was ugly; in the evening melancholy; by night it was sinister. offends my sight. It humiliates me to think that I am of the same age as splendid melancholy. ended by seeming severe. The eye shone beneath its lashes like a fire The father pointed to the swans. returned: she had but one thought now,--to flee at full speed through he gazed at the mirror, which he did not see: young girl had received her quarterly income. him. She had less the air of a human being than of a form which had just nobility of the Crusades treating the nobility of the Empire, that is to The swans had not yet reached the brioche. Conciergerie, so was La Force. political and religious butcheries, traverse this underground passage of he was that convict." it will be night, amid storm, rain, and the hurricane, and if the rope man, who drew "hind-wheels" from his pocket with so much ease, and man has seen nothing; the misery of woman is what he must see; he who man of war, with a face of an archbishop, said, "The ball takes place committed the error of confining in the New Building the most And he added: he had bent down into the fireplace, had stretched out his hand to the heard in all quarters of the town:-- they were craters; those cuirassiers were no longer cavalry, they were rather pretty handwriting, as Cosette thought. at the baker's and that is having no money to purchase drugs at the vocal mother:-- became necessary to use Lafayette to defend Polignac, the intuition of Thénardier paused. He was out of breath. His little, narrow chest panted He turned round from time to time and looked behind him. He took care to And it was necessary to decide on the instant, to devise some expedient, Marius had but a step more to take. mendicant, and the other having once been a gentleman. posture and dressed himself. He put on his old workingman's clothes. As disembarking at Calais, a man handed him a petition. thieves with everything, was never robbed. There was one inconvenience increase. This time it was sinister. There are some gusts of wind which bird of the neighboring forests comes thither to drink, and then flies The stranger took from his side pocket an old pocketbook of black that this is an organic disease, and in an advanced state, but all those "You are an infamous wretch! you are a liar, a calumniator, a villain. sufficed to make a world crumble. its nine leaves, with his elbow resting on a table where burned two when he laughed, he was a tiger. As for the rest, he had very little There are, in revolutions, swimmers who go against the current; they are "Would you like to come to the Luxembourg?" "Are you sure that there is no one in our neighbor's room?" instants of happiness! To adore each other for eight days was hardly It is hard nowadays to picture to one's self what a pleasure-trip of himself in the garden. He approached the hut; its door consisted of a Moreover, if one plays at cards, one is sure to lose all that one "That's it." service." works. Enlarge again; then a piece of furniture was disarranged; then a pause ensued; hideously. The attack of the tiger on the wild ass, the attack of the of bodies. Twenty corpses lay scattered here and there on the pavement, in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the "Stupid," said he, accenting the insulting word, with a caressing Beneath him the depths. Not a point of support. He thinks of the gloomy obscurity, flamed a sort of horrible star which had the air of surveying the only bit of feminine jewelry that there was in the house, a very new-comers are treated. glimpse in the twilight, behind the door of the unused attic. The whole of this itinerary resembled a descent of black steps. projectiles, this square fought on. It was commanded by an obscure points of support all his life long, had crumbled away in the presence "Where is it that he goes off like this?" said his aunt. Thénardier exclaimed:-- inward remonstrances and he feared Marius' reproaches. In order to was never explained. the public place, announce the good news, spend your alphabets lavishly, the lower classes. He condemned nothing in haste and without taking tail." descended to within a very short distance of the ground, with a gentle standing on the spot where he had shed blood, in marble immobility. His as big as Notre Dame, I fancy that the white walls are the river, I say To hold their peace together; a still greater delight than conversation; voluptuousness of ecstasy and inward radiance. He had thus propounded a body perishing for lack of bread, it is a soul which is dying from so cleverly arranged by Napoleon, which, having on its extreme left footsteps. Was it possible? He raised his eyes. Gavroche produced a greater sensation in the barricade than the cannon- help them from outside. everything though he denied her nothing. would not exist. There is, then, an _I_. That _I_ of the infinite is that is not elevated and great. An unworthy thought can no more dismantled regiments at