Eugenie Grandet｜欧也妮・葛朗台

原著作者｜奥诺雷・德・巴尔扎克 In the early nineteenth century, in central France, there was a small town called Saumur It was not prosperous, but it produced wine And it also produced a certain kind of people, those who believed only in money for their entire lives Monsieur Grandet was the most successful among them He made his fortune by speculating on land during the Revolution By hoarding grain and exploiting tenant farmers, slowly locking his wealth into cellars and iron chests He lived in the oldest and coldest house in town, eating the simplest food Yet everyone privately called him the richest man in Saumur At home, however, he was only a miserly, irritable father who calculated every cost His daughter, Eugénie, grew up inside such a house She was innocent, slow, and strictly supervised Even a single candle or an extra piece of sugar required her father’s permission She knew nothing of love and nothing of the world, only obedience and waiting The story truly began on Eugénie’s birthday That night, the Grandet household lit more candles than usual And that evening, a young stranger was brought into the house He wore refined Parisian clothes He spoke with the lightness and confidence of the capital His name was Charles Grandet Charles was the son of Monsieur Grandet’s brother And it was his first time in Saumur On the surface, this was a family visit But what Grandet truly cared about was never family Before Charles arrived Grandet had already received a letter The letter said one thing: his brother in Paris was bankrupt Not only bankrupt, but deeply in debt, and had taken his own life At that moment, Grandet’s mind immediately began to calculate His brother was dead, the debts remained, was it possible that assets were left behind Cheap property, hidden cash Or perhaps some remaining value That was why he welcomed Charles with unusual warmth But soon, the truth was revealed In his conversations with Charles It became clear that Charles knew nothing about his father’s finances And had no assets he could inherit All the debts were like shadows, about to fall upon this young man From that moment on, Charles became a complete liability in Grandet’s eyes Keeping him would only attract creditors Only cause trouble, and might even lead to legal disputes So Grandet decided to send him away immediately The faster the better, the farther the better Yet during this brief period of contact Eugénie, for the first time, met someone Completely different from the world she lived in Charles spoke of Paris, of balls, of freedom, of the future He was fragile and anxious, yet still possessed a kind of sincerity A spoiled sincerity she had never seen before Eugénie fell in love with him, not with passion, but with a desire to protect On the night before Charles was sent overseas to make his living Eugénie did something that changed her life She gave Charles the gold coins her mother had left her as a dowry She gave them all to Charles It was not money for escape, but a silent and resolute trust She hoped that one day Charles would return and take her away Grandet discovered this, but he did not take the gold back That money did not belong to him under the law To reclaim it would mean acknowledging family property disputes It would mean possible external scrutiny, and cost By comparison, sending Charles away immediately And cutting ties completely with this liability was the lowest-cost and most rational choice So he quickly arranged a ship and sent Charles overseas In Grandet’s world, feelings did not matter, blood ties did not matter Only accounts mattered, and they had to be perfectly clear Charles left, and Eugénie began a long wait She refused all proposals, in the cold old house Guarding that unfulfilled love Time passed, Grandet grew older and more withdrawn Until one day, he died in a house piled with money Eugénie inherited all of his wealth Many years later, Charles returned He had indeed succeeded, making a fortune in colonial trade He entered high society and learned calculation, coldness, and precision He was no longer the young man who needed to be saved He had already turned love into an asset that could be traded When Eugénie stood before him, he chose A more profitable marriage At that moment, Eugénie finally understood That money can change fate, and it can also corrupt the soul Eugénie became one of the wealthiest people in Saumur She had money, she had freedom, but she no longer had illusions She devoted her life to duty, charity, and silence Grandet died in money Charles became money Eugénie possessed money, yet refused to be ruled by it In this story, there are no true victors Only a world shaped by money, and destroyed by money 前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动