Facino Cane

THE HUMAN COMEDY – Honoré de Balzac Tenth volume of works of Honoré de Balzac edited by widow André Houssiaux, publisher, Hebert and Co, successors, 7 rue Perronet – Paris (1877) Scenes from Parisian life

FACINO CANE Tale by Honoré de Balzac (1836)

Analysis of the work Facino Cane was placed by Balzac, along with Sarrasine and Pierre Grassou , in Scènes de la vie parisienne, immediately before the story l’Histoire des parents pauvres. Facino Cane belongs to a rather different period in Balzac’s output, since this short story was published at a time when Balzac had to provide copy to cope with the periodic publication of the Chronique de Paris, the bi-weekly newspaper he had unwisely bought in 1836. In addition, Facino Cane was not until late classified in the Scènes de la vie parisienne (Scenes of Parisian Life): this tale rightly belongs in the Etudes philosophiques, where Balzac had originally placed it. Balzac’s tale is made up of two skilfully joined but different parts, which have only one thing in common: they are two examples of those physiological peculiarities which interested Balzac from his youth, and which provided him with the subject of most of his Etudes philosophiques. The first part is often cited by Balzac historians. It’s an evocation of his youth, when he secretly wrote his first drafts in a garret on rue Lesdiguières, near the Bastille. After work, he would sometimes take an evening stroll along nearby Boulevard Bourdon, a deserted spot where he was unlikely to run into family friends. He amused himself by following passers-by, and through the words he heard, he reconstructed their lives, shared their concerns and thoughts, and became those he was following in this way. This ability to enter another life by intuition, to imagine it in its entirety from minimal observations, from remarks perceived instinctively, seemed to him analogous to the gift of “second sight”. This power he had seemed to him, in this respect, of the same nature as those which certain individuals possess or manage to develop within themselves, and put him on the track of those atrophied organs, those antennae, which subsist in certain human sensibilities and which are analogous to the mysterious senses, unknown to us, which animals possess. The eventful life the blind beggar tells Balzac, which forms the second part of the story, contains a similar fact. This beggar has a famous name, he once belonged to a patrician family in Venice, he killed a rival, he was condemned, he managed to escape. But he had a gift that enabled him not only to guide his escape, but to make a great fortune: he had the power to smell gold, like a dog smells game. It was this gift, he believes, that eventually caused him to lose his sight. It is as an example of the strange powers possessed by certain men that Balzac includes him in his gallery of the extra-lucid.

The Story Balzac’s inspiration for this tale came from an invitation he received from his housekeeper, the wife of a workman, to do him the honor of attending the wedding of one of his sisters. The feast and ball are held at a wine merchant’s. The orchestra hired for the occasion was made up of three blind men from the Quinze-Vingts, whose octogenarian clarinet player caught the author’s full attention. This enigmatic character is Facino Cane. Originally from Venice, where his father took refuge from the Viscontis, Marco Facino Cane is a descendant of the famous Facino Cane condottiere, whose conquests benefited the Dukes of Milan. This old man’s poverty would make anyone disbelieve that he was once a senator from Venice. In 1760, Facino Cane is young, handsome, rich and, what’s more, in love with the beautiful young wife of the wealthy senator Sagredo. Surprised by the husband’s love talk, the young lover saves his life by killing Bianca’s husband. He decided to flee – but was condemned and all his assets were confiscated for the benefit of his heirs. A refugee in Milan with a passion for gold, he gambled himself into debt. Totally ruined, he finds rest and refuge, for a while, with his former mistress. He will be found and imprisoned. Bianca dies of her wounds from trying to save him. Condemned to death, he discovers, camouflaged behind two blocks of stone in his prison, the outline of a secret passage. He then began his escape, continuing the work left by his predecessor. Digging deeper, he discovers the room where the reserves of the Venetian denarius treasure are kept. To ensure the success of his escape plan and the theft of the treasure, he buys the jailer’s help. Exiled to Paris and rich to the tune of six million, Facino Cane lived in style at the court of Louis XV. He falls in love with one of Madame du Barry’s friends, and his happiness is complete. It was short-lived, as Facino Cane was struck blind and stripped of his fortune by his mistress. An outcast who took refuge in France under a false name, he didn’t dare ask for help, and it was once again ruined that he joined the Quinze-Vingts orchestra as a musician.

Source analysis: Preface and story compiled from the complete works of the Comédie Humaine (tome XVI) published by France Loisirs 1986 under the auspices of the Société des Amis d’Honoré de Balzac.

The characters Marco Facino Cane: Prince of Varese, died 1820.

Source: Félicien Marceau, “Balzac et son monde”, Gallimard.