julien. The young man "jumped up, beside himself with rage, but did not know how to start a quarrel." Amanda stood between the men and did not let the quarrel flare up.

Finally Julien left. "He had only been in Besancon for a few hours, and he already had something to reproach himself for."

Seminary

"Even from a distance, Julien saw a gilded iron cross on the door." The seminary frightened him, it was considered to him an earthly hell, from which there was no way out. “In the end, he decided to call.” About ten minutes later the door was opened by a very strange saint with an ominous face and silently led the young man to the rector of the seminary, Mr. Pirard. Julien's heart beat madly, his legs buckled, "he would cry, but he did not dare." They entered a warm room. A man in a worn-out cassock sat at the table and wrote. Suddenly he raised his head, and Julien “saw a long face, covered with red spots, which were not there only on the forehead, deathly pale. Between these red cheeks and a white forehead, small black eyes sparkled, which could frighten even the bravest. Thick, smooth and pitch black hair hugged a huge forehead. From fear of this man, Julien suddenly lost consciousness. Recovering himself, the young man saw that Abbé Pirard was reading a letter from M. Chelan, in which he characterized Julien as a quick-witted person.

Mr. Pirard turned to Julien in Latin, and the young man passed the exam in theology, logic and Holy Scripture with dignity, but revealed complete ignorance of the teachings of the Church Fathers. The rector ordered the goalkeeper to take Julien to a separate cell, "it was a small room of eight feet square, on the top floor of the house."

world, or what the rich man lacks

In the morning Julien was late for breakfast. The warden scolded him severely, and he did not justify himself, but crossed his arms over his chest and said with an upset look: “I have sinned, reverend father.”

The seminarians, whom Julien decided to regard as enemies, realized that this newcomer was no stranger to their cause.

“All the first steps of our hero, convinced that he is acting very carefully,” were very reckless: he chose abbot Pirard as confessor; showed himself to be a good student, was perceived very negatively by everyone in the seminary; was silent, and everyone thought he was arrogant.

Letters did not reach Julien: they were read and burned by the abbe Pirard.

One day Fouquet came to see him. Friends talked for a long time. And suddenly Fouquet said that Madame de Renal "went into deep piety ... into ardent piety".

Fouquet's arrival and conversation with him led Julien to the idea that from the very beginning of his stay in the seminars he had done nothing but make mistakes. He pondered every step of his life, but did not care about the details. Many small inaccuracies created a reputation for him as a "freethinker", because he thought instead of blindly obeying authority. “From now on, Julien's attention was always on the alert. He had to portray a completely different person.” But even after many months of Julien's tireless efforts, his manner did not at all indicate blind faith.

the rude seminarians felt respect for money, wealth, and government. At first, Julien despised them, but finally he felt pity: these guys from childhood knew only poverty. They were convinced that a spiritual title would give them the opportunity to eat well and have warm clothes in winter.

Once Julien was called by the rector. In his hands the Abbé Pirard held a playing card bearing Amanda's address. Julien realized that she was kidnapped by scammers of the abbot Castaneda, deputy rector. Calmly enduring the formidable look of Abbé Pirard, Julien said that this was the address of an unfamiliar woman, the owner of the cafe, who took pity on him and agreed to help.

Everything he said was carefully checked. Abbé Pirard warned Julien that keeping this address would be a great negligence, which could damage even ten years later.

First life experience

In the seminary, Julien was left alone, like a boat abandoned in the middle of the ocean. "It was the hardest time of his life." During the lessons, the teachers told the seminarians that the government is an authority that one must respect themselves and teach the flock to obey this authority. The disciples dreamed of one thing - to receive a profitable income. They told stories about priests they knew who got places by servility, the ability to please in time. “Julien saw how the idea of ​​a second god appeared in them, but a god far more powerful and more terrible than the first. That god was dad."

To earn respect for himself, Julien told the seminarians everything he knew from books about the pope. But "they did not like that he expounded their own thoughts better than they did." They gossiped about Julien, they called him Martin Luther.

Procession

“No matter how hard Julien tried to pretend to be insignificant and stupid, he could not please anyone, because he was too different from the others.” Only the teacher of rhetoric, Abbé Cha-Bernard, was deceived by Julien's willingness to "believe everything and make a fool out of himself." Often, after a lecture, he took the young man by the arm, walked with him in the garden and talked about various cathedral decorations, for he was the master of ceremonies at the cathedral.

One evening, Julien was called to the abbot of Pirard, who ordered the young man to go to the abbe of Cha-Bernard to help decorate the cathedral for the holiday. This was Julien's first outing into the city, as he entered the seminary.

The abbot Sha met Julien on the porch of the cathedral dear to his heart, the Gothic pylons of which were draped in red Damascus. That's when Julien came in handy his dexterity. He seemed to fly from one ladder to another, doing hard work. Finally, it was necessary to fix five huge feather tassels on a large canopy above the main altar. The only way to get there was by an old wooden ledge forty feet high. Nobody wanted to take risks, because the cornice, perhaps, was undermined with a shishel. And then Julien very deftly climbed the ladder and fixed the brushes. Abbot Sha said with emotion that his cathedral had never been so well decorated.

When the bell rang for the feast, the abbot Sha put Julien to guard the church from thieves. The incense of incense and rose petals, the solemn sounds of a large bell evoked a wave of warmth in the soul of the young man. He devoted himself entirely to his dreams in an empty church. But suddenly Julien noticed two women kneeling in the confessional. He stepped closer. One of the women turned her head when she heard Julien's footsteps, screamed loudly and lost consciousness. “And at the same moment Julien saw the shoulders and neck of the weakened lady. The twisted necklace of large pearls, well known to him, struck his eyesight.” It was Madame de Renal! The second woman was Madame Derville. Seeing Julien, she imperiously told him to leave before Madame de Renal came. Confused, Julien obeyed and went.

First promotion

Julien had not yet fully recovered from his meeting in the cathedral, when one morning he was called to his place by the stern Abbé Pirard. He said that he was generally satisfied with Julien's behavior, although he is sometimes careless and unreasonable. But he has a spark that should not be neglected, and therefore the abbot appointed Julien as a tutor from the New and Old Testament. Hearing this, Julien was subjected to a sincere impulse: "he went up to the Abbé Pirard, took his hand and raised it to his lips." The rector's voice betrayed him and trembled when he confessed his commitment to Julien, because the position requires him to be impartial to all students.

“Julien hasn’t heard a friendly word in so long… that he burst into tears. The Abbe Pirard embraced him. It was a sweet moment for both."

Now the situation has changed: Julien dined alone, he had the key to the garden; he could walk there, and the hatred of the seminarians was significantly weakened.

“Since Julien received a new appointment, the rector of the seminary frankly avoided talking to him without witnesses ... The invariable rule of the strict Pirard was this: when, in your opinion, a person is worth something, try to interfere with her in all her desires and aspirations. If she has real merit, she will be able to overcome or circumvent all obstacles.

“Exams have arrived. Julien answered brilliantly ... "In the seminary, it was planned that he would be the first in the general examination list, but at the end of the exam one cunning examiner spoke to him about Horace and Virgil, and Julien, forgetting where he was, began to quote these secular authors. This vile trick of the examiner led to the fact that the Abbé de Friler himself put his hand near the name of Julien No. 198. "Where Friler with pleasure did this trouble to his enemy, the Jansenite Pirard."

A few weeks later Julien received from Paris a letter of five hundred francs on behalf of Paul Sorel. The young man decided that this was a gift from Madame de Renal. But this money was from the Marquis de la Mole.

Many years ago the Abbé de Friler bought half of an estate, the other half of which was inherited by M. de la Mole. A dispute arose between two high-ranking officials, then a lawsuit. Monsieur de la Mole turned to the Abbé Pirard for advice. Monsieur Pirard became acquainted with the case and found that the truth was on the side of Monsieur de la Mole. A business correspondence began between them, which later turned into friendship. In order to somehow annoy the Abbé de Friler and support Mr. Pirard, who would never take money, the Marquis sent five hundred francs to his beloved student.

Soon the Abbé Pirard received a letter from Monsieur de la Mole, in which the Marquis invited the Jansenite to Paris and offered him a position in one of the best parishes in the vicinity of the capital.

"The stern abbot Pirard, without suspecting it, loved his seminary, where it was full of enemies, a seminary to which all his thoughts were devoted for fifteen years." He thought for a long time, but nevertheless decided to accept the offer of the Marquis. The abbot wrote to de la Mole and wrote a letter to the bishop, in which he told about all the vile petty quibbles of Monsieur de Friler. Julien was supposed to take this message. The Monsignor Bishop was having lunch. "Thus Julien handed over the letter to Monsieur de Friler himself, whom he did not know by sight."

The abbot unceremoniously opened the letter addressed to the bishop. While he was reading, surprised Julien managed to look at him. Monsieur de Friler was very handsome, but his features showed extreme cunning and duplicity. “Subsequently, Julien learned what was the special talent of the Abbé de Friler. He knew how to entertain the Bishop…” and “selected the bones from the fish served by the monsignor.”

The Bishop of Besancon, a man with a probable mind in long emigration, "was over seventy-five years old and was not very worried about what would happen in ten years." He invited Julien to dinner to inquire in detail about the Abbé Pirard and the seminary. But first he wanted to know about Julien's training. He put the young man a few questions on dogmatics, then turned to secular literature and was amazed at Julien's knowledge. Almost midnight, the bishop sent the young man to the seminary, presenting him with eight volumes of Tacit.

Toward two o'clock in the morning, the abbot Pirard questioned Julien about what was said in the bishop's office. And in the morning all the seminarians knew about Monseigneur's gift. “From that moment on, no one envied him, everyone frankly flattered him.”

“Abbe Pirard left his students about noon, having first addressed them with stern instructions,” but “no one in the seminary took seriously the speech of the former rector. No one in Besançon believed that one could voluntarily resign from a position that offered the opportunity to get rich.”

ambitious

"The abbot was struck by the noble appearance and almost playful tone of the marquis." The future minister received Mr. Pirard "without all the ceremonial courtesies of a great nobleman", which were only a useless pastime.

The Marquis asked Abbé Pirard about the affairs in Franche-Comte, spoke about his own affairs, complained that there was no person next to him who would conduct his correspondence. After some thought, Monsieur Pirard suggested that de la Mole accept Julien as secretary.

A few days after the departure of Abbé Pirard, Julien received a letter demanding that he leave for Paris. Before leaving Verrières for good, he decided to see Madame de Renal once more. Late at night, the young man climbed the stairs to his beloved's room, but met a cold reception there. Madame de Renal repented of the crime of adultery, with all her might resisted the love that breathed every word of Julien, pushed his hands away from her. But everything changed when Julien said that he was going to Paris forever. “She forgot about the danger that threatened her from her husband, because she was frightened by a much greater danger - Julien doubts about her love” and his departure. It was a night of bliss. In the morning they pulled the ladder into the room so that Julien could stay. Madame de Renal fed her beloved all day, tried to stay in the room for a long time, and this aroused her husband's suspicions. In the evening, the lovers were having dinner, when “suddenly someone blocked the doors with might and main” and the angry voice of M. de Renal was heard. Julien had to jump half-dressed out of Madame de Renal's dressing-room window.

PART TWO

The comforts of rural life

Julien was traveling to Paris by mail coach and listened attentively to the conversation of two familiar men. Saint-Giraud told Falcose that four years ago, seeking simplicity and sincerity, which are not found in Paris, he decided to buy a magical mansion in the mountains from the Rhone. He was well received by the neighboring small landowners and the village vicar. But soon they began to demand money from him for some pious societies, and when he refused to give, he received the nickname "impious". Troubles followed: the vicar did not bless his fields, the peasants poisoned the fish in the pond, the bricklayer and stelmach deceived him, the liberals demanded to vote for a stranger. And now Saint-Giraud is selling the estate and running away from rural life to Paris, where he can hide from all the troubles in an apartment on the fifth floor, windows overlooking the Champs Elysees.

Listening to all this, Julien timidly pointed Saint-Giraud to the example of Monsieur de Renal, but in response he received a new outburst of emotions towards the mayor of Verrieres, the rogue Valno and other residents of the city.

“Julien did not feel much excitement when Paris appeared in the distance, the castles in the air of the future receded in his imagination before the vivid memories of twenty-four hours just spent in Verrieres.” In the house of Monsieur de la Mole, Julien was met by Abbé Pirard, who coldly explained that he would live in the house of the nobleman of France himself and correspond, spoke about the family of the Marquis. The nineteen-year-old son of Monsieur de la Mole, Count Norbert, is “a real dandy, an anemone who doesn’t know what to do at two o’clock in the afternoon. He is witty, brave, fought in Spain.

The wife of the Marquis de la Mole is “a tall blond woman, very pious, arrogant, extremely polite and completely insignificant ... She does not even consider it necessary to hide that the only merit worthy of respect in her eyes is to have ancestors of her kind who participated in crusades ».

