Тайна Мари Роже. Рассказы

УДК 
372.8
ББК 
81.2 Англ-93
 
П41

ISBN 978-5-9925-1098-0

По, Эдгар Аллан.
П41 
Тайна Мари Роже. Рассказы : книга для чтения на английском языке. — Санкт-Петербург : 
КАРО, 2016. — 256 с. — (Detective Story).

ISBN 978-5-9925-1098-0.

Предлагаем вниманию читателей новеллы знаменитого 
американского писателя Эдгара Аллана По.
Полный неадаптированный текст новелл снабжен комментариями и словарем. Для студентов языковых вузов и 
всех любителей англоязычных детективов.

УДК 372.8
ББК 81.2 Англ-93

© КАРО, 2016

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BON-BON

December 1, 1832

Quand un bon vin meuble mon estomac
Je suis plus savant que Balzac —
Plus sage que Pibrac;
Mon brass seul faisant l’attaque
De la nation Coseaque,
La mettroit au sac;
De Charon je passerois le lac
En dormant dans son bac,
J’irois au fi er Eac,
Sans que mon coeur fi t tic ni tac,
Premmer du tabac.
French Vaudeville

Th at Pierre Bon-Bon was a restaurateur of uncommon qualifi cations, the cul-de-sac1 Le Febvre at Rouen, 
will, I imagine, feel himself at liberty to dispute. Th at 
Pierre Bon-Bon was, in an equal degree, skilled in 
the philosophy of that period is, I presume still more 
especially undeniable. His pâté de foie2 were beyond 
doubt immaculate; but what pen can do justice to 
his essays sur la Nature — his thoughts sur l’Ame — 
his observations sur l’Esprit? If his omelettes — if his 
fricandeaux were inestimable, what litterateur of that 
day would not have given twice as much for an “Idee 

1 cul-de-sac — (фр.) тупик, глухой переулок
2 pâté de foie — (фр.) печеночные паштеты

THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET

4

de Bon-Bon” as for all the trash of “Idees” of all the 
rest of the savants1? Bon-Bon had ransacked libraries 
which no other man had ransacked — had more 
than any other would have entertained a notion of 
reading — had understood more than any other would 
have conceived the possibility of understanding; and 
although, while he fl ourished, there were not wanting 
some authors at Rouen to assert “that his dicta evinced 
neither the purity of the Academy, nor the depth of the 
Lyceum” — although, mark me, his doctrines were by 
no means very generally comprehended, still it did 
not follow that they were diffi  cult of comprehension. 
It was, I think, on account of their self-evidency that 
many persons were led to consider them abstruse. It 
is to Bon-Bon — but let this go no farther — it is to 
Bon-Bon that Kant himself is mainly indebted for his 
metaphysics. Th e former was indeed not a Platonist, 
nor strictly speaking an Aristotelian — nor did he, 
like the modern Leibnitz, waste those precious hours 
which might be employed in the invention of a fricasée 
or, facili gradu2, the analysis of a sensation, in frivolous 
attempts at reconciling the obstinate oils and waters of 
ethical discussion. Not at all. Bon-Bon was Ionic — 
Bon-Bon was equally Italic. He reasoned a priori3 — 
He reasoned also a posteriori4. His ideas were innate — 

1 savants — (фр.) ученые
2 facili gradu — (лат.) с легкостью
3 a priori — (лат.) до
4 a posteriori — (лат.) после

