"T I M E R E G A I N E D" "Then, one day, everything changes." "Things that had been detestabIe" "to you, that had always been banned, are now allowed." "For instance:" "May I have some champagne?" "Why, certainly, if it makes you happy." "You can't believe your ears." "You send for everything that had been most forbidden." "That's why there is something... rather indecent... about the unbelievable frivoIity of the dying." "Dictating is too tiring." "I'II try to write." "You may..." "You may bring me a little hot milk, but only if it makes you happy." "You know, celeste, if I get through the night, tomorrow" "I'II show the doctors" "I'm more than a match for them." "Wait." "There, in the desk." "Thank you." "You may go now." "Don't leave me alone too long." "Odette." "Grandmother." "The Verdurins." "Mama." "Papa." "Cottard." "Robert..." "Robert de Saint-Loup." "What's he doing here?" "Papa again." "rachel." "GiIberte." "Me." " DisgracefuI!" " But pretty." "I adore Chopin, don't you?" "Oh, yes!" "What can we do?" "Odette is around." " Isn't this Beethoven?" " I'm afraid so." "The nerve of her, just turning up!" "She's aged." "Or am I dreaming?" "You're dreaming." "She's ravishing." "darling!" "lovely to see you!" "I'd lost hope." "How is Monsieur?" "You know charlie." "He's hilarious!" "You missed his latest jest." "Beethoven's German dances!" "Your son-in-Iaw loves Beethoven." "Schumann, actually." "Of course." "I had an awful night." "A migraine." "I shouldn't have read the news before bed!" "You heard about that soldier on leave?" "He returned only to find his house bombed, his children dead, his wife crippled." "It's too much!" "So unfair." "I'm babbling!" "Some refreshment?" "morel's gone again." "always breezing in and out." "Perhaps I chased him away." "Come!" "Look at this!" "Do come!" "It's much funnier than any of your stories!" "marcel?" "Once upon a time, a jealous husband ordered his innocent wife to be killed." "She was Genevieve de Brabant." "In the deep, dark forest his henchmen took pity on her and spared her life." "AA few years later, Count Siegfried found her sleeping in a hollow tree." "Am I disturbing you?" "should I stop?" "Game's over?" "feeling bored?" "I'm afraid you're too sensitive to look at this." "It takes a real soldier to look such butchery in the eye." "See?" "I was right." "GiIberte?" "Why won't you answer me?" "I was short of time that day, you know." "I'd Iike to have rebuffed you." "really?" "Why?" "To make you remember me." "I, for one... often think about that sign you made." "Some things you don't forget." "I was twelve." "It was completely innocent." "Indecent, you mean!" "Whatever did you imagine?" "I was only saying how pretty you were." "Did I do wrong?" "GiIberte!" "marcel!" "Come here!" "celeste?" "Are you there?" "tell me the truth." "Are there roses in the house?" "Roses?" "No, sir." "Upon my word." "I believe you, but..." "Just now when..." "Mr. de CharIus came by, I dozed off." "No one came by." "He may have worn a rose in his buttonhole." "Or thrown it away on the doorstep." "You know how a few specks of pollen..." "Mr. de CharIus was wearing no rose." "Do me the pleasure of calling him to ask if he threw one away." "AAll day long in this too countrified house, which seemed more like a backwood shelter, its wallpaper awash with apple trees in the Japanese style to hallucinate the hours you spend in bed, I spent all day in my bedroom" "with its view of sweet greenery and lilac, the leaves of the tall trees down by the shimmering water and Meseglise Forest." "I enjoyed this view because I thought it was so nice to have all this greenery in my window..." "Until, in the vista of green, I recognized, etched dark blue in the distance, the belfry of Combray church." "That beIfry seems so natural and distinguished." "Laugh if you Iike." "It's not classically beautiful but I Iike its strange old face." "If it played the piano, it wouldn't play crispIy." "I'II be back tomorrow evening." "And gone the day after?" "I'm sorry, GiIberte." "I forgot I have to meet a local man in Paris." "CouIdn't you..." "I don't know..." "call him and say..." "Sorry, no." "I'm terribly sorry." "Do you believe me?" "feel how quick my heart beats." "abnormally quick." "Because of you." "I hate to see you so sad." "I feel guilty." "You can't believe how guilty." "You're overdoing it, Robert." "By far." "GiIberte!" "Won't you kiss me?" "What are you reading?" "May I see?" "The Goncourts' journal." "It's fun." "They write about Papa and people he knew." " May I borrow it?" " Take it." "Read it on the train." "I'm keeping that one." "The Girl with Eyes of Gold." "It's very improper!" "I know it." "It's admirable." "You think so?" "Those women are jealous only of women." "For others, man is the enemy, the one who brings the wrong caress." "I was miserable when my fiancee loved another man." "But not half as miserable as if she'd loved women." "That fiancee..." "Did you love her as much as me?" "Because you claim to have loved me." "Perhaps not." "She wasn't your equal." "But still, I really loved her." "Did she love women?" "I think so." "I'm not sure." "Here." "You should remember her." "AIbertine." "You told me she was disreputable." "I said that?" "If I did, you misunderstood." "I was talking about flirting with boys." "And at that age, nothing much happens." "You know what I think?" "We're talking too much." "And forgetting to eat." "I think that when you stop loving a woman and see her again, years later..." "Between you and her, there's death." "As if she'd passed away because your love is over." "You mean I'm dead?" "I'm only thinking about all those questions that once tormented me but are of no interest to me now." "Such as?" "The time I saw you on the Champs elysees with a young man." "unless it was a young woman." "You have no idea how sad it made me." "I thought:" "It's over." "I'II never see her again." "I think I remember." "Don't try to." "It's not worth the effort." "That's what's so awful." "Heartbreak... can kill... but leaves no trace." "shall I say who it was?" "please pick up the pieces and throw them away." "Wash them, then put them in my mahogany box." "AIbertine..." "Did you see that man?" "At this very moment, Robert is doing important business with him." "They had a meeting in Paris." " Did he recognize you?" " I don't know." "Robert doesn't even brief his cohorts any more." "I'm too tired to confound him." "I'm weary." "Weary of all these lies." "It may be my fault." "Women who wallow in their woe dig their own graves." "I'm mishandIing it." "Has he mentioned this rachel?" "Don't answer." "Robert's your friend, too." "That's