Entry into the world

Julien was delighted with the house of the Marquis de la Mole, but the abbe Pirard cooled the young man's ardor, saying that in this house he would face severe trials.

In one of the rooms "a wizened little man with lively eyes, in a blond wig, was sitting." Julien barely recognized him as the pompous nobleman he had seen at the abbey of Bres-le-Hauts. They talked for about three minutes. When Julien and the Abbé Pirard left, the priest said that the boldness of the young man's look did not seem very polite to him.

The abbot took Julien to a tailor, then to other craftsmen to order clothes, shoes and shirts. Returning to the mansion, Julien found himself in a huge library, where there were many luxuriously bound books.

After a while Monsieur de la Mole led him into the drawing-room, gleaming with gilding. There were several strangers here. The Marquis introduced the young man to a tall and majestic lady, Dame de la Mole, who scarcely glanced in his direction.

“At half past seven, a handsome young man with a mustache, very pale and slender, entered the room; he had a small head." It was the Comte Norbert de la Mole.

We sat at the table. Opposite Julien sat "a young lady, an unusually fair blonde, very slender" with beautiful eyes, which, however, "reflected great spiritual coldness." It was Mademoiselle Mathilde, daughter of the Marquis.

The guests must have already heard from the marquis about Julien's education, "for one of them began a conversation with him about Horace." The young man felt completely calm, answered well, and "this kind of examination brought some revival to the too serious mood at dinner." Julien liked the society.

First steps

The next morning Julien was copying letters in the library when Mademoiselle Mathilde entered through a secret door. She seemed to Julien strict and arrogant.

At three o'clock Count Norbert appeared. He was extremely kind and offered Julien a ride. On a walk, Julien fell off his horse, and at dinner he himself told about this adventure. “Mademoiselle Matilda held back her laughter in vain; Finally, without ceremony, she began to ask about the details.

the next day in the library, Julien found a certain young man, "the young man was very carefully dressed, but in appearance unprepossessing, with an envious look." It was Tambo, nephew of the academician, a friend of Madame de la Mole. He worked in a separate room, but wanted to take advantage of Julien's privileges and transferred his writing materials to the library. And the marquis severely reprimanded Tambo and drove him out of the library.

At four o'clock Count Norbert again took Julien for a ride. “Twenty times Norbert saw that Julien was about to fall, but at the end the walk ended happily.” At dinner, the Count praised Julien for his courage, and "despite all this benevolence, Julien soon felt lonely in this family."

Palace de la Mole

In the aristocratic living room of the palace of the Marquis, Julien made a strange impression on the guests. Madame de la Mole asked her husband to send him on some mission on those days when certain people were invited to dinner, but the marquis wanted to prove the exam to the end.

Julien tried to make sense of his new surroundings. He noted several friends of the house, the impoverished nobles, just in case courted near him.

The owners of the house were almost always impeccably polite.

It was possible to speak at receptions completely freely, “as long as they don’t say good things about Berenger, Voltaire, Rousseau and opposition newspapers. The youth were afraid to talk about something that could characterize them as freethinkers.” “Despite the good tone, the impeccable courtesy, the desire to be pleasant, longing was reflected on all faces.”

For Julien to dine every day at the table of the marquise was the heaviest part of his duties, although everyone considered it a great honor for him. Once he turned to the abbot Pirard to ask the marquis for permission for him to go to dine at a tavern. This conversation was overheard by Mademoiselle de la Mole; this earned her Julien's respect.

This day was expected by many guests. After dinner, the youth gathered in a separate circle. "Here were the Marquis de Croisenois, the Comte de Caylus, the Viscount de Luz, and two or three other young officers, friends of Norbert or his sister." Julien sat on a low straw chair, just opposite the beautiful Mademoiselle de la Mole, and "he was the envy of all Matilda's admirers."

"Today, Matilda's friends were extremely hostile to anyone who came into this spacious living room." They gave sensitive characteristics to high-ranking individuals, recalled the events and actions of these people, which testified to their negative traits. “These people got into the salons only thanks to the deft indulgence of all parties, or thanks to their wealth acquired in a dubious way.” The most honest man in the drawing-room was the Abbé Pirard. "This bilious Jansenite, who believed in the duty of Christian mercy, had to, living in high society, tirelessly fight with himself."

In the Youth Circle they ridiculed the unfortunate Comte de Talais, the son of a wealthy Jew, who left his son an annuity of one hundred thousand crowns a month. Julien, hearing this laughter, thought that "such a spectacle can cure envy."

Sensitivity and high society saint

Several months of testing passed, and Monsieur de la Mole entrusted Julien with the supervision of the management of the estates in Brittany and Normandy and "management of all correspondence regarding the notorious claim of the Abbé de Friler."

“Abbe Pirard introduced Julien into various Jansenite circles. He was shocked by these pious and stern people who didn't care about money."

With the children of the Marquis de la Mole, Julien was on cool terms. "Norbert thought that the secretary was responding too harshly to the jokes of some of his friends", and "Matilde felt that Julien was violating the rules of politeness."

“The marquis liked Julien’s stubborn industriousness, his silence, intelligence, and he gradually handed over to him all the more or less difficult and intricate affairs.”

In the Palace de la Mole, no one openly insulted Julien's pride, but the young man felt like a stranger here and at the end of the day was ready to burst into tears from loneliness and isolation from a difficult, but familiar and understandable life.

Shades of pronunciation

One day, in a cafe, a man in a frock coat was intently examining Julien. The young man could not stand this insulting look and demanded an explanation. The man in the frock coat replied with a very rude curse. Julien demanded the stranger's address, and the stranger threw five or six business cards in his face.

Julien took as a second the retired lieutenant Lieuvin, with whom he often fenced, "and they set off to look for Monsieur Ch. de Beauvoisy in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, at the address printed on business cards." It was seven o'clock in the morning when they entered the house. The footman ushered them into luxurious chambers, where “a tall young man dressed up like a doll” was already waiting, with meek manners, with a restrained, serious and self-satisfied look. “This was not at all the same person with whom Julien had a run-in the day before… This young man with impeccable manners who was in front of him had nothing to do with that rude subject who insulted him yesterday.” Julien explained the reason for such an early visit and was about to leave, when suddenly he saw a coachman in front of the porch by the carriage and recognized him as yesterday's offender. The young man grabbed him by the hem of his coat and began to beat him with a whip. This beating of the coachman caused a duel between Julien and the Chevalier de Beauvoisy.

“The duel was over in an instant: Julien received a bullet in the arm, he was bandaged with handkerchiefs soaked in vodka, and the Chevalier de Beauvoisy very politely asked Julien for permission to take him home in a carriage.” The dear chevalier and his second told very indecent anecdotes, laughed at the procession, but spoke easily, in refined, figurative language. Julien wanted to maintain friendly relations with these interesting people.

The Chevalier found out with whom he had a duel, and was upset: he could not admit that he had fought with which secretary of Mr. de la Mole, and therefore divulged that Julien Sorel was the illegitimate son of a close friend of the Marquis. When this fact became public, the young diplomat allowed himself to visit the sick Julien several times, and then invited him to the opera and introduced him to the famous singer Geronimo.

"Julien was seen at the opera in the company of the Chevalier de Beauvoisy, and this acquaintance made him talk about him."

Gout attack

For several months Monsieur de la Mole suffered from attacks of gout, did not go out anywhere and was content with Julien. The marquis liked this young man more and more, surprised the ruler with his awareness and views. “It happens that people become attached to a pretty dog,” thought the marquis, “why should I be ashamed of my affection for this young abbe?”

Mr. de la Mole decided to give Julien a noble birth and sent him on minor assignments to England.

In London, Julien met Russian nobles and finally learned what high-class fativism is. Prince Korazov recommended to Julien "always do the opposite of what is expected of you." The young Frenchman visited salons, got acquainted with upper world England, once a week dined with the Ambassador of His Majesty, and when he returned to Paris, the Marquis presented him with an order. "Thanks to this order, Julien was honored with a very strange visit: Monsieur Baron de Valno appeared to him ... He was going to be appointed mayor of Verrieres instead of Monsieur de Renal", who lost the election.

The newly minted baron asked the Marquis for lunch and the far-sighted Monsieur de la Mole accepted this rogue.

What marks a person

The marquise and her daughter returned from the Persian Islands, and Matilda was surprised by the changes that had taken place during this time with Julien. "There was nothing provincial about his figure and manner." It seemed to Mademoiselle that this young peasant was interesting among the people who surrounded him. She very dryly invited Julien to a ball at M. Retz's. “How I dislike this lanky girl,” he thought, following Mademoiselle de la Mole with his eyes. She exaggerates every fashion; her dress completely falls off her shoulders ... She is even paler than she was before her trip ... What colorless hair, blond, as if shining through ... How much pride in her manner of greeting, in her eyes! What majestic gestures!

The palace of the Duke de Retz struck Julien with unprecedented luxury.

The guests formed a crowd around the first beauty of the ball. Julien heard the enthusiastic voices of men about the grace, eyes, posture, mind of Matilda and decided to take a good look at her.

Mademoiselle turned to Julien, and a conversation began between them about Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his Social Contract. Matilda was intoxicated with her knowledge, and "Julien's gaze remained piercing and cold." Madame de la Mole was amazed. She examined with her sky-blue eyes the Marquis de Croisenois, who dreamed of marrying her, other people and thought about their insignificance, about her provided, but boring future. In the corner of the hall, Matilda noticed Count Altamira, who was sentenced to death in his homeland, and thought: “It can be seen that only a death sentence marks a person. It's the only thing you can't buy. And what young Frenchman would be capable of doing something that would threaten him with a death sentence? »

Matilda was the queen of the ball, but remained indifferent. She thought about what a colorless life awaits her with such a creature as Croisenois, and was angry at Julien, who did not approach her.

Matilda's mood worsened. She searched with her eyes for Julienne and "saw him in the second room." The young man spoke with Count Altamira. Julien surrendered to Matilda as a prince in disguise, a real handsome man.

Count Altamira told Julien about the nobles present at the ball. Here is Prince Arachel, who Every minute glances at the Order of the Golden Fleece. He earned the reward by "ordering three dozen rich landowners, who were considered liberals, to be thrown into the river." At this ball were present, "apparently, a dozen people who in the next world will be damned as murderers." Julien's face was filled with excitement. He seemed beautiful to Matilda, but Julien never looked at her. The offended girl went to dance so as not to think about the neglect shown to her by the secretary.

the next day, while working in the library, Julien "returned repeatedly in his mind before talking with the Count of Altamira". He was so absorbed in thinking about the undefeated heroes of France that he did not notice Mademoiselle Mathilde come in and noted with displeasure that Julien's eyes went out when he looked at her.

Queen Margaret

"In the morning Julien saw Mademoiselle de la Mole in the dining room in deep mourning." All other members of the family were dressed as usual. After dinner, Julien began to ask about the reason for mourning and heard an amazing story. “On April 30, 1574, the most beautiful young man of his time, Boniface de la Mole, and his friend Annibal, where Coconasso was beheaded in the Place de Greve” because Boniface tried “to free his friends the princes whom Queen Catherine de Medici held at court as captives.”

In this whole story, Matilda was more struck by the fact that Marguerite of Navarre, the wife of King Henry IV of Navarre, who was the mistress of Boniface de la Mole, bought her lover's head from the executioner and buried it in a chapel at the foot of Montmartre Hill.

Interesting in this story of mourning was also the fact that the second name of Matilda de la Mole was Marguerite. The marquis allowed her daughter her whims, because “Matilda did not wear mourning in order to attract everyone's attention to herself. She really loved that la Mole, the queen's lover, the witty woman of her time, the young man who died for trying to free his friends. And what friends! - The First Prince of the Blood and Henry IV.

"Julien tried not to exaggerate this strange friendship" and did not lose dignity. He could interrupt Matilda's speech, did not tolerate insulting treatment of himself, but noted with surprise that the daughter of the Marquis tolerated this, because she was in love with him. Sometimes he was besieged by doubts, and then, flashing his eyes, he promised himself to take possession of her and leave this house.

The power of a young girl

Matilda was often bored. She received real entertainment and pleasure only when she could humiliate a person unpleasant to her with an exquisite mockery. The Marquis de Croisenois, the Comte de Queylus, and several other distinguished young men wrote letters to her. “The letters of these young men consoled her, but she assured that they were all the same. These were always manifestations of that same passion - deep, naisumovityshoi. ” Matilda was confident in their courage and courage, but “which of them would think of doing something unusual? At her future next to one of them, she looked with disgust. And Julien seemed completely different to her. “She was struck by his pride, she was carried away by the subtle, mind of this tradesman.” Very soon Matilda realized that she fell in love with Julien. It seemed to her that "there is something majestic and bold in daring to love a person so far from her by his position in society."

