The Shadow of Great Britain

If you talk about diligence, you probably won’t find a more diligent writer than Balzac in Paris, or even in all of Europe.

Like his idol Napoleon, Balzac’s work schedule was equally bizarre and intolerable to ordinary people.

He would follow the schedule below for several months each year: go to bed at six in the evening, get up at midnight, throw on a large robe, light four candles, pick up a quill pen, and work for sixteen hours straight, or if the manuscript deadline was pressing, he could work for twenty hours.

According to Balzac himself, he once even worked for forty-eight hours straight, with only a three-hour break in between.

He would generally take a bath at seven in the morning, take a short rest, and at this time, the publisher would also send someone to pick up the manuscripts.

Such long working hours naturally resulted in an unmatchable output, and this donkey often rushed several works at the same time in one day.

The hundreds of thousands of words in ”Old Goriot” and ”Country Doctor” were drafts that he completed in three days. Since Balzac wrote with a quill dipped in ink and compared to his writing speed, the ink dried far too slowly.

So, he often had to lay the drafts flat on the floor and sprinkle talcum powder on the paper to dry the ink.

Therefore, by the end of a night, the floor, the table, and Balzac’s hands, feet, and face would often be covered with ink-stained powder marks.

Logically, with Balzac’s output and his current fame in Europe, he should have achieved financial freedom and retired the pen by now.

But unfortunately, this chubby man was an idiot in financial management, often just as he had paid off his debts, he would impulsively invest in a new ”money-making” venture, and then end up in debt again, repeating this cycle over and over.

Because of this, despite being the most prolific writer in the world today, he still lived in poverty, mired in debt, constantly hounded by creditors, often forced to go out to avoid them, which sometimes left him without even a fixed mailing address.

In addition, Balzac’s consumption habits were no better than Great Dumas. At home, he often wrote in the nude, claiming it allowed him to save his clothes for when he was outside.

Yes, I also can’t understand why Balzac’s clothes seemed to be disposable.

Logically, there shouldn’t be such a stipulation in this field!

Of course, in recent years, the swift deterioration of Balzac’s financial situation was largely due to the unfortunate death of his ”motherly” lover, Madam Bern. Without Madam Bern’s gratuitous support, it’s remarkable Balzac hadn’t ended up on the streets.

As is well known, to ensure clarity while writing, Balzac was addicted to coffee. Whenever he had free time, he would go to Parisian streets to buy coffee beans. But whenever the café owner would mention Balzac, she would not express pride at the frequent visits from the great writer, but rather angrily refer to this chubby man as a ”brigand” (bandit).

Because whenever it came time to pay, Balzac would use his usual trick of patting his pockets and exclaiming, ”My God, I forgot my wallet again! Put it on the tab! Put it on the tab!”

And from the owner’s angry attitude, it could be guessed that Balzac’s tabs were never settled.

In this regard, he was not even better than Heine.

Although Heine also often charged expenses to his account, this German poet at least would periodically choose a ”lucky audience member” to be honored by clearing the poet’s tab.

These hoodlums must be grateful to live in the civilized and open Paris; if it were the dark and damp London, the merciless Police Commissioner Committee Secretary General Sir Arthur Hastings would have surely locked them all up in debtor’s prison under strict supervision.

Of course, compared to Heine, Balzac was at least much stronger in his romantic life.

Judging by looks, Balzac was far inferior to Heine, but his luck with romance was endless.

”Portrait of Honoré de Balzac” was painted by French artist Jean-Alfred Gérard-Séguin in 1842

”Portrait of Heinrich Heine” was painted by German artist Moritz Daniel Oppenheim in 1831

Although Heine has now also found a home with a Parisian shop girl named Mathilde, compared to Balzac’s romantic adventures, he still pales in comparison.

A few years ago, news of Balzac falling in love with a Polish landlord’s wife caused quite a stir in Paris.

In fact, it wasn’t news for a great writer to have a lover in Paris, but it was well-known that Parisians often referred to people from other parts of France disdainfully as ”provincials.” They treated their French compatriots in this way, let alone their attitude towards a woman emerging from some unknown corner of Eastern Europe.

However, these rumors didn’t sway Balzac in his passionate relationship, and compared to Madam Bern, he was even more enthusiastic about the Polish woman, Mrs. Hanska.

He kept writing letters to Mrs. Hanska, one every three to five days.

Using all kinds of sentimental endearments to flatter her, calling her things like Eve, the only love, the only life, the only angel, the Eastern Rose, the Northern Star, the Lighthouse, and so on.