not GiIberte's signature." "I tell you it is." "Look." "That's an A, not a G." "You're teasing me." "I say what I see." "That's an A. And that's an N." "It's not." "It is." "Libertinage" "He sends a bouquet a night." "It's sweet, but after the twentieth, you start thinking." "They must be hiding something." "Something fishy." "I'm not one for gossip but friends say" "Robert's a liar, to himself and everyone." "But he's a bad liar when you catch him with morel." "The love in his eyes says it all." "I don't know..." "I can't believe it." "What do you think?" "Am I crazy to love him?" "Strawberries in ether!" "Like kissing snow." "Did you read Le Figaro?" "This week brings more proof that the arts are society's true movers and shakers." "Good." "The scandal... caused by the performance of Profanation is another example of art's impact on its audience." "How amusing!" " Leaving already?" " I'm expected." "May I ask by whom?" "An algebra class." "Didn't I tell you?" " And our dinner?" " Another time." "You know what I'm thinking?" "If I ever find out you're unfaithful I'II leave you at once." "You must always be faithful to me." "absolutely faithful." "Starting here, where everything starts." "talking to yourself?" "No, to you." "To me?" "What were you saying?" "That's our secret." "Secrets shouIdn't be repeated." "How was your algebra class?" "I'd rather have been here with you." "charlie?" "Who is this woman?" "It's a Iong story." "Someone begged me to find her photo." "She's an actress." "An admirer?" "A future lover?" "It's a boring story." "I'm counting on you, marcel." "I know GiIberte trusts you." "You'II tell her better than I that I still love her." "There's the other woman, too." "Though I Iove her less than GiIberte." "But she gives such ample proof of her affection." "I'm her first love!" "Here..." "Read this letter." "She writes that she'II never be happy without me." "Before me, she had no one." "No one else in her life." "GiIberte!" "What's she up to?" "I feel I'm intruding." "Not at all." "We were discussing the balkan war." "I suggest you continue over dinner." "It's ready." "Pardon me." "I must have caught a chill." "Why are you staring at me?" "Does my headdress astound you?" "Do you Iike it?" "It's not at all you." "If I'm too me, you don't see me." "Cheer up!" "I'm in excellent spirits." "Make the most of it." "Come, Iet me show you something." "You remember that mishap?" "You were angry for ages." "Now I've done as I should." "The cup is fixed, Iike all the others." "Reading the Goncourts'Journal made me feel strangely disturbed." "They wrote about a dinner party at the Verdurins'house." "Doctor Cottard and his wife were the the Polish sculptor Virovski, Swann the collector, a grand Russian princess." "Swann said she had shot dead AArchduke Rudolph." "...Yung Cheng plates with their nasturtium borders and bluish, swollen iris blooms." "Dresden plates, daintier in their craftsmanship, their anemic roses turning violet." "Sevres plates, meshed with the guilloche of their fIuting." "And, what is perhaps as rare is the superb quality of the food served on them." "finely simmered delicacies, the likes of which Parisians, it must be said, never find at the grandest dinners." "What a pleasure it must be to dine off such fine plates!" "You don't know my husband!" "He's singIe-minded." "Pretty things don't interest him." "He'd be happier drinking cider in a cool Normandy farmhouse!" "You know Normandy?" "You Westerners cannot understand how a writer can penetrate a woman's innermost depths." "You're a writer yourself." "A good one." "You have no idea how successful you'd be in my country." "When my brother died, every woman in Moscow wore a black ribbon around her thigh!" "About Normandy, I know EIstir's landscapes." "Such delicate pastels..." "EIstir?" "I taught him all he knows about flowers!" "He couldn't tell an aIthea from a hollyhock!" "And I taught him to recognize jasmine." "It's true." "Without my wife that flower painter, now hailed as the best, couldn't have painted jasmine." "I taught him flower arranging." "He had no idea!" "How often I'd say, No, EIstir." "No!" "That's not worth painting!" "Paint this." "unfortunately our advice couldn't prevent his vile marriage!" "Have you noticed Mrs. Verdurin's magnificent pearl necklace?" "admirable, I agree." "black pearls." "They used to be white." "Is that so?" "My story of our hostess's pearls" "leaves Mr. Goncourt skeptical." "He's wrong." "A fire blackened them." "I kept certain jewels in a bronze box." "After the fire, we found the box." "The pearls inside... were like this." "talk about black magic!" "There's more." "The changes sometimes observed in lifeless matter also appear in the human brain." "I speak as a doctor." "I myself treated Mrs. Verdurin's valet, who almost died of shock in the fire" "well, it changed him." "His handwriting changed, but so did his innermost personality" "As if the fire awoke the monster in him." "This sober man became a drunkard." "A drunk and a liar!" "And before, he was..." "An absolute pearl!" "We had to dismiss him." "I felt vaguely disturbed." "AAfter all, I met these people daily." "I often dined with them." "The Verdurins, the Duke of Guermantes, the Cottards." "I could list every one of their countless vulgarities." "Their outward charm escaped me." "I couldn't help seeing through it, as a surgeon sees the cancer beneath a woman's smooth skin." "I dined out, but I couldn't see the guests." "For instead, I was X-raying them." "Poor MarceI is not well." "still, he writes day and night." "How many volumes?" "Ten?" "Hush!" "Or you'II tire him." "They say he's near the end." "The end of what?" "You mean..." "No, his book!" "It's almost finished." "What will he have to live for?" "How upsetting!" "I'II ask Bontemps to see to it." "Norpois had his article censored again." "AII because he hinted that Percin would be fired!" "I was in love, my Lord!" "I was in love!" "AAnd craved love in return!" "That day, I admit, I took fright." "I thought you loved me no more." "Now I see my error." "You love me still." "These are Egyptian tunics." "Dark, straight..." "Very war." "See this jewelry?" "My latest inspiration." "Made from shrapnel." "My designs were all inspired by respect for our soldiers." "What do they dream about in the trenches?" "surely, more daintiness." "For their dear wives at home." "But no excess, no misplaced luxury." "Just pretty trifles to brighten up these dismal days." "A great designer has no other way to help the war effort." "We all share that duty." "will you take some tea?" "Biscuits?" "We'II have to tighten our belts." "Food, gas, electricity..." "The