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Too Dear!
Tolstoy’s Adaptation of a Story by Guy de Maupassant Near the borders of
France and Italy, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, lies a tiny little
kingdom called Monaco. Many a small country town can boast moreinhabitants than
this kingdom, for there are only about seven thousand of them all told, and if
all the land in the kingdom were divided there would not be an acre for each
inhabitant. But in this toy kingdom there is a real king; and he has a palace,
and courtiers, and ministers, and a bishop, and generals, and an army.
It is not a large army, only sixty men in all, but still it is an army.
There are also taxes in this kingdom as elsewhere: a tax on tobacco, and on wine
and spirits, and a poll tax. But though the people there drink and smoke as
people do in other countries, there are so few of them that the king would have
been hard put to it to feed his courtiers and officials and to keep himself, if
he had not found a new and special source of revenue. This special revenue comes
from a gaming house, where people play roulette. People play, and whether they
win or lose the keeper always gets a percentage on the turnover; and out of his
profits he pays a large sum to the king. The reason he pays so much is that it
is the only such gambling establishment left in Europe. Some of the little
German Sovereigns used to keep gaming houses of the same kind, but some years
ago they were forbidden to do so. The reason they were stopped was because these
gaming houses did so much harm. A man would come and try his luck, then he would
risk all he had and lose it, then he would even risk money that did not belong
to him and lose that too, and then, in despair, he would drown or shoot himself.
So the Germans forbade their rulers to make money in this way; but there was no
one to stop the King of Monaco, and he remained with a monopoly of the
business.
So now everyone who wants to gamble goes to Monaco. Whether they win or
lose, the king gains by it. “You can’t earn stone palaces by honest labor,” as
the proverb says; and the King of Monaco knows it is a dirty business, but what
is he to do? He has to live; and to draw a revenue from drink and from tobacco
is also not a nice thing. So he lives and reigns, and rakes in the money, and
holds his court with all the ceremony of a real king.
He has his coronation, his levees; he rewards, sentences, and pardons, and
he also has his reviews, councils, laws, and courts of justice: just like other
kings, only all on a smaller scale.
Now it happened a few years ago that a murder was committed in this toy
king’s domains. The people of that kingdom are peaceable, and such a thing had
not happened before. The judges assembled with much ceremony and tried the case
in the most judicial manner. There were judges, and prosecutors, and jurymen,
and barristers. They argued and judged, and at last they condemned the criminal
to have his head cut off as the law directs. So far so good.
Next they submitted the sentence to the king. The king read the sentence
and confirmed it. “If the fellow must be executed, execute him.”
There was only one hitch in the matter; and that was that they had neither
a guillotine for cutting heads off, nor an executioner. The Ministers considered
the matter, and decided to address an inquiry to the French Government, asking
whether the French could not lend them a machine and an expert to cut off the
criminal’s head; and if so, would the French kindly inform them what the cost
would be. The letter was sent. A week later the reply came: a machine and an
expert could be supplied, and the cost would be , francs.
This was laid before the king. He thought it over. Sixteen thousand
francs!
“The wretch is not worth the money,” said he. “Can’t it be done, somehow,
cheaper? Why, , francs is more than two francs a head on the whole population.
The people won’t stand it, and it may cause a riot!”
So a Council was called to consider what could be done; and it was decided
to send a similar inquiry to the King of Italy. The French Government is
republican, and has no proper respect for kings; but the King of Italy was a
brother monarch, and might be induced to do the thing cheaper. So the letter was
written, and a prompt reply was received.
The Italian Government wrote that they would have pleasure in supplying
both a machine and an expert; and the whole cost would be francs, including
travelling expenses. This was cheaper, but still it seemed too much.
The rascal was really not worth the money. It would still mean nearly two
francs more per head on the taxes. Another Council was called. They discussed
and considered how it could be done with less expense. Could not one of the
soldiers perhaps be got to do it in a rough and homely fashion? The
General was called and was asked: “Can’t you find us a soldier who would
cut the man’s head off ? In war they don’t mind killing people. In fact, that is
what they are trained for.” So the General talked it over with the soldiers to
see whether one of them would not undertake the job. But none of the soldiers
would do it. “No,” they said, “we don’t know how to do it; it is not a thing we
have been taught.”
