"Oh, Monsieur," I said to him, "to what limits you do carry your villainy!"

 

"To the ultimate periods," Roland answered; "there is not a single extravagance in the world in which I have not indulged, not a crime I have not committed, and not one that my doctrines² do not excuse or legitimate³; unceasingly, I have found in evil a kind of attractiveness which always redounds⁴ to my lust's advantage; crime ignites my appetites; the more frightful⁵ it is, the more it stimulates⁶; in committing it, I enjoy the same sort of pleasure ordinary folk taste in naught⁷ but lubricity, and a hundred times I have discovered myself, while thinking of crime, while surrendering to it, or just after having executed it, in precisely⁸ the same state in which one is when confronted by a beautiful naked woman; it irritates my senses in the same way, and I have committed it in order to arouse myself as, when one is filled with impudicious designs, one approaches a beautiful object."

 

"Oh, Monsieur! 'tis frightful, what you say, but I have beheld⁹ examples of it."

 

"There are a thousand, Therese. It must not be supposed that it is a woman's beauty which best stirs a libertine¹⁰ mind, it is rather the species of crime that the law has associated with possession of her: the proof of which is that the more criminal this possession the more one is inflamed¹² by it; the man who enjoys a woman he steals from her husband, a daughter he snatches from her parents, knows a far greater delectation, no doubt of it, than does the husband who enjoys no one but his wife, and the more the ties one breaks appear to be respected, the more the voluptuousness¹³ is compounded. If 'tis one's mother, or one's daughter, so many additional charms to the pleasures experienced; when you've savored¹⁴ all this, then you truly would have interdictions further increase in order to give the violation¹⁵ of them added difficulty and greater charm; now, if pleasure-taking is seasoned by a criminal flavoring, crime, dissociated from this pleasure, may become a joy in itself; there will then be a certain delight in naked crime. Well, it is impossible that what contributes the saline tang not itself be very salty. Thus, let me imagine, the abduction of a girl on one's own account will give a very lively pleasure, but abduction in the interests of someone else will give all that pleasure with which the enjoyment¹⁶ of this girl is improved by rape¹⁷; the theft of a watch, the rape of a purse will also give the same pleasure, and if I have accustomed my senses to being moved by the rape of some girl qua rape, that same pleasure, that same delight will be found again in the seizing of the watch or of the purse, etc.; and that explains the eccentricity¹⁸ in so many honest folk who steal without needing to steal. Nothing more common; from this moment on, one both tastes the greatest pleasure in everything criminal, and, by every imaginable device, one renders simple enjoyments¹⁹ as criminal as they can possibly be rendered; by conducting oneself in this style, one but adds to enjoyment the dash of salt which was wanting and which became indispensable to happiness' perfection. These doctrines lead far, I know; perhaps, Therese, I shall even show you how far before too long, but what matter? enjoyment's the thing. Was there, for example, dear girl, anything more ordinary or more natural than for me to enjoy you? But you oppose it, you ask that it stop; it would seem that, in the light of my obligations toward you, I ought to grant what you request; however, I surrender to nothing, I listen to nothing, I slash²⁰ through all the knots that bind²¹ fools, I submit you to my desires, and out of the most elementary, the most monotonous²² enjoyment I evolve one that is really delicious; therefore submit, Therese, submit, and if ever you are reincarnated²³ and return to the world in the guise²⁴ of the mighty²⁵, exploit your privileges in the same way and you will know every one of the most lively and most piquant²⁶ pleasures."

 

These words gone out of his mouth, Roland went away and left me to ponder thoughts which, as you may well believe, presented him in no favorable aspect.

 

I had been six months in this household, from time to time serving the villain¹'s disgraceful debauches, when one night I beheld him enter my prison with Suzanne.

 

"Come, Therese," said he, " 'tis already a long time, I find, since I took you down to that cavern²⁷ which impressed you so deeply; both of you are going to accompany me there, but don't expect to climb back together, for I absolutely must leave one of you behind; well, we'll see which one fate designates."

 

I get to my feet, cast alarmed glances at my companion, I see tears rolling from her eyes... and we set off.

 

When we were locked into the underground vault²⁸, Roland examined each of us with ferocious²⁹ eyes, he amused himself by reiterating³⁰ our sentence and persuading us both that one of the two would certainly remain there below.#p#分页标题#e#

 

"Well," said he, seating himself and having us stand directly before him, "each of you take your turn and set to work exorcising this disabled object; there's a devil in it keeps it limp, and woe³¹ unto the one of you who restores its energy."

 

" 'Tis an injustice," quoth Suzanne; "she who arouses you most should be the one to obtain your mercy."

