"fx. % Doctor Pascal F 4 Z O LA I?^V CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE Joseph Whitmore Barry dramatic library THE GIFT OF TWO FRIENDS OF Cornell University 1934 c^ UAIt uuL M"Tmii't I Cornell University Library I PQ 2501.D3 1894 Doctor Pascal : 3 1924 027 381 544 Crown 8vo. oloth extra, 3s, 6d. THE DOWNFALL ('LA DEBACLE). By^MILEZOLA. Translated by Eenest A. Yizetellt. With 2 Maps. ' A masterly piece of work. France should be proud of M Zola. . . ."The Downfall" Is the most iustructivo and fearfully fasclnatiag book that has been written, or possibly could be written, on the Franco-Q«rman War.*— Pkoplh. * A most fascinating atory.'— Christian "World. * " The Downfall " is one of the most realistic and fascinating narratives placed in the hands of the reading public for a long time past. lb is a work that reflects the genius oE the great writer in every page. M. Zola set himself a big taak, and he has faithfully and fearle^Iy accomplished it.' — Sala's Journal. * The subject has tunled the terribly conscientious transcriber of documents into a poet. . . . The grander side of the awful struggle is never lost sight of, and, in its own way, M. Zola's novel is almost as religious as a Greek tragedy. ... It is impossible not to admire the thoroughly artistic way in which M. Zula has succeeded in blending the personal and national elements in his drama.' — G-lasgow Hqrald. ' Prom first to last the reader will be fascinated with M. Zola's brilliant style, for he rises to greater heights of sublimity in "The Downfall" than in any of his other books. ... It is one of the greatest historical dramas ever written. , . . Zola was the only man who was equal to it. He has produced a masterpiece.' — Morning Leader. 'This long-promi-ed addition to the celebrated Rougou-Macquart series has brought jny to the admirers of M. Zola, aud has raised him ia the estimation even of those wl\o have no sympathy with his methods.' — Aumt and Navy Gazette. •Tnat M.Zola attempted a very ambitious piece of work, and that hehas carried it out in a very masterly manner, there can be no doubt. The story " catches on '* at once, for from the very beginning the reader is bound to fall under the spell of a style which fascinates in-esistibly.' — ^Pall Mall Gazkti'e. ' M. Zola has risen to *' tb e height of his great argument." . . . He has done his work in the grand style, with immense breadth of survey, with dignity and power on a level ■with his subject. It would have been nothing short of a disaster to literature if this great theme had been unworthily handled. All apprehensions ou that score are now set at rest, for " La D6b3.cle" is a misterpiece.' — Speaker. * It would probably* be no exaggeration to say that, taken as a whole, " La Debacle" . is the most wonderfully faithful reproduction of an historical drama ever committed to writing. It is a literally true Inferno.'— Specttator. ' '• La Debacle " is full of magnificent work.'— Fortnightly Review. * It is only when you have come to the end that you appreciate the feverish hurry in which you have read page after page, and that you know the splendid art with which M. Zola has concealed the fervour, the pity, the agony, aud the inspiration with which he has told the tale.*— BtrsDAT Sun. 'M. Zola has given us a veritable masterpiece. "La Debacle" is the prose epic of modern war. . . . M. Zola has made a contribution of the greatest value to history and to literature. He will assuredly have his reward, not only in the appreciation of others, but in that greatest of all joys to the creative artist, the consciousnesa of having worthily treated a great subject,' — Vanity Fair. ' In ''La Debacle " M. Zola has given to the world a prose epic of extraordinary power and interest. . . , The word-pictures are CKtraordiuarily powerful, painful, and Bathetic.'— Daily Telegraph. Crown 8vo. cloth extra, 3^. 6d. THE DEE AM cle eeto). By ^MILE ZOLA. Translated by Eliza E. Chase. With 8 full-page Illustrations by Georges Jeanniot. *A touching and beautiful story, developed with great skill, aud steeped in know- ledge of human nature. . . The feeling for nature is keen and true, and we breathe the air of France, as well as make the acquaintance of a portion of the French people,'— Elgin Couhant. 'A charming iydl . . . a delightfully original story.'— Chutstian "World. * One of the most beautiful idyls in the language.'— Tablet. * An idyl so exquisite, so pure and dainty, that one wonders involuntarily how it can have emanated from the mind that produced '* La Terre." . . . Not a jarring touch, not a lalse note mars the harmony of this beautiful story of ideal love. . . . Zola's perfect WORKS BY M. ZOLA. ease, the masterly simplicity of his workmanBhip, Ma wondrous insight,' are no less remarkable than the delicacy, gra^e, and infinite charm of the great master's literary style.