MURGER’S STORY HIGHLIGHTING THE STORY OF THE GENUINE BOHEMIAN BY THE THREE WATER DRINKERS ALSO CONTAINING MURGER’S PRIVATE CORRESPONDANCE ii Copyright 2019 Translation and adaptation copyright © 2019 by H.M. Worchel All rights reserved This translation may not be reproduced, in whole or part, in any form (beyond the copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the translator. Requests for permission can be sent to [email protected] iii Copyright 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editor’s Note ........... .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. vii TO PAUL D’H___YS . .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. viii PART ONE I. The Book’s Objective — The Tradition of Murger — Legendary Gossip ............... .............. .............. .............. 1 II. The Hidden Truth of the Water Drinkers — The Water Drinkers in the Novel ...... .............. .............. .............. 2 III. The Story of the Water Drinkers — How They Ended — The Hospital’s Role ..... .............. .............. .............. 4 IV. First Meeting — First Poems — His Childhood — A Word From Murger’s Father — Murger, the Little Clerk ....... 5 V. Eugène Pottier — Worthy for Bohemia — Murger’s First Teacher ....... ............... .............. .............. .............. 6 VI. Points on the Left Bank and the Right Bank — Parental Customs — An Opera at the Renaissance Theatre — Farewell to Painting — Dramatic Attempts — His First Romance — Marie de Brizeux — The Act of Faith — Bugs in the Bookstore — Four poems Saved from the Flames ...... ............... .............. .............. .............. 7 VII. Montholon Street — Emigration from the Latin Quarter — The FutureWater Drinkers — Forty Francs Per Month — Cousin Angèle — Laure de Pétrarque — Marie — The Women in Velvet ............ .............. .............. 9 VIII. Le Myosotis — Farewell to the Book — Marie and Mimi ... .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 11 IX. Our Art Objects — Twelve Floors — Jacques’ Principal Desk — Monsieur de Biéville — Madame Léontine Volnys — The Lureua Family ............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 13 X. The Room on La Tour-d’Auvergne Street — Wonderful Years — A New Paper .... .............. .............. .............. 14 XI. Working All Night Long — Black Coffee — Happy Prose, Sad Poetry — Purpura . .............. .............. .............. 16 XII. The Core of our Artistic Group (The Cenacle) — The Cariatides, de Banville — Proselytizing Skills .. .............. 17 XIII. Sporadic Enthusiasm — A Premonition — The Artificial Night ......... ............... .............. .............. .............. 18 XIV. The Watchmen — How the Society of Water Drinkers Was Formed . ............... .............. .............. .............. 19 XV. Literary Accomplishments — Imaginary Adventures of Real Characters — Christ — One Obsession — Champfleury — Final Encounters — With the Young People in School .............. .............. .............. .............. 20 XVI. The Mule — A Moral — Youth Only Has a Short Time — The Raft Of Shipwrecked Bohemians — The Longest Way — Unpleasant Chances — Misplaced Remorse — The Shepherds And the Flocks ......... .............. 22 iv Copyright 2019 PART TWO I. The Path and the Main Road — The Important Journals and the Minor Publications — First Glimpses of Murger’s Humorous Personality: The Abduction of Helen and the Siege of Troy .............. .............. .............. 26 IL Why Murger Didn’t Join the Navy — Letters From a Water Drinker — The First Exposition of Three Painters Who Have Since Become Famous ..... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 27 III. Murger and His Big Heart Strings — Rumors and Reflections. — Murger; His Family and His Birth — The Young Flower’s First Loves — The Hard Mountain Man — The Garcia Family — Murger as an Errand Boy At the Lawyer’s Office — He Wants to be a Painter — He Leaves the Brush For the Pen — His Father’s Rage ...... 28 IV. Monsieur de Jouy and Count Tolstoï — Murger Working as a Secretary for 40 Francs Per Month — His First Love Plays Out, Like All First Loves — Murger’s Entry to Bohemia .... ............... .............. .............. .............. 