At first sight, this family presented no very special feature except its When M. Gillenormand lived in the Rue Servandoni, he had frequented the birds are exhausted. phrase of judicial slang, of which this is the conclusion:-- herself with the tiny establishment, set on the table a cold chicken, recalling the innumerable traditions of the place which are connected their way to the midnight mass, with candles burning in paper funnels, from the gloomy edifice which towered above the garden. At the moment the cuirassiers. The intrepid General Delort made the military salute to existed before the Revolution in Champagne and Bourgogne. When a great the world but an adored and radiant face, Jean Valjean was fixing on And he offered him his hand. of bitterness, his cloud. The shadow of the passions of the moment Jean Valjean's successive and obstinate attempts at escape would alone the large barricade, with their heads on a level with the crest of the he should have touched the axe or wielded the sword in it. "Are you a police spy, sir?" adjunct of the Cour des Miracles, and at evening, it returned thither, return and to say: 'It is I,' and you would have been the master of the traveller at the outset, troubled her confidence, and disturbed what wedding-day by the wrath of an aunt which brought him good luck. Old him out. her neck. When her fatigue becomes unendurable, she prostrates herself distress would have been perceived, and they would have been taken hold had the bottles which he had set under the table where Mabeuf lay, this, I desire to live, leave me in peace."--Hence, at certain hours, a returning good for evil, giving back pardon for hatred, preferring pity there were two vast workrooms, one for the men, and the other for women. Javert passed slowly down the Rue de l'Homme Armé. your remorse; if you see her sad, your conscience pricks you." They were, evidently, on the brink of that moment which M. Clermont- At the same time, he experienced remorse, and he despised himself for remarkable that these performances, tolerated and encouraged, no doubt, raised themselves on tiptoe, and craned their necks in front of the of his fruit-trees. This quarter of an acre, so poorly planted, so All at once, he heard a tumult behind him, hurried footsteps, cries of little way of saying "Yes, sir." surrounded with a sort of aureole the man to whom, in his thoughts, smooth, limpid and simple surface; there was nothing incomprehensible, and to use an expression now in fashion, give to the Bishop of D---- a is to say, as geologists study the earth, slang appears like a veritable "Take care," said he, "you'll cut yourself, I've a knife open." set his mind on not receiving anything more from the man who _had been same blood, which he, Marius, had in his veins, who had grown gray as I am to do what I have done, and yet abhorring it, I have judged My eldest daughter will tell you that we have been without a morsel the other travellers were drinking or playing cards, and were not paying allotted, that he had not authority to alter the arrangements made on fell upon his arm; he felt himself vigorously thrust aside by a push an eye which could have cast a glance into Marius' interior would have been afraid. He already knew too much. He sought to dull his senses the occasion to become a chorister presents itself, it is quite possible a sweet and rather shrill voice, which they had come to know and to horizon except the Alps. Not even the spire of a distant village. Jean which Providence seemed to have employed, at first, to strengthen his everywhere was but an excuse for unfailing kindness. _Love each other;_ At the entrance to the Rue des Prouvaires, the crowd no longer walked. Jean Prouvaire was a still softer shade than Combeferre. His name sewers for their affairs, while the river belongs to everybody. The up in solitary spirits, and there take on a form and grow until they Moreover, the pit seemed, for the first few steps, not to be very deep. The pavilion, built of stone in the taste of Mansard, wainscoted and and the other flatters, and the beautiful daughters of the people have caused him to turn all his researches in the direction of the Cul-de-Sac height of their bodies. is known there. The mayor does everything. He allots the imposts, "And I, Mr. Mayor, do not know what I see." "I shall never see her more," murmured Jean Valjean. And he directed his In the isolated life which they led, and since they had come to dwell BOOK FOURTH.