Guy de Maupassant complete short stories volume 2 - Penn State ...

will quote to you another passage from another great philosopher,
this one an Englishman, Herbert Spencer. Here is what
he says: ‘Each sex is capable, under the influence of abnormal
stimulation, of manifesting faculties ordinarily reserved for the
other one. Thus, for instance, in extreme cases a special excitement
may cause the breasts of men to give milk; children deprived
of their mothers have often thus been saved in time of
famine. Nevertheless, we do not place this faculty of giving
milk among the male attributes. It is the same with female intelligence,
which, in certain cases, will give superior products,
but which is not to be considered in an estimate of the feminine
nature as a social factor.’”
All Monsieur Patissot’s chivalric instincts were wounded and
he declared:
“You are not a Frenchman, monsieur. French gallantry is a
form of patriotism.”
Monsieur Rade retorted:
“I have very little patriotism, monsieur, as little as I can get
along with.”
A coolness settled over the company, but he continued quietly:
“Do you admit with me that war is a barbarous thing; that
this custom of killing off people constitutes a condition of sav-
Sundays of a Bourgeois
180
agery; that it is odious, when life is the only real good, to see
governments, whose duty is to protect the lives of their subjects,
persistently looking for means of destruction? Am I not
right? Well, if war is a terrible thing, what about patriotism,
which is the idea at the base of it? When a murderer kills he
has a fixed idea; it is to steal. When a good man sticks his bayonet
through another good man, father of a family, or, perhaps, a
great artist, what idea is he following out?”
Everybody was shocked.
“When one has such thoughts, one should not express them
in public.”
M. Patissot continued:
“There are, however, monsieur, principles which all good
people recognize.”
M. Rade asked: “Which ones?”
Then very solemnly, M. Patissot pronounced: “Morality, monsieur.”
M. Rade was beaming; he exclaimed:
“Just let me give you one example, gentlemen, one little example.
What is your opinion of the gentlemen with the silk
caps who thrive along the boulevard’s on the delightful traffic
which you know, and who make a living out of it?”
A look of disgust ran round the table: