"Sade, Marquis De - The 120 Days Of Sodom 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marquis de Sade)

'THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM'
by The Marquis de Sade
Translated by Austryn Wainhouse and Richard Seaver


INTRODUCTION
The extensive wars wherewith Louis XIV was burdened during his reign,
while draining the State's treasury and exhausting the substance of the
people, none the less contained the secret that led to the prosperity of a
swarm of those bloodsuckers who are always on the watch for public
calamities, which, instead of appeasing, they promote or invent so as,
precisely, to be able to profit from them the more advantageously. The end
of this so very sublime reign was perhaps one of the periods in the history
of the French Empire when one saw the emergence of the greatest number of
these mysterious fortunes whose origins are as obscure as the lust and
debauchery that accompany them. It was toward the close of this period, and
not long before the Regent sought, by means of the famous tribunal which
goes under the name of the Chambre de Justice, to flush this multitude of
traffickers, that four of them conceived the idea for the singular revels
whereof we are going to give an account. One must not suppose that it was
exclusively the low-born and vulgar sort which did this swindling;
gentlemen of the highest note led the pack. The Duc de Blangis and his
brother the Bishop of X***, each of whom had thuswise amassed immense
fortunes, are in themselves solid proof that, like the others, the nobility
neglected no opportunities to take this road to wealth. These two
illustrious figures, through their pleasures and business closely
associated with the celebrated Durcet and the President de Curval, were the
first to hit upon the debauch we propose to chronicle, and having
communicated the scheme to their two friends, all four agreed to assume the
major roles in these unusual orgies.
For above six years these four libertines, kindred through their
wealth and tastes, had thought to strengthen their ties by means of
alliances in which debauchery had by far a heavier part than any of the
other motives that ordinarily serve as a basis for such bonds. What they
arranged was as follows: the Duc de Blangis, thrice a widower and sire of
two daughters one wife had given him, having noticed that the President de
Curval appeared interested in marrying the elder of these girls, despite
the familiarities he knew perfectly well her father had indulged in with
her, the Duc, I say, suddenly conceived the idea of a triple alliance.
"You want Julie for your wife," said he to Curval, "I give her to you
unhesitatingly and put but one condition to the match: that you'll not be
jealous when, although your wife, she continues to show me the same
complaisance she always has in the past; what is more, I'd have you lend
your voice to mine in persuading our good Durcet to give me his daughter
Constance, for whom, I must confess, I have developed roughly the same
feelings you have formed for Julie."
"But," said Curval, "you are surely aware that Durcet, just as
libertine as you..."
"I know all that's to be known," the Duc rejoined. "In this age, and
with our manner of thinking, is one halted by such things? do you think I