30 V. Yesterday’s Youth and Today’s Youth — Olivier’s Loves — The Mistress and the Friend — Murger’s First Stay in the Hospital .. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 30 VI. Correspondence and Unpublished Poems .......... .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 32 VII. Autobiographies Can Contain Lies — Champfleury the Realist — The Journal le Corsaire — The Door to the Revue des Deux Mondes ............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 57 VIII. Parisian and Rural; a Prerequisite for Poetry —The Fontainebleau Forest, A Word from Michelet — Investigating the Cause of Murger’s Death — A Quotation from l'Indépendance Belge. — From Spices! .......... 58 IX. Murger’s Realism in Fiction — Indelible Memories of First Love — To Marie, Unpublished Poems — What These Poems Might Prove — Balzac; One of His Lost or Misplaced Novels — The Last Meeting and Musette’s Song . .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 60 X. Murger Was Condemned to Empiricism in Everything — His Unenthusiasm For Hunting — Lolo Nolot, the Poacher — Murger’s Rabbit — The Sun Sets, But There’s No Sleep .. ............... .............. .............. .............. 63 XI. Marlotte — Another Word from Michelet About the Fontainebleau Forest — Shako, Father Antony, and le Sabot Rouge ..... .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 65 XII. The Idea For Murger to be Buried in Marlotte, Beautiful but Unreasonable — The Place Where the Cradle Was Rocked is Where the Grave Should be Located ......... .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 65 XIII. Murger Will Have a Monument — Fundraiser For this Purpose — Murger Will Remain in Paris — Monsieur Turgan’s Idea — The Sculpture Triumphs, Alas! .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 66 PART THREE I. What Remains to be Said — The Fly in the Ointment — Death is a Continuation of Life — The Cenacle — Desbrosses, Montaudon, Karol, and Jules de La Madelène —Let’s Not Count Our Dead — Bohemia and its Historians — The Sins that Men Will Least Forgive — The Official Record Of Martyrdom — The Bad Advisors — The Gospel Of Poor People — Fruit of the Raw Earth — Polar Bear Outbreak — The Water Faucet — Karol! .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 67 II. Karol — Method for Opening Doors — Bayard, Don Quichotte, and Saint François de Sales — The Real Icarus — The Laughing Fool — Drawing of the Lottery! — The Meeting — The Poor Mothers — The Ammunition of Bread — Three Parts of His Life — Production of Pipe Stems — Forty Sous... Sometimes — v Copyright 2019 Les Gallipiges — A False Pole, the Duke d’Orléans’ Wedding — Karol the Rescuer — The Sinking of the Marne and the Bonus — A Complete Meal for 13 Sous — Mignon Street — Stop the Thieves! — Who Lives? — Romanzoff and the Crown Court — The Good Forger — R Did It ........ .............. .............. .............. 70 III. People Who Want To Count on Others — Bohemia Becomes Popular — The Protective Gate — Jules de La Madelène — Letter From de J. W. — Let’s Do Our Duty! — Fauchery — The Polish Legion — The Magdebourg Bunker and the Hildesheim Mad House — Australia — The Peking Palace .... .............. .............. 77 IV. The German Ideas — Art for Art’s Sake — H. Heine’s Corruption — Master Wolfram.— There Are Voices — The Goal — What the Nightingale’s Song Proves — Every Word is a Symbol — Balzac’s Funeral — An Acknowledgement — Everything Isn’t Dead in France — Enthusiasm and Indignation — The Father of the Game — The Old Man Has No White Hair — Dress Rehearsal of la Vie de Bohème — It’s Nature! — H___. à Spa .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 79 V. Flying Against the Wind — The Big Battles —Emotionally Secure — Alexandre Dumas, Jr. — No Opinion — Murger and the Ministry — Mecænas Is Dead. — The Demolitions —The Thinker — “You Don’t Starve To Death” — The Value of a Penny When You Don’t Have One — Providing for a Bed — Hégésippe Moreau, Henry Murger — H. M., The Same Initials ......... .............. .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. 82 VI. Gérard de Nerval — The Cursed Street — The Fourth Bar... — Evening Pilgrimage —The Unknown — Death By Honor — Ch. Asselineau — The Debtors Who Remained Insolvent Despite Themselves — The Creditors’ Hive of Activity — Assistance — Slaughter