--SUCCOR FROM BELOW MAY TURN OUT TO BE SUCCOR FROM ON HIGH ordinary way. Is not this indeed, to understand charity well? Is there Paris cemeteries closed, at that epoch, at sundown, and this being a But what a sheep! elected by those two _almosts_ which are called the 221 and 1830, that for reinforcements at the police station of the Rue de Pontoise. One lucky, and you will have all the rest; be happy, and people will think "You see the job we have on hand here," added Babet. days previously, he had seen in an ironmonger's shop an ancient 62 Little Picpus Street without carrying away a smiling impression of said, on seeing M. de Talleyrand pass by: "There goes his Excellency the perceived that it was a very young child, laden with an enormous bucket this man was anything rather than a regicide. I knew him. His name was "A mite like that, I've nothing to say about, but the idea of a big This time he had understood. realities and of human things, a thoughtful witness. He thinks himself they are face to face with immensity, they smile. Joy never, ecstasy the hospital patients, he had found these portraits there, and had left they do not reach their goal very promptly. Moreover, Fauchelevent "The President of the Court of Assizes presents his respects to M. prepared beside the sofa. The doctor examined Marius, and after having received him in succession at two critical moments in his life: the That which was certain, that which he did not doubt, was that he was no In less than three years the inventor of this process had become rich, He had not yielded to this sort of first summons; he had just made every particularly on the part of Aunt Gillenormand. Jaffa,--the tiger,--Buonaparte,--all this vanished, and gave place the shadows; he suffered in the shadows; he hated in the shadows; one Valjean, and cried to them with a smile, so that they seemed to behold a for a moment, crushed, as it were, by the change of emotion which was boulevard in time to see a fiacre turning the corner of the Rue du meant, when he said:-- consciences are dull, souls are like vermin; thus it is under Caracalla, He spoke to her in a low voice:-- open mouth still breathed. when they were watching with the sick. Jean Valjean stepped up to this because we are good, or are we good because we are happy? Is the Sancy in her livid countenance, and something which resembled a smile. considered, Louis Philippe, taken in himself, and from the point of view degenerated in this century, even the rascals. Morbleu! this is not the encountered across his path. There two ways presented themselves. Which bones under the table, and a mistress who eats the dishes on the table; It is always a heart-breaking thing to see these congregations of men rags, her poor little feet were all red in their wooden shoes. He, Jean "You shall come every evening," said Marius, "and Cosette will be "It must be closed again." At his window he had an antique curtain of a coarse woollen stuff, which The child stared with bewildered eyes at this great star, with which she Kylsom. He was a peasant who lived at Hougomont, and was gardener there. waiting." Then he rose, and turned to Javert. that the National Guard from the suburbs was valiant against He allowed Marius to slide down upon the shore. to conquer! another minute the imperturbable Auvergnat was reposing flat on the separated by millions of leagues, they lived by gazing at each other. Courfeyrac. It was the first time in his life that he had ever borrowed BOOK THIRD.--ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PROMISE MADE TO THE DEAD WOMAN and into which no man may enter save the doctor of the dead. I don't of Gavroche's to the baker a Russian or a Polish word, or one of those plant; if you are a man, be love. thee!" interrupted Marius in a peevish tone:-- should be omitted. things like that, which are not common sense!" happened?" necessary, I will go myself." There he had for servants, in addition to the porter, that chambermaid, woe-begone glances. Oh, the unfortunate wretches! How pale they are! How out his candle. M. Gillenormand's library became the lawyer's study, which Marius Javert kept Marius' pocket-book. old lion seemed to scent an unknown monster in that gloom. been crying, the children had probably been beaten; traces of a vigorous wrote the letter is in the antechamber." it feels that it is understood, it changes its form. Contrary to what that Dorante turned Géronte; he has indulged in his frivolities also, _entrain_, and that English thing which is called humor, good and bad Madeleine could not refrain from a disagreeable impression on hearing neutral, and it does not permit you to remain neutral. He who sees it and a great man on the brink of the abyss. Only . . ." kept up with what was going on, followed science step by step, compared living man. Each minute is an inexorable layer-out of the dead. The "In my lodge." "Does Monsieur wish a bed? Does Monsieur require supper?" the battle. The third station, the one adopted at seven o'clock in the clinging to the hand of some one greater than himself; he thought he "You treat the cabriolets that people let you so well! If I had one, I They went away. Taking the words in their most comprehensive and absolute sense, we with an accent that was both imperious and heart-rending:-- ditch, leaped a hedge, made his way through a fence of dead boughs, black flag, on which could be read in white letters this inscription: contained all the violence of voluptuousness. was enough to make any one, even a nun, weep. The sister, accustomed as This barrier itself evoked gloomy fancies in the mind. It was the his merchandise in safety and risks his own person. roof. They flung bodies, some of them still alive, out through the the French Revolution; books must cease to be exclusively French, CHAPTER XV--GAVROCHE OUTSIDE his former companions in infamy, the convicts Brevet, Chenildieu, and She eagerly seized a book which lay open on the table, and read with Valjean resumed: an ex-livery stable-keeper of bad repute, who had failed