heptameron m. od navare i cveće zla
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Narrative, Genre, and Community in Marguerite de Navarre's "L'Heptaméron" and Baudelaire's "Le Spleen de Paris"Author(s): Bendi Benson SchrambachSource: The French Review, Vol. 81, No. 5 (Apr., 2008), pp. 930-943Published by: American Association of Teachers of FrenchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25481322Accessed: 22-12-2015 13:39 UTC
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The
French
Review,
Vol.
81,
No.
5,
April
2008
Printed in
U.S.A.
Narrative,
Genre,
and
Community
inMarguerite de Navarre's
L'Heptatneron
and
Baudelaire's
Le
Spleen
de Paris
by
Bendi
Benson
Schrambach
1
he
present
study
undertakes
an
examination
of
two
formes
breves
nar
ratives
frangaises:
the sixteenth
century
nouvelle,
as
observed
in
Marguerite
de
Navarre's
Heptameron,
and
the
modern
poeme
en
prose,
as
recorded
in
Charles Baudelaire's
Spleen
de Paris.
The
individual
tales selected
for
comparison,
Marguerite's
Nouvelle
32 and
Baudelaire's
"Portraits
de
mattresses," were chosen due to their thematic similarity (of amorous
vengeance)
and
framed
narrative
structures.
Exemplary
of
the
literary
production
of their
respective
eras,
these
texts
both
inaugurate
new
gen
res
and
remain
prototypical
of their forms
for
years
to
come.
Nevertheless,
when
limiting
the
examination
to recits
brefs, narrating
not
animal adventures
or
le
merveilleux,
but human
experience,
few
if
any
alternative
genres
would merit consideration.
In
fact,
the
conte
becomes
the
only
other
possibility.
The
divergent literary examples
of the
conte1
as
well
as
its
affinity
for unrealistic
or
fantasy
settings
in
the
mode
of
the
fable
explain
its omission here.
This
choice
of
literary
forms
separated
in
time
by
several centuries
derives from
a
desire
to
investigate
how
storytelling
evolves
over
time.
For
if,
as
Walter
Benjamin
suggests,
narrative
attempts
to
uncover
the
imperative
questions
of
a
people
or
society,
then
juxtaposing
the
compel
ling
issues
presented
within the
typical
literary
genres
of
two
eras
might
serve
to
trace
the
progression
of
metaphysical
theories,
ideological
move
ments,
and
sociological
concerns.
The
following
investigation
will there
fore endeavor to address the following questions: What
characteristics do
these
storytelling
forms share?
In
what
respect/s
do
they
differ? Does
the
nature
of the
concerns
these tales
represent
evolve?
How does the
func
tion
of
story
and
storyteller
change
over
time?
Finally,
what,
if
anything,
do these
changes
reveal about
the future
of
storytelling?
The
pious
Oisille
recounts
L'Heptameron's
tale. She
begins,
as
a
matter
of
course,
by
presenting
the
historical
setting:
a
chateau,
which
will
host
930
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DE NAVARRE'S L'HEPTAMERON
AND
BAUDELAIRE'S LE
SPLEEN
DE
PARIS
931
a
servant
of
King
Charles VIII.
Typifying
the
Queen's
interest
in
royal
propagation,
these
two
personages,
along
with the
King's
own
por
traitist,
are
the
only
ones
important
enough
to
name.
Bernage,
traveling
through Germany for his king, comes upon the chateau late one
evening
and
there
requests
lodging
for
the
night.
The
host's initial
reluctance
to
admit his
guest
due
to
the
ill intentions
of
his
wife's
family
toward him
foreshadows the
grizzly
scene
to
come.
It
is
Bernage's
mention
of the
illustrious title
of his
master,
in
another
example
of
ceremonious
name
dropping,
which
finally
opens
the
door
of
the chateau
to
this traveler.
It
is
suppertime.
While
dining
with
his
host
on
delicacies
in
a
magnifi
cent
hall,
Bernage
observes
the
approach
of
"une
femme,
la
plus
belle
qu'il
etait
possible
de
regarder" (295).
Head
bowed,
she
wears
black
and
remains silent
for
the
duration of themeal.
When
thirsty,
she
drinks from
a
cup
made of
a
human skull.
The
host,
recognizing
his
guest's
mystifica
tion,
relates
her
story.
This
tale
within
a
tale
introduces
an
additional
frame into
the
narrative,
that
of the
husband who
describes his
wife's
betrayal.
Bernage's
host
relates
how,
passionately
in
love,
he
trusted his wife
implicitly
until,
after
a
long
voyage,
he
discovers that
she loves
another.
His
telling
reenacts
her
crime. He
narrates:
"[...]
bientot
apres
mon
parte
ment elle se retira; et y fitvenir ce jeune gentilhomme, lequel je vis entrer
avec
la
privaute
qui
n'appartenait
qu'a
moi
avoir
a
elle.
[...]
je
vis
qu'il
voulait
monter
sur
le
lit
aupres
d'elle
[...]"
(296).
After
witnessing
his
wife's
illicit
lovemaking,
the
husband
kills
her
suitor.2
Instead
of
death
for
the
adulterer
in
the
manner
first
established
by
One
Thousand
Nights
and
a
Night's
King
Shahryar
and his
brother,
the
gentle
man
of
Nouvelle
32
chooses
another,
harsher
punishment.
Indeed,
the
severity
of
the
assigned
penalty
composes
one
principal
theme
of
this
tale.
Oisille
explicitly
proposes
this
question
for
philosophical
debate
by
the
group
in the
preface
toher conte:which
punishment
proves
themost
severe?death
or
torture?
The
narrator's
own
remarks
leave
no
shadow
of
doubt
as
to
her
judgment
on
thematter.
She
states:
Je
suis
sure
que
vous
n'ignorez
point
que
la
fin de
tous
nos
malheurs
est
la mort.
Mais,
mettant
fin
a
notre
malheur,
elle
se
peut
nommer
notre
felicite
et sur
repos.
Le
malheur
done
de
Thomme,
c'est
desirer
la
mort
et
ne
la
pouvoir
avoir.
