Christ in Flanders

La Comédie Humaine #69

by Honoré de Balzac

Honora de Balzac is considered the founder of social realism. Balzac was the first writer to write about all social levels of the social scene in France. His vast collection of works encompasses the Restoration period and the July Monarchy. La Comedie Humaine was written between 1799 and 1850. This collection contains 95 novels, stories, and essays. Christ in Flanders, written in 1831, is part of the Philosophical studies (Études philosophiques) section of La Comedie Humaine.

Genres: French Literature, Short Stories, Fiction, France, Classics, 19th Century, Christian

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1831

About the author

French writer Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as La comédie humaine .

Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.

Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.

Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.

Reviews

[Το Άθχημο γατί του θενιόρ Γκουαναμίρου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Στο κατά Μαρκον ευαγγέλιο κεφ. 6 στίχ. 45 - 52 καθώς και στο κατά Ματθαίον κεφ. 14 στίχ. 22 - 33 περιγράφεται το περπάτημα του Ιησού στο νερό. Μια δική του εκδοχή, της ίδιας αυτής ιστορίας, αφηγείται ο Balzac, η οποία εκτυλίσσεται στα χρόνια του μεσαίωνα, σε ένα πλοιάριο που μεταφέρει φτωχούς και πλούσιους από το Cadzand (σημερινή Ολλανδία) στην Ostend (Οστάνδη, σημερινό Βέλγιο).

Από την πίστη, τις αντιδράσεις τους και τη συμπεριφορά τους θα κριθεί η επιβίωσή τους, όταν το πλοίο πέφτει σε καταιγίδα και βουλιάζει. Ένας μυστηριώδης επιβάτης θα προσπαθήσει να τους σώσει και να τους οδηγήσει με ασφάλεια στη γειτονική ακτή. Σε ανάμνηση αυτού του θαύματος χτίστηκε στην περιοχή ένα μοναστήρι (le couvent de la Merci) του οποίου τον καθεδρικό επισκέπτεται ο ανώνυμος αφηγητής μετά την επανάσταση του 1830:

"Ce fut là que, fatigué de vivre , je- me trouvais quelque, temps après la révolution de 1830".

"Εκεί στο (μοναστήρι) βρέθηκα λίγο μετά την επανάσταση του 1830"

Είναι απογοητευμένος από τη ζωή, εν μέρει γιατί τα πρόσφατα πολιτικά γεγονότα οδήγησαν στην εκθρόνιση του αγαπημένου του βασιλιά, του Καρόλου Ι των Βουρβόνων (Charles X):

"Ce sabbat étrange me sembla la chose du monde la plus naturelle , et je ne m'en étonnai pas après avoir vu Charles X à terre".

"Αυτό το αλλόκοτο Σάμπαθ μου φάνηκε σαν το φυσικότερο πράγμα στον κόσμο, και τίποτε δεν μου έκανε πλέον εντύπωση μετά την εκθρόνηση του του Καρόλου Ι".

Εκεί έχει ένα όραμα στο οποίο η εκκλησία του παρόντος, του αποκαλύπτεται ως γρια και ξεπεσμένη πόρνη και η εκκλησία του παρελθόντος εμφανίζεται ως νέα απαράμιλλου κάλλους, προστάτιδα της ιστορίας, της επιστήμης και της λογοτεχνίας.

Καθώς ξυπνά από το όνειρό του ο αφηγητής τελειώνει με τη φράση:

"Je viens de voir passer le convoi d'une Monarchie, il faut défendre I'Église!"

Είχα μόλις παραστεί στην κηδεία της Μοναρχίας, τώρα πρέπει να υπερασπιστούμε την Εκκλησία".

Αυτή η εκδοχή με τις αναφορές στην εκθρόνιση του Καρόλου και την υπεράσπιση της εκκλησίας υπάρχουν στην έκδοση του Furne του 1845 (Etudes philosophiques, tome 1), ωστόσο στην παλαιότερη έκδοση του Charles Gosselin, που κυκλοφόρησε στα 1831 με τίτλο Romans et contes philosophiques το δεύτερο μέρος, του αφηγητή που έχει το όραμα στο ναό, παρουσιάζεται ως ξεχωριστή ιστορία που ακολουθεί ως διαφορετική διήγηση, μετά το Jésus-Christ en Flandre και φέρει τον τίτλο L'église (Η εκκλησία). Σε αυτήν την προγενέστερη εκδοχή του 1831, όλες αναφορές για την επανάσταση του 1830 και τον Κάρολο Ι απουσιάζουν:

"Ce sabbat étrange me semblait la chose du monde la plus naturelle, et je ne m'en étonnais pas, parce que j'étais moi-même doucement agité comme sur une escarpolette".

"Αυτό το αλλόκοτο Σάμπαθ μου φάνηκε σαν το φυσικότερο πράγμα στον κόσμο, και δεν μου έκανε καμία κατάπληξη γιατί ένιωθα και ο ίδιος έναν απαλό κραδασμό σαν να ήμουν επάνω σε μια κούνια".

Και το κείμενο τελειώνει με τη φράση:

"En marchant sur les bords du fleuvez je croyais sentir encore l'église dansant sous moi".

"Περπατώντας στις όχθες του ποταμού ένιωθα ακόμα την εκκλησία να χορεύει κάτω από τα πόδια μου".

Το δε όραμα δεν εκτυλίσσεται στο φλαμανδικό μοναστήρι αλλά στον καθεδρικό ναού του Saint-Gatien στην περιοχή Tours της Γαλλίας.

