Melmoth reconcilie

Melmoth the Wanderer #2

by Honoré de Balzac

- La bibliographie de l'auteur - Ses principales oeuvres - Melmoth arrive au moment ou le caissier de Nucingen, Castanier, presque ruine par sa maitresse, Aquilina, s'apprete a detourner une grosse somme a des fins personnelles. Melmoth propose a Castanier de lui acheter son ame et il lui donne un second rendez-vous ou il lui livrera un secret qui lui pese: la puissance qu'il a obtenue en faisant un pacte avec le diable peut se transmettre pendant cent cinquante ans si quelqu'un autre reprend le pacte a son compte. Melmoth veut ainsi retrouver la paix de l'esprit et il se debarrasse de son fardeau sur Castanier, trop heureux dans un premier temps d'en user a loisir. Mais, bientot lasse par les dons surnaturels qu'il a herites, le caissier cherche a son tour a se defaire du pacte satanique. Pour cela, il lui faut trouver un remplacant qu'il cherche parmi les boursicoteurs. Le pacte passe ainsi en de nombreuses mains, perdant peu a peu de son pouvoir. Et tandis que Melmoth meurt, enfin reconcilie avec Dieu et avec lui-meme, c'est un clerc de notaire qui herite en dernier de ce fameux pacte.

Genres: French Literature, France, Horror, Classics, Short Stories, Satire, Literature

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1835

About the author

French writer Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as La comédie humaine .

Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.

Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.

Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.

Reviews

[Ionuț Anastasiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Putem afirma fără îndoială că opera lui Balzac poate fi comparată cu o rețea imensă, fiind populată de diverse personaje ce reapar cu o frecvență neregulată în romanele, nuvelele sau povestirile ce alcătuiesc Comedia Umană. Poate cel mai interesant aspect al acestui micro-roman este faptul că, de data aceasta, scriitorul francez decide nu numai să apeleze la unii dintre proprii eroi, ci și la eroul unui alt scriitor. Este vorba despre Sir John Melmoth al scriitorului irlandez Charles Robert Maturin.
Admirația lui Balzac pentru scriitorul irlandez este evidentă, iar motivul principal pentru care a scris Melmoth împăcat este ideea de a-l aduce pe acesta la Paris, un oraș infernal în care pactul cu diavolul are o rezonanță chiar mai puternică decât în Irlanda sau Spania. Puterea lui Melmoth este cu adevărat infinită:
"— Cine oare-i atât de tare ca să-mi reziste? Au nu ştii că totul aici pe pământ trebuie să asculte de mine, că eu pot totul? Eu citesc în inimi, văd viitorul, cunosc trecutul. Sunt aici şi pot fi şi aiurea! Nu depind nici de timp, nici de spaţiu, nici de distanţă. Lumea este la picioarele mele! Am facultatea de a mă bucura întotdeauna şi de a dărui întotdeauna fericirea. Ochiul meu străpunge zidurile, vede comorile, şi mă înfrupt din ele cu amândouă mâinile".
Și totuși, el are nevoie de un "locțiitor" pentru a-și atinge scopul, ce, oarecum surprinzător, nu are legătură cu niciunul dintre lucrurile enumerate mai sus. Iar locțiitorul acesta este Castanier, fost ofiţer, ce a ajuns acum un simplu casier la banca domnului de Nucingen. În paranteză fie spus, meseria lui Castanier este aleasă de Balzac din două motive: mai întâi, deoarece aceasta servește cel mai bine narațiunii, casierul bancar fiind cel care are posibilitatea de a sustrage sume mari de bani fără ca fapta sa să fie descoperită o anumită perioadă de timp, iar, pe de altă parte, deoarece scriitorul francez poate astfel să creioneze o adevărată filosofie socială despre această meserie. Castanier a intrat într-o mare belea deoarece este incapabil să gestioneze pofta de lux a tinerei sale amante, cunoscută sub numele de Doamna de la Garde, sau Aquilina. Soluția pe care Melmoth i-o propune pentru a-și rezolva problemele nu este ușor de acceptat.
În final am ales un fragment care ilustrează cât de puțin s-a schimbat tactica "furnizorilor de servicii" (pentru a folosi o sintagmă actuală) în ultimele două secole: "Negustorii, lucrătorii, fabricanţii din Paris au o artă fără seamăn în a lărgi gaura din punga unui bărbat: când îi întrebi, nu ştiu preţul, iar paroxismul dorinţei nu suferă întârziere; ei împing astfel la comenzi făcute în tenebrele unui deviz aproximativ, apoi nu prezintă niciodată socotelile şi târăsc pe client în vârtejul furniturilor. Totul e delicios, încântător, fiecare e satisfăcut. După câteva luni, aceşti furnizori plini de bunăvoinţă se înfiinţează din nou metamorfozaţi în totaluri de o înspăimântătoare exigenţă: sunt strâmtoraţi, au plăţi urgente de făcut, pretind chiar că dau faliment, se văietă, şi încasează! Prăpastia se cască atunci, zvârlind o coloană de cifre care păşesc patru câte patru când ar trebui sa meargă cu nevinovăţie trei câte trei". Lectură plăcută!

[Warren Fournier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an unofficial "sequel" to the famous Gothic horror epic "Melmoth the Wanderer". It was written by the French genius Honoré de Balzac, and is an unusual entry in his loosely-connected series "The Human Comedy", which details the life of post-Napoleonic France, because of the inclusion of supernatural elements to the story.