What was to be done? Again the Ministers considered and reconsidered.
They assembled a commission, and a committee, and a subcommittee, and at
last they decided that the best thing would be to alter the death sentence to
one of imprisonment for life. This would enable the king to show his mercy, and
it would come cheaper.
The king agreed to this, and so the matter was arranged. The only hitch now
was that there was no suitable prison for a man sentenced for life. There was a
small lockup where people were sometimes kept temporarily, but there was no
strong prison fit for permanent use. However, they managed to find a place that
would do, and they put the young fellow there and placed a guard over him. The
guard had to watch the criminal, and had also to fetch his food from the palace
kitchen.
The prisoner remained there month after month till a year had passed. But
when a year had passed, the king, looking over the account of his income and
expenditure one day, noticed a new item of expenditure. This was for the keep of
the criminal; nor was it a small item either. There was a special guard, and
there was also the man’s food. It came to more than francs a year. And the worst
of it was that the fellow was still young and healthy, and might live for fifty
years. When one came to reckon it up, the matter was serious. It would never do.
So the king summoned his Ministers and said to them:
“You must find some cheaper way of dealing with this rascal. The present
plan is too expensive.” And the Ministers met and considered and reconsidered,
till one of them said: “Gentlemen, in my opinion we must dismiss the guard.”
“But then,” rejoined another Minister, “the fellow will run away.”
“Well,” said the first speaker, “let him run away, and be hanged to him!”
So they reported the result of their deliberations to the king, and he agreed
with them. The guard was dismissed, and they waited to see what would
happen.
All that happened was that at dinnertime the criminal came out, and, not
finding his guard, he went to the king’s kitchen to fetch his own dinner. He
took what was given him, returned to the prison, shut the door on himself, and
stayed inside. Next day the same thing occurred. He went for his food at the
proper time; but as for running away, he did not show the least sign of it!
What was to be done? They considered the matter again.
“We shall have to tell him straight out,” said they “that we do not want to
keep him.” So the Minister of Justice had him brought before him.
“Why do you not run away?” said the Minister. “There is no guard to keep
you. You can go where you like, and the king will not mind.”
“I daresay the king would not mind,” replied the man, “but I have nowhere
to go. What can I do? You have ruined my character by your sentence, and people
will turn their backs on me. Besides, I have got out of the way of working.
You have treated me badly. It is not fair. In the first place, when once
you sentenced me to death you ought to have executed me; but you did not do
it.
That is one thing. I did not complain about that. Then you sentenced me to
imprisonment for life and put a guard to bring me my food; but after a time you
took him away again and I had to fetch my own food. Again I did not complain.
But now you actually want me to go away! I can’t agree to that. You may do as
you like, but I won’t go away!”
What was to be done? Once more the Council was summoned. What course could
they adopt? The man would not go. They reflected and considered.
The only way to get rid of him was to offer him a pension. And so they
reported to the king. “There is nothing else for it,” said they; “we must get
rid of him somehow.” The sum fixed was francs, and this was announced to the
prisoner.
“Well,” said he, “I don’t mind, so long as you undertake to pay it
regularly.
On that condition I am willing to go.”
So the matter was settled. He received one-third of his annuity in advance,
and left the king’s dominions. It was only a quarter of an hour by rail; and he
emigrated, and settled just across the frontier, where he bought a bit of land,
started marketgardening, and now lives comfortably. He always goes at the proper
time to draw his pension. Having received it, he goes to the gaming tables,
stakes two or three francs, sometimes wins and sometimes loses, and then returns
home.
He lives peaceably and well.
It is a good thing that he did not commit his crime in a country where they
do not grudge expense to cut a man’s head off, or to keeping him in prison for
life.
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发表于 2016-7-10 11:23:50