Οι αιτίες που οδήγησαν τον Balzac σε αυτές τις μεταγενέστερες προσθήκες και μετατροπές και δη οι πολιτικές αναφορές στην επανάσταση του 1830 και τις επιπτώσεις που είχε αυτή στη μοναρχία και την εκκλησία είναι μια ολάκερη ιστορία από μόνες τους. Και παρόλο που το Jésus-Christ en Flandre είναι μια ιστορία με μέτριο λογοτεχνικό ενδιαφέρον, κρύβει πίσω της ένα παρασκήνιο, σκηνές της ιδιωτικής αλλά και της δημόσιας ζωής του ίδιου του συγγραφέα στα 1832, που θα μπορούσε να αποτελέσει υλικό για μυθιστόρημα. Και πράγματι, ως ένα βαθμό, πολλά από αυτά που συνέβησαν τότε, θα μπουν στα κατοπινά του έργα.

Πρόκειται για μια αληθινή ιστορία ενός προδομένου έρωτα και μιας αποτυχημένης απόπειρας για καριέρα στον πολιτικό στίβο:

Η Ιουλιανή Επανάσταση του 1830, την οποία απεικόνισε ο ζωγράφος Eugene Delacroix στον διάσημο πίνακά του με τίτλο "Η Ελευθερία οδηγεί το Λαό", ανέτρεψε τον βασιλιά Κάρολο Ι (Charles X) του οίκου των Βουρβόνων του οποίου οι οπαδοί ονομάστηκαν Νομιμόφρονες (legitimistes) και έφερε στο θρόνο τον Λουδοβίκο Φίλιππο της Ορλεάνης (Louis-Philippe I) που αποτελούσε παρακλάδι του οίκου των Βουρβόνων και του οποίου οι οπαδοί ονομάστηκαν Ορλεανιστές (orleanistes). Ο Νομιμόφρονες είναι οι ακραίοι φιλοβασιλικοί και φανατικοί υποστηρικτές του κλήρου και οι Ορλεανιστές είναι οι πιο ελευθερόφρονες και υποστηρικτές της συνταγματικής μοναρχίας.

Αυτό είναι το ιστορικό πλαίσιο που ενέπνευσε στον Balzac τη φαεινή ιδέα να κατέβει στον πολιτικό στίβο αρχικά ως ανεξάρτητος, ώσπου κατέληξε, από όλες τις πολιτικές παρατάξεις, στην πιο σκληροπυρηνική, αυτή των Νομιμοφρόνων, για τα λεφτά, την εξουσία, αλλά και την καρδιά μιας γυναίκας (και απέτυχε παταγωδώς και στα τρία).

Σύμφωνα με τον εκλογικό νόμο του 1830 κάθε Γάλλος ηλικίας 30 ετών και άνω, εφόσον μπορούσε να πληρώνει 500 φράγκα το χρόνο σε φόρους, μπορούσε να δηλώσει υποψηφιότητα για βουλευτής. Ο Balzac φρόντισε για την εκλεκτορική εγγραφή του και άρχισε μια αποτυχημένη αναζήτηση προκειμένου να βρει μια εκλογική περιφέρεια για να κατέβει ως υποψήφιος βουλευτής, για τις εκλογές της 5ης Ιουλίου 1831. Οι πολιτικές του απόψεις συνοψίζονται σε μια πολιτική μπροσούρα με τίτλο Enquete sur la politique des deux ministeres (Έρευνα σχετικά με την πολιτική που ασκήθηκε στις δύο κυβερνητικές θητείες).
Στο κείμενο αυτό αναφέρει πως:

"Θα αποδεχτούμε την Ιουλιανή Επανάσταση (σσ. του 1830) ως τετελεσμένο γεγονός και θα προσπαθήσουμε να δούμε, όχι τι θα έπρεπε να είχε συμβεί αλλά ποιες είναι οι συνέπειες από αυτό το κίνημα στο πολιτικό μας σύστημα, εσωτερικώς και εξωτερικώς [....] Όλοι ενστικτωδώς έχουμε νιώσει πως από την Ιουλιανή Επανάσταση λείπει η παρουσία ενός (σσ. πολιτικού) άνδρα και ήταν, όπως έχουμε αναφέρει και αλλού, μια σπουδαία επανάσταση η οποία έπεσε σε αδέξια χέρια [....] Ο σκοπός της Ιουλιανής επανάστασης υπήρξε αναμφίβολα η αποκατάσταση της ελεύθερης βούλησης του Γαλλικού έθνους, σαν να ήταν ένας άνδρας που αιχμαλωτισμένος και ταπεινωμένος αποκτά ξανά την ελευθερία των κινήσεών του, η ανάκτηση της κυριαρχίας του και ο θρίαμβος των αρχών του 1789".

Ο Balzac κάνει έναν θεμελιώδη διαχωρισμό ανάμεσα στις απόλυτες μοναρχίες της Ιεράς συμμαχίας και το τωρινό Γαλλικό πολίτευμα που είναι μια Συνταγματική μοναρχία. Και τονίζει πως μετά την πτώση του Ναπολέοντα και την παλινόρθωση των Βουρβόνων με τον Λουδοβίκο ΙΗ (Louis XVIII), το 1915, υπογράφτηκαν συνθήκες και συμφωνίες προκειμένου να επικρατήσει ειρήνη στην Ευρώπη. Είναι λοιπόν αυτονόητο πως η Ιουλιανή Επανάσταση - η οποία εκθρόνισε τον διάδοχο του Λουδοβίκου ΙΗ - τον Κάρολο Ι (Charles X) - προκάλεσε αναταράξεις και ανησυχία στο Ευρωπαϊκό σκηνικό και έφερε εκ νέου το ενδεχόμενο μιας νέας πανευρωπαϊκής σύρραξης.

