V
Original
Literary translation
§ 5.1
.
Eight in the morning.
§ 5.2
.
The scene takes place in front of the garage.
§ 5.3
. , , , .
Mr. and Mrs. Gradimbourg, the wealthy factory owners from Belfort, are questioning the sky, which gives them no definite answer.
§ 5.4
, .
They are dressed for travel, and Mrs. Gradimbourg has entrusted the mechanic with a small cage, a cottage for two canaries.
§ 5.5
, . .
Having gazed at the sky long enough, Mr. and Mrs. Gradimbourg now look at each other.
§ 5.6
— , . , , , …
“Yes,” says Mr. Gradimbourg, “wisdom, true wisdom, would be to send Célestin alone by road while we took the train…”
§ 5.7
— , .
“As you wish,” says Mrs. Gradimbourg.
§ 5.8
— , .
“Whatever you prefer,” says her husband.
§ 5.9
.
The bonds of marriage have united them for nearly forty-five years.
§ 5.10
: « », : « », , .
She has always said, “As you wish,” and he, “Whatever you prefer,” and things have always worked out all the better between them because he has never wanted much and she has never preferred anything at all.
§ 5.11
: , . .
Célestin receives precise instructions: he is to put the birdcage in the limousine and set off at once on the four-hundred-and-fifty-kilometre journey to La Prunière, the magnificent estate where Mr. and Mrs. Gradimbourg live, near Belfort.
§ 5.12
.
Célestin is in a bad mood.
§ 5.13
- , ?
Does he mind travelling without his employers, to whom no bond of affection ties him?
§ 5.14
, , .
The truth is that Célestin, on principle, is always dissatisfied with whatever he is asked to do.
§ 5.15
.
He is an independent spirit who dislikes having the course of his destiny altered by other people.
§ 5.16
, , .
He opens the car door and carelessly puts the birdcage down on the pile of blankets, without even noticing that the pile is higher than usual.
§ 5.17
, , , .
Then he goes to settle the garage bill, dispenses a few looks of hostile politeness to right and left, settles himself behind the wheel, and drives off, starting the car from his seat.
§ 5.18
, , , , , , .
Let us note, however, that after shutting the car door he turned the key in the lock, so that Planchet, asleep, begins a spell of captivity which we must hope will be shorter than that of the famous Latude.
§ 5.19
… .
Célestin has set off at a brisk pace.
§ 5.20
, , .
Speeding along in fourth gear took a little of the edge off the ill humor in which he so fiercely reveled, though it did not dispel it.
§ 5.21
, , , .
He drives as fast as he can, no longer held back by Madam’s frightened voice, which always finds the pace too fast.
§ 5.22
, .
This chauffeur is neither a glutton nor a drinker.
§ 5.23
, , -, .
One might think that, in his general hatred of humanity, he takes care not to exempt himself, and angrily refuses to allow himself even small pleasures.
§ 5.24
- …
It is therefore simply because the twelfth hour of the day happens to coincide with his passing a country inn that Célestin pulls his twenty-four-horsepower car over to the roadside…
§ 5.25
.
He gets out and makes his way toward the food.
§ 5.26
, . , « », , .
At that moment Mr. Planchet had been asleep for sixteen full hours, an admirable testimonial to the effectiveness of Écrasol, even when taken in the unusually excessive dose of six pills.
§ 5.27
, , , , , , , .
Célestin was therefore seated at a table inside the inn when, in the car, the heap of blankets stirred, the birdcage slid to the floor, and a wild-eyed head appeared above the tossing waves, like Anadyomene rising from the sea.
§ 5.28
. , , .
Mr. Planchet found himself in completely unfamiliar territory, without an instrument by which to fix his bearings.
§ 5.29
, , , .
Had he been capable of connecting two thoughts at that moment, he would have wondered why he was in such a fine car, and might for an instant have imagined that, thanks to his system for playing boule, he had won enough money to buy this twenty-four-horsepower automobile.
§ 5.30
. .
But Mr. Planchet was thinking of nothing.
§ 5.31
, .
He sat there like a spaniel that had fallen out of an airplane, conscious of nothing but a tremendous thirst that he was ready to quench at any cost.
§ 5.32
.
The genius of instinct led him to spot a piece of straw protruding from a wicker basket.
§ 5.33
, , . , .
The straw made an excellent drinking tube, and since the cage had a little water reservoir, Mr. Planchet managed to take a small drink at the canaries’ expense.
§ 5.34
, .
At the first sip he realized that the water was far from clean and decided not to impose on the canaries any further.
§ 5.35
, -, .
All the more so, he thought, because he was sure to find a cool stream somewhere in the countryside.
§ 5.36
…
It was to begin this search that he prepared to leave the car…