Parquoi
la
plus
grande
punition
que
Ton
puisse
donner
a
un
malfaiteur
n'est
pas
la
mort,
mais
c'est
de
donner
un
tour
ment
continuel si
grand
qu'il
la
fait
desirer,
et
si
petit
qu'il
ne
la
peut
avancer [...]. (294-95)
For
Oisille,
torture
only perpetuates
the
pain
of
existence.
On the
con
trary,
death
represents?not
punishment?but
the end
of
all
human
mis
fortune.
Bernage's
host
appears
to
agree
with
Oisille's
assessment
regarding
the
less
severe
nature
of
the
death
penalty.
He
judges
it
inadequate
for
his
wife's
crime,
and
prefers,
rather,
to
prolong
her
misery.
He
therefore
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932
FRENCH
REVIEW
81.5
assigns
as
punishment
the
morbid,
incessant
reminder of
her
adultery.
He
relates:
Et
pource
que
le crime
de
ma
femme
me
sembla
si
grand qu'une
telle
mort n'etait suffisante pour la punir, je lui ordonnai une peine que je
pense
qu'elle
a
plus
desagreable
que
la
mort:
c'est de
l'enfermer
en
ladite
chambre
ou
elle
se
retirait
pour
prendre
ses
plus
grandes
delices,
et
en
la
compagnie
de celui
qu'elle
aimait
trop
mieux
que
moi.
Auquel
lieu
je
lui
ai
mis
dans
une
armoire
tous
les
os
de
son
ami,
tendus
comme une
chose
precieuse
en
un
cabinet.
Et
afin
qu'elle
n'en
oublie la
memoire,
en
bu
vant
et
mangeant
lui
fais
servir
a
table,
au
lieu
de
coupe,
la
tete
de
ce
mechant,
et
la
tout
devant
moi,
afin
qu'elle
voie
vivant
celui
qu'elle
a
fait
son
mortel
ennemi
par
sa
faute,
et
mort
pour
l'amour
d'elle
celui
duquel
elle
avait
prefere
l'amitie
a
lamienne.
(297)
This state of
unforgiveness,
of unabated
wrath,
introduces a
second
philosophical
issue
for
discussion
by
the
devisants.
The
woman's
appar
ent
contrition
inspires
merciful words from
Bernage
regarding forgive
ness
and
reconciliation.
His
courageous
counsel,
reflecting positively
on
his
master,
ultimately
convinces
the husband
to
pardon
his
wife.
Marguerite's
devisants
conclude this tale
by
debating
the
value of
honor
and
forgiveness.
"Comment sauriez-vous
amender
la
honte?" dit
Longarine,
"Car
vous
savez que, quelque chose que puisse faireune femme apres un telmefait,
ne
saurait
reparer
son
honneur."
"Je
vous
prie,"
dit
Ennasuite,
"dites-moi
si
la
Madeleine
n'a
pas
plus
d'honneur
entre
les hommes
maintenant,
que
sa sceur
qui
etait
vierge?"
"Je
vous
confesse,"
dit
Longarine, "qu'elle
est
louee
entre
nous
de
la
grande
amour
qu'elle
a
portee
a
Jesus-Christ,
et
de
sa
grande penitence.
Mais
si
lui
demeure
le
nom
de
pecheresse."
"Je
ne
me
soucie,"
dit
Ennasuite,
"quel
nom
les hommes
me
donnent;
mais
que
Dieu
me
pardonne
et
mon
mari
aussi,
il
n'y
a
rien
pourquoi je
voulusse mourir."
(299)
Ennasuite's biblical analogy toMary Madeleine establishes mercy as the
ultimate moral of the tale.
The
mention
of
the
biblical
heroine
moreover
affirms the
Christian lens
through
which
the
Queen
considers
all
things.
Indeed,
the
overarching
intrigue
of Nouvelle
32?conjugal
love,
unfaithfulness,
punishment,
re
pentance,
intervention and ultimate
forgiveness?faithfully
recreates
the
traditional
Judeo-Christian
story.
God's
love for
creation followed
by
human unfaithfulness
in
the
garden
resulted
in
punishment
in
the form
of banishment.
Only
the
intervention of
a
royal
visitor?an
envoy
of
the
King
in
the
nouvelle,
the
son
of God
himself
in
the Christian
story?inter
ceding
for
the
woman
based
upon
her
repentance,
ultimately
reconciles
the
husband
with
his wife.
This
ending
suggests
that,
although
death
represents
the
final
haven,
only
the
living,
as
witnessed
here
in
the
person
of
the
wife,
may
reap
the
earthly
rewards
of
honor
(earned
through
humility
and
repentance),
fame
(as
demonstrated
both
by
the
painter
sent
to
record
her
beauty
and her
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DE
NAVARRE'S
L'HEPTAMERON
AND BAUDELAIRE'S
LE
SPLEEN
DE
PARIS 933
tale's
perpetuation
in
literature),
and
forgiveness
(returning
to
her
an
abundant
life,
including
children).
Because of
mercy,
the
wife
will
enjoy
all
of these.
This
nouvelle,
characteristic
of
L'Heptameron,
thus
concludes
with amessage of hope?whether in lifeor death.
Unlike
this
nouvelle's
descriptive,
historically-based
introduction,
only
a
few
incisive
details
provide
the
setting
for
Baudelaire's
poem.
In
"Portraits
de
mattresses,"
four
gentlemen
smoke and drink
in
a
men's
boudoir.
There
are
no
affected
mentions
of
names
or
explicit
omissions
of
the
same
serving,
in
the
nouvelles,
to
authenticate
the
reliability
of
the
devisants'
reports.3
Instead,
these
men
remain
nameless,
as
do
most
of
Baudelaire's
protagonists.
They
thus
signify
prototypes.4 Although
pos
sessing
a
certain
level
of
financial comfort
as
represented
by
their
"ele
gant" setting,
their
physical
ordinariness,
"ni
jeunes
ni
vieux,
ni beaux ni
laids,"
ascribes
to
them
the
common
experience
of
an
average
playboy.
Whereas
the
noblemen
of
the
nouvelle
enjoy
the
pleasure
of
each
other's
company
over
dinner,
Baudelaire's
"veterans
de la
joie"
fraternize
only
in
the
sense
that
they
all
find themselves
in
the
same
fashionable
men's
boudoir.
These
men
have
"fortement
vecu,
et
[...]
