A Glimpse of Civilization by E.V. Lucas

Name: A Glimpse of Civilization
Author: E.V. Lucas

At an inn near Paris called "Les Quatre Fils d'Aymon," the narrator and a companion arrive by motor-car on a bitter, snowy afternoon, having driven three leagues from the heart of Paris over bleak, pavé roads. Grateful to escape the cold, they enter and are drawn to the warmth of the inn's circular stove. The narrator reflects briefly on the inn's sign, admitting to only hazy knowledge of Aymon, Duke of Dordogne, and his four sons, Renaud, Guiscard, Alard, and Richard, whose story appears in a twelfth-century French romance and in Victor Hugo's Légende des Siècles, but which he cannot properly recall. They ask for the patron, who turns out also to be the chef, found working in a vast, spotless kitchen hung with copper pots. He summons a lieutenant to mind the kitchen and joins the travelers at their table with hot cordials, discussing world affairs from the pages of the Petit Journal with grunts and chuckles, dismissing men and matters as he sees fit. The narrator marvels that such a scene, an innkeeper leaving his kitchen at five o'clock to debate politics with new arrivals, would be unthinkable in England. The patron mentions, with total indifference, that Napoleon III once dined at the inn, part of the meal cooked in a copper pipkin still kept on the kitchen wall, and that President Fallières lunched there only months before, in the very chair the narrator now occupies. Neither fact impresses him; to him life is lived in the present, and an innkeeper's life matters as much as any emperor's or president's. The narrator then describes the patron: a short man between fifty and sixty, with close-cropped grizzled hair, a grizzled imperial, and a fierce grizzled moustache often endangered by his cigarette. As a young man he cooked for an officers' mess in Algiers, where he suffered a touch of sun that the narrator credits for his excitability; at a performance of "Biribi" at Antoine's Theatre he had to be led out, overcome by its truth. He might have written poetry had his parents been rich, and might easily have fallen into trouble; even as it is, his life is not entirely smooth, since he is susceptible to romantic feeling and Madame has had to watch him closely before settling into contentment with him. Before his army service he worked briefly as a valet in London, in Half-Moon Street, and though he stayed only a few weeks and speaks no English, the experience gives him an affinity for English visitors. After a glass or two, if Madame is absent, he will confide that the only woman he ever truly loved was an English girl he met in London, though the narrator notes this subject is best not encouraged, as it leads to tears. Generally he is mocking, cynical, and appraising of modern life, with a characteristically French shrug and gesture, embodying the busy, materialistic French temperament that produces contented citizens and an efficient nation while dismaying moralists elsewhere. The door then opens, admitting an icy blast and a bareheaded little woman in a plaid shawl, her light brown hair pulled back in the French fashion, wearing large diamond earrings, with cold blue eyes capable of much surface mirth and a shrewd, calculating face. This is Madame, who sits down and talks continuously and cleverly until the travelers leave, as cynical as her husband but more alert, quick to seize and elaborate on every point. She greets each new customer who enters for coffee, cognac, or an apéritif with a jest tossed across the room, in keeping with French custom, where people talk little about how to live but live industriously, and where any guest may keep a table and seat for as long as he wishes. The narrator closes by contrasting this scene with English inns, the "Red Lions," "King's Heads," and "White Horses" of his own country, with their plethoric, vinous landlords, testy and unclean landladies, vacuous and pert barmaids, and crowds of horse-laughing loafers who do not know when to stop. He wonders to what class of English society one would need to go to find similarly vivid banter and shrewd criticism of life, concluding that licensed victuallers would certainly not be the place to look.

By E.V. Lucas · First published 1926 · Genre: Essay, Travel Writing, Social Commentary · 1,238 words

First lines

The sign of this inn, like that of so many in the fair land of France, was "Les Quatre Fils d'Aymon"; and who Aymon was, and what his four sons did, I wonder how many English people know. Aymon was the Duke of Dordogne, and his sons were Renaud, Guiscard, Alard, and Richard, and you may read of them in a twelfth-century French romance and in Victor Hugo's _Légende des Siècles_. So much I can state, but no more. There are certain things that one's memory will not retain, and the story of Aymon and his four sons is one of them. I have equal difficulty in remembering for certain whether the pen is mightier than the sword or the sword mightier than the pen.

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A Glimpse of Civilization is listed on Textopian as a short story by E.V. Lucas, dated 1926 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: E.V. Lucas
Date: 1926 CE
Language: English
Genres: Essay, Travel Writing, Social Commentary, Satirical Writing, Character Sketch
Length: 1,238 words
Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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Genres

Essay — The work employs a personal reflective essay structure with a distinct narrative voice directly addressing the reader, offering philosophical observations and conclusions about society and human nature.
Travel Writing — The piece centers on a journey from Paris and intimate observations of a specific location—a French inn—employing classic travel narrative techniques to explore place and culture.
Social Commentary — The primary content provides sustained analysis and critique of social behaviors, customs, and attitudes, particularly through explicit comparison of French and English cultural practices and values.
Satirical Writing — The narrative voice employs consistent irony and gentle satire, especially in contrasting French sophistication with English crudeness, using mockery as a tool for social critique.