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diff --git a/old/ftthn10.txt b/old/ftthn10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91fbd12 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ftthn10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13897 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fat and the Thin, by Emile Zola +#9 in our series by Emile Zola + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Fat and the Thin + +Author: Emile Zola + +Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5744] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on August 22, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAT AND THE THIN *** + + + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnypg@yahoo.com + and John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz + + + + +The Fat and the Thin +By Emile Zola + + + + THE FAT AND THE THIN + (LE VENTRE DE PARIS) + + BY + + EMILE ZOLA + + + + TRANSLATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY + ERNEST ALFRED VIZETELLY + + + + Let me have men about me that are fat: + Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights: + Yond' Cassius has a lean and hungry look; + He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. + SHAKESPEARE: /Julius Caesar/, act i, sc. 2. + + + + INTRODUCTION + +"THE FAT AND THE THIN," or, to use the French title, "Le Ventre de +Paris," is a story of life in and around those vast Central Markets +which form a distinctive feature of modern Paris. Even the reader who +has never crossed the Channel must have heard of the Parisian +/Halles/, for much has been written about them, not only in English +books on the French metropolis, but also in English newspapers, +magazines, and reviews; so that few, I fancy, will commence the +perusal of the present volume without having, at all events, some +knowledge of its subject matter. + +The Paris markets form such a world of their own, and teem at certain +hours of the day and night with such exuberance of life, that it was +only natural they should attract the attention of a novelist like M. +Zola, who, to use his own words, delights "in any subject in which +vast masses of people can be shown in motion." Mr. Sherard tells us[*] +that the idea of "Le Ventre de Paris" first occurred to M. Zola in +1872, when he used continually to take his friend Paul Alexis for a +ramble through the Halles. I have in my possession, however, an +article written by M. Zola some five or six years before that time, +and in this one can already detect the germ of the present work; just +as the motif of another of M. Zola's novels, "La Joie de Vivre," can +be traced to a short story written for a Russian review. + +[*] /Emile Zola: a Biographical and Critical Study/, by Robert + Harborough Sherard, pp. 103, 104. London, Chatto & Windus, 1893. + +Similar instances are frequently to be found in the writings of +English as well as French novelists, and are, of course, easily +explained. A young man unknown to fame, and unable to procure the +publication of a long novel, often contents himself with embodying +some particular idea in a short sketch or story, which finds its way +into one or another periodical, where it lies buried and forgotten by +everybody--excepting its author. Time goes by, however, the writer +achieves some measure of success, and one day it occurs to him to +elaborate and perfect that old idea of his, only a faint /apercu/ of +which, for lack of opportunity, he had been able to give in the past. +With a little research, no doubt, an interesting essay might be +written on these literary resuscitations; but if one except certain +novelists who are so deficient in ideas that they continue writing and +rewriting the same story throughout their lives, it will, I think, be +generally found that the revivals in question are due to some such +reason as that given above. + +It should be mentioned that the article of M. Zola's young days to +which I have referred is not one on market life in particular, but one +on violets. It contains, however, a vigorous, if brief, picture of the +Halles in the small hours of the morning, and is instinct with that +realistic descriptive power of which M. Zola has since given so many +proofs. We hear the rumbling and clattering of the market carts, we +see the piles of red meat, the baskets of silvery fish, the mountains +of vegetables, green and white; in a few paragraphs the whole market +world passes in kaleidoscopic fashion before our eyes by the pale, +dancing light of the gas lamps and the lanterns. Several years after +the paper I speak of was published, when M. Zola began to issue "Le +Ventre de Paris," M. Tournachon, better known as Nadar, the aeronaut +and photographer, rushed into print to proclaim that the realistic +novelist had simply pilfered his ideas from an account of the Halles +which he (Tournachon) had but lately written. M. Zola, as is so often +his wont, scorned to reply to this charge of plagiarism; but, had he +chosen, he could have promptly settled the matter by producing his own +forgotten article. + +At the risk of passing for a literary ghoul, I propose to exhume some +portion of the paper in question, as, so far as translation can avail, +it will show how M. Zola wrote and what he thought in 1867. After the +description of the markets to which I have alluded, there comes the +following passage:-- + + + I was gazing at the preparations for the great daily orgy of Paris + when I espied a throng of people bustling suspiciously in a + corner. A few lanterns threw a yellow light upon this crowd. + Children, women, and men with outstretched hands were fumbling in + dark piles which extended along the footway. I thought that those + piles must be remnants of meat sold for a trifling price, and that + all those wretched people were rushing upon them to feed. I drew + near, and discovered my mistake. The heaps were not heaps of meat, + but heaps of violets. All the flowery poesy of the streets of + Paris lay there, on that muddy pavement, amidst mountains of food. + The gardeners of the suburbs had brought their sweet-scented + harvests to the markets and were disposing of them to the hawkers. + From the rough fingers of their peasant growers the violets were + passing to the dirty hands of those who would cry them in the + streets. At winter time it is between four and six o'clock in the + morning that the flowers of Paris are thus sold at the Halles. + Whilst the city sleeps and its butchers are getting all ready for + its daily attack of indigestion, a trade in poetry is plied in + dark, dank corners. When the sun rises the bright red meat will be + displayed in trim, carefully dressed joints, and the violets, + mounted on bits of osier, will gleam softly within their elegant + collars of green leaves. But when they arrive, in the dark night, + the bullocks, already ripped open, discharge black blood, and the + trodden flowers lie prone upon the footways. . . . I noticed just + in front of me one large bunch which had slipped off a + neighbouring mound and was almost bathing in the gutter. I picked + it up. Underneath, it was soiled with mud; the greasy, fetid sewer + water had left black stains upon the flowers. And then, gazing at + these exquisite daughters of our gardens and our woods, astray + amidst all the filth of the city, I began to ponder. On what + woman's bosom would those wretched flowerets open and bloom? Some + hawker would dip them in a pail of water, and of all the bitter + odours of the Paris mud they would retain but a slight pungency, + which would remain mingled with their own sweet perfume. The water + would remove their stains, they would pale somewhat, and become a + joy both for the smell and for the sight. Nevertheless, in the + depths of each corolla there would still remain some particle of + mud suggestive of impurity. And I asked myself how much love and + passion was represented by all those heaps of flowers shivering in + the bleak wind. To how many loving ones, and how many indifferent + ones, and how many egotistical ones, would all those thousands and + thousands of violets go! In a few hours' time they would be + scattered to the four corners of Paris, and for a paltry copper + the passers-by would purchase a glimpse and a whiff of springtide + in the muddy streets. + + +Imperfect as the rendering may be, I think that the above passage will +show that M. Zola was already possessed of a large amount of his +acknowledged realistic power at the early date I have mentioned. I +should also have liked to quote a rather amusing story of a priggish +Philistine who ate violets with oil and vinegar, strongly peppered, +but considerations of space forbid; so I will pass to another passage, +which is of more interest and importance. Both French and English +critics have often contended that although M. Zola is a married man, +he knows very little of women, as there has virtually never been any +/feminine romance/ in his life. There are those who are aware of the +contrary, but whose tongues are stayed by considerations of delicacy +and respect. Still, as the passage I am now about to reproduce is +signed and acknowledged as fact by M. Zola himself, I see no harm in +slightly raising the veil from a long-past episode in the master's +life:-- + + + The light was rising, and as I stood there before that footway + transformed into a bed of flowers my strange night-fancies gave + place to recollections at once sweet and sad. I thought of my last + excursion to Fontenay-aux-Roses, with the loved one, the good + fairy of my twentieth year. Springtime was budding into birth, the + tender foliage gleamed in the pale April sunshine. The little + pathway skirting the hill was bordered by large fields of violets. + As one passed along, a strong perfume seemed to penetrate one and + make one languid. /She/ was leaning on my arm, faint with love + from the sweet odour of the flowers. A whiteness hovered over the + country-side, little insects buzzed in the sunshine, deep silence + fell from the heavens, and so low was the sound of our kisses that + not a bird in all the hedges showed sign of fear. At a turn of the + path we perceived some old bent women, who with dry, withered + hands were hurriedly gathering violets and throwing them into + large baskets. She who was with me glanced longingly at the + flowers, and I called one of the women. "You want some violets?" + said she. "How much? A pound?" + + God of Heaven! She sold her flowers by the pound! We fled in deep + distress. It seemed as though the country-side had been + transformed into a huge grocer's shop. . . . Then we ascended to + the woods of Verrieres, and there, in the grass, under the soft, + fresh foliage, we found some tiny violets which seemed to be + dreadfully afraid, and contrived to hide themselves with all sorts + of artful ruses. During two long hours I scoured the grass and + peered into every nook, and as soon as ever I found a fresh violet + I carried it to her. She bought it of me, and the price that I + exacted was a kiss. . . . And I thought of all those things, of + all that happiness, amidst the hubbub of the markets of Paris, + before those poor dead flowers whose graveyard the footway had + become. I remembered my good fairy, who is now dead and gone, and + the little bouquet of dry violets which I still preserve in a + drawer. When I returned home I counted their withered stems: there + were twenty of them, and over my lips there passed the gentle + warmth of my loved one's twenty kisses. + + +And now from violets I must, with a brutality akin to that which M. +Zola himself displays in some of his transitions, pass to very +different things, for some time back a well-known English poet and +essayist wrote of the present work that it was redolent of pork, +onions, and cheese. To one of his sensitive temperament, with a muse +strictly nourished on sugar and water, such gross edibles as pork and +cheese and onions were peculiarly offensive. That humble plant the +onion, employed to flavour wellnigh every savoury dish, can assuredly +need no defence; in most European countries, too, cheese has long been +known as the poor man's friend; whilst as for pork, apart from all +other considerations, I can claim for it a distinct place in English +literature. A greater essayist by far than the critic to whom I am +referring, a certain Mr. Charles Lamb, of the India House, has left us +an immortal page on the origin of roast pig and crackling. And, when +everything is considered, I should much like to know why novels should +be confined to the aspirations of the soul, and why they should not +also treat of the requirements of our physical nature? From the days +of antiquity we have all known what befell the members when, guided by +the brain, they were foolish enough to revolt against the stomach. The +latter plays a considerable part not only in each individual organism, +but also in the life of the world. Over and over again--I could adduce +a score of historical examples--it has thwarted the mightiest designs +of the human mind. We mortals are much addicted to talking of our +minds and our souls and treating our bodies as mere dross. But I hold +--it is a personal opinion--that in the vast majority of cases the +former are largely governed by the last. I conceive, therefore, that a +novel which takes our daily sustenance as one of its themes has the +best of all /raisons d'etre/. A foreign writer of far more consequence +and ability than myself--Signor Edmondo de Amicis--has proclaimed the +present book to be "one of the most original and happiest inventions +of French genius," and I am strongly inclined to share his opinion. + +It should be observed that the work does not merely treat of the +provisioning of a great city. That provisioning is its /scenario/; but +it also embraces a powerful allegory, the prose song of "the eternal +battle between the lean of this world and the fat--a battle in which, +as the author shows, the latter always come off successful. It is, +too, in its way an allegory of the triumph of the fat bourgeois, who +lives well and beds softly, over the gaunt and Ishmael artist--an +allegory which M. Zola has more than once introduced into his pages, +another notable instance thereof being found in 'Germinal,' with the +fat, well-fed Gregoires on the one hand, and the starving Maheus on +the other." + +From this quotation from Mr. Sherard's pages it will be gathered that +M. Zola had a distinct social aim in writing this book. Wellnigh the +whole social question may, indeed, be summed up in the words "food and +comfort"; and in a series of novels like "Les Rougon-Macquart," +dealing firstly with different conditions and grades of society, and, +secondly, with the influence which the Second Empire exercised on +France, the present volume necessarily had its place marked out from +the very first. + +Mr. Sherard has told us of all the labour which M. Zola expended on +the preparation of the work, of his multitudinous visits to the Paris +markets, his patient investigation of their organism, and his keen +artistic interest in their manifold phases of life. And bred as I was +in Paris, a partaker as I have been of her exultations and her woes +they have always had for me a strong attraction. My memory goes back +to the earlier years of their existence, and I can well remember many +of the old surroundings which have now disappeared. I can recollect +the last vestiges of the antique /piliers/, built by Francis I, facing +the Rue de la Tonnellerie. Paul Niquet's, with its "bowel-twisting +brandy" and its crew of drunken ragpickers, was certainly before my +time; but I can readily recall Baratte's and Bordier's and all the +folly and prodigality which raged there; I knew, too, several of the +noted thieves' haunts which took the place of Niquet's, and which one +was careful never to enter without due precaution. And then, when the +German armies were beleaguering Paris, and two millions of people were +shut off from the world, I often strolled to the Halles to view their +strangely altered aspect. The fish pavilion, of which M. Zola has so +much to say, was bare and deserted. The railway drays, laden with the +comestible treasures of the ocean, no longer thundered through the +covered ways. At the most one found an auction going on in one or +another corner, and a few Seine eels or gudgeons fetching wellnigh +their weight in gold. Then, in the butter and cheese pavilions, one +could only procure some nauseous melted fat, while in the meat +department horse and mule and donkey took the place of beef and veal +and mutton. Mule and donkey were very scarce, and commanded high +prices, but both were of better flavour than horse; mule, indeed, +being quite a delicacy. I also well remember a stall at which dog was +sold, and, hunger knowing no law, I once purchased, cooked, and ate a +couple of canine cutlets which cost me two francs apiece. The flesh +was pinky and very tender, yet I would not willingly make such a +repast again. However, peace and plenty at last came round once more, +the Halles regained their old-time aspect, and in the years which +followed I more than once saw the dawn rise slowly over the mounds of +cabbages, carrots, leeks, and pumpkins, even as M. Zola describes in +the following pages. He has, I think, depicted with remarkable +accuracy and artistic skill the many varying effects of colour that +are produced as the climbing sun casts its early beams on the giant +larder and its masses of food--effects of colour which, to quote a +famous saying of the first Napoleon, show that "the markets of Paris +are the Louvre of the people" in more senses than one. + +The reader will bear in mind that the period dealt with by the author +in this work is that of 1857-60, when the new Halles Centrales were +yet young, and indeed not altogether complete. Still, although many +old landmarks have long since been swept away, the picture of life in +all essential particulars remained the same. Prior to 1860 the limits +of Paris were the so-called /boulevards exterieurs/, from which a +girdle of suburbs, such as Montmartre, Belleville, Passy, and +Montrouge, extended to the fortifications; and the population of the +city was then only 1,400,000 souls. Some of the figures which will be +found scattered through M. Zola's work must therefore be taken as +applying entirely to the past. + +Nowadays the amount of business transacted at the Halles has very +largely increased, in spite of the multiplication of district markets. +Paris seems to have an insatiable appetite, though, on the other hand, +its cuisine is fast becoming all simplicity. To my thinking, few more +remarkable changes have come over the Parisians of recent years than +this change of diet. One by one great restaurants, formerly renowned +for particular dishes and special wines, have been compelled through +lack of custom to close their doors; and this has not been caused so +much by inability to defray the cost of high feeding as by inability +to indulge in it with impunity in a physical sense. In fact, Paris has +become a city of impaired digestions, which nowadays seek the +simplicity without the heaviness of the old English cuisine; and, +should things continue in their present course, I fancy that Parisians +anxious for high feeding will ultimately have to cross over to our +side of the Channel. + +These remarks, I trust, will not be considered out of place in an +introduction to a work which to no small extent treats of the appetite +of Paris. The reader will find that the characters portrayed by M. +Zola are all types of humble life, but I fail to see that their +circumstances should render them any the less interesting. A faithful +portrait of a shopkeeper, a workman, or a workgirl is artistically of +far more value than all the imaginary sketches of impossible dukes and +good and wicked baronets in which so many English novels abound. +Several of M. Zola's personages seem to me extremely lifelike--Gavard, +indeed, is a /chef-d'oeuvre/ of portraiture: I have known many men +like him; and no one who lived in Paris under the Empire can deny the +accuracy with which the author has delineated his hero Florent, the +dreamy and hapless revolutionary caught in the toils of others. In +those days, too, there was many such a plot as M. Zola describes, +instigated by agents like Logre and Lebigre, and allowed to mature +till the eve of an election or some other important event which +rendered its exposure desirable for the purpose of influencing public +opinion. In fact, in all that relates to the so-called "conspiracy of +the markets," M. Zola, whilst changing time and place to suit the +requirements of his story, has simply followed historical lines. As +for the Quenus, who play such prominent parts in the narrative, the +husband is a weakling with no soul above his stewpans, whilst his +wife, the beautiful Lisa, in reality wears the breeches and rules the +roast. The manner in which she cures Quenu of his political +proclivities, though savouring of persuasiveness rather than violence, +is worthy of the immortal Mrs. Caudle: Douglas