*— Morning Leader. **' The Dream" is a simple story, glowing with romance and Imagery. ... In one respect it stands alone, as it is the only one of Zola's works which the most fastidions can road without reproach.* — Scotsman. * The tale is well worth reading, and it is here presented in a very pleasing garb.' — Globe. * One great charm of this most exquisite love-st ory is that Zola procuresy on something of the sensations of dreaming as you read. . , . The impression it produces upon the mind isineffaceable.*— Thb Morning. * M. Zola has sought in this charming story to prove to the world that he too can write for the virgin, and that he can paint the better side al human nature in colours as tender and true as those employed by any of his contemporaries. ... It is a beautiful stoiy, admirably told.'— Speaker. * A very pretty story. . , . The word-painting for which M. Zola is justly renowned has lost nothing of its force by Miss Chase's translation.'— Colonies and India. * A good translation of " Le E&ve," a delicate idyl which it is almost diflScnlt to believe was written by the same uncompromising realist who gave us *'Nana."' — Eevibw op Reviews. Crown 8vo. cloth extra, 3*. Gd. DE. PASCAL. By :6mILB ZOLA. Translated by E. A. Vizetelly. With a Portrait, 'A beautiful and most touching love story. . . . If anything were wanting to establish M. Zola's right to the title of the first of living novelists, *'Dr. Pascal'* would put the question beyond dispute.'— Tanitv Fair. *M. Zola's latest book, which is the crown and conclusiGn of a series of twenty volumes, strikes us as being in some respects the most powerful, the most dramatic, and the most pathetic. It is more self-contained and far more scientific in treatment than Balzac's magnificently cynical " Com6die Humaine,'*' — ^ToiES. *In "Dr. Faecal". . . Zola defines and expounds, in magnificent prose, the statelr and pathetic poetry of which will appeal to every imagination, his literary method, his moral aim, his penetrating love of his kind, his large political and social ideas, his belief above all in the three ideals of the modem mind— the search for truth, the rectification «id the glorification of life.' — Dailt Chronicle. 'In the final chapters . . . M. Zola wrings our hearts in spite of ourselves. . . . Mr. Vizetelly'e translation is most admirably done.'— Star. * Of great power and intereBt.' — "Westminstbb Gazette. _*" Dr. Pascal " throws so much light on the anthor*s motives and objects, and ex- plains FO many points of interest in connection with bis earlier writings, that it will doubtless be widely read both by his admirers and his adversaries.' — Weekly Times. * In this powerful story M. Zola has surpassed himself in intensity of pathos and in flublime horror. Once commenced, the fascination of the tale is extraordinary.' — PUBUSHERS' OlRCTTLAR. ' There can be no question as to the power and pathos of the story in which M. Zol v bids farewell to the Rougon-Macquarts.* — Scotsmajt. * From the literary and artistic point of view it is impossible not to admire the vigour and the subtle analysis of character displayed by the author.* — G-la8gow Herald. *In ** Dr. Pascal " M. Zola has completed one of the most gigantic tasks which a literary man ever allotted to himself. The work was begun a quarter of a century ago, and has inroceeded steadily ever since ; and it would be churlish not to congratulate M. Zola on one of the most marvellous manifestations of literary tenacity, courage and conscientiousness which the world has ever seen. The only other task which can be compared with it is that enterprise of Balzac which doubtiess first su^ested to M. Zola his own Boheme,*— Sun. In the press, crown 8vo. cloth extra, 3«. 6d, MONEY (L'AEGENT). By flMILE ZOLA. Translated by Eknbst A. Vizetelly. London: CHATTO & "WINDUS, 214 Piccadilly, Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924027381 544 DOCTOR PASCAL OR LIFE AND HEREDITY BY ^MILE ZOLA AUTHOR OF ' THE DOWNFALL ' ' THE DKEAM ' ETC. TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY A NEW EDITION WITH A PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1894 , f\'Ja-)(o9^ PRISTED BT 8POTTI8WOODE ASD CO., SBW-BTEBBT SQDABI LONDON Y'l irViMVIt'iU TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER AND TO MY DEAR WIFE I DEDICATE THIS NOVEL WHICH SUMS UP AND CONCLUDES MY WHOLE WORK E. Z. 