Η Γαλλία λοιπόν στα 1831 βρίσκεται μεταξύ τριών δρόμων, του πολέμου, της ειρήνης και ενός τρίτου δρόμου ο οποίος βρίσκεται κάπου ανάμεσα στους δύο προηγούμενους, τον οποίο ο Balzac χαρακτηρίζει ως "une politique double, de menager l'elan national, et de louvoyer entre le parti de la guerre et celui de la paix" (μια διπλή πολιτική της διατήρησης της εθνικής συγκυρίας και της αμφιταλάντευσης ανάμεσα στην παράταξη του πολέμου και της ειρήνης).

Στη συνέχεια ο συγγραφέας προχωρεί στην κριτική των τριών παρατάξεων αλλά τονίζει πως:

"Το σχέδιο που προτείνουμε σε αυτήν την έρευνα δεν μας υποχρεώνει να δημοσιεύσουμε τις σκέψεις μας πάνω σε αυτούς του τρεις πολιτικούς μετασχηματισμούς".

Στην ουσία λοιπόν o Balzac επιθυμεί να κρίνει τις πολιτικές των άλλων αλλά δεν προχωρεί στις δικές του προγραμματικές δηλώσεις. Θέλει να δείξει πως διαθέτει πολιτικές δεξιότητες και πως θα μπορούσε να διαπρέψει στο πλευρό κάποιας πολιτικής παράταξης, ωστόσο παραμένει για την ώρα ανεξάρτητος υποψήφιος. Στην πραγματικότητα βολιδοσκοπεί προκειμένου να δει αν κάποιος ενδιαφέρεται για το άτομό του.

Όσοι φίλοι του διάβασαν το κείμενό του έσπευσαν να καταδείξουν αυτήν του την απροθυμία να λάβει μια ξεκάθαρη πολιτική θέση. Ο Amedee Faucheux, δικηγόρος από την πόλη Tour του γράφει, σε επιστολή (1η Μαΐου 1831):

"Votre brochure vous fera connaitre, mais elle a le tort de ne pas conclure […]. Apres vous avoir lu je crains qu’on ne se demande a quelle faction de la Chambre derniere vous eussiez appartenu"

Η μπροσούρα σας θα σας κάνει γνωστό αλλά είναι λάθος που δεν καταλήγετε κάπου [...] Αφού διαβάσει κάποιος την ανάλυσή σας φοβούμαι πως θα αναρωτηθεί σε ποιο τμήμα της πρόσφατης βουλής θα ανήκατε (σσ. αν είσαστε βουλευτής).

Ο στρατηγός de Pommereul του λέει ευθέως πως μοίρασε κάποια αντίτυπα της μπροσούρας του τα οποία δεν έκαναν ιδιαίτερη αίσθηση στους ψηφοφόρους, καθώς δεν αντιπροσωπεύουν το πνεύμα της περιοχής.
(Βλέπε Maria Jose Moore, Les societes secretes dans les romans de Balzac, σελ. 104 και Nadine Satiat, Μπαλζάκ Ή η μανία της γραφής σελ. 228 - 229).

Την επόμενη χρονιά ωστόσο, στα 1832, κάνει την εμφάνισή της στη ζωή του Balzac μια γυναίκα η οποία θα φέρει τα πάνω κάτω στον πολιτικό του προσανατολισμό. Αυτό είναι ως ένα σημείο και ένδειξη πως ο Balzac είναι διατεθειμένος να κάνει οποιαδήποτε ιδεολογική παραχώρηση προκειμένου να πετύχει. Ως πολιτική οντότητα είναι υπερβολικά φιλόδοξος, ωστόσο είναι άπειρος και υπερενθουσιώδης. Ως χαρακτήρας διακρίνεται από μία αφέλεια αλλά και από ένα διακαή πόθο να εξασφαλίσει για τον εαυτό του μια άνετη ζωή, χωρίς τα άγχη του βιοπορισμού. Όλες οι επιθυμίες και οι ελπίδες του θα ενσαρκωθούν στο πρόσωπο της ωραίας Duchesse de Castries ανιψιάς του δούκα Fitz-James (Edouard de Fitz-James 1776-1838), αρχηγού της πτέρυγας των Νομιμοφρόνων.

Μετά από τη γνωριμία του μαζί της αρχίζει να δημοσιεύει διάφορα κείμενά του και άρθρα σε έντυπα των Νομιμοφρόνων, το Le Renovateur (Ανακαινιστής), το L’Emeraude, το Saphir πχ το διήγημα Le depart (η αναχώρηση) περιγράφει τη φυγή του Καρόλου Ι με πλοίο από το Cherbourg για το Portsmouth της Αγγλίας, το La Vie d'une femme (Η ζωή μιας γυναίκας) για την κόρη του Λουδοβίκου ΙΣΤ, το Le refus (η άρνηση) για την άρνηση του καρδινάλιου Bourbon να ανέβει στο θρόνο μετά τη δολοφονία του Ερρίκου του 3ου κτλ (Βλέπε Nicole Cazauran, Catherine de Medicis et son temps dans La comedie humaine, σελ.60).

Από πολιτικά κείμενα δημοσίευσε στο Le Renovateur το Essai sur la situation du parti royalist (Δοκίμιο για την κατάσταση του φιλοβασιλικού κόμματος) τον Μάιο - Ιούνιο του 1832, που θεωρήθηκε ως δριμεία κριτική απέναντι στα λάθη των φιλοβασιλικών και της παλινόρθωσης και της άρνησής τους να προσαρμοστούν στις ανάγκες της εποχής τους. Όταν το Σεπτέμβριο της ίδια χρονιάς προσπάθησε να δημοσιεύσει στο προαναφερθέν έντυπο ένα άρθρο με τίτλο Du gouvernement moderne (Περί της σύγχρονης διακυβέρνησης) το κείμενό του απορρίφθηκε. Αυτό ουδόλως πτόησε τον Balzac που ενσωμάτωσε τις απόψεις του στο μυθιστόρημά του με τίτλο Le Medecin de campagne (Ο επαρχιακός γιατρός). (Βλέπε Michel Lichtle, Balzac et la notion de gouvernement moderne: Essai sur la formation de la pensee politique de balzac jusqu'en 1832 στο L'Annee balzacienne 2007/1 (n°8), σελ. 291 - 343).