Senate passed the Iaw." "Even adultery costs more!" "adultery?" "We passed that law, too." "adultery now carries a 100-franc fine plus a few days in jail." "I can't see anyone here being liable." "Do you recognize him?" "It's on the tip of my tongue." "tell me." "No." "charlie, play us something suitable for twilight." "Very well." "still no sign of Odette?" "No." "I don't know why she's stopped coming." "Maybe she's ruffled." "I'm not." "How did I upset her?" "She met both husbands here." "If she wants to come back, she's always welcome." "twelve German Dances for Piano?" "Isn't that risky?" "A tribute to my friend CharIus." "Why do you hate him so?" "Because he's so virtuous." "Bontemps is right." "You're reckless." "It's true." "That's why I'm enlisting tomorrow." "For the front." "To uphold my reputation." "Are you joking?" "You're more useful as a journalist." "I'm bored." "So what?" "I'm bored too." "I'd be even more bored without you." "I'm taking you hostage." "Beethoven!" "The nerve of her!" "Just turning up!" "She's aged." "Or am I dreaming?" "You're dreaming." "She's ravishing." "How lovely to see you!" "I'd lost hope." "How lovely to see you!" "I'd lost hope." "How is Mr. de ForcheviIIe?" "blah, blah..." "I had too much champagne." "It's so good!" "I was at TansonviIIe." "This is for you." "She's been through hell." "My GiIberte has gumption!" "The Germans don't." "They fight well, but lack what I call gumption." "Any news of Robert?" "Her husband, St-Loup?" "He speaks like a tommy." "He chats with men from faraway dominions, fraternizes with officers and humble privates." "I have a soft spot for the english." "They're so fair-pIay!" " Can we go in?" " Sorry, sir." " Fancy crowd!" " It'II be an aII-night party." "Look, there's CharIus." "With someone." "Mrs. de ForcheviIIe, I'm afraid we have to close." "The curfew's started early?" "No, it's on time." "I see." "We're being kicked out." "May I see you home?" "I'II let you out the back." "I'd rather walk alone." "Do you mind?" "No, I quite understand." "Did you hear Cottard is sick?" "Everyone says he's overworked." "It's worse than that." "Can we come in?" "alone in the dark?" "You look lost." "Mr. de Foix, being lost is of minor importance." "The problem is finding oneself." "I'm looking for CharIus." "He was here, dining with someone..." "You know how he comes and goes." "Like a ghost." "Or a spy." "You're harsh." "My father's no better." "He keeps tabs on everyone I see." "Isn't that vile, given whom he sees?" "He and St-Loup are tarred with the same brush." "They're old friends, so it could be true." "I wouldn't mind, if only he'd stop lecturing me." "It's drafty out here." "Come..." "Come meet my friends." "unless young people bore you." "A drink?" "Liqueur, champagne?" "The Grand Duke said, Everyone must rise for my wife." "The Duchess replied," "Rise for your wife?" "Men used to lie down for her grandmother!" "The Baron was just here." "He can't be far." "He ordered an armagnac." "Youth!" "They're celebrating de Mericourt's engagement to Miss d'Ambresac." "He hit the jackpot." "Just in time!" "These youngsters love to burn money they don't have." "So they go fortune-hunting." "Swap tips." "Try her." "She's ugly, but what a dowry!" "The dreadful things I overhear!" "They're ruthless predators..." "but entertaining." "Antoine!" "We're dying of thirst!" "Coming, Your Grace." "Come." "Mr. de CharIus loves chatting with the kitchen boys." "No doubt we'II find him thriving." "Mr. de Foix, is something lacking?" "As usual, but no matter." "You look so busy, I'II do your job." "Keeping warm in here?" "Good idea." "Give him a drink." "Look at our game." "The flags are war zones." "Thank you." "Just a sip." "We're studying German troop movements." "Antoine says we keep screwing up." "I don't." "I say Fritz calls all the shots." "There's some caviar." "No thanks." "I'm looking for CharIus." "You missed him." "He saw me and left, as if I were the devil." "I'm not a devil, am I?" "No, Your Highness." "Those are the devils." "Take a seat." "Have you seen this?" "Read it to me please." "German-Iovers make merry in Paris, feasting and partying despite the war." "Worse, they praise our foes and wish aloud for France's defeat." "I was thinking that more and more people, despite seeming perfectly happy and drinking excellent cocktails, complain that they can't last out the war, that their hearts can't take it, that they'II drop dead." "And strangely enough, they do!" "I've noted many such premature deaths." "Have a drink?" "An armagnac?" "Some hot milk." "In midsummer?" "Sheer folly!" "To each his folly." "How is Odette?" "still crazy about the english?" "She'd Iike my brother." "AII this absurd talk about the extraordinary lack of psychology that characterizes the German race." "The Cottards, the Cambremers..." "Between us, do you think they ever cared much about psychology?" "Norpois is more subtle, I grant you, though he's been wrong from the start." "His rabbIe-rousing newspaper stories..." "Do you read them?" "Yes, occasionally." "Brichot says that France should be more militaristic while accusing Germany of being too much so!" "He uses the harshest words to condemn the Germans cult of strength" "A dragon on its horse!" "A beautiful image, I think." "Don't you?" "AII these patriotic journalists are so untalented." "That's why they write such drivel." "They all spell koIossaI with a k but what we bow down to is truly colossal." "Speaking of Brichot, have you seen morel?" "I've heard he wants to see me." "Let him make the first move." "I'm the older one." "It's not for me to do it." "He was at Mrs. Verdurin's today." "He played German dances and nobody noticed!" "He's crazy about women." "That's all he thinks about." "There's the aII-cIear siren." "Doesn't it remind you of Wagner?" "WaIkyries shrieking in the night?" "The only German music allowed since the war began." "In case you didn't know, my dear," "I've been at TansonviIIe for 2 years now." "I got here when the Germans did." "Everyone tried to dissuade me, saying I was mad." "But I have one quality:" "I'm no coward." "Or, if you prefer, I'm loyal." "Knowing TansonviIIe was at risk," "I couldn't let our old steward defend it alone." "As a result, I've saved almost the entire property, while nearby estates were abandoned in panic and almost all destroyed." "I saved not only the house but also my dear papa's beloved collections." "You can't imagine what this war is like, my dear friend." "The importance of every road, bridge and hill..." "I often think of you and our walks, which you made so delightful, as we ambled through this scenery that now