Tour priest

Touring Priest , illustration by Henri Monnier .

1826 , Tour . The 60-year-old abbot , vicar Francois Biroto, who has been living in Mademoiselle Sofia Gamar's house for two years now, has a suspicion that the landlady intentionally wants to survive using his various inconveniences from his premises. During the revolution, the house was confiscated from the local cathedral of St. Gatian and sold to the father of the mistress, who has been renting premises to priests for twenty years. According to the will of his friend Abbot Chaplu, Biroto himself received the dwelling, another guest is the 50-year-old Abbot Truber, who lives in much worse conditions on the ground floor of the house. Biroto did not want to leave the comfortable room, which, along with the dignity of Canon, was the only dream in his life, which he and his friend furnished with expensive furniture from the alms and wills of the spiritual daughters.

From the moment of his appearance, Chaplu immediately unraveled the character of the mistress and, for the sake of a calm life, adapted to her whims: he flattered her, avoided any disputes and clashes, and minimized the time spent together. Truber, in his spare time from secret work at night, showed complete submission to Sofia Gamar and was the main contender for the deceased's room, local rumor explained this behavior with views on her condition. Before his death, Chaplu often advised a friend to be afraid of Truber, whose rise was impeded by all means. As a result, the abbot, thanks to his undermined health, became the main candidate for the post of chief vicar. After his settlement, Biroto organized a salon in the Gamar house for six months, which was attended by representatives of the highest aristocracy, but in the end, because of the emptiness and worthlessness of the hostess, he abandoned this venture and began to attend dinner parties in the noble houses of the Tour. Because of this, the old maid harbored anger at her guest, who spread among her friends from the middle class .

Biroto decides to relocate for a few days to Baroness de Listomer, hoping that during this time Sofia will calm down. After 10 days, the solicitor Karon, representing the interests of the landlord, comes to him, talking about a possible lawsuit: the document does not spell out the possibility of a prolonged absence of the guest, due to which the deed of the abbot can be interpreted as termination of the guesthouse . Mrs. Listomer, together with the guests and her nephew-baron, are advised to repulse the veiled attempt of Truber to get a new living space, only the landowner de Bourbonne considers this the beginning of the griefs of Biroto, who will eventually have to move out. At this moment, it becomes known about the appointment of Truber as acting chief vicar, the head of the clergy , and rumors about the negative impact of the upcoming lawsuit on the canon of Biroto, almost promised. Now the salon advises to voluntarily refuse to live with Gaspard, and the abbot, without looking, signs the document proposed by Karon.

Biroto receives the consent of a number of aristocrats to take him for a while, until he receives the rank of canon. The next day, he comes to Sofia Gaspar’s house for his furniture and sees that Truber has already settled in his room. In an interview with the hostess, it turns out that under the agreement, upon voluntary departure, the whole situation goes into reimbursement of the difference between the rent of Biroto and the late Chaplu. Gaspard also talks about the appointment as the new canon of the abbot Poirel, who became her new guest. At the noble assembly, de Bourbonne announces the dishonesty of the contract, after which everyone unanimously promises to help the abbot in the upcoming trial. Only the landowner advises to abandon the vicar’s dignity and leave Tours in order to hide from Truber, since of the fourteen people gathered here in two weeks not one will be for you! .

Mademoiselle Gaspard was the first to file a lawsuit, setting the whole case in a light unfavorable to the opponent. It is also becoming known that Truber was appointed chief vicar. Local lawyers recommend going to the world, and only 36-year-old Baron de Listomer decides to continue the fight. After choosing a liberal lawyer, a forensic examination was organized to evaluate the remaining virgin of Biroto's movable property, along with two paintings valued at 30 thousand francs . Thanks to this, the lawsuit filed already against Sofia Gaspar gets serious prospects.

A few days later, the baron who was awaiting production in the next rank was informed of his possible transfer to the reserve, which was why he was sent to Paris . There, with the help of his uncle, the deputy Marquis de Listomer, he manages to find out: the ministry is unhappy with his enmity with Truber, the most significant person in this province and a representative of the congregation . The Baron returns to Tours and meets with his aunt and de Bourbonne, who suspected the secret influence of the priest throughout the life of the region. The landowner, hoping for the vanity of Truber, advises to reconcile with him and, for the sake of appearance, stop communicating with Biroto, since in the future they will be able to achieve the appointment of Biroto as canon after becoming baron of the rank of captain of the first rank , and the marquis - peer . The next day, the Baroness describes the abbot the whole plan of revenge on Truber Chaplu and his successor, after which he persuades to withdraw the lawsuit in exchange for receiving the portrait of Chaplu left in the long-suffering room. After this, the Baroness comes to the old maid and agrees to jam the case, but she soon picks up a cold and prepares for death.

