BOOK FOURTEENTH.--THE GRANDEURS OF DESPAIR touch it. This puzzled Cosette, because of the odor of embalming which It was She! only the law when entire. No! no charter!" changed.] cloud that one might have thought that everything in this soul was symptom was that they had caused a swoon, and that people do not always artillery arrives, the cavalry rushes in where the artillery was, the One of the two pieces which was now battering the barricade on the Rue It was a narrow, natural basin, hollowed out by the water in a clayey singing in the elm-trees. On the one hand, the sound of liberty, the earn money there, and as soon as I have a little I will return for my Tholomyès as to a husband, and the poor girl had a child. "What cabriolet?" Moreover, and particularly in this immemorial and senseless waste, Paris his compact. He came to see the children every six months. He did not replying to some one, and as soon as he was addressed, his lips became As for the mother, her appearance was sad and poverty-stricken. She to ask you something." with a voice which neither trembled nor rose above its ordinary level, chimney-piece, there were three men, one standing erect, another Jean Valjean began to laugh. guard was massed on a slope of the plain. Around this knoll the balls wide brim, and a long coat of coarse cloth, buttoned to the chin. He go straight to the centre of the Allies' line, to make a breach in the and we have just explained why. The crowd is restive in the presence of Geniuses in the impenetrable depths of abstraction and pure speculation, was Jean Valjean? A pruner of trees. Where? At Faverolles. Another fact. Here and there, particularly beneath the Court-House, they thought they fusillade, set about plundering another cartridge-box. There a fourth Buseaupied, who sells herbs at the corner of the Rue Saint-Saulve. You They had tried, but in vain, to drag him out. An unmethodical effort, should run the risk of lifting itself above the top of that wall of gratitude towards M. Gillenormand, dreamed of a happiness without limit Blücher, as he put the flying army to the sword; that which, from the "Come with us, young fellow! well now, don't we do anything for this old M. sur M."; and at night, dripping with perspiration, overwhelmed with evening I jostled a woman who was quarrelling. All that's bad. Let's small house of a single story, the window of which was lighted up. He accomplished a double progress, towards the light and towards distress. owed him nothing, and I, who owe so much to Thénardier, cannot join him "worked for his living and stole"? window sashes with their glass planted there in the ruins awaiting the Favourite, Dahlia, Zéphine, and Fantine were four ravishing young women, forces takes possession of you. You struggle in vain; no more human two clouds are laden with lightning, and which were bound to overflow presented itself to him was the basket of silverware; he seized it, quivering in the shadows. He turned his back to the grating, and fell given, certain shocks arriving to bring his under-nature to the surface, that. I did not hear aright. It cannot have been that monster of a families, a thousand families, are happy; the district becomes there. _preachy, preachy_, in their skullcaps, and who think themselves above Those heaps of filth at the gate-posts, those tumbrils of mud which jolt daughter had just left their seat, and the daughter had taken her to me that Paris is waking up." Javert began again calmly:-- within him. He was in a transport, trembling, panting. All at once, The voice which had summoned Marius through the twilight to the one there. Araby!_ exclaimed romance. _Oscar advances. Oscar, I shall behold him!_ locksmith. If you wish to pass out, you will be condemned to execute a just, if there are any such. The point of departure, like the point "So it was a woman?" said he. Thénardier, he would address him only by throwing himself at his feet; himself in this boat until night. At night he swam off again, and would be gallant, violins would be heard under the trees. Here is my may be imagined, and that is a hell where one is bored. If such a hell He arrived at a wall. first who had ever shed blood with the object of healing. thus, and recommend her well to the sisters, in case he should be go about as though there were nothing the matter. "It is all the same to ceilings with great Gobelins and Beauvais tapestries representing "Give me your hand," said the doctor. vehicles is at once a spectator and a spectacle. Police-sergeants human, if they are to correspond to the enlargement of civilization. sinister; wolves recoil when they encounter a ghoul. placed them, lighted, on the table. greatly astonished had any one told them a fortnight later, that they At that word which Jean Valjean had just uttered once more, all that was Waterloo. Since the Restoration disputes my right to this title which I Satan has two names; he is called Satan and Lying. That is what she CHAPTER II--THE OBSCURITIES WHICH A REVELATION CAN CONTAIN thrust, stuffed into the hole, before he had time to recover himself, little-frequented street in which was situated the parsonage of the "That is well, but what do you intend to do?" deep, a fine head marked with a black star, a very long neck, strongly After the last cannon-shot had been fired, the plain of Mont-Saint-Jean It certainly was the outlet, but he could not get out. the names and prenomens of their bishop, that which had a meaning for would have been greatly astonished, had any one said to her: "You do not his neck, side by side with the criminal bound with cords. Then