[cherchent]
ce
qu['ils
pourraient]
aimer
et
estimer"
(1:
345).5
The
conditional
form
of
this
state
ment
reflects
their
uncertainty
in
the
possibility
of
finding
the
same.
Imitative of L'Heptameron's overall structure and Nouvelle 32's internal
narrative,
this
poem
introduces
several
framed
tales
in
which
alternating
storytellers
recount
their
personal
anecdotes.
As in
Marguerite's
collection,
an
omniscient
narrator
introduces
the ensemble
and
occasionally
inter
venes
to
comment
upon
the
proceedings.
Also
similar
to
the
Queen's
com
pilation
is
the
underlying
impetus
for
the narratives:
group
boredom.6
Yet
in
"Portraits de
mattresses,"
storytelling
occurs
not
consciously,
methodi
cally,
and
enthusiastically
as
in
L'Heptameron.
Rather,
the
storytelling
rep
resented
here
arises
with
seeming
randomness
and
flippancy.
The
narrator
relates how "L'un d'eux jeta la causerie sur le sujet des femmes" (1: 345).
Unlike the
spiritual,
moral,
and
philosophical
enlightenment
sought
in
Marguerite's
tales,
storytelling
emerges
here from the
mixing
of
alcohol
("apres
boire,
[ils]
ne
meprisent
pas
les conversations banales"
[1: 345])
with
ennui.
Four
gentlemen
recount
their
amatory
prowess,
or
lack of the
same,
for the bemusement
of
the
group.
Recalling
the directive
remarks
of
the devisants
preceding
each
of
Marguerite's
nouvelle,
the
first
gentleman
announces
the orientation
of
his
conte?less
moral
than
salacious.
In
braggart
fashion,
demonstrating
a
desire
to amuse
his
fellows,
he
elaborates
his
sophistication
with
regard
to
love.
Having
passed
from
the
first
degree
in
which,
"on
embrasse,
sans
degout,
le
tronc
des chenes"
(1:
345),
to
the
second,
in
which
one
searches
after
beauty,
he
has
arrived
finally
at
the third
degree,
for
which
beauty
alone
can
no
longer
suffice.
The
first
gentleman
concludes
the
preface
to
his tale with
this confession:
"J'avouerai
meme
que
j'aspire
quelquefois,
comme
a un
bonheur
inconnu,
a un
certain
degre
qui
doit
marquer
le
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934
FRENCH REVIEW
81.5
calme absolu"
(1: 345).
It
is
notable that
such "bonheur"
remains
for
him
unknown.
His
mistress's
fault,
ironically
evocative
of
her
lover's
exaggerated
ma
chismo, resides precisely in her yearning, as he claims, to be a man. The
gentleman
tolerates his
mistress,
despite
the
annoyance
her
masculinity
represents,
until,
like
the nobleman
in
Marguerite's
Nouvelle
32,
he
dis
covers
her
in
the
arms
of
his
domestique.
Instead
of
punishing
her,
the
first
gentleman,
"nerveux"
in
the face
of
his
mistress's
strength,
takes the
occa
sion
of
this
discovery
to
dismiss
her
in
the
same manner
as
he does
his
servant.
He
explains:
"
'Le
soir
je
les
congediai
tous
les
deux,
en
leur
payant
les
arrerages
de
leurs
gages'"
(1: 346).
No
marriage
or
sense
of
obligation
bonds them
as
in
Marguerite's
tale;
no
feelings
of
commitment
incite the
gentleman
to
attempt
to reform his
lady.
The ties that bind in
the
nobleman's
chateau
appear
enfeebled,
even
nonexistent,
in
Bau
delaire's
boudoir.
In
this
respect,
this
poem
suggests
the
impossibility
of
real human communion.
One notable
distinction
between
these
collections
appears
to
be
the
content
of the
tales.
Whereas
Marguerite's
nouvelles
generally
recount
the
lives
of
others,
Baudelaire's
framed
tales offer
as
subject
matter
the
exploits
of
their
tellers.
UHeptameron's
one
exception
to
this
rule,
the
"naked
narrator"7
ofNouvelle 62,who unsuccessfully attempts
to
relate
an
indiscrete
personal
encounter
as
having
been
the
conduct
of
another,
apparently
condemns
the
boastful
practice
of
recounting
one's
own
escapades.
Baudelaire's
poems
notably diverge
from
this standard of
eti
quette.
Indeed,
Le
Spleen
de
Paris's
narrators
appear
to
relish
first
person
disclosure
because
such
revelations
provide
a
way
for
the
poet
to
"get
closer"
to
his
reader.
Baudelaire's
poems
do
not
pretend
to
offer
impar
tial
accounts
and
refrain from
ascribing
any
"truthfulness"
to
themselves.
Rather,
by representing
the
illusory
feelings
of
sundry
individuals,
including and especially those of the poet himself, these pieces proclaim
the
validity
and
import
of
first
person
subjective experience.
Moreover,
unlike
the
prominent,
diverse
viewpoints
of
the
auditors
following
Marguerite's
nouvelles,
the
framed
narratives
of
"Portraits
de
mattresses"
canvass
only
the
utterances
of each
succeeding
romancer.
Foregoing
any
discussion
of the
first
mistress
or
of
the
aptness
of
her
suitor's
response,
Baudelaire's
poem
continues
immediately
with
the
tale
of the second
gentleman,
"interrupteur,"
who,
without
awaiting
solicita
tion
to
speak
in
the
manner
outlined
in
L'Heptameron, begins
to recount
his
own
experiences
in
love.
No
debate of
the
im/proper
conduct
of the
first
gentleman
follows
his
reminiscence.
Any
and
all
explanations
thus
stand
uncontested
as
illustrative
of
expected
behavior.
The
second
mistress,
although
"douce," "soumise,"
"devouee,"
and
always
"prete,"
lacks
passion. Describing
themale-female
relationship
in
combat
ive terms
not
unlike
those utilized
in
L'Heptameron,
the
gentleman
tires
of their
"duel
inegal."
Yet when
his mistress
weds
another,
the
narrator
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DE
NAVARRE'S
L'HEPTAMERON
AND BAUDELAIRE'S
LE SPLEEN
DE PARIS
935
blames
himself.
