A Zola Dictionary Part 31

RUSCONI (CHEVALIER), the Sardinian Minister at Paris, a friend of Comtesse Balbi, and her daughter. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

S

SABATANI, a native of the Levant, who appeared in Paris after defaulting on some foreign Stock Exchange. He was a handsome man, and little by little gained the confidence of the Bourse "by scrupulous correctness of behaviour and an unremitting graciousness even towards the most disreputable." He began doing business with Mazard by depositing a small sum as "cover" in the belief that the insignificance of the amount would in time be forgotten; and "he evinced great prudence, increasing the orders in a stealthy gradual fashion, pending the day when, with a heavy settlement to meet, it would be necessary for him to disappear." When Saccard founded the Universal Bank, he selected Sabatani as the "man of straw" in whose name the shares held by the Bank itself were to be taken up. Sabatani soon increased his speculations to an enormous extent, gaining large sums, but after the collapse of the Universal Bank he disappeared without paying his "differences," thereby contributing largely to the ruin of Mazard. L'Argent.

SABOT, a vine-grower of Brinqueville. He was a renowned joker, who entered into a compet.i.tion with Hyacinthe Fouan, but was beaten by him.

La Terre.

SACCARD, the name a.s.sumed by Aristide Rougon, on the suggestion of his brother Eugene. See Rougon (Aristide). La Curee.

SACCARD (VICTOR). See Victor Rougon.

SAFFRE (DE), secretary to Eugene Rougon, the Minister of State. La Curee.

SAGET (MADEMOISELLE), an old lady who had lived in the Rue Pirouette for forty years. She never spoke about herself, but she spent her life in getting information about her neighbours, carrying her prying curiosity so far as to listen behind their doors and open their letters. She went about all day pretending she was marketing, but in reality merely spreading scandal and getting information. By bullying little Pauline Quenu, she got a hint of Florent's past history, which she promptly spread through the markets, even going the length of writing an anonymous letter to the Prefect of Police. Le Ventre de Paris.

SAINT-FIRMIN (OSCAR DE), a character in _La Pet.i.te d.u.c.h.esse_, a play by Fauchery. The part was played by Prulliere. Nana.

SAINT-GERMAIN (MADEMOISELLE DE), was the owner of a princely house in Rue Saint-Lazare, which after her death became the property of Princess d'Orviedo. L'Argent.

SAINTS-ANGES (LA MERE DES), superior of the Convent of the Visitation at Clermont. She saved from the cloister Christine Hallegrain, who had not a religious vocation, and obtained for her a situation to Madame de Vanzade. L'Oeuvre.

SALMON, a speculator on the Paris Bourse who pa.s.sed for a man of extraordinary ac.u.men by listening to everyone and saying nothing.

He answered only by smiles, and one could never tell in what he was speculating or whether he was speculating at all. L'Argent.

SALNEUVE (DE), a man of considerable importance in the Second Empire, whose influence was secured for Eugene Rougon by Clorinde Balbi. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

SAMBUC (GUILLAUME), one of the francs-tireurs who carried on a guerilla warfare against the Germans in 1870. He was the worthy son of a family of scoundrels, and lived by theft and rapine. He furnished most valuable information to the French generals regarding the movement of the Prussians to surprise Beaumont, but his information was disregarded till too late. The francs-tireurs had a particular hatred against Goliath Steinberg, the German spy, and, instigated by Silvine Morange, Sambuc arranged for his capture, afterwards killing him by cutting his throat.

La Debacle.

SAMBUC (PROSPER), brother of the preceding. Of a nature docile and hard-working, he hated the life of the woods, and would have liked to be a farm labourer. He entered the army and became one of the Cha.s.seurs d'Afrique. Sent to France to take part in the war against Germany, he shared in many weary marches, but saw no fighting, till the battle of Sedan, when his horse, Zephir, which he loved like a brother, was killed under him. He made his escape after the battle, and having been able to change his uniform for the clothes of a countryman, he returned to Remilly and got employment on the farm of Fouchard. La Debacle.

SANDORFF, a member of the Austrian Emba.s.sy at Paris. He married Mlle.

de Ladricourt, who was much younger than he. He was very n.i.g.g.ardly.

L'Argent.

SANDORFF (BARONESS), wife of the Councillor to the Austrian Emba.s.sy, who was thirty-five years older than herself. She was an inveterate speculator, and, as her husband refused to a.s.sist her, she found it necessary to have recourse to her lovers when her losses were greater than usual. She stopped at nothing to gain information, and at one time was on intimate terms with Saccard. Having quarrelled with him, she hastened the downfall of the Universal Bank, by giving information to Gundermann which caused him to continue his attack on the Bank.

