"The Peasants" by Honoré de Balzac, summary Automatic translate

The author developed this social novel over a long period, from 1837 to 1844, and published it in full in 1855. This book is a profound, anatomical study of the hidden class struggle in the French provinces during the Restoration period. The writer reveals the harsh truth about the clash between large landowners and the interests of the petty bourgeoisie and the impoverished rural population.

The book is part of the grand cycle "The Human Comedy," occupying a place in the "Scenes of Village Life" series. Together with the novels "The Country Doctor" (1833) and "The Country Curate" (1841), this work forms a trilogy that explores social and economic processes in the French countryside in the 19th century.

Luxurious Egi and the arrival of a Parisian guest

The action begins in August 1823, when Parisian journalist Émile Blondet arrives at the Burgundy estate of Éguy at the invitation of its owner, Countess Virginie de Montcornet. In a letter to his friend, Blondet describes the splendor of the château, founded in 1560, its shady parks, ponds, the Avon River, and its rich history. In previous eras, the estate belonged to royal mistresses, then to the tax farmer Bouret, and before the Revolution of 1789, it passed to the singer Mademoiselle Laguerre.

After the actress’s death in 1815, the estate was purchased at auction for one million one hundred thousand francs by the military general, Count de Montcornet. The new owner, distinguished for his bravery in the Battle of Essling, hoped to find peace and income on the estate. However, this corner of the estate harbored a deep-seated hostility among the local community against the wealthy owner.

The customs of the local poor and the conspiracy of the bourgeoisie

During a morning walk to the source of the Avona, Blondet encounters the cunning old man Fourchon and his grandson Mouche. The old rascal plays a farce on the Parisian, trapping an otter and swindling him out of money. This incident becomes the journalist’s first telling example of peasant cunning.

The main organizer of the struggle against the Count is François Gaubertin. The former manager of the Egoves, dismissed by Montcornet for embezzlement and publicly insulted by him, settled in the district capital of Ville-aux-Fayes. Having become the city’s mayor, Gaubertin brought the entire region under his influence. He created a network of officials, judges, notaries, and moneylenders who formed a local "mediocracy."

Gaubertin’s allies include the former monk and cruel moneylender Grégoire Rigou, as well as the retired gendarme Soudry. This coalition aims to ruin Montcornet, force him to sell his estate, and then divide the valuable lands and forests among themselves.

Escalating conflict over forest threats

General Montcornet finds himself confronted by local residents who regularly ravage his forests, cutting down young trees, grazing cattle on the lord’s meadows, and stealing the harvest. Wanting to restore order, the Count fires the lazy watchman, Courtcuis, and hires stern ex-Imperial Guard soldiers led by the honest and uncompromising Justin Michaux.

Montcornet himself becomes mayor of Blangy, appoints his loyal guard, Groisson, and issues a strict decree: only local poor people with a special certificate are to be allowed to collect the ears of grain.

The peasants perceive these legal measures as a personal insult and begin open rebellion. The "Great Intoxication" tavern, owned by the poacher François Tonsard, becomes the headquarters of the discontented. The most desperate villagers gather here: the drunkard Laroche, the former guard Vaudoyer, the slacker Bonnebault, and the Tonsard family.

The peasant women begin to quietly destroy the trees, cutting off the ring of bark at the very roots so that the trunks dry out and turn into deadwood, which can be harvested. One of the guards, Vatel, tries to apprehend Granny Tonsar with a stolen oak tree, but in the Tonsar’s tavern, she throws hot ashes in his eyes, and the dry logs are hidden.

Attempts at mercy and a tragic ending

Seeking to win the favor of the locals, the Countess and Abbé Brosset attempt to engage in charity work. The Countess takes care of the orphan Geneviève Niesron, nicknamed Pechina, granddaughter of the honest old republican Jean-François Niesron. Pechina is pursued by the moneylender Riga and the sons of Tonsard, but the girl is passionately and unrequitedly in love with the chief of the guard, Michaud. To protect her from advances, the Countess sends her to the convent in Ossérie.

However, these good deeds are met with only hypocritical gratitude and hidden malice. Soon, the tavern keepers stage a cunning plot: Granny Tonsard, for a reward, agrees to be caught damaging trees in order to extort from the count the money promised for the criminal’s capture. At the trial, thanks to Misho’s testimony, the old woman receives a five-year prison sentence, which finally overwhelms the Tonsards’ hatred for the chief of security.

One night, Michaud’s pregnant wife, Olympia, begins having false labor pains. The chief of the guard rides to Soulanges to fetch Doctor Gourdon. On the way back, he is ambushed by conspirators in the forest. A shot from a soldier’s rifle rings out from behind the bushes, and Michaud falls dead, shot through the spine.

The murdered man’s horse arrives at the gate alone. Seeing the bloody saddle, Olympia runs in horror to the castle, gives birth to a stillborn child, and dies in the Count’s arms. Investigators and gendarmes are unable to find any evidence: the entire village remains silent, and the perpetrators of the crime provide themselves with an alibi by drinking together in a tavern.

The triumph of the conspirators and the destruction of the estate

Realizing he faces mortal danger in this area and the law is powerless against mutual responsibility, Count Montcornet decides to sell the estate. The final straw comes with a nighttime encounter with Bonnebault: the village slicker bluntly tells the general that a thousand écus has been offered for his head and that he’d better sell the lands before someone else shoots him.

In May 1824, the Eguis were put up for auction. The entire estate was purchased for two million one hundred fifty thousand francs by Riga, acting in the interests of the conspirators. The estate was immediately divided: Gaubertin took the valuable forests, Riga and Sudri the vineyards and arable land, and the castle itself and the ancient park were sold to buyers for demolition. The magnificent structure was destroyed, and the centuries-old park was plowed into small peasant plots.

Thirteen years later, in the winter of 1837, Émile Blondet, who had married the widowed Countess de Montcornet and been appointed prefect, passed the former Porte de Blangis with his wife. In place of the former majestic park and lush forests, they saw only bleak, jagged strips of land belonging to hundreds of smallholders. The rural bourgeoisie and peasants had achieved complete victory, destroying the noble seat and turning the former Burgundian Arcadia into a pulverized wasteland.