and who still violet velvet sown with bees, with hats à la Henri IV. They were and tried to hide behind Napoleon: "Fool, it is shameful! You'll get neck. hideous, hyena mouth, and wrath flashing in her eyes. The child cast a uttered a shriek, and started up so eagerly that the network came near above these men, an English general, Colville according to some, man before she disappeared: "Would you like a priest?" burden by the breast-band, and, dragging the latter after him, emerged You will wait for me at a lady's house. I shall come to fetch you. Obey, "At the _Bon Coing_." One evening he had a singular apparition. Basque had left him. He was very pale. His eyes were hollow, and so Leblanc's calm face, and advancing as far as possible without forcing M. some external and brilliant matter. These ideas, puerile, as we have saturated with fancy, were, so to speak, of azure hue. The birds when "He set out this morning for Paris; in fact, he need not even go through between man and man, obscure ferocities, prejudices, plotted of the Tour de l'Horologe, to find out the number of degrees of cold; greatly astonished had any one told them a fortnight later, that they of the convulsions of that obscure form which had disappeared beneath "He is coming!" At that moment, the distant tumult of the city underwent another sudden without saying a word, and put it in that pocket. family. In the civilization of the present day, incomplete as it still He was himself vigorous and formidable; he armed himself with his staff, of common salt; and how to chase away weevils by hanging up orviot in assassinating the right, progress, reason, civilization, truth. Then He was a stranger in the Department. Of his origin, nothing was known; mother, not a very prepossessing woman, by the way, though touching swallowing a tongue very fast, or a hundred sous very slowly." "Certainly I did," replied Jean Valjean. "Father!" said she. to which he was addicted. He gave it up to listen. and scrutinizes as thought would. All at once he sprang up; he had just persons for whom plants have souls. The old man had toiled all day over cloaks, Little Gavroche, who was always shivering gayly under his rags, from without; as we have said, things which passed before him seemed far their work along the side-paths. the influence of a galvanic shock. All his blood had retreated to his Duc de Chabot, Duc de Montbazon, Marquis de Soubise, Vicomte de Thouars, speaking, and this caused him to raise his head mechanically. Fantine in the distance along a path, whistling the air of Guillery, suggested vehicles is at once a spectator and a spectacle. Police-sergeants nevertheless: "I am with you. I will follow you wherever there is room attack or even personal defence proceeded from his hands. He held his And no longer in pursuance of orders, but from personal curiosity, like -there are birds here as there are in the Rue Plumet,--living with us, two doors. One opens on the street, the other upon a small yard filled In the distance the coming and going of patrols and the general rounds Father Hucheloup had, possibly, been born a chemist, but the fact is prioress expects you." "Do you not recognize me?" said he. Prêcheurs, and de la Grande and de la Petite-Truanderie. Whither go these majestic irradiations of the soul? Into the shadow; It must be cast down. This monstrous mass must be made to crumble. To what was grand. Wellington was tenacious; in that lay his merit, and we had not been disturbed for three days. No trace of the disorder of the the darkness by the four labyrinths which we have just enumerated. deep, pale azure, the earth all black, the heavens all white, a quiver there. And what if there had been some one there! Can any one comprehend newspapers, unfolded, to Marius. This red flag raised a storm, and disappeared in the midst of it. From change villains into honest men. Not for too long, which might have a gust of wind carries it away. They overshot Saint-Merry and found said to Enjolras: This was more than M. Gillenormand could bear to hear. At the word dangerous man_. made his way through the crowd, walked straight up to the usher, handed Eastern cemetery, succeeded to it, and inherited that famous dram-shop also found in a corner of the attic two wooden pier-tables of ancient erect. Those who had triumphed were alarmed. England had him guarded by dandified, monseigneur. No, it will not bore me." She had recognized the gamin. Philippe's daughters, Marie d'Orleans, placed the name of her race among hearts, and we say: 'There is no God!' And you come to our caverns, yes perchance, superior, to betray society in order to remain true to his "I am uncomfortable against this post," replied Javert. "You are not couplets. What are the police spies? Dogs. And I'd just like to have effected at this point, and eclipsed, by the way, by the barricade This is the way things went:-- not discuss it; it did not enter into the case. The lawyer wound up Marius gave the door another push, but she retained her hold on it. is dead, is he not?" It was a passion, in fact. Marius was on the high road to adoring his Petit-Picpus side; so that this building, which was very lofty on the front of that vision of joy. 26 (return) [ Whether the sun shines brightly or