Is he Danton?

Mademoiselle de la Mole was imbued with beautiful discourses about her love for Julien. It seemed to him unusual, heroic, similar to the love of Queen Marguerite de Valois for the young la Mole. Julien's energy frightened those around her. It seemed to Matilda that her beloved of salvation would not be afraid to put a bullet in the forehead of every Jacobin, and she passionately defended him from the attacks of young aristocrats.

Since Matilda decided that she loved Julien, her longing was dispelled. She often looked at him for a long time. One day Julien accidentally heard his name "in the company of brilliant young men with mustaches who surrounded Mademoiselle de la Mole." When he came closer, everyone fell silent and did not find how to break this silence.

Julien thought that this charming youth conspired to mock him. He suspected that Matilda wanted to convince him of her love in order to make him a laughing stock. This terrible thought easily destroyed in his heart the germ of love, "which was generated only by the exceptional beauty of Matilda, or rather, her regal posture and charming toilets." But he had the good sense to understand that he did not know her spiritual qualities at all.

From the time of his terrible discovery of Mathilde's feelings, Julien began to reject all words of friendship addressed to him by Mademoiselle de la Mole. But she did not understand and suffered.

Julien decided to leave Paris for a while and persuaded the Marquis to let him go. Matilda found out about this and in the evening handed over a letter to Julien, in which she confessed her feelings. Reading this letter, it suddenly occurred to Julien that he, the son of a carpenter, had defeated the Marquis de Croisenois, that handsome man with a mustache, in a luxurious uniform, who for many years dreamed of Matilda's hand and reverently heeded her every word.

After some time, Julien found an excuse to cancel the trip, and the Marquis de la Mole said that he was glad of this, because he was pleased to see Julien. The young man was embarrassed by these words, because he dreamed of seducing the daughter of his benefactor, "perhaps upsetting her marriage to the Marquis de Croisenois." But the pleasure of victory drowned out the voice of virtue, he felt like a hero and repeated repeatedly that this was a victory both over the Marquis de Croisenois and over the whole world of the aristocracy.

Julien Mathilde's reply "would have done honor to the diplomatic caution of the Chevalier de Beauvoisy himself." He felt like a god.

Opinions of a young girl

For the first time in her life, the arrogant soul of Matilda knew love. “She was less frightened by the thought of doing badly and breaking the rules sacred in the eyes of such people as where is Keylus, where is Luz, de Croisenois… She was afraid of only one thing: that Julien would not condemn her.” At nineteen, "Matilda had already given up hope of meeting a person even slightly different from the common template." And now she fell in love with a man who stands on the lowest rungs of society and is different from the men of her circle in every way. "The depth, the incomprehensibility of Julien's character could frighten a woman, tied up with him the usual relationship, and she was going to make him her lover, perhaps her master."

Julien decided to check that Matilda's letter was not a game, agreed in advance with Count Norbert. He pretended to leave. "Matilda didn't sleep a wink all night."

another day, “as soon as he entered the library, Mademoiselle de la Mole appeared at the door. Julien conveyed his answer to her." In the next letter, Matilda demanded a decisive answer from him. The third letter contained only a few lines: Matilda wrote that she was waiting for him at night in her room.

isn't it a conspiracy?

Having received the third letter, Julien again began to think that they wanted to destroy him or make a laughing stock of him. Well, he will look good on a moonlit night, licking the stairs to the second floor to Matilda's room. Julien decided not to answer the letters and leave on business. He began to pack for the trip, when he suddenly thought that Matilda could be sincere in her feelings. Then he will be a coward in her eyes, forever lose the commitment to this girl and despise himself all his life.

Julien thought for a long time about the fact that several conspirators might be waiting for him in Matilda's room, that some servant might shoot him on the stairs, but he could not help but go.

He reloaded the small pistols, checked the stairs under Matilda's windows. It reminded Julien of climbing into the window of Madame de Renal's room at Verrieres. But then he did not have to distrust the person for whom he had put himself in such danger.

First hour of the night

At half-past one at night, the moon "flooded with bright light the facade of the palace overlooking the garden." “The first hour has struck; but there was still light in Count Norbert's windows. Never in his life did Julien experience such fear: he saw only the dangers in this whole affair, completely losing courage. But at one o'clock five minutes the young man quietly climbed the stairs, holding a pistol in his hand. “When he had already gone to the window, it silently opened”: Matilda was waiting for him. "Julien did not know what to do and did not feel any love." He tried to hug the girl, but she pushed him away. “Embarrassment reigned - equally strong for both. Julien made sure the doors were fully bolted." He even looked under the bed.

Julien spoke of his suspicions. He showed a keen sense of satisfied ambition, and Matilda was unpleasantly struck by his victorious tone. She was tormented by remorse, but she "firmly decided that when he had the courage to come to her, she would give herself to him." "After much hesitation, Matilda finally forced herself to become his tender mistress."

After that night, grief and shame seized her, instead of the boundless bliss described in the novels.

ancient sword

The next day Matilda did not even look at Julien. Her face was dry and bad. "Julien, gripped by agonizing anxiety, was now distant lands from the triumph that he experienced on the first day."

Matilda was afraid that Julien might divulge her secret, because she herself made him her master, who has unlimited power over her.

And Julien, who until three days ago had not felt love for Mathilde, was now sure that he loved her. “He dreamed of a tender mistress who forgets herself by making her lover happy,” and “Matilda’s indignant arrogance rebelled against him.”

On the third day of incomprehensible hostility, Julien decided to talk to Matilda, and already "in a few minutes they announced to each other that everything between them was over."

A terrible internal struggle arose in Julien's soul. He decided to leave for the Languedoc at least for a while, and, having packed his suitcases, he went to Monsieur de la Mole to inform him of his departure. In the library he met Matilda. “When he entered, such anger was reflected on her face that he no longer had any doubts”: she does not love him. And yet Julien spoke in the gentlest voice to Matilda, but in response she said: "I cannot come to my senses that I gave myself to the first comer." Beside himself with grief, Julien draws a sword from an antique scabbard. He was ready to kill his unfaithful mistress, but, remembering the Marquis, "sheathed his sword and calmly hung it on the gilded bronze nail on which she hung." “Mademoiselle de la Mole looked at him with surprise. So my lover almost killed me, she told herself. There was no more disdain in her eyes. And she ran away."

The Marquis entered. Julien informed him of his departure, but Monsieur de la Mole asked him to stay, because he had an important assignment for him.

Cruel minutes

Mademoiselle de la Mole was delighted with the passion that Julien had. “If at this moment there was some reason to restore their relationship, she would gladly seize on it.”

After dinner, she was the first to speak to Julien. She spoke of her heartfelt feelings, of the capture by M. de Croisenois, M. de Caius. "Julien suffered terrible pangs of jealousy." How cruelly the pride of Julien was punished, who placed himself above all these aristocrats.

“This ruthless frankness lasted for a whole week.” Matilda recounted letters to Julien, which, when she wrote, “his torments gave her obvious pleasure. She saw in them the weakness of her tyrant, hence she could afford to love him.” But Julien acted stupidly: he ardently confessed to Matilda that he loved her. “Sincere, but such thoughtless words of Julien changed everything in an instant. Convinced that he loved her, Matilda felt a deep disdain for him "and even disgust.

Julien did not understand anything, but he immediately felt this disdain and stopped even looking at Matilda, although it cost him tremendous effort.

having enjoyed the attention of young aristocrats, Matilda again began to think about Julien. She saw herself as a friend of a man, next to whom she would not go through life invisible.

Italian opera

“Immersed in thoughts about the future and about the outstanding role that she hoped to play, Matilda soon began to recall, not without regret, the disputes that she and Julien had had.” She increasingly recalled moments of happiness, and she was tormented by remorse.

In the evening, Matilda and her mother left for the Italian Opera. "During the first act, she dreamed of her beloved one of the hottest passions." In the second act, the love aria struck the girl so much that “she was in such ecstasy. It seemed to her that she had conquered her love.

Meanwhile, Julien felt like a victim. “Never before had he reached such despair,” but he decided to put an end to it once and for all. At night, he found a ladder, went up to the room, dreaming of kissing his beloved once, and fell into her arms.

“Who could portray Julien's happiness?

Matilda was happy, perhaps no less than he was." She, squeezing him in her arms, asked for forgiveness for her rebellion, called him the owner, and herself his slave and servant. As a sign of reconciliation, Matilda cut off a large strand of hair and gave it to her beloved.

In the morning Julien went down to the dining-room and saw Matilda's eyes shining with love.

But a day later, she again began to repent of what she had done for him. "She's tired of loving today."

Julien did not understand what he had done to deserve such disfavor. He was overcome with despair.

Japanese vase

the next day Matilda again surrounded herself with young aristocrats. She regained her commitment to secular entertainment. Julien had the imprudence to take his old place in the circle next to Matilda, but he felt superfluous here: no one paid any attention to him. "For an hour, he played the role of an obsessive subordinate, from whom they do not hide what they think of him." He was looking for an excuse to leave, "and when he left the living room, it turned out to be extremely awkward for him."

the next day it all happened again. Julien wanted only one thing - to talk to Matilda. The girl started this unpleasant conversation herself. Quite frankly and directly she declared that she did not love him, that her wild imagination had deceived her.

Julien tried to somehow justify himself, but the sound of his voice irritated Matilda. “She had an extremely sharp mind and perfectly mastered the art of striking human vanity” so that Julien began to despise himself.

Matilda was proud that she could break everything forever. “She was so happy that in those moments she really didn’t feel love at all.”

This morning Madame de la Mole asked Julien to give her a very rare pamphlet. "He, taking it from the console, knocked over an old blue porcelain vase, very ugly."

Madame de la Mole jumped up with a desperate cry. She began to tell the story of this vase, but Julien was not even embarrassed. He quietly said to Matilda, who was standing by him: “This vase is broken, destroyed forever. The same thing happened to one feeling that once dominated my heart. I apologize to you for the madness to which it pushed me. “And he went out.”

secret note

“The Marquis called Julien to his place” and suggested that he study the four pages of the message, go to London and translate it there, without changing a word.

In the evening Julien and Monsieur de la Mole went to meet the conspirators. They entered the living room, in the middle of which the footman had placed a large table.

The name of the owner, an extremely obese man, was never mentioned. At the table, with their backs to Julien, sat seven interlocutors. “Another gentleman entered without any report ... He was short and fat, ruddy, and nothing could be read in his brilliant eyes but the fury of a wild boar».

Another person entered. He looked like an old Bishop of Besancon. Then came the young Bishop of Agde. He recognized Julien, and his face showed surprise.

All the guests were divided into groups and talked rather loudly. Julien did not know how to behave in this situation. "He heard such amazing things, his embarrassment grew more and more."

The footman reported that the Duke *** had arrived. "With his appearance, the meetings began immediately."

Julien's reflections on this meeting were interrupted by Monsieur de la Mole, who introduced him as a man endowed with an amazing memory. His task was to memorize everything that was said in this room, and to convey all the speeches verbatim to the person who was named to him. Julien realized that he was involved in some kind of conspiracy, but this did not bother him much. He recorded the speeches in twenty pages of minutes. All speeches boiled down to the fact that England should help France in its struggle against free-thinking and the petty bourgeoisie, and the French aristocrats would help her by sending an army of noble nobles.

Clergy, forests, freedom

French aristocrats dreamed of creating an armed party. And there was no unity between them, they did not trust each other. But the matter had to be brought to an end, and the marquis composed a secret note, which Julien learned by heart.

n de la Mole gave Julien a road trip in a fictitious name and advised the young man to portray “a veil, travels to pass the time. The marquis warned Julien to be very careful on the road, because the enemies of the conspirators know about the envoy and organize searches on all roads and at postal stations. And indeed, at one station they detained him, searched his luggage, but, not finding paper, decided that he could not be a courier.

Julien without much adventure reached the duke, told him the message and received an order to leave for Strasbourg.

Strasbourg

Julien spent a whole week in Strasbourg. All this time he thought only of Matilda. “He had to strain all his strength so as not to go into despair,” but the future seemed to him bleak. He dreamed of having a friend with whom he could tell everything.

One day, Julien accidentally met the Russian prince Korazov. When the prince advised Julien to be serious and laconic. And now he saw the young Frenchman depressed. The prince showed interest in Julien's emotional experiences, and he told Korazov his sad love story. Of course, he did not name his beloved, but he accurately described the actions and character of Matilda to the prince.

Prince Korazov worked out for Julien every step in his relationship with his beloved.

Firstly, Julien does not avoid communicating with her, but in any case does not show him that he is cold or resentful. Secondly, he has "to be amiable with any woman from her society, but without showing passionate love." It is necessary to play this comedy very skillfully so that no one guesses anything. Thirdly, Julien must write letters to the woman on whom we fall, twice a day. The next day, the prince gave Julien fifty-three numbered love letters addressed to the highest and saddest virtue.

