The Corsican Brothers

The Corsican Brothers
Alexandre Dumas pre
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS.
CORSICA--PARIS,
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF ALEXANDRE DUMAS,
AUTHOR OF "PAULINE,", "CAPT. PAMPHILE," &c.
BY A PUPIL OF MONS. G. J. HUBERT SANDERS, PROFESSOR
OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND BELLES-LETTRES IN
PHILADELPHIA.
PHILADELPHIA : G. B. ZIEBER & CO., 3 LEDGER BUILDING,
THIRD AND CHESNUT STS.
1845.
PREFACE.
In presenting this translation to the public, I feel myself constrained to
add a few remarks.
The duties of a translator are much more onerous and severe than I had
formed an idea of, before commencing this little work.
It is not alone necessary to change the construction and idiom of a
language, but in so doing, to avoid altering the sense or losing the spirit
of the author's style; this fault in translations, it is generally admitted, is
much more frequent than any other, and is one which I have been
particularly careful to avoid.
Monsieur Alexandre Dumas is well known to the American public, as

one of the most fashionable French novelists of the day.
His style is light, smooth and elegant; his descriptions of scenery and
delineations of character, highly poetical and striking, while he is also
peculiarly felicitous in witty and sarcastic colloquies.
The story of "The Corsican Brothers" is written in an easy, sketchy
style, presenting on the one side an interesting picture of the habits,
prejudices and superstitions of the Corsicans, and particularly of the
"Vendetta," or war of vengeance, carried on between families and
connections, sometimes for several generations; while, on the other, it
gives a lively outline of the effects of Parisian life upon a sensitive and
unsophisticated nature.
I have now in hand, and will soon present the public with the
translation of another work of this agreeable writer; a spirited historical
romance, highly interesting, and of much greater length than the
present.
It gives me pleasure, also, to take this public opportunity of expressing
my sincere thanks to Professor Sanders, for his valuable assistance; and
dedicate to his notice, as a testimony of my approbation of his
admirable method of instruction, the first literary effort of
THE TRANSLATOR
Philadelphia, December 24, 1844.
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS.



CHAPTER I.

DURING the early part of the month of March, in the year 1841, I
traveled in Corsica.
There is nothing more agreeable than a journey through this
picturesque country. Embarking at Toulon, you arrive in twenty hours
at Ajaccio, or in twenty-four hours at Bastia, where you can either hire
a horse for five francs per day, or purchase one for a hundred and fifty
francs. Do not smile at the poorness of this price; the animal which you
thus hire or buy, like that famous horse of the Gascon, which jumped
from the Pont-Neuf into the Seine, does things which neither Prospero
nor Nautilus could do, those heroes of the races of Chantilly and the
Champ-de-Mars. He will go safely over roads where Balmah himself
would have used cramp irons, and over bridges where even Auriol must
have required a balance-pole.
As for the traveler, he has only to shut his eyes and let the animal go;
the dangers of the road are not his business.
Besides, this horse, who surmounts with ease all the difficulties and
impediments of the way, travels on an average fifteen leagues a day,
without demanding any thing to eat or drink. From time to time, when
you stop, in order to visit an old castle, built by some Seigneur, the
hero and chief of a feudal tradition, or to take a sketch of some old
tower built by the Genoese, the horse quietly crops the grass near him,
or takes the bark from a tree, or perhaps licks some moss from the
rocks, with which he is perfectly satisfied.
As for the night's lodging, this is still more simple; the traveler arrives
at some village, goes through the whole length of its principal street,
selects the most commodious-looking house, and knocks at the door.
In a few minutes after, the master or mistress of the house appears at
the threshold, invites the traveler to enter, offers him one half of his
supper, and the whole of his bed, if he has but one, and the following
day, while conducting him to the door, thanks him for the preference he
has shown his house.
There is of course never any question of payment; your host would

consider himself insulted by the most distant allusion to this subject.
But if there should be a young female servant in the family, you may
offer her a silk handkerchief, which mill make her a picturesque
head-dress when she goes to the fte of Calvi or Corte.
Should the servant of the house be a male, he will be delighted to
accept a stiletto,