I would like to take a moment to critique the character of Melmoth himself. As much as I enjoyed both of Melmoth's literary appearances, I don't think that his original creator, Charles Maturin, had a solid formulation of just what kind of character Melmoth was supposed to be. Maturin clearly was influenced by the old tale of Dr. Faustus, but I wonder if he had also read Goethe's early releases of what would become the "Faust" we know today. Maturin's Melmoth seems to be a character forever in transition in Maturin's mind, a medley of the lost soul of Dr. Faustus, the tragic hero of Goethe, and the mysterious antihero of gothic romance, and Maturin never seemed to be able to successfully meld these ideas into a cohesive character. Perhaps this is what led to Melmoth's popularity in the 19th Century, because he was an unfinished canvas for romance readers to complete in a way satisfactory to their own head canon.

Balzac was one of those fans, and decided to take the legend of Melmoth in a particular direction. In Maturin's original, Melmoth wanders the earth trying to tempt vulnerable people into accepting his pact with the Devil, but in the end, he is unsuccessful in transferring his curse onto someone else. In Balzac's view, however, Melmoth should have had no difficulty in finding a sucker. The modern world idolizes money and influence, and there are plenty of people who would gladly give their souls for a taste of material comforts.

So, this story ends up being a final alternative chapter in the exploits of Melmoth. It concerns a mediocre and middle-aged ex-Dragoon named Castanier, who is planning on embezzling money from the bank where he has worked faithfully for many years, thinking he can retire comfortably but in exile under a pseudonym in Italy. He has a young mistress that he's been keeping in luxury, but this has placed him in his dire financial circumstances. So Castanier is destined to be the guy who accepts Melmoth's curse.

As a critique of Western hedonism, this story runs with the question of what would happen if Melmoth could be redeemed by passing the Devil's curse onto others. Selling one's soul is akin to possession, but since all the Devil can offer is earthly delights, those who are possessed quickly become bored with such a shallow existence, so they try to shrug off the Devil onto the next naive sucker. This idea will feel similar to modern horror fans who've seen the film "It Follows".

There is a lot to chew on here, and I don't want to spoil it all, so give this short entry in Balzac's Human Comedy a try.

SCORE: 4 corrupt cashiers out of 5

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balzac makes Melmoth into a real Batman in this sequel--not only can he just appear wherever, he gives him the ability to read thoughts and basic omniscience. We get much more insight into Melmoth himself, or at least how the curse works when Mel is finally successful in passing it to a forger cashier (which seems more like a accountant/broker than the US meaning). After enjoying the devilry that the curse provides, he goes to the stock exchange to pass it off again, and again, and again...and it dissipates or is otherwise lost in the rabble of trade. Rather than the Catholic Church (Maturin's bad guy), Balzac's target of ire is capitalism and French society. This was a fine short novella follow-up to Maturin, but it might have had more punch to it by drawing out the ending.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella from the Human Comedy is best read by those who have already read Maturin's Melmoth (as might be expected from the title). I enjoyed Balzac's ironical discourse about cashiers which prefaces the plot involving the cashier Castanier much more than the philosophical resolution to Castanier's situation (a bit too pat for me but that section is quite short & not without interest).

I read this in Project Gutenberg's omnibus "The Works of Balzac"; this novella was translated by Ellen Marriage.

[ᴅᴀʟᴜ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 ☆

I find it funny how Balzac was basically unsatisfied just like me at Maturin's original Melmoth so he just straight up went: "Screw it all, I'm writing my own fanfic sequel with my headcanon where the 'villain' has a happy ending!!" and actually SUCCEEDED into making the story better than Maturin's (and in less than 100 pages).
Thanks, Balzac, love you.

[Serkan Murat Kırıkcı · Rating 4 out of 5]

1820'de İngiltere'de 'Melmoth the Wanderer' adında, Charles Maturin imzasıyla bir eser yayımlanmış. ruhunu 150 yıl karşılığında şeytana satan bir öğrencinin öyküsü olan roman aynı zamanda erken dönem 19. yüzyıl ingilteresinin toplumsal panaromasıymış. Balzac bu eserden çok etkilenmiş ve hikâyenin devamını yazmak istemiş. böylece ortaya çıkmış 'Melmoth Reconcilie'. 1835'de yayınlanan metin, basit ve sade karakterlerinin para ve yükselme hırslarını anlatıyor. lüks dünyalar özlemini resmediyor. ve elbette balzac, dönemin fransasını ve toplumunu da anlatıyor. hırs ve tutkunun insanın içinde nasıl bir hastalık gibi yayıldığını anlatıyor. kliseye, borsaya, mal sahiplerine taşlamaları da sert. şeytana ihtiyaç yok insan zaten şeytanın kendisidir diyor balzac. önsözü ve çeviri notları da çok iyi tamamlayıcılar. 1835'te yazılmış, söylemleri geçerliliğini koruyan yoğun ve etkileyici bir metin.

[Riddhiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Melmoth Reconciled' is a long story, which is part of 'Études philosophiques' of Honore De Balzac's 'La Comédie Humaine' series. I had previously read the novel,'The Wild Ass's Skin' in this same category. The novels and stories in 'Philosophical Studies' category, generally pertain to magical realist themes. Like all of the novels and stories in 'The Human Comedy', there are some characters that cross over from the other texts, who are mentioned in passing or take a significant part, to give the impression of a shared universe.
Here the characters of Nucingen, Rastignac and Aquilina serve that purpose. Rastignac is a significant character in 'The Wild Ass's Skin', the previous one I read.
However, there is one salient feature in this. Balzac, for the first time used the reference to a character, not created by him. It is understood that Charles Robert Maturin's novel, 'Melmoth The Wanderer' was indeed a favorite of Balzac's and the protagonist of that book, John Melmoth and his curse play a very significant part in this story. In 'Melmoth the Wanderer', we find out that John Melmoth had struck a deal with the devil for an unusually long life and other supernatural powers. Throughout the novel, Melmoth tries to tempt other people to take over his curse (which he showcases as a gift), but fails. That changes in this story. Here Melmoth is able to pass his deal over to a cashier/head clerk Rodolfe Castanier, who is in desperation. After taking over the deal, he gradually realizes the baggage that comes with it and tries to pass it over, in turn to someone else, thereby getting rid of it. Thus, the curse becomes the main protagonist of this story. Quite like a passing game, in every iteration, the actual method of invoking the Devil, becomes increasingly garbled, leading to disastrous consequences. The end of John Melmoth is presented in a different way here, than in the novel, which is one significant change from the book. Certain other differences can also be attributed to the fact that Maturin was an Irish protestant (clergyman) and Balzac was a French Catholic. Nevertheless, this extrapolation of the concept does give rise to a fruitful read!

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balzac's "Melmoth Reconciled" is the third story I have read so far from his philosophical studies and what I have noticed the difference so far from his other stories is the fantastical and religious nature. All have some supernatural happening that makes the characters reevaluate their lives and hope to find some understanding. As in the "Magic Skin" the two courtesans are present here but a further understanding of Aquilina and how she got her start. Rastignac gives his witty remark to his mistress, Nucingen's wife and the further understanding of the banking world.
This story though written in 1835 seems to be taking place in 1821. This short story has to do with good and evil, and redemption. I absolutely love that Balzac shows us some of his more spiritual minded writings.

Story in short- Nucingen's cashier looks to outwit the system but can he and if he does is it worth it?


I didn't read this edition but from a Delphi collection of his works which included the below.

"Melmoth réconcilié was initially published in 1835. It is a long short story, telling the adventures of Rodolphe Castanier, a cashier at the House of Nucingen. Aged forty-five, he is married and has a young mistress. When a major in the dragoons, he was seriously injured and so retired with the honorary grade of colonel and a pension of two thousand four hundred francs."

How much evil can one do and still be told that redemption is possible? God all knowing knows when one is sincere.

"The number of cashiers in Paris must always be a problem for the physiologist. Has any one as yet been able to state correctly the terms of the proportion sum wherein the cashier figures as the unknown x? Where will you find the man who shall live with wealth, like a cat with a caged mouse? This man, for further qualification, shall be capable of sitting boxed in behind an iron grating for seven or eight hours a day during seven-eighths of the year, perched upon a cane-seated chair in a space as narrow as a lieutenant’s cabin on board a man-of-war. Such a man must be able to defy anchylosis of the knee and thigh joints; he must have a soul above meanness, in order to live meanly; must lose all relish for money by dint of handling it."



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Castanier is a cashier who used to be a dragoon for Napoleon but has been working at the bank for years. He is alone late at the bank forging Nucingen's signature when a stranger named John Melmoth seems to know all his thoughts and appears out of nowhere. After Castanier leaves he returns home to his mistress, Aquilina, who he met when she was a young girl from the country. He is unable to marry her because he has already been tricked into marriage. He sees her simple taste but he soon starts to lavish an luxurious lifestyle which brings him debts too extreme that he looks to forge a huge check that will be exchanged in London and he will run away to Italy, under another name. He still has not decided if he should take Aquilina with him, he hears Melmoth tell him not to. He comes back to a pert mistress who doesn't love him but he is so blind sided to see. Her lover is to meet her tonight but word must be given because she has to go to the Gymanase for a play. He tells her he must leave for awhile and would she come with him but she refuses to leave. At the theater Melmoth does not see the play but a play of his life that Melmoth shows him. It shows that he soon will be arrested and the police are right now with Nucingen. He also sees that Aquilina has a lover, Leon who she loves furiously. He sees that he will be caught and serve over twenty years at hard labor. Canstanier is still confused but after he sees Melmoth, who looks like a terribly evil person, by himself. He has sold himself to the devil for money and power. He comes out as strongly evil and Melmoth comes out weak. Canstanier knows all from the powers he has been given and sees that his mistress has a lover and is hidden in her room. He finds Leon and the lover looks for a duel but Canstanier tells him it isn't worth his time because the hangman will take Leon's life because he will be arrested soon for him and his co conspirators. Aquilina begs him to save Leon but he refuses and she leaves with her lover and throws the money that Canstanier gives her.
Aquilina in the "Magic Skin" wears red for her dead lover. Jenny the maid thinks she will take over as the new mistress but Canstanier reads her mind and sets her straight, he gives her money to leave. He lives the high life with his money and debauchery but he soon finds that many things are gone that make life miserable. He finds Melmoth who has died but confessed his sins and accepts God, Canstanier looks for this peace and salvation but he must find a willing person to sell his soul. Claparon has debts and trades with Canstanier, who finds his peace. After awhile Claparon seeks to trade for his soul and finds someone. It keeps on going from one to another for less and less, until a young man who is obsessed with Euphrasie, trades his soul and dies without redemption and looks like pure evil.