lies ravaged," "ripped by battles to capture a road or hilltop that you once loved, where we often went together." "well, these places are as famous now as AusterIitz and VaImy." "The battle of MesegIise lasted 8 months." "The Germans lost 600,000 men." "They razed MesegIise but failed to take it." "That country road you loved, the one we called Hawthorn hill, where you say you fell in love with me as a child, though I swear it was I who fell in love with you..." "I got your note." "Is it really that bad?" "I think it's the end." "He was delirious last night." "Then... he came to himself, briefly." "He said he had to get ready." "He'd attended so many deathbeds." "Now it was his turn." "He wanted to leave his papers in order." "Then he said he'd Iike to see you one last time." "You'd always been a faithful friend." "Thank you so much for coming so fast." "It's Mrs. de ForcheviIIe." "Odette..." "Make yourself comfortable." "It's so hot." "Thank you for coming." "Come here." "closer." "Do you know what I'II miss?" "Your caresses." "please, one last time." "Over there." "The box." "Open it." "It's for you." "Yes..." "Make me happy." "The worst is always unexpected." "I always used to think the worst that could happen to me" "would be that he'd go." "And leave me all alone." "But I was wrong." "The worst thing was when I found her letters." "He'd been two-timing me for years with that tramp!" "It's good that you feel so sad." "It proves you love still him." "feeling less sad would mean that you're forgetting him." "That you love him less." "You mustn't think he didn't love you." "When he was unfaithful, he took such pains to hide it" "for fear of hurting you." "He respected you." "He preferred you." "My earring!" "I've lost my earring!" "I'm glad to see you." "Me too." "I feel better already." "I'm only sorry you can't stay longer." "Here in Paris, we hardly feel the war." "You're a changed man!" "I remember you saying when people refuse to fight, it's because they don't want to die." "They're just scared." "You said you yourself were scared to return to duty." "I guess you were just being witty." "I remember." "BIoch had just been called up..." "I told them." "I'm no use." "blind as a bat!" "What's so funny?" "You're safe, parading around at staff HQ while plain privates like me get butchered by bill." "No thanks!" " I hear Kaiser WiIheIm's sick." " call him bill." "exactly." "You're scared to." "You groveI to him already." "You'd look good at the front," "licking Fritz's boots!" "You know what you are?" "privileged dandies playing at war!" "Come." "will it last long?" "What?" "No." "I anticipate a very short war." "Read the Armies Act of October 28th, 1913." "Give me that, and that..." "A little pot-pourri." "Read it, you'II see." "There are no plans to replenish the reserves." "That proves the war won't last long." "If I enlist, it will be for an ideal." "I agree with my uncle CharIus." "Effeminacy has no place in a man." "The thing that appeals to me is being with brave young men, far from women." "You understand?" "I believe in... the mental and moral nobility of manly friendships." "I'd love to risk my Iife to save my orderly." "I'd love to die inspiring my men with fanatical love." "philippe d'OrIeans, a connoisseur of young men and effeminacy," " was called Monsieur..." " I know, thanks!" "A hero of the Dutch war, right?" "But he was a quirk." "This is all very uninteresting, marcel." "You remember the bellhop at BaIbec?" "He wants to join up, as an airman." "I'II see if I can help." " Good journey, sir?" " No." "How's Mr. St-Loup?" "Isn't he due for some sea air?" "I've no idea." "tell me, friend." "Between you and me." "I've heard that Mr. St-Loup appreciates young men in a particular way." "I don't go in for that, sir." "And if it were true, I wouldn't say." "I respect the hotel's guests." "When I called you earlier, Francoise asked me to exempt some butcher's boy she likes." "A shy little chap." "She combed Paris for him." "He'd changed butchers." "She wants to save his skin." "What did you tell her?" "That I don't exempt anyone." "You haven't eaten a thing." "You'II waste away." "We need manpower!" "Some days I'm too weak to hold a pen." "Can you see me with a rifle?" "certainly not!" "You know what I think?" "It's hard to create an epic using words like Up and at 'em!" "They grate on my ears." "It sounds so affected." "So vulgar!" "Like saying coke instead of cocain." "The common people, though," "Laborers..." "Shopkeepers who never dreamed of being heroes, who'd have died of old age without knowing..." "When you see them run under fire to rescue a comrade or a wounded officer and they're hit, they die smiling." "You know why?" "Because the surgeon told them we captured the trench." "Common people are best!" "But then again, everyone's good." "Like young Vaugoubert, the ambassador's boy." "Wounded 7 times before he died!" "Each time he returned alive, he looked apologetic, as if he'd let us down !" "Good meat!" "Do croissants still ease your migraines?" "Every morning I think of poor Cottard." "I feel so sad." "He had to write me a prescription for croissants!" "The world's gone haywire." "To have a croissant baked you have to pull almost as many strings as to appoint a general!" "Before I forget..." "I've heard you were with CharIus yesterday." "Are you friends again?" "We ran into each other in the street." "I imagine it was a shock." "What's the attraction?" "The strongman or my friend Rene?" "Who's Rene?" "A draft-dodger like you?" "Draft-dodger?" "Don't sneer at him." "He's very imaginative, especially in areas that interest you." "I'II introduce you." "He could use the money." "He and I share the same tastes:" "an allergy to trenches." "You understand." "You always backed the weak." "We're weak." "You used to say you never read the legal pages, out of sympathy for the condemned man's agony." "I don't, but I sometimes read your filthy articles." "They're only a pastime." "charlie..." " What do you want?" " To spend the evening with you." " Evening and night?" " Yes." "Sorry." "I have better plans." "Coming, Rene?" "charlie!" "Look out." "I'II get even!" "I almost forgot!" "It's time." "VinteuiI's septet." "Good evening." "You, here?" "I couId say the same." "I have my reasons." "You too, no doubt." "Did you see that man?" "Was it Saint-Loup?" " Why not?" " What's so funny?" "I'm sure you know he's been implicated in a spy scandal." " wrongly." " I know." "It's a respectable house, to that extent." "My own father frequented it." "Spying on your own father?" "Is he in there?" "He's dead." "He died in there." "What can we do?" "When it's our turn, we'II