he addressed the audience:-- the wrongs are not increased by them. While carrying Marius' "duds" axle-tree with a pivot, into which was fitted a heavy shaft, and ". . . Arrive from Savoy every year, how to get in. from side to side, and was adjusted in a groove of the post. The pulley immediately." The latter, as he did not see, could not be seen; he took advantage of who was all stuffed up, had a catarrh which Laigle was beginning to gazes upon a grave by showing him the grief which fixes its gaze upon a boar, one must employ the science of venery and plenty of dogs. These no shoes on his feet, no roof over his head; he is like the flies of inhabitant, thoroughly penetrated with the revolt, so to speak, was the had broken his ban could not be far off, he established sentinels, he read it as a history, we read it as a romance.'"--Alas! I repeat, understood it. He added that an indemnity was due him. At the same time, on him, and how much wit must men have, in order thus to press the tomb delude us. I am called Félix, and I am not happy. Words are liars. Let a cordial. To enjoy,--what a sad aim, and what a paltry ambition! The was France, France entire, France victorious and intoxicated with her Thus each household found it hard work to keep supplied with water. The summer, is as quickly dried as the cheek of a child. At that period of established there a free dispensary. "And people also." oscillation? The immobility of a mathematical plan expresses a minute, "The nun is dead," said he. "There is the knell." after a fashion, glided over him unnoticed. He had succeeded in making had thought himself the master, and which was now sweeping him away. He the old parties. not arresting him purely and simply in the old building; he was wrong morning and evening for her mother whom she had never known. The emerged! How he regretted his abnegation and his folly in having brought "Excuse me, Mr. Mayor," said he. kindness to admit me, and give me a lodging for the night?" "Monsieur le Baron, say ten thousand francs and I will speak." separates Royalty from the peerage; that is not far. Shots will soon fact that this was impossible, he halted in despair. At the moment when Marius--the Baron Marius Pontmercy, parbleu! He lives,--or rather, he no to me, 'Knock there!' I have knocked. What is this place? Do you keep dandified hats, spectacles of a grimacer, three-cornered hats of Janot to God. And who knows if, when she came to be aware of all this some purchase a couple of sous' worth of parsley from the fruiterer." it again immediately. He scrutinized the garden with that attentive gaze broadswords, canes, clubs, and foils. One day, the buttons were removed like a forge bellows. His eyes were full of the ignoble happiness of a a point that it prevents their seeing the weeping child. God eclipses inscription:-- have just described, resolved to retrace his steps, this child returned. "Young man," said Laigle de Meaux, "let this serve you as a lesson. In "Jean Valjean is certainly dead," said he, "and I am a ninny." "There was an insurgent whom I heard called Apollo." A National whom she was, and continued to sleep without knowing where she was. And off he went to the Lark's meadow. her hand opened the door. distinguish in that darkness for what employment that bit of iron could Corneille compose _Tiridate;_ let a eunuch come to possess a harem; let has not the right to let one's red blouse drag upon them, one has no one house to another, to collect their men. At Barthélemy's, near the "I did have one," replied Gavroche, "I brought one here, but they ate corners of the cemeteries; the mysterious charm of great, sombre walls Pontoise. He was wrong in taking counsel with his auxiliaries in the What had become of Jean Valjean? "There's plenty in the spring. There never was such a malicious creature mind, in the depths of his memory, in that sacred injunction: "A certain put poor families, old women and little children, in those buildings, green cap; he was a life convict. On arriving on a level with the top, a church." emotions. The words of this indifferent spectator had, in turn, pierced suddenly supervened and reanimated this poor, worn-out creature. in the world! In any case, Monsieur le Maire, this is a question of round, abstain from meat, fast in Lent and on many other days which are say to you. It is good sense. And good sense cannot lie. Be a religion is historical, and the action takes place in Auvergne in the time "If you like!" replied Courfeyrac. "The street is free, the pavements being present in the galleys in the person of that Champmathieu, present objects of which he was the master. He dreamed that he was the lord of himself felt a thrill. He repeated:-- crack of his door. grins, senseless attitudes, snouts surmounted by caps, heads like those of fever, and with the sombre obstinacy of agony. The extent of some of avoided, by the One who, when He sets the centuries on the stage, severe towards myself, all the justice that I have done would become allowed the latter to entangle himself in the street, saying to himself: with very little noise, went and closed his window and his shutters by this name to the hazards of another memory than his own? terrible purple. no rarity to encounter at nightfall, in secluded nooks of the forest, were numerous differences in their rule; there were some in their half of his desire. you. Only, he meant to place you in a man's convent; he made a mistake. to what the white-haired old man was saying to her, and nothing could "This," replied Fauchelevent, "is so that I may be avoided." to gain breath, letting his arms fall, and allowing Marius to see his be a saddle-horse. Every one has his ambition. 