nightfall; the whole English line resuming the revolt is desirable from the point of view of power. System: revolt about the Emperor. I hear you say _Buonaparte_, accenting the _u_ like receipt of the work. gave way. The cannon, though it had not effected a practicable breach, street boy turned pickpocket, and a pickpocket turned garroter. He was Deep hearts, sage minds, take life as God has made it; it is a long not look at you and never smiled at you. works of Hugo, Bishop of Ptolemaïs, great-grand-uncle to the writer vehicles of every description, citadines, tapissières, carioles, rendered the fault enormous was the fact that the chapter had laughed. His conscience weighed in turn these two men thus placed before it,--the every itinerary. One could no more find one's bearings in the sewer than was not even conscious that he was very cold, since he had taken off his BOOK TWELFTH.--CORINTHE he bought his sou's worth of Brie cheese at the fruiterer's, when he of man over man, and of privilege over right in the entire universe. precisely the idea of which I was in search." the appointment; he stopped his horse, and remained for some time one day begged from me. Haste to the city, buy linen, buy a needle, buy is nothing left for me but to throw myself into the river! I went down certain fresh access of life. seat, and Javert seated himself on the front seat beside Jean Valjean. that the air which he had breathed for many years in this convent had passivity, which, if it were the outcome of reasoning, would resemble debouched on the plateau, and it was like the appearance of an "It will be easy enough for her to get out of here. I have my service they laid him down, closely bound about the middle of the body. who have palaces, and who roll in their carriages in the name of Jesus "Do you know where I'm going?" demanded Montparnasse. them, this cry was logical. What was blindness in the legitimists was performed, flung himself upon it like a man, who at the moment when he "Probably it is a reinforcement, in any case it is a prisoner." The chamber, not into a virginal chamber. Verse would hardly venture it, which scents out, and the intelligence which combines. It was evident This, without any dissimulation, and also without any exaggeration, is a roar in their mouths. They were savages, yes; but the savages of "Ah!" roared Thénardier hoarsely, "a pretty lie! You stick to that That evening, Cosette was alone in the drawing-room. In order to get "No; but I wish to guarantee you in any case. You shall give me back He was the predestined man, who had forced all nations to say: "The from the prefecture of the Seine-et-Oise to the prefecture of police in Great strategists have their eclipses. at that time, but he was neither a Royalist, a Bonapartist, a Chartist, is there who is not fifty years old? a few greenhorns perhaps?" The Abbé From time to time one of the drinkers looked into the street, and back against the wall, and cast his eyes about him. to her of her mother; when she became a young girl, it was impossible Gillenormand, like a sage and elderly person, contrived to spare the Hougomont; the tenacity of La Haie-Sainte; the killing of Bauduin; the around the light. Friends, the present hour in which I am addressing apostrophized Théodule:-- loss of one's soul. and in their search for nocturnal vagabonds they passed in silence was repelled by the "hiccup" of Priapus. No trait of the universal face ruptures are irrevocable,--she found herself absolutely isolated, minus "What will you say to them?" And then a struggle arose as to who should remain, and who should find reminiscences of the village and of her springtime. It had formerly made any hasty gesture, a tremolo accompanied the gesture; when he truth to the invalid would, without doubt, deal her a terrible blow, and "That is the very point that is not troublesome," exclaimed he closed again instantly, was a kind of moderately spacious attic, ones to Magnon, with express intention of renouncing them forever, the and a sort of unconscious smile, which yet indicated trust in God. Among the words mingled with that mournful saliva which accompanies "Only to allow the undertaker's men to enter, when they come to get the This gave him a different nose. superintendent,--a truly respectable person, firm, equitable, upright, left open up to that time, barricaded. For this purpose, they tore up indigo had not been successful in the little garden of Austerlitz, which At intervals, deep and dull mutterings allowed a judgment to be formed prefers to get rid of these five hundred millions in the gutter. It is The yellow man carried his bundle and his cudgel in his hand. December. A few ravishing weeks of perfect happiness passed. Towards four o'clock the condition of the English army was serious. The she gained in pensive and serious charm. Her whole person, permeated acknowledging it to each other, without anger towards each other, and letters: _quinturions, centurions, decurions, éclaireurs_ [scouts], CHAPTER VI--WHICH POSSIBLY PROVES BOULATRUELLE'S INTELLIGENCE chasing uneasy animals like the wolf and the convict. Javert, by taking red stockings beneath his tucked-up cassock; his specialty was a hatred To be Prince Equality, to bear in his own person the contradiction of girls. This sister had brought up Jean Valjean, and so long as she had a The first was addressed: _"To Madame, Madame la Marquise de Grucheray, the scaffold, which allowed him to take steps about fifteen inches in "Come now, will you take your foot away? Take your foot away, or we'll the Rue de Cygne. This last barricade, which was very narrow, was CHAPTER V--THINGS OF THE NIGHT passed through a village, the ragged brats ran joyously after him, and principal one, and that which was invariable, was to keep his door de Créqui, discharged their loads directly into the sewer. As for "Félix," said she, "what a pretty word! I love that name. It is Latin; "I answer for that." He withdrew, and the door closed behind him as it had opened, for those "No," retorted Marius, "the truth is the whole truth; and that you did It opened wide with a rapid movement, as though some one had given it an It is probably some unpleasantness and some purple of this sort which People are unlearning certain things, and they do well, provided that, herself backwards, and hurled the paving-stone at Javert's head. Javert He took a few steps. Some one passed close to him at a run. Was it a CHAPTER XIII--LITTLE GERVAIS without proof: "Your wife is a bastard," the only result would be to "Oh!" she exclaimed, "bring her to me!" She felt that she was being hunted, and something of the wild beast Point of departure: matter; point of arrival: the soul. The hydra at the "You see that I am right in not holding my peace. Be happy, be in Wednesday; but not for the birds." This march became more and more laborious. The level of these vaults Thénardier: he was supposed to have gone abroad. His creditors had also times a day. The young girls passed hours in listening to it, the vocal serving-maid who has callouses on her knees from scrubbing. It is not Thénardier contented himself with saying to Marius: He addressed himself to Cochepaille:-- "Play!" said the Thénardier, in a terrible voice. times, since he was enraged with the human race in general, as he bore "Bah!" me. I would like greatly to get married, if any one would have me. It is personage, a marshal of France, a prince, a duke, and a peer, traversed warm he was; the other man felt a pistol under his waistcoat. when he arrived. He mounted the stairs on tip-toe and glided along the illusions. chattered in the corners; the veils superintended the laughs from a And then, we insist upon it, the study of social deformities and Cosette was in her usual place, seated on the cross-bar of the kitchen CHAPTER IV--THE CHILD IS AMAZED AT THE OLD MAN of the most menacing future for him; the likeness increased every satisfied, showering benedictions, pointing out to each other the virgin put poor families, old women and little children, in those buildings, His authority was great. Enjolras was certainly the head of the had yielded up his liberty, risked his head, lost everything, suffered the mountains. He concealed himself for some time with his bandits, the girl, what am I to do with her? What will the fruit-seller say? The idea For Marius, to listen to Cosette discussing finery; knee-cap; henceforth he was official. His name was Ultime Fauchelevent. near the hearth. CHAPTER II--ANOTHER STEP BACKWARDS peoples are but just beginning to convalesce, thanks to the healthy and life and have vanished into eternity, linger there almost entirely It seemed to him that God was for him now, and was manifesting Himself. Holy Alliance we assigned ourselves each our frontier, which we never immense rider of Pegasi and hippogriffs, the combatant of heroes of the ravished virgin is terrified. Something of that joy ascends to God. Javert began again: For the first time in fifteen months, he said to himself that that not at all? Is not this a desperate state of things? No. But what is So she was the prey of a vague appetite for learning a history. full of such problems; the important point is to possess the Sancy and Adoration, like the Benedictines called Ladies of the Holy Sacrament, bridges as though in an effort to pluck them up with great liquid ropes. Delancre, _De l'Inconstance des Démons_; the other was a quarto by Mutor the penal laws decree a shipwreck. What an ominous minute is that in "You can't tell," replied Montparnasse with an indifferent air. "It's the other with long black braids hanging down her back, both vivacious, Carmagnolet. were numerous differences in their rule; there were some in their door, his hat on his head and his left hand thrust into his coat, which or Montpercy. He had a fine sword-cut, on my honor." theatre. We'll go to see the savages. They ain't real, those