Σε πολιτικό επίπεδο λοιπόν, αυτός ο ανεκδιήγητος και αθεράπευτα ονειροπόλος αριβίστας της πολιτικής, υπήρξε περισσότερο μετριοπαθής ως ανεξάρτητος ενώ, όταν επέλεξε παράταξη, με την κριτική του άσκησε ένα είδος εσωκομματικής αντιπολίτευσης που έκανε τους ομοϊδεάτες του να αισθανθούν αμήχανα!

Πέρα από αυτό έθεσε υποψηφιότητα στις περιφερειακές εκλογές του Chinon το καλοκαίρι του 1832, την οποία η εφημερίδα Figaro αντιμετώπισε με σπαρταριστή ειρωνεία γράφοντας σε σχετικό άρθρο της:

"Η υποψηφιότητα του κυρίου de Balzac είναι πραγματικά φαιδρή "drolatique" (σσ. από τον τίτλο του ομώνυμο βιβλίου που είχε δημοσιεύσει ο συγγραφέας) είναι η πρώτη φορά που βλέπουμε κάποιον να χαϊδεύει τους ψηφοφόρους με ένα γαϊδουρόδερμα (σσ. αναφορά στο La Peau de chagrin). (βλέπε Graham Robb, Balzac).

Αυτό προκάλεσε μεγάλη ανησυχία στους φίλους του, ειδικά όταν οι Νομιμόφρονες προσπάθησαν να προβούν σε μια αποτυχημένη αντεπανάσταση η οποία είχε μεταξύ άλλων ως αποτέλεσμα και τη σύλληψη του δούκα Fitz-James ως υπόπτου (θα απαλλαγεί ωστόσο λόγω έλλειψης ενοχοποιητικών στοιχείων). Εκτός αυτού η συναναστροφή του με την αριστοκρατία απαιτούσε φοβερά έξοδα τα οποία του δημιούργησαν ένα βουνό από χρέη.

Αν είχε τουλάχιστον την αγάπη και το πουγκί της ωραίας de Castries, θα μπορούσε να ελπίζει σε κάτι καλύτερο. Αλλά εκείνη φαίνεται πως τον ήθελε κοντά της μόνο για διασκεδάζει την πλήξη της. Ο Balzac κατέβαλε από καιρού εις καιρόν φιλότιμες προσπάθειες προκειμένου να εξασφαλίσει μια καλή προίκα μέσα από έναν επιτυχημένο γάμο, προσπαθώντας να κερδίσει τη συμπάθεια διαφόρων κυριών, συχνά με την ενθάρρυνση της μητέρας του, αλλά τελικά όλες του οι απόπειρες κατέληγαν σε πικρές απογοητεύσεις.

Τελικά η πολιτική καριέρα του Balzac θα έχει άδοξο τέλος. Λίγο πριν την αναχώρηση του για το Chinon και την προεκλογική του καμπάνια, τον Μάη του 1832 έπεσε από την άμαξά του και έσπασε το κεφάλι του (αυτό είναι ένα από μια σειρά ατυχημάτων που είχε το ίδιο έτος). Οι γιατροί του έκαναν αφαίμαξη και του συνέστησαν να μη το κουνήσει από το κρεβάτι του. Έτσι κι αλλιώς είχε μηδαμινές πιθανότητες επιτυχίας.

Όσο για την ωραία de Castries... στο τελευταία κοινό τους ταξίδι στη Γενεύη θα τον απορρίψει με βάναυσο τρόπο. Περισσότερο θα θιχτεί ο εγωισμός του, προφανώς συνειδητοποίησε πως τον ήθελε ως τον προσωπικό της γελωτοποιό και ως πολιτικό φερέφωνο του θείου της και πληγωμένος, απογοητευμένος, αηδιασμένος, πικραμένος αλλά ουδόλως αποθαρρυμένος θα επιστρέψει στο Παρίσι για να συνεχίσει τη λαμπρή του λογοτεχνική καριέρα και να... εκδικηθεί την άκαρδη αγαπημένη του με όπλο τη λογοτεχνική του πένα.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1831, this is the (very short) story of the miracle for which the Convent of Mercy was built in Ostend: it tells the tale of passengers on a boat when a mighty storm blows up. The rich and powerful gather together to deny a seat to a stranger late to board; the poor make room for him. When the boat capsizes, the poor are saved and the others are drowned by the weight of their sins...
Why did Balzac write this little tale? The narrator (Balzac himself?) says that he found himself 'feeling weary of life' at the convent in 1830 after the Revolution. In despair he saw nothing of the convent's beauty until suddenly there were bursts of sunlight and song and he who had 'seen Charles X hurled from his throne was no longer amazed by anything. In ecstasy he is approached by a withered old woman representing death. He experiences visions, until he is woken from his trance by the beadle closing the convent doors.
The story ends with a call to arms: having 'just witnessed the funeral of a monarchy, now we must defend the church'.
I interpret this to mean that even though the archbishop dies in the boat because he fails to recognise Christ, is heavily laden by sin - and more so by 'incredulity and confidence in idols' – Balzac is affirming the worth of the Church that is represented by faith in the Christ that the peasant folk believe in and live by.
BTW I do not understand why the Kindle summary supplied by Amazon refers to this as a 'novel'. It is extremely short and took me less than half an hour to read.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balzac's "Christ in Flanders" is a short story of his philosophical studies that is all about religion and Christ. Balzac describes what he is trying to convey to the reader which I included below.