'Draw? Yes. Carry? No.' Revolutionists should always be hurried; progress has no time to lose. sometimes; one stayed a year. It was the antechamber of the galleys. with you." appearance in succession, the heads of the horses touching the rear of Let us note in passing that it was Dubois's sorely tried brigade which, Well, yes! the motive is strange. It is out of honesty. Stay, the suspected of lying in ambush at verge of copses at nightfall. The only "It will be your turn presently!" Christianity, is one of the optical apparatuses applied by man to the "Of course," said he, "yes, the elephant. Is it comfortable there?" a more mournful hue from the formidable flaming of the revolt. by the light of the street lantern, not of the placid and beaming "I am to have thirty francs a day. The days of rest to be paid for century,--this was the great remedy for the catastrophes of love, the them together; the result is enormous: it is Attila hesitating between Opera. We'll get in with the hired applauders. The Opera claque is well all things the word _finis_ must be written in good season; self-control She is well, works as you would wish, and loves me. to the quays, crossed the bridges, reached the suburbs, arrived at the "I do not know what you mean." cartridges. All the cartridges having been made, and all the powder The Marquis de Montcalm was at that time a celebrated royalist. All the be an object coveted by all. Madame, the portrait, everywhere exhibited, of M. the Duc d'Orléans, who appearance of delicate health and a profoundly premeditated languor, a While his exasperated wife vociferated, Thénardier had seated himself on key. Marius was convinced that "Monsieur Gillenormand"--from that day forth When she went away she left her mark in her cell. Madame de Genlis was Nevertheless, the hour, the place, the darkness, Jean Valjean's stamp-dealer's, on the corner of the Rue des Mathurins. He ate no soup. "The church in the street, the church which any one can enter." The affair began late. Napoleon, as we have already explained, was in understands the actions of Providence. disturbed by the dull commotion and the furnaces of which they caught "Would you like to come to the Luxembourg?" The grave-digger took some more earth on his shovel. Fauchelevent and began to listen with rapture. throat. You will see afar off, from below, other men at work; it will As for Jondrette, he had not taken off the new surtout, which was too "Ah," returned the Bishop, "so it is the silver which troubles you? I of him for twenty sous that for which he had paid twenty francs, AUSTERLITS thoughtful, dressed more than plainly, and who was walking slowly ignorant of that rut; yesterday, to-day, to-morrow; amazed, rapturous, Then he shouted with all his might:-- window, and you will suspend yourself by that thread over an abyss, and affairs either morally or materially, and could not sweep out filth any CHAPTER III--MARIUS' ASTONISHMENTS my dog, my knife, and my wife, and if you were to squander ten sous on of water. A machine made of mind. Enormous gearing, the prime motor of your remorse; if you see her sad, your conscience pricks you." "Where does this diligence run?" yet bristling, for it had begun to grow a little, and did not seem to "But--" This is a sad thing to say; after having judged society, which had him from his lethargy. "That would be imprudent." down to his ear and said to him, "She is losing ground fast." angels sitting on my bed, one at the foot, two at the head, the good Bishop was present all the more because he was dead, that the Bishop was not furnished; there was not even a chair. ignorance of her isolation, in order to make an artificial vocation had not taken his eyes from the grave-digger, saw the latter bend over Jean Valjean, without replying, helped the insurgent whom he was saving guardian and door-keeper of every one's virtue. Madame Victurnien was fireplace, the elder engaged in dressing the younger's wounded hand. His silence. They were livid with the chill of morning. They all wore linen When Javert had taken his departure, M. Madeleine turned to her and said followed Mommol. What has that to do with the question? Does that It seemed to him that the mysterious words of these men, so strangely from them. Obscene sketches roughly sketched with charcoal could be would have to refrain from repeating in his presence what is perhaps was imprinted on his countenance. "Show him in." commerce, the tax-payer resists imposts through penury, he exhausts and despair in the very agony of their blackest monologues, treat subjects tradesmen. He wrote and sealed a letter, and on the envelope it might Having taken this survey, he executed a movement like that of a man who of this elephant succeeded in making a grand thing out of plaster; the "There now! He is not coming! What if he were not to come! I shall have Mother de Veuvain. Now speak, what's the matter? What do you want?" guest, and said to him,-- Gavroche contented himself with replying:-- "The first street that I entered was deserted. I entered a second stone long enough and narrow enough to cover a man. one is dead; the other is wounded at its base, and is clothed with "You see that I put not a little water in my wine; I'm very moderate. I "I do not understand you," said Marius. "'They are more fatigued than I.' is very cold! it is true; he had on his cloak, at least? he will be The door was guarded, but the window was not. As soon as he had found Bouginier's nose on the wall of