A Zola Dictionary Part 8

From early youth he was of violent temper, and having drawn a lucky number in the conscription, he went away from home, and got work, first at the farm of La Borderie and later at La Chamade. He was a true son of the soil, knowing nothing of the world beyond the narrow district in which he was born, and possessing that fierce pa.s.sion for the land which is the characteristic of so many peasants. When Pere Fouan made a division of his property among his family, Buteau was dissatisfied with the lot which he drew, and refused to take possession of it. In this att.i.tude he persisted for two years, until the formation of a new road gave a greatly increased value to his share. In the same way he refused to marry his cousin Lise Mouche, by whom he already had a son, until, after her father's death, she had inherited a share of his property.

Buteau's chief anxiety then became to prevent a division of this land between his wife and her sister Francoise, and when, after the girl's marriage to Jean Macquart, this became imminent, he and his wife eventually murdered her. His father had been a witness of the crime, and as his silence was essential, he too was cruelly done to death. After these terrible events Buteau was able to sleep calmly, for the land, his overwhelming pa.s.sion in life, was his beyond possibility of dispute. La Terre.

BUTEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Lise Mouche. La Terre.

BUTEAU (JULES), the eldest child of the preceding, who were not married till three years after his birth. At nine years old he was the sole friend of old Fouan, but he soon came to neglect the old man. La Terre.

BUTEAU (LAURE), the second child of the Buteaus. At four years old she had already the hard eyes of her family, and was hostile to her grandfather, old Fouan. By jealousy she detached from him her brother Jules. La Terre.

C

CABa.s.sE, a franc-tireur of the woods of Dieulet. He was the favourite companion of Ducat, and along with Guillaume Sambuc formed part of the band which so greatly embarra.s.sed the Prussians in the neighbourhood of Sedan. He took part in the execution of Goliath Steinberg, the German spy. La Debacle.

CABIN (MADAME), the woman who looked after the bedrooms occupied by the saleswomen in "The Ladies' Paradise." In consideration of small bribes, she allowed numerous breaches of the strict rules of the establishment.

Au Bonheur des Dames.

CABIROCHE (SIMONNE), an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. She was the daughter of a furniture dealer in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and had been educated at a boarding-school in order that she might become a governess. She played the part of Isabelle in the _Pet.i.te d.u.c.h.esse_.

Nana.

CABUCHE, a quarryman at Becourt, who lived alone in a hut in the middle of the forest. He was condemned to five years' imprisonment for having killed a man in a tavern brawl, but on account of his good conduct was liberated at the end of four years. From that time he was avoided by every one, and lived like a savage in the woods. Louisette, the younger daughter of Madame Misard, who was then fourteen years old, met him one day in the forest, and a strange friends.h.i.+p was formed between them, the rough man almost adoring this child, who alone was not afraid to speak to him. The girl afterwards went as a servant to Madame Bonnehon, but one evening Cabuche found her at his door, half mad with fright and on the verge of brain fever. He nursed her tenderly, but she died a few days later. The conduct of President Grandmorin was believed to be the cause of Louisette's flight from Doinville, and Cabuche was overheard to say in ungovernable rage that he would "bleed the pig." This remark led Denizet, the examining magistrate, to attribute to him the murder of the President, which was committed soon afterwards by the Roubauds, and still later he had the misfortune to be found beside the body of Severine Roubaud, who had been murdered by Jacques Lantier. He was found guilty of the two crimes, neither of which he committed, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. It was Cabuche's wagon, loaded with huge blocks of stone, that Flore stopped in front of an express train in order to cause an accident. La Bete Humaine.

CADET-Ca.s.sIS, the sobriquet of Coupeau. L'a.s.sommoir.

CADINE, a young girl who when only two years old was found by Madame Chantemesse and adopted by her. She was brought up along with Marjolin, and the two became inseparable companions and lovers. When she was eleven years old she set up as a dealer in birds' food, but in a year or two became a flower-seller. After the accident to Marjolin by which his intellect was affected, Cadine looked after him, and the two were seldom found apart. Le Ventre de Paris.

CAFFIN (ABBE), the predecessor of Abbe Mouret as cure at Les Artaud. He was originally from Normandy, and had a large face which always seemed laughing. His history was bad, and he had been sent in disgrace to this hot and dusty corner of Provence. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.

CAMPARDON (ACHILLE), an architect, in whose house Octave Mouret boarded when he first came to Paris. His views on religion were somewhat free, but having been appointed diocesan architect he gradually became orthodox, though this did not prevent him from carrying on an intrigue with Gasparine, his wife's cousin, who ultimately came to live with the family. Pot-Bouille.

CAMPARDON (MADAME), wife of the preceding, nee Rose Domergue. Born at Pla.s.sans, she was an old friend of Madame Mouret, and when Octave Mouret came to Paris he boarded with the Campardons. After the birth of her child, Madame Campardon was an invalid, and was obliged to spend much of her time in bed, amusing herself by reading the works of d.i.c.kens.

She tacitly accepted the liaison between her husband and Gasparine, her cousin, whom she ultimately asked to live with the family and manage the household affairs. Pot-Bouille.