Jerrold might have +signed a certain lecture which she administers to her astounded +helpmate. Of Pauline, the Quenus' daughter, we see but little in the +story, but she becomes the heroine of another of M. Zola's novels, "La +Joie de Vivre," and instead of inheriting the egotism of her parents, +develops a passionate love and devotion for others. In a like way +Claude Lantier, Florent's artist friend and son of Gervaise of the +"Assommoir," figures more particularly in "L'Oeuvre," which tells how +his painful struggle for fame resulted in madness and suicide. With +reference to the beautiful Norman and the other fishwives and gossips +scattered through the present volume, and those genuine types of +Parisian /gaminerie/, Muche, Marjolin, and Cadine, I may mention that +I have frequently chastened their language in deference to English +susceptibilities, so that the story, whilst retaining every essential +feature, contains nothing to which exception can reasonably be taken. + +E. A. V. + + + + + + THE FAT AND THE THIN + + + + CHAPTER I + +Amidst the deep silence and solitude prevailing in the avenue several +market gardeners' carts were climbing the slope which led towards +Paris, and the fronts of the houses, asleep behind the dim lines of +elms on either side of the road, echoed back the rhythmical jolting of +the wheels. At the Neuilly bridge a cart full of cabbages and another +full of peas had joined the eight waggons of carrots and turnips +coming down from Nanterre; and the horses, left to themselves, had +continued plodding along with lowered heads, at a regular though lazy +pace, which the ascent of the slope now slackened. The sleeping +waggoners, wrapped in woollen cloaks, striped black and grey, and +grasping the reins slackly in their closed hands, were stretched at +full length on their stomachs atop of the piles of vegetables. Every +now and then, a gas lamp, following some patch of gloom, would light +up the hobnails of a boot, the blue sleeve of a blouse, or the peak of +a cap peering out of the huge florescence of vegetables--red bouquets +of carrots, white bouquets of turnips, and the overflowing greenery of +peas and cabbages. + +And all along the road, and along the neighbouring roads, in front and +behind, the distant rumbling of vehicles told of the presence of +similar contingents of the great caravan which was travelling onward +through the gloom and deep slumber of that matutinal hour, lulling the +dark city to continued repose with its echoes of passing food. + +Madame Francois's horse, Balthazar, an animal that was far too fat, +led the van. He was plodding on, half asleep and wagging his ears, +when suddenly, on reaching the Rue de Longchamp, he quivered with fear +and came to a dead stop. The horses behind, thus unexpectedly checked, +ran their heads against the backs of the carts in front of them, and +the procession halted amidst a clattering of bolts and chains and the +oaths of the awakened waggoners. Madame Francois, who sat in front of +her vehicle, with her back to a board which kept her vegetables in +position, looked down; but, in the dim light thrown to the left by a +small square lantern, which illuminated little beyond one of +Balthazar's sheeny flanks, she could distinguish nothing. + +"Come, old woman, let's get on!" cried one of the men, who had raised +himself to a kneeling position amongst his turnips; "it's only some +drunken sot." + +Madame Francois, however, had bent forward and on her right hand had +caught sight of a black mass, lying almost under the horse's hoofs, +and blocking the road. + +"You wouldn't have us drive over a man, would you?" said she, jumping +to the ground. + +It was indeed a man lying at full length upon the road, with his arms +stretched out and his face in the dust. He seemed to be remarkably +tall, but as withered as a dry branch, and the wonder was that +Balthazar had not broken him in half with a blow from his hoof. Madame +Francois thought that he was dead; but on stooping and taking hold of +one of his hands, she found that it was quite warm. + +"Poor fellow!" she murmured softly. + +The waggoners, however, were getting impatient. + +"Hurry up, there!" said the man kneeling amongst the turnips, in a +hoarse voice. "He's drunk till he can hold no more, the hog! Shove him +into the gutter." + +Meantime, the man on the road had opened his eyes. He looked at Madame +Francois with a startled air, but did not move. She herself now +thought that he must indeed be drunk. + +"You mustn't stop here," she said to him, "or you'll get run over and +killed. Where were you going?" + +"I don't know," replied the man in a faint voice. + +Then, with an effort and an anxious expression, he added: "I was going +to Paris; I fell down, and don't remember any more." + +Madame Francois could now see him more distinctly, and he was truly a +pitiable object, with his ragged black coat and trousers, through the +rents in which you could espy his scraggy limbs. Underneath a black +cloth cap, which was drawn low over his brows, as though he were +afraid of being recognised, could be seen two large brown eyes, +gleaming with peculiar softness in his otherwise stern and harassed +countenance. It seemed to Madame Francois that he was in far too +famished a condition to have got drunk. + +"And what part of Paris were you going to?" she continued. + +The man did not reply immediately. This questioning seemed to distress +him. He appeared to be thinking the matter over, but at last said +hesitatingly, "Over yonder, towards the markets." + +He had now, with great difficulty, got to his feet again, and seemed +anxious to resume his journey. But Madame Francois noticed that he +tottered, and clung for support to one of the shafts of her waggon. + +"Are you tired?" she asked him. + +"Yes, very tired," he replied. + +Then she suddenly assumed a grumpy tone, as though displeased, and, +giving him a push, exclaimed: "Look sharp, then, and climb into my +cart. You've made us lose a lot of time. I'm going to the markets, and +I'll turn you out there with my vegetables." + +Then, as the man seemed inclined to refuse her offer, she pushed him +up with her stout arms, and bundled him down upon the turnips and +carrots. + +"Come, now, don't give us any more trouble," she cried angrily. "You +are quite enough to provoke one, my good fellow. Don't I tell you that +I'm going to the markets? Sleep away up there. I'll wake you when we +arrive." + +She herself then clambered into the cart again, and settled herself +with her back against the board, grasping the reins of Balthazar, who +started off drowsily, swaying his ears once more. The other waggons +followed, and the procession resumed its lazy march through the +darkness, whilst the rhythmical jolting of the wheels again awoke the +echoes of the sleepy house fronts, and the waggoners, wrapped in their +cloaks, dozed off afresh. The one who had called to Madame Francois +growled out as he lay down: "As if we'd nothing better to do than pick +up every drunken sot we come across! You're a scorcher, old woman!" + +The waggons rumbled on, and the horses picked their own way, with +drooping heads. The stranger whom Madame Francois had befriended was +lying on his stomach, with his long legs lost amongst the turnips +which filled the back part of the cart, whilst his face was buried +amidst the spreading piles of carrot bunches. With weary, extended +arms he clutched hold of his vegetable couch in fear of being thrown +to the ground by one of the waggon's jolts, and his eyes were fixed on +the two long lines of gas lamps which stretched away in front of him +till they mingled with a swarm of other lights in the distance atop of +the slope. Far away on the horizon floated a spreading, whitish +vapour, showing where Paris slept amidst the luminous haze of all +those flamelets. + +"I come from Nanterre, and my name's Madame Francois," said the +market gardener presently. "Since my poor man died I go to the markets +every morning myself. It's a hard life, as you may guess. And who are +you?" + +"My name's Florent, I come from a distance," replied the stranger, +with embarrassment. "Please excuse me, but I'm really so tired that it +is painful to me to talk." + +He was evidently unwilling to say anything more, and so Madame +Francois relapsed into silence, and allowed the reins to fall loosely +on the back of Balthazar, who went his way like an animal acquainted +with every stone of the road. + +Meantime, with his eyes still fixed upon the far-spreading glare of +Paris, Florent was pondering over the story which he had refused to +communicate to Madame Francois. After making his escape from Cayenne, +whither he had been transported for his participation in the +resistance to Louis Napoleon's Coup d'Etat, he had wandered about +Dutch Guiana for a couple of years, burning to return to France, yet +dreading the Imperial police. At last, however, he once more saw +before him the beloved and mighty city which he had so keenly +regretted and so ardently longed for. He would hide himself there, he +told himself, and again lead the quiet, peaceable life that he had +lived years ago. The police would never be any the wiser; and everyone +would imagine, indeed, that he had died over yonder, across the sea. +Then he thought of his arrival at Havre, where he had landed with only +some fifteen francs tied up in a corner of his handkerchief. He had +been able to pay for a seat in the coach as far as Rouen, but from +that point he had been forced to continue his journey on foot, as he +had scarcely thirty sous left of his little store. At Vernon his last +copper had gone in bread. After that he had no clear recollection of +anything. He fancied that he could remember having slept for several +hours in a ditch, and having shown the papers with which he had +provided himself to a gendarme; however, he had only a very confused +idea of what had happened. He had left Vernon without any breakfast, +seized every now and then with hopeless despair and raging pangs which +had driven him to munch the leaves of the hedges as he tramped along. +A prey to cramp and fright, his body bent, his sight dimmed, and his +feet sore, he had continued his weary march, ever drawn onwards in a +semi-unconscious state by a vision of Paris, which, far, far away, +beyond the horizon, seemed to be summoning him and waiting for him. + +When he at length reached Courbevoie, the night was very dark. Paris, +looking like a patch of star-sprent sky that had fallen upon the black +earth, seemed to him to wear a forbidding aspect, as though angry at +his return. Then he felt very faint, and his legs almost gave way +beneath him as he descended the hill. As he crossed the Neuilly bridge +he sustained himself by clinging to the parapet, and bent over and +looked at the Seine rolling inky waves between its dense, massy banks. +A red lamp on the water seemed to be watching him with a sanguineous +eye. And then he had to climb the hill if he would reach Paris on its +summit yonder. The hundreds of leagues which he had already travelled +were as nothing to it. That bit of a road filled him with despair. He +would never be able, he thought, to reach yonder light crowned summit. +The spacious avenue lay before him with its silence and its darkness, +its lines of tall trees and low houses, its broad grey footwalks, +speckled with the shadows of overhanging branches, and parted +occasionally by the gloomy gaps of side streets. The squat yellow +flames of the gas lamps, standing erect at regular intervals, alone +imparted a little life to the lonely wilderness. And Florent seemed to +make no progress; the avenue appeared to grow ever longer and longer, +to be carrying Paris away into the far depths of the night. At last he +fancied that the gas lamps, with their single eyes, were running off +on either hand, whisking the road away with them; and then, overcome +by vertigo, he stumbled and fell on the roadway like a log. + +Now he was lying at ease on his couch of greenery, which seemed to him +soft as a feather bed. He had slightly raised his head so as to keep +his eyes on the luminous haze which was spreading above the dark roofs +which he could divine on the horizon. He was nearing his goal, carried +along towards it, with nothing to do but to yield to the leisurely +jolts of the waggon; and, free from all further fatigue, he now only +suffered from hunger. Hunger, indeed, had once more awoke within him +with frightful and wellnigh intolerable pangs. His limbs seemed to +have fallen asleep; he was only conscious of the existence of his +stomach, horribly cramped and twisted as by a red-hot iron. The fresh +odour of the vegetables, amongst which he was lying, affected him so +keenly that he almost fainted away. He strained himself against that +piled-up mass of food with all his remaining strength, in order to +compress his stomach and silence its groans. And the nine other +waggons behind him, with their mountains of cabbages and peas, their +piles of artichokes, lettuces, celery, and leeks, seemed to him to be +slowly overtaking him, as though to bury him whilst he was thus +tortured by hunger beneath an avalanche of food. Presently the +procession halted, and there was a sound of deep voices. They had +reached the barriers, and the municipal customs officers were +examining the waggons. A moment later Florent entered Paris, in a +swoon, lying atop of the carrots, with clenched teeth. + +"Hallow! You up there!" Madame Francois called out sharply. + +And as the stranger made no attempt to move, she clambered up and +shook him. Florent rose to a sitting posture. He had slept and no +longer felt the pangs of hunger, but was dizzy and confused. + +"You'll help me to unload, won't you?" Madame Francois said to him, as +she made him get down. + +He helped her. A stout man with a felt hat on his head and a badge in +the top buttonhole of his coat was striking the ground with a stick +and grumbling loudly: + +"Come, come, now, make haste! You must get on faster than that! Bring +the waggon a little more forward. How many yards' standing have you? +Four, isn't it?" + +Then he gave a ticket to Madame Francois, who took some coppers out of +a little canvas bag and handed them to him; whereupon he went off to +vent his impatience and tap the ground with his stick a little further +away. Madame Francois took hold of Balthazar's bridle and backed him +so as to bring the wheels of the waggon close to the footway. Then, +having marked out her four yards with some wisps of straw, after +removing the back of the cart, she asked Florent to hand her the +vegetables bunch by bunch. She arranged them sort by sort on her +standing, setting them out artistically, the "tops" forming a band of +greenery around each pile; and it was with remarkable rapidity that +she completed her show, which, in the gloom of early morning, looked +like some piece of symmetrically coloured tapestry. When Florent had +handed her a huge bunch of parsley, which he had found at the bottom +of the cart, she asked him for still another service. + +"It would be very kind of you," said she, "if you would look after my +goods while I put the horse and cart up. I'm only going a couple of +yards, to the Golden Compasses, in the Rue Montorgueil." + +Florent told her that she might make herself easy. He preferred to +remain still, for his hunger had revived since he had begun to move +about. He sat down and leaned against a heap of cabbages beside Madame +Francois's stock. He was all right there, he told himself, and would +not go further afield, but wait. His head felt empty, and he had no +very clear notion as to where he was. At the beginning of September it +is quite dark in the early morning. Around him lighted lanterns were +flitting or standing stationary in the depths of the gloom. He was +sitting on one side of a broad street which he did not recognise; it +stretched far away into the blackness of the night. He could make out +nothing plainly, excepting the stock of which he had been left in +charge. All around him along the market footways rose similar piles of +goods. The middle of the roadway was blocked by huge grey tumbrels, +and from one end of the street to the other a sound of heavy breathing +passed, betokening the presence of horses which the eye could not +distinguish. + +Shouts and calls, the noise of falling wood, or of iron chains +slipping to the ground, the heavy thud of loads of vegetables +discharged from the waggons, and the grating of wheels as the carts +were backed against the footways, filled the yet sonorous awakening, +whose near approach could be felt and heard in the throbbing gloom. +Glancing over the pile of cabbages behind him. Florent caught sight of +a man wrapped like a parcel in his cloak, and snoring away with his +head upon some baskets of plums. Nearer to him, on his left, he could +distinguish a lad, some ten years old, slumbering between two heaps of +endive, with an angelic smile on his face. And as yet there seemed to +be nothing on that pavement that was really awake except the lanterns +waving from invisible arms, and flitting and skipping over the sleep +of the vegetables and human beings spread out there in heaps pending +the dawn. However, what surprised Florent was the sight of some huge +pavilions on either side of the street, pavilions with lofty roofs +that seemed to expand and soar out of sight amidst a swarm of gleams. +In his weakened state of mind he fancied he beheld a series of +enormous, symmetrically built palaces, light and airy as crystal, +whose fronts sparkled with countless streaks of light filtering +through endless Venetian shutters. Gleaming between the slender pillar +shafts these narrow golden bars seemed like ladders of light mounting +to the gloomy line of the lower roofs, and then soaring aloft till +they reached the jumble of higher ones, thus describing the open +framework of immense square halls, where in the yellow flare of the +gas lights a multitude of vague, grey, slumbering things was gathered +together. + +At last Florent turned his head to look about him, distressed at not +knowing where he was, and filled with vague uneasiness by the sight of +that huge and seemingly fragile vision. And now, as he raised his +eyes, he caught sight of the luminous dial and the grey massive pile +of Saint Eustache's Church. At this he was much astonished. He was +close to Saint Eustache, yet all was novel to him. + +However, Madame Francois had come back again, and was engaged in a +heated discussion with a man who carried a sack over his shoulder and +offered to buy her carrots for a sou a bunch. + +"Really, now, you are unreasonable, Lacaille!" said she. "You know +quite well that you will sell them again to the Parisians at four and +five sous the bunch. Don't tell me that you won't! You may have them +for two sous the bunch, if you like." + +Then, as the man went off, she continued: "Upon my word, I believe +some people think that things grow of their own accord! Let him go and +find carrots at a sou the bunch elsewhere, tipsy scoundrel that he is! +He'll come back again presently, you'll see." + +These last remarks were addressed to Florent. And, seating herself by +his side, Madame Francois resumed: "If you've been a long time away +from Paris, you perhaps don't know the new markets. They haven't been +built for more than five years at the most. That pavilion you see +there beside us is the flower and fruit market. The fish and poultry +markets are farther away, and over there behind us come the vegetables +and the butter and cheese. There are six pavilions on this side, and +on the other side, across the road, there are four more, with the meat +and the tripe stalls. It's an enormous place, but it's horribly cold +in the winter. They talk about pulling down the houses near the corn +market to make room for two more pavilions. But perhaps you know all +this?" + +"No, indeed," replied Florent; "I've been abroad. And what's the name +of that big street in front of us?" + +"Oh, that's a new street. It's called the Rue du Pont Neuf. It leads +from the Seine through here to the Rue Montmartre and the Rue +Montorgueil. You would soon have recognized where you were if it had +been daylight." + +Madame Francois paused and rose, for she saw a woman heading down to +examine her turnips. "Ah, is that you, Mother Chantemesse?" she said +in a friendly way. + +Florent meanwhile glanced towards the Rue Montorgueil. It was there +that a body of police officers had arrested him on the night of +December 4.