Regretting
what
he
possesses
no
longer,
the
second
gen
tleman
now
admits
that he should
have
married her.
His
recognition
of
error,
however,
bears
little
resemblance
to
the
forms of
contrition
depicted inMarguerite's tales.8 Instead, relating this anecdote as a form
of
entertainment,
this
narrator
fosters?not
reform
or
justice
in
the
mode
of
Marguerite's
protagonists,
but?(self-)
derision
and
ridicule.
Pursuing
a
verbal
one-upsmanship,
a
third
gentleman
contends
that he
knows
some
pleasures
of which
the others
remain
ignorant.
This
narrator
speaks
of
"admiration"
for his
mistress
not in
the
sense
of
esteem,
but
of
wonder
and astonishment.
He
declares,
"J'ai
plus
admire
ma
derniere
maitresse
que
vous
n'avez
pu,
je
crois,
hair
ou
aimer
les
votres.
Et
tout
le
monde
Tadmirait
autant
que
moi"(l: 347).
He
recounts
his
comic
experi
ence with a
"phenomene
vivant"
(1:
347)
as
passionate
about
eating
as the
last
mistress had been
passive
in
love-making.
She left
him,
"C'est
du
moins
ce
qu['il
a]
suppose,"
for
someone
who could
better
gratify
her
insatiable
appetite.
His
attitude
of
seeming
indifference
indicates
that
the
departure
of
thismistress
procures
him less heartache than benefit.
Here,
it
provides
him,
in
themode
of
a
stand-up
comic,
with
interesting
narra
tive
material.
This
third
gentleman's
narrative
suggests
that
individuals
rank
subordinate
to
the
poetic
material
they
provide.
The fourth gentleman crowns this prospect of domestic misery and
woe,
claiming
to
have
suffered
more
hardship
than the
others with
re
gard
to
the
"selfish"
female,
and
in
a manner
contrary
to
that
expected.
According
to
him,
the
others
were
fortunate
to
have
endured their
mis
tresses'
imperfections.
They
should
not
bemoan their
fate
when
con
trasted
to
the
"souffrances
atroces" he endured.
In
one
of
the
only
breaks
in
dialogue
in
the
poem,
the
meta-narrator
interrupts
the fourth
gentleman's
discourse
to
provide
a more
detailed
portrait
of this
tale-teller,
the
only
gentleman
to
receive
such
attention.
The narrator describes, "[...] un homme d'un aspect doux et pose, d'une
physionomie
presque
clericale,
malheureusement
illuminee
par
des
yeux
d'un
gris
clair,
de
ces
yeux
dont le
regard
dit:
'Je
veux '
ou:
TI
faut '
ou
bien:
'Je
ne
pardonne jamais '"
(1:
347-78).
Whereas
a
breach
in
relation
ship
generating
the
misanthropic
reception
by
the
host
in
Marguerite's
nouvelle
harbingers
the dark
secrets
of the
chateau,
it
is
the
actual
physi
cal
countenance of the
fourth
gentleman
of Baudelaire's
poem
that
por
tends
doom.9
The fourth
gentleman's exigent
eyes
immediately
assess
the
shortcom
ings
of
his comrades.
He
determines
them
to
be
"nerveux,"
"laches,"
and
"legers"
(1:
348),
incapable
of
surviving
his
mistress.
This
gentleman
appears
supremely
capable
of
discernment?at
least with
regard
to
the
faults
of
others.
The mistress's
crime,
according
to
the
gentleman,
resides
precisely
in
her
perfection.
She
is
"incapable
de commettre
une
erreur
de sentiment
ou
de
calcul,"
and
possesses
"une
serenite
desolante de
caractere;
un
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936
FRENCH
REVIEW 81.5
devouement
sans
comedie
et
sans
emphase;
une
douceur
sans
faiblesse;
une
energie
sans
violence"
(1: 348).
Her
very presence exposes,
by
stark
contrast,
his
person.
Consider
the
self-incriminating
nature
of
his
judg
ment against her. He narrates:
L'histoire
de
mon amour
ressemble
a un
interminable
voyage
sur une
surface
pure
et
polie
comme
un
miroir
[...]
qui
aurait
reflechi
tous
mes
sentiments
et
mes
gestes
avec
l'exactitude
ironique
de
ma
proper
con
science
[...].
[J]e
ne
pouvais
pas
me
permettre
un
geste
ou
un
sentiment
deraisonnable
sans
apercevoir
immeaiatement le
reproche
muet
de
mon
inse
parable
spectre.
(1:
3484-89,
emphasis
mine)
This
consummate
mistress
literally
mirrors her lover's
imperfections.
The
result
becomes
a
quite
unflattering
portrait?not
of
the
mistress,
for the
reader remains
ignorant
as to her
appearance,
mental
sharpness,
sexual
passion,
and
physical
appetite,
all
characteristics
chronicled
by
the
preced
ing
narrators
in
their
portraits
de
mattresses.
Rather,
this
mistress reflects
the
gentleman's
own
"sottises," "dettes,"
and
"folk personnelle."
After
admiring
her
for
years
with
a
heart
full
of
hatred,
the
gentleman
can
endure her
infallibility
no
longer.
He
determines
that he
must
"vaincre
ou
mourir"
and
kills
her.
Failed
human
relationship
summarizes Baudelaire's
poem.
Four
men
recount
tales of fourmistresses, yet
each
ultimately
finds himself alone.
Unlike
Marguerite
de
Navarre's Nouvelle
32,
which
expresses
the
possi
bility
for relational
regeneration,
Baudelaire's
"Portraits"
depict
varying
examples
of
conjugal
degeneration.
Even the
glimmer
of
hope
for
con
tentment
expressed by
the
first
gentleman
finds
no
confirmation
in
fact;
indeed,
his
interest
in
a
fourth
degree
of love
might
indicate
more
a
desire for
"calme,"
tranquility,
and
peace
than for love itself.
Yet such
a
state
of
serenity
proves
unrealized
for this
exclusively
masculine
group
of
narrators.
For
while the
first three
gentlemen
covet
precisely
what
they no longer possess, the fourth,having chanced upon someone he can
"admire"
or
esteem,
ultimately
rejects precisely
what
he
ostensibly
seeks.10
This
poem
thus reiterates
the
collection's
overall
depiction
of
the
impossibility
of
human
connectedness.