"If the cashier is possessed of an imagination or of a fervid temperament; if, as will sometimes happen to the most complete cashier, he loves his wife, and that wife grows tired of her lot, has ambitions, or merely some vanity in her composition, the cashier is undone."

"Without this prefatory explanation a recent occurrence in Paris would seem improbable; but preceded by this summing up of the situation, it will perhaps receive some thoughtful attention from minds capable of recognizing the real plague-spots of our civilization, a civilization which since 1815 as been moved by the spirit of gain rather than by principles of honor."

"The cashier wore the ribbon of the Legion of Honor at his button-hole, for he had been a major of dragoons in the time of the Emperor. M. de Nucingen, who had been a contractor before he became a banker, had had reason in those days to know the honorable disposition of his cashier, who then occupied a high position. Reverses of fortune had befallen the major, and the banker out of regard for him paid him five hundred francs a month. The soldier had become a cashier in the year 1813, after his recovery from a wound received at Studzianka during the Retreat from Moscow, followed by six months of enforced idleness at Strasbourg, whither several officers had been transported by order of the Emperor, that they might receive skilled attention. This particular officer, Castanier by name, retired with the honorary grade of colonel, and a pension of two thousand four hundred francs. Castanier had gone himself to shut the door which opened on to a staircase that led to the parlor occupied by the two bankers on the first floor of their hotel. Then he had taken up the pen and imitated the banker’s signature on each. Nucingen he wrote, and eyed the forged signatures critically to see which seemed the most perfect copy."

"Castanier handed him the pen with which he had just committed forgery. The stranger wrote John Melmoth, then he returned the slip of paper and the pen to the cashier.
The pen that Melmoth had handled sent the same sickening heat through him that an emetic produces. But it seemed impossible to Castanier that the Englishman should have guessed his crime. His inward qualms he attributed to the palpitation of the heart that, according to received ideas, was sure to follow at once on such a “turn” as the stranger had given him. “The devil take it; I am very stupid. Providence is watching over me; for if that brute had come round to see my gentleman to-morrow, my goose would have been cooked!” said Castanier, and he burned the unsuccessful attempts at forgery in the stove. He put the bill that he meant to take with him in an envelope, and helped himself to five hundred thousand francs in French and English bank-notes from the safe, which he locked. Then he put everything in order, lit a candle, blew out the lamp, took up his hat and umbrella, and went out sedately, as usual, to leave one of the two keys of the strong room with Madame de Nucingen, in the absence of her husband the Baron."

“The same to you, madame,” replied the old dragoon as he went out. He glanced as he spoke at a young man well known in fashionable society at that time, a M. de Rastignac, who was regarded as Madame de Nucingen’s lover."

“Piquoizeau,” said the cashier, walking into the porter’s room, “what made you let anybody come up after four o’clock?” “I have been smoking a pipe here in the doorway ever since four o’clock,” said the man, “and nobody has gone into the bank. Nobody has come out either except the gentlemen — — ”

"Let me think! Two clear days, Sunday and Monday, then a day of uncertainty before they begin to look for me; altogether, three days and four nights’ respite. I have a couple of passports and two different disguises; is not that enough to throw the cleverest detective off the scent? On Tuesday morning I shall draw a million francs in London before the slightest suspicion has been aroused."

"the woman who is to follow after me might give them a clue! Think of an old campaigner like me infatuated enough to tie myself to a petticoat tail!... Why take her? I must leave her behind. When he resumed his walk he fell once more into that fever of irresolution which besets those who are so carried away by passion that they are ready to commit a crime, but have not sufficient strength of character to keep it to themselves without suffering terribly in the process. So, although Castanier had made up his mind to reap the fruits of a crime which was already half executed, he hesitated to carry out his designs. For him, as for many men of mixed character in whom weakness and strength are equally blended, the least trifling consideration determines whether they shall continue to lead blameless lives or become actively criminal."

"He had arranged matters so as to divert the search that would be made for him into Belgium and Switzerland, while he himself was at sea in the English vessel. Then, by the time that Nucingen might flatter himself that he was on the track of his late cashier, the said cashier, as the Conte Ferraro, hoped to be safe in Naples. He had determined to disfigure his face in order to disguise himself the more completely, and by means of an acid to imitate the scars of smallpox. Yet, in spite of all these precautions, which surely seemed as if they must secure him complete immunity, his conscience tormented him; he was afraid. The even and peaceful life that he had led for so long had modified the morality of the camp. His life was stainless as yet; he could not sully it without a pang. So for the last time he abandoned himself to all the influences of the better self that strenuously resisted."

“Well, upon my word, there is something supernatural about this!” said he to himself. “If I were fool enough to believe in God, I should think that He had set Saint Michael on my tracks. Suppose that the devil and the police should let me go on as I please, so as to nab me in the nick of time? Did any one ever see the like! But there, this is folly...”

"Mme. de la Garde said that she was a Piedmontese. No one, not even Castanier, knew her real name. She was one of those young girls, who are driven by dire misery, by inability to earn a living, or by fear of starvation, to have recourse to a trade which most of them loathe, many regard with indifference, and some few follow in obedience to the laws of their constitution. But on the brink of the gulf of prostitution in Paris, the young girl of sixteen, beautiful and pure as the Madonna, had met with Castanier."