CAMPARDON (ANGELE), daughter of the preceding. She was brought up at home by her parents, in order that she might remain ignorant of the realities of life, but intercourse with the servants in a large tenement-house early developed her unnatural precocity. Pot-Bouille.

CAMPENON, an incapable person to whom M. de Marsy gave a post as prefect, which Eugene Rougon had promised to Du Poizat. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

CAMY-LAMOTTE, secretary to the Minister of Justice, an office of great influence. It was his duty to prepare the list of promotions, and he was in constant communication with the Tuileries. He was a handsome man, who started his career as a subst.i.tute; but through his connections and his wife he had been elected deputy and made grand officer of the Legion of Honour. In examining the papers of President Grandmorin, he discovered the ident.i.ty of the murderers, but knowing the probability of serious scandal arising in the event of public inquiry, he said nothing, and later, struck by the courage and charm of Severine Roubaud, who threw herself on his protection, he gave instructions that all proceedings were to be stopped. He rewarded Denizet, the examining magistrate, with a decoration and the promise of early promotion. La Bete Humaine.

CANIVET, an old peasant, of whom Zephyrin Lacour announced the death to Rosalie Pichon. Une Page d'Amour.

CARNAVANT (MARQUIS DE), a n.o.bleman of Pla.s.sans. Said to have been intimate with the mother of Felicite Puech during the early period of her married life. He visited Pierre Rougon and his wife occasionally, and after their retirement from business he interested them in politics.

La Fortune des Rougon.

CAROLINE, an artificial-flower maker employed by Madame t.i.treville. She was very unhappy at home. L'a.s.sommoir.

CAROLINE (MADAME). See Caroline Hamelin.

CAROUBLE, a baker at Montsou. His business was threatened by the compet.i.tion of Maigrat. Germinal.

CASIMIR, a liquor-dealer on the road to Montsou. Germinal.

Ca.s.sOUTE, an inhabitant of Pla.s.sans, who formed one of the group of insurgents which accompanied Antoine Macquart to the Rougons' house. He was left there to signal the return of Pierre Rougon, but not being very intelligent, allowed himself to be sent by Rougon to the Town Hall, where he was arrested. La Fortune des Rougon.

CATHERINE, servant to Granoux. She talked for a long time before letting in Pierre Rougon and Roudier, who came to seek her master to save Pla.s.sans. La Fortune des Rougon.

CAUCHE, the commissary of police attached to the railway station at Havre. He was a former officer who considered his present occupation as practically a sinecure, spending much of his time at the cafe. He was a confirmed gambler, who could lose or win without change of expression. A room on the first floor of the Cafe du Commerce was his usual haunt, and there Roubaud frequently spent half the night playing cards with him.

Later, it fell to him to arrest Roubaud on the charge of murdering President Grandmorin. La Bete Humaine.

CAZENOVE (DOCTOR), a man of fifty-four years of age, of a vigorous and lean habit, who after thirty years' service in the navy settled down at Arromanches, where an uncle of his had left him a house. He affected scepticism of the power of medicine, but was unremitting in the care of his patients. Among the earliest of these was Madame Chanteau, and he became on intimate terms with the family, for some time acting as trustee to Pauline Quenu. La Joie de Vivre.

CECILE (MADEMOISELLE), daughter of a butcher in the neighbourhood of the _Halles Centrales_. Le Ventre de Paris.

CELESTE, lady's maid and confidante of Madame Renee Saccard. La Curee.

CELESTINE, a friend of Clemence. She was neurotic, and had a horror of the hair of cats, seeing it everywhere, and even turning her tongue in the belief that some of it had got into her mouth. L'a.s.sommoir.

CESAR, a bull at the farm of La Borderie. La Terre.

CHADEUIL (MADAME), a milliner in the Rue Sainte-Anne. Octave Mouret's shop, "The Ladies' Paradise," ruined her within two years. Au Bonheur des Dames.

CHAINE, the companion of Mahoudeau, the sculptor. He was born at Saint-Firmin, a village about six miles from Pla.s.sans, where he served as a cowboy until he was drawn in the conscription. Unfortunately for him, a gentleman of the district who admired the walking-stick handles which he carved out of roots with his knife, persuaded Chaine that he was a rustic genius, and with extreme foolishness persuaded him to go in for painting. Having forty pounds, he went to Paris, where his small fortune lasted him for a year. Then, as he had only twenty francs left, he took up his quarters with his friend Mahoudeau. He had no talent, but had a certain skill in copying pictures with extreme exactness.

The relations of Chaine and Mahoudeau with Mathilde Jabouille led to a coldness between the two friends, and ultimately they ceased to be on speaking terms, though they continued to live together, and even to sleep in the same bed. Some time afterwards Chaine gave up art, and started a booth at country fairs, in which he ran a wheel-of-fortune for trifling prizes. The booth was decorated with some of his alleged masterpieces. L'Oeuvre.

