Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honoré de Balzac
page 151 of 666 (22%)
opportunities for grandeur to the guilty man and the possibility of a
return to good--reigned absolutely between Cerizet and his clients.
Never did Cerizet make an error, nor his poor people either; neither
side ever denied what was due, either capital or interests. Many a
time Cerizet, who was born among the people, corrected from one week
to another some accidental error, to the benefit of a poor man who had
never discovered it. He was called a Jew, but an honest one, and his
word in that city of sorrows was sacred. A woman died, causing a loss
to him of thirty francs:

[*] A book on which the author has been at work since 1833, the year
in which it was first announced.--Author's note.

"See my profits! there they go!" he said to his assemblage, "and you
howl upon me! You know I'll never trouble the brats; in fact, Cadenet
has already taken them bread and heel-taps."

After that it was said of him in both faubourgs:--

"He is not a bad fellow!"

The "loan by the little week," as interpreted by Cerizet, is not,
considering all things, so cruel a thing as the pawn-shop. Cerizet
loaned ten francs Tuesday on condition of receiving twelve francs
Sunday morning. In five weeks he doubled his capital; but he had to
make many compromises. His kindness consisted in accepting, from time
to time, eleven francs and fifty centimes; sometimes the whole
interest was still owing. When he gave fifty francs for sixty to a
fruit-stall man, or a hundred francs for one hundred and twenty to a
seller of peat-fuel, he ran great risks.
DigitalOcean Referral Badge