 

"Not at all," Roland retorted, "once it is manifest which of you arouses me most, it is established which one's death will give me the greater pleasure... and I'm aiming at pleasure, nothing else. Moreover, by sparing her who inflames³² me the more rapidly, you would both proceed with such industry that you might perhaps plunge³³ my senses into their ecstasy³⁴ before the sacrifice were consummated³⁵, and that must not happen."

 

" 'Tis to want evil for evil's sake, Monsieur," I said to Roland, "the completion of your ecstasy ought to be the only thing you desire, and if you attain³⁶ it without crime, why do you want to commit one ?"

 

"Because I only deliciously reach the critical stage in this way, and because I only came down here in order to commit one. I know perfectly³⁷ well I might succeed without it, but I want it in order to succeed."

 

And, during this dialogue, having chosen me to begin, I start exciting his behind with one hand, his front with the other, while he touches at his leisure every part of my body offered him by my nakedness.

 

"You've still a long way to go, Therese," said he, fingering my buttocks, "before this fine flesh is in the state of petrified³⁸ callosity and mortification³⁹ apparent in Suzanne's; one might light a fire under that dear girl's cheeks without her feeling a thing; but you, Therese, you... these are yet roses bound in lilies: we'll get to them in good time, in good time."

 

You simply have no idea, Madame, how much that threat set me at ease; Roland doubtless did not suspect, as he uttered it, the peace it sent flooding through me, for was it not clear that, since he planned to expose me to further cruelties, he was not yet eager to immolate⁴⁰ me? I have told you, Madame, that everything the wretched hear drives home, and thenceforth I was reassured⁴¹. Another increase of happiness! I was performing in vain, and that enormous mass telescoped into itself resisted all my shakings; Suzanne was in the same posture⁴², she was palpated in the same areas, but as her flesh was toughened in a very different way, Roland treated it with much less consideration; however, Suzanne was younger.

 

"I am convinced," our persecutor⁴³ was saying, "that the most awesome⁴⁴ whips would now fail to draw a drop of blood from that ass¹¹."

 

He made each of us bend over and, our angle of inclination⁴⁵ providing him with the four avenues of pleasure, his tongue danced wriggling⁴⁶ into the two narrowest; the villain spat⁴⁷ into the others; he turned us about, had us kneel between his thighs⁴⁸ in such a manner our breasts found themselves at a level with what of him we were stimulating⁴⁹.

 

"Oh! as regards breasts," said Roland, "you've got to yield to Suzanne; never had you such fine teats; now then, let's take a look at this noble endowment."

 

And with those words he pressed the poor girl's breasts till, beneath his fingers, they were covered with bruises⁵⁰. At this point it was no longer I who was exciting him, Suzanne had replaced me; scarcely had she fallen into his clutches when his dart⁵¹, springing from its quiver, began to menace everything surrounding it.

 

"Suzanne," said Roland, "behold⁵² an appalling⁵³ triumph.... 'tis your death decreed, Suzanne; I feared as much," added that ferocious man as he nipped and clawed her breasts.

 

As for mine, he only sucked and chewed them. At length, he placed Suzanne on her knees at the edge of the sofa, he made her bend her head and in this attitude he enjoyed her according to the frightful manner natural to him; awakened⁵⁴ by new pains, Suzanne struggles and Roland, who simply wishes to skirmish, is content with a brisk passage of arms, and comes to take refuge in me at the same shrine⁵⁵ at which he has sacrificed in my companion whom he does not cease to vex⁵⁶ and molest⁵⁷ the while.

 

"There's a whore who excites me cruelly," he says to me, "I don't know what to do with her."

 

"Oh, Monsieur," say I, "have pity upon her; her sufferings could not be more intense."

 

"Oh, but you're wrong!" the villain replies, "one might . . . ah I if only I had with me that celebrated⁵⁸ Emperor Kie, one of the greatest scoundrels ever to have sat on the Chinese throne,'#p#分页标题#e#

 

(Kie, the Emperor of China, had a wife as cruel and debauched as he; bloodshed was as naught to them, and for their exclusive pleasure they spilled rivers of it every day; Within their palace they had a secret chamber⁵⁹ where victims were put to death before their eyes and while they enjoyed themselves. Theo, one of this Prince's successors had, like him, a very bloodthirsty wife; they invented a brass⁶⁰ column and this great cylinder⁶¹ they would heat red hot; unlucky persons were bound to it while the royal couple looked on: "The Princess," writes the historian from whom we have borrowed these touches, "was infinitely⁶² entertained by these melancholy⁶³ victims' contortions⁶⁴ and screams; she was not content unless her husband gave her this spectacle frequently." Hist. des Conj. vol. 7, page 43.)

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