'Then comes the statelier Eden back to men ; • « • « • Then springs the crownihg race of human-kiodf May these things be I '— Tbnnyson PREFACE In submitting to the English reader this translation of M. Emile Zola's latest work — the twentieth and concluding volume of the Eougon-Macquart series of novels — I wish first of all to tender on my own account a few words of explanation. Circumstances have constrained me to omit from this English version of ' Doctor Pascal ' certain passages which will be found in the French original. These passages, however, are not nume- rous, and I do not think that their omission wiU in any wise prevent the reader from understanding the drift of M. Zola's narrative. I may add that the suppressions in question have been made with the author's cordial consent. In the course of his work the illustrious novelist, as is his wont, touches upon many philosophical and social subjects. He considers — and for my own part I believe rightly — that much of the present-day vice and degradation of the human species is due to hereditary influence. He regards the criminal with compassion rather than abhorrence, considering as he does that the majority of human beings are not free agents, but are influenced in varying degrees by one or another ances- tral taint which environment may modify, mitigate, or aggra- vate. Further, he points out in the present volume, as in the whole series of his works, the baleful influence which the abuse of strong drink exercises, both mentally and physically, on the human organism. No temperance reformer in any country has ever portrayed and denounced the vice of drunkenness so vehemently as the author of ' L'Assommoir ' and ' Doctor Pascal.' Whatever view may be taken of some of his writings, it must be conceded by everyone that he has done all he could do to make men sober. Not that he is a teetotal fanatic ; viii DOCTOR PASCAL indeed, his opinion on the temperance qiiegtion is very much akin to that which St. John Chrysostom expressed fifteen hundred years ago : Ebrietas diaholi, vinum Dei opus est. Frequent references to rehgious as well as social questions will be found in the pages of ' Doctor Pascal.' It was not to be expected that a Positivist of strong views Uke M. Zola would exalt the so-called Christianity of the nineteenth century, still it will be found that he discusses it with extreme moderation, so that only fanatics and Pharisees are likely to take offence at his treatment of this part of his subject. Blended with the author's disquisitions on philosophical and rehgious questions will be found the most pathetic love story that has yet come from his pen. When the proofs of Chapters xi., sii., and xiii. were forwarded to me for the pur- poses of translation, I frequently found myself obliged to pause in my work, obliged to throw aside my pen, for the pathos of the original was too intense, the horror too awful, too subhme. Never I think, even in moments of deep personal grief, had my nerves been so profoundly affected. I am much afraid that for this reason I have not been able to do full justice to the author in the chapters in ques- tion ; still, throughout the book I have striven to do my best, always mindful of the rule which I have ever laid down for myself in work of this description, that the author's meaning should pass before his words. And I may perhaps be allowed to add that, for months past I have been living, so to say, in the society of M. Zola's hero and heroine, able to see them before me, feeling them beside me, hearing them talk and laugh and sob. I well know the region where the scene of the story is laid, and it needed but a short flight of imagination for me to picture myself once more in that ardent land of Provence, where the fierce sun fills the human heart with passion and so often maddens it to crime. Whilst the translation was appearing in the columns of the ' Weekly Times and Echo,' in which it was first issued, I was favoured, as one usually is favoured in such cases, with numerous letters — a few of praise, and many of blame and abuse. If I mention this matter, it is because one of my cor- respondents brought forward an objection to the story which PREFACE ix may possibly occur to other readers of it now that it is issued m book form. It was pointed out to me as most wrong and most unnatural that an uncle and a niece should fall in love with one another ; and it was urged that I ought at least to make the heroine of the story the hero's cousin. Now, to my mind it is quite as wrong for cousins to fall in love with one another as for uncles and nieces to do so. I am wholly against what is called intermarrying ; there is nothing I more strongly deprecate. But, on the other hand, to those who feel like my correspondent on this question, I would point out that marriages between uncles and nieces are perfectly legal in France, as in other countries of Europe ; while, with regard to the religious aspect of the question, I am assured that the Holy Father annually grants hundreds, if not thousands, of dispensations to enable such marriages to be solemnised in accordance with the rites of the Catholic Church. Any further remarks of mine on the subject of 'Doctor Pascal ' would be but an echo of what M. Zola himself said to my talented confr&re, Mr. E. H. Sherard, when