Nevertheless,
these
gentlemen
manage
to
ensnare
their
peers,
if
not
their
mistresses,
by
means
of
appealing
oratory.
Attempting
to
justify
their
actions
in
love,
they
make
use
of
tropes
and
figures.
The first
gentle
man
begins
with
association,
finding
common
ground
with his
confreres
by
asserting
the
universality
of his
situation.
He
commences:
"Tous les
hommes
[...]
ont eu
l'age
de Cherubin
[...]"
(1:
345).
He continues
by
describing
his
sage
Minerve
by
means
of antonomasia.
The
second
gentle
man
practices
allegory, asserting
that,
"Le
bonheur
est
venu
habiter
chez
moi,
et
je
ne
l'ai
pas
reconnu"
(1:
346).
The
third includes
equivocation
or
word-play
when
he
states:
"J'ai
plus
admire
ma
derniere
maitresse
que
vous
n'avez
pu,
je
crois,
hair
ou
aimer les
votres.
Et tout
le
monde
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DE
NAVARRE'S
L'HEPTAMERON AND
BAUDELAIRE'S
LE
SPLEENDE PARIS
937
Tadmirait
autant
que
moi.
Quand
nous
entrions
dans
un
restaurant,
au
bout de
quelques
minutes,
chacun oubliait
de
manger pour
la
contem
pler"
(1: 347).
Additional
examples
of
hyperbole
("une
femme
qui
etait
bien la plus douce, la plus soumise et la plus devouee des creatures [...]"
[1:
346]),
irony
("Vous
donneriez la
bastonnade
a
ce mur
ou
a
ce
canape,
que
vous en
tireriez
plus
de
soupirs
que
n'en
tiraient
du sein
de
ma
maitresse les elans de Tamour
le
plus
forcene"
[1:
346])
and
circumlocu
tion
("Elle
mangeait,
machait,
broyait,
devorait,
engloutissait
[...]"
[1:
347])
amuse
and tantalize
the listeners.
The
rhetorical
sophistication
of
these humorous
anecdotes,
a
practice
shunned
by
L'Heptameron's
devisants,11
succeeds
in
removing
the dis
course
from
an arena
of
debate
and
dissension,
like
that
practiced
within
L'Heptameron,
to one of declamation. The
gentlemen's
use of seductive
language,
mesmerizing
their
listeners,
lulls their comrades
into
quiescent
receptiveness.
Consequently,
when
the
final
storyteller
confesses
to
the
murder of his
perfect
mistress,
his
companions
offer
little reaction.
Their
momentary
surprise
reflects
more
the
unexpectedness
of
the
story's
con
clusion
than
condemnation for the
crime.
In
their
silence
resonates
only
an
acknowledged inability,
"nerveux,"
"laches
et
legers"
that
they
are,
to
accomplish
such
an
act.
Depicting the imperfect nature of human experience, Baudelaire's
poems
function
much
as
the
perfect
mistress:
graphically
reflecting
their
society,
they
expose
its
many
blemishes. For these
gentlemen's
world is
characterized
by antagonism,
exemplified
by
the
hostile
first
mistress;
by
passive
acceptance,
witnessed
both
in
the
unresponsive
second
mistress
and
in
the
apparent
indifference
of
the first three
gentlemen
to
the
fourth's
confession
of
murder;
by
horrific
admiration?both
of
the
third,
ravenous
mistress and
of
the
fourth
gentleman's
ability
to
commit
such
a
crime
"quoique
suffisamment
expliquee
d'ailleurs"
(1:
349);
and
finally,
by violence and death.
What
then
defines the
generic
distinctions
between
the
two
examples
of
storytelling
considered
here?
One
notable
difference
seems
to
be
a
waning
sense
of
community.
Emphasis
on
the
group
and
relationship,
founding
the basis
for
Marguerite's
nouvelles,
dissipates
in
the
poeme
en
prose.
In
the
case
of
L'Heptameron
and Le
Spleen
de
Paris,
this
generic
trending
away
from
Other
appears
intricately
tied
to
their
forms.
For
while
Marguerite
undertakes
a
collective work of
100
interrelated
tales,12
Baudelaire
touts the
advantages
of
individual
"trongons",13
able
to
be
understood
and
appreciated
on
their
own.
With
regard
to
the
tales'
ultimate
arrangement,
L'Heptameron groups
them
thematically,
unifying
each
day
with
a
unique
topic.
The
ordering
of
Le
Spleen
de
Paris,
on
the
other
hand,
though
determined
by
the
poet,
remains
more
ambiguous.14
Unlike
L'Heptameron,
which
requires
an
understanding
of
the
narrators'
personalities
in
order
to
comprehend
the
global
meaning
of
the
work,
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938
FRENCH
REVIEW
81.5
Baudelaire's
pieces
possess
meaning
both within and
outside of their col
lective
context.
No
narrative
thread
connects
these
pieces;
like the
poet,
they
stand alone.
Even the pretext forUHeptameron, a gathering of peers, dramatizes
social
intercourse.
Philippe
de
Lajarte
describes it
as
"un
processus
de
production
sociale fonde
sur
l'exchange"
(402).
This
characteristic is
not
surprising, given
that
community
literally
creates
the
conte,15
the
genre
from which framed narratives
emerge.
Canvassing
gossip
and the
dynamics
of
human
encounters,
L'Heptameron's
multiple storytellers
and
framed
narratives
manifest
a
celebration of
community
in
which
instruc
tion
and
amusement
intertwine
for the
participants'
mutual
benefit
and
health.
Conversely,
Le
Spleen
de Paris
generally
records the diverse obser
vations
of
a
sole
narrator
on
diverse
solitary figures.
The
rhetorical
priorities
of these collections further demonstrate this
evolution
toward
isolation.
Marguerite's
Heptameron
promotes
relation
ship
(between
men
and
women
in
Nouvelle
32),
while
Baudelaire's
Spleen
de Paris testifies
to
a
lack of human connectedness. From
the
structure
of
these collections
to
their
narration,
content,
and rhetorical
themes,
these
works
reveal
a
progressive
turning
away
from
others
to
focus
on
self.