“The prince was captured by Julien. Not knowing how to prove his sudden favor to him, he finally offered him the hand of one of his cousins, a rich Muscovite heiress.” Julien promised to think, but, having received an answer from an important person to a secret note, he left for Paris and felt that he could not leave France and Matilda.

He decided that, following the instructions of Prince Korazov, he would look after the widow of Marshal de Fervac, who often visited the Palace de la Mole. This beauty considered her goal in life to make everyone forget "that she is the daughter of an industrialist, and in order to create a certain position for herself, to gain authority in Paris, she decided to preach virtue."

The Kingdom of Integrity

Returning to Paris, and handing de la Mole the answer, with which he was obviously very disappointed, Julien hurried to the Count of Altamira. The young man admitted that he passionately loves the marshal's widow. The count took him to Don Diego Buetosa, who had once unsuccessfully courted beauties. He told Julien that Madame de Fervac can be vindictive, but the desire to harm people comes from some secret grief that she carries in her soul. The Spaniard handed over four letters written by her, and Julien promised that their conversation would remain a secret.

Dinner hour was approaching, and Julien hastened to the Palais de la Mole. He decided to fulfill all the instructions of the prince, and therefore dressed in the most travel suit. At table, he tried not to look at Matilda, and after dinner the marshal came to visit where Fervak. "Julien immediately disappeared, but soon reappeared, extremely exquisitely dressed." He sat down at the marshal's and fixed on her a look filled with the deepest admiration. Then Julien went to the Italian Opera and looked at Madame de Fervac for the whole evening. During this time, he never once mentioned Matilda.

“Matilda almost forgot him while he was traveling. She finally found agreement to conclude marriage negotiations with the Marquis de Croisenois ... But her thoughts completely changed when she saw Julien. Matilda was struck by the behavior of Julien, who spoke only to Madame de Fervac. Prince Korazov could have been proud of his pupil, who every evening sat down near the marshal's chair with the air of a man boundlessly in love.

High moral love

Madame de Fervac was fascinated by the young abbé, who can only listen and look with very beautiful eyes.

“Julien, for his part, found in the manners of the marshal an almost perfect example ... of impeccable politeness ... and incapacity for any strong feeling ... Her favorite topic of conversation was the last hunt of the king, and her favorite book was the Memoirs of the Duke de Saint-Simon, especially in the genealogical parts of them."

Julien always sat down in advance near Madame de Fervac's favorite place, turning his chair so as not to see Mathilde. He spoke with the marshal, but he tried to influence the soul of Mademoiselle de la Mole, who always listened attentively to the conversation.

Julien, acting according to the plan that Prince Korazov had worked out for him, rewrote Letter No. 1 to Madame de Fervac. "It was a terribly boring sermon, full of grandiloquent words about charity." He personally took this letter and handed it to the porter, while having an upset, full of deep melancholy expression.

the next evening Mathilde left her usual company and sat near Madame de Fervac, which raised Julien's eloquence. But he never once looked in the direction of an unfaithful lover.

Top Church Positions

The second letter to Madame de Fervac was even more boring than the first. And Julien copied it, took the marshals away, and, leading the horse into the stable, furtively glanced into the garden in the hope of seeing at least Matilda's dress. “On the whole, his life was now not as unbearable as before, when days passed in complete inactivity.”

Julien had already taken back fourteen of those odious dissertations, and Madame de Fervac treated him as if he had never written to her. But one morning they gave him an invitation to dinner from the marshal.

The living room in the palace where Fervak ​​struck with luxury. "In this salon, Julien saw three of those who were present at the drafting of the secret note." One of them was the Monsignor Bishop, Madame de Fervac's uncle. "He was in charge of the list of vacant spiritual positions and, as they said, could not refuse anything to his niece."

All the benefits of this acquaintance were calculated by Tambo, who worked for Monsieur de la Mole and considered Julien his rival. He believed that "when Sorel becomes the lover of a beautiful marshal, she will arrange him for some profitable church position," and he will lose Julien in the palace de la Mole.

Manon Lesko

"The instructions of the Russian forbade contradicting the person to whom the letters were written."

then in the opera Julien praised the ballet "Manon Lescaut". "Marshal-I said that the ballet is far weaker than the novel of the Abbé Prevost", which occupies one of the first places among depraved, dangerous works.

"Madame de Fervac considered it her duty ... to express a crushing disdain for writers who, with their vile writings, are trying to spoil the youth, who, alas, easily succumb to pernicious passions anyway."

“During the whole time Julien spent in courting Madame de Fervac, Mademoiselle de la Mole had to make great efforts to force herself not to think about him. There was a fierce struggle going on in her soul.” She listened to Julien and was surprised that he said to the marshals something completely different from what he really thinks.

Julien was in despair that Matilda treated her fiancé so kindly. He even thought about suicide, but when he saw his beloved, he was ready to die of happiness.

"At first Madame de Fervac read Julien's long letters with indifference, but at last they began to interest her." She developed an interest in this handsome young man. “One day she suddenly decided that she had to answer Julien. It was a victory for boredom.” The marshals “formed a pleasant habit of writing almost every day. Julien answered by diligently copying Russian letters, "but Madame de Fervac was not at all bothered by the lack of a logical connection between their letters. How surprised she would have been to know that most of her letters remained unopened.

One morning, Matilda went into the library before Julien, saw the marshal's letter and exploded with indignation. She recalled that she was his wife and would not tolerate all this disgrace. Angered, Mademoiselle pushed the drawer aside with fury and saw a whole pile of unopened letters. Terrified, Mathilde exclaimed that Julien despised Madame de Fervac, but suddenly fell on her knees and exclaimed: “Ah, forgive me, my friend! Despise me if you like, but love me, I can't live without your love anymore!

Lodge at the comic opera

Awakening from her shock, Mathilde asked if Madame de Fervac had really taken Julien's heart from her. The young man was silent.

Matilda had been tormented by jealousy for a whole month, which in an instant defeated pride. Her grief was so great that Julien felt sorry for this girl. But he well understood: as soon as he showed his love, her eyes would again be reflected, cold neglect. Courage betrayed him, but, having gathered the last strength, Julien said in a firm voice that the marshal was worthy of love, because she supported him when others despised him. Julien demanded guarantees that Matilda's love for him would last more than two days. At that moment, the girl "wanted to do something unusual, incredible, to prove to him how immensely she loves and hates herself," but Julien gathered the scattered sheets of the marshal and went out.

Keep at bay

In the evening, Julien saw Mathilde with her mother at the opera, although it was not their day. "He hurried to Madame de la Mole's box," but he never spoke to Mademoiselle, although it cost him incredible effort. And Matilda wept with happiness, holding Julien's hand.

At home, Julien suddenly felt like a commander who had won a major battle. But this victory still had to be kept. And he decided to keep Matilda at bay. “The enemy will reproach me only as long as he is afraid of me, then he will not dare to despise me,” thought Julien.

The next morning Matilda waited for Julien in the library for an hour. When he arrived, the girl said in a low voice: “Darling, I offended you, it's true, you have the right to be angry with me. The guarantee that I love you will be our departure to London. It will destroy me forever, dishonor me ... "

Julien paused, to control himself, and declared in an icy tone: “Let you be put to shame, but who will guarantee me that you will love me, that my presence in the mail coach will not suddenly become hateful to you? I am not an executioner, and losing your reputation will only be an extra misfortune for me. After all, it is not your position in high society that should prevent us, but, unfortunately, your luck.

that day and thereafter, Julien skillfully concealed his boundless joy from the confessions of Matilda. But one day he lost control of himself, spoke about the boundless suffering, but suddenly caught himself and said that he invented it all. Matilda was amazed. But despite all the unpleasant words of Julien, their relationship developed further.

“An English traveler says that he became friends with a tiger. He raised him and caressed him, but he always kept a loaded pistol on the table.”

Julien gave himself entirely to love when Matilda could not read the happiness in his eyes. When he was ready to lose his temper, he left Matilda. And she loved at first and neglected the danger.

"She became pregnant - she happily informed Julien of this." This was her guarantee of love and devotion.

Matilda decided to confess everything to her father, but Julien refused her, because through this confession the Marquis could kick her daughter out of the house. He was even more frightened by separation from his beloved. "Matilda was happy."

The fateful day has come. The Marquis held a letter from Matilda, in which she confessed her love for Julien, wrote that the young man was not to blame for anything, that it was she who seduced him.

Julien knew about the letter and was tormented by the fact that in the eyes of the Marquis he would now be an ungrateful deceiver.

Suddenly an old valet appeared and called the young man to Monsieur de la Mole.

Hell of cowardice

“Julien found the marquis furious: perhaps for the first time in his life this nobleman behaved so indecently.” But the young man did not lose his sense of gratitude towards Monsieur de la Mole. He knew how much hope the marquis placed on the successful marriage of Matilda. And now everything has gone upside down.

Julien tried to justify himself, but ran into a new outburst of anger. And then the young man wrote a note in which he asked the Marquis to kill him when he was walking in the garden. But the thought of the fate of the future son worried Julien more than his own problems.

Matilda was in despair. She declared that she would die if Julien died. Now the marquis himself was at a loss. He sought a way out of the situation, but "Matilda resisted all her father's 'calculative' projects." She wanted to become Madame Sorel and live quietly with her husband in Switzerland.

At this time, Julien left for Villequier, where he checked the accounts of the farmers, and then returned and asked for asylum from the Abbé Pirard, who persuaded the marquis to accept the marriage of lovers. But the marquis in the depths of his soul could not accept the fact that his daughter would become the wife of a carpenter's son.

Smart man

Sometimes the marquis thought that the best way out of the situation would be the death of Julien. Then he came up with some projects in order to abandon them after a while.

Julien understood that Monsieur de la Mole did not know what to do. He either gave a lot of money to his daughter and her lover, then he dreamed that Julien would move to America, then he wanted to create a brilliant career for him.

Matilda saw her father's mood and wrote him a letter in which she proved that she loved Julien and would never give him up. She will marry her beloved and leave Paris forever.

Having received this letter, the marquis had to make some decision, "but he again began to put off the matter and write to his daughter, because they began to correspond from one room to another." In a letter, M. de la Mole gave Matilda a patent for the rank of lieutenant of hussars in the name of the cavalier Julien Sorel de la Verneuil. Matilda's answer was overflowing with gratitude, but at the same time she appointed the day of the wedding. After a while, she received an unexpected answer from her father. He warned Matilda and wrote that no one knows what this Julien is.

Learning from Matilda about the rank of lieutenant, Julien was delighted, because all his ambitious dreams were filled.

“So,” he said to himself, “my romance is over, and I owe it only to myself. I managed to make this proud monster love me. Her father cannot live without her, and she cannot live without me.”

“Julien plunged into deep thought and scarcely responded to Matildini's ardent caresses. He was silent and gloomy, "and Matilda did not dare to ask him about the reason for such a mood. Something like horror crept into her soul. “This callous soul has now known in her love everything that is inherent in passion ...”

Julien received twenty thousand francs from the Marquis, and the Abbé Pirard ensured that Julien was recognized as the illegitimate son of a wealthy nobleman, Monsieur de la Verneuil.

Soon Julien went to the brilliant hussars. "His horses, uniform, liveries of servants were in such impeccable order that they would have done honor to the most demanding English nobleman." He was already counting when he would become a regiment commander, thinking only about glory and about his son.

And it was then that a letter came from Matilda in which she begged and demanded to come immediately. Julien received leave and arrived at the Palais de la Mole. Matilda, seeing him, forgot about everything and threw herself into his arms. With tears in her eyes, she gave him a letter from her father, in which the Marquis announced that he was abandoning all his intentions regarding the wedding. And then Matilda gave Julien a letter from Madame de Renal, in which it was written that Mr. Sorel "sought to win a certain position in the world and go out into the people, resorting to sophisticated hypocrisy for this purpose and seducing a weak and unhappy woman." Further, Madame de Renal wrote that Julien does not recognize any laws of religion and "sows everywhere misfortune and eternal repentance."

After reading the long and half-stained letter, Julien jumped into the mail-coach and rushed to Verrières. There he bought a pair of pistols, went to the church, approached Madame de Renal, who was praying, "shot and missed, shot a second time - she fell."

sad details

Julien was detained right in the church, sent to prison, put on iron handcuffs, locked the door and left alone. “It all happened very quickly, and he did not feel anything.”

“Madame de Renal was not mortally wounded ... The bullet hit her shoulder and - strange to say - bounced off the humerus ... "

The woman had long wanted to die. Separation from Julien was a real grief for her, and she called this grief "remorse." The confessor well understood her condition and forced her to write a letter to Monsieur de la Mole with words of repentance.