"This irregular union gave the Piedmontese a status the most nearly approaching respectability among those which the world declines to recognize. During the first year she took the nom de guerre of Aquilina, one of the characters in Venice Preserved which she had chanced to read. She fancied that she resembled the courtesan in face and general appearance, and in a certain precocity of heart and brain of which she was conscious."

"Unluckily, he had praised the daughter to her mother when he brought her back after a waltz, a little chat followed, and then an invitation in the most natural way in the world. Once introduced into the house, the dragoon was dazzled by the hospitality of a family who appeared to conceal their real wealth beneath a show of careful economy. He was skilfully flattered on all sides, and every one extolled for his benefit the various treasures there displayed. A neatly timed dinner, served on plate lent by an uncle, the attention shown to him by the only daughter of the house, the gossip of the town, a well-to-do sub-lieutenant who seemed likely to cut the ground from under his feet — all the innumerable snares, in short, of the provincial ant-lion were set for him, and to such good purpose, that Castanier said five years later, “To this day I do not know how it came about!”

"Like many women who seem by nature destined to sound all the depths of love, Mme. de la Garde was disinterested. She asked neither for gold nor for jewelry, gave no
thought to the future, lived entirely for the present and for the pleasures of the present. She accepted expensive ornaments and dresses, the carriage so eagerly coveted by women of her class, as one harmony the more in the picture of life. There was absolutely no vanity in her desire not to appear at a better advantage but to look the fairer, and moreover, no woman could live without luxuries more cheerfully. When a man of generous nature (and military men are mostly of this stamp) meets with such a woman, he feels a sort of exasperation at finding himself her debtor in generosity. He feels that he could stop a mail coach to obtain money for her if he has not sufficient for her whims. He will commit a crime if so he may be great and noble in the eyes of some woman or of his special public; such is the nature of the man."

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extension of the short story by Charles Robert Maturin: Melmoth the wanderer and can be read here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1277
An ex dragoon Castanier, works as a cashier in a bank. Late in the afternoon, after closing time, he looks up to see a man inside the vault. He unnerves him. In particular, his eyes glitter strangely.
The Englishman presents a bill of exchange for 500,000 francs. It is unsigned. He signs his name - John Melmoth - and the pen burns the cashier’s hand when he passes it back. But when he goes to present the cash, the man is gone. Rather than return the cash, Castanier keeps it instead, as it fits with his own plans. He locks everything up and returns the keys, reminding the banker’s wife that he is off until Tuesday.
Walking home, he sees Melmoth again but is then distracted by his own problems: he has not only a wife, but also a mistress Aquilina, and she is frivolous and young. She even has a young lover, Leon.
They go to the theatre and run into Melmoth again. He tells Castanier that he is the ‘peer of Lucifer’ and he waves a hand and magically transforms the play into a representation of Castanier’s crimes. The next scene is Leon waiting at home and saying he will marry Aquilina. The finale is Castanier being tried for his crimes. Aquilina laughs a lot but Castanier is horrified.
With nowhere else to go Castanier sells his soul to Melmoth and is a changed man now he possesses knowledge of all things. He boots out his mistress, exposes her lover as a spy (about to die on the guillotine) and takes the servant as his new mistress. He sees all, he knows all but before long he’s bored and understands that he has lost his only comfort, his faith.
He tracks down Melmoth only to find he has used Castanier’s soul to confess, receive absolution and die. He looks beatific.
Castanier’s only recourse is to try to sell the devil’s abilities on to another for the price of their soul, and being a cashier he starts at the stock exchange. The soul exchange goes on for some time until one young man overdoses on mercury and dies without transference.

And in this way the secret of the vast power discovered and acquired by the Irishman, the offspring of Maturin's brain, was lost to mankind; and the various Orientalists, Mystics, and Archaeologists who take an interest in these matters were unable to hand down to posterity the proper method of invoking the Devil…

***
Perhaps my version of the Maturin story was different, but there was no mention of selling souls for extra knowledge or years of life. He certainly destroyed people who spoke against him: the young lover, the priest, and the bride. Now I think about it, it doesn’t explain why the old man still had a portrait made 150 years ago or a mouldy manuscript. Perhaps the Lock and Key mystery I read has been heavily edited; the expurgated Reader’s Digest version? *shrugs*
This Balzac extension talks a lot about faith, love and destiny - themes that he often wrote on.
And just where is this demon now, eh? That is, I suppose, another story.
3 stars

[Catherine Vamianaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Μια περίεργη ιστορία με έναν ταμία που αγάπησε μια ανηθικη γυναίκα.

[Virginie Dolléans · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’adore l’humour de Balzac !