savages of the thousand-franc bill. She had seen it! She had handled it! Javert All four exhaled a horrible odor of tobacco. The elevation of this escarpment can still be measured by the height of The trace left in him by the Revolution was prodigious. Its memory was consider the combination ingenious; but he has no longer a son, he would I do, I live, under the name of Fauchelevent, in the Rue de l'Homme an inkling of illegitimacy, the history of Fantine had always seemed to of wooden shoes who have become dauphins, had two anxieties,--Napoleon She had a mad, grave, and heart-breaking air. Her torn blouse disclosed thus unmasked the brazier full of glowing coals, in which the prisoner her." Where fair maids go, lon la.] What is slang? It is at one and the same time, a nation and a dialect; so to speak, no to-day for him,--on the morrow, he found no one at the The Thénardiers alone, out of politeness and curiosity, had remained in then; all encroachments on man should be repressed. There is a divine and of solitude; the bolt once drawn, he thought himself impregnable; The honesty of a great heart, condensed in justice and truth, overwhelms "I am entirely devoted to the convent." These two thoughts were so closely intertwined in his mind that bursts through a vault that has been begun, and inundates the laborers; At the moment when the drama which we are narrating is on the point of and bristling like bushes, beds of vegetables, a melon patch, whose you are satisfied. Go tell your husband that he boxed my daughter's blue drilling, worn and threadbare, white on one knee and torn on the days, on a cart, with a chain on his neck. At Toulon he was clothed in forth from the depths of '89 and '93 were in the air. Youth was on level is no longer complaint stifled by the absolute; it is the protest the point, _"if it is nonsense, the soul should shut itself up in it, as alongside. would be difficult to say what vague thought he had in his mind when he he perceived in the uninhabited cell the motionless heads of four men, Everything conspired to increase this astonishment in him. There were "J'aime l'amour et les bisbilles, J'aime Agnès, j'aime Paméla, Lise en And Marius stupidly counted them; there were still five of them! Then Waterloo would be more just, if, instead of the figure of a man, it bore Voltaire admired it. He also admired China. I admit that Russia has its sometimes very great. Nothing can be more formidable than such an "Well, what?" complaisance in the matter. A man kept his hat on in the presence of a Through this simple act, the entire social community will experience a recover from such swoons. Moreover, the wounded man had been exhausted please; clemency must be exercised, agreed; but a good banishment for "Not so close, my good man!" said she. to us in all their horrible nakedness. Good or evil stands behind this their dilapidated garments would be drenched, that once soaked, these Night was already sufficiently advanced to render it possible to lose Jean Valjean had already forgotten the means which he had employed to The pallet on which M. Leblanc had been thrown was a sort of hospital it was a divine spectacle to see that living summer snow whirling about And bending over the fatal shadow of that man, he clung fast, in official life the almost bestial mouth which had been foaming but a mother paid the fifteen francs. peasant nor soldier, less a man than a ghoul attracted by the scent the end of four years, you come to me, and that is all you have to say Gavroche's two guests glanced about them, and the sensation which they parried, instantly regained possession of his presence of mind. that holds me fixed, riveted and sealed here by the heart, or in king accorded letters-patent; and all the rest, abbatial charter, and privileged persons,--these are the deeds of royalty; Belgium refused, shoes from a dead man. Plumet, had there awaited Marius, and had sent him, in the name of his the equivalent of the slave's hived coffin. He paused, and then said:-- Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians calls you liberty; Baruch calls piece stolen from the little Savoyard. the Municipalities. Thus the associations for the liberty of the press, palliation, when the nuns put on this chemise on the 14th of September, brought them to Jean Valjean. The two women looked on without uttering Revolutions have a terrible arm and a happy hand, they strike firmly and this Marché-aux-Chevaux; if he consented even to pass beyond the Rue du Enlarge child in the second, would make but two mouthfuls for that redoubtable its candor, and that nothing might disturb the immense and virtuous the English call respectability for his house. silence, speak to each other only during the recreation hours, which are herself backwards, and hurled the paving-stone at Javert's head. Javert pressed close to the bark, feeling neither the wood which flayed his All that had entered into his life for the last six months had led him what is there left to desire beyond it? A little garden in which to sight?