The
sociologist
Robert
D. Putnam delineates
an
analogous
propensity
inmodern culture.
The dominant theme
is
simple:
For
the
first two-thirds of the twentieth
century
a
powerful
tide bore
Americans
into
ever
deeper
engagement
in
the
life of their
communities,
but
a
few decades
ago?silently,
without
warning?that
tide reversed
and
we were
overtaken
by
a
treacherous
rip
current.
Without
at
first
noticing,
we
have been
pulled
apart
from
one
another
and from
our
communities
over
the last
third
of
the
century.
(27)
Putnam
attributes this trend
in
part16
to
"Mobility
and
Sprawl"
combined
with "Pressures of
Time
and
Money"
(183-278),
factors
also
pertinent
in
Baudelaire's Paris.
Indeed,
and
as
highlighted
by
its
title,
Le
Spleen
de
Paris
features
the
bur
geoning
city,
while
appearing
to
offer
an
adverse
assessment
of
its effects
on
human
connectedness.
Chaos
("Le
Plaisant,"
"Le
Vieux
Saltimbanque"),
crowds
("Les
Foules,"
"Les
Veuves"),
noise
("A
une
heure du
matin,"
"Le
Mauvais
Vitrier"),
anonymity
("Perte
d'aureole"),
and mental
derangement
(^'Mademoiselle
Bistouri")
all
contribute
to
an
overwhelming
sense
of
isola
tion.
This
turning
inward
appears
to
alter
the
very
nature
of
storytelling.
Walter
Benjamin
bemoans
the
contemporary incapacity
"to
exchange
experiences"
(83).
He
explains,
"Experience
which is
passed
on
from
mouth
to
mouth
is
the
source
from
which all
storytellers
have
drawn"
(84),
trans
mitting
the "lore
of
the
past"
(85).
Interpreting storytelling's
demise
as
resulting
from
the
changing
nature
of
society, Benjamin
blames,
among
other
things,
economic
concerns
and violence17?issues
correlative
to
those
established
by
Putnam
as
factors
in
the
collapse
of
community
("Pressures
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DE NAVARRE'S
L'HEPTAMERON
AND BAUDELAIRE'S
LE
SPLEENDE PARIS
939
of
Time
and
Money"
and
"Mobility
and
Sprawl,"
respectively).
According
to
Benjamin,
the
result
becomes
a
growing
reticence
on
the
part
of the tradi
tional
storyteller.
Lacking
suitable "communicable
experience,"
themodern
teller of tales prefers to remain silent.
Benjamin's
article
highlights
what
might
be another
generic
distinction
between
the Renaissance
nouvelle and
the
modern
poeme
en
prose.
For
Baudelaire's stories
generally
record,
not
the "lore of the
past,"
as
Ben
jamin
would
suppose,
but that of
the
present:
"la
chose
vue,"
the
guile
and
cunning
of the here-and-now. The
poet
notes
the
novelty
of
this revolu
tionary
thematic
change,
for
he takes
note
of
it
specifically
in
his letter
to
Arsene
Houssaye.
Instead of
finding
his
sources
in
history,
as
did
his
poetic predecessor,
Aloysius
Bertrand,
whose
poems
represent
"la
pein
ture de la vie
ancienne,"
Baudelaire discovers
inspiration,
"surtout de la
frequentation
des
villes enormes"
and thus
undertakes,
"la
description
de
la
vie
moderne"
(1: 275-76).
Baudelaire's collection
captures
the
broken,
transitory,
fragmentary
quality
of
the
modern world. These
poems
typify
the
more
violent
nature
of
experience
outlined
by
Benjamin,
for Baudelaire
records the
ruins
of
the
society
in
which
he lived.
The
poet
pens
such
illegal
acts
as
vagrancy
(f'L'Etr
anger"),
vandalism
("Le
Mauvais
Vitrier"),
assault
("La
Femme
sauvage et la petite-mattresse"), battery ("Assommons les pauvres "), and
even
murder
("Portraits
de
mattresses").
Unapologetically
confessing
to
and
even
advocating
the
perpetration
of
heinous
crimes,
Le
Spleen
de
Paris's tales bear
witness
to
the
"unspeakable."
The
poet's
version of
sto
rytelling
thus
conforms
story
to
the
nature
of
his
contemporaries'
experi
ence:
disconcerting
and
solitary.18
The
result
becomes
a
different kind of
story:
no
longer
asserting
"truth,"
no
longer
referring
to
historical
moments,
no
longer
naming
names
and
citing
sources.
The modern
story
gains
credibility
and
force
from
its
very
personal
character,
its
secretive
quality, and its resulting ability to relate personally and
secretively
to
each individual.
One
final
distinction between
these forms
appears
to
be
the
expanding
role
granted
to
the reader.
For
although
expected
to
recognize
the
jaded
perspective
of
the
gaulois
and
the
godly
wisdom of
Oisille
in
L'Hep
tameron,
Marguerite's
reader need
not
make
the
extended and
inexplicit
connections
required
of
the
reader
of
Le
Spleen
de
Paris.
For,
according
to
the
information
gleaned
from
L'Heptameron's
tales,
the
devisants
drama
tize
pertinent
discussions for
the
reader within
the
text
itself.
They
take
deliberate and
appropriate
action?whether
in
the
form
of
interpreting
the
tales
or
pursuing
moral
edification.
Baudelaire's
multiple
narrators,
provocative positions
and
absence
of
debates,
on
the
contrary,
oblige
the
reader
to
develop
a
personal
explanation,
evaluation,
and
ultimate
re
sponse.
Comprehending
the
story's
import requires
his
or
her
active
intellectual
participation.19
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940
FRENCH
REVIEW 81.5
In
an
ironic
twist,
this makes
the
relationship
between the
reader
and
the
poet-narrator
of
Baudelaire's
poems
a
more
authentic demonstration
of
connectedness than
the
artificially-instituted
group
of fictional
peers
depicted
in
Marguerite's
collection. For the reader of
UHeptameron
can
witness the
intrigues
and discussions
of
the
nouvelles
only
third-hand.
An
extradiegetic
participant
to
the
storytelling,
s/he
cannot
debate with
the
devisants
the
appropriateness
of
the husband's
response
toward his wife
in
Nouvelle
32.