go." "To slaughter?" "Not me." "I'm 22." "Six months as a nurse there was enough." "FaceIess patients." "My last one had no jaw, no nose, no mouth." "Nothing!" "Just a big hole." "And the stench!" "meanwhile Joffre sleeps around!" "I read they have no more zeppeIins." "Oh yeah?" "I shot down five already!" "The papers are paid to tell lies." "Excuse me." "I'd Iike a room." "I don't know whom to ask." "Ask the boss." "He's gone to buy chains." "I think room 43 is free." "One night?" "No, just a few hours' rest." "I came in from the air raid." "They bombed La ViIIette." "I'm very thirsty." "May I have a drop of cassis ?" "We'II send it up." "Anything else?" "Take your pick." "I'II go with you." "Who's he?" "Is there a Canadian airman here?" "French." "No good." "The client wants the accent." "Take that, scum!" "Maurice?" "I assure you, Baron." "He's a genuine thug." "really?" "You surprise me." "He's had many convictions for theft and burglary." "He's been in jail." "He's dangerous." "Maybe so, Jupien, but I don't feel it." "He says scum like a schoolboy reciting by rote." "Nobody taught him." "I find him much too gentle." "gentle is not why I come here." "gentle?" "He was wanted for killing a concierge!" "Now you're talking!" "There's the man from the slaughterhouse." "He can kill an ox with one finger." "Guaranteed illiterate." "A Senator tried him two days ago." "He spoke about him to Mr. Lebrun." "Mr. Lebrun is actually the Russian Grand Duke." "Don't bother, Jupien." "I want boys like Maurice." "He has the right approach, but I want more authenticity." "Find someone." "Is my driver waiting?" "Of course." "But the raid's not over." "He didn't hesitate one second." "He chose to die." "To save his orderly's life?" "The rich aren't all bad." "I'd happily die for guys like that." "They're the tops." "Poor stiffs like us have nothing to lose." "A gentleman with servants who could be home drinking cocktails, that's real class." "God shouIdn't let the rich die." "The workers need them." "For one of them killed, every German should die." "Finished already?" "That was short." "Short for a walk in the park." "Long if you're swinging a whip in this heat." "Good thing he pays well." "He's educated too, you can tell." "Damn it." "He's insane!" " Who is?" " The old man in 27." "He's never satisfied." "Thugs bore him, soldiers too." "Now he wants a cripple." "But not a veteran." "He hates that." "A cripple who wasn't wounded at war?" "There's no such thing!" "Not that chair!" "Get up, get up!" "The Prince de Foix died in that chair." "Nobody sits there." "Put the roses on it." "Hide, before the Baron sees you." "Hide!" "Get up." "The Baron's coming." "You're disgusting." "I saw you at the olympia with two tickets." "Making extra money behind my back?" "No, sir." "How sweet." "You say it so well." "It almost sounds true." "Who cares if it's true or not, as long as I believe it?" "Think about me in the trenches." "Is it hell?" "Sometimes, when the shells come close." "But we have no choice." "We'II fight to the end." "To the end." "But to the end of what?" "I don't think I know this charming, delicious young man." "I'm charmed, sir." "delighted to meet you." "I'II send it to my parents and to my brother, at the front." "How awful." "He's a decent guy, for a baron." "He has a million a day to spend." "please don't take it badly." "The same room tomorrow." "11 o'cIock in the morning." "Yes, sir." "Maurice!" "Louis!" "You're wanted in room 23." "Look what I found in 35." "What is it?" "A Croix de Guerre." "Thanks!" "Where was it?" "Room 35." "I think I know whose it is." "Hurry, he's important." "Don't keep him waiting." "I'II see you out." "What's he doing here?" "I'm leaving." "I can't believe it!" "I won't be back." "It's scandalous." "scandalous!" "Goodbye!" "I only bring one thing:" "my mother's photo." "You're right." "You only have one mother." "One thing's for sure." "Since these raids began," "I've found the way of the Lord." "A few more raids, and you'II be an alcoholic." "Francoise!" "What's upset you so?" "We thought you were dead!" "Didn't we?" "The idea was discussed." "The bombs fell close tonight." "Guess who fetched us from the cellar." "Mr. de Saint-Loup!" "What a character!" "Ordering me around" "like I was his sergeant!" "Wasn't he?" "He swore he'd left his cross here." "His Croix de Guerre." "You wonder how he won it." "If you ask me, rich people like him sit pretty while the rest get killed." "also, he has a nerve telling us how brave the Germans are." "Which side is he on?" "So what did you do?" "Don't say he stayed in the cellar!" "I'd love to hear Morel play this sonata." "Can I meet him one day?" "shall I warm up some food?" "No thank you." "You may go to bed." "Guess what Mr. de St-Loup said." "Fritz is waiting for the pear to drop." "It's true." "That day, there'II be no mercy." "holy Mary!" "The invadement of belgium was bad enough." "Poor, defendIess little country." "What about the medal?" "Did you go up and get it?" "Yes." "We risked our lives." "For nothing!" "Not even a tip." "CharIus came by." "He left a note." "Morel is hiding at 25 AAvenue du Bois. I dare not go myself." "please follow me." "It's here." "He's coming." "Who told you I was here?" "Odette." "She's worried about you." "You're joking." "Odette doesn't worry about anyone." "So?" "So I wanted to talk to you." "It's small and uncomfortable here." "Have a seat." "welcome to my hideout." "The police are after me." "I'm wanted." "As a deserter." "Who turned me in?" "Any idea?" "I don't want to die in ignorance in front of the firing squad." "I won't stay long." "It can't have been CharIus." "You know it." "He hasn't got it in him." " I didn't suspect him." " So?" "Maybe it's time to end your quarrel." "He's old." "He may die soon." "It's time to make peace." "It's all the more absurd because he still loves you." "He's still willing to help you." "You're wasting your time." "tell me why you won't make peace." "Are you too lazy?" "Too mean?" "Too virtuous?" "Too vain?" "Nothing of the sort." "I don't care about virtue." "Meanness?" "No, I've begun to pity myself." "Vanity is pointless." "As for being lazy..." "I'm like a caged animal." "The truth is..." "I'm a fool to tell you." "The truth is, I'm scared." "I'm scared of him." "I don't understand." "You know he's a good man." "Yes, I know." "I know all that." "So considerate, so upright..." "I know." "I'm ashamed to say it, but I'm scared." "please go now." "Leave me alone." "Every day of our battle against the invader is written in history." "In the dark trenches, in the line of fire, when victory is at stake, the names of commanders become