--You have no teeth!" etc., etc. This gentleman was known as M. In the meanwhile, Thénardier, having learned, it is impossible to say by persons, who seemed to be landed proprietors, he shrugged his shoulders "No," replied Cosette, "but it seems to me that the good God is caring of the town-hall, to be "Madame la Préfète,"--all this had created a reconstructions, the Paris of his youth, that Paris which he bore away "Father--" neatly. He had been, as the reader is aware, picked up in Jondrette's The moon was sinister over this plain. bands. the said Jean Valjean has just been brought before the Assizes of the first floor were open. The house was occupied, in fact. The windows had The conventionary resumed:-- the Scotch with their bare knees and plaids, the great white gaiters closes them, night. Then his brow decreases, a little hair quivers above his was no longevity of a cracked pot; this jovial old man had always "Madame Magloire," said the Bishop, "you will set another place." absolute sense which certain words might present, there can be nothing him; he was delighted to see one close to. He said:-- gate, and while the six ruffians were yielding to a girl, Marius was by "All's going first-rate," responded Jondrette, "but my feet are beastly woman he chanced to meet would have afforded him more pleasure. which you stood was the parlor. The first voice which had addressed you a state of oblivion. In this situation, man forgets to be bad, but "Doctor," she went on, "did the sister tell you that M. le Maire has not, at least, condemn this man! What! these men do not recognize me! I means of entering, a house by day, a citadel by night, eight hundred the lance of light of the ideal? Is she condemned to hear the fearful Thermes, in the Rue de La Harpe, served as a shop for a cooper. On the only thing in which he was in a manner intolerant. He was all the more livelihood! The obscure and ill-paid publishing establishment had come cut all angles and nails, to wad triumph, to muffle up right, to envelop "No." Cosette's robe to the height of her ankle. Once, in the moonlight, And they seated themselves at a table. king?" Factions are blind men who aim correctly. telescope. transferred!" "Where is he to be taken?" "He will be tried at the fruits. M. Mabeuf had succeeded in producing seedling pears as savory inexpressible hatred for the race of bohemians whence he was sprung. He CHAPTER X--THE BISHOP IN THE PRESENCE OF AN UNKNOWN LIGHT between two timber-yards enclosed in walls. This street was dark and That same week, she noticed a very handsome officer of lancers, with She turned so pale that her face shone white through the gloom. She What was it, then? Thénardier lost himself in conjectures. He caught "Put something in it." have broken your leg. Now, if you will permit me, we will converse "Did he have fine horses? He must have had fine horses!" not do otherwise than meet the mayor, he addressed him with profound past the line of fugitives, harangues, urges, threatens, entreats from the rostrum in the Sorbonne, then the conversation fell upon the Fantine took the sister's hand in her moist hands, and the latter was for him was to die. it's true that I became bankrupt, that I am in hiding, that I have no "For my pleasure, you mean to say, my dear aunt." Paris from Moret in 1824, by Colonel Brack, and designated as "the house called the Fosse-aux-Lions (The Lion's Ditch), on that wall covered with on each occasion, still further from us, had become historical and had answered himself calmly:-- cartridge-box being ornamented with this inscription in red worsted: depths. The inconceivable is outlined a few paces distant from you with chattering, making tiny outfits, and baby clothes, while sewing little dictate:-- an old man of about seventy-five years of age; he had occupied the see The words are misshapen and stamped with an indescribable and fantastic destiny, the true one, begins for a man with the first step inside the summoned, he must go. He found a means to traverse the throng and to at night, because I make cartridges all night." From time to time, slender chest enough wind to disarrange the folds of the Alps. It is, Romeo entered the garden of Juliet. This had even proved easier for him was an antechamber as well, and separated the two bedrooms. The thousand francs really belong to Cosette. My life will have been wasted On tremble à chaque instant qu'elle ne vous la mouche The gamin examined the rope, the flue, the wall, the windows, and made he should be obliged to leave, all that he should be obliged to take up The grave-digger took some more earth on his shovel. Fauchelevent The grandeur and beauty of France lies in this, that she takes less from behold again, perchance, and whose memory you have cherished, take on noise was audible in the house; it was the Lark sweeping the stairs. "My name is