[Mouâd Benzahra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vendrait-on son âme au Diable pour accéder à l’interdit ?
C’est ce à quoi s’attelle cette nouvelle balzacienne tirée des études philosophiques de la Comédie Humaine, rendue surprenante par son côté fantastique dans les faits et descriptions.
Une nouvelle qui dépeint les scènes de vie parisiennes et s’articule autour d’un détournement de fonds à son propre compte, mené par Castanier, le caissier de la famille Nucingen : Des fins personnelles justifiées par son amour fou à sa maîtresse Aquilina, qui l’a financièrement ruiné.
Castanier use donc de sa ruse pour falsifier des lettres de change à même de lui procurer les grosses sommes lorgnées, pour faire plaisir à son amante, jusqu’à l’apparition subite du mystérieux anglais « Melmoth », dont l’âme est totalement perdue et consumée par le Diable.
Signer un pacte avec le Diable est synonyme de vente de l’âme : Une âme corrompue et majestueuse, intrépide et avide de pouvoir. Castanier se métamorphose alors et arrive à ses fins, quant à Melmoth, son repentir des suites de son alliance avec Satan fut si ahurissant !
Satan ne dira jamais son dernier mot, et son âme sera vendue entre pauvres diables.
Le charme philosophique se démarque aussi dans ce récit, dans la mesure où l’auteur consacre plusieurs pages aux descriptions des plaisirs parisiens, aux états d’âme de ses citoyens et de leurs perceptions des actes mondains en général.
L’enjeu pécuniaire, la recherche du pouvoir et des plaisirs interdits sont donc les thèmes prévalant dans cette mystérieuse nouvelle, là où la spéculation financière y est mêlée de surnaturel. Celle-ci est intimement liée et suivie par le court roman « La Maison de Nucigen » où la part belle sera donnée à la spéculation boursière et à l’agiotage.
« Si le démon te demandait ton âme, ne la donnerais-tu pas en échange d’une puissance égale à celle de Dieu ? D’un seul mot, tu restituerais dans la caisse du baron de Nucingen les cinq cent mille francs que tu y as pris. Puis, en déchirant ta lettre de crédit, toute trace de crime serait anéantie. Enfin, tu aurais de l’or à flots. Tu ne crois guère à rien, n’est-ce pas ? Hé bien ! si tout cela arrive, tu croiras au moins au diable. »

[Mbuye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balzac takes a very traditional concept, and stands it on his head, even as he keeps to a perfectly straightforward narrative. Using Charles Maturin’s 1820 Gothic horror novel “Melmoth the Wanderer,” an episodic novel in which the man Melmoth sells his soul to the devil for a prolongation of life and unlimited wealth and the satisfaction of all his desires, the original Melmoth finds that neither wealth nor pleasures will save him from the tortures of the damned.

In Balzac’s story, Castanier, a former soldier now employed as a cashier in a great banking house, is respected for his integrity and honesty. Despite this, however, he sinks to debt and then crime, until a stranger (Melmoth) appears out of the blue and offers him a strange deal - an exchange of souls in return for unlimited wealth and the satisfaction of his every wish. Castanier agrees with alacrity, and plunges into a life of debauchery until it sickens him. He goes in search of Melmoth, only to find that he had, just that morning, died in his bed.

What follows is an ironic study of the value of a human soul, and its continual depreciation, told in the inimitable style of a humanist, a realist and a satirist: Balzac. As he probes the theme of redemption, he exposes the shallowness of the society of his times, while satirising the popularity of horror novels; equally, his critical eye takes in the romanticism of Goethe's ‘Faust.’ One of Balzac's greatest strengths was the ability to see and empathise with the times, and that is what we see in ‘Melmoth Reconciled,’ as each time the soul is sold for lesser and lesser value, until the last doomed possessor can find no market, and no redemption is available for him.

[Ned · Rating 3 out of 5]

A side story to Pere Goriot that happens tangential to and during that story's plot. The protagonist here is a head bank clerk to the bank of Nucingen (who gets his own story). He finds himself unable to discount a debt, and so incurs another burden that is more than humans can long endure.

Out of witnessed guilt and overwhelming shame this accountant chooses a supernatural power. Because of his sense of guilt he is willing to 'do anything', accepting some sort of daemonic personification of guilt and its power to influence. He becomes a sort of power-demon or a vampire that doesn't suck blood but nevertheless roams Paris without satisfaction. Any tangible thing he might want can be easily had, used, exploited, won, overwhelmed, consumed, but there is no lasting satisfaction.

He becomes a hungry living-ghost that can never be happy looking for someone else to take this burden from him even though he learns that 'giving up this ghost' might indeed kill him. Ceaseless he seeks his end causing all manner of destruction around him.

Read alongside The Duchess de Langeais, The Firm of Nucingen, Ferragus, and others, this one gives a paranormal cast to the affairs of the rest. The character feels they've become a ghoul lurking who is completely uncaring of the delicate balances in life the others have promised each other.

[Sladjana Kovacevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

MELMOTH RÉCONCILIÉ-HONORÉ DE BALZAC
✒"Je lis dans les cœurs, je vois l’avenir, je sais le passé. Je suis ici, et je puis être ailleurs ! Je ne dépends ni du temps, ni de l’espace, ni de la distance. Le monde est mon serviteur. J’ai la faculté de toujours jouir, et de donner toujours le bonheur. Mon œil perce les murailles, voit les trésors, et j’y puise à pleines mains. À un signe de ma tête, des palais se bâtissent et mon architecte ne se trompe jamais. Je puis faire éclore des fleurs sur tous les terrains..."
😈Jedno flizofsko delo Balzakove Ljudske komedije,kratko ali upečatljivo
😈Glavni lik je čovek kome je posao da barata tuđim novcem
😈Pošto gospodin voli mladu ženu,i sve radosti žovota,a ne može sebi da priušti taj luksuz,mora da krade
😈Ako kradete-pazite da ne budete uhvaćeni. A ako vas ipak uhvate-molite boga da vas na delu ne zatekne Đavo
😈Pošto Melmoth,alijas Đavo,sve zna i sve može,samo recite da i svet je vaš.
😈Ima li spasa bankarevoj duši i kako uvaliti ugovor s Đavolom nekome drugom otkrićete u ovoj priči. 😁
#7sensesofabook #classicliterature #balzac #literature #knjige #readingaddict

[Tim Potier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally, Balzac gets a little distracted. A good opening with potential becomes possessed by another idea. No pun intended with the word "possessed" in light of the consequent plot. I believe this could have been better if Balzac had allowed time for the story and the characters to develop. In the end, he grows tired of this Faustian tale and, rather in a hurry, throws it away. Therefore, a bit of a missed opportunity.