"Let us confess at once that this tale savors strongly of the marvelous, the mysterious, and the vague; elements which Flemish narrators have infused into a story retailed so often to gatherings of workers on winter evenings, that the details vary widely in poetic merit and incongruity of detail. It has been told by every generation, handed down by grandames at the fireside, narrated night and day, and the chronicle has
changed its complexion somewhat in every age. Like some great building that has suffered many modifications of successive generations of architects, some sombre weather-beaten pile, the delight of a poet, the story would drive the commentator and the industrious winnower of words, facts, and dates to despair. The narrator believes in it, as all superstitious minds in Flanders likewise believe; and is not a whit wiser nor more credulous than his audience. But as it would be impossible to make a harmony of all the different renderings, here are the outlines of the story; stripped, it may be, of its picturesque quaintness, but with all its bold disregard of historical truth, and its moral teachings approved by religion — a myth, the blossom of imaginative fancy; an allegory that the wise may interpret to suit themselves. To each his own pasturage, and the task of separating the tares from the wheat."

This is the first story without any of the Human Comedy's characters, it deals more with typical characteristics of different types of people. There are several short stories, it starts of with a sinking ship and those who believe and are true will walk the way with Christ. Then the narrator is not sure if he saw a true vision while visiting a church but comes away feeling the need to defend God and the church. Without God society fails and though I am sure Balzac has so much more in his mind to express in this story, I truly wish I knew all he wanted to convey.

I didn't read this edition but a Delphi collection of his works that included the below synopsis.

"This is an 1831 short story, set a long time ago in the history of Brabant. A boat is depicted as leaving port, full of passengers, from the coast of Flanders to Ostend. There are two sets of passengers; the poor and the rich. In the stern sits a young knight, a damsel and her mother, a Bishop, a burgher of Bruges with his servant, and a doctor from the University of Louvain, traveling with his clerk. Whilst in the bow, there sits the poorer group of passengers, such as a young mother with a baby, a peasant and his ten year old son, and Tomas, a rower."

"The boat that served to carry passengers from the Island of Cadzand to Ostend was upon the point of departure; but before the skipper loosed the chain that secured the shallop to the little jetty, where people embarked, he blew a horn several times, to warn late lingerers, this being his last journey that day. Night was falling. It was scarcely possible to see the coast of Flanders by the dying fires of the sunset, or to make out upon the hither shore any forms of belated passengers hurrying along the wall of the dykes that surrounded the open country, or among the tall reeds of the marshes. The boat was full."

❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌

The boat and those who survive is quite clear, those that believe even if they had been sinners in the past. When the old woman who was promiscuous removes her outer shell to become a young girl, pure. It makes me think that though our outer being is corrupted doesn't mean that we cannot become a good Christian. I was glad to read that Balzac had such religious sentiment, though he does see those who are so called Christians that go only for worldly things.

“What are you waiting for? Let us put off!” they cried. Just at that moment a man appeared a few paces from the jetty, to the surprise of the skipper, who had heard no sound of footsteps. The traveler seemed to have sprung up from the earth, like a peasant who had laid himself down on the ground to wait till the boat should start, and had slept till the sound of the horn awakened him. Was he a thief? or some one belonging to the custom-house or the police?"

"First among them was a young knight with two beautiful greyhounds; his long hair flowed from beneath a jeweled cap; he clanked his gilded spurs, curled the ends of his moustache from time to time with a swaggering grace, and looked round disdainfully on the rest of the crew. A high-born damsel, with a falcon on her wrist, only spoke with her mother or with a churchman of high rank, who was evidently a relation. All these persons made a great deal of noise, and talked among themselves as though there were no one else in the boat; yet close beside them sat a man of great importance
in the district, a stout burgher of Bruges, wrapped about with a vast cloak. His servant, armed to the teeth, had set down a couple of bags filled with gold at his side. Next to the burgher came a man of learning, a doctor of the University of Louvain, who was traveling with his clerk. This little group of folk, who looked contemptuously at each other, was separated from the passengers in the forward part of the boat by the bench of rowers."

"The stranger thanked her by a gesture full of gracious dignity, and took his place between the young mother and the old soldier. Immediately behind him sat a peasant and his son, a boy ten years of age. A beggar woman, old, wrinkled, and clad in rags, was crouching, with her almost empty wallet, on a great coil of rope that lay in the prow. One of the rowers, an old sailor, who had known her in the days of her beauty and prosperity, had let her come in “for the love of God,” in the beautiful phrase that the common people use."

"The nautical phrases, unintelligible to ears unused to the sound of the sea, seemed to put fresh energy into the oars; they kept time together, the rhythm of the movement was still even and steady, but quite unlike the previous manner of rowing; it was as if a cantering horse had broken into a gallop. The gay company seated in the stern amused themselves by watching the brawny arms, the tanned faces, and sparkling eyes of
the rowers, the play of the tense muscles, the physical and mental forces that were being exerted to bring them for a trifling toll across the channel. So far from pitying the rowers’ distress, they pointed out the men’s faces to each other, and laughed at the grotesque expressions on the faces of the crew who were straining every muscle; but in the fore part of the boat the soldier, the peasant, and the old beggar woman watched the sailors with the sympathy naturally felt by toilers who live by the sweat of their
brow and know the rough struggle, the strenuous excitement of effort. These folk, moreover, whose lives were spent in the open air, had all seen the warnings of danger in the sky, and their faces were grave. The young mother rocked her child, singing an old hymn of the Church for a lullaby. “If we ever get there at all,” the soldier remarked to the peasant, “it will be because the Almighty is bent on keeping us alive.”

