Balzac "Arakawa" Synopsis and Comments - Is desire boring when it is realized? It's like a Buddhist sermon!
Arabesque is a novel published in 1831 by the French writer Balzac.
I read "Balzac's 'Human Comedy' Collection: Arakawa: Philosophy of Desire" translated by Takamasa Ogura from Fujiwara Shoten.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
The young Raphael de Valentin, who spent his life in debauchery on his dead father's meager inheritance, realizes the emptiness of his life and falls in love with a wealthy Russian woman, Fedra. He even contemplates suicide. It is during this time that he receives a piece of "arabesque" from the owner of an antique shop that he happens to walk into. It is a magical skin that immediately grants the owner's wishes, but at the same time, each time a wish comes true, it shrinks in size. Raphael becomes rich and enjoys a short life of happiness with the lovely Pauline, but the skin shrinks to the size of a leaf. Raphael eventually falls ill and goes to a spa resort to recover, but his health does not improve and he returns to Paris. He returns to Paris and dies, tormented by his intense desire for Pauline.
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Raphael, in despair of all things, has by chance come into possession of an arabesque.
This arabesque can fulfill any wish of its owner.
But at the cost of the lives that are left behind...
Fulfilling our desires has an irresistible allure for us.
It may simply take the obvious forms of appetite, sexual desire, or desire for power, or it may take many forms depending on the desires of each individual.
And that desire will always drive us. Sometimes we may feel a craving that burns us out.
One pattern is that this desire is usually the cause of man's downfall.
But if that desire is fulfilled, then we can imagine from experience that we will not be saved from the craving that will consume us without suffering.
This work is the story of a young man whose life changes forever the moment he realizes that all of his desires will come true, and he is doomed to have his remaining life diminished each time his desires come true.
Thoughts - From a Dostoevskyian Perspective
In my previous article.Eugenie Grande."As well, the young Dostoevsky would have read this work by the French literary giant Balzac.
Although we cannot find any direct reference to this work in his works or records, the influence of this work on the subject of desire cannot be overlooked.
Now, when I read this piece, I personally thought that, as the title says, I could feel the atmosphere of a Buddhist sermon from this piece.
I would like to quote that part, although it is a bit long.
The scene takes place after Raphael, who has obtained an arabesque that can fulfill all his desires, uses his power to attend a social party in high society. The party he attended was full of young people and a great deal of fun, and the drunken people had just arrived in the morning (actually, noon) at the venue.
Around noon the next day, the beautiful Akilina woke up yawning. She was tired, and her cheeks were mottled with the marks of the colored velvet seat on which she had rested her head. Wohladjie was awakened by Akilina's movement and woke up suddenly with a shrill cry. Her face, which had been so white and fresh the night before, was now as yellow and gaunt as a prostitute in a sanitarium. The guests began to move slowly, moaning in an awkward manner. Their arms and legs went numb, and when they awoke, they were limp from various forms of exhaustion. A servant came and opened the salon's shutters and windows. The people there sat up, revived by the warm sunlight dancing on the faces of the sleeping ones. The women looked hideous in the glare of the sun, their elegant hairstyles disheveled from repeated tossing and turning, and their makeup had fallen off. Their hair was disheveled and hanging down, their expressions had changed, and their eyes, which had once been so lively, were now tired and dull. The yellowish complexion that glowed brightly in the candlelight was now hideously disfigured, and when at rest, the white, soft, lymphoid face had turned green. The mouth, once red and voluptuous, was now white and dried up, bearing the shameful traces of drunkenness.
The men could not believe it was the woman of the previous night when they saw her pale as a dead woman, like a flower being crushed in the street after the procession had passed by. The arrogant men, however, were even uglier. Their hollow, dark eyes seemed to see nothing, and it would have been horrifying to see their faces, paralyzed by alcohol and stunned by a shallow sleep that exhausted rather than energized them. There was something fierce and coldly bestial about these sunburned faces, which showed nothing but the desires of the flesh, without the poetic sentiment that decorates the soul. These brave competitors, accustomed as they were to fighting debauchery, were horrified to see this awakening of vice, stripped of garments and white powder, and to see this ragged, cold, empty, sophomoric husk of the spirit. The artists and the high-class prostitutes stood still and silent, gazing with bloodshot eyes at the messy room, where everything had been destroyed and burned by the flames of lust. (omitted).
It was a scene that lacked nothing. It was nothing less than a dirty life in the midst of luxury, a terrible mixture of human affluence and poverty. It was the awakening of debauchery, when debauchery squeezed the fruits of life out of its great hands, leaving behind nothing but ugly debris and falsehoods that even it did not believe in. It was as if "death" was smiling down on the plague-stricken family. There was no longer any fragrance, no dazzling light, no cheerfulness, no desire. There was only disgust, its disgusting smell, and its sorrowful philosophy, the sun shining brilliantly like truth, and the air pure like virtue, in vivid contrast to the warm, miasma-infested air and the miasma of the boisterous revelry!
Fujiwara Shoten, Kosei Ogura, "Balzac's 'Human Comedy' Collection: Arakawa - Philosophy of Desire," p. 243-244
The women who looked so beautiful when they were out drunkenly cavorting in the middle of the night are now in a state of utter disrepair when they wake up in the morning. And the men who watch them look even more miserable.
The reality of the glamorous social gatherings with beautiful women that I had sought so much is nothing more than a miserable scene unfolding before my eyes in the morning.
Once desires are fulfilled, all that is left is emptiness.
Raphael was afraid of the very desire to devour life.
This was the most memorable scene in "Arahada," and as I mentioned earlier, it is actually a very Buddhist story.
The first thing that came to mind when I read this story was a certain story from the life of Buddha.
Buddha was also originally a prince of the Shakyamuni tribe and was in a position to fulfill whatever he desired.
His father, the king, was planning to give Buddha all the pleasures of the world and the taste of being a king in order to have him succeed to the throne.
So the young Buddha was treated to a huge banquet, with great music, sumptuous food, and many beautiful women dancing, singing, and feasting in his presence.
Of course, plenty of alcohol is served at the banquet, and the party is a great success. The revelry continues until late at night.
But someday the feast will come to an end, and all the drunken people will be sleeping on the spot.
It is said that seeing their ugly appearance, Buddha was once again reminded of the fragility of this world, despaired of this world, and further strengthened his intention to ordain.
I imagine that because Buddha was in a position to fulfill his desires, he must have been terribly pained by the emptiness of the pursuit of desire.
Having desires is an inevitable part of being human. However, what awaits us at the end of our endless pursuit of desire is what Buddha lamented.
That is precisely what the ugly end of this glamorous extravaganza symbolizes.
It looked so beautiful and wonderful in the night, but once the dream was lifted, it was a disaster that could not be seen.
Desire looks beautiful because it is unfulfilled. If only I had this, I would be happy. Desire has a dangerous magical power to make us believe so.
But once fulfilled, desire in turn leads to emptiness. And to fill the emptiness, the desire is stirred up again. The cycle repeats itself.
And in the end, it will shorten your life ...
This is a story that is often told in Buddha's stories.
I read Balzac's "Arakawa," and I was unintentionally reminded of this story.
I still strongly feel that people do not change even if times and places change.
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