L'Argent.

SANDOZ (PERE), a Spaniard who took refuge in France in consequence of a political disturbance in which he was involved. He started near Pla.s.sans a paper mill with new machinery of his own invention. When he died, almost heart-broken by the petty local jealousy that had sought to hamper him in every way, his widow found herself in a position so involved, and burdened with so many tangled lawsuits, that the whole of her remaining means were swallowed up. L'Oeuvre.

SANDOZ MERE (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was a native of Burgundy.

Yielding to her hatred of the Provencals, whom she blamed for the death of her husband, and even for the slow paralysis from which she herself was suffering, she migrated to Paris, with her son Pierre, who then supported her out of a clerk's small salary. In Rue d'Enfer she occupied a single room on the same flat as her son, and there, disabled by paralysis, lived in morose and voluntary solitude, surrounded by his tender care. Later, Pierre, who was now married, and was making a considerable income, took a house in Rue Nollet, and there Madame Sandoz pa.s.sed her remaining years. L'Oeuvre.

SANDOZ (PIERRE), a famous novelist whose youth was spent at Pla.s.sans, where at school he was the inseparable companion of Claude Lantier and Dubuche. The favourite amus.e.m.e.nt of the boys was walking, and together they took long excursions, spending whole days in the country. After the death of his father Sandoz went to Paris, where he got employment at a small salary at the _Mairie_ of the fifth arrondiss.e.m.e.nt, in the office for registration of births; he was chained there by the thought of his mother, whom he had to support, and to whom he was tenderly attached.

Presently he published his first book: a series of mild sketches, brought with him from Pla.s.sans, among which only a few rougher notes indicated the mutineer, the lover of truth and power. He lived at this time with his mother in a little house in Rue d'Enfer, and there he received each Thursday evening his old friends from Pla.s.sans, Claude Lantier and Dubuche, and with them f.a.gerolles, Mahoudeau, Jory, Gagniere, now reunited at Paris, and all animated by the same pa.s.sion for art. He was still obsessed by a desire for literary glory, and had thoughts of writing a poem on some vast subject, but at last he hit on a scheme which soon took form in his mind. With reference to it he said, "I am going to take a family, and I shall study its members, one by one, whence they come, whither they go, how they react upon one another--in short, humanity in a small compa.s.s, the way in which humanity grows and behaves. On the other hand, I shall set my men and women in a determined period of history, which will provide me with the necessary surroundings and circ.u.mstances, a slice of history--you understand, eh? A series of fifteen or twenty books, episodes that will cling together although having each a separate framework, a suite of novels with which I shall be able to build myself a house for my old age if they don't crush me." The first of the novels met with some success, and Sandoz having resigned his appointment, and put his trust entirely in literature, married a young girl named Henriette, the daughter of middle-cla.s.s parents, and removed his house to Rue Nollet. In course of time his circ.u.mstances became still more comfortable, and he again removed to a large house in Rue de Londres. When Claude Lantier fell into misery and despair, a gradual separation came about between him and his friends, but Sandoz remained true to the old companionship. He was one of the few mourners who attended the funeral of the unfortunate artist. L'Oeuvre.

SANDOZ (MADAME HENRIETTE), wife of the preceding. She was an orphan, the daughter of a small shop-keeper, without a penny, but pretty and intelligent. She occupied herself much with the affairs of the kitchen, being specially proud of some of her dishes. Even later, when the family was more prosperous and had removed to a large flat in Rue de Londres, Henriette continued to take personal charge, out of affection for her husband, whose only fault was a tendency to gluttony. L'Oeuvre.

SANQUIRINO (d.u.c.h.eSSE), a lady of the Italian aristocracy, who resided at Paris. She gave Eugene Rougon very unsatisfactory information regarding Comtesse Balbi and her daughter Clorinde. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

SANS-POUCE, one of the brigands of the band of Beau-Francois. La Terre.

SAPIN, sergeant in Captain Beaudoin's company of the 106th Regiment of the line. "The son of a Lyons grocer in a small way of business, spoilt by his mother, who was dead, and unable to get on with his father, he had remained in the regiment disgusted with everything, but unwilling to be bought out." Later he became engaged to one of his cousins, who had a small dowry, and began to take an interest in life. During the march to Sedan, however, he became impressed with the idea that he would be killed, and this belief was realized during the fighting on 1st September, 1870. La Debacle.

SAPIN (LA), a disreputable old woman at Magnolles who performed illegal operations and pretended to work magic.