[*] He had been walking along the Boulevard Montmartre at +about two o'clock, quietly making his way through the crowd, and +smiling at the number of soldiers that the Elysee had sent into the +streets to awe the people, when the military suddenly began making a +clean sweep of the thoroughfare, shooting folks down at close range +during a quarter of an hour. Jostled and knocked to the ground, +Florent fell at the corner of the Rue Vivienne and knew nothing +further of what happened, for the panic-stricken crowd, in their wild +terror of being shot, trampled over his body. Presently, hearing +everything quiet, he made an attempt to rise; but across him there lay +a young woman in a pink bonnet, whose shawl had slipped aside, +allowing her chemisette, pleated in little tucks, to be seen. Two +bullets had pierced the upper part of her bosom; and when Florent +gently removed the poor creature to free his legs, two streamlets of +blood oozed from her wounds on to his hands. Then he sprang up with a +sudden bound, and rushed madly away, hatless and with his hands still +wet with blood. Until evening he wandered about the streets, with his +head swimming, ever seeing the young woman lying across his legs with +her pale face, her blue staring eyes, her distorted lips, and her +expression of astonishment at thus meeting death so suddenly. He was a +shy, timid fellow. Albeit thirty years old he had never dared to stare +women in the face; and now, for the rest of his life, he was to have +that one fixed in his heart and memory. He felt as though he had lost +some loved one of his own. + +[*] 1851. Two days after the Coup d'Etat.--Translator. + +In the evening, without knowing how he had got there, still dazed and +horrified as he was by the terrible scenes of the afternoon, he had +found himself at a wine shop in the Rue Montorgueil, where several men +were drinking and talking of throwing up barricades. He went away with +them, helped them to tear up a few paving-stones, and seated himself +on the barricade, weary with his long wandering through the streets, +and reflecting that he would fight when the soldiers came up. However, +he had not even a knife with him, and was still bareheaded. Towards +eleven o'clock he dozed off, and in his sleep could see the two holes +in the dead woman's white chemisette glaring at him like eyes reddened +by tears and blood. When he awoke he found himself in the grasp of +four police officers, who were pummelling him with their fists. The +men who had built the barricade had fled. The police officers treated +him with still greater violence, and indeed almost strangled him when +they noticed that his hands were stained with blood. It was the blood +of the young woman. + +Florent raised his eyes to the luminous dial of Saint Eustache with +his mind so full of these recollections that he did not notice the +position of the pointers. It was, however, nearly four o'clock. The +markets were as yet wrapped in sleep. Madame Francois was still +talking to old Madame Chantemesse, both standing and arguing about the +price of turnips, and Florent now called to mind how narrowly he had +escaped being shot over yonder by the wall of Saint Eustache. A +detachment of gendarmes had just blown out the brains of five unhappy +fellows caught at a barricade in the Rue Greneta. The five corpses +were lying on the footway, at a spot where he thought he could now +distinguish a heap of rosy radishes. He himself had escaped being shot +merely because the policemen only carried swords. They took him to a +neighbouring police station and gave the officer in charge a scrap of +paper, on which were these words written in pencil: "Taken with blood- +stained hands. Very dangerous." Then he had been dragged from station +to station till the morning came. The scrap of paper accompanied him +wherever he went. He was manacled and guarded as though he were a +raving madman. At the station in the Rue de la Lingerie some tipsy +soldiers wanted to shoot him; and they had already lighted a lantern +with that object when the order arrived for the prisoners to be taken +to the depot of the Prefecture of Police. Two days afterwards he found +himself in a casemate of the fort of Bicetre. Ever since then he had +been suffering from hunger. He had felt hungry in the casemate, and +the pangs of hunger had never since left him. A hundred men were pent +in the depths of that cellar-like dungeon, where, scarce able to +breathe, they devoured the few mouthfuls of bread that were thrown to +them, like so many captive wild beasts. + +When Florent was brought before an investigating magistrate, without +anyone to defend him, and without any evidence being adduced, he was +accused of belonging to a secret society; and when he swore that this +was untrue, the magistrate produced the scrap of paper from amongst +the documents before him: "Taken with blood-stained hands. Very +dangerous." That was quite sufficient. He was condemned to +transportation. Six weeks afterwards, one January night, a gaoler +awoke him and locked him up in a courtyard with more than four hundred +other prisoners. An hour later this first detachment started for the +pontoons and exile, handcuffed and guarded by a double file of +gendarmes with loaded muskets. They crossed the Austerlitz bridge, +followed the line of the boulevards, and so reached the terminus of +the Western Railway line. It was a joyous carnival night. The windows +of the restaurants on the boulevards glittered with lights. At the top +of the Rue Vivienne, just at the spot where he ever saw the young +woman lying dead--that unknown young woman whose image he always bore +with him--he now beheld a large carriage in which a party of masked +women, with bare shoulders and laughing voices, were venting their +impatience at being detained, and expressing their horror of that +endless procession of convicts. The whole of the way from Paris to +Havre the prisoners never received a mouthful of bread or a drink of +water. The officials had forgotten to give them their rations before +starting, and it was not till thirty-six hours afterwards, when they +had been stowed away in the hold of the frigate /Canada/, that they at +last broke their fast. + +No, Florent had never again been free from hunger. He recalled all the +past to mind, but could not recollect a single hour of satiety. He had +become dry and withered; his stomach seemed to have shrunk; his skin +clung to his bones. And now that he was back in Paris once more, he +found it fat and sleek and flourishing, teeming with food in the midst +of the darkness. He had returned to it on a couch of vegetables; he +lingered in its midst encompassed by unknown masses of food which +still and ever increased and disquieted him. Had that happy carnival +night continued throughout those seven years, then? Once again he saw +the glittering windows on the boulevards, the laughing women, the +luxurious, greedy city which he had quitted on that far-away January +night; and it seemed to him that everything had expanded and increased +in harmony with those huge markets, whose gigantic breathing, still +heavy from the indigestion of the previous day, he now began to hear. + +Old Mother Chantemesse had by this time made up her mind to buy a +dozen bunches of turnips. She put them in her apron, which she held +closely pressed to her person, thus making herself look yet more +corpulent than she was; and for some time longer she lingered there, +still gossiping in a drawling voice. When at last she went away, +Madame Francois again sat down by the side of Florent. + +"Poor old Mother Chantemesse!" she said; "she must be at least +seventy-two. I can remember her buying turnips of my father when I was +a mere chit. And she hasn't a relation in the world; no one but a +young hussy whom she picked up I don't know where and who does nothing +but bring her trouble. Still, she manages to live, selling things by +the ha'p'orth and clearing her couple of francs profit a day. For my +own part, I'm sure that I could never spend my days on the foot- +pavement in this horrid Paris! And she hasn't even any relations +here!" + +"You have some relations in Paris, I suppose?" she asked presently, +seeing that Florent seemed disinclined to talk. + +Florent did not appear to hear her. A feeling of distrust came back to +him. His head was teeming with old stories of the police, stories of +spies prowling about at every street corner, and of women selling the +secrets which they managed to worm out of the unhappy fellows they +deluded. Madame Francois was sitting close beside him and certainly +looked perfectly straightforward and honest, with her big calm face, +above which was bound a black and yellow handkerchief. She seemed +about five and thirty years of age, and was somewhat stoutly built, +with a certain hardy beauty due to her life in the fresh air. A pair +of black eyes, which beamed with kindly tenderness, softened the more +masculine characteristics of her person. She certainly was +inquisitive, but her curiosity was probably well meant. + +"I've a nephew in Paris," she continued, without seeming at all +offended by Florent's silence. "He's turned out badly though, and has +enlisted. It's a pleasant thing to have somewhere to go to and stay +at, isn't it? I dare say there's a big surprise in store for your +relations when they see you. But it's always a pleasure to welcome one +of one's own people back again, isn't it?" + +She kept her eyes fixed upon him while she spoke, doubtless +compassionating his extreme scragginess; fancying, too, that there was +a "gentleman" inside those old black rags, and so not daring to slip a +piece of silver into his hand. At last, however, she timidly murmured: +"All the same, if you should happen just at present to be in want of +anything----" + +But Florent checked her with uneasy pride. He told her that he had +everything he required, and had a place to go to. She seemed quite +pleased to hear this, and, as though to tranquillise herself +concerning him, repeated several times: "Well, well, in that case +you've only got to wait till daylight." + +A large bell at the corner of the fruit market, just over Florent's +head, now began to ring. The slow regular peals seemed to gradually +dissipate the slumber that yet lingered all around. Carts were still +arriving, and the shouts of the waggoners, the cracking of their +whips, and the grinding of the paving-stones beneath the iron-bound +wheels and the horses' shoes sounded with an increasing din. The carts +could now only advance by a series of spasmodic jolts, and stretched +in a long line, one behind the other, till they were lost to sight in +the distant darkness, whence a confused roar ascended. + +Unloading was in progress all along the Rue du Pont Neuf, the vehicles +being drawn up close to the edge of the footways, while their teams +stood motionless in close order as at a horse fair. Florent felt +interested in one enormous tumbrel which was piled up with magnificent +cabbages, and had only been backed to the kerb with the greatest +difficulty. Its load towered above the lofty gas lamp whose bright +light fell full upon the broad leaves which looked like pieces of dark +green velvet, scalloped and goffered. A young peasant girl, some +sixteen years old, in a blue linen jacket and cap, had climbed on to +the tumbrel, where, buried in the cabbages to her shoulders, she took +them one by one and threw them to somebody concealed in the shade +below. Every now and then the girl would slip and vanish, overwhelmed +by an avalanche of the vegetables, but her rosy nose soon reappeared +amidst the teeming greenery, and she broke into a laugh while the +cabbages again flew down between Florent and the gas lamp. He counted +them mechanically as they fell. When the cart was emptied he felt +worried. + +The piles of vegetables on the pavement now extended to the verge of +the roadway. Between the heaps, the market gardeners left narrow paths +to enable people to pass along. The whole of the wide footway was +covered from end to end with dark mounds. As yet, in the sudden +dancing gleams of light from the lanterns, you only just espied the +luxuriant fulness of the bundles of artichokes, the delicate green of +the lettuces, the rosy coral of the carrots, and dull ivory of the +turnips. And these gleams of rich colour flitted along the heaps, +according as the lanterns came and went. The footway was now becoming +populated: a crowd of people had awakened, and was moving hither and +thither amidst the vegetables, stopping at times, and chattering and +shouting. In the distance a loud voice could be heard crying, "Endive! +who's got endive?" The gates of the pavilion devoted to the sale of +ordinary vegetables had just been opened; and the retail dealers who +had stalls there, with white caps on their heads, fichus knotted over +their black jackets, and skirts pinned up to keep them from getting +soiled, now began to secure their stock for the day, depositing their +purchases in some huge porters' baskets placed upon the ground. +Between the roadway and the pavilion these baskets were to be seen +coming and going on all sides, knocking against the crowded heads of +the bystanders, who resented the pushing with coarse expressions, +whilst all around was a clamour of voices growing hoarse by prolonged +wrangling over a sou or two. Florent was astonished by the calmness of +the female market gardeners, with bandanas and bronzed faces, +displayed amidst all this garrulous bargaining of the markets. + +Behind him, on the footway of the Rue Rambuteau, fruit was being sold. +Hampers and low baskets covered with canvas or straw stood there in +long lines, a strong odour of over-ripe mirabelle plums was wafted +hither and thither. At last a subdued and gentle voice, which he had +heard for some time past, induced him to turn his head, and he saw a +charming darksome little woman sitting on the ground and bargaining. + +"Come now, Marcel," said she, "you'll take a hundred sous, won't you?" + +The man to whom she was speaking was closely wrapped in his cloak and +made no reply; however, after a silence of five minutes or more, the +young woman returned to the charge. + +"Come now, Marcel; a hundred sous for that basket there, and four +francs for the other one; that'll make nine francs altogether." + +Then came another interval. + +"Well, tell me what you will take." + +"Ten francs. You know that well enough already; I told you so before. +But what have you done with your Jules this morning, La Sarriette?" + +The young woman began to laugh as she took a handful of small change +out of her pocket. + +"Oh," she replied, "Jules is still in bed. He says that men were not +intended to work." + +She paid for the two baskets, and carried them into the fruit +pavilion, which had just been opened. The market buildings still +retained their gloom-wrapped aspect of airy fragility, streaked with +the thousand lines of light that gleamed from the venetian shutters. +People were beginning to pass along the broad covered streets +intersecting the pavilions, but the more distant buildings still +remained deserted amidst the increasing buzz of life on the footways. +By Saint Eustache the bakers and wine sellers were taking down their +shutters, and the ruddy shops, with their gas lights flaring, showed +like gaps of fire in the gloom in which the grey house-fronts were yet +steeped. Florent noticed a baker's shop on the left-hand side of the +Rue Montorgueil, replete and golden with its last baking, and fancied +he could scent the pleasant smell of the hot bread. It was now half +past four. + +Madame Francois by this time had disposed of nearly all her stock. She +had only a few bunches of carrots left when Lacaille once more made +his appearance with his sack. + +"Well," said he, "will you take a sou now?" + +"I knew I should see you again," the good woman quietly answered. +"You'd better take all I have left. There are seventeen bunches." + +"That makes seventeen sous." + +"No; thirty-four." + +At last they agreed to fix the price at twenty-five sous. Madame +Francois was anxious to be off. + +"He'd been keeping his eye upon me all the time," she said to Florent, +when Lacaille had gone off with the carrots in his sack. "That old +rogue runs things down all over the markets, and he often waits till +the last peal of the bell before spending four sous in purchase. Oh, +these Paris folk! They'll wrangle and argue for an hour to save half a +sou, and then go off and empty their purses at the wine shop." + +Whenever Madame Francois talked of Paris she always spoke in a tone of +disdain, and referred to the city as though it were some ridiculous, +contemptible, far-away place, in which she only condescended to set +foot at nighttime. + +"There!" she continued, sitting down again, beside Florent, on some +vegetables belonging to a neighbour, "I can get away now." + +Florent bent his head. He had just committed a theft. When Lacaille +went off he had caught sight of a carrot lying on the ground, and +having picked it up he was holding it tightly in his right hand. +Behind him were some bundles of celery and bunches of parsley were +diffusing pungent odours which painfully affected him. + +"Well, I'm off now!" said Madame Francois. + +However, she felt interested in this stranger, and could divine that +he was suffering there on that foot-pavement, from which he had never +stirred. She made him fresh offers of assistance, but he again refused +them, with a still more bitter show of pride. He even got up and +remained standing to prove that he was quite strong again. Then, as +Madame Francois turned her head away, he put the carrot to his mouth. +But he had to remove it for a moment, in spite of the terrible longing +which he felt to dig his teeth into it; for Madame Francois turned +round again and looking him full in the face, began to question him +with her good-natured womanly curiosity. Florent, to avoid speaking, +merely answered by nods and shakes of the head. Then, slowly and +gently, he began to eat the carrot. + +The worthy woman was at last on the point of going off, when a +powerful voice exclaimed close beside her, "Good morning, Madame +Francois." + +The speaker was a slim young man, with big bones and a big head. His +face was bearded, and he had a very delicate nose and narrow sparkling +eyes. He wore on his head a rusty, battered, black felt hat, and was +buttoned up in an immense overcoat, which had once been of a soft +chestnut hue, but which rain had discoloured and streaked with long +greenish stains. Somewhat bent, and quivering with a nervous +restlessness which was doubtless habitual with him, he stood there in +a pair of heavy laced shoes, and the shortness of his trousers allowed +a glimpse of his coarse blue hose. + +"Good morning, Monsieur Claude," the market gardener replied +cheerfully. "I expected you, you know, last Monday, and, as you didn't +come, I've taken care of your canvas for you. I've hung it up on a +nail in my room." + +"You are really very kind, Madame Francois. I'll go to finish that +study of mine one of these days. I wasn't able to go on Monday. Has +your big plum tree still got all its leaves?" + +"Yes, indeed." + +"I wanted to know, because I mean to put it in a corner of the +picture. It will come in nicely by the side of the fowl house. I have +been thinking about it all the week. What lovely vegetables are in the +market this morning! I came down very early, expecting a fine sunrise +effect upon all these heaps of cabbages." + +With a wave of the arm he indicated the footway. + +"Well, well, I must be off now," said Madame Francois. "Good-bye for +the present. We shall meet again soon, I hope, Monsieur Claude." + +However, as she turned to go, she introduced Florent to the young +artist. + +"This gentleman, it seems, has just come from a distance," said she. +"He feels quite lost in your scampish Paris. I dare say you might be +of service to him." + +Then she at last took her departure, feeling pleased at having left +the two men together. Claude looked at Florent with a feeling of +interest. That tall, slight, wavy figure seemed to him original. +Madame Francois's hasty presentation was in his eyes quite sufficient, +and he addressed Florent with the easy familiarity of a lounger +accustomed to all sorts of chance encounters. + +"I'll accompany you," he said; "which way are you going?" + +Florent felt ill at ease; he was not wont to unbosom himself so +readily. However, ever since his arrival in Paris, a question had been +trembling on his lips, and now he ventured to ask it, with the evident +fear of receiving an unfavourable reply. + +"Is the Rue Pirouette still in existence?" + +"Oh, yes," answered the artist. "A very curious corner of old Paris is +the Rue Pirouette. It twists and turns like a dancing girl, and the +houses bulge out like pot-bellied gluttons. I've made an etching of it +that isn't half bad. I'll show it to you when you come to see me. Is +it to the Rue Pirouette that you want to go?" + +Florent, who felt easier and more cheerful now that he knew the street +still existed, declared that he did not want to go there; in fact, he +did not want to go anywhere in particular. All his distrust awoke into +fresh life at Claude's insistence. + +"Oh! never mind," said the artist, "let's go to the Rue Pirouette all +the same. It has such a fine colour at night time. Come along; it's +only a couple of yards away." + +Florent felt constrained to follow him, and the two men walked off, +side by side, stepping over the hampers and vegetables like a couple +of old friends. On the footway of the Rue Rambuteau there were some +immense heaps of cauliflowers, symmetrically piled up like so many +cannonballs. The soft-white flowers spread out like huge roses in the +midst of their thick green leaves, and the piles had something of the +appearance of bridal bouquets ranged in a row in colossal flower +stands. Claude stopped in front of them, venting cries of admiration. + +Then, on turning into the Rue Pirouette, which was just opposite, he +pointed out each house to his companion, and explained his views +concerning it. There was only a single gas lamp, burning in a corner. +The buildings, which had settled down and swollen, threw their pent- +houses forward in such wise as to justify Claude's allusion to pot- +bellied gluttons, whilst their gables receded, and on either side they +clung to their neighbours for support. Three or four, however, +standing in gloomy recesses, appeared to be on the point of toppling +forward. The solitary gas lamp illumined one which was snowy with a +fresh coat of whitewash, suggesting some flabby broken-down old +dowager, powdered and bedaubed in the hope of appearing young. Then +the others stretched away into the darkness, bruised, dented, and +cracked, greeny with the fall of water from their roofs, and +displaying such an extraordinary variety of attitudes and tints that +Claude could not refrain from laughing as he contemplated them. + +Florent, however, came to stand at the corner of the rue de Mondetour, +in front of the last house but one on the left. Here the three floors, +each with two shutterless windows, having little white curtains +closely drawn, seemed wrapped in sleep; but, up above, a light could +be seen flitting behind the curtains of a tiny gable casement. +However, the sight of the shop beneath the pent-house seemed to fill +Florent with the deepest emotion. It was kept by a dealer in cooked +vegetables, and was just being opened. At its far end some metal pans +were glittering, while on several earthen ones in the window there was +a display of cooked spinach and endive, reduced to a paste and +arranged in conical mounds from which customers were served with +shovel-like carvers of white metal, only the handles of which were +visible. This sight seemed to rivet Florent to the ground with +surprise. He evidently could not recognize the place. He read the name +of the shopkeeper, Godeboeuf, which was painted on a red sign board up +above, and remained quite overcome by consternation. His arms dangling +beside him, he began to examine the cooked spinach, with the +despairing air of one on whom some supreme misfortune falls. + +However, the gable casement was now opened, and a little old woman +leaned out of it, and looked first at the sky and then at the markets +in the distance. + +"Ah, Mademoiselle Saget is an early riser," exclaimed Claude, who had +just raised his head. And, turning to his companion, he added: "I once +had an aunt living in that house. It's a regular hive of tittle- +tattle! Ah, the Mehudins are stirring now, I see. There's a light on +the second floor." + +Florent would have liked to question his companion, but the latter's +long discoloured overcoat give him a disquieting appearance. So +without a word Florent followed him, whilst he went on talking about +the Mehudins. These Mehudins were fish-girls, it seemed; the older one +was a magnificent creature, while the younger one, who sold fresh- +water fish, reminded Claude of one of Murillo's virgins, whenever he +saw her standing with her fair face amidst her carps and eels. + +From this Claude went on to remark with asperity that Murillo painted +like an ignoramus. But all at once he stopped short in the middle of +the street. + +"Come!" he exclaimed, "tell me where it is that you want to go." + +"I don't want to go anywhere just at present," replied Florent in +confusion. "Let's go wherever you like." + +Just as they were leaving the Rue Pirouette, some one called to Claude +from a wine shop at the corner of the street. The young man went in, +dragging Florent with him. The shutters had been taken down on one +side only, and the gas was still burning in the sleepy atmosphere of +the shop. A forgotten napkin and some cards that had been used in the +previous evening's play were still lying on the tables; and the fresh +breeze that streamed in through the open doorway freshened the close, +warm vinous air. The landlord, Monsieur Lebigre, was serving his +customers. He wore a sleeved waistcoat, and his fat regular features, +fringed by an untidy beard, were still pale with sleep. Standing in +front of the counter, groups of men, with heavy, tired eyes, were +drinking, coughing, and spitting, whilst trying to rouse themselves by +the aid of white wine and brandy. Amongst them Florent recognised +Lacaille, whose sack now overflowed with various sorts of vegetables. +He was taking his third dram with a friend, who was telling him a long +story about the purchase of a hamper of potatoes.[*] When he had +emptied his glass, he went to chat with Monsieur Lebigre in a little +glazed compartment at the end of the room, where the gas had not yet +been lighted. + +[*] At the Paris central markets potatoes are sold by the hamper, not + by the sack as in England.--Translator. + +"What will you take?" Claude asked of Florent. + +He had on entering grasped the hand of the person who had called out +to him. This was a market porter,[*] a well-built young man of two and +twenty at the most. His cheeks and chin were clean-shaven, but he wore +a small moustache, and looked a sprightly, strapping fellow with his +broad-brimmed hat covered with chalk, and his wool-worked neck-piece, +the straps falling from which tightened his short blue blouse. Claude, +who called him Alexandre, patted his arms, and asked him when they +were going to Charentonneau again. Then they talked about a grand +excursion they had made together in a boat on the Marne, when they had +eaten a rabbit for supper in the evening. + +[*] /Fort/ is the French term, literally "a strong man," as every + market porter needs to be.--Translator. + +"Well, what will you take?" Claude again asked Florent. + +The latter looked at the counter in great embarrassment. At one end of +it some stoneware pots, encircled with brass bands and containing +punch and hot wine, were standing over the short blue flames of a gas +stove. Florent at last confessed that a glass of something warm would +be welcome. Monsieur Lebigre thereupon served them with three glasses +of punch. In a basket near the pots were some smoking hot rolls which +had only just arrived. However, as neither of the others took one, +Florent likewise refrained, and drank his punch. He felt it slipping +down into his empty stomach, like a steam of molten lead. It was +Alexandre who paid for the "shout." + +"He's a fine fellow, that Alexandre!" said Claude, when he and Florent +found themselves alone again on the footway of the Rue Rambuteau. +"He's a very amusing companion to take into the country. He's fond of +showing his strength. And then he's so magnificently built! I have +seen him stripped. Ah, if I could only get him to pose for me in the +nude out in the open air! Well, we'll go and take a turn through the +markets now, if you like." + +Florent followed, yielding entirely to his new friend's guidance. A +bright glow at the far end of the Rue Rambuteau announced the break of +day. The far-spreading voice of the markets was become more sonorous, +and every now and then the peals of a bell ringing in some distant +pavilion mingled with the swelling, rising clamour. Claude and Florent +entered one of the covered streets between the fish and poultry +pavilions. Florent raised his eyes and looked at the lofty vault +overhead, the inner timbers of which glistened amidst a black lacework +of iron supports. As he turned into the great central thoroughfare he +pictured himself in some strange town, with its various districts and +suburbs, promenades and streets, squares and cross-roads, all suddenly +placed under shelter on a rainy day by the whim of some gigantic +power. The deep gloom brooding in the hollows of the roofs multiplied, +as it were, the forest of pillars, and infinitely increased the number +of the delicate ribs, railed galleries, and transparent shutters. And +over the phantom city and far away into the depths of the shade, a +teeming, flowering vegetation of luxuriant metal-work, with spindle- +shaped stems and twining knotted branches, covered the vast expanse as +with the foliage of some ancient forest. Several departments of the +markets still slumbered behind their closed iron gates. The butter and +poultry pavilions displayed rows of little trellised stalls and long +alleys, which lines of gas lights showed to be deserted. The fish +market, however, had just been opened, and women were flitting to and +fro amongst the white slabs littered with shadowy hampers and cloths. +Among the vegetables and fruit and flowers the noise and bustle were +gradually increasing. The whole place was by degree waking up, from +the popular quarter where the cabbages are piled at four o'clock in +the morning, to the lazy and wealthy district which only hangs up its +pullets and pheasants when the hands of the clock point to eight. + +The great covered alleys were now teeming with life. All along the +footways on both sides of the road there were still many market +gardeners, with other small growers from the environs of Paris, who +displayed baskets containing their "gatherings" of the previous +evening--bundles of vegetables and clusters of fruit. Whilst the crowd +incessantly paced hither and thither, vehicles barred the road; and +Florent, in order to pass them, had to press against some dingy sacks, +like coal-sacks in appearance, and so numerous and heavy that the +axle-trees of the vans bent beneath them. They were quite damp, and +exhaled a fresh odour of seaweed. From a rent low down in the side of +one of them a black stream of big mussels was trickling. + +Florent and Claude had now to pause at every step. The fish was +arriving and one after another the drays of the railway companies +drove up laden with wooden cages full of the hampers and baskets that +had come by train from the sea coast. And to get out of the way of the +fish drays, which became more and more numerous and disquieting, the +artist and Florent rushed amongst the wheels of the drays laden with +butter and eggs and cheese, huge yellow vehicles bearing coloured +lanterns, and drawn by four horses. The market porters carried the +cases of eggs, and baskets of cheese and butter, into the auction +pavilion, where clerks were making entries in note books by the light +of the gas. + +Claude was quite charmed with all this uproar, and forgot everything +to gaze at some effect of light, some group of blouses, or the +picturesque unloading of a cart. At last they extricated themselves +from the crowd, and as they continued on their way along the main +artery they presently found themselves amidst an exquisite perfume +which seemed to be following them. They were in the cut-flower market. +All over the footways, to the right and left, women were seated in +front of large rectangular baskets full of bunches of roses, violets, +dahlias, and marguerites. At times the clumps darkened and looked like +splotches of blood, at others they brightened into silvery greys of +the softest tones. A lighted candle, standing near one basket, set +amidst the general blackness quite a melody of colour--the bright +variegations of marguerites, the blood-red crimson of dahlias, the +bluey purple of violets, and the warm flesh tints of roses. And +nothing could have been sweeter or more suggestive of springtide than +this soft breath of perfume encountered on the footway, on emerging +from the sharp odours of the fish market and the pestilential smell of +the butter and the cheese. + +Claude and Florent turned round and strolled about, loitering among +the flowers. They halted with some curiosity before several women who +were selling bunches of fern and bundles of vine-leaves, neatly tied +up in packets of five and twenty. Then they turned down another +covered alley, which was almost deserted, and where their footsteps +echoed as though they had been walking through a church. Here they +found a little cart, scarcely larger than a wheelbarrow, to which was +harnessed a diminutive donkey, who, no doubt, felt bored, for at sight +of them he began braying with such prolonged and sonorous force that +the vast roofing of the markets fairly trembled. Then the horses began +to neigh in reply, there was a sound of pawing and tramping, a distant +uproar, which swelled, rolled along, then died away. + +Meantime, in the Rue Berger in front of them, Claude and Florent +perceived a number of bare, frontless, salesmen's shops, where, by the +light of flaring gas jets, they could distinguish piles of hampers and +fruit, enclosed by three dirty walls which were covered with addition +sums in pencil. And the two wanderers were still standing there, +contemplating this scene, when they noticed a well-dressed woman +huddled up in a cab which looked quite lost and forlorn in the block +of carts as it stealthily made its way onwards. + +"There's Cinderella coming back without her slippers," remarked Claude +with a smile. + +They began chatting together as they went back towards the markets. +Claude whistled as he strolled along with his hands in his pockets, +and expatiated on his love for this mountain of food which rises every +morning in the very centre of Paris. He prowled about the footways +night after night, dreaming of colossal still-life subjects, paintings +of an extraordinary character. He had even started on one, having his +friend Marjolin and that jade Cadine to pose for him; but it was hard +work to paint those confounded vegetables and fruit and fish and meat +--they were all so beautiful! Florent listened to the artist's +enthusiastic talk with a void and hunger-aching stomach. It did not +seem to occur to Claude that all those things were intended to be +eaten. Their charm for him lay in their colour. Suddenly, however, he +ceased speaking and, with a gesture that was habitual to him, +tightened the long red sash which he wore under his green-stained +coat. + +And then with a sly expression he resumed: + +"Besides, I breakfast here, through my eyes, at any rate, and that's +better than getting nothing at all. Sometimes, when I've forgotten to +dine on the previous day, I treat myself to a perfect fit of +indigestion in the morning by watching the carts arrive here laden +with all sorts of good things. On such mornings as those I love my +vegetables more than ever. Ah! the exasperating part, the rank +injustice of it all, is that those rascally Philistines really eat +these things!" + +Then he went on to tell Florent of a supper to which a friend had +treated him at Baratte's on a day of affluence. They had partaken of +oysters, fish, and game. But Baratte's had sadly fallen, and all the +carnival life of the old Marche des Innocents was now buried. In place +thereof they had those huge central markets, that colossus of +ironwork, that new and wonderful town. Fools might say what they +liked; it was the embodiment of the spirit of the times. Florent, +however, could not at first make out whether he was condemning the +picturesqueness of Baratte's or its good cheer. + +But Claude next began to inveigh against romanticism. He preferred his +piles of vegetables, he said, to the rags of the middle ages; and he +ended by reproaching himself with guilty weakness in making an etching +of the Rue Pirouette. All those grimy old places ought to be levelled +to the ground, he declared, and modern houses ought to be built in +their stead. + +"There!" he exclaimed, coming to a halt, "look at the corner of the +footway yonder! Isn't that a picture readymade, ever so much more +human and natural than all their confounded consumptive daubs?" + +Along the covered way women were now selling hot soup and coffee. At +one corner of the foot-pavement a large circle of customers clustered +round a vendor of cabbage soup. The bright tin caldron, full of broth, +was steaming over a little low stove, through the holes of which came +the pale glow of the embers. From a napkin-lined basket the woman took +some thin slices of bread and dropped them into yellow cups; then with +a ladle she filled the cups with liquor. Around her were saleswomen +neatly dressed, market gardeners in blouses, porters with coats soiled +by the loads they had carried, poor ragged vagabonds--in fact, all the +early hungry ones of the markets, eating, and scalding their mouths, +and drawing back their chins to avoid soiling them with the drippings +from their spoons. The delighted artist blinked, and sought a point of +view so as to get a good ensemble of the picture. That cabbage soup, +however, exhaled a very strong odour. Florent, for his part, turned +his head away, distressed by the sight of the full cups which the +customers emptied in silence, glancing around them the while like +suspicious animals. As the woman began serving a fresh customer, +Claude himself was affected by the odorous steam of the soup, which +was wafted full in his face. + +He again tightened his sash, half amused and half annoyed. Then +resuming his walk, and alluding to the punch paid for by Alexandre, he +said to Florent in a low voice: + +"It's very odd, but have you ever noticed that although a man can +always find somebody to treat him to something to drink, he can never +find a soul who will stand him anything to eat?" + +The dawn was now rising. The houses on the Boulevard de Sebastopol at +the end of the Rue de la Cossonnerie were still black; but above the +sharp line of their slate roofs a patch of pale blue sky, +circumscribed by the arch-pieces of the covered way, showed like a +gleaming half-moon. Claude, who had been bending over some grated +openings on a level with the ground, through which a glimpse could be +obtained of deep cellars where gas lights glimmered, now glanced up +into the air between the lofty pillars, as though scanning the dark +roofs which fringed the clear sky. Then he halted again, with his eyes +fixed on one of the light iron ladders which connect the superposed +market roofs and give access from one to the other. Florent asked him +what he was seeking there. + +"I'm looking for that scamp of a Marjolin," replied the artist. "He's +sure to be in some guttering up there, unless, indeed, he's been +spending the night in the poultry cellars. I want him to give me a +sitting." + +Then he went on to relate how a market saleswoman had found his friend +Marjolin one morning in a pile of cabbages, and how Marjolin had grown +up in all liberty on the surrounding footways. When an attempt had +been made to send him to school he had fallen ill, and it had been +necessary to bring him back to the markets. He knew every nook and +corner of them, and loved them with a filial affection, leading the +agile life of a squirrel in that forest of ironwork. He and Cadine, +the hussy whom Mother Chantemesse had picked up one night in the old +Market of the Innocents, made a pretty couple--he, a splendid foolish +fellow, as glowing as a Rubens, with a ruddy down on his skin which +attracted the sunlight; and she, slight and sly, with a comical phiz +under her tangle of black curly hair. + +Whilst talking Claude quickened his steps, and soon brought his +companion back to Saint Eustache again. Florent, whose legs were once +more giving way, dropped upon a bench near the omnibus office. The +morning air was freshening. At the far end of the Rue Rambuteau rosy +gleams were streaking the milky sky, which higher up was slashed by +broad grey rifts. Such was the sweet balsamic scent of this dawn, that +Florent for a moment fancied himself in the open country, on the brow +of a hill. But behind the bench Claude pointed out to him the many +aromatic herbs and bulbs on sale. All along the footway skirting the +tripe market there were, so to say, fields of thyme and lavender, +garlic and shallots; and round the young plane-trees on the pavement +the vendors had twined long branches of laurel, forming trophies of +greenery. The strong scent of the laurel leaves prevailed over every +other odour. + +At present the luminous dial of Saint Eustache was paling as a night- +light does when surprised by the dawn. The gas jets in the wine shops +in the neighbouring streets went out one by one, like stars +extinguished by the brightness. And Florent gazed at the vast markets +now gradually emerging from the gloom, from the dreamland in which he +had beheld them, stretching out their ranges of open palaces. +Greenish-grey in hue, they looked more solid now, and even more +colossal with their prodigious masting of columns upholding an endless +expanse of roofs. They rose up in geometrically shaped masses; and +when all the inner lights had been extinguished and the square uniform +buildings were steeped in the rising dawn, they seemed typical of some +gigantic modern machine, some engine, some caldron for the supply of a +whole people, some colossal belly, bolted and riveted, built up of +wood and glass and iron, and endowed with all the elegance and power +of some mechanical motive appliance working there with flaring +furnaces, and wild, bewildering revolutions of wheels. + +Claude, however, had enthusiastically sprung on to the bench, and +stood upon it. He compelled his companion to admire the effect of the +dawn rising over the vegetables. There was a perfect sea of these +extending between the two clusters of pavilions from Saint Eustache to +the Rue des Halles. And in the two open spaces at either end the flood +of greenery rose to even greater height, and quite submerged the +pavements. The dawn appeared slowly, softly grey in hue, and spreading +a light water-colour tint over everything. These surging piles akin to +hurrying waves, this river of verdure rushing along the roadway like +an autumn torrent, assumed delicate shadowy tints--tender violet, +blush-rose, and greeny yellow, all the soft, light hues which at +sunrise make the sky look like a canopy of shot silk. And by degrees, +as the fires of dawn rose higher and higher at the far end of the Rue +Rambuteau, the mass of vegetation grew brighter and brighter, emerging +more and more distinctly from the bluey gloom that clung to the +ground. Salad herbs, cabbage-lettuce, endive, and succory, with rich +soil still clinging to their roots, exposed their swelling hearts; +bundles of spinach, bundles of sorrel, clusters of artichokes, piles +of peas and beans, mounds of cos-lettuce, tied round with straws, +sounded every note in the whole gamut of greenery, from the sheeny +lacquer-like green of the pods to the deep-toned green of the foliage; +a continuous gamut with ascending and descending scales which died +away in the variegated tones of the heads of celery and bundles of +leeks. But the highest and most sonorous notes still came from the +patches of bright carrots and snowy turnips, strewn in prodigious +quantities all along the markets and lighting them up with the medley +of their two colours. + +At the crossway in the Rue des Halles cabbages were piled up in +mountains; there were white ones, hard and compact as metal balls, +curly savoys, whose great leaves made them look like basins of green +bronze, and red cabbages, which the dawn seemed to transform into +superb masses of bloom with the hue of wine-lees, splotched with dark +purple and carmine. At the other side of the markets, at the crossway +near Saint Eustache, the end of the Rue Rambuteau was blocked by a +barricade of orange-hued pumpkins, sprawling with swelling bellies in +two superposed rows. And here and there gleamed the glistening ruddy +brown of a hamper of onions, the blood-red crimson of a heap of +tomatoes, the quiet yellow of a display of marrows, and the sombre +violet of the fruit of the eggplant; while numerous fat black +radishes still left patches of gloom amidst the quivering brilliance +of the general awakening. + +Claude clapped his hands at the sight. He declared that those +"blackguard vegetables" were wild, mad, sublime! He stoutly maintained +that they were not yet dead, but, gathered in the previous evening, +waited for the morning sun to bid him good-bye from the flag-stones of +the market. He could observe their vitality, he declared, see their +leaves stir and open as though their roots were yet firmly and warmly +embedded in well-manured soil. And here, in the markets, he added, he +heard the death-rattle of all the kitchen gardens of the environs of +Paris. + +A crowd of white caps, loose black jackets, and blue blouses was +swarming in the narrow paths between the various piles. The big +baskets of the market porters passed along slowly, above the heads of +the throng. Retail dealers, costermongers, and greengrocers were +making their purchases in haste. Corporals and nuns clustered round +the mountains of cabbages, and college cooks prowled about +inquisitively, on the look-out for good bargains. The unloading was +still going on; heavy tumbrels, discharging their contents as though +these were so many paving-stones, added more and more waves to the sea +of greenery which was now beating against the opposite footways. And +from the far end of the Rue du Pont Neuf fresh rows of carts were +still and ever arriving. + +"What a fine sight it is!" exclaimed Claude in an ecstasy of +enthusiasm. + +Florent was suffering keenly. He fancied that all this was some +supernatural temptation, and, unwilling to look at the markets any +longer, turned towards Saint Eustache, a side view of which he +obtained from the spot where he now stood. With its roses, and broad +arched windows, its bell-turret, and roofs of slate, it looked as +though painted in sepia against the blue of the sky. He fixed his eyes +at last on the sombre depths of the Rue Montorgueil, where fragments +of gaudy sign boards showed conspicuously, and on the corner of the +Rue Montmartre, where there were balconies gleaming with letters of +gold. And when he again glanced at the cross-roads, his gaze was +solicited by other sign boards, on which such inscriptions as +"Druggist and Chemist," "Flour and Grain" appeared in big red and +black capital letters upon faded backgrounds. Near these corners, +houses with narrow windows were now awakening, setting amidst the +newness and airiness of the Rue du Pont Neuf a few of the yellow +ancient facades of olden Paris. Standing at the empty windows of the +great drapery shop at the corner of the Rue Rambuteau a number of +spruce-looking counter-jumpers in their shirt sleeves, with snowy- +white wristbands and tight-fitting pantaloons, were "dressing" their +goods. Farther away, in the windows of the severe looking, barrack- +like Guillot establishment, biscuits in gilt wrappers and fancy cakes +on glass stands were tastefully set out. All the shops were now open; +and workmen in white blouses, with tools under their arms, were +hurrying along the road. + +Claude had not yet got down from the bench. He was standing on tiptoe +in order to see the farther down the streets. Suddenly, in the midst +of the crowd which he overlooked, he caught sight of a fair head with +long wavy locks, followed by a little black one covered with curly +tumbled hair. + +"Hallo, Marjolin! Hallo, Cadine!" he shouted; and then, as his voice +was drowned by the general uproar, he jumped to the ground and started +off. But all at once, recollecting that he had left Florent behind +him, he hastily came back. "I live at the end of the Impasse des +Bourdonnais," he said rapidly. "My name's written in chalk on the +door, Claude Lantier. Come and see the etching of the Rue Pirouette." + +Then he vanished. He was quite ignorant of Florent's name, and, after +favouring him with his views on art, parted from him as he had met +him, at the roadside. + +Florent was now alone, and at first this pleased him. Ever since +Madame Francoise had picked him up in the Avenue de Neuilly he had +been coming and going in a state of pain fraught somnolence which had +quite prevented him from forming any definite ideas of his +surroundings. Now at last he was at liberty to do what he liked, and +he tried to shake himself free from that intolerable vision of teeming +food by which he was pursued. But his head still felt empty and dizzy, +and all that he could find within him was a kind of vague fear. The +day was now growing quite bright, and he could be distinctly seen. He +looked down at his wretched shabby coat and trousers. He buttoned the +first, dusted the latter, and strove to make a bit of a toilet, +fearing lest those black rags of his should proclaim aloud whence he +had come. He was seated in the middle of the bench, by the side of +some wandering vagabonds who had settled themselves there while +waiting for the sunrise. The neighbourhood of the markets is a +favourite spot with vagrants in the small hours of the morning. +However, two constables, still in night uniform, with cloaks and +/kepis/, paced up and down the footway side by side, their hands +resting behind their backs; and every time they passed the bench they +glanced at the game which they scented there. Florent felt sure that +they recognised him, and were consulting together about arresting him. +At this thought his anguish of mind became extreme. He felt a wild +desire to get up and run away; but he did not dare to do so, and was +quite at a loss as to how he might take himself off. The repeated +glances of the constables, their cold, deliberate scrutiny caused him +the keenest torture. At length he rose from the bench, making a great +effort to restrain himself from rushing off as quickly as his long +legs could carry him; and succeeded in walking quietly away, though +his shoulders quivered in the fear he felt of suddenly feeling the +rough hands of the constables clutching at his collar from behind. + +He had now only one thought, one desire, which was to get away from +the markets as quickly as possible. He would wait and make his +investigations later on, when the footways should be clear. The three +streets which met here--the Rue Montmartre, Rue Montorgueil, and Rue +Turbigo--filled him with uneasiness. They were blocked by vehicles of +all kinds, and their footways were crowded with vegetables. Florent +went straight along as far as the Rue Pierre Lescot, but there the +cress and the potato markets seemed to him insuperable obstacles. So +he resolved to take the Rue Rambuteau. On reaching the Boulevard de +Sebastopol, however, he came across such a block of vans and carts and +waggonettes that he turned back and proceeded along the Rue Saint +Denis. Then he got amongst the vegetables once more. Retail dealers +had just set up their stalls, formed of planks resting on tall +hampers; and the deluge of cabbages and carrots and turnips began all +over again. The markets were overflowing. Florent tried to make his +escape from this pursuing flood which ever overtook him in his flight. +He tried the Rue de la Cossonnerie, the Rue Berger, the Square des +Innocents, the Rue de la Ferronnerie, and the Rue des Halles. And at +last he came to a standstill, quite discouraged and scared at finding +himself unable to escape from the infernal circle of vegetables, which +now seemed to dance around him, twining clinging verdure about his +legs. + +The everlasting stream of carts and horses stretched away as far as +the Rue de Rivoli and the Place de l'Hotel de Ville. Huge vans were +carrying away supplies for all the greengrocers and fruiterers of an +entire district; /chars-a-bancs/ were starting for the suburbs with +straining, groaning sides. In the Rue de Pont Neuf Florent got +completely bewildered. He stumbled upon a crowd of hand-carts, in +which numerous costermongers were arranging their purchases. Amongst +them he recognised Lacaille, who went off along the Rue Saint Honore, +pushing a barrow of carrots and cauliflowers before him. Florent +followed him, in the hope that he would guide him out of the mob. The +pavement was now quite slippery, although the weather was dry, and the +litter of artichoke stalks, turnip tops, and leaves of all kinds made +walking somewhat dangerous. Florent stumbled at almost every step. He +lost sight of Lacaille in the Rue Vauvilliers, and on approaching the +corn market he again found the streets barricaded with vehicles. Then +he made no further attempt to struggle; he was once more in the clutch +of the markets, and their stream of life bore him back. Slowly +retracing his steps, he presently found himself by Saint Eustache +again. + +He now heard the loud continuous rumbling of the waggons that were +setting out from the markets. Paris was doling out the daily food of +its two million inhabitants. These markets were like some huge central +organ beating with giant force, and sending the blood of life through +every vein of the city. The uproar was akin to that of colossal jaws-- +a mighty sound to which each phase of the provisioning contributed, +from the whip-cracking of the larger retail dealers as they started +off for the district markets to the dragging pit-a-pat of the old +shoes worn by the poor women who hawked their lettuces in baskets from +door to door. + +Florent turned into a covered way on the left, intersecting the group +of four pavilions whose deep silent gloom he had remarked during the +night. He hoped that he might there find a refuge, discover some +corner in which he could hide himself. But these pavilions were now as +busy, as lively as the others. Florent walked on to the end of the +street. Drays were driving up at a quick trot, crowding the market +with cages full of live poultry, and square hampers in which dead +birds were stowed in deep layers. On the other side of the way were +other drays from which porters were removing freshly killed calves, +wrapped in canvas, and laid at full length in baskets, whence only the +four bleeding stumps of their legs protruded. There were also whole +sheep, and sides and quarters of beef. Butchers in long white aprons +marked the meat with a stamp, carried it off, weighted it, and hung it +up on hooks in the auction room. Florent, with his face close to the +grating, stood gazing at the rows of hanging carcasses, at the ruddy +sheep and oxen and paler calves, all streaked with yellow fat and +sinews, and with bellies yawning open. Then he passed along the +sidewalk where the tripe market was held, amidst the pallid calves' +feet and heads, the rolled tripe neatly packed in boxes, the brains +delicately set out in flat baskets, the sanguineous livers, and +purplish kidneys. He checked his steps in front of some long two- +wheeled carts, covered with round awnings, and containing sides of +pork hung on each side of the vehicle over a bed of straw. Seen from +the back end, the interiors of the carts looked like recesses of some +tabernacle, like some taper-lighted chapel, such was the glow of all +the bare flesh they contained. And on the beds of straw were lines of +tin cans, full of the blood that had trickled from the pigs. Thereupon +Florent was attacked by a sort of rage. The insipid odour of the meat, +the pungent smell of the tripe exasperated him. He made his way out of +the covered road, preferring to return once more to the footwalk of +the Rue de Pont Neuf. + +He was enduring perfect agony. The shiver of early morning came upon +him; his teeth chattered, and he was afraid of falling to the ground +and finding himself unable to rise again. He looked about, but could +see no vacant place on any bench. Had he found one he would have +dropped asleep there, even at the risk of being awakened by the +police. Then, as giddiness nearly blinded him, he leaned for support +against a tree, with his eyes closed and his ears ringing. The raw +carrot, which he had swallowed almost without chewing, was torturing +his stomach, and the glass of punch which he had drunk seemed to have +intoxicated him. He was indeed intoxicated with misery, weariness, and +hunger. Again he felt a burning fire in the pit of the stomach, to +which he every now and then carried his hands, as though he were +trying to stop up a hole through which all his life was oozing away. +As he stood there he fancied that the foot-pavement rocked beneath +him; and thinking that he might perhaps lessen his sufferings by +walking, he went straight on through the vegetables again. He lost +himself among them. He went along a narrow footway, turned down +another, was forced to retrace his steps, bungled in doing so, and +once more found himself amidst piles of greenery. Some heaps were so +high that people seemed to be walking between walls of bundles and +bunches. Only their heads slightly overtopped these ramparts, and +passed along showing whitely or blackly according to the colour of +their hats or caps; whilst the huge swinging baskets, carried aloft on +a level with the greenery, looked like osier boats floating on a +stagnant, mossy lake. + +Florent stumbled against a thousand obstacles--against porters taking +up their burdens, and saleswomen disputing in rough tones. He slipped +over the thick bed of waste leaves and stumps which covered the +footway, and was almost suffocated by the powerful odour of crushed +verdure. At last he halted in a sort of confused stupor, and +surrendered to the pushing of some and the insults of others; and then +he became a mere waif, a piece of wreckage tossed about on the surface +of that surging sea. + +He was fast losing all self-respect, and would willingly have begged. +The recollection of his foolish pride during the night exasperated +him. If he had accepted Madame Francois's charity, if he had not felt +such idiotic fear of Claude, he would not now have been stranded there +groaning in the midst of these cabbages. And he was especially angry +with himself for not having questioned the artist when they were in +the Rue Pirouette. Now, alas! he was alone and deserted, liable to die +in the streets like a homeless dog. + +For the last time he raised his eyes and looked at the markets. At +present they were glittering in the sun. A broad ray was pouring +through the covered road from the far end, cleaving the massy +pavilions with an arcade of light, whilst fiery beams rained down upon +the far expanse of roofs. The huge iron framework grew less distinct, +assumed a bluey hue, became nothing but a shadowy silhouette outlined +against the flaming flare of the sunrise. But up above a pane of glass +took fire, drops of light trickled down the broad sloping zinc plates +to the gutterings; and then, below, a tumultuous city appeared amidst +a haze of dancing golden dust. The general awakening had spread, from +the first start of the market gardeners snoring in their cloaks, to +the brisk rolling of the food-laden railway drays. And the whole city +was opening its iron gates, the footways were humming, the pavilions +roaring with life. Shouts and cries of all kinds rent the air; it was +as though the strain, which Florent had heard gathering force in the +gloom ever since four in the morning, had now attained its fullest +volume. To the right and left, on all sides indeed, the sharp cries +accompanying the auction sales sounded shrilly like flutes amidst the +sonorous bass roar of the crowd. It was the fish, the butter, the +poultry, and the meat being sold. + +The pealing of bells passed through the air, imparting a quiver to the +buzzing of the opening markets. Around Florent the sun was setting the +vegetables aflame. He no longer perceived any of those soft water- +colour tints which had predominated in the pale light of early +morning. The swelling hearts of the lettuces were now gleaming +brightly, the scales of greenery showed forth with wondrous vigour, +the carrots glowed blood-red, the turnips shone as if incandescent in +the triumphant radiance of the sun. + +On Florent's left some waggons were discharging fresh loads of +cabbages. He turned his eyes, and away in the distance saw carts yet +streaming out of the Rue Turbigo. The tide was still and ever rising. +He had felt it about his ankles, then on a level with his stomach, and +now it was threatening to drown him altogether. Blinded and submerged, +his ears buzzing, his stomach overpowered by all that he had seen, he +asked for mercy; and wild grief took possession of him at the thought +of dying there of starvation in the very heart of glutted Paris, +amidst the effulgent awakening of her markets. Big hot tears started +from his eyes. + +Walking on, he had now reached one of the larger alleys. Two women, +one short and old, the other tall and withered, passed him, talking +together as they made their way towards the pavilions. + +"So you've come to do your marketing, Mademoiselle Saget?" said the +tall withered woman. + +"Well, yes, Madame Lecoeur, if you can give it such a name as +marketing. I'm a lone woman, you know, and live on next to nothing. I +should have liked a small cauliflower, but everything is so dear. How +is butter selling to-day?" + +"At thirty-four sous. I have some which is first rate. Will you come +and look at it?" + +"Well, I don't know if I shall want any to-day; I've still a little +lard left." + +Making a supreme effort, Florent followed these two women. He +recollected having heard Claude name the old one--Mademoiselle Saget-- +when they were in the Rue Pirouette; and he made up his mind to +question her when she should have parted from her tall withered +acquaintance. + +"And how's your niece?" Mademoiselle Saget now asked. + +"Oh, La Sarriette does as she likes," Madame Lecoeur replied in a +bitter tone. "She's chosen to set up for herself and her affairs no +longer concern me. When her lovers have beggared her, she needn't come +to me for any bread." + +"And you were so good to her, too! She ought to do well this year; +fruit is yielding big profits. And your brother-in-law, how is he?" + +"Oh, he----" + +Madame Lecoeur bit her lips, and seemed disinclined to say anything +more. + +"Still the same as ever, I suppose?" continued Mademoiselle Saget. +"He's a very worthy man. Still, I once heard it said that he spent his +money in such a way that--" + +"But does anyone know how he spends his money?" interrupted Madame +Lecoeur, with much asperity. "He's a miserly niggard, a scurvy fellow, +that's what I say! Do you know, mademoiselle, he'd see me die of +starvation rather than lend me five francs! He knows quite well that +there's nothing to be made out of butter this season, any more than +out of cheese and eggs; whereas he can sell as much poultry as ever he +chooses. But not once, I assure you, not once has he offered to help +me. I am too proud, as you know, to accept any assistance from him; +still it would have pleased me to have had it offered." + +"Ah, by the way, there he is, your brother-in-law!" suddenly exclaimed +Mademoiselle Saget, lowering her voice. + +The two women turned and gazed at a man who was crossing the road to +enter the covered way close by. + +"I'm in a hurry," murmured Madame Lecoeur. "I left my stall without +anyone to look after it; and, besides, I don't want to speak to him." + +However, Florent also had mechanically turned round and glanced at the +individual referred to. This was a short, squarely-built man, with a +cheery look and grey, close-cut brush-like hair. Under each arm he was +carrying a fat goose, whose head hung down and flapped against his +legs. And then all at once Florent made a gesture of delight. +Forgetting his fatigue, he ran after the man, and, overtaking him, +tapped him on the shoulder. + +"Gavard!" he exclaimed. + +The other raised his head and stared with surprise at Florent's tall +black figure, which he did not at first recognise. Then all at once: +"What! is it you?" he cried, as if overcome with amazement. "Is it +really you?" + +He all but let his geese fall, and seemed unable to master his +surprise. On catching sight, however, of his sister-in-law and +Mademoiselle Saget, who were watching the meeting at a distance, he +began to walk on again. + +"Come along; don't let us stop here," he said. "There are too many +eyes and tongues about." + +When they were in the covered way they began to chat. Florent related +how he had gone to the Rue Pirouette, at which Gavard seemed much +amused and laughed heartily. Then he told Florent that his brother +Quenu had moved from that street and had reopened his pork shop close +by, in the Rue Rambuteau, just in front of the markets. And afterwards +he was again highly amused to hear that Florent had been wandering +about all that morning with Claude Lantier, an odd kind of fish, who, +strangely enough, said he, was Madame Quenu's nephew. Thus chatting, +Gavard was on the point of taking Florent straight to the pork shop, +but, on hearing that he had returned to France with false papers, he +suddenly assumed all sorts of solemn and mysterious airs, and insisted +upon walking some fifteen paces in front of him, to avoid attracting +attention. After passing through the poultry pavilion, where he hung +his geese up in his stall, he began to cross the Rue Rambuteau, still +followed by Florent; and then, halting in the middle of the road, he +glanced significantly towards a large and well-appointed pork shop. + +The sun was obliquely enfilading the Rue Rambuteau, lighting up the +fronts of the houses, in the midst of which the Rue Pirouette formed a +dark gap. At the other end the great pile of Saint Eustache glittered +brightly in the sunlight like some huge reliquary. And right through +the crowd, from the distant crossway, an army of street-sweepers was +advancing in file down the road, the brooms swishing rhythmically, +while scavengers provided with forks pitched the collected refuse into +tumbrels, which at intervals of a score of paces halted with a noise +like the chattering of broken pots. However, all Florent's attention +was concentrated on the pork shop, open and radiant in the rising sun. + +It stood very near the corner of the Rue Pirouette and provided quite +a feast for the eyes. Its aspect was bright and smiling, touches of +brilliant colour showing conspicuously amidst all the snowy marble. +The sign board, on which the name of QUENU-GRADELLE glittered in fat +gilt letters encircled by leaves and branches painted on a soft-hued +background, was protected by a sheet of glass. On two panels, one on +each side of the shop-front, and both, like the board above, covered +with glass, were paintings representing various chubby little cupids +playing amidst boars' heads, pork chops and strings of sausages; and +these latter still-life subjects, embellished with scrolls and bows, +had been painted in such soft tones that the uncooked pork which they +represented had the pinkiness of raspberry jam. Within this pleasing +framework arose the window display, arranged upon a bed of fine blue- +paper shavings. Here and there fern-leaves, tastefully disposed, +changed the plates which they encircled into bouquets fringed with +foliage. There was a wealth of rich, luscious, melting things. Down +below, quite close to the window, jars of preserved sausage-meat were +interspersed with pots of mustard. Above these were some small, plump, +boned hams. Golden with their dressings of toasted bread-crumbs, and +adorned at the knuckles with green rosettes. Next came the larger +dishes, some containing preserved Strasburg tongues, enclosed in +bladders coloured a bright red and varnished, so that they looked +quite sanguineous beside the pale sausages and trotters; then there +were black-puddings coiled like harmless snakes, healthy looking +chitterlings piled up two by two; Lyons sausages in little silver +copes that made them look like choristers; hot pies, with little +banner-like tickets stuck in them; big hams, and great glazed joints +of veal and pork, whose jelly was as limpid as sugar-candy. In the +rear were other dishes and earthen pans in which meat, minced and +sliced, slumbered beneath lakes of melted fat. And betwixt the various +plates and dishes, jars and bottle of sauce, cullis, stock and +preserved truffles, pans of /foie gras/ and boxes of sardines and +tunny-fish were strewn over the bed of paper shavings. A box of creamy +cheeses, and one of edible snails, the apertures of whose shells were +dressed with butter and parsley, had been placed carelessly at either +corner. Finally, from a bar overhead strings of sausages and saveloys +of various sizes hung down symmetrically like cords and tassels; while +in the rear fragments of intestinal membranes showed like lacework, +like some /guipure/ of white flesh. And on the highest tier in this +sanctuary of gluttony, amidst the membranes and between two bouquets +of purple gladioli, the window stand was crowned by a small square +aquarium, ornamented with rock-work, and containing a couple of gold- +fish, which were continually swimming round it. + +Florent's whole body thrilled at the sight. Then he perceived a woman +standing in the sunlight at the door of the shop. With her prosperous, +happy look in the midst of all those inviting things she added to the +cherry aspect of the place. She was a fine woman and quite blocked the +doorway. Still, she was not over stout, but simply buxom, with the +full ripeness of her thirty years. She had only just risen, yet her +glossy hair was already brushed smooth and arranged in little flat +bands over her temples, giving her an appearance of extreme neatness. +She had the fine skin, the pinky-white complexion common to those +whose life is spent in an atmosphere of raw meat and fat. There was a +touch of gravity about her demeanour, her movements were calm and +slow; what mirth or pleasure she felt she expressed by her eyes, her +lips retaining all their seriousness. A collar of starched linen +encircled her neck, white sleevelets reached to her elbows, and a +white apron fell even over the tips of her shoes, so that you saw but +little of her black cashmere dress, which clung tightly to her well- +rounded shoulders and swelling bosom. The sun rays poured hotly upon +all the whiteness she displayed. However, although her bluish-black +hair, her rosy face, and bright sleeves and apron were steeped in the +glow of light, she never once blinked, but enjoyed her morning bath of +sunshine with blissful tranquillity, her soft eyes smiling the while +at the flow and riot of the markets. She had the appearance of a very +worthy woman. + +"That is your brother's wife, your sister-in-law, Lisa," Gavard said +to Florent. + +He had saluted her with a slight inclination of the head. Then he +darted along the house passage, continuing to take the most minute +precautions, and unwilling to let Florent enter the premises through +the shop, though there was no one there. It was evident that he felt +great pleasure in dabbling in what he considered to be a compromising +business. + +"Wait here," he said, "while I go to see whether your brother is +alone. You can come in when I clap my hands." + +Thereupon he opened a door at the end of the passage. But as soon as +Florent heard his brother's voice behind it, he sprang inside at a +bound. Quenu, who was much attached to him, threw his arms round his +neck, and they kissed each other like children. + +"Ah! dash it all! Is it really you, my dear fellow?" stammered the +pork butcher. "I never expected to see you again. I felt sure you were +dead! Why, only yesterday I was saying to Lisa, 'That poor fellow, +Florent!'" + +However, he stopped short, and popping his head into the shop, called +out, "Lisa! Lisa!" Then turning towards a little girl who had crept +into a corner, he added, "Pauline, go and find your mother." + +The little one did not stir, however. She was an extremely fine child, +five years of age, with a plump chubby face, bearing a strong +resemblance to that of the pork butcher's wife. In her arms she was +holding a huge yellow cat, which had cheerfully surrendered itself to +her embrace, with its legs dangling downwards; and she now squeezed it +tightly with her little arms, as if she were afraid that yonder +shabby-looking gentleman might rob her of it. + +Lisa, however, leisurely made her appearance. + +"Here is my brother Florent!" exclaimed Quenu. + +Lisa addressed him as "Monsieur," and gave him a kindly welcome. She +scanned him quietly from head to foot, without evincing any +disagreeable surprise. Merely a faint pout appeared for a moment on +her lips. Then, standing by, she began to smile at her husband's +demonstrations of affection. Quenu, however, at last recovered his +calmness, and noticing Florent's fleshless, poverty-stricken +appearance, exclaimed: "Ah, my poor fellow, you haven't improved in +your looks since you were over yonder. For my part, I've grown fat; +but what would you have!" + +He had indeed grown fat, too fat for his thirty years. He seemed to be +bursting through his shirt and apron, through all the snowy-white +linen in which he was swathed like a huge doll. With advancing years +his clean-shaven face had become elongated, assuming a faint +resemblance to the snout of one of those pigs amidst whose flesh his +hands worked and lived the whole day through. Florent scarcely +recognised him. He had now seated himself, and his glance turned from +his brother to handsome Lisa and little Pauline. They were all brimful +of health, squarely built, sleek, in prime condition; and in their +turn they looked at Florent with the uneasy astonishment which +corpulent people feel at the sight of a scraggy person. The very cat, +whose skin was distended by fat, dilated its yellow eyes and +scrutinised him with an air of distrust. + +"You'll wait till we have breakfast, won't you?" asked Quenu. "We have +it early, at ten o'clock." + +A penetrating odour of cookery pervaded the place; and Florent looked +back upon the terrible night which he had just spent, his arrival +amongst the vegetables, his agony in the midst of the markets, the +endless avalanches of food from which he had just escaped. And then in +a low tone and with a gentle smile he responded: + +"No; I'm really very hungry, you see." + + + + CHAPTER II + +Florent had just begun to study law in Paris when his mother died. She +lived at Le Vigan, in the department of the Gard, and had taken for +her second husband one Quenu, a native of Yvetot in Normandy, whom +some sub-prefect had transplanted to the south and then forgotten +there. He had remained in employment at the sub-prefecture, finding +the country charming, the wine good, and the women very amiable. Three +years after his marriage he had been carried off by a bad attack of +indigestion, leaving as sole legacy to his wife a sturdy boy who +resembled him. It was only with very great difficulty that the widow +could pay the college fees of Florent, her elder son, the issue of her +first marriage. He was a very gentle youth, devoted to his studies, +and constantly won the chief prizes at school. It was upon him that +his mother lavished all her affection and based all her hopes. +Perhaps, in bestowing so much love on this slim pale youth, she was +giving evidence of her preference for her first husband, a tender- +hearted, caressing Provencal, who had loved her devotedly. Quenu, +whose good humour and amiability had at first attracted her, had +perhaps displayed too much self-satisfaction, and shown too plainly +that he looked upon himself as the main source of happiness. At all +events she formed the opinion that her younger son--and in southern +families younger sons are still often sacrificed--would never do any +good; so she contented herself with sending him to a school kept by a +neighbouring old maid, where the lad learned nothing but how to idle +his time away. The two brothers grew up far apart from each other, as +though they were strangers. + +When Florent arrived at Le Vigan his mother was already buried. She +had insisted upon having her illness concealed from him till the very +last moment, for fear of disturbing his studies. Thus he found little +Quenu, who was then twelve years old, sitting and sobbing alone on a +table in the middle of the kitchen. A furniture dealer, a neighbour, +gave him particulars of his mother's last hours. She had reached the +end of her resources, had killed herself by the hard work which she +had undertaken to earn sufficient money that her elder son might +continue his legal studies. To her modest trade in ribbons, the +profits of which were but small, she had been obliged to add other +occupations, which kept her up very late at night. Her one idea of +seeing Florent established as an advocate, holding a good position in +the town, had gradually caused her to become hard and miserly, without +pity for either herself or others. Little Quenu was allowed to wander +about in ragged breeches, and in blouses from which the sleeves were +falling away. He never dared to serve himself at table, but waited +till he received his allowance of bread from his mother's hands. She +gave herself equally thin slices, and it was to the effects of this +regimen that she had succumbed, in deep despair at having failed to +accomplish her self-allotted task. + +This story made a most painful impression upon Florent's tender +nature, and his sobs wellnigh choked him. He took his little half +brother in his arms, held him to his breast, and kissed him as though +to restore to him the love of which he had unwittingly deprived him. +Then he looked at the lad's gaping shoes, torn sleeves, and dirty +hands, at all the manifest signs of wretchedness and neglect. And he +told him that he would take him away, and that they would both live +happily together. The next day, when he began to inquire into affairs, +he felt afraid that he would not be able to keep sufficient money to +pay for the journey back to Paris. However, he was determined to leave +Le Vigan at any cost. He was fortunately able to sell the little +ribbon business, and this enabled him to discharge his mother's debts, +for despite her strictness in money matters she had gradually run up +bills. Then, as there was nothing left, his mother's neighbour, the +furniture dealer, offered him five hundred francs for her chattels and +stock of linen. It was a very good bargain for the dealer, but the +young man thanked him with tears in his eyes. He bought his brother +some new clothes, and took him away that same evening. + +On his return to Paris he gave up all thought of continuing to attend +the Law School, and postponed every ambitious project. He obtained a +few pupils, and established himself with little Quenu in the Rue Royer +Collard, at the corner of the Rue Saint Jacques, in a big room which +he furnished with two iron bedsteads, a wardrobe, a table, and four +chairs. He now had a child to look after, and this assumed paternity +was very pleasing to him. During the earlier days he attempted to give +the lad some lessons when he returned home in the evening, but Quenu +was an unwilling pupil. He was dull of understanding, and refused to +learn, bursting into tears and regretfully recalling the time when his +mother had allowed him to run wild in the streets. Florent thereupon +stopped his lessons in despair, and to console the lad promised him a +holiday of indefinite length. As an excuse for his own weakness he +repeated that he had not brought his brother to Paris to distress him. +To see him grow up in happiness became his chief desire. He quite +worshipped the boy, was charmed with his merry laughter, and felt +infinite joy in seeing him about him, healthy and vigorous, and +without a care. Florent for his part remained very slim and lean in +his threadbare coat, and his face began to turn yellow amidst all the +drudgery and worry of teaching; but Quenu grew up plump and merry, a +little dense, indeed, and scarce able to read or write, but endowed +with high spirits which nothing could ruffle, and which filled the big +gloomy room in the Rue Royer Collard with gaiety. + +Years, meantime, passed by. Florent, who had inherited all his +mother's spirit of devotion, kept Quenu at home as though he were a +big, idle girl. He did not even suffer him to perform any petty +domestic duties, but always went to buy the provisions himself, and +attended to the cooking and other necessary matters. This kept him, he +said, from indulging in his own bad thoughts. He was given to +gloominess, and fancied that he was disposed to evil. When he returned +home in the evening, splashed with mud, and his head bowed by the +annoyances to which other people's children had subjected him, his +heart melted beneath the embrace of the sturdy lad whom he found +spinning his top on the tiled flooring of the big room. Quenu laughed +at his brother's clumsiness in making omelettes, and at the serious +fashion in which he prepared the soup-beef and vegetables. When the +lamp was extinguished, and Florent lay in bed, he sometimes gave way +to feelings of sadness. He longed to resume his legal studies, and +strove to map out his duties in such wise as to secure time to follow +the programme of the faculty. He succeeded in doing this, and was then +perfectly happy. But a slight attack of fever, which confined him to +his room for a week, made such a hole in his purse, and caused him so +much alarm, that he abandoned all idea of completing his studies. The +boy was now getting a big fellow, and Florent took a post as teacher +in a school in the Rue de l'Estrapade, at a salary of eighteen hundred +francs per annum. This seemed like a fortune to him. By dint of +economy he hoped to be able to amass a sum of money which would set +Quenu going in the world. When the lad reached his eighteenth year +Florent still treated him as though he were a daughter for whom a +dowry must be provided. + +However, during his brother's brief illness Quenu himself had made +certain reflections. One morning he proclaimed his desire to work, +saying that he was now old enough to earn his own living. Florent was +deeply touched at this. Just opposite, on the other side of the +street, lived a working watchmaker whom Quenu, through the curtainless +window, could see leaning over a little table, manipulating all sorts +of delicate things, and patiently gazing at them through a magnifying +glass all day long. The lad was much attracted by the sight, and +declared that he had a taste for watchmaking. At the end of a +fortnight, however, he became restless, and began to cry like a child +of ten, complaining that the work was too complicated, and that he +would never be able to understand all the silly little things that +enter into the construction of a watch. + +His next whim was to be a locksmith; but this calling he found too +fatiguing. In a couple of years he tried more than ten different +trades. Florent opined that he acted rightly, that it was wrong to +take up a calling one did not like. However, Quenu's fine eagerness to +work for his living strained the resources of the little establishment +very seriously. Since he had begun flitting from one workshop to +another there had been a constant succession of fresh expenses; money +had gone in new clothes, in meals taken away from home, and in the +payment of footings among fellow workmen. Florent's salary of eighteen +hundred francs was no longer sufficient, and he was obliged to take a +couple of pupils in the evenings. For eight years he had continued to +wear the same old coat. + +However, the two brothers had made a friend. One side of the house in +which they lived overlooked the Rue Saint Jacques, where there was a +large poultry-roasting establishment[*] kept by a worthy man called +Gavard, whose wife was dying from consumption amidst an atmosphere +redolent of plump fowls. When Florent returned home too late to cook a +scrap of meat, he was in the habit of laying out a dozen sous or so on +a small portion of turkey or goose at this shop. Such days were feast +days. Gavard in time grew interested in this tall, scraggy customer, +learned his history, and invited Quenu into his shop. Before long the +young fellow was constantly to be found there. As soon as his brother +left the house he came downstairs and installed himself at the rear of +the roasting shop, quite enraptured with the four huge spits which +turned with a gentle sound in front of the tall bright flames. + +[*] These rotisseries, now all but extinct, were at one time a + particular feature of the Parisian provision trade. I can myself + recollect several akin to the one described by M. Zola. I suspect + that they largely owed their origin to the form and dimensions of + the ordinary Parisian kitchen stove, which did not enable people + to roast poultry at home in a convenient way. In the old French + cuisine, moreover, roast joints of meat were virtually unknown; + roasting was almost entirely confined to chickens, geese, turkeys, + pheasants, etc.; and among the middle classes people largely + bought their poultry already cooked of the /rotisseur/, or else + confided it to him for the purpose of roasting, in the same way as + our poorer classes still send their joints to the baker's. + Roasting was also long looked upon in France as a very delicate + art. Brillat-Savarin, in his famous /Physiologie du Gout/, lays + down the dictum that "A man may become a cook, but is born a + /rotisseur/."