From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordÉgoïsme ordinarily means selfishness, but Brotteaux makes it the source of generosity through identification with another sufferer.
- In the novelBrotteaux offers an exhausted, hunted priest food and shelter at risk to himself.
- In this edition“Selfishness” preserves the provocative force of égoïsme rather than quietly replacing it with empathy.
- A place to readpour sa gloire: for God’s glory.
Meaning
Related words and phrases.
Égoïsme ordinarily means selfishness, but Brotteaux makes it the source of generosity through identification with another sufferer. Bienfaisance means doing good to others, beneficence. Mérite concerns worth or credit; Longuemare distinguishes natural merit from merit before God. The speakers contest explanations of goodness while cooperating in its practice.
Use in the book
Brotteaux offers an exhausted, hunted priest food and shelter at risk to himself. Longuemare thanks him but wishes him to act for God’s glory, since merely natural virtue lacks the spiritual consequence he desires for his host. Brotteaux replies by refusing both personal love, which insufficient acquaintance prevents, and the general rights of humanity. He attributes his conduct to recognising his own vulnerability in another mortal, then adds boredom, pride and the wish to display an atheist’s capacities.
The accumulation prevents his explanation from becoming a simple, uncontested authorial theory. Some motives are deliberately unflattering and sociable teasing. Longuemare calls the self-description slander, admits his own inferiority in natural merit, and replies that divine command enables him to love the stranger more than himself. Each claims an advantage without withdrawing esteem or aid.
The subsequent actions deepen the debate. Brotteaux shelters Athénaïs and gives her half his money; in prison he works to fund Longuemare’s better quarters. The recurring effort makes practical beneficence more durable than the conversational attempt to explain it away. Longuemare’s eventual request that the atheist pray for him further qualifies any rigid assumption about who stands closer to God.
Places to read
- Chapter XII, paragraph 26Frenchpour sa gloire: for God’s glory. Longuemare makes intention toward God decisive for spiritual merit.
- Chapter XII, paragraph 27Frenchla bienfaisance est un divertissement assez fade: beneficence as a rather dull diversion. One deliberately deflationary motive among several in Brotteaux’s speech.
- Chapter XII, paragraph 27Frenchpar cet égoïsme: from that selfishness. Brotteaux identifies himself with the suffering mortal he helps.
- Chapter XII, paragraph 28Frenchje vaux moins que vous: I am worth less than you. Longuemare acknowledges the host’s natural merits while maintaining his theology.
- Chapter XIX, paragraph 9FrenchS’étant engagé à payer pour le religieux: having undertaken to pay for the priest. Brotteaux’s paid craft sustains his friend’s improved confinement.
- Chapter XXIV, paragraph 60FrenchIl n’est pas sûr que vous ne soyez pas plus près de lui que je ne le suis moi-même: you may be closer to God than I am. Longuemare’s later request resists an uncomplicated hierarchy of believer over unbeliever.
Translation in this edition
“Selfishness” preserves the provocative force of égoïsme rather than quietly replacing it with empathy. The explanation of identification follows in the speech itself. “Natural merit” does not mean an innate entitlement or legal right: it is the priest’s acknowledged human worth distinguished from a theological account of saving grace.