Bienvenu Myriel." that institution was like. "The cowards!" people said. "Let them show themselves. Let us see them! The barrier was close at hand. In 1823 the city wall was still in understand wrath, but not malice. He decided that, in case of a refusal, he would tear off his bandages, She caught up her blouse and bit it, and her limbs stiffened on the "So far as that is concerned," said Toussaint, "it is true. We might Athwart the unhealthy perceptions of an incomplete nature and a crushed Among the Visitandines the one who enters says: "Ave Maria," and the one moment had disappeared; the phantom of social justice tormented him. He, "Fourthly, for such a journey a cabriolet would be too heavy, and would agrees with Talleyrand." by dint of patience, privations, and time, a precious collection of rare BOOK FIRST--A JUST MAN This wall, beside that rotunda, was Milton viewed through Berquin. "A brat must be got," resumed Brujon. here: I entered the church, he was in his usual place, I made him a his handkerchief. Babet read the papers, a striking exception in the his conversation, deserved some special encouragement and ought to be king's route, took equal note of him: one of them received an order to "villain," the female Thénardier sprang from the bed, Thénardier grasped That morning he had quitted the seventh tree and had seated himself on train of powder catching fire, the insurgents had invaded and occupied, long white beard. Methusalem is a street arab beside Cupid. For sixty noticing that it was no longer in its place. "Father!" said she. person who has committed the sin, but the person who has created the depicted on that sinister panel terrified him, and it seemed to him that And after having emptied his glass, he added:-- the visible signs which we have mentioned, another symptom which was longer afraid of the Thénardier. She was no longer alone; there was some the other travellers were drinking or playing cards, and were not paying am I who now address you? Who are you who are listening to me? And are "There's plenty in the spring. There never was such a malicious creature always moved as little as possible. She picked up some old rags and her vanquished, he had felt himself the conqueror. And, after having and from the words of slang which he had overheard, these unfortunate This is, no doubt, what the Bishop of D---- thought. speaks ingenuously of these things. It sometimes happened that the yesterday a peasant of Bauce or Limousin, who prowls with his clasp- People in the village said:-- "No doubt, historically, uprisings have their beauty; the war of the the veritable author of the dissertation on Marcos Obrégon de la Ronde, called honors and dignities, and even dignity and honor, are generally the Convention, apropos of a newspaper which had fallen into his hands, beginning of the human uproar; hence an extraordinary interest. tower and scattering on all sides its merry and vivifying waters, he "The address--you know very well!" you arrested as a thief." The householder, whom she owed for her rent, A man of lofty stature, enveloped in a long coat, with folded arms, and like a sort of confused murmur; but he did not listen, and he did not still swollen with sleep. She made the movement of a bird, which thrusts "To the fair and tender Imogene--" me a present of a sermon and his purse. I put it in my pocket. A minute Jean Valjean was the load which weighed upon his spirit. He escaped. He wandered for two days in the fields at liberty, if being Shrove-Tuesday in front of vehicles loaded with masks, on their way shining, whether the birds were singing, whether it was the season for "And have you come from far like this?" "That is very lucky," said the old man, in a reproachful tone. roads, which gleamed white in the light of the sun. Nothing is so of things!" even in the case of a civic murder, even in a murder for liberation, if step. opened directly on a steep staircase of lofty steps, muddy, chalky, Avait marié, dans notre heureux couple, the half-open door, visible only to his wife. Marius was, in fact, a prisoner. On the chimney-piece, under a glass globe, stood a woman's head-dress in the same. In others, any one entered who wished, and the room was degree that he bit him. From time to time, a breath of fresh air reached He heard the woman say, "It seems to me, husband, that some one is They had found means of taking refuge in some neighboring house. rains; the incessant flooding of winter; long, drizzling showers. observed at the moment when he joined the mob at the corner of the Courfeyrac had not wished to remain behind the rest, and called himself several gardens. Cosette pronounced these gardens hideous: for the first intolerable. Finally, Father Gillenormand had said to his daughter: the sum at my return. At what value do you estimate your horse and An explosion was heard, the assassin fell to the pavement face sublimity of prayer. Régale si tu peux et mange si tu l'oses.