--Translator. + +The broad copper bands of the fireplace glistened brightly, the +poultry steamed, the fat bubbled melodiously in the dripping-pan, and +the spits seemed to talk amongst themselves and to address kindly +words to Quenu, who, with a long ladle, devoutly basted the golden +breasts of the fat geese and turkeys. He would stay there for hours, +quite crimson in the dancing glow of the flames, and laughing vaguely, +with a somewhat stupid expression, at the birds roasting in front of +him. Indeed, he did not awake from this kind of trance until the geese +and turkeys were unspitted. They were placed on dishes, the spits +emerged from their carcasses smoking hot, and a rich gravy flowed from +either end and filled the shop with a penetrating odour. Then the lad, +who, standing up, had eagerly followed every phase of the dishing, +would clap his hands and begin to talk to the birds, telling them that +they were very nice, and would be eaten up, and that the cats would +have nothing but their bones. And he would give a start of delight +whenever Gavard handed him a slice of bread, which he forthwith put +into the dripping-pan that it might soak and toast there for half an +hour. + +It was in this shop, no doubt, that Quenu's love of cookery took its +birth. Later on, when he had tried all sorts of crafts, he returned, +as though driven by fate, to the spits and the poultry and the savoury +gravy which induces one to lick one's fingers. At first he was afraid +of vexing his brother, who was a small eater and spoke of good fare +with the disdain of a man who is ignorant of it; but afterwards, on +seeing that Florent listened to him when he explained the preparation +of some very elaborate dish, he confessed his desires and presently +found a situation at a large restaurant. From that time forward the +life of the two brothers was settled. They continued to live in the +room in the Rue Royer Collard, whither they returned every evening; +the one glowing and radiant from his hot fire, the other with the +depressed countenance of a shabby, impecunious teacher. Florent still +wore his old black coat, as he sat absorbed in correcting his pupils' +exercises; while Quenu, to put himself more at ease, donned his white +apron, cap, and jacket, and, flitting about in front of the stove, +amused himself by baking some dainty in the oven. Sometimes they +smiled at seeing themselves thus attired, the one all in black, the +other all in white. These different garbs, one bright and the other +sombre, seemed to make the big room half gay and half mournful. Never, +however, was there so much harmony in a household marked by such +dissimilarity. Though the elder brother grew thinner and thinner, +consumed by the ardent temperament which he had inherited from his +Provencal father, and the younger one waxed fatter and fatter like a +true son of Normandy, they loved each other in the brotherhood they +derived from their mother--a mother who had been all devotion. + +They had a relation in Paris, a brother of their mother's, one +Gradelle, who was in business as a pork butcher in the Rue Pirouette, +near the central markets. He was a fat, hard-hearted, miserly fellow, +and received his nephews as though they were starving paupers the +first time they paid him a visit. They seldom went to see him +afterwards. On his nameday Quenu would take him a bunch of flowers, +and receive a half-franc piece in return for it. Florent's proud and +sensitive nature suffered keenly when Gradelle scrutinised his shabby +clothes with the anxious, suspicious glance of a miser apprehending a +request for a dinner, or the loan of a five-franc piece. One day, +however, it occurred to Florent in all artlessness to ask his uncle to +change a hundred-franc note for him, and after this the pork butcher +showed less alarm at sight of the lads, as he called them. Still, +their friendship got no further than these infrequent visits. + +These years were like a long, sweet, sad dream to Florent. As they +passed he tasted to the full all the bitter joys of self-sacrifice. At +home, in the big room, life was all love and tenderness; but out in +the world, amidst the humiliations inflicted on him by his pupils, and +the rough jostling of the streets, he felt himself yielding to wicked +thoughts. His slain ambitions embittered him. It was long before he +could bring himself to bow to his fate, and accept with equanimity the +painful lot of a poor, plain, commonplace man. At last, to guard +against the temptations of wickedness, he plunged into ideal goodness, +and sought refuge in a self-created sphere of absolute truth and +justice. It was then that he became a republican, entering into the +republican idea even as heart-broken girls enter a convent. And not +finding a republic where sufficient peace and kindliness prevailed to +lull his troubles to sleep, he created one for himself. He took no +pleasure in books. All the blackened paper amidst which he lived spoke +of evil-smelling class-rooms, of pellets of paper chewed by unruly +schoolboys, of long, profitless hours of torture. Besides, books only +suggested to him a spirit of mutiny and pride, whereas it was of peace +and oblivion that he felt most need. To lull and soothe himself with +the ideal imaginings, to dream that he was perfectly happy, and that +all the world would likewise become so, to erect in his brain the +republican city in which he would fain have lived, such now became his +recreation, the task, again and again renewed, of all his leisure +hours. He no longer read any books beyond those which his duties +compelled him to peruse; he preferred to tramp along the Rue Saint +Jacques as far as the outer boulevards, occasionally going yet a +greater distance and returning by the Barriere d'Italie; and all along +the road, with his eyes on the Quartier Mouffetard spread out at his +feet, he would devise reforms of great moral and humanitarian scope, +such as he thought would change that city of suffering into an abode +of bliss. During the turmoil of February 1848, when Paris was stained +with blood he became quite heartbroken, and rushed from one to another +of the public clubs demanding that the blood which had been shed +should find atonement in "the fraternal embrace of all republicans +throughout the world." He became one of those enthusiastic orators who +preached revolution as a new religion, full of gentleness and +salvation. The terrible days of December 1851, the days of the Coup +d'Etat, were required to wean him from his doctrines of universal +love. He was then without arms; allowed himself to be captured like a +sheep, and was treated as though he were a wolf. He awoke from his +sermon on universal brotherhood to find himself starving on the cold +stones of a casemate at Bicetre. + +Quenu, when two and twenty, was distressed with anguish when his +brother did not return home. On the following day he went to seek his +corpse at the cemetery of Montmartre, where the bodies of those shot +down on the boulevards had been laid out in a line and covered with +straw, from beneath which only their ghastly heads projected. However, +Quenu's courage failed him, he was blinded by his tears, and had to +pass twice along the line of corpses before acquiring the certainty +that Florent's was not among them. At last, at the end of a long and +wretched week, he learned at the Prefecture of Police that his brother +was a prisoner. He was not allowed to see him, and when he pressed the +matter the police threatened to arrest him also. Then he hastened off +to his uncle Gradelle, whom he looked upon as a person of importance, +hoping that he might be able to enlist his influence in Florent's +behalf. But Gradelle waxed wrathful, declared that Florent deserved +his fate, that he ought to have known better than to have mixed +himself up with those rascally republicans. And he even added that +Florent was destined to turn out badly, that it was written on his +face. + +Quenu wept copiously and remained there, almost choked by his sobs. +His uncle, a little ashamed of his harshness, and feeling that he +ought to do something for him, offered to receive him into his house. +He wanted an assistant, and knew that his nephew was a good cook. +Quenu was so much alarmed by the mere thought of going back to live +alone in the big room in the Rue Royer Collard, that then and there he +accepted Gradelle's offer. That same night he slept in his uncle's +house, in a dark hole of a garret just under the room, where there was +scarcely space for him to lie at full length. However, he was less +wretched there than he would have been opposite his brother's empty +couch. + +He succeeded at length in obtaining permission to see Florent; but on +his return from Bicetre he was obliged to take to his bed. For nearly +three weeks he lay fever-stricken, in a stupefied, comatose state. +Gradelle meantime called down all sorts of maledictions on his +republican nephew; and one morning, when he heard of Florent's +departure for Cayenne, he went upstairs, tapped Quenu on the hands, +awoke him, and bluntly told him the news, thereby bringing about such +a reaction that on the following day the young man was up and about +again. His grief wore itself out, and his soft flabby flesh seemed to +absorb his tears. A month later he laughed again, and then grew vexed +and unhappy with himself for having been merry; but his natural light- +heartedness soon gained the mastery, and he laughed afresh in +unconscious happiness. + +He now learned his uncle's business, from which he derived even more +enjoyment than from cookery. Gradelle told him, however, that he must +not neglect his pots and pans, that it was rare to find a pork butcher +who was also a good cook, and that he had been lucky in serving in a +restaurant before coming to the shop. Gradelle, moreover, made full +use of his nephew's acquirements, employed him to cook the dinners +sent out to certain customers, and placed all the broiling, and the +preparation of pork chops garnished with gherkins in his special +charge. As the young man was of real service to him, he grew fond of +him after his own fashion, and would nip his plump arms when he was in +a good humour. Gradelle had sold the scanty furniture of the room in +the Rue Royer Collard and retained possession of the proceeds--some +forty francs or so--in order, said he, to prevent the foolish lad, +Quenu, from making ducks and drakes of the cash. After a time, +however, he allowed his nephew six francs a month a pocket-money. + +Quenu now became quite happy, in spite of the emptiness of his purse +and the harshness with which he was occasionally treated. He liked to +have life doled out to him; Florent had treated him too much like an +indolent girl. Moreover, he had made a friend at his uncle's. +Gradelle, when his wife died, had been obliged to engage a girl to +attend to the shop, and had taken care to choose a healthy and +attractive one, knowing that a good-looking girl would set off his +viands and help to tempt custom. Amongst his acquaintances was a +widow, living in the Rue Cuvier, near the Jardin des Plantes, whose +deceased husband had been postmaster at Plassans, the seat of a +sub-prefecture in the south of France. This lady, who lived in a very +modest fashion on a small annuity, had brought with her from Plassans +a plump, pretty child, whom she treated as her own daughter. Lisa, as +the young one was called, attended upon her with much placidity and +serenity of disposition. Somewhat seriously inclined, she looked quite +beautiful when she smiled. Indeed, her great charm came from the +exquisite manner in which she allowed this infrequent smile of hers to +escape her. Her eyes then became most caressing, and her habitual +gravity imparted inestimable value to these sudden, seductive flashes. +The old lady had often said that one of Lisa's smiles would suffice to +lure her to perdition. + +When the widow died she left all her savings, amounting to some ten +thousand francs, to her adopted daughter. For a week Lisa lived alone +in the Rue Cuvier; it was there that Gradelle came in search of her. +He had become acquainted with her by often seeing her with her +mistress when the latter called on him in the Rue Pirouette; and at +the funeral she had struck him as having grown so handsome and sturdy +that he had followed the hearse all the way to the cemetery, though he +had not intended to do so. As the coffin was being lowered into the +grave, he reflected what a splendid girl she would be for the counter +of a pork butcher's shop. He thought the matter over, and finally +resolved to offer her thirty francs a month, with board and lodging. +When he made this proposal, Lisa asked for twenty-four hours to +consider it. Then she arrived one morning with a little bundle of +clothes, and her ten thousand francs concealed in the bosom of her +dress. A month later the whole place belonged to her; she enslaved +Gradelle, Quenu, and even the smallest kitchen-boy. For his part, +Quenu would have cut off his fingers to please her. When she happened +to smile, he remained rooted to the floor, laughing with delight as he +gazed at her. + +Lisa was the eldest daughter of the Macquarts of Plassans, and her +father was still alive.[*] But she said that he was abroad, and never +wrote to him. Sometimes she just dropped a hint that her mother, now +deceased, had been a hard worker, and that she took after her. She +worked, indeed, very assiduously. However, she sometimes added that +the worthy woman had slaved herself to death in striving to support +her family. Then she would speak of the respective duties of husband +and wife in such a practical though modest fashion as to enchant +Quenu. He assured her that he fully shared her ideas. These were that +everyone, man or woman, ought to work for his or her living, that +everyone was charged with the duty of achieving personal happiness, +that great harm was done by encouraging habits of idleness, and that +the presence of so much misery in the world was greatly due to sloth. +This theory of hers was a sweeping condemnation of drunkenness, of all +the legendary loafing ways of her father Macquart. But, though she did +not know it, there was much of Macquart's nature in herself. She was +merely a steady, sensible Macquart with a logical desire for comfort, +having grasped the truth of the proverb that as you make your bed so +you lie on it. To sleep in blissful warmth there is no better plan +than to prepare oneself a soft and downy couch; and to the preparation +of such a couch she gave all her time and all her thoughts. When no +more than six years old she had consented to remain quietly on her +chair the whole day through on condition that she should be rewarded +with a cake in the evening. + +[*] See M. Zola's novel, /The Fortune of the Rougons/.--Translator + +At Gradelle's establishment Lisa went on leading the calm, methodical +life which her exquisite smiles illumined. She had not accepted the +pork butcher's offer at random. She reckoned upon finding a guardian +in him; with the keen scent of those who are born lucky she perhaps +foresaw that the gloomy shop in the Rue Pirouette would bring her the +comfortable future she dreamed of--a life of healthy enjoyment, and +work without fatigue, each hour of which would bring its own reward. +She attended to her counter with the quiet earnestness with which she +had waited upon the postmaster's widow; and the cleanliness of her +aprons soon became proverbial in the neighbourhood. Uncle Gradelle was +so charmed with this pretty girl that sometimes, as he was stringing +his sausages, he would say to Quenu: "Upon my word, if I weren't +turned sixty, I think I should be foolish enough to marry her. A wife +like she'd make is worth her weight in gold to a shopkeeper, my lad." + +Quenu himself was growing still fonder of her, though he laughed +merrily one day when a neighbour accused him of being in love with +Lisa. He was not worried with love-sickness. The two were very good +friends, however. In the evening they went up to their bedrooms +together. Lisa slept in a little chamber adjoining the dark hole which +the young man occupied. She had made this room of hers quite bright by +hanging it with muslin curtains. The pair would stand together for a +moment on the landing, holding their candles in their hands, and +chatting as they unlocked their doors. Then, as they closed them, they +said in friendly tones: + +"Good night, Mademoiselle Lisa." + +"Good night, Monsieur Quenu." + +As Quenu undressed himself he listened to Lisa making her own +preparations. The partition between the two rooms was very thin. +"There, she is drawing her curtains now," he would say to himself; +"what can she be doing, I wonder, in front of her chest of drawers? +Ah! she's sitting down now and taking off her shoes. Now she's blown +her candle out. Well, good night. I must get to sleep"; and at times, +when he heard her bed creak as she got into it, he would say to +himself with a smile, "Dash it all! Mademoiselle Lisa is no feather." +This idea seemed to amuse him, and presently he would fall asleep +thinking about the hams and salt pork that he had to prepare the next +morning. + +This state of affairs went on for a year without causing Lisa a single +blush or Quenu a moment's embarrassment. When the girl came into the +kitchen in the morning at the busiest moment of the day's work, they +grasped hands over the dishes of sausage-meat. Sometimes she helped +him, holding the skins with her plump fingers while he filled them +with meat and fat. Sometimes, too, with the tips of their tongues they +just tasted the raw sausage-meat, to see if it was properly seasoned. +She was able to give Quenu some useful hints, for she knew of many +favourite southern recipes, with which he experimented with much +success. He was often aware that she was standing behind his shoulder, +prying into the pans. If he wanted a spoon or a dish, she would hand +it to him. The heat of the fire would bring their blood to their +skins; still, nothing in the world would have induced the young man to +cease stirring the fatty /bouillis/ which were thickening over the +fire while the girl stood gravely by him, discussing the amount of +boiling that was necessary. In the afternoon, when the shop lacked +customers, they quietly chatted together for hours at a time. Lisa sat +behind the counter, leaning back, and knitting in an easy, regular +fashion; while Quenu installed himself on a big oak block, dangling +his legs and tapping his heels against the wood. They got on +wonderfully well together, discussing all sorts of subjects, generally +cookery, and then Uncle Gradelle and the neighbours. Lisa also amused +the young man with stories, just as though he were a child. She knew +some very pretty ones--some miraculous legends, full of lambs and +little angels, which she narrated in a piping voice, with all her +wonted seriousness. If a customer happened to come in, she saved +herself the trouble of moving by asking Quenu to get the required pot +of lard or box of snails. And at eleven o'clock they went slowly up to +bed as on the previous night. As they closed their doors, they calmly +repeated the words: + +"Good night, Mademoiselle Lisa." + +"Good