Instead,
s/he
must
read
on,
and
by
so
doing, implicitly
embrace
the
conclusions
as
espoused by
the
Queen's
diegetic
narrators.
Alternatively,
Baudelaire's
more
condensed
forme
breve
moderne
intro
duces
new,
unexpected
actors
into
the
storytelling
event:
silence
and the
white
page.20
Baudelaire's
poems provoke
an
echo of
emotion
on
the
part
of the
reader
by
means
of
their
elliptical
character.
For it
is the
reader
who
must
ultimately
participate
in
the
story's
construction,
building
it
from
the ruins assembled
by
the
poet.
This
is
the
feat of Baudelaire's
poemes
en
prose.
Concentrating
narrative into
its
sparest
parts,
these
poems
compel
the intellectual and emotional
engagement
of
the reader
himself.
Extending
Peter Brooks's
assertion
that
plot
is
fueled
by
the
reader's
desire
to
know
a
story's
conclusion,
I
would
suggest
that Bau
delaire's
minimalist
genre
realizes its consummation
through
the
read
er's desire to understand.
Consequently,
Le
Spleen
de
Paris's
community
is
interdiegetic.
Not
established
by
chance
plague
or
flood,
it
represents
the
conscience and
deliberate decision
of
the
reader
to
engage
the
text: to
decipher
its
mean
ing,
to
make
important
connections,
and
to
synthesize
the
"trongons"
in
order
to
comprehend
the
whole.
In
so
doing,
Le
Spleen
de Paris's
reader
becomes
a
fellow
wanderer,
a
fraternal
investigator,
an
intimate
confi
dante
of the
poet
himself.
What then seemed
a
waning
sense
of
community
within the modern
story
ultimately
turns into the creation of a new
community,
one tran
scending
paper
and
binding.
Baudelaire's
Le
Spleen
de
Paris,
symbolic
of
other modern
minimalist
texts,
throws
open
the
proverbial
doors
of
the
previously
select
narrative
circle,
extending
outward
the
storytelling
community
to
include the
reader?past,
present,
and future.
Inaugurat
ing
the
aesthetic
of
the
fragment,
of
possibility,
and
of
brevity,
these
ruins
of
story
at
last enable
the
poet
to
achieve
a
unique
brand
of
com
munion with his
audience,
one
that
remains unrealized
within
the
in
trigues of his collection. The modern storytelling community unites
not
protagonists
but author
with
reader.
Though
no
longer
literally
attain
able
in
themodern
world,
virtual
human
connection becomes
the
conse
quence
of
storytelling
itself.
Whitworth
University
(WA)
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DE
NAVARRE'S
L'HEPTAMERON
AND
BAUDELAIRE'S
LE SPLEEN
DE PARIS
941
Notes
'The
versified
French
conte
of
the
seventeenth
century
(La
Fontaine)
evolves,
in
the
eigh
teenth, into the genre
of
the
fairy
tale
(Perrault)
as
well
as
that of satiric
philosophical
inves
tigation
(Voltaire),
while
contemporary francophone
contes return to
traditional oral
storytelling
for their
inspiration.
2The
origins
of
this
topos
of
cuckoldry
date
minimally
back
to
the
"Story
of
King
Shahryar
and
His
Brother,"
establishing
the
basis for One
Thousand
Nights
and
a
Night
of
sto
rytelling
by
the
ingenuous
Sheherazade.
Marie de
France's
Lais and the medieval
fabliaux
are
earlier
examples
in
the French
tradition.
The
treachery
of
unfaithful
wives
continues
to
provide
material
formodern
narratives,
as seen
in
such
poems
as
Baudelaire's
"Portraits
de
mattresses" and
"Deja "
3The devisants
occasionally
simulate the
truthfulness of their
tales
by
altering
the
names
of
their
protagonists
when
announcing
them
would
prove
indiscreet.
Parlamente's
prelimi
nary
remarks
to
Nouvelle
10
provide
an
example
of this. She
explains:
Et combien
que
je
ne
l'aie
vue,
si
m'a-t-elle
ete
racontee
par
un
de
mes
plus
grands
et
entiers
amis,
a
la
louange
de
l'homme
du monde
qu'il
avait
le
plus
aime.
Et
me
conjura
que,
si
jamais je
venais
a
la
raconter,
je
voulusse
changer
le
nom
des
personnes;
parquoi
tout
cela
est
veritable,
hormis les
noms,
les
lieux
et
le
pays.
(Navarre
94)
4Baudelaire
portrays
many
types,
including
such
personages
as
"UEtranger,"
"[...]
la
vieille,"
"Le Fou
[...],"
"La Femme
sauvage
et
la
petite
maitresse,"
"Les
Veuves,"
and "Le Vieux
Saltimbanque."
Although
possessing
a
proper
name,
"Mademoiselle
Bistouri,"
translated
"Miss
Scalpel,"
also
represents
a
caricature,
that of
a
surgical
enthusiast.
5Unlike
my
adaptation
here
adjusted
for
readability,
the
poem
formulates
this
statement
in the first
person
plural:
"Nous avons fortement vecu et nous cherchons ce
que
nous
pour
rions
aimer
et
estimer"
(1: 345).
Tndeed,
ennui
provides
one
impetus
of
artistic creation
for
the
poet
himself.
7I
here
adopt
the
terminology
proposed
by
Frangois
Cornilliat
and
Ulrich
Langer
in
their
article of the
same
name.
8The wife
of Nouvelle 32
exemplifies
contrition and
humility
in
matters of love.
Additional
examples
appear
in
L'Heptameron's
Nouvelles
5,
22,
33, 41,
and 50.
The
significance
of this
physical
description
might
be
partially
attributed
to
the nine
teenth
century's
interest
in
phrenology.
,0This
statement is
based
upon
the initial character evaluation
performed
by
the
meta
narrator at the beginning of the tale. See note 5, above.
"The
Queen's
storytellers
shun
the
artifices of the rhetor
in
their
own
milieu.
Parlamente
announces
the
procedure
to
be followed
by
the
devisants,
the
one
established
by
the
King
himself.