[Steve Schoenbeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting variation on the Faust theme.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a drop of fine wine...that tickles and makes you smile. Lovely, just lovely!

[Stéphane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une fable assez bien menée

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. It was properly spine-chilling. And, it made me go back to Melmoth the Wanderer which I am now hugely enjoying, too.

[Vinícius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito bom.

Li correndo pra reunião com o meu orientador mas em breve vou reler pra pegar melhor a crítica social foda dms q ele fez aqui. Por enquanto, eu queria só ver os demonião.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 3 out of 5]

L’histoire du caissier escroc qui pactise avec le diable

[Víctor Vila Álvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

El pasaje del cuento principal en el que describe lo que es un cajero, un oficinista es una maravilla.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh dear me, Balzac was feeling liverish when he wrote this!

"There is a special variety of human nature obtained in the Social Kingdom by a process analogous to that of the gardener's craft in the Vegetable Kingdom, to wit, by the forcing-house--a species of hybrid which can be raised neither from seed nor from slips. This product is known as the Cashier, an anthropomorphous growth, watered by religious doctrine, trained up in fear of the guillotine, pruned by vice, to flourish on a third floor with an estimable wife by his side and an uninteresting family. The number of cashiers in Paris must always be a problem for the physiologist. Has any one as yet been able to state correctly the terms of the proportion sum wherein the cashier figures as the unknown x? Where will you find the man who shall live with wealth, like a cat with a caged mouse? This man, for further qualification, shall be capable of sitting boxed in behind an iron grating for seven or eight hours a day during seven-eighths of the year, perched upon a cane-seated chair in a space as narrow as a lieutenant's cabin on board a man-of-war. Such a man must be able to defy anchylosis of the knee and thigh joints; he must have a soul above meanness, in order to live meanly; must lose all relish for money by dint of handling it. Demand this peculiar specimen of any creed, educational system, school, or institution you please, and select Paris, that city of fiery ordeals and branch establishment of hell, as the soil in which to plant the said cashier. So be it."

And then there's this:
"Government offices are part of a great scheme for the manufacture of the mediocrity necessary for the maintenance of a Feudal System on a pecuniary basis--and money is the foundation of the Social Contract".

Balzac, as we know, had money troubles all his life, and I suspect that he was never in a position to 'be above relishing' money. This intro is more about the author sniping at his creditors than anything to do with the actual story.

Because in fact in this short story about a cashier in the Bank of Nucingen Castanier, an old soldier, defies the sarcasm suggested above: the cashier isn't honest. He defrauds the bank by forging signatures. He's caught at it by a mysterious stranger, who demands to have a bill of exchange cashed. He signs his name John Melmoth.

Panicked into fleeing, Castanier shuts up for the night, gives the keys to Delphine and makes his getaway plans. He's planning on Italy where he can take on the identity of Conte Ferraro who died beside him on the battlefield. And he's going to take his mistress Aquilina (a.k.a. Naqui) with him even though she's the cause of his debts. He's fond of her but he can't marry her because he has an estranged wife elsewhere.

Alas for Castanier, Aquilina isn't keen on leaving the comforts of home, and she knows nothing about the debts, AND she has some other chap called Leon, so he tells her some nonsense about being away for a few days and then they go to the Gymnase to see a performance. (Which is not what an intelligent criminal would do if we were planning a getaway, is it?)

But whatever Castanier's plans, he hears the voice of Melmoth and he thinks it's a supernatural phenomenon or the voice of God. He was there in the street when he was on his way to Aquilina's and he's at the theatre too. He has the power to make Castanier see visions - of detection at the bank, and of Aquilina making a fool of him, and fatefully, he offers the old soldier the chance to take his place.

Yes it's a devil's bargain, and of course while his immediate problems are over, Castanier is of course doomed.

"He felt the awful melancholy of omnipotence, a melancholy which Satan and God relieve by the exercise of infinite power in mysterious ways known to them alone. Castanier had not, like his Master, the inextinguishable energy of hate and malice; he felt that he was a devil, but a devil whose time was not yet come, while Satan is a devil through all eternity, and being damned beyond redemption, delights to stir up the world, like a dung heap, with his triple fork and to thwart therein the designs of God. But Castanier, for his misfortune, had one hope left."

He dashes off to Melmoth only to find that he has died, so his one recourse is to pass on the curse. Before long he finds Claparon in desperate straights, and a deal is made, only for Claparon to find the burdens of devilry as heavy as Melmoth and Castanier had. He offloads the curse and each victim passes it on tout suite, as the French say, each one getting less and less for the bargain.

It is a simple house-painter who ends the curse. He wants only 100 Louis to buy a shawl for his ladylove Euphrasia. He takes the offer, but regrets it, dying of an illness brought on by shame after just 13 days with the girl.