Julien confessed everything to the judge, who came to his cell. He then wrote to Mademoiselle de la Mole about what had happened. He asked for forgiveness from Matilda that this unfortunate incident would get into the newspapers and could be associated with her name, forbade talking about him even with his son, bequeathed to marry Monsieur de Croisenois.

After sending the letter, Julien began to think about his life, which would be a preparation for death, in which he did not see anything reprehensible, except that he would die on the guillotine. ; The jailer, bribed by Madame de Renal, told her that she was alive and recovering. "Only now Julien began to repent of his crime."

Julien was transferred to Besançon and kindly assigned a room on the top floor of a Gothic tower. At the moment when they came to him, the curate Chelan came. He was very old, walked with a cane, and was accompanied by his nephew. Julien could not get anything sensible from the old man and was very upset. "He saw death in all its frivolity," but later it occurred to him that he would die young, and this would save him from miserable destruction. But from time to time courage left him. “If such cowardice grows, it is better to commit suicide. What a joy it will be for all those abbots of Masloniv and Messrs. Valenod if I die like a coward,” thought Julien.

Fouquet arrived and told a friend that he wanted to sell all his possessions, bribe the jailer and save the prisoner. "This display of high nobility returned to Julien the spiritual strength that the appearance of Monsieur Chelan had taken away from him."

Fouquet paid the jailers so that Julien would not be transferred to a terrible casemate, but left in "a pretty room, at a height of one hundred and eighty steps." He then turned to the Abbé de Friler, who promised to put in a good word before the judges.

"Julien provided for only one trouble before his death: a visit to his father."

Powerful man

One morning the door opened and a woman dressed as a peasant rushed to Julien. It was Mademoiselle de la Mole. Her act touched the young man. It seemed to him again that he loved the queen.

Matilda told how she managed to get a date: she confessed to the secretary that she was Julien's wife, and gave her name. Mademoiselle was captivated by Julien's act: he seemed to her like Boniface de la Mole. She hired the best lawyers, achieved an audience with Mr. de Friler, who "it took only a few seconds to force Matilda to confess that she was the daughter of his powerful opponent, the Marquis de la Mole."

During the conversation with Mademoiselle n de Friler, he thought about his own benefit from the solution of this case. He heard that the marshal where Fervak, on whom the appointment of all the bishops in France depended, was a close acquaintance of Julien. This discovery made him more accommodating. He promised that the majority of the jury would follow his orders and Julien would be acquitted.

Matilda tried her best to save Julien. She even wrote a letter to Madame de Fervac, in which she “begged her rival to get Monsignor Bishop *** to write a letter to M. de Friler with his own hand. She went so far as to ask her to personally come to Besançon.”

Julien did not even know about all this, but he was worried about the presence of Matilda. "The proximity of death made him a decent and kinder person than he had been during his life," but Matilda's ardent passion left him indifferent. He reproached himself severely for this, and repented of having threatened the life of Madame de Renal. Julien felt that he loved her as before. One day he asked Mathilde to give the child who would be born "to the Nurse's Verrières, while Madame de Renal will look after her." Julien foresaw the unfortunate fate of his child and wanted to do something to help this.

calmness

Julien fully pleaded guilty. “The lawyer thought he was crazy and, along with everyone else, thought that he grabbed the gun in a fit of jealousy.” Admitting this would have made an excellent basis for the defence, but Julien angrily told the lawyer not to repeat the lie.

Everyone in Besançon only talked about the upcoming trial, and Julien lived in a world of dreams. He had already seen the near end and only now learned to enjoy life.

Mr. de Friler was sure that the jurymen, Messrs. Valno, where Moire and where Cholin, were a tool in his hands and would carry out his order, because in friendly correspondence Madame de Fervac had already spoken the cherished word - the bishopric for the salvation of Julien.

Madame de Renal has almost recovered. She came to Besançon and "wrote each of the thirty-six jurors" with her own hand, letters in which she asked for Julien's acquittal.

“Finally, this day has come, which Matilda and Madame de Renal so feared ... The whole province has gathered in Besançon to listen to this romantic affair.”

On the eve of the trial, Matilda took the bishop's letter to the vicar, in which the prelate asked for Julien's acquittal, and Monsieur de Friler assured her that he vouched for the jury's verdict.

Going to court, Julien was surprised that people sympathized with him, crowded on his way. There were many women in the courtroom. “Their eyes shone, they reflected ardent sympathy. As soon as he sat down on the bench, he heard from all sides: “God! How young he is! But this is a child…”

The prosecutor spoke with pathos about the barbarity of the crime, but "the women in the boxes of the court listened to him very displeasedly."

When the lawyer began to speak, the women pulled out handkerchiefs.

Julien did not want to take last word, but the sense of duty overcame, and he "addressed the jury with very strong words." He did not ask for any mercy, he admitted that he "made an attempt on the life of a woman worthy of the deepest respect," who for him was almost a mother. Julien said that his greatest crime was that he dared "to penetrate the milieu that is called high society in the language of the swaggering rich." People who judge him are not equal to him, not peasants, but only indignant bourgeois; therefore he does not hope for justification and is ready to die.

During his speech, Julien saw in front of him the insolent look of M. Baron de Valno. It was he who announced the decision of the jury: “Julien Sorel is guilty of murder, and of murder with premeditated intent. This decision carried the death penalty and the sentence was announced immediately.”

The women in the courtroom sobbed, and Mr. Valeno triumphed.

Julien was placed on death row. He thought of Madame de Renal, who would never know that he was the only one he truly loved, about the Christian God, whom he considered a vengeful despot, because “in his Bible there is only talk about cruel punishments,” about how his life would have turned out so that there was no assassination attempt.

Matilda came in the morning. She had lost weight and carried herself simply, like an ordinary, heartbroken woman, and Julien could not keep herself simple with her. He spoke with affectation of his yesterday's speech, during which he held himself like Boniface de la Mole before his judges. "Involuntarily, he repaid her for all the torments that she so often inflicted on him."

The tearful Matilda asked Julien to sign the appeal, but he categorically refused, arguing that he was ready to die now, and who can guarantee what he will become after two months in prison?

Matilda moved from persuasion to reproaches. Julien again saw before him a noble proud woman, "once she insulted him greatly in the library of the Palace de la Mole."

Matilda is gone. "An hour later Julien was awakened from a deep sleep whose tears were dripping on his arm... It was Madame de Renal."

Finally, Julien had the opportunity to express his feelings to this holy woman, to ask forgiveness for his crazy act. “Both of them, now and then interrupting each other, began to talk about everything that had happened to them. The letter written to Monsieur de la Mole was compiled by the confessor of Madame de Renal, and she only copied it.

“Julien's delight and joy proved to her that he forgives her everything. Never before had he loved her so unconditionally.”

Madame de Renal came to Julien every day. This reached her husband, and "three days later he sent a carriage for her with a categorical order to return immediately to Verrières."

Upon learning that Madame de Renal was forced to leave Besançon, Julien was in a depressed mood. The arrival of Matilda only angered him.

She told him that on the day of the trial M. de Valno decided to indulge himself by condemning Julien to death. Matilda did not yet know that "the Abbé de Friler, seeing that Julien was a finished man, considered it useful for his ambitious intentions to try to become his successor."

Julien wanted to be alone. Mathilde left, but Fouquet came. These visits did not dispel the depressed mood of the prisoner, but made him cowardly.

“The next day, a new, not the biggest trouble awaited him”: a visit to his father.

The old gray-haired carpenter immediately began to reproach Julien and brought him to tears. The young man was tormented by the fact that even before his death he did not feel either respect or love for his father. He hated himself for his cowardice, about which the carpenter was sure to ring out in Verrières the pleasure of Valenod and all the hypocrites.

To interrupt the endless stream of reproaches from his father, Julien suddenly exclaimed: "I have savings."

"The old carpenter was trembling with greed, afraid to miss this money." He began to talk about the funds that he spent on food and education for his son.

"" Here it is - parental love! Julien repeated to himself with pain in his heart, finally left alone. He began to think "about death, life, eternity - things are very simple for someone whose organs can perceive them."

“The bad air of the casemate was already exerting its influence on Julien: his mind was weakening. What happiness it was for him when Madame de Renal returned to him, "who fled from Verrieres. "There are no words to describe the boundless and insane love of Julien."

“Hearing about this, Matilda was almost mad with jealousy,” but Julien, unable to pretend, explained that he had an “excuse”: the near end of this drama.

"Mademoiselle de la Mole has received news of the death of the Marquis de Croisenois." There were rumors in Paris about the disappearance of Matilda. M. de Talais took the liberty of expressing some insulting suggestions on this subject. The Marquis de Croisenois challenged him to a duel and died before he was twenty-four years old.

This death made a painful impression on Julien and changed his plans for the future of Matilda. Now he was trying to prove that she was marrying Monsieur de Luz.

On the last day, courage did not leave Julien. "Everything happened simply, decently, without any affectation on his part."

On the eve of the execution, "Julien made Madame de Renal swear that she would live and look after Matilda's son." And he agreed with Fouquet that a friend would betray him in a small grotto on top of Verrieres.

At night, Fouquet was sitting in his room near the body of his friend, when Matilda suddenly came in. She threw herself on her knees in front of the body of her beloved, as Marguerite of Navarre had done before with the executed Boniface de la Mole.

Mathilde lit a few candles, and Fouquet was amazed to see "that she laid Julien's head on a small marble table in front of her and kissed her on the forehead."

Julien was buried in the grotto, as he requested. Twenty priests celebrated the funeral mass, and Matilda ordered to throw into the crowd that had gathered on the mountain, several thousand five-franc coins. Then she personally buried the head of her lover in the grotto, which later, on her orders, "was decorated with a marble sculpture ordered for huge money in Italy."

Madame de Renal made no attempt on her life, "but three days after Julien's execution she died embracing her children."

Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" is the pinnacle of French realism. Here and amazing detail, and described in detail the political, social and psychological realities of that time. However, the hero of the novel - Julien Sorel - belongs to romantic heroes, so his existence in circumstances typical of the era turns into a tragedy.

"Red and Black" is a book whose title has for many years made readers think and analyze what is behind it. When reading the work, the answer to this question does not become obvious and assumes multivariance, which everyone resolves for himself. Direct associations appear primarily with the internal state of Julien Sorel, which combined the desire to find oneself, accomplish a feat, become an educated person, but at the same time self-interest, vanity, the goal of achieving success by any means. The title also points to the general theme of the work. These two colors: red and black, in their combination symbolize a certain anxiety, a struggle that takes place inside and around people. Red is blood, love, desire, black is base motives, betrayal. In their mixture, these colors give rise to the drama that takes place in the lives of the characters.

Red and black are the colors of roulette, a symbol of excitement, which has become the lifeblood of the protagonist. He alternately bet on red (for the help of his mistresses, on his charm, etc.), and on black (on deceit, meanness, etc.). This idea is prompted by the fatal passion of the author himself: he was a passionate player.

Another interpretation: red is a military uniform, black is a priest's cassock. The hero rushed between dream and reality, and this conflict of the desired and the actual ruined him.

Also, the combination of these colors forms the tragic finale of an ambitious hero: blood on the ground, red and black. The unfortunate young man could do so much, but he could only stain the earth with the blood of his mistress.

In addition, many researchers suggest that the contrasting combination of colors means the main conflict of the novel - the choice between honor and death: either shed blood or allow oneself to be denigrated.

What is this book about?

Stendhal tells readers about the life of a young youth, Julien Sorel, who gets a job as a tutor in the house of M. de Renal and his wife. Throughout the book, the reader observes the inner struggle of this purposeful person, his emotions, actions, mistakes, managing to be indignant and empathize at the same time. The most important line of the novel is the theme of love and jealousy, complex relationships and feelings of people. different ages and different positions.

The career brought the young man to the very top, promised many joys, among which he was looking for only one - respect. Ambition pushed him forward, but it also drove him into a dead end, because the opinion of society turned out to be dearer to him than life.

The image of the main character

Julien Sorel is a carpenter's son, fluent in Latin, quick-witted, purposeful and handsome young man. This is a young man who knows what he wants, and who is ready to make any sacrifices to achieve his goals. The young man is ambitious and quick-witted, he longs for glory, success, dreaming first of a military field, and then of a career as a priest. Many of Julien's actions are dictated by base motives, a thirst for revenge, a thirst for recognition and worship, but he is not a negative character, but rather a controversial and complex character, placed in difficult living conditions. The image of Sorel contains character traits of a revolutionary, a gifted commoner who is not ready to put up with his position in society.

The plebeian complex makes the hero feel ashamed of his origin and look for a way to another social reality. It is this painful conceit that explains his assertiveness: he is sure that he deserves more. It is no coincidence that Napoleon becomes his idol - a native of the people, who managed to subjugate dignitaries and nobles. Sorel firmly believes in his star, and only therefore loses faith in God, in love, in people. His unscrupulousness leads to tragedy: trampling on the foundations of society, he, like his idol, is rejected and expelled by him.