She
explains:
Et
promirent
lesdites
dames,
et
monseigeur
le
Dauphin
avec,
d'en
faire chacun
dix,
et
d'assembler
jusqu'a
dix
personnes
qu'ils
pensaient plus
dignes
de raconter
quelque-chose,
sauf
ceux
qui
avaient etudie
et
etaient
gens
de lettres:
car
monseigneur
le
Dauphin
ne
voulait
que
leur art
y
fut
mele,
et
aussi de
peur
que
la
beaute
de
la
rhetorique
y
hit
tort
en
quleque partie
a
la
verite
de
l'histoire.
(48)
Tropes
and
figures
detract
from the "truth" of the
stories,
while
a
tale's
import
lies
in
the
story
itself.
12The
ueen's
death
precluded
L'Heptameron's
completion;
the
resulting
work
includes
72
finished tales.
13The
poet
initially
sent
nine
poems
to
his
editor,
Arsene
Houssaye,
along
with
the letter
that
now
precedes
the
collection.
Baudelaire
takes this
opportunity
to
highlight
the
com
mercially
versatile
nature
of
the individual
pieces.
He
writes:
Considerez,
je
vous
prie, quelles
admirables commodites
cette
combinaison
nous
offre
a
tous,
a
vous,
a
moi
et
au
lecteur. Nous
pouvons couper
ou
nous
voulons,
moi
ma
reverie,
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942
FRENCH REVIEW
81.5
vous
le
manuscrit,
le lecteur
sa
lecture
[...].
Enlevez
une
vertebre,
et
les deux
morceaux
de
cette tortueuse
fantaisie
se
rejoindront
sans
peine.
Hachez-la
en
nombreux
fragments,
et
vous
verrez
que
chacun
peut
exister
a
part.
(1:
275)
14Although
Baudelaire's
collection
reflects
the
order
established
by
the
poet,
no
logical
progression
has
yet
been discovered to
explain
this
ordering.
Margery
Evans finds
that,
"As
a
mobile
work,
a
work
whose
parts
may
be read
out
of
sequence,
Le
Spleen
de Paris
pushes
towards
an
ideal
of
non-linearity"
(155).
15For
more
on
the
conte,
see
Pierre Leon
and Paul
Perron,
eds.
Henry Schogt explains
the
resulting
problematic
literary
status of this
form
(mise
a
Vecrit),
"[It
is]
not
quite
clear
whether
'le conte7 becomes
a
'conte'
by
virtue
of
being
correctly
received
[.
.
.]:
is the
text
only
created
by
the
response
from
the
reader,
or
is
there
a
text
beforehand?"
(65).
16Putnam also cites
generational
changes,
television
and
electronic
media
as
contributing
to
a
collapse
in
the
American
community.
17Benjamin
cites
war
in
particular
as
contributing
to
the demise
of
the
story
(84).
18Although Marguerite de Navarre must have, likewise, found itdisconcerting to support
reform of
the
Church
in
an
era
of
growing religious
intolerance,
she
was
not alone
in
the
sense
depicted by
Baudelaire's
poems.
Indeed,
many
like-minded
thinkers
found
haven
and
protection
in
her
kingdom
of
Navarre.
"Margery
Evans elaborates
on
this
participatory
role
required
of the
reader
of
Le
Spleen
de
Paris.
The
unstable
structure
of the
collection,
and
the
absence
of
any
continuous
narrative thread
linking
the
different
poems,
encourages
the
reading
of
a
given
element
to
benefit
from
an
effect
of inner-reflection
or
collaboration
with other
elements
in the
whole
[...].
At
the
same
time,
it
implies
a
radically
modern
view
of the
readers' role
and
of the
degree
of control
exercised
by
the
poet
over
his
product.
Because of
its
mobile
structure
it is
a
work
[.
.
.]
which actively encourages the reader toparticipate in its creation by perceiving patterns and
associations
within
the
text,
in
the
same
way
that
Baudelaire
describes
the
poet
in
his article
on
Hugo
as
actively
discerning
the
correspondences
in
nature.
(9)
Evans concludes:
"[the]
dynamic
openness
of Baudelaire's
text
[signals]
the
opportunity
for
creative
participation
which
it
offers
its
readership"
(159).
20Jeanne
Demers
explains
the
benefits
of
the minimalist
text
in
this
way:
Dans
l'importance
enfin
accordee
au
blanc,
done
au
silence,
qui
contribue
a sa
cloture,
le detache
du
contexte
et
en
constitue
comme
une
sorte
d'echo
porteur
de
reflexion
et
d'emotions.
[...]
Plus
[le
lecteur]
est
appele
a
questionner
le
texte
qu'il
suit,
plus
il
le
desire
[...].
(269-70)
Works
Cited
Baudelaire,
Charles.
CEuvres
completes.
Ed. Claude
Pichois.
2
vols.
Paris:
Gallimard,
1975.
Benjamin,
Walter.
"The
Storyteller:
Reflections
on
the
Works of
Nikolai
Leskov." Illumina
tions:
Walter
Benjamin,
Essays
and
Reflections.
Ed.
Hannah
Arendt.
New York:
Harcourt,
1968.83-109.
Bernard,
Suzanne.
Le
Poeme
en
prose
de
Baudelaire
jusqu'a
nos
jours.
Paris:
Nizet,
1959.
Brooks,
Peter.
Reading
for
the
Plot:
Design
and
Intention
in
Narrative.
1984.
Cambridge:
Harvard
UP,
1992.
Burton,
Richard.
Selections
from
The
Arabian
Nights.
New
York: De
Luxe,
n.d.
Cornilliat,
Francois,
and
Ulrich
Langer.
"Naked
Narrator:
Heptameron
62."
Critical
Tales:
New
Studies
of
the
Heptameron
and
Early
Modern
Culture.
Ed.
lohn
D.
Lyons
and
Mary
B.
McKinley.
Philadelphia:
U
of
Penn
P,
1993.123-45.
Demers,
leanne.
"Forme
breve
et
conception
du
monde
ou
De
la
forme
breve
a
la brievete
lit
teraire."
La Licorne
21
(1991):
263-72.
Evans,
Margery
A.
Baudelaire
and
Intertertextuality:
Poetry
at the
Crossroads.
Cambridge:
Cambridge
UP,
1993.
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