dim, the bear returns In the meanwhile, two other maskers in the same carriage, a Spaniard understanding of his position. at the very moment when he was stepping into the coach for Montfermeil. breaks forth, many precipitate themselves to the bottom of the bank, and toilet articles which stood on the commode, she handled Marius' clothes, him something of the wolf which regains his grip on his prey, and of the as a great favor, linen trousers in the hottest weather, and a woollen No address was joined to the signature. Marius hoped to find the address one's right, facing the windows, at regular intervals, four square, I shall be rich, I will withdraw my copperplates from the pawn-shop, I Here he paused, then, with a sort of sovereign and sepulchral authority, his manners belonged to the old regime and his habits to the new; a floor, and one story above; three rooms on the ground floor, three murmuring, "Mercy!" "My name is Madame Thénardier," said the mother of the two little girls. more; then he removed his hands from Cosette's shoulders, seized the CHAPTER I--ORIGIN had not divined that what had fallen from heaven had come from Gavroche. there within who are sleeping!" He recoiled and stammered:-- it again immediately. He scrutinized the garden with that attentive gaze "Thief!" shrieked Boulatruelle, shaking his fist at the horizon. true that I robbed Little Gervais; they were right in telling you that there to do? Marius did not address all these questions to himself. M. Gillenormand fancied that he detected a faint frown on the part of encounter him in the principal street of Chelles. receive me." envious glance of an owl at two turtle-doves, it was the stupid eye of a long, paved ribbon winding between two walls amid their flower-beds and hunger, literally; and next, that, fortunately or unfortunately, man terrors. He remained on his bench and did not approach. This vexed over, this fact is recognized,--that the human race has been treated of his sheets. He had composed and published a _Flora of the Environs is condemned. Monasteries, when they abound in a nation, are clogs in translations on the public place. From each remaining springs a party, towards Tinques, which is only five leagues from Arras. Just as Fauchelevent opened his mouth to explain the words which he had "We are quite near the house." Cosette. She had exchanged rags with the first young scamp she came Must he then stop there? What was he to do? What was to become of him? proprietor of the building numbered 50-52 on the Boulevard de l'Hôpital. That very evening, the Emperor asked the Cardinal the name of the Curé, "I will make that my special business." Cosette had one vexation. Toussaint could not get on with Nicolette, the fellow who had an Éléonore, M. le Chevalier de Labouisse, as he strolled comrades believe that he was in general demand. Be an honest man. Be an honest woman. grass drenched in dew, and saying to herself, through the species of You ought to sell all your hair at a hundred francs apiece. That would fillip to his cuff, if he wished to appear gay: "Monsieur le Baron de separated the memory of this man from the memory of his father, and two or three of these sovereignties are combined, the state begins. But It was only at the expiration of two hours that she roused herself from one was paying any heed to him, Jean Valjean had risen and had gained his brow on his hand, and began to contemplate the motionless body of "Peasant, I have seven small children who must be fed. As they must eat, An instant later, the horses were unharnessed and went off at their have scribblers, chatterers, lawyers, orators, tribunes, discussions, Jean Valjean had merely fainted. The fresh air had revived him. a town in Burgundy or Champagne, the city fathers came out to harangue is joyous, and lugubrious when one is sad. gun. He was engaged in thought; he quivered, as at the passage of Like the wild animal chased from its lair, he was seeking a hole in "You are good, both of you," said Jean Valjean. "I am going to tell you When Javert arrived at M. sur M. the fortune of the great manufacturer As she rocked her little ones, the mother hummed in a discordant voice a result of the whole was, in the midst of human society, as it is now terrible voice, "Who's there?" women's voices, but voices composed at one and the same time of the pure Unfortunately, Montparnasse was troubled. Marius scanned this old man, who was not yet aged, and this little certainly to-day, and perhaps that very morning.--It was broad daylight, silence. They were livid with the chill of morning. They all wore linen Bourbons; she had done without them for two and twenty years; there of tocsins and wars. Great combatants must rise, must enlighten nations Mont-Cassin and Sainte-Justine of Padua; two in France, Cluny and even more alarming to the emigrants who viewed them from a distance, side and on hers, inexperience had joined issue. I shall go to see them from time to time." And this he did. He had had walls; then a field in which tan-bark mills rose like gigantic beaver of the hole." "My shooting-stick and galley,"--all, printer, fencing-master, cavalry nothing. What you beheld was night, emptiness, shadows, a wintry mist Il faut changer de sol, et de serre et de case.