Because of this, Madame de Listomer is meeting with the abbot himself, following the results of the meeting with whom it was possible to achieve reconciliation and permission to remove a copy from the portrait of Chaploux. The next day, Gaspard dies, leaving his will to Truber his entire fortune of 300 thousand francs. The latter invites Madame de Listomer and her nephew to a magnificent funeral , while Biroto hides in the narthex and sincerely prays for the peace of soul of Sofia Gaspard. In the evening, de Bourbonne, behind closed doors, tells the Baroness how, with the last wave of rasp, he saw for a moment in the eyes of Truber glee about the death of the old maiden, as well as hatred and contempt for the deceased.

Birotho is appointed a parish priest in the poor suburb of Tours Saint-Senfornien, because of which he found himself outside of his friends and familiar surroundings. Six months later, Truber becomes Bishop of Troyes under the name Hyacinth. Baroness de Listomer in his testament appoints Biroto an annual payment of 1.5 thousand francs, after which Truber postpones his trip to the diocese and begins to threaten the career growth of her relatives. The bishop renounces the inheritance, giving the clergy a house, a Chaplou library and paintings, leaving only a portrait of Chaplou. The baron disputes the rights of Biroto to the inheritance of the baroness due to the unscrupulous influence of the abbot on the will of the testator, and a few days later gets the production of captains of the first rank. Ecclesiastical authorities impose disciplinary punishment on the vicar of the church of Saint-Senforien, forbidding him to conduct services .

A year after the beginning of the novel, Monsignor Hyacinth, on the way to Paris, notices a patient, taken out in the sun, by François Biroto, who casts a glance of contemptuous pity and moves on.

The story was first published in 1832 in “Scenes of Private Life” under the title “Bachelors” ( French: Les célibataires ). The following year, under the same name, she entered the "Scenes of Provincial Life", and in 1843 she was included in the second volume of "Human Comedy" under the title "Turkish Priest" ^[1]

The story itself is dedicated to the portrait painter Pierre Jean David .

Francois Biroto is present and mentioned in the novels “ The history of the greatness and fall of Caesar Biroto ” and “ Lily of the Valley ”.

1980 : Touring Priest . Director - Gabriel Axel , the role of Francois Biroto was performed by Jean Carme .

• James J. Baran, "Statues, Statutes and Status in Balzac's Le Curé de Tours ", Journal of Evolutionary Psychology , août 1993, No. 14, Template: Vol. , P ..
• James J. Baran, "The Architecture of Desire in Balzac's Le Curé de Tours ", Degré second , décembre 1992, No. 13, P.
• Anne Bouzigues, " Le Rouge et le Noir et Le Curé de Tours ", L'Année balzacienne , 1968, P ..
• Émile Danino, "Contrats et castration dans Le Curé de Tours (Balzac)", (Pre) publications , 1980, No. 61, P.
• Hélène Colombani Giaufret, "Balzac linguiste dans Les Célibataires ", Studi di storia della civiltà letteraria francese , I — II, Paris, Champion, 1996, P.
• Léon-François Hoffman, Éros en filigrane: Le Curé de Tours , L'Année balzacienne , Paris, Garnier Frères, 1967, P.
• Fredric M. Leeds, "Balzac's Le Curé de Tours ", Explicator , 1975, No. 34, article 9.
• Suzanne Jean Bérard, "Encore la maison du Curé de Tours ", L'Année balzacienne , 1968, P ..
• Nicole Mozet, " Le Curé de Tours , un espace œdipien?", L'Œuvre d'identité. Essais sur le romantisme, de Nodier à Baudelaire , Université de Montréal, Département d'études françaises, octobre 1996, P.
• Allan H. Pasco, "The Tangible and the Intangible in Balzac's Le Curé de Tours ", Currencies: Fiscal Fortunes and Cultural Capital in Nineteenth-Century France , Oxford, Peter Lang, 2005, P ..
• Naomi Schor, "Details and Realism: Le Curé de Tours ", Poetics Today , 1984, No. 5, Template: Vol. , P ..
• Michael Tilby, "Tours or Dis? Balzac's Tale of Two Cities ( Le Curé de Tours )", Nottingham French Studies , printemps 2007, No. 46, Template: Vol. , P ..
• Adeline R. Tintner, "" The Old Things: Balzac's Le Curé de Tours and James's The Spoils of Poynton ", Nineteenth-Century Fiction , mars 1972, No. 26, Template: Vol. , p. 436-455.
• Dorothy Wirtz, "Animalism in Balzac's Curé de Tours and Pierrette ", Romance Notes , 1969, No. 11, p. 61-67.
• Geof Woollen, " Le Curé de Tours and the Ten Year Itch", French Studies Bulletin , hiver 1988-1989, No. 29, P.