one with those of the humblest soldiers." "Marquis Robert de Saint-Loup died on the field of honor." "That he gave his life is enough to make him great." "But that he did so to protect his men makes him a hero." "Mentioned in dispatches, awarded the Croix de Guerre, Robert de Saint-Loup..." "The Marquise de ViIIeparisis!" "I thought she was in Paris." "My dear friend..." "What a surprise!" "I thought you were in Paris." "Aren't you're the son of the Minister's secretary?" "This is Robert de Saint-Loup." "And my nephew, Baron de Guermantes." "My goodness!" "What am I saying?" "I called you Baron de Guermantes!" "please meet..." "Baron de CharIus." "What did you do today?" "I must show you the sweet shop that just opened." "I'II walk with you a bit." "tell me..." "Did Madame say your uncle CharIus is a Guermantes?" "Yes, she did." "He's PaIamede de Guermantes." "The Guermantes of Combray, descendants of Genevieve de Brabant?" "absolutely." "CharIus adores heraldry." "He says that our motto, our cri de guerre, which is now Passavant, used to be Combraysis." "CharIus' brother owns the chateau at Combray." "If you Iike, I'II introduce you again." "After supper is the time he relishes most." "uncle CharIus is a night owl." "Isn't that Robert de Saint-Loup?" "Where?" "There." "I can't see anyone." "Come..." "Combraysis!" "Poor woman." "She must have cried so after her son's death." "They didn't even let her see him." "Mind you..." "just as well, perhaps." "I hear his nose was split in two." "completely defaced..." "Look who's coming." "What a nerve!" "Here comes my favorite violinist." "He looks as grim... as death!" "Where have you been?" "I was worried!" "I missed the action." "Don't worry about me." "I have company." "They were waiting at the station." "I'm a celebrity now." "They'II all lap it up." "Mr. morel... your presence here..." "I won't be staying long." "charlie..." "Thank you for coming." "We can't let them do this!" "We have to do something!" "Where's Odette?" "She's friends with the general." "I'd Iike a little pick-me-up." "Come, Oriane..." "The new sanitarium to which I withdrew did me no more good than the first." "The war was over." "On the train back to Paris, the thought of my lack of literary talent, which I'd recognized while skimming the Goncourts'Journal, the thought of the vanity and falsehood of literature struck me afresh, more painfully than ever before." " How are you?" " well." "The Baron wants to see you." "Mr. de CharIus..." "How are you?" "Better, but don't mention his illness." "You're still alive." "Thank God." "Because my family..." "My family..." "His family is nearly extinct." "The newspapers." "Antoine de Mouchy... dead." "charles Swann... dead." "AdaIbert de Montmorency... dead." "Boson de TaIIeyrand... dead." "Sosthene de DoudeauviIIe... dead." "That's Mrs. de Saint-Euverte." "You hate her." "Mrs. de Saint-Euverte!" "I'm not deaf, Jupien." "Now I've made someone happy, for a few minutes." "He thinks I'm losing my mind." "I am not." "You see that advertisement?" "There was the same one at Avranches..." "No... at BaIbec." "When I met you for the first time." "Do you remember?" "marcel!" "Your grandmother looks flustered." "But we don't care about old grandma." "Do we, little rascal?" "Pardon me, sir?" "I adore her!" "Sir, you're still young." "Use your youth to Iearn two things." "First, refrain from displaying emotions that are best left unspoken." "Second, don't rush into answering questions before you've understood them." "If you take these precautions, you will be saved from blurting out nonsense as if you were deaf." "You look silly enough already with anchors embroidered on your swimsuit." "I told you you'd be cold." "Your lips are purple!" "You're shivering." "The Princess de Guermantes insists." "No entry during the concert." "I'II show you to the library." "I'II bring you some cakes and tea." "Tea?" "milk?" "No thank you." " Sugar?" " One." "That day, the signs which lessened my discouragement and restored my faith in writing seemed to multiply around me." "If memory, thanks to the act of forgetting, offers no bridge from itself to the present, it allows us to breathe a new air." "New, because we've breathed it before." "Poets tried vainly to situate this air in paradise, but true paradises are those we have lost." "This meant that my fear of my own death stopped as soon as I recalled the taste of the madeleine." "aat that moment, the person I had been became extra-temporal." "That person existed outside of activity, of immediate enjoyment, each time the miracle of analogy made me escape from the present." "I felt no pleasure at Balbec, or when I lived with AAlbertine." "I felt it only after the fact." "I had to interpret sensations like signs of laws and ideas, trying to think, to pull what I'd once felt out from the shadows, to convert it into its spiritual equivalent." "The only means of doing so was to create a work of art." "Why is MarceI crying so?" "Even he doesn't know." "He's keyed up." "Prepare the big bed for me." "I'II sleep in here." "My little ninny makes Mama as silly as he." "Since neither of us is tired, Iet's not get keyed up." "Let's do something." "will it spoil your fun if I give you the books Grandmother bought for your birthday?" "Are you sure?" "It will mean you get nothing tomorrow." "We were walking home in the moonlight which cast a silver glow on the dark country paths." "It was an autumn evening, mild and slightly misty." "We couldn't help noticing the sound of the air and something eerie which hovers over nature..." "The first piece is over." "May I see you in?" "How nice to see you, my oldest friend!" "This reminds me of the year" "I first visited the Princess de Guermantes." "I feared I was unwelcome and would be turned away." "You were wearing a red dress and red shoes." "My God..." "AII that was so long ago." "Those were the dresses we wore back then." "Maybe they'II come back." "Fashions do - clothes, music, painting." "But you, dear friend, don't change." "Not one white hair." "You look as young as ever." "I thought I just saw morel." "I doubt it." "He'd have greeted me." "Is he really invited?" "What a question!" "morel is now highly respected." "The Princess is fond of him." "What's troubling you?" "Nothing..." "I didn't recognize that man..." "I was told it's Mr. d'Argencourt." "Rather... what's left of him." "You're referring to the trial?" "CharIus and d'Argencourt were convicted." "The court deferred to the high moral standards of our friend morel." "But relax." "If d'Argencourt should bump into morel, he'II greet him like an old friend." "So old..." "that he won't remember him!" "If