CHAMBOUVARD, a celebrated sculptor. He was said to be the son of a veterinary surgeon of Amiens, and at forty-five had already produced twenty masterpieces. He had, however, a complete lack of critical ac.u.men, and was unable to distinguish between the most glorious offspring of his hands and the detestably grotesque figures which he happened to put together now and then. At one _Salon_ he exhibited a _Sower_, admirable in every way, while at another he showed an execrable _Reaping Woman_, so bad that it seemed like a hoax; but he was no less pleased with the later work, feeling sure that he had turned out yet another masterpiece. L'Oeuvre.

CHAMPION, a master hatter at Montrouge. Auguste Lantier pretended to have left his employment because they had not the same political views.

L'a.s.sommoir.

CHAMPION, a retired sergeant, who was afterwards delivery manager at "The Ladies' Paradise." Au Bonheur des Dames.

CHANTEAU PERE, came originally from the south of France, beginning his life as a journeyman carpenter. He created a considerable timber business at Caen, but being somewhat daring in his speculation, he left it rather embarra.s.sed at the time of his death. La Joie de Vivre.

CHANTEAU (M.), a cousin of M. Quenu, by whom he was nominated guardian of his daughter Pauline Quenu. On the death of his father, he succeeded to the timber business at Caen. Being an inactive man, unaspiring and careful, he contented himself with putting his affairs on a safe basis, and living on a moderate but sure profit. He married Eugenie de la Vigniere, who was an ambitious woman and hoped to rouse his indolent nature. Her schemes were, however, frustrated by the ill-health of her husband, who suffered from gout to such a degree that he ultimately sold his business to Devoine, and retired to Bonneville, where he had a house. His sufferings from gout gradually became more and more severe until he was a complete invalid. His ward Pauline Quenu showed him much kindness, and the Abbe Horteur played draughts with him regularly. La Joie de Vivre.

Until the end of his life he was taken care of by Pauline. Le Docteur Pascal.

CHANTEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding, nee Eugenie de la Vigniere, was the orphan of one of the ruined squireens of the Cotentin. An ambitious woman, she hoped to induce her husband to overcome his indolent nature, but her plans were upset by the ill-health into which he fell, and she transferred to her son her hopes for the family's rise in life. From this source she had nothing but disappointment, as one after another of Lazare's schemes failed. To enable him to get money to start his chemical works, she encouraged the idea of marriage between him and Pauline Quenu, her husband's ward, who thereupon lent him thirty thousand francs. Little by little, Madame Chanteau got possession for the family use of nearly all Pauline's fortunes, but with each fresh loan her feelings towards the girl became more embittered until her affection for her had turned to hate. From this time, she discouraged her son's marriage with Pauline, and endeavoured to turn his thoughts towards Louise Thibaudier, who had a considerable fortune. She died of dropsy after a short illness. La Joie de Vivre.

CHANTEAU (LAZARE), born 1844, son of M. Chanteau, was educated at the college of Caen, where he took his bachelor's degree. He was undecided as to what profession he would adopt, and for some time his inclination turned towards music. Under the influence of Pauline Quenu he decided on medicine, and went to Paris, where at first he made good progress in his studies. Unfortunately he tired of this, and led a life of extravagance and dissipation, failing to pa.s.s his examinations. Having chanced to make the acquaintance of Herbelin, a celebrated chemist, Lazare entered his laboratory as an a.s.sistant. From him he got the idea of turning seaweed to profitable account by the extraction of chemicals by a new method. With a view to the commercial employment of this process he borrowed thirty thousand francs from Pauline Quenu, and entered into partners.h.i.+p with an old college friend named Boutigny who invested a similar sum in the business. Lazare was quite carried away by his enthusiasm, and the works were built on much too large a scale, the cost greatly exceeding the original estimates. More money was required, and a marriage having already been arranged between Lazare and Pauline Quenu, she at once lent him another ten thousand francs. Some slight success was at first attained, but this only led to fresh extravagances in the way of apparatus, and before long a hundred thousand francs of Pauline's money had been expended. By this time it was evident that the process could not be worked on a commercial scale, and Lazare, utterly discouraged, handed over his share to Boutigny for a trifling sum. A scheme for the protection of Bonneville against the inroads of the sea was the next subject to attract him, and he entered into it with his usual enthusiasm. More money was, of course, required, and, as before, this was found by Pauline. Failure again met his efforts; the barricade was washed away by the first high sea. All along Lazare had been subject to fits of morbid depression, accompanied by a frenzied fear of death, and after the death of his mother this mental disturbance became even more acute. The marriage with Pauline had been put off on one excuse or another, and ultimately she saw that his affections had been transferred to Louise Thibaudier. With n.o.ble self-sacrifice, she released him from his engagement, and his marriage to Louise followed. He went to Paris as manager of an insurance company, but soon tiring of business, he returned to Bonneville, where he lived so tormented by the fear of death that life itself had little charm for him. La Joie de Vivre.

Having become a widower, he left his son with Pauline Quenu, and went to America to seek his fortune. Le Docteur Pascal.

CHANTEAU (MADAME LAZARE), wife of the preceding. See Louise Thibaudier.

La Joie de Vivre.

CHANTEAU (PAUL), the infant son of Lazare Chanteau. La Joie de Vivre.