SARRIET (MADAME), sister of Madame Lecoeur and of Madame Gavard; mother of La Sarriette. Le Ventre de Paris.

SARRIET, usually called La Sarriette, was the niece of Madame Lecoeur.

She grew up in the markets and her sympathies were with the lower ranks of the people. At twenty she set up in business as a fruit-dealer, and took as her lover a young man named Jules, who was employed by her aunt as a porter. After the arrest of Gavard, her uncle by marriage, La Sarriette and her aunt divided his money between them. Le Ventre de Paris.

SARTEUR, a journeyman hatter at Pla.s.sans. He was afflicted with homicidal mania, and was confined for a time in the asylum at Tulettes.

While there he was treated by Doctor Pascal Rougon, who affected a cure by hypodermic injections of a substance with which he had long experimented. Sarteur was released from the asylum, but the cure was not permanent, for a few months afterwards the unfortunate man became conscious of a return of his homicidal mania, and, to prevent its operation, hanged himself. Le Docteur Pascal.

SATIN, a friend of Nana from childhood, having, like her, attended the school of Mademoiselle Josse. She was a regular customer at Laure Piedefer's restaurant, where she met Madame Robert. She lived for a time with Nana, of whom she was intensely jealous, and in time gained control of the whole household. She died in the hospital of Lariboisiere. Nana.

SAUCISSE (LA PERE), an old peasant of Rognes, who owned an acre of land which he sold to Pere Fouan for an annuity of fifteen sous a day. In order to dupe the old man, he pretended to be in bad health. Later, terrorized by Buteau, he cancelled the agreement, and repaid half the sums he had received. La Terre.

SAUVAGNAT, a friend of Pluchart. He lived at Marchiennes. Germinal.

SAUVAGNAT, chief of the depot at Havre, lived in a cottage near the engine depot, which his sister Philomene kept for him, but greatly neglected. He was an obstinate man and a strict disciplinarian, greatly esteemed by his superiors, but had met with the utmost vexation on account of his sister, even to the point of being threatened with dismissal. If the Company bore with her now on his account, he only kept her with him because of the family tie; but this did not prevent him belabouring her so severely with blows whenever he caught her at fault that he frequently left her half dead on the floor. La Bete Humaine.

SAUVAGNAT (PHILOMENE), sister of the preceding, was a tall, thin woman of thirty-two, who after numerous love-affairs had settled down with Pecqueux, whose mistress she became. She had the reputation of drinking.

A subsequent intrigue between her and Jacques Lantier excited the jealousy of Pecqueux to the point of murder. La Bete Humaine.

SAUVEUR (MADAME), a dress-maker, who numbered Madame Desforges among her customers. She frequented Mouret's shop, _Au Bonheur des Dames_, on the occasions of great sales, purchasing large quant.i.ties of stuff which she afterwards sold to her own customers at higher prices. Au Bonheur des Dames.

SAUVIGNY (DE), judge of the race for the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.

SCHLOSSER, a speculator on the Paris Bourse. He was secretly a.s.sociated with Sabatani, with whom he carried out many schemes to their mutual advantage. L'Argent.

SCOTS (H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF). See Ecosse.

SEDILLE, a native of Lyons, who established himself in Paris, and after thirty years' toil succeeded in making his silk business one of the best known in the city. Unfortunately he acquired a pa.s.sion for gambling, and a couple of successful ventures made him altogether lose his head. From that time he neglected his business, and ruin lay inevitably at the end.

On the invitation of Saccard he became a Director of the Universal Bank.

Like the other Directors, he speculated largely in the shares of the Bank; but, unlike most of them, he did not sell in time, with the result that he was completely ruined, and his bankruptcy followed. L'Argent.

SEDILLE (GUSTAVE), son of M. Sedille, the silk merchant. To the disappointment of his father, he despised commercial pursuits, and cared only for pleasure. In the hope that he might take an interest in finance, he was given a situation in the office of Mazard, the stockbroker, where, however, he did little work, and soon engaged in speculations on his own account. The failure of the Universal Bank left him penniless, and deep in debt. L'Argent.

SICARDOT (COMMANDER), the father-in-law of Aristide Rougon. He had the strongest intellect of the politicians who met in Pierre Rougon's yellow drawing-room. He was taken prisoner by the insurgents at the time of the _Coup d'Etat_. La Fortune des Rougon.

SICARDOT, the name of Aristide Rougon's wife's family. He adopted this name when he went to Paris in 1851, using it for considerable time before he again changed it to Saccard. L'Argent.

SICARDOT (ANGELE). See Madame Aristide Rougon.