每天五分钟听经典英文故事，读绘本，磨耳朵。一个穷小子借女人与报馆一路往上爬，把恩人、情人和妻子都当成台阶。 Today, Duji is going to tell you Bel Ami, a famous novel by Guy de Maupassant It's about a poor young man who couldn't even write his first article Somehow he became the son-in-law of a newspaper owner, and before that he was the bride's mother's lover How did he get there And why didn't the people he used and betrayed ruin him The story starts with him standing on a Paris street, counting the coins in his pocket He had just come out of a cheap restaurant, and he was working out how many meals the coins would buy It was a summer night, and the cafes along the street were full Cold drinks stood on every table He was thirsty, but he wouldn't go in and spend the money He had been a soldier Now he was a clerk at the railway office His clothes were old, but he was a handsome man, tall, with a curled mustache and a cavalryman's walk He watched the men who could afford to drink, and the longer he watched, the angrier he got Then he ran into an old friend from the army, Charles Forestier Forestier was an editor at a newspaper now He heard Duroy's troubles and invited him to dinner at his home, where he would introduce him to the owner of the paper To go to the dinner, Duroy borrowed money and bought proper clothes On the stairs he caught sight of a well-dressed man in the mirror For a moment he didn't recognize him Then he saw it was himself He smiled at the glass, bowed, and practiced the way he would greet the guests At the table he told stories about his years as a soldier in Africa, and everyone listened with interest The owner told him to write them down for the paper Back in his room, Duroy set out paper and picked up his pen Nothing came In the end, Forestier's wife helped him Madeleine asked him about his life and shaped his answers into an article It appeared under his name He bought a copy and read his own name over and over He joined the newspaper office and learned to hunt for news and stay close to useful people The work came easily enough, but the money never stretched That was when he and Madame de Marelle became lovers She liked him, met him when she could, and left money behind when she saw he was short Her little daughter called him Bel Ami, which means handsome friend Duroy took the help They quarreled and parted, then drifted back together When she caught him tangled up with another woman, she stormed off But they never made a clean break, and sooner or later they met again Then Forestier fell ill Duroy traveled south and sat with Madeleine at his bedside The man who had brought him into the newspaper office died During the wake, he began to speak to the dead man's wife about a future together Madeleine didn't want to be a wife ruled by her husband She wanted freedom, and she wanted a marriage that worked as a partnership Duroy agreed After the wedding she kept writing with him and brought politicians into their sitting room His articles were taken more seriously, and he gave his name a noble sound But when a colleague compared him to the dead Forestier, he grew angry He didn't like being reminded whose place he was sitting in A count who had been close to Madeleine died and left her a large fortune Duroy seized on it He questioned her about the man, then demanded half the money, saying he wanted to avoid gossip In the end, he got it He also went after Madame Walter Her husband, Monsieur Walter, owned the paper At first she refused him Then she fell into the affair He soon tired of her clinging, but she still wanted to hold on to him She even told him secrets from her husband's business The paper stood close to the men in power, and it got news early, which made its name Duroy's articles spoke for them in public But when there was real money to be made, he was kept in the dark too Minister Laroche-Mathieu denied any plan to send troops into Morocco In secret, the minister had already bought Moroccan bonds with Walter They knew the bonds would rise once France sent its army and guaranteed the debt Madame Walter told Duroy what was really happening and helped him into the deal He made a profit Then he found that his owner had made far more He wrote other men's articles while they grew rich behind his back He walked into the grand new house Walter had bought and looked at everything in it That was when he fixed his eyes on Suzanne, Walter's younger daughter Suzanne liked him and told him her private thoughts But he was already married To step into that family's money and name, he first had to get rid of Madeleine He watched his wife's movements in secret At last he brought the police and caught her with the minister The official record of adultery let him apply for a divorce, and he meant to expose the minister in the paper Walter hesitated The minister had been the paper's ally, but the scandal was now a fact, and there was nothing left to gain by protecting him The owner agreed to print the story Duroy was free of his wife, had brought down a minister, and had shown Walter what he could do After the divorce, he had Suzanne speak to her parents first If they refused, she was to slip out at night and meet him Suzanne thought of the elopements in novels, two people running away so no one could part them again She said yes That night Duroy waited in a carriage at the Place de la Concorde The clock struck twelve and she didn't come One o'clock came too He was sure the plan had failed when her face finally appeared at the window She had fought with her parents Her mother refused outright, and her father said he wasn't good enough for his daughter Now she had come to him The carriage rolled out of Paris Madame Walter found her daughter's bed empty and called her husband Walter looked into the empty room and understood that he had been outplayed A daughter who ran off with a man became harder to hide with every hour His wife still refused But he had begun to speak for Duroy This man could bring down a minister with a few articles One day he might be a deputy, even a minister His rank was low for now, but his future might not be The letter Duroy had prepared arrived It said Suzanne had come to him of her own free will Without her parents' consent, he would keep her with him and hide her Walter agreed to the marriage Suzanne was still in the country with Duroy, and he introduced her as his sister They didn't sleep together What he needed was the elopement itself, and the threat of scandal Once he had his answer, he sent her home Madame de Marelle learned what he was planning She came and told him what she thought of him, and they fought Duroy struck her The quarrel ended, and he went back to preparing his wedding On the wedding day the church was packed Duroy stood beside Suzanne and listened to the blessings Important men came to shake his hand, and as he looked at the crowd, he felt that all of them were there for him Madame de Marelle came too When they shook hands, there was the old warmth between them He understood that the two of them were not finished He walked out of the church with his bride on his arm Below the steps, the crowd waited to see him He lifted his head and looked past the Place de la Concorde to the parliament building far away A few more steps, it seemed, and he would be there As he came down the steps, the image of Madame de Marelle rose in his mind again He saw her standing at the mirror, tidying the curls at her temples 前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动