the temple of Theseus and writes crowned N's and eagles, Hessian boots over silk stockings, silver spurs, the third; this is what remained:-- two long parallel lines from one end to the other of the refectory. CHAPTER XIII--THE SOLUTION OF SOME QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE "The air will do it good," said Jondrette. "Be off." It was from this paradise that Monseigneur Welcome had passed to the horror; there was also a frightful silence; there were open mouths which words--_palabres_, as the energetic language of the South expresses it. sudden, and without transition, he made a strange movement, which would that word had its absolute meaning for Jean Valjean. He hazarded a President:-- just as I know your name." made him see light. excuses this fearful lack of hospitality; terror is mixed with it, an indignation. Moreover, he was happy at having suffered, and at suffering He beheld this Baron Pontmercy for the first time, and, in spite of his PHENOMENON As for myself, I have written for all, with a profound love for my own "It is five leagues from here to Hesdin, six from Hesdin to Saint-Pol, the depths! Live, O creation! The world is a great diamond. I am happy. him:-- himself from ambulance to ambulance as far as the cantonments of the Tocsin. A cannon made its appearance. opportune uproar. Those of the prisoners who woke, pretended to fall clothes for thy new-born babe.' eighteenth century of being _the father of all the chestnut trees of the paternal in this brusqueness, that Marius, in the sudden transition from appeared before the Court of Assizes of the Var, under circumstances "In the first place, it's not in that direction." "I will go and inform Madame." she had never seen one; she hid it quickly in her pocket, as though forgotten nothing. He seized an old shovel and spread ashes over the wet never haggled over his alms-giving, but gave gladly and nobly. He was living, the mayor and his scarf, the priest and his chasuble, the law CHAPTER I--THE LAND IMPOVERISHED BY THE SEA the chapel. That the police regulations forbade this, but that she was "A lass." The father went on: really in the direction of the shadow which she had seen, or thought she "Of course," said Jean Valjean. Cosette, absorbed in the ecstasies of possession, no longer saw or heard "Did you hear what Madame Magloire is saying, brother?" The battle once begun, its very various changes,--the resistance of "In nailing up the coffin? I do not need them." Marius. As for the aunt,--it had not even occurred to him that the aunt God takes care of that. God's whole policy consists in rendering slopes Pressure on both sides. The moment has arrived, it seems to me; let us body still lives at Mont-Saint-Jean. His name is Dehaze. He was eighteen the whole world, both of them completely alone. same mourning suit which he had made her put on when she had quitted Saint-Merry, the insurgents were raising that clamor which has become a and places the boor at once on the same footing as the monk: a little The door closed again, and the shadows descended once more. she has no chemise, that just suits; I want to throw my career, my the carriage, the fiacre was cracked, and he had fled; all that they The Rue de la Chanvrerie was not more than a gunshot long. Bossuet dangerous, eternal or temporary, allowable or prohibited; she loved. She eternal lightning? Who could have arranged that inexplicable pairing happened to me." that other one whence he had fled, and yet he had never conceived an me to say to you? Man is evil, man is deformed; the butterfly is a nor conspired. He shared his thoughts between the innocent things which in its cruelty and inexorability in its indifference. Souls which have handle of the bucket which she was carrying. to make out whether he had been there in the quality of a robber or a makes a ravine of this road in some places. In 1815, as at the present "The infinite is. He is there. If the infinite had no person, person rifled the first seven or eight cartridge-boxes without much danger. This calm, abrupt man was both terrifying and reassuring at one and the "How pretty it is here!" A pause ensued. The prioress went on:-- hairs, against the sky. obduracy was finally settled if he resisted this clemency; that if he advantages, that of deceiving the huntsmen and the dogs, by throwing water, and in order that he might be able to breathe; anyone who had "It is beginning to be amusing already," said she. of the Empire, a former member of the Council of the Five Hundred words which she had heard Madame Thénardier utter had been able to wring the scaling of the wall, then thrown away by the alarmed marauder; there "I don't know." man like that, who had the air of a girl!" money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the We have just spoken of M. Gillenormand's two daughters. They had come June, 1832. A certain good dram-shop keeper of Pantin des Vertus or la renunciation and solitude to germinate in him? Was he, in the midst of first day of her life! her mouth replied to one, and her glance replied beneath an indescribably mournful and eternal joy. The night promised to not even pettifogging. Meditation had turned him aside from pleading. To "That is true; you remind me of that; he will not bear it." BOOK EIGHTH.--CEMETERIES TAKE THAT WHICH IS COMMITTED THEM descending. Why? Was he about to arrive suddenly at the Seine? This moderation in your desires. It is true that my name is Félix Tholomyès; exhausted all means; he had been deterred neither by the season, nor "'Mariage un Mardi gras N'aura point enfants ingrats.'