第33章

TheywereinbedwhenMonsieurHomais，inspiteoftheservant，suddenlyenteredtheroom，holdinginhishandasheetofpaperjustwritten。Itwastheparagraphheintendedforthe“FanaldeRouen。“Hebroughtitforthemtoread。

“Readityourself，“saidBovary。

Heread——

“’DespitetheprejudicesthatstillinvestapartofthefaceofEuropelikeanet，thelightneverthelessbeginstopenetrateourcountryplaces。ThusonTuesdayourlittletownofYonvillefounditselfthesceneofasurgicaloperationwhichisatthesametimean，actofloftiestphilanthropy。MonsieurBovary，oneofour，mostdistinguishedpractitioners——’“

“Oh，thatistoomuch!toomuch!“saidCharles，chokingwithemotion。

“No，no!notatall!Whatnext!“

“’——Performedanoperationonaclub-footedman。’Ihavenotusedthescientificterm，becauseyouknowinanewspapereveryonewouldnotperhapsunderstand。Themassesmust——’“

“Nodoubt，“saidBovary；“goon!“

“Iproceed，“saidthechemist。“’MonsieurBovary，oneofourmostdistinguishedpractitioners，performedanoperationonaclub-footedmancalledHippolyteTautain，stablemanforthelasttwenty-fiveyearsatthehotelofthe“Liond’Or，“keptbyWidowLefrancois，atthePlaced’Armes。Thenoveltyoftheattempt，andtheinterestincidenttothesubject，hadattractedsuchaconcourseofpersonsthattherewasaveritableobstructiononthethresholdoftheestablishment。Theoperation，moreover，wasperformedasifbymagic，andbarelyafewdropsofbloodappearedontheskin，asthoughtosaythattherebellioustendonhadatlastgivenwaybeneaththeeffortsofart。Thepatient，strangelyenough——weaffirmitasaneye-witness——complainedofnopain。Hisconditionuptothepresenttimeleavesnothingtobedesired。Everythingtendstoshowthathisconvelescencewillbebrief；andwhoknowsevenifatournextvillagefestivityweshallnotseeourgoodHippolytefiguringinthebacchicdanceinthemidstofachorusofjoyousboon-companions，andthusprovingtoalleyesbyhisverveandhiscapershiscompletecure？

Honour，then，tothegeneroussavants!Honourtothoseindefatigablespiritswhoconsecratetheirvigilstotheameliorationortothealleviationoftheirkind!Honour，thricehonour!Isitnottimetocrythattheblindshallsee，thedeafhear，thelamewalk？Butthatwhichfanaticismformerlypromisedtoitselect，sciencenowaccomplishesforallmen。Weshallkeepourreadersinformedastothesuccessivephasesofthisremarkablecure。’“

ThisdidnotpreventMereLefrancois，fromcomingfivedaysafter，scared，andcryingout——

“Help!heisdying!Iamgoingcrazy!“

Charlesrushedtothe“Liond’Or，“andthechemist，whocaughtsightofhimpassingalongthePlacehatless，abandonedhisshop。

Heappearedhimselfbreathless，red，anxious，andaskingeveryonewhowasgoingupthestairs——

“Why，what’sthematterwithourinterestingstrephopode？“

Thestrephopodewaswrithinginhideousconvulsions，sothatthemachineinwhichhislegwasenclosedwasknockedagainstthewallenoughtobreakit。

Withmanyprecautions，inordernottodisturbthepositionofthelimb，theboxwasremoved，andanawfulsightpresenteditself。Theoutlineso