Honoré de Balzac

Philippe and Joseph Bridau are two extremely different brothers. The elder, Philippe, is a superficially heroic soldier and adored by their mother Agathe. He is nonetheless a bitter figure, secretly gambling away her savings after a brief but glorious career in Napoleon's army. His younger brother Joseph, meanwhile, is fundamentally virtuous - but their mother is blinded to his kindness by her disapproval of his life as an artist. Foolish and prejudiced, Agathe lives on unaware that she is being cynically manipulated by her own favourite child, but will she ever discover which of her sons is truly the black sheep of the family? A dazzling depiction of the power of money and the cruelty of life in nineteenth-century France, The Black Sheep compellingly explores is a compelling exploration of the nature of deceit.

The Black Sheep

Alonzo Diaz

The atmosphere of luxury in Mariette's flat, the dinners and suppers, evenings spent in the wings of the theatre, the verve of wits and journalists, the noisy bustle which went on around him, all the seductions of sense and vanity - this life, which is only to be found in Paris and which offers some new experience every day, had become more than a habit to Philippe; it was a necessity, no less than his tobacco or his little glass of liqueur. 

Lucidity of mind, like the sun's rays, is only effective when it goes straight to its target; it can only guess accurately when it looks things steadily in the face; it grows murky if confronted by the oscillations of chance.

Without wishing to offend philanthropists and writers of idylls, it must be said that country people have the haziest conceptions of some virtues. Their scruples arise from self-interest, not from any feeling of what is good or beautiful. The prospect of a life of poverty, unremitting work and destitution causes them to regard as legitimate anything that can release them from their hellions round of hunger and ceaseless toil, especially if the law has nothing to say against it. There are few exceptions to this generalization. From the social point of view, virtue is an adjunct of prosperity and is rooted in education. 

There are two kinds of timidity: timidity of mind and timidity of the nerves, physical and moral timidity. Each is independent of the other. The body can be afraid and tremble, whilst the mind remains calm and brave; the opposite is also true. This accounts for many strange acts of behavior. When both kinds of timidity are found in one and the same individual, that man will be worthless throughout his life. Complete timidity of this kind is found in the people whom we call idiots. 

In fact, the presence of a woman completely annihilated this lamentable creature, who felt as eagerly urged on by passion as he was held back by the paucity of ideas due to his education. Motionless between two equal forces, he did not know what to say and trembled lest he should be asked any questions - he was so afraid of having to reply to anybody! Desire, which loosens so many tongues, used to freeze his. This was why Jean-Jacques remained aloof, welcoming loneliness because it did not make him feel uncomfortable.

'There's only one way of killing a man without the law being able to say anything about it and that's to fight him in a duel; but I know three ways of getting rid of a woman. So there, my darling!'

The two adversaries wore only their trousers: their pink flesh could be seen through the cambric of their shirts. Each man, armed with a regulation sabre of equal weight, about three pounds, and equal length three feet, took a firm stance, holding his weapon point downwards as they awaited the signal. Everything was so calm on both sides that, in spite of the cold, the men's muscles quivered no more than if they been bronze. Goddet, the four seconds and the two soldiers could not help feeling: 'They're splendid fellows!'

The significance of this scene is that calculation enters much further into the heart when it is concealed beneath an expression of feeling; then it can even overcome the most genuine grief. And so, in private life, Nature works in a way which is considered the highest expression of Art in works of genius: its method of operation is self-interest, whose motive power is money. 

During the two weeks when life and death struggled for possession of this holy creature, she looked at Joseph in such loving ways, and showed such affectionate gestures and impulses, that in each of her outpouring a whole life seemed to flow forth. The mother now thought only of her son, holding herself in no esteem; elated by her love, she no longer felt any pain or suffering. She would say the innocent things children say. 

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