BON-BON

5

or otherwise. He believed in George of Trebizonde — 
He believed in Bossarion. Bon-Bon was emphatic ally 
a — Bon-Bonist.
I have spoken of the philosopher in his capacity of 
restaurateur. I would not, however, have any friend of 
mine imagine that, in fulfi lling his hereditary duties 
in that line, our hero wanted a proper estimation 
of their dignity and importance. Far from it. It was 
impossible to say in which branch of his profession he 
took the greater pride. In his opinion the powers of the 
intellect held intimate connection with the capabilities 
of the stomach. I am not sure, indeed, that he greatly 
disagreed with the Chinese, who held that the soul lies 
in the abdomen. Th e Greeks at all events were right, he 
thought, who employed the same words for the mind 
and the diaphragm. By this I do not mean to insinuate 
a charge of gluttony, or indeed any other serious charge 
to the prejudice of the metaphysician. If Pierre BonBon had his failings — and what great man has not a 
thousand? — if Pierre Bon-Bon, I say, had his failings, 
they were failings of very little importance — faults 
indeed which, in other tempers, have oft en been looked 
upon rather in the light of virtues. As regards one of 
these foibles, I should not even have mentioned it in 
this history but for the remarkable prominency — the 
extreme alto relievo1 — in which it jutted out from the 
plane of his general disposition. He could never let slip 
an opportunity of making a bargain.

1 alto relievo — (итал.) большое облегчение

THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET

6

Not that he was avaricious — no. It was by no means 
necessary to the satisfaction of the philosopher, that 
the bargain should be to his own proper advantage. 
Provided a trade could be eff ected — a trade of any 
kind, upon any terms, or under any circumstances — 
a triumphant smile was seen for many days thereaft er 
to enlighten his countenance, and a knowing wink of 
the eye to give evidence of his sagacity.
At any epoch it would not be very wonderful if a 
humor so peculiar as the one I have just mentioned, 
should elicit attention and remark. At the epoch of our 
narrative, had this peculiarity not attracted observation, 
there would have been room for wonder indeed. It was 
soon reported that, upon all occasions of the kind, the 
smile of Bon-Bon was wont to diff er widely from the 
downright grin with which he would laugh at his own 
jokes, or welcome an acquaintance. Hints were thrown 
out of an exciting nature; stories were told of perilous 
bargains made in a hurry and repented of at leisure; and 
instances were adduced of unaccountable capacities, 
vague longings, and unnatural inclinations implanted 
by the author of all evil for wise purposes of his own.
The philosopher had other weaknesses — but 
they are scarcely worthy our serious examination. 
For example, there are few men of extraordinary 
profundity who are found wanting in an inclination 
for the bottle1. Whether this inclination be an exciting 

1 an inclination for the bottle — (разг.) склонность 
к пьянству

BON-BON

7

cause, or rather a valid proof of such profundity, it is a 
nice thing to say. Bon-Bon, as far as I can learn, did not 
think the subject adapted to minute investigation; — 
nor do I. Yet in the indulgence of a propensity so truly 
classical, it is not to be supposed that the restaurateur 
would lose sight of that intuitive discrimination which 
was wont to characterize, at one and the same time, 
his essais and his omelettes. In his seclusions the Vin 
de Bourgogne had its allotted hour, and there were 
appropriate moments for the Côtés du Rhone. With 
him Sauterne was to Medoc what Catullus1 was to 
Homer2. He would sport with a syllogism in sipping St. 
Peray, but unravel an argument over Clos de Vougeot, 
and upset a theory in a torrent of Chambertin. Well 
had it been if the same quick sense of propriety had 
attended him in the peddling propensity to which I 
have formerly alluded — but this was by no means the 
case. Indeed to say the truth, that trait of mind in the 
philosophic Bon-Bon did begin at length to assume 
a character of strange intensity and mysticism, and 
appeared deeply tinctured with the diablerie of his 
favorite German studies.
To enter the little Café in the cul-de-sac Le Febvre 
was, at the period of our tale, to enter the sanctum of 
a man of genius. Bon-Bon was a man of genius. Th ere 