interviewed by the latter, last March, on behalf of the ' Weekly Times and Echo.' It is best, therefore, that the reader should have M. Zola's own statements. These I am able to reprint by the kind permission of Mr. Sherard and the proprietor of the ' Weekly Times.' E. A. V. Mr. Sherard began by inquiring of M. Zola why it was that he had chosen for the concluding volume of the Eougon- Macquart series the title of ' Doctor Pascal ' — a title which after aU meant nothing. To this M. Zola replied : — ' The title was in some sort imposed upon me by the public. You know that the book is to sum up and explain all the characters that have passed through the preceding volumes of the series, and that the Doctor is to be the mouthpiece indi- cated in the very first volume of the series, " The Fortune of the Eougons," and confirmed in the " Abbd Mouret's Trans- gression," where he is described as having carefully studied the various members of his family from a scientific, psycholo- gical point of view, as having got together a quantity of docu- X DOCTOR PASCAL ments respecting each relative, and as having drawn up that genealogical- tree of the family which is given as frontispiece to thevolume entitled "A LoveEpisode." It was naturally to him, the psychologist and the scientist, that the role of apologist and commentator had to be assigned, and it is he accordingly who gives his name to the bobk. That was decided upon by the Press and the public, and by my friends, as long as ten years ago. Perhaps I myself should have preferred some other title — a title, for instance, which would have expressed that the volume was the final one of a long series, an exposition of the deductions to be drawn from it as a whole, the keystone of my edifice. But for the reasons I have stated I had to decide upon " Doctor Pascal " as the title. Observe that it is not " Doctor Pascal Eougon," which is his whole name. That is because the people of Plassans, the town in which he lives, only know him by the name of Pascal, because he is so totally different from all the other members of the family. He represents what is scientifically known as innateness. This means that whilst in the other Eougons the explanations of their characters must be largely looked for in their hereditary antecedents, Pascal shows none of the traces of a character affected by atavism, and is therefore well fitted to judge of this in others. ' The book may be said to be called as it is, independently of my own wishes on the subject. I may add that I have a great faith in names, that I consider the choice of names a science. I myself often spend days together over a Paris Directory making out a hst of names which strike me as valuable and hkely to be useful, and a much longer time in finally selecting out of a list derived from that source the one or two that I may be in want of. I am quite a fatalist in the matter of names, beheving firmly that a mysterious correla- tion exists between the man and the name he bears. Thus I always judge a young author by the names which be bestows upon his characters. If the names seem to me to be weak, or to be unsuitable to the people who bear them, I put the author down as a man of little talent, and am no further interested in his book. Names should possess a consonance to the ear. A dissonance between a character in a book and the name fKHTAy^j^ bestowed upon him by tbe author is a very grave defect. True it is that there are historical characters who had names which were not at all suitable to them. Eaciae, for instance, a word meaning a root, and which might as easily have been " Garotte," an ugly, stupid name if ever there was one, but in his case the talent of the man invests it with dignity. Corneille, too. Corneille is only another word for " corbeau " or crow. One would find a man called Crow ridiculous, but in Corneille's case also the man's genius is the apologist of his name. In his case, as in that of Eacine, and of others that I could mention, we have in the end grown accustomed to the dissonance between the name and the man — to the point of no longer noticing it. But in presenting new characters to the public this dissonance must be avoided. It is one of the first rules of the novelist's art. Bad authors choose bad names. I am for well-chosen names, even as Balzac, and Dumas, and George Sand were. Some of my names I considered great discoveries, as Saccard, for instance, and Cornu-Gradel. Eougon is a common name in the South, and has something majestic and dignified about it, which is just what Macquart has not. Macquart contrasts, base and vulgar as it is, with the dignity of Eougon, and the combination of the two names as the name of a family prepares the reader for a vast iivergence in the characteristics of the various members of that family, which was just what I wanted. ' My work on "Doctor