Topics and issues

The novel raises many issues. This is the choice life path, and the formation of character, and the conflict of man with society. To consider any of them, it is important to understand the historical context: the French Revolution, Napoleon, the mindset of a whole generation of young people, the Restoration. Stendhal thought in these categories, he was one of those people who personally saw the breakdown of society and were impressed by this spectacle. Apart from global problems, which are of a social nature and are associated with the events of the era, the work also describes the complexity of relationships between people, love, jealousy, betrayal - that is, something that exists outside of time and is always perceived by readers to heart.

The main problem in the novel "Red and Black" is, of course, social injustice. A talented commoner cannot break into the people, even though he is smarter than the nobility and more capable than her. In his own environment, this person also does not find himself: he is hated even in the family. Inequality is felt by everyone, therefore, a gifted young man is envied and in every possible way interferes with the realization of his skills. Such hopelessness pushes him to desperate steps, and the ostentatious virtue of priests and dignitaries only confirms the hero in his intention to go against the moral principles of society. This idea is confirmed by the history of the creation of the novel "Red and Black": the author found a note in the newspaper about the execution of a young man. It was this brief account of someone else's grief that inspired him to think out the missing details and create a realistic novel dedicated to the problem of social inequality. He proposes to regard the conflict of the individual and the environment not so unambiguously: people have no right to take Sorel's life, because it was they who made him so.

What is the meaning of the novel?

The story itself, embedded in the novel, is not fiction, but real events, which greatly impressed Stendhal. That is why the author chose Danton's phrase “True. Bitter truth". It so happened that one day, while reading a newspaper, the writer read about the court case of Antoine Berthe, from which the image of Sorel was written off. In this regard, the social problems of the work become even more obvious, which characterizes a difficult era and makes you think about it. At that time, a person was faced with a very acute question of choice: to preserve his spiritual purity in poverty, or go ahead and head over heels to success. Julien, although he chooses the second, is also deprived of the opportunity to achieve something, because immorality will never become the basis of happiness. The hypocritical society will willingly turn a blind eye to it, but only for some time, and when it opens it, it will immediately fence itself off from the criminal caught unawares. This means that Sorel's tragedy is a verdict of unscrupulousness and ambition. The real victory of the individual is respect for oneself, and not the endless search for this respect from the outside. Julien lost because he could not accept himself for who he is.

Psychologism of Stendhal

Psychologism is a characteristic feature of Stendhal's work. It manifests itself in the fact that along with the story about the actions and deeds of the character and the general picture of the events described, the author at a higher level of analysis describes the reasons and motives for the actions of the hero. Thus, the writer balances on the verge between seething passions and the mind analyzing them, creating the feeling that at the same time when the hero performs an act, he is being continuously monitored. For example, this all-seeing eye shows the reader how Julien carefully hides his sentence from view: little Napoleon, whose veneration has already left its mark on the actions of the hero from the very beginning of his journey. This expressive detail points us to the soul of Sorel - a fluttering moth, striving for fire. He repeated the fate of Napoleon, having won the desired world, but not being able to keep it.

Genre originality of the novel

The novel combines features of romanticism and realism. This is evidenced by the vital basis of history, filled with deep and diverse feelings and ideas. This is a feature of realism. But here is the hero - romantic, endowed with specific features. He is in conflict with society, while being outstanding, educated and handsome. His loneliness is a proud desire to rise above the crowd, he despises his environment. His mind and abilities tragically remain unnecessary and unrealized. Nature follows in his footsteps, framing the feelings and events in his life with its colors.

The work is often characterized as psychological and social, and it is difficult to disagree with this, since it unusually mixes the events of reality and a detailed assessment of the inner motives of the characters. Throughout the novel, the reader can observe the constant correlation of the external world as a whole and the inner world of a person, and it remains not completely clear which of these worlds is the most complex and contradictory.

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Mayor of a small French city Verrieres, Monsieur de Renal takes into the house of the tutor - a young man named Julien Sorel. Ambitious and ambitious, Julien studies theology, knows Latin very well and recites pages from the Bible by heart, since childhood he dreams of fame and recognition, and also admires Napoleon. He believes that the path of the priest is the right way to make a career. His politeness and intelligence contrast sharply with the manners and character of Monsieur de Renal, whose wife gradually imbues Julien with sympathy, and then falls in love with him. They become lovers, but Madame de Renal is pious, she is constantly tormented by pangs of conscience, and an anonymous letter comes to her deceived husband warning her about his wife's infidelity. Julien, by prior agreement with Madame de Renal, makes a similar letter, as if it had come to her. But rumors are circulating around the city, and Julien has to leave. He gets a job at the theological seminary in Besançon, striking the rector, Abbé Pirard, with knowledge. When the time comes to choose his confessor, he chooses Pirard, who, as it turned out later, was suspected of Jansenism.

They want to force Pirard to resign. His friend, the rich and influential Marquis de La Mole, invites the abbot to move to Paris and allocates him a parish four leagues from the capital. When the marquis mentioned that he was looking for a secretary, Pirard suggested Julien - as a person who "has both energy and intelligence." He is very glad to be in Paris. The marquis, in turn, notices Julien for his diligence and ability and entrusts him with the most difficult cases. He also meets the daughter of the Marquis Matilda, who is frankly bored in secular society. Matilda is spoiled and selfish, but not stupid and very beautiful. The pride of the proud woman is offended by Julien's indifference, and suddenly she falls in love with him. Julien does not experience reciprocal passion, but the attention of an aristocrat flatters him. After a night spent together, Matilda is horrified and breaks off relations with Julien, who is also tormented by unrequited love. His friend, Prince Korazov, advises to arouse jealousy in Matilda by flirting with other women, and the plan unexpectedly succeeds. Matilda falls in love with Julien again, and then reveals that she is expecting a child and wants to marry him. However, Sorel's rosy plans are frustrated by a sudden letter from Madame de Renal. The woman writes:

Poverty and greed prompted this man, capable of incredible hypocrisy, to seduce a weak and unfortunate woman and in this way create a certain position for himself and break out into the people ... [He] does not recognize any laws of religion. To tell the truth, I am forced to think that one of the ways to achieve success is for him to seduce the woman who has the most influence in the house.

The Marquis de La Mole does not wish to see Julien. The same one goes to Madame de Renal, on the way he buys a pistol and shoots at his former lover. Madame Renal does not die from her wounds, but Julien is still taken into custody and sentenced to death. In prison, he again reconciles with Madame de Renal and repents of his attempt to commit murder. He understands that he has always been in love only with her. Madame de Renal comes to him in prison and says that the letter was written by her confessor, and she only rewrote it. After Julien is sentenced to death, he refuses to appeal, backing this up with the fact that he has achieved everything in life, and death will only end this path. Madame de Renal dies three days after Julien's execution.

M. de Renal, mayor of the French town of Verrières in the Franche-Comté district, a smug and conceited man, informs his wife of the decision to take a tutor into the house. There is no special need for a tutor, just the local rich Mr. Valeno, that vulgar screamer, always competing with the mayor, is too proud of a new pair of Norman horses. Well, now Mr. Valno has horses, but there is no tutor. M. de Renal had already made arrangements with Father Sorel that his youngest son would serve with him. The old curé, M. Chelan, recommended to him the son of a carpenter, as a young man of rare ability, who had been studying theology for three years and was brilliant in Latin. His name is Julien Sorel, he is eighteen years old; this is a short, fragile-looking young man, whose face bears the stamp of a striking originality. He has irregular but delicate features, large black eyes that sparkle with fire and thought, and dark brown hair. The young girls look at him with interest. Julien never went to school. He was taught Latin and history by a regimental doctor, a participant in the Napoleonic campaigns. Dying, he bequeathed to him his love for Napoleon, the cross of the Legion of Honor and several dozen books. From childhood, Julien dreams of becoming a military man. In the time of Napoleon, for a commoner, this was the surest way to make a career and go out into the people. But times have changed. Julien realizes that the only path open to him is to become a priest. He is ambitious and proud, but he is ready to endure everything in order to make his way.

Madame de Renal does not like her husband's idea. She adores her three boys and the thought of someone else standing between her and her children drives her to despair. She is already imagining a disgusting, rude, disheveled guy who is allowed to yell at her children and even spank them.

Imagine her surprise when she sees a pale, frightened boy in front of her, who seems to her unusually handsome and very unhappy. However, less than a month passes, when everyone in the house, even M. de Renal, begins to treat him with respect. Julien carries himself with great dignity, and his knowledge of Latin is admirable - he can recite any page of the New Testament by heart.

Madame de Renal's maid, Eliza, falls in love with a young tutor. In confession, she tells Abbé Chelan that she has received an inheritance and now wants to marry Julien. The cure is sincerely happy for his pet, but Julien resolutely refuses the enviable offer. He is ambitious and dreams of glory, he wants to conquer Paris. However, he skillfully hides it.

In the summer, the family moves to Vergy, the village where the estate and the castle de Renal are located. Here Madame de Renal spends whole days with the children and the tutor. Julien seems to her smarter, kinder, nobler than all the men around her. She begins to realize that she loves Julien. But does he love her? After all, she is ten years older than him! Julien likes Madame de Renal. He finds her charming, he has never seen such women. But Julien is not in love at all. He wants to win Madame de Renal in order to assert himself and in order to take revenge on this self-satisfied Monsieur de Renal, who allows himself to speak condescendingly and even rudely to him.

When Julien warns Madame de Renal that he will come to her bedroom at night, she answers him with the most sincere indignation. At night, leaving his room, he dies of fear, his knees give way, but when he sees Madame de Renal, she seems to him so beautiful that all conceited nonsense fly out of his head. Julien's tears, his despair subdue Madame de Renal. A few days pass, and Julien, with all the ardor of youth, falls head over heels in love with her. The lovers are happy, but Madame de Renal's youngest son suddenly falls seriously ill. And it seems to the unfortunate woman that with her love for Julien she is killing her son. She realizes what a sin she commits before God, she is tormented by remorse. She pushes Julien away from her, who is shaken by the depth of her grief and despair. Fortunately, the child is recovering.

M. de Renal suspects nothing, but the servants know a lot. The maid Eliza, having met Mr. Valno on the street, tells him that her mistress is having an affair with a young tutor. That same evening, M. de Renal receives an anonymous letter from which he learns what is happening in his house. Madame de Renal manages to convince her husband of her innocence, but the whole city is only engaged in the history of her love affairs.

Julien's mentor, Abbé Chelan, believes that he should leave the city for at least a year - to his friend Fouquet, a timber merchant, or to a seminary in Besançon. Julien leaves Verrieres, but returns three days later to say goodbye to Madame de Renal. He sneaks into her room, but their date is overshadowed - it seems to them that they are parting forever.

Julien arrives in Besançon and visits the rector of the seminary, Abbé Pirard. He is very excited, besides, Pirard's face is so ugly that it causes horror in him. For three hours the rector examines Julien and is so impressed by his knowledge of Latin and theology that he accepts him into the seminary on a small scholarship and even assigns him a separate cell. This is a great mercy. But the seminarians unanimously hate Julien: he is too talented and gives the impression of a thinking person - they do not forgive this here. Julien must choose a confessor for himself, and he chooses the abbot Pirard, not even suspecting that this act will be decisive for him. The abbot is sincerely attached to his student, but the position of Pirard himself in the seminary is very precarious. His enemies the Jesuits are doing everything to force him to resign. Fortunately, he has a friend and patron at court - an aristocrat from Franche-Comté, the Marquis de La Mole, whose orders the abbot regularly carries out. Having learned about the persecution that Pirard is subjected to, the Marquis de La Mole invites him to move to the capital and promises one of the best parishes in the vicinity of Paris. Saying goodbye to Julien, the abbot foresees that difficult times await him. But Julien is unable to think of himself. Knowing that Pirard needs money, he offers him all his savings. Pirard will not forget this.

The Marquis de La Mole, politician and nobleman, enjoys great influence at court, he receives the Abbé Pirard in his Parisian mansion. In a conversation, he mentions that for several years he has been looking for an intelligent person who could take care of his correspondence. The abbot offers his student for this place - a man of very low birth, but energetic, intelligent, with a high soul. So an unexpected prospect opens up before Julien Sorel - he can get to Paris!

Having received the invitation of the Marquis, Julien first goes to Verrieres, hoping to see Madame de Renal. He heard that lately she had fallen into the most frenzied piety. Despite many obstacles, he manages to get into the room of his beloved. She had never seemed so beautiful to him before. However, the husband suspects something, and Julien is forced to flee.