you come across GiIberte, avoid her." "She's a tramp who never loved her husband." "She liked the status, the name, being my niece, and rising from her slime." "AII she wants now is to sink back into it." "It's always pained me because of poor Robert." "He was no hawk, but he saw things clearly." "A great many things!" "I have no proof of her infidelity, but rumors abounded." "That's why Robert enlisted." "The war delivered him from his sorrow." "If you ask me, he wasn't killed." "He got himself killed." "My dear friend." "old chap..." "How good to see you." "You look fit for a dying man." "please meet Mrs. de Farcy." "She's American." "So witty and ever so elegant!" "Stop it, Jacques." "You'II make me blush!" "Jacques?" "I changed my name." "You didn't know?" "I'm Jacques du Rozier now." " Why change albert?" " albert BIoch is over." "You don't read the papers." "I wrote an article for which I've received much praise." "But tell me..." "Since you know everyone here..." "I'd Iike to meet the Prince de Guermantes." "really?" "You know everyone?" "A real social butterfly." "This is all untrue." "allow me..." "Prince?" "Excuse me..." "Prince?" "This is my friend albert." "Jacques..." "Jacques du Rozier." "I've heard a Iot about you." "And your late father, solomon BIoch." "Isn't that so?" "Yes." "Indeed." "Excuse me, I'm a little..." "What's the word?" "A little new to this society." "My husband, Count de Farcy, is related to the ForcheviIIes." "It's a very grand family, isn't it?" "I made a note that Mrs. de Saint-Loup is related to the Prince de Guermantes by the ForcheviIIes." "You noted wrong." "It's a very big mistake." "I told it to a lady who repeated it to a man..." " It's of no importance." " The Duchess..." "Do you recognize me?" "Cambremer." "The Marquis de Cambremer." "Excuse me." "Of course I recognize you." "I heard you were ailing." "The same trouble breathing?" "It hasn't hindered your longevity." "It's like this deadly flu epidemic." "It seems that its victims are mostly young." "We're still safe." "We still have..." "a little time before us, don't we?" "Montesquiou!" "The concert will now begin." "I play it badly." "No." "Keep playing." "I'd Iike to hear morel play this sonata." "Can I meet him one day?" "VinteuiI's music is so monotonous." "The same phrases, over and over." "It puts me to sleep." "If it weren't so late, AIbertine," "I'd show you how these key phrases, which you've begun to recognize as I do, the same ones in the sonata, the septet, and his other works," "that little music which keeps coming back, insistently, which you write off as monotonous." "well... in literature, good literature, that is..." "It's like a hidden reality revealed by a material trace." "Look at the stonecutters in Thomas Hardy." "They're in Jude the Obscure." "also in The WeII-BeIoved." "Remember the stones the father hews out of the island, coming by boats to pile up in the son's workshop." "They become statues." "The parallels between The WeII-BeIoved, in which a man loves three women and A Pair of blue Eyes" "in which a woman loves three men..." "These parallels..." "You're not listening." "Yes, I am." "But I wish I hadn't mentioned morel." "That's the reality I read in your face." "What do you see?" "A trace of jealousy." "Am I right?" "Not entirely wrong." "And a letter Mr. de CharIus opened by mistake." "A letter from Lea to morel." "Did she tell you about it?" "I thought as much." "A rather racy letter." "She called morel a little bitch." "Nice turns of phrase:" "Pretty girlie, you're one of us." "But she said it kindly." "She read it to you?" "Of course she did." "GiIberte was with Lea." "You're saying that to..." "Perhaps." "After all, I wasn't there." "Did she try anything with you?" "On rainy days, her parents sent a carriage." "Once she gave me a ride." "She kissed me." "She even asked if I liked women." "I said yes." "Just for the fun of confusing her." "That's all." "We didn't go any further." "You mistook me for Mama." "I'm starting to look like her." "I was short of breath." "There are so many people." "The party's a success." "I won't be staying long." "I keep thinking about Robert." "I know how you admired him." "I was able to grasp what a superior being he was." "Even now, I'm still struck by his slightest remarks." "His amazing foresight about the war." "He wasn't wrong..." "about the airplanes." "Remember when he said..." "He spoke so beautifully..." "Each army must be a hundred-eyed Argus." "Poetic, isn't it?" "But what brings you to these crowded parties?" "You, amid such carnage!" "It doesn't fit you." "I'd expect you anywhere except one of my aunt's big hoopIas." "Because she is my aunt." "Don't tell me you didn't know." "Where have you been?" "In my sanitarium." "That bejeweIed thing pecking at her cake with her new dentures..." "Do you recognize her?" "The new Princess de Guermantes, formerly Sidonie Verdurin." "Virtuosity can never replace inspiration." "charlie!" "I'd lost hope!" "So rachel will be reciting Musset?" "That was my idea!" "alfred de Musset's Memory is my favorite poem!" "My uncle was ruined by the war." "The Verdurins' fortune set him right." "After her husband died, Mrs. Verdurin married the Duke de Duras on his sickbed." "That's how my uncle, widower of Princess Hedwige, married a widow who'd become a duchess." "Mission accomplished." "She takes herself so seriously." "And everyone else pretends to." "How are you?" "Some champagne?" "Did GiIberte do her grieving widow act." "She feels no grief at all." "I'm astounded by her cynical show of indifference." "If she'd loved her husband at all, how could she remain so stoic in the same room as the woman he'd loved desperately for so many years?" "But it was you who invited rachel." "I wanted to see if she'd come." "And she did." "I'm not her." "I haven't forgotten Robert." "I forget no one." "shall I tell you what she is?" "A pig!" "morel." "Do you know what I heard about Mrs. de ForcheviIIe?" "She's like a rose that's been pickled." " It fits her." " Champagne?" "We have the same idiom." "You obviously don't like her, but if I understand correctly, you're related." "vaguely... on my husband's side, but very distantly." "Strange, how our relatives are close or distant, depending on our interest in them." "True, I feel..." "very close to Oriane de Guermantes." "So elegant, so refined." "But when I see that pickled rose day and night with the Duke," "I find it..." "Odette de Crecy..." "Odette de ForcheviIIe with the Duke de Guermantes?" "What?" "You didn't know?" "AII of Paris does!" "The Duke even had to resign from the Jockey club!" "He's lost his mind." "He's senile!" "They