Pascal " amuses me. I don't sup- pose that the public in England will understand this, but it amuses me because I am able to defend myself in it against all the accusations which have been brought against me. Pascal's work on the members of his family is, in small, what I have attempted to do on humanity, to show all so that all may be cured. It is not a book which like " The Downfall " will stir the passions of the mob. It is a scientific work, the logical deduction and conclusion of all my preceding novels, and at the same time it is my speech in defence of all that I have done before the Court of public opinion. It is the vin- dication of the work which, commenced twenty-four years — nay, it was twenty-five years ago — now comes to its end. That cir- xu DOCTOR PASCAL ciimstance, by the way, is another which gives me cause to be glad. It is not given to all authors to carry out to the very end a plan of the magnitude of mine. It is something in this hfe to be able to do so. But perhaps the greatest pleasure I take in writing the book consists in the fact that, with Dr. Pascal as a mouthpiece, I am able to vindicate and to justify myself, to defend my long series of novels. People, especially in Eng- land, have accused me of being a pornographer. This I shall refute through Pascal. It has been said that all my charac- ters are rascals— people of bad lives. Pascal will explain that this is not so. I have been charged with a lack of tender- heartedness, as having no tender, no human chords in my nature ; Pascal will show that this is not so. And he wUl do more than this. In defending my work against the accusa- tions brought against it, he wiU sum up the whole theory of heredity, the scientific problem which is the mainspring of the whole Eougon-Macquart series. For the purpose of expounding this theory he will have a family of five genera- tions, composed of members of the most varied professions — soldiers, peasants, speculators, priests, painters — a whole sec- tion of society, each separate and distinct in character, but all united by the common bond of atavism. He will show how the actions and lives of each can be explained by the theory of heredity, and to make everything clear to the reader a new genealogical-tree,' amending the one which was given in " A Love Episode," wiU be introduced into the book. The novel will be a sermon on heredity, and wUl estabhsh my theory that the day when men know bow to master this influence of heredity they will be what they are not now, the masters of the destiny of the human race. Yes, when natural selection shall have given place to what I may describe as logical se- lection, humanity will soar to heights which even the most enthusiastic optimists have never dreamed of. Heredity, or atavism, you see, is a science about which little, nay, next to nothing, is known even by scientists ; and in these lisping ' Instead o£ this genealogical-tree the present version contains a diagram with explanatory notes answering the same purpose. See pp. xiv., XV. — Trails. sciences, these sciences yet at nurse, lies a domain of which poets and authors are masters. For here there is a large margin of territory, as yet unexplored, open to their investi- gations. Nohody can come and say that a writer is wrong in his deductions, because nobody knows anything about them, and so the author can set up a theory without fear of definite refutation. ' Pascal is a man of great intelligence, with parts of genius which are spoiled, inasmuch as he is a doctor, by imagination. He has studied this question of heredity by closely observing the members of his family through its five generations. His mother, Fflioite, wants him to destroy his papers, wants him to refrain from this study. It is the story of the persecution of a savant by his own family, a subject which it seems to me would afford material for a fine novel, but which in this book I have only indicated. Then there is a love story between an old man and a young girl, intensely passionate in its nature, an analysis of feelings which, from their very nature, are perhaps what are strongest in the life of man and woman. But I must not spoil the interest of my readers by telling them now what is the plot of my novel. What may be done is to give its general -.mport and significa- tion. And the conclusion of it all will be the philosophical one, which I have sought ever since the day when I first took pen in hand to begin the series, that we should have faith in hfe and confidence in nature — not Kousseau's nature, by the way — that in spite of all that is sordid, and cruel, and ugly, and incomprehensible in nature, in spite of all the suffering and injustice of hfe, in spite of all that is bad and seems irremedi- able in- the world, we should preserve confidence in nature. 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