"Streaks of fiery red glared from behind the masses of crimson-flushed brown cloud that seemed about to unloose a furious gale. There was a smothered murmur of the sea, a moaning sound that seemed to come from the depths, a low warning growl, such as a dog gives when he only means mischief as yet. After all, Ostend was not far away."

"Art demands vehement contrasts, wherefore artists usually seek out Nature’s most striking effects, doubtless because they despair of rendering the great and glorious charm of her daily moods; yet the human soul is often stirred as deeply by her calm as by her emotion, and by silence as by storm."

"All of them, the noble and the wealthy, the sailors and the poor passengers alike, were amazed for a moment by the appearance of the last comer. His golden hair, parted upon his calm, serene forehead, fell in thick curls about his shoulders; and his face, sublime in its sweetness and radiant with divine love, stood out against the surrounding gloom. He had no contempt for death; he knew that he should not die. But if at the first the company in the stern forgot for a moment the implacable fury of the storm that threatened their lives, selfishness and their habits of life soon prevailed again. “How lucky that stupid burgomaster is, not to see the risks we are all running! He is just like a dog, he will die without a struggle,” said the doctor. He had scarcely pronounced this highly judicious dictum when the storm unloosed all its legions. The wind blew from every quarter of the heavens, the boat span round like a top, and the sea broke in."

“Will God leave us to perish along with those wretched creatures?” asked the haughty damsel of the handsome cavalier. “No, no, noble maiden.... Listen!” and he caught her by the waist and said in her ear, “I can swim, say nothing about it! I will hold you by your fair hair and bring you safely to the shore; but I can only save you.” The girl looked at her aged mother. The lady was on her knees entreating absolution of the Bishop, who did not heed her. In the beautiful eyes the knight read a vague feeling of filial piety, and spoke in a smothered voice. “Submit yourself to the will of God. If it is His pleasure to take your mother to Himself, it will doubtless be for her happiness — in another world,” he added, and his voice dropped still lower. “And for ours in this,” he thought within himself. The Dame of Rupelmonde was lady of seven fiefs beside the barony of Gavres."

"The girl felt the longing for life in her heart, and for love that spoke through the handsome adventurer, a young miscreant who haunted churches in search of a prize, an heiress to marry, or ready money. The Bishop bestowed his benison on the waves, and bade them be calm; it was all that he could do. He thought of his concubine, and of the delicate feast with which she would welcome him; perhaps at that very moment she was bathing, perfuming herself, robing herself in velvet, fastening her necklace and her jeweled clasps; and the perverse Bishop, so far from thinking of the power of Holy Church, of his duty to comfort Christians and exhort them to trust in God, mingled worldly regrets and lover’s sighs with the holy words of the breviary."

"There was a strange difference between the behavior of the folk in the bows and that of the rich or great people at the other end of the boat. The young mother clasped her infant tightly to her breast every time that a great wave threatened to engulf the fragile vessel; but she clung to the hope that the stranger’s words had set in her heart.
The stranger turned towards her, and the goodness in his face made her tremble. “Have faith,” he said, “and you will be saved.” “May God reward you, good sir,” she answered. “If what you say is true, I will go on pilgrimage barefooted to Our Lady of Loretto to pray to her for you and for me.” The two peasants, father and son, were silent, patient, and submissive to the will of God, like folk whose wont it is to fall in instinctively with the ways of Nature like cattle."

"At the one end of the boat stood riches, pride, learning, debauchery, and crime — human society, such as art and thought and education and worldly interests and laws have made it; and at this end there was terror and wailing, innumerable different impulses all repressed by hideous doubts — at this end, and at this only, the agony of fear."

"The stranger with the light about his head spoke to this little world of drowning creatures: “Those who have faith shall be saved; let them follow me!” He stood upright, and walked with a firm step upon the waves. The young mother at once took her child in her arms, and followed at his side across the sea. The soldier too sprang up, saying in his homely fashion, “Ah! nom d’un pipe! would follow you to the devil;” and without seeming astonished by it, he walked on the water. The worn-out sinner, believing in the omnipotence of God, also followed the stranger. The two peasants said to each other, “If they are walking on the sea, why should we not do as they do?” and they also arose and hastened after the others. Thomas tried to follow, but his faith tottered; he sank in the sea more than once, and rose again, but the third time he also walked on the sea. The bold steersman clung like a remora to the wreck of his boat. The miser had had faith, and had risen to go, but he tried to take his gold with him, and it was his gold that dragged him down to the bottom. The learned man had scoffed at the charlatan and at the fools who listened to him; and when he heard the mysterious stranger propose to the passengers that they should walk on the waves, he began to laugh, and the ocean swallowed him. The girl was dragged down into the depths by her lover. The Bishop and the older lady went to the bottom, heavily laden with sins, it may be, but still more heavily laden with incredulity and confidence in idols, weighted down by devotion, into which alms-deeds and true religion entered but little. The faithful flock, who walked with a firm step high and dry above the surge, heard all about them the dreadful whistling of the blast; great billows broke across their path, but an irresistible force cleft a way for them through the sea. These believing ones saw through the spray a dim speck of light flickering in the window of a fisherman’s hut on the shore, and each one, as he pushed on bravely towards the light, seemed to hear the voice of his fellow crying, “Courage!” through all the roaring of the surf; yet no one had spoken a word — so absorbed was each by his own peril. In this way they reached the shore. When they were all seated near the fisherman’s fire, they looked round in vain for their guide with the light about him. The sea washed up the steersman at the base of the cliff on which the cottage stood; he was clinging with might and main to the plank as a sailor can cling when death stares him in the face; the MAN went down and rescued the almost exhausted seaman; then he said, as he held out a succoring hand above the man’s head: “Good, for this once; but do not try it again; the example would be too bad.” He took the skipper on his shoulders, and carried him to the fisherman’s door; knocked for admittance for the exhausted man; then, when the door of the humble refuge opened, the Saviour disappeared. The Convent of Mercy was built for sailors on this spot, where for long afterwards (so it was said) the footprints of Jesus Christ could be seen in the sand; but in 1793, at the time of the French invasion, the monks carried away this precious relic, that bore witness to the Saviour’s last visit to earth."