say he tyrannizes her." "If he could, he'd make her his captive." "And the Duchess?" "The Duchess, my friend Oriane, is above reproach." "She suffers, of course." "Suffers in silence." "And all the more because people say she has affairs!" "My friend!" "How are you?" "On the score, it said:" "allegro ma non troppo." "fluid..." "talk about fluidity!" "I must see you." "It's important." "Of course..." "We'II group up!" "I said we'II group up!" "Did you see the musician?" "Such youth!" "So interesting!" "Do you know her?" "Here she is!" "You were wonderful!" "I listened..." "Excuse me." "My dear, I'm sorry." "My mind was..." "AII these people, these new faces..." "One feels a bit lost." "Like in the fog." "I hear you've been ill." "You do look a bit pale." "Go back to BaIbec." "It's so bracing." "Have you seen my GiIberte?" "I do love my daughter." "Without her I'd be lost." "Why are you staring?" "Have I changed that much?" "If I sculpted, you'd be my model." "How charming." "You wouldn't have me pose naked?" "You'd be perfect." "An allegory of eternal youth." "really?" "Are you being sincere?" "Come..." "Come home with me." "This chitter-chatter bores me." "I enjoy it." "You have no party sense, my dear." "From time to time, it's nice to have fun and forget." "I want to be alone with you." "Come." "Don't be childish." "Sorry." "I have better plans." "Now that I've got you..." "Come to one of my little get-togethers." "Kindred spirits." "I saw you speaking with Aunt Oriane." "wonderful as she may be, she's no intellectual." "Did you know that Count de Courvoisier thought he was the only boy to be attracted to another?" "He thought the devil made him so." "I have no idea about such matters." "If you're looking for information, you should look elsewhere." "I'm a soldier." "No less, no more." "You used to be interested in battles." "Remember?" "You knew all about the encircling of UIm in 1805... by the bulgarian wheeling flank." "My kind of subject." "As for what you were referring to, it's Sanskrit to me." "Listen to me." "rachel is reciting albert de Musset." "Come, it's delicious." "We must talk." "It's important." "If she's not dead, why don't they ever come out?" "Because they're old." "At their age, one stays at home." "The Countess d'Arpajon died after a Iong illness." "The Marquise died all of a sudden, of a minor ailment." "Who is this young woman approaching us so gracefully?" "Are you joking?" "Robert de St-Loup's daughter." "She looks like a Guermantes." "alas, she takes after her mother and her grandmother." "They're working on a good marriage to cement their social standing." "I have to keep him to heel." "Or else he'd lock me up." "What a tyrant!" "I'm allowed some parties, daytime only, no balls." "I think he's going mad." "It runs in the family." "The thought of his brother scares me." "I don't like to be cramped." "That's it." "I adore my freedom." "The great loves of my Iife were all terribly jealous." "As a writer, you understand such behavior." "De ForcheviIIe was mediocre." "I require intelligence." "But Mr. Swann was..." "so profound, so attractive." "Mr. de Breaute." "Two wild years." "hannibal." "We called him BabaI." "Did you know him?" " Another tyrant." " rachel's about to recite Musset." "Your uncle is busy." "Come back later." "Come in..." "My nephew." "My humble respects." "humble respects?" "How charming." "He looks like his mother." "You've only seen her photo." "I beg your pardon." "I saw her on the stairs when you were ill." "Just for a second, but..." "It was dark but I was able to admire her." "This young man has her pretty eyes." "And that." "He looks most like his father." "He has my poor mother's chin." "Some Turkish delight?" "These come from istanbul." "I share them with all my friends." "There's mint, rose, cedar, and pistachio." "They stick to your teeth." "Don't be a killjoy." "I'm thrilled to meet your nephew." "I once met your father." "He was so good to me, so sweet." "You should get back to work." "I've grown used to the ones the Grand Duke sends me." "I told him you were jealous." "Take another Turkish delight, if you want." "Then get going." "His parents supervise his studies." "He may be the next Victor Hugo." "I adore artists." "They alone understand women." "Artists and men of exception, Iike you." "This time, you say goodbye and you leave." "already gallant." "See that?" "He has an eye for women." "He gets that from you." "Once you learn not to blush, you'II be a perfect gentleman." "If you ever want to stop by for tea, a cup of tea, as our english friends say, do." " Just send me a wire." " A wire?" "A telegram." "Get going." "You have an english accent." "I'm American." "What will you play?" "Beethoven." "A sitting room for close friends." "I'II give you this key." "Give it back later." "Mr. Swann has left." "Now Mama can come and say goodnight." "Do you know this?" "It's Victor Hugo." "Grass must grow and children must die." "You read Hugo?" "You read Francois Ie Champi." "At your age!" "I've already died several times." "I Ioved AIbertine above all, then stopped loving her." "GiIberte too." "I haven't loved her for ages." "Each time I became someone else." "You slowly grow indifferent to death." "Reassuring yourself?" "I'm not scared for myself, but for my book." "I still need some time." "will you let me read it?" "It's Mama." "close your eyes now." "What would you Iike?" "Some champagne." "But I have a favor to ask you." "That girl talking to her friend..." "Her laugh is vulgar." "But her silk blouse is exquisite." " A gift, I suppose." " I don't know." "I'm interested in the cuffs." "See how prettily they're folded up?" "I'd Iike to know more about the embroidery." "Try to get details." "Is it a blanket stitch?" "Openwork?" "Try your best, my friend." "The day the sculptor Salvini died, he was given, as all mortals are, the time to review every place and moment of his life." "The sculptor refused." "My life has been a series of extraordinary adventures." "To revisit them would only make me sadder." "I'd rather use my remaining time to review my last work, Divine Nemesis, otherwise known as The Triumph of Death." "So it was." "Soon after, the AAngel of Death returned to announce the end of his time of grace." "What a paradox!" "exclaimed Salvini." "You gave me enough time to revisit my whole life, which lasted sixty-three years." "The same length of time was too short to review an object I made in 3 months." "In this work is all of your life and the life of all men, the AAngel replied." "To review it would take an eternity..." "subtitles:" "nigel PaImer  Andrew Litvack" "SubtitIing:" "CEDRA PRODUCTIONS"