Arriving in Paris, he first of all examines the places associated with the name of Napoleon, and only then goes to the abbe Pirard. The abbot introduces Julien to the marquis, and in the evening he is already sitting at the common table. Opposite him sits a fair blonde, unusually slender, with very beautiful, but cold eyes. Mademoiselle Mathilde de La Mole clearly does not like Julien.

The new secretary is accustomed quickly: after three months, the Marquis considers Julien quite a suitable person for himself. He works hard, is silent, understanding and gradually begins to conduct all the most difficult cases. He becomes a real dandy and completely masters the art of living in Paris. The Marquis de La Mole presents Julien with an order. This soothes Julien's pride, he is now more relaxed and does not feel offended as often. But with Mademoiselle de La Mole, he is emphatically cold. This nineteen-year-old girl is very smart, she is bored in the company of her aristocratic friends - the Count of Quelus, the Viscount de Luz and the Marquis de Croisenois, who claims to be her hand. Once a year, Matilda wears mourning. Julien is told that she is doing this in honor of the ancestor of the family, Boniface de La Mole, lover of Queen Marguerite of Navarre, who was beheaded on April 30, 1574 at the Place Greve in Paris. Legend has it that the queen demanded the head of her lover from the executioner and buried it in the chapel with her own hands.

Julien sees that Matilda is sincerely excited about this romantic story. Gradually, he ceases to shy away from conversations with Mademoiselle de La Mole. Conversations with her are so interesting that he even forgets his role as an indignant plebeian. It would be funny, he thinks, if she fell in love with me.

Matilda had long realized that she loved Julien. This love seems to her very heroic - a girl in her position loves the son of a carpenter! From the moment she realizes that she loves Julien, she ceases to be bored.

Julien himself excites his imagination rather than being carried away by love. But having received a letter from Matilda with a declaration of love, he cannot hide his triumph: a noble lady loves him, a poor peasant, she preferred him to an aristocrat, the Marquis de Croisenois! Matilda is waiting for him at one in the morning. It seems to Julien that this is a trap, that Matilda's friends want to kill him or expose him to ridicule. Armed with pistols and a dagger, he enters Mademoiselle de La Mole's room. Mathilde is submissive and gentle, but the next day she is horrified at the thought that she has become Julien's mistress. Talking to him, she barely restrains her anger and irritation. Julien's pride is offended, and both of them decide that everything is over between them. But Julien feels that he has fallen madly in love with this wayward girl, that he cannot live without her. Matilda constantly occupies his soul and imagination.

Julien's acquaintance, the Russian prince Korazov, advises him to arouse the jealousy of his beloved and start courting some secular beauty. The "Russian plan", to Julien's surprise, works flawlessly, Matilda is jealous, she is in love again, and only monstrous pride prevents her from taking a step towards her. Once Julien, not thinking about the danger, puts a ladder to Matilda's window. Seeing him, she falls into his arms.

Soon Mademoiselle de La Mole informs Julien that she is pregnant and wants to marry him. Upon learning of everything, the Marquis becomes furious. But Matilda insists, and the father finally gives in. To avoid disgrace, the marquis decides to create a brilliant position in society for Julien. He seeks for him a patent for a hussar lieutenant in the name of Julien Sorel de La Vernet. Julien goes to his regiment. His joy is boundless - he dreams of a military career and his future son.

Unexpectedly, he receives news from Paris: Matilda asks him to return immediately. When they meet, she hands him an envelope containing Madame de Renal's letter. It turns out that her father asked her to provide some information about the former tutor. Madame de Renal's letter is monstrous. She writes about Julien as a hypocrite and a careerist, capable of any meanness, just to get out into the people. It is clear that Monsieur de La Mole will never agree to his marriage to Matilda.

Without a word, Julien leaves Matilda, gets into the mail coach and rushes to Verrieres. There he buys a pistol in a gun shop, enters the church of Verrières, where Sunday worship is taking place, and shoots Madame de Renal twice.

Already in prison, he learns that Madame de Renal was not killed, but only wounded. He is happy and feels that now he can die in peace. Following Julien, Matilda arrives in Verrieres. She uses all her connections, distributes money and promises in the hope of commuting the sentence.

On the day of judgment the whole province flocks to Besançon. Julien is surprised to find that he inspires all these people with sincere pity. He wants to refuse the last word, but something makes him rise. Julien does not ask the court for any mercy, because he understands that his main crime is that he, a commoner, rebelled against his miserable lot.

His fate is decided - the court passes Julien a death sentence. Madame de Renal comes to Julien in prison. She says that the ill-fated letter was written by her confessor. Julien had never been so happy. He understands that Madame de Renal is the only woman he is capable of loving.

On the day of execution, he feels cheerful and courageous. Mathilde de La Mole buries her lover's head with her own hands. And three days after Julien's death, Madame de Renal dies.

Option 2

Julien Sorel serves as tutor in the house of the mayor of the town of Verrières. The 18-year-old son of a commoner, who has never attended school, is unusually gifted and vain: he dreams of conquering Paris.

The tutor is to the liking of the family of Mr. de Renal, three boys admire the mentor. The mistress's maid, Eliza, falls in love with the young man, but he does not reciprocate.

Unbeknownst to herself, Madame de Renal becomes attached to Sorel, who is ten years her junior. Julien decides to win the heart of the mistress for self-affirmation, at the same time taking revenge on Mr. de Renal for being rude.

Sorel puts the woman before the fact: at night he will come to her room. She is sincerely indignant, but the door does not lock ... After a couple of days, the youth was inflamed with a sincere passion for a secret mistress. They are happy, but the illness of Madame de Renal's son upsets the relationship: the woman believes that the boy is suffering for her sins.

The offended Eliza tells about the relationship of the hostess with an outside tutor. That same evening, M. de Renal receives a letter from which he learns about what is happening in the house. The wife assures fidelity, but the city is full of rumors about lovers.

The Abbé Chelan invites Sorel to leave Verrières, at least for a while. Julien moves to Besançon, enters the theological seminary. A proud talented student is not to the liking of the seminarians; he keeps to himself. Sorel's confessor introduces him to the Marquis de La Mole, who enjoys influence at court. The aristocrat offers Julien the position of secretary. The young man is flattered - he will live in Paris!

Before leaving, Julien goes to see Madame de Renal, who has fallen into piety. A suspicious husband upsets a secret date. Sorel is forced to flee from his beloved's room.

In the house of the marquis, Sorel's attention is attracted by a slender blonde with cold eyes. The new secretary does not like the daughter of the Marquis Matilda, but he does not think about her - he is completely immersed in work. La Mole appreciates the efforts of the young man, rewarding him with an order. Sorel's pride is flattered, he feels satisfied, but he is still cold with Matilda.

The girl has oddities: she wears mourning once a year. Julien becomes aware: in this way she pays tribute to the executed ancestor - the beloved of Queen Margot. According to legend, the Queen herself buried the severed head of La Mole.

Interest takes over and Sorel begins to communicate with Matilda, even dreams that she will fall in love. The girl has long been indifferent to him, she writes a passionate letter and makes an appointment in her bedchamber. Julien, not believing that a noble lady could descend to a plebeian, decides that they want to play a trick on him and humiliate him. And yet he goes on a date, armed with a pistol and a dagger.

Matilda is gentle and submissive at night, but in the morning she sincerely repents of her deed. The coldness of the mistress suggests that it's all over. Insulted, Sorel deliberately takes care of another girl, which causes Matilda's jealousy, she is again passionate and obedient. They don't separate anymore.

Matilda is expecting a child and confesses to her father that she dreams of marrying Sorel. The Marquis is furious, but succumbs to his daughter's persistence. La Mole helps the future son-in-law to become a hussar. He is looking forward to a military career and the birth of a son.

Madame de Renal's letter destroys bright dreams. In response to the request of La Mole to characterize the former tutor, she exposes him as a hypocrite and a liar, capable of meanness for a career.

Enraged, Julien goes to Verrieres and shoots his former mistress twice. Matilda's connections do not help - the court passes Sorel a death sentence. In prison, Madame de Renal visits him - the wounds were not fatal. She admits that the letter was written by her confessor. Julien suddenly realizes that this woman is his only true love. He courageously goes to the chopping block. Matilda buries her lover's head. A few days after the execution, Madame de Renal also dies.

Essay on literature on the topic: Summary Red and Black Stendhal

Other writings:

1. Julien is the carpenter's son. His idol is Napoleon and he regrets that he was born too late, already during the Restoration. Julien Sorel is gifted with intelligence, a thirst for knowledge, various abilities. In a small town, he suffers from the fact that he does not realize himself. Father Read More ......
2. The hero of the novel, Julien Sorel, is a young man from the people. He lives in France in the 1920s. The mentally gifted son of a carpenter from the provinces, he would have made a military career under Napoleon. Now Julien saw the only opportunity to advance in society only in Read More ......
3. In 1828, Stendhal came across a purely modern plot. The source was not literary, but real, which corresponded to the interests of Stendhal not only in its social meaning, but also in the extreme drama of events. Here was what he had been looking for for a long time: energy and Read More ......
4. In his novel Red and Black, Stendhal created an objective picture of the life of contemporary society. “True, bitter truth,” he says in the epigraph to the first part of the work. And this bitter truth adheres to the last pages. Justified anger, strong criticism, caustic satire Read More ......
5. In his understanding of art and the role of the artist, Stendhal came from the enlighteners. He always strived for the accuracy and truthfulness of the reflection of life in his works. Stendhal's first great novel, Red and Black, was published in 1830, the year July Revolution. Already its Read More ......
6. Creating his novel "Red and Black", Stendhal set himself the task of displaying all spheres of life, covering all sectors of society, conveying the main trends, problems, conflicts that arise in society. Therefore, France itself becomes the stage for the development of the novel. Life is revealed before us Read More ......
7. According to literary critics, in order to be truthful in their works, a writer must observe and analyze life, and according to Stendhal, literature must be a mirror of life, reflect it. The result of this observation by Stendhal was the socio-psychological novel "Red and Black", created by the famous French Read More ......
8. “A man of the 18th century who got lost in the heroic era of Napoleon,” these words of K. Stryensky, said about the great French writer Stendhal, can rightfully be attributed to the hero of his famous novel “Red and Black”. Julien Sorel, prone, like many young Read More ......

Summary Red and black Stendhal

The mayor of the small French town of Verrieres, Mr. de Renal, the owner of a factory where nails are made, informs his wife of the decision to take a tutor into the house. The main idea that the respected residents of this town live by is to make a profit. The mayor is a self-satisfied and conceited man. He takes on a tutor not only because the children have been too naughty lately, but also “in defiance” of the local rich man, Mr. Valno. This vulgar screamer is always in competition with the mayor, constantly showing off his new pair of Norman horses.

But the children of the mayor will now have a tutor!

The mayor's wife, a tall, slender woman, was once known as the first beauty in the whole district. There is something naive, ingenuous in her manner. She avoids many entertainments, never argues with her husband.

M. de Renal had already made arrangements with Father Sorel that his youngest son would serve as tutor. The old curé, M. Chelan, recommended the son of a sawmill carpenter as a talented young man who had been studying theology for three years and was fluent in Latin. Julien Sorel is eighteen years old. This is a short, fragile-looking young man. He has irregular but delicate features, dark brown hair. Appearance reflects the originality of character: a fiery soul glows in huge black eyes. The girls look at him with interest.

With brilliant abilities, Julien never went to school. His father even beat him for "laziness" - an excessive passion for books.

But the young man was drawn to the sciences. He was taught Latin and history by a regimental doctor who lodged with the Sorels. The doctor was a member of the Napoleonic campaigns. Dying, Julien's teacher and friend bequeathed to him his love for Napoleon, the cross of the Legion of Honor and several dozen books. The main books for the young man were Rousseau's "Confessions" and two books about Napoleon. Since childhood, Julien dreamed of becoming a military man. In the time of Napoleon, this was the surest way to make a career, to go out into the world, to become famous. “Bonaparte, previously unknown to anyone, became emperor only thanks to his sword,” thought the romantically minded Julien.

But times have changed. Young Sorel realizes that the only path open to him is to become a priest. So, you need to become a clergyman.

He is ambitious and proud, but he is ready to endure everything in order to make his way. He hides his impulses, tries not to talk in society about his idol - Napoleon.

Madame de Renal adores her three boys and is ready to raise them herself. The thought of an outsider standing between her and the children drives her to despair. Worried about the children, the mother is already imagining in her mind the image of a disgusting, rude dork who will be allowed to yell at her children and perhaps even spank them.

And what? She sees before her a pale, frightened young man, almost a boy. He seems to her unusually handsome and very unhappy.

Julien quickly overcame his initial timidity. In less than a month, everyone in the house, even the swaggering mayor himself, begins to treat him with respect. Children are simply delighted with their tutor. Julien did not at all attach himself to the boys. However, he is always fair, balanced, full of patience. No one knows what storms rage in his soul! He despises moneybags who consider themselves the best people in the world and arrogantly talk about virtue. Among the "nobility" of the town, Julien behaves with great dignity. His knowledge of Latin is admirable - he can recite any page of the New Testament by heart.