"I would have given my life, I think, to have prolonged these phantasmagoria for a little, but suddenly a shrill voice clamored in my ears: “Awake and follow me!”

"A withered woman took my hand in hers; its icy coldness crept through every nerve. The bones of her face showed plainly through the sallow, almost olive-tinted wrinkles of the skin. The shrunken, ice-cold old woman wore a black robe, which she trailed in the dust, and at her throat there was something white, which I dared not examine. I could scarcely see her wan and colorless eyes, for they were fixed in a stare upon the heavens. She drew me after her along the aisles, leaving a trace of her presence in the ashes that she shook from her dress. Her bones rattled as she walked, like the bones of a skeleton; and as we went I heard behind me the tinkling of a little bell, a thin, sharp sound that rang through my head like the notes of a harmonica. “Suffer!” she cried, “suffer! So it must be!” We came out of the church; we went through the dirtiest streets of the town, till we came at last to a dingy dwelling, and she bade me enter in. She dragged me with her, calling to me in a harsh, tuneless voice like a cracked bell: “Defend me! defend me!”

"Together we went up a winding staircase. She knocked at a door in the darkness, and a mute, like some familiar of the Inquisition, opened to her. In another moment we stood in a room hung with ancient, ragged tapestry, amid piles of old linen, crumpled muslin, and gilded brass. “Behold the wealth that shall endure for ever!” said she. I shuddered with horror; for just then, by the light of a tall torch and two altar candles, I saw distinctly that this woman was fresh from the graveyard. She had no hair. I turned to fly. She raised her fleshless arm and encircled me with a band of iron set with spikes, and as she raised it a cry went up all about us, the cry of millions of voices — the shouting of the dead! “It is my purpose to make thee happy for ever,” she said. “Thou art my son.”the hand of death is upon thee. Thy heirs believe that thou art rich; they will kill thee and find nothing. Yet try at least to fling away this raiment no longer in fashion; be once more as in the days of old! — Nay, thou art dead, and by thy own deed!’ “Is not this thy story?” so I ended. “Decrepit, toothless, shivering crone, now forgotten, going thy ways without so much as a glance from passers-by! Why art thou still alive? What doest thou in that beggar’s garb, uncomely and desired of none? Where are thy riches? — for what were they spent? Where are thy treasures? — what great deeds hast thou done?”

“Belief,” I said to myself, “is Life! I have just witnessed the funeral of a monarchy, now we must defend the church.” PARIS, February 1831."

[Aeroyou · Rating 3 out of 5]

J’espère, moi aussi, voir Jésus-Christ lors de ma prochaine virée à Ostende.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is told in two halves. The first half is set many years in the past in Flanders, on a boat that daily took passengers between the island of Cadzand and Ostend. The rich passengers sit at the stern while the poor passengers sit at the bow. On this trip, a man enters the boat just as it is about to set off. The rich passengers leave no room for him in the stern, so he sits in the bow. The boat encounters a thunderstorm, and the varying reactions of the rich and poor are detailed. Almost all are scared except for the mystery passenger, who remains calm. Near Ostend, the boat capsizes. The mystery passenger, now revealed to be Jesus Christ, walks on water to Ostend, and some of the poor, who have faith, follow. The rich, who disdain him, sink. Some passengers doubt, like a sailor named Thomas, who takes three tries to walk on water, and the ship's captain, who is rescued and brought to a house. In the modern day of 1830, this house is the site of a convent. The narrator, who is in depression, enters the convent and has a vision of an old woman who shows him a vision of churches. She turns skeletal and wrinkled, and as she suffers, calls to the narrator "Defend me!" She tells the narrator that it is her purpose to make him happy forever, and as the narrator says that he knows her and cries of her grace and power which was destroyed, she turns into a young girl. Finally the narrator is awoken by the beadle of the cathedral, and the narrator ends with "'Belief,' I said to myself, 'is Life! I have just witnessed the funeral of a monarchy, now we must defend the church.'"

I didn't really understand the story until I read an interpretation that the old woman is faith. She was once beautiful, but as the attacks on the church took place, she turned skeletal, and the narrator realises he has to defend her in order to restore her radiance and beauty. This story was apparently Balzac's reaction to the Revolution of 1830 and the fall of the monarchy. With the loss of monarchy, Balzac realised that the church needed to be defended from a similar fate.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1831, the short story Christ in Flanders is one of the lesser-known titles in Honoré de Balzac's La Comédie humaine, considered part of his Études Philosophiques. Whereas many works in the Human Comedy deal with recurring characters, that is not the case with this work; though thematically the story deals with issues that Balzac treats elsewhere, views on religion, politics, social class and art. In terms of plot, the story has two separate, somewhat disjointed plot lines, tied together by the themes of faith and art, one (the stronger of the two) dealing with passengers on a sinking boat, the poor who are saved by their faith in Christ (who is one of the passengers aboard the vessel) and the rich who are damned due to their greed, idolatry and vanity, and the other which takes place at the Convent of Mercy (the site of Christ's last visit to earth) just after the Revolution of 1830.