1 Catullus — Гай Валерий Катулл (87–54 до н. э.), римский поэт
2 Homer — Гомер (VIII в. до н. э.), древнегреческий 
поэт

THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET

8

was not a sous-cuisinier1 in Rouen, who could not 
have told you that Bon-Bon was a man of genius. His 
very cat knew it, and forebore to whisk her tail in the 
presence of the man of genius. His large water-dog was 
acquainted with the fact, and upon the approach of his 
master, betrayed his sense of inferiority by a sanctity of 
deportment, a debasement of the ears, and a dropping 
of the lower jaw not altogether unworthy of a dog. It is, 
however, true that much of this habitual respect might 
have been attributed to the personal appearance of 
the metaphysician. A distinguished exterior will, I am 
constrained to say, have its way even with a beast; and 
I am willing to allow much in the outward man of the 
restaurateur calculated to impress the imagination of 
the quadruped. Th ere is a peculiar majesty about the 
atmosphere of the little great — if I may be permitted 
so equivocal an expression — which mere physical 
bulk alone will be found at all times ineffi  cient in 
creating. If, however, Bon-Bon was barely three feet in 
height, and if his head was diminutively small, still it 
was impossible to behold the rotundity of his stomach 
without a sense of magnifi cence nearly bordering upon 
the sublime. In its size both dogs and men must have 
seen a type of his acquirements — in its immensity a 
fi tting habitation for his immortal soul.
I might here — if it so pleased me — dilate upon the 
matter of habiliment, and other mere circumstances 

1 sous-cuisinier — (фр.) помощник повара, сушеф

BON-BON

9

of the external metaphysician. I might hint that the 
hair of our hero was worn short, combed smoothly 
over his forehead, and surmounted by a conicalshaped white fl annel cap and tassels — that his peagreen jerkin was not aft er the fashion of those worn by 
the common class of restaurateurs at that day — that 
the sleeves were something fuller than the reigning 
costume permitted — that the cuff s were turned up, 
not as usual in that barbarous period, with cloth of 
the same quality and color as the garment, but faced 
in a more fanciful manner with the particolored velvet 
of Genoa — that his slippers were of a bright purple, 
curiously fi ligreed, and might have been manufactured 
in Japan, but for the exquisite pointing of the toes, and 
the brilliant tints of the binding and embroidery — 
that his breeches were of the yellow satin-like material 
called aimable — that his sky-blue cloak, resembling 
in form a dressing-wrapper, and richly bestudded all 
over with crimson devices, fl oated cavalierly upon 
his shoulders like a mist of the morning — and that 
his tout ensemble1 gave rise to the remarkable words 
of Benevenuta, the Improvisatrice of Florence, “that 
it was diffi  cult to say whether Pierre Bon-Bon was 
indeed a bird of Paradise, or rather a very Paradise 
of perfection.” I might, I say, expatiate upon all these 
points if I pleased, — but I forbear, merely personal 
details may be left  to historical novelists, — they are 
beneath the moral dignity of matter-of-fact.

1 tout ensemble — (фр.) весь его внешний вид

THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET

10

I have said that “to enter the Café in the cul-desac Le Febvre was to enter the sanctum of a man of 
genius” — but then it was only the man of genius who 
could duly estimate the merits of the sanctum. A sign, 
consisting of a vast folio, swung before the entrance. 
On one side of the volume was painted a bottle; on the 
reverse a pate. On the back were visible in large letters 
Oeuvres de Bon-Bon. Th us was delicately shadowed 
forth the two-fold occupation of the proprietor.
Upon stepping over the threshold, the whole interior of the building presented itself to view. A long, 
low-pitched room, of antique construction, was 
indeed all the accommodation aff orded by the Café. 
In a corner of the apartment stood the bed of the 
metaphysician. An army of curtains, together with 
a canopy a là Grecque1, gave it an air at once classic 
and comfortable. In the corner diagonary opposite, 
appeared, in direct family communion, the properties 
of the kitchen and the bibliotheque. A dish of polemics 
stood peacefully upon the dresser. Here lay an ovenful 
of the latest ethics — there a kettle of duodecimo 
melanges. Volumes of German morality were hand 
and glove2 with the gridiron — a toasting-fork might 
be discovered by the side of Eusebius — Plato reclined 
at his ease in the frying-pan — and contemporary 
manuscripts were fi led away upon the spit.

1 a là Grecque — (фр.) по-гречески
2 were hand and glove — (разг.) были в полном согласии