I probably wasn't meant to, but I felt rather sorry for Castanier...

[Ben Dutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A longer short story from Honoré de Balzac’s La Comédie humaine, from the Études Philosophiques, and a marked improvement over Jésus-Christ en Flandre. As one may have already deduced from the title, this story is a sequel to Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Charles Robert Maturin.

Maturin’s tale, we must remind ourselves, is one of the best works of Gothic fiction, a book that H.P. Lovecraft called “an enormous stride in the evolution of the horror-tale.” It tells the story of John Melmoth, a man who sells his soul to the Devil for another 150 years of life and then spends the rest of his life searching for someone to take over the pact. Melmoth, as a character, has become indicative of much – in Nabokov’s Lolita, Humbert Humbert calls the car he takes Lolita on a journey across America in Melmoth, and Oscar Wilde called himself Sebastian Melmoth during his travels made after his release from prison.

Balzac’s story, written just fifteen years after Maturin’s tale, reveals to us a crooked cashier “of the house of Nucingen and Company, in the Rue Saint-Lazare,” named Castanier. Castanier is a military hero who “wore the ribbon of the Legion of Honor at his button-hole, for he had been a major of dragoons in the time of the Emperor.” Only Castanier has fallen on hard times and is about to forge a signature to steal the money to pay his creditors. As he is about to do so a man appears beside him, an Englishman, who forces Castanier to reconsider. This Englishman is revealed to be John Melmoth. Melmoth offers Castanier his deal with the Devil, and Castanier to save himself accepts, but only after persuasion – Melmoth shows Castanier how he will die by hanging for his crime, and how his daughter will desert him.

Just as in Maturin’s tale, Castanier is tortured by the power this curse brings him – he can have everything, anything, but this does not bring him happiness. This curse mirrors the curse bought upon Raphaël de Valentin in La Peau de Chagrin, when he accepts the power of the shagreen into his life. The tension this develops between Castanier and his daughter is wrought tightly, and breathlessy one sees Castanier begin to unravel his life, the curse wrecking everything, sending him mad.

“”What is all this about ?” said she. “Come, now, promise me that if I had a lover you would still love me as a father; that would be love! Come, now, promise it at once, and give us your fist upon it.”

­”I should kill you,” and Castanier smiled as he spoke.”

He loses everything, pushing away even his own blood, even though he has the power to change any event, save anybody, he does not save them.

“­”Why?” shouted Castanier, and his voice made the ceiling ring. — “Eh! it is my revenge! Doing evil is my trade!””

­

Castanier begins to wander, seeking someone to pass the curse onto.

“The torrents of pain, and pleasure, and thought that shook his soul and his bodily frame would have overwhelmed the strongest human being; but in him there was a power of vitality proportioned to the power of the sensations that assailed him. He felt within him a vague immensity of longing that earth could not satisfy. He spent his days on outspread wings, longing to traverse the luminous fields of space to other spheres that he knew afar by intuitive perception, a clear and hopeless knowledge. His soul dried up within him, for he hungered and thirsted after things that can neither be drunk nor eaten, but for which he could not choose but crave. His lips, like Melmoth’s, burned with desire; he panted for the unknown, for he knew all things.”

Melmoth réconcilié reaches a torturous, breathless finale, but then unfortunately undermines itself by taking us away from Castanier and introducing us to the next victim of Melmoth’s curse. For those forty-five or so pages where Castanier is the centre Melmoth réconcilié remains a truly powerful and affecting short story, meditating on life, love, destiny, faith and all those usual Balzacian concerns. Available for free on Project Gutenberg, this is a recommended read.

[Txe Polon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un divertimento de Balzac que encaja en el mundo de su Comedia humana una historia ajena de corte gótico, concluyéndola con humor y escepticismo en cuanto a lo fantástico. Y es que donde estén banqueros, cajeros y pasantes, al diablo le surge una competencia contra la que poco puede hacer. Evidentemente, una obra menor dentro del conjunto de la obra balzaquiana.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

Castanier meets hard times is about to steal money, suddenly meets John Melmoth who makes a deal with him eventually engulfing him in a curse.

[Gláucia Renata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Publicado em 1835 faz parte dos Estudos Filosóficos dentro da Comédia Humana. É uma espécie de releitura do romance Melmoth The Wanderer do irlandês Charles Robert Maturin, por sua vez inspirada no mito fáustico.
Castanier, ex-militar é agora caixa no banco do já conhecido personegem balzaquiano barão de Nucingen, em quem planeja dar um golpe financeiro e se mudar para a Itália. Poré recebe a visita de uma estranha figura que parece tudo ver e conhecer, dotado de grande poder de obter o tudo o que deseja. O estranho propõe passar ao caixa todo o poder que possui em troca de sua alma. O conto é divertido, o arrependimento sempre se apresenta em algum momento e o atual portador dessa força diabólica precisa encontrar alguém com quem trocar seu posto por seu lugar no paraíso de volta.



Histórico de leitura
07/02/2019


"O dragão, não reconhecendo mais a mulher que desposara, consignou-a numa pequena propriedade em Estrasburgo, à espera que aprouvesse a Deus adornar o paraíso com ela."

"Há uma espécie de homens que a civilização obtém no reino social, como os floricultores criam no reino vegetal, pela educação da estufa, uma espécie híbrida que não podem reproduzir nem por semeadura nem por estaca."