Eliza, the mistress's maid, falls in love with a young tutor. In confession, she tells Abbot Chelan that she has received an inheritance. Her dream is to marry Julien. Cure thinks that Eliza and Julien are a great couple. However, Julien resolutely refuses the enviable offer. He is unusually ambitious, dreams of great achievements, wealth and fame. In the depths of his soul, he dreams of conquering Paris. However, for the time being, he skillfully hides it.

In the summer, the family moves to Vergy, the village where the de Renals estate is located. Here Madame de Renal spends whole days with the children and the tutor. She is naive, poorly educated - she was brought up, like most rich heirs, in a monastery. Her natural living mind is not enriched with knowledge. All her love is directed to children. Before, she thought that all men were like her husband or Valno, the insufferable screamer.

Her soul reached out to Julien, who seems to her smarter, kinder, nobler than all the men around her. Stendhal notes with irony that in Paris the romance of a young woman and an ardent young man developed rapidly and according to the rules dictated by theatrical vaudeville and romance novels. And in the provinces, a naive, sincere woman immediately begins to understand that she loves Julien. She is embarrassed, frightened, hesitates: does he love her? After all, she is the mother of three children, she is ten years older than the tutor!

Julien notices Madame de Renal's feelings. In his opinion, she is beautiful, even charming. However, Julien is not in love at all. He watches her like an enemy to be fought. Winning Madame de Renal would be his first battle, his first test. He must prove himself! He is preparing to take revenge on this self-satisfied mayor, this gentleman who allows himself to speak condescendingly to him, haughtily.

Frightened, agitated, Julien begins to act. Here he, according to a pre-planned plan, ventured to take Madame de Renal by the hand - and she pulled hers back. One, two ... and the woman's icy hand finally remains in the young man's hot palm.

Julien whispers in Madame de Renal's ear that he will come to her and her bedroom at night. She answers him with the most sincere indignation. To him, her refusal seems filled with contempt. Deciding to overcome resistance, Julien leaves his room at night ... He freezes with fear, his legs give way ... He even regrets that he has no reason not to go to the mistress's bedroom.

Penetrating into the room, Julien falls at the feet of a charming woman, hugs her knees, she scolds him - and he suddenly burst into tears!

Julien's tears, his despair broke the resistance of de Renal, who had long loved him. He emerges from her bedroom as a winner, she considers herself dead.

For a while the lovers are happy. A woman loves for the first time, Julien is proud that he skillfully fulfills his role - the role of the conqueror of women! Suddenly, Madame de Renal's youngest son fell seriously ill. It seems to the unfortunate mother that this is a punishment for sin: with her love for Julien, she kills her son. Madame de Renal is tormented by remorse. She pushes her lover away. Fortunately, the child is recovering.

Monsieur de Renal does not suspect anything, but, as always, nothing can be hidden from the servants. The maid Eliza is glad that she can take revenge on Julien for his refusal to marry her: having met Monsieur Valeno on the street, she tells him in heaven that her mistress has a love affair with a young tutor. On the same evening, de Renal, who did not suspect anything before, receives an anonymous letter from which he learns that he is being "horned" in his house. Madame de Renal manages to convince her husband of her innocence, but gossip about her love affairs is spreading around the city.

Julien's mentor, Abbé Chelan, believes that the student should leave the City.

To leave at least for a year - for example, to his friend Fouquet, a timber merchant, or to a theological seminary in Besançon.

Julien agrees with the abbe and leaves Verrieres. However, the skull returns for three days to say goodbye to Madame de Renal. This means that feelings still live in him - not only ambition and calculation. He sneaks into the bedroom of his mistress, their date is full of tragedy: they think they are parting forever.

Julien Sorel arrives in Besançon and visits the rector of the seminary, Abbé Pirard. Again, at a new stage in his life, the young man experiences excitement and fear, besides, the face of the abbot is unusually ugly. This repels the young man, even terrifies him. However, the hero again challenges his fear. For three hours the rector examines Julien. This is the moment of triumph for the young connoisseur of theology and Latin. Pirard is so impressed that he accepts him to the seminary with a stipend, however small. Showing respect to a promising student, Pirard gives the order to give him a separate cell. This preference causes a natural reaction of mediocrity: the seminarians unanimously hated Julien. He is clearly talented, he also clearly despises the gray mass, he is an independently thinking person - most do not forgive this. Even the neatness of a novice, his well-groomed white hands infuriate rude seminarians!

Julien must choose his confessor, and he chooses the abbe Pirard. He believes that he made the right and far-sighted choice, but does not suspect how this act will be decisive for his fate. The abbot is sincerely attached to a talented student, but the position of Pirard himself in the seminary is very precarious. His opponents, the Jesuits, are doing everything to force the rector to resign. But the enemies do not take into account that the abbot has an influential friend and patron at court - an aristocrat (from the Franche-Comté district) Marquis de La Mole. The abbot regularly carries out his various assignments, strengthening this friendship. Having learned about the persecution that Pirard is subjected to, the Marquis de La Mole makes him an offer: to move to the capital. The marquis promises the rector of the Besancon seminary one of the best parishes in the vicinity of Paris. Saying goodbye to Julien, the abbot foresees that without the support of the rector, difficult times await him. Julien, knowing that Pirard will need money at first, offers him all his savings. Pirard will not forget this generous spiritual impulse.

The Marquis de La Mole is a politician and nobleman. He enjoys great influence at court. While receiving Abbé Pirard in his Parisian mansion, the marquis mentions that he has been looking for a smart man for several years. He needs a smart and competent secretary who could take care of his correspondence. The abbot immediately offers his favorite student to this place. Yes, this is a man of very low birth... But on the other hand, he is energetic, intelligent, well educated and - with a lofty noble soul.

It's done! Before Julien Sorel opens up the prospect of which he dreamed, and did not dare to dream: he can become a Parisian! He will penetrate into the upper world!

Having received the invitation of the Marquis, the happy Julien goes to Verrières, hoping to see Madame de Renal once more. Rumors reached him that of late the woman had fallen into a kind of frenzied piety and was spending her time in constant prayer and repentance. After overcoming many obstacles, Julien enters the room of his beloved. She has never been so charming and touching, so beautiful! However, Monsieur de Renal violates their seclusion, and Julien has to flee.

Arriving in Paris, a romantic admirer of Bonaparte, first of all, examines the places associated with the name of Napoleon. Having paid tribute of admiration and worship, he goes to the abbot Pirard. The Abbot introduces Julien to the Marquis. In the evening, the newly-minted secretary is already sitting at the common table. Opposite him is a young blonde, unusually slender, with very beautiful eyes. However, the cold expression of these eyes confuses the secretary, he feels in Mademoiselle Mathilde de La Mole some kind of internal resistance. This is a worthy adversary!

The new secretary in an unusual environment is quickly mastered: after three months, the Marquis considers Julien a man in his place. Sorel works diligently and stubbornly, not talkative, extremely quick-witted. Gradually, the son of a carpenter from a small town begins to conduct all the most complex affairs of a Parisian nobleman. The provincial becomes a real dandy and fully masters the art of living in Paris.

However, the secretary's vanity often suffers, he suspects the intention of others to humiliate him - even if it manifests itself in condescension.

The Marquis de La Mole finds an opportunity to give Julien an order. This somewhat pacifies Julien's painful pride, now he is more relaxed. But with Mademoiselle de La Mole, he is emphatically cold.

This nineteen-year-old girl is unusually smart, observant. She is bored in the company of her aristocratic friends - the Count of Quelus, the Viscount de Luz and the Marquis de Croisenois, who claims her hand. Once a year, Matilda wears mourning. Julien learns that she is doing this in honor of the ancestor of the family, Boniface de La Mole, lover of Queen Marguerite of Navarre. He was beheaded on April 30, 1574 at the Place de Greve in Paris. The legend, reflected, in particular, in the novel Queen Margot by Alexandre Dumas père, says that the queen demanded the head of her lover from the executioner and, enclosing it in a precious casket, buried it with her own hands in the chapel.

Julien understands that Matilda is extremely romantic at heart - this unusual love story from the depths of centuries excites her so much.

Time passes - and gradually the proud man ceases to shy away from talking with Matilda. Conversations with her are so interesting that he even forgets his role - again the role! - a plebeian wormed his way into high society. “It would be funny,” the hero thinks, “if she fell in love with me.”

The romantic Matilda really fell in love with Julien. This love, partly inspired by literature, seems to her simply heroic. Still would! A noble girl loves the carpenter's son! From the moment she falls in love with Julien, boredom leaves her.

Julien himself rather amuses his vanity than is carried away by love. He receives a letter from Matilda with a declaration of love and cannot hide his triumph: he, who was beaten by his carpenter father, is loved by the daughter of the Marquis! She preferred him to the aristocratic Marquis de Croisenois! Decisive Matilda announces that she is waiting for Sorel at one in the morning.

Julien thinks that this is a conspiracy, a trap. He is almost sure that they want to kill him or make a mockery of him. Armed with pistols and a dagger, he enters Mademoiselle de La Mole's room.

Matilda threw off her former coldness, she is surprisingly submissive and gentle. However, the next day, she is horrified at the thought that she has become a commoner's mistress. Talking to her father's secretary, she can barely contain her anger and irritation.

Julien's pride is hurt again. In a heated conversation, both decide that everything is over between them. And suddenly Julien feels that he really fell in love with this proud girl. Matilda constantly occupies his imagination.

Julien's acquaintance, the Russian Prince Korazov, gives him proven advice: to arouse the jealousy of his beloved and start courting some secular beauty. Julien does just that. Indeed, the plan is working flawlessly. Matilda is jealous, her pride is wounded, she again feels in love. Only pride prevents her from taking a step forward.

Once Julien, scorning the danger, puts a ladder to Matilda's window and climbs into her bedroom. Seeing her beloved, she forgets the insults and falls into his arms.

After some time, Matilda informs Julien that she is pregnant. She decided to marry him.

Having learned about everything, the marquis is indignant. However, Matilda insists, and the father eventually relents. But to marry a daughter to a carpenter's son is a shame! But it is in the power of the Marquis to create for Julien a brilliant position in society. De La Mole seeks a patent for a hussar lieutenant in the name of Julien Sorel de La Vernet. De La Verne is a title! The treasured particle "de" is a symbol of the nobility... Julien goes to his regiment. He is happy! Military career! Elite! A son will be born - his son will be a marquis!

Unexpectedly, Sorel receives news from Paris: Matilda demands to return immediately. When they meet, she hands him an envelope with a letter. This is a message from Madame de Renal. It turns out that the cautious and prudent Marquis turned to her with a request to provide some information about the former tutor of her children. Madame de Renal is offended: how soon Julien forgot her! She reassesses the past and characterizes Sorel as a hypocrite and a careerist. She reports: "This upstart, plebeian, is capable of any meanness, just to get out into the people."

It is clear that the Marquis de La Mole, after such news, will never agree to the marriage of the carpenter's son with Matilda.

Without saying a word, overcome with anger, Julien leaves Matilda, gets into the mail coach and rushes to Verrieres. All his hopes collapsed because of the feelings of the offended woman!

In a gun shop he buys a pistol, enters the church of Verrières. There is a Sunday service going on. Sorel shoots Madame de Renal twice.

He is arrested. Already in prison, he learns that his former lover was not killed, but only wounded. He is full of remorse and glad that he did not become a murderer. Sorel is likely to be executed, but he feels he can die peacefully.

Following Julien, Matilda also arrives in Verrières. A loving woman uses all her connections, distributes money and promises in the hope of softening the sentence on the father of her unborn child.

On the day of judgment, the entire district flocks to Besançon. Julien expects condemnation and contempt, but is surprised to find that he inspires all these people with sincere pity. He wants to refuse the last word, but nevertheless he rises and speaks.

Julien does not ask the court for any mercy, he says that he deserves death - after all, he raised his hand to a woman who deserves the deepest respect. The ladies in the hall are crying. Death at twenty-three! Execution! But in Sorel's speech there is also an accusation: his main crime is that he, a commoner, rebelled against his miserable lot. The fate of the hero of the novel is decided - the court passes Julien a death sentence. Madame de Renal comes to Julien in prison. In her defense, she says that the letter that caused the tragedy was written by her confessor.

Julien, despite the impending death, is happy. He realizes that Madame de Renal is the only woman he was capable of loving. In his prayers, he asks heaven to give him at least a few years of life together with his beloved woman... But this is impossible. On the day of execution, Sorel behaves courageously and with restraint. Mathilde de La Mole, like her heroine, Queen Marguerite, buries her lover's head with her own hands. And three days after Julien's death, Madame de Renal dies, embracing her children.