This story reveals to the reader the mind of Balzac the Catholic and Balzac the monarchist. The prose is beautiful, but while the story starts out strong, establishing the mythical quality of the narrative, the rest is gossamer. And it soon falls apart.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two linked parables that reflect Balzac’s support for tradition - the monarchy, the Catholic Church, and simple Christian faith.

His narrator first recounts a medieval Flemish legend in which Jesus Christ appears as a passenger in a small boat sinking off of the Flemish coast. Poor passengers who have faith follow his instruction to walk after him on the water and are saved, while the wealthy and self-important, including a corrupt bishop, drown due to their lack of it. The narrator then visits a church built on the site of the miracle and falls into a reverie in which the degraded Catholic Church is symbolized as an old decayed crone who shows him a vision of a restored and energetic Church, supporting the study of Science, History, and Literature, while transforming into a beautiful young woman herself. Having seen the downfall of King Charles X of France in the July Revolution of 1830, the narrator reflects that the Church must be defended in order to support human flourishing.

[Hamed Mustafić · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story, but with a powerful religious message. Balzac managed to metaphorically describe what happens to the ones that devout themselves to God and faith and what happens to the ones that have left the paths of Christ and turned into arrogant people who use their aristocratic status to look down upon simple peasents and other lower classes who sometimes have nothing but God by their side. A dangerous message for anyone who got blinded by money, power and lust....

[Lloyd Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Christ in Flanders’ is a old Flemish tale filled with wonderments of the marvelous, mysterious, and vagueness that we encounter and experience from time to time. These wonderments didn’t create our faith but they certainly buttress it. It takes a lot of courage to awaken, put feet on the floor, and tackle a new day. But these wonderments, steeped in Faith, steel our resolve and allow us to stride forth boldly. 3 Stars.

[Miles Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange, incredibly religious work by Balzac. He uses a short story of Christ appearing to French and Flemish emigres to offer a morality tale and a vigorous defense peasants and their devotion to throne and altar.

[S. Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather unremarkable morality tale about Jesus Christ taking a ferry then deciding who lives and dies when the boat sinks. Later, somebody has a dream in a church built in the same area. Little more than a Sunday School parable.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

One for Balzac completists only. I don't doubt his sincerity, but it didn't enhance his ability to write coherently.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sentimental short story, not showing Balzac to great advantage.

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 3 out of 5]

toujours du mal avec les bondieuseries !

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

No ha sido de mi particular gusto. Un relato corto que supone algún mensaje, pero que no me llegó.

[Ben Dutton · Rating 2 out of 5]

As one of the short stories that makes up La Comédie humaine, Jésus-Christ en Flandre (Christ in Flanders) is a minor work. It forms part of the Études Philosophiques (of which the previously reviewed La Peau de Chagrin is part), Balzac’s fantastical sequence of works in his epic cycle.

The story concerns itself with the appearance of Christ (or a Christ like figure) to a group of people on a ferry from the Island of Cadzand to Ostend. It has been an ordinary day, but as:

“Streaks of fiery red glared from behind the masses of crimson-flushed brown cloud that seemed about to unloose a furious gale. There was a smothered murmur of the sea, a moaning sound that seemed to come from the depths, a low warning growl”

A storm builds and threatens to wreck the ferry.

“These simple folk were indifferent to thought and its treasures, ready to sink them all in a belief; and their faith was but so much the more vigorous because they had never disputed about it nor analyzed it.”

Faith saves them, and Christ is revealed, the power of belief, of religion. Only Balzac then changes the scene, to a first person narration, of another miracle, a revelation in a church – the sight of a thousand cathedrals. Then another shift and a man wakes:

“Belief,” I said to myself, “is Life! I have just witnessed the funeral of a monarchy, now we must defend the church.”

In this short and erratic work, Balzac espouses his own beliefs, swamping his story in religious imagery. Christ in Flanders is not a great work, nor an overly interesting one. The most intriguing part of this story – a group of passengers on a sinking ship – is not played for the drama it should have, and its shift to another unconnected story is ultimately distracting. Balzac can certainly do better.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

(The Human Comedy #10/98)
Another sentimental short from Balzac - another of the Philosophical Studies that don't really appear to fit very well into the scheme of the Human Comedy. A diverse group of people hop onto a boat - one group of doughty peasants and one group of hoity toity toffs. In among them pops Jesus Christ, unnoticed by the sailors. A storm brews and the poor-but-happy folk all walk across the water to safety, while the cynical fat aristocats don't accept the situation and sink with the ship.

I'm coming to think that the short story wasn't Balzac's natural medium. I've enjoy most of the novels of his I've read, but with just one or two exceptions, his forays into the short form have been pretty poor.

[Marlene Fitzhugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short very short story that takes place in Ostem, it was written in 1831 and tells the tale of the last passenger on a boat, a stranger, and how at his late arrival the rich and powerful in the boat deny him a seat, while the poor are able to make room for him. As an unexpeted storm swells up, the boat capsizes, those who belive and trust in the Lord are saved as the rich are pulled down by their sins. The Convent of Mercy in Ostem was built on the site of this miracle. I liked the moral message this story had to share

[Yves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cette courte histoire écrite par Honoré de Balzac porte sur la religion. Il y a deux parties, une première en mer avec la présence de Jésus sur un canot qui va faire naufrage et la seconde partie porte sur un personnage qui a une hallucination dans une église.

Personnellement, j'ai trouvé l'histoire plutôt ordinaire. Elle n'était pas bonne ni mauvaise. Balzac a fait de meilleures courtes histoires que celle-là.