night, Monsieur Quenu." + +One morning Uncle Gradelle was struck dead by apoplexy while preparing +a galantine. He fell forward, with his face against the chopping- +block. Lisa did not lose her self-possession. She remarked that the +dead man could not be left lying in the middle of the kitchen, and had +the body removed into a little back room where Gradelle had slept. +Then she arranged with the assistants what should be said. It must be +given out that the master had died in his bed; otherwise the whole +district would be disgusted, and the shop would lose its customers. +Quenu helped to carry the dead man away, feeling quite confused, and +astonished at being unable to shed any tears. Presently, however, he +and Lisa cried together. Quenu and his brother Florent were the sole +heirs. The gossips of the neighbourhood credited old Gradelle with the +possession of a considerable fortune. However, not a single crown +could be discovered. Lisa seemed very restless and uneasy. Quenu +noticed how pensive she became, how she kept on looking around her +from morning till night, as though she had lost something. At last she +decided to have a thorough cleaning of the premises, declaring that +people were beginning to talk, that the story of the old man's death +had got about, and that it was necessary they should make a great show +of cleanliness. One afternoon, after remaining in the cellar for a +couple of hours, whither she herself had gone to wash the salting- +tubs, she came up again, carrying something in her apron. Quenu was +just then cutting up a pig's fry. She waited till he had finished, +talking awhile in an easy, indifferent fashion. But there was an +unusual glitter in her eyes, and she smiled her most charming smile as +she told him that she wanted to speak to him. She led the way upstairs +with seeming difficulty, impeded by what she had in her apron, which +was strained almost to bursting. + +By the time she reached the third floor she found herself short of +breath, and for a moment was obliged to lean against the balustrade. +Quenu, much astonished, followed her into her bedroom without saying a +word. It was the first time she had ever invited him to enter it. She +closed the door, and letting go the corners of her apron, which her +stiffened fingers could no longer hold up, she allowed a stream of +gold and silver coins to flow gently upon her bed. She had discovered +Uncle Gradelle's treasure at the bottom of a salting-tub. The heap of +money made a deep impression in the softy downy bed. + +Lisa and Quenu evinced a quiet delight. They sat down on the edge of +the bed, Lisa at the head and Quenu at the foot, on either side of the +heap of coins, and they counted the money out upon the counterpane, so +as to avoid making any noise. There were forty thousand francs in +gold, and three thousand francs in silver, whilst in a tin box they +found bank notes to the value of forty-two thousand francs. It took +them two hours to count up the treasure. Quenu's hands trembled +slightly, and it was Lisa who did most of the work. + +They arranged the gold on the pillow in little heaps, leaving the +silver in the hollow depression of the counterpane. When they had +ascertained the total amount--eighty-five thousand francs, to them an +enormous sum--they began to chat. And their conversation naturally +turned upon their future, and they spoke of their marriage, although +there had never been any previous mention of love between them. But +this heap of money seemed to loosen their tongues. They had gradually +seated themselves further back on the bed, leaning against the wall, +beneath the white muslin curtains; and as they talked together, their +hands, playing with the heap of silver between them, met, and remained +linked amidst the pile of five-franc pieces. Twilight surprised them +still sitting together. Then, for the first time, Lisa blushed at +finding the young man by her side. For a few moments, indeed, although +not a thought of evil had come to them, they felt much embarrassed. +Then Lisa went to get her own ten thousand francs. Quenu wanted her to +put them with his uncle's savings. He mixed the two sums together, +saying with a laugh that the money must be married also. Then it was +agreed that Lisa should keep the hoard in her chest of drawers. When +she had locked it up they both quietly went downstairs. They were now +practically husband and wife. + +The wedding took place during the following month. The neighbours +considered the match a very natural one, and in every way suitable. +They had vaguely heard the story of the treasure, and Lisa's honesty +was the subject of endless eulogy. After all, said the gossips, she +might well have kept the money herself, and not have spoken a word to +Quenu about it; if she had spoken, it was out of pure honesty, for no +one had seen her find the hoard. She well deserved, they added, that +Quenu should make her his wife. That Quenu, by the way, was a lucky +fellow; he wasn't a beauty himself, yet he had secured a beautiful +wife, who had disinterred a fortune for him. Some even went so far as +to whisper that Lisa was a simpleton for having acted as she had done; +but the young woman only smiled when people speaking to her vaguely +alluded to all these things. She and her husband lived on as +previously, in happy placidity and quiet affection. She still assisted +him as before, their hands still met amidst the sausage-meat, she +still glanced over his shoulder into the pots and pans, and still +nothing but the great fire in the kitchen brought the blood to their +cheeks. + +However, Lisa was a woman of practical common sense, and speedily saw +the folly of allowing eighty-five thousand francs to lie idle in a +chest of drawers. Quenu would have willingly stowed them away again at +the bottom of the salting-tub until he had gained as much more, when +they could have retired from business and have gone to live at +Suresnes, a suburb to which both were partial. Lisa, however, had +other ambitions. The Rue Pirouette did not accord with her ideas of +cleanliness, her craving for fresh air, light, and healthy life. The +shop where Uncle Gradelle had accumulated his fortune, sou by sou, was +a long, dark place, one of those suspicious looking pork butchers' +shops of the old quarters of the city, where the well-worn flagstones +retain a strong odour of meat in spite of constant washings. Now the +young woman longed for one of those bright modern shops, ornamented +like a drawing-room, and fringing the footway of some broad street +with windows of crystalline transparence. She was not actuated by any +petty ambition to play the fine lady behind a stylish counter, but +clearly realised that commerce in its latest development needed +elegant surroundings. Quenu showed much alarm the first time his wife +suggested that they ought to move and spend some of their money in +decorating a new shop. However, Lisa only shrugged her shoulders and +smiled at finding him so timorous. + +One evening, when night was falling and the shop had grown dark, Quenu +and Lisa overheard a woman of the neighbourhood talking to a friend +outside their door. + +"No, indeed! I've given up dealing with them," said she. "I wouldn't +buy a bit of black-pudding from them now on any account. They had a +dead man in their kitchen, you know." + +Quenu wept with vexation. The story of Gradelle's death in the kitchen +was clearly getting about; and his nephew began to blush before his +customers when he saw them sniffing his wares too closely. So, of his +own accord, he spoke to his wife of her proposal to take a new shop. +Lisa, without saying anything, had already been looking out for other +premises, and had found some, admirably situated, only a few yards +away, in the Rue Rambuteau. The immediate neighbourhood of the central +markets, which were being opened just opposite, would triple their +business, and make their shop known all over Paris. + +Quenu allowed himself to be drawn into a lavish expenditure of money; +he laid out over thirty thousand francs in marble, glass, and gilding. +Lisa spent hours with the workmen, giving her views about the +slightest details. When she was at last installed behind the counter, +customers arrived in a perfect procession, merely for the sake of +examining the shop. The inside walls were lined from top to bottom +with white marble. The ceiling was covered with a huge square mirror, +framed by a broad gilded cornice, richly ornamented, whilst from the +centre hung a crystal chandelier with four branches. And behind the +counter, and on the left, and at the far end of the shop were other +mirrors, fitted between the marble panels and looking like doors +opening into an infinite series of brightly lighted halls, where all +sorts of appetising edibles were displayed. The huge counter on the +right hand was considered a very fine piece of work. At intervals +along the front were lozenge-shaped panels of pinky marble. The +flooring was of tiles, alternately white and pink, with a deep red +fretting as border. The whole neighbourhood was proud of the shop, and +no one again thought of referring to the kitchen in the Rue Pirouette, +where a man had died. For quite a month women stopped short on the +footway to look at Lisa between the saveloys and bladders in the +window. Her white and pink flesh excited as much admiration as the +marbles. She seemed to be the soul, the living light, the healthy, +sturdy idol of the pork trade; and thenceforth one and all baptised +her "Lisa the beauty." + +To the right of the shop was the dining-room, a neat looking apartment +containing a sideboard, a table, and several cane-seated chairs of +light oak. The matting on the floor, the wallpaper of a soft yellow +tint, the oil-cloth table-cover, coloured to imitate oak, gave the +room a somewhat cold appearance, which was relieved only by the +glitter of a brass hanging lamp, suspended from the ceiling, and +spreading its big shade of transparent porcelain over the table. One +of the dining-room doors opened into the huge square kitchen, at the +end of which was a small paved courtyard, serving for the storage of +lumber--tubs, barrels and pans, and all kinds of utensils not in use. +To the left of the water-tap, alongside the gutter which carried off +the greasy water, stood pots of faded flowers, removed from the shop +window, and slowly dying. + +Business was excellent. Quenu, who had been much alarmed by the +initial outlay, now regarded his wife with something like respect, and +told his friends that she had "a wonderful head." At the end of five +years they had nearly eighty thousand francs invested in the State +funds. Lisa would say that they were not ambitious, that they had no +desire to pile up money too quickly, or else she would have enabled +her husband to gain hundreds and thousands of francs by prompting him +to embark in the wholesale pig trade. But they were still young, and +had plenty of time before them; besides, they didn't care about a +rough, scrambling business, but preferred to work at their ease, and +enjoy life, instead of wearing themselves out with endless anxieties. + +"For instance," Lisa would add in her expansive moments, "I have, you +know, a cousin in Paris. I never see him, as the two families have +fallen out. He has taken the name of Saccard,[*] on account of certain +matters which he wants to be forgotten. Well, this cousin of mine, I'm +told, makes millions and millions of francs; but he gets no enjoyment +out of life. He's always in a state of feverish excitement, always +rushing hither and thither, up to his neck in all sorts of worrying +business. Well, it's impossible, isn't it, for such a man to eat his +dinner peaceably in the evening? We, at any rate, can take our meals +comfortably, and make sure of what we eat, and we are not harassed by +worries as he is. The only reason why people should care for money is +that money's wanted for one to live. People like comfort; that's +natural. But as for making money simply for the sake of making it, and +giving yourself far more trouble and anxiety to gain it than you can +ever get pleasure from it when it's gained, why, as for me, I'd rather +sit still and cross my arms. And besides, I should like to see all +those millions of my cousin's. I can't say that I altogether believe +in them. I caught sight of him the other day in his carriage. He was +quite yellow, and looked ever so sly. A man who's making money doesn't +have that kind of expression. But it's his business, and not mine. For +our part, we prefer to make merely a hundred sous at a time, and to +get a hundred sous' worth of enjoyment out of them." + +[*] See M. Zola's novel, /Money/. + +The household was undoubtedly thriving. A daughter had been born to +the young couple during their first year of wedlock, and all three of +them looked blooming. The business went on prosperously, without any +laborious fatigue, just as Lisa desired. She had carefully kept free +of any possible source of trouble or anxiety, and the days went by in +an atmosphere of peaceful, unctuous prosperity. Their home was a nook +of sensible happiness--a comfortable manger, so to speak, where +father, mother, and daughter could grow sleek and fat. It was only +Quenu who occasionally felt sad, through thinking of his brother +Florent. Up to the year 1856 he had received letters from him at long +intervals. Then no more came, and he had learned from a newspaper that +three convicts having attempted to escape from the Ile du Diable, had +been drowned before they were able to reach the mainland. He had made +inquiries at the Prefecture of Police, but had not learnt anything +definite; it seemed probable that his brother was dead. However, he +did not lose all hope, though months passed without any tidings. +Florent, in the meantime, was wandering about Dutch Guiana, and +refrained from writing home as he was ever in hope of being able to +return to France. Quenu at last began to mourn for him as one mourns +for those whom one has been unable to bid farewell. Lisa had never +known Florent, but she spoke very kindly whenever she saw her husband +give way to his sorrow; and she evinced no impatience when for the +hundredth time or so he began to relate stories of his early days, of +his life in the big room in the Rue Royer Collard, the thirty-six +trades which he had taken up one after another, and the dainties which +he had cooked at the stove, dressed all in white, while Florent was +dressed all in black. To such talk as this, indeed, she listened +placidly, with a complacency which never wearied. + +It was into the midst of all this happiness, ripening after careful +culture, that Florent dropped one September morning just as Lisa was +taking her matutinal bath of sunshine, and Quenu, with his eyes still +heavy with sleep, was lazily applying his fingers to the congealed fat +left in the pans from the previous evening. Florent's arrival caused a +great commotion. Gavard advised them to conceal the "outlaw," as he +somewhat pompously called Florent. Lisa, who looked pale, and more +serious than was her wont, at last took him to the fifth floor, where +she gave him the room belonging to the girl who assisted her in the +shop. Quenu had cut some slices of bread and ham, but Florent was +scarcely able to eat. He was overcome by dizziness and nausea, and +went to bed, where he remained for five days in a state of delirium, +the outcome of an attack of brain-fever, which fortunately received +energetic treatment. When he recovered consciousness he perceived Lisa +sitting by his bedside, silently stirring some cooling drink in a cup. +As he tried to thank her, she told him that he must keep perfectly +quiet, and that they could talk together later on. At the end of +another three days Florent was on his feet again. Then one morning +Quenu went up to tell him that Lisa awaited them in her room on the +first floor. + +Quenu and his wife there occupied a suite of three rooms and a +dressing-room. You first passed through an antechamber, containing +nothing but chairs, and then a small sitting-room, whose furniture, +shrouded in white covers, slumbered in the gloom cast by the Venetian +shutters, which were always kept closed so as to prevent the light +blue of the upholstery from fading. Then came the bedroom, the only +one of the three which was really used. It was very comfortably +furnished in mahogany. The bed, bulky and drowsy of aspect in the +depths of the damp alcove, was really wonderful, with its four +mattresses, its four pillows, its layers of blankets, and its +corpulent /edredon/. It was evidently a bed intended for slumber. A +mirrored wardrobe, a washstand with drawers, a small central table +with a worked cover, and several chairs whose seats were protected by +squares of lace, gave the room an aspect of plain but substantial +middle-class luxury. On the left-hand wall, on either side of the +mantelpiece, which was ornamented with some landscape-painted vases +mounted on bronze stands, and a gilt timepiece on which a figure of +Gutenberg, also gilt, stood in an attitude of deep thought, hung +portraits in oils of Quenu and Lisa, in ornate oval frames. Quenu had +a smiling face, while Lisa wore an air of grave propriety; and both +were dressed in black and depicted in flattering fashion, their +features idealised, their skins wondrously smooth, their complexions +soft and pinky. A carpet, in the Wilton style, with a complicated +pattern of roses mingling with stars, concealed the flooring; while in +front of the bed was a fluffy mat, made out of long pieces of curly +wool, a work of patience at which Lisa herself had toiled while seated +behind her counter. But the most striking object of all in the midst +of this array of new furniture was a great square, thick-set +secretaire, which had been re-polished in vain, for the cracks and +notches in the marble top and the scratches on the old mahogany front, +quite black with age, still showed plainly. Lisa had desired to retain +this piece of furniture, however, as Uncle Gradelle had used it for +more than forty years. It would bring them good luck, she said. It's +metal fastenings were truly something terrible, it's lock was like +that of a prison gate, and it was so heavy that it could scarcely be +moved. + +When Florent and Quenu entered the room they found Lisa seated at the +lowered desk of the secretaire, writing and putting down figures in a +big, round, and very legible hand. She signed to them not to disturb +her, and the two men sat down. Florent looked round the room, and +notably at the two portraits, the bed and the timepiece, with an air +of surprise. + +"There!" at last exclaimed Lisa, after having carefully verified a +whole page of calculations. "Listen to me now; we have an account to +render to you, my dear Florent." + +It was the first time that she had so addressed him. However, taking +up the page of figures, she continued: "Your Uncle Gradelle died +without leaving a will. Consequently you and your brother are his sole +heirs. We now have to hand your share over to you." + +"But I do not ask you for anything!" exclaimed Florent, "I don't wish +for anything!" + +Quenu had apparently been in ignorance of his wife's intentions. He +turned rather pale and looked at her with an expression of +displeasure. Of course, he certainly loved his brother dearly; but +there was no occasion to hurl his uncle's money at him in this way. +There would have been plenty of time to go into the matter later on. + +"I know very well, my dear Florent," continued Lisa, "that you did not +come back with the intention of claiming from us what belongs to you; +but business is business, you know, and we had better get things +settled at once. Your uncle's savings amounted to eighty-five thousand +francs. I have therefore put down forty-two thousand five hundred to +your credit. See!" + +She showed him the figures on the sheet of paper. + +"It is unfortunately not so easy to value the shop, plant, stock-in- +trade, and goodwill. I have only been able to put down approximate +amounts, but I don't think I have underestimated anything. Well, the +total valuation which I have made comes to fifteen thousand three +hundred and ten francs; your half of which is seven thousand six +hundred and fifty-five francs, so that your share amounts, in all, to +fifty thousand one hundred and fifty-five francs. Please verify it for +yourself, will you?" + +She had called out the figures in a clear, distinct voice, and she now +handed the paper to Florent, who was obliged to take it. + +"But the old man's business was certainly never worth fifteen thousand +francs!" cried Quenu. "Why, I wouldn't have given ten thousand for +it!" + +He had ended by getting quite angry with his wife. Really, it was +absurd to carry honesty to such a point as that! Had Florent said one +word about the business? No, indeed, he had declared that he didn't +wish for anything. + +"The business was worth fifteen thousand three hundred and ten +francs," Lisa re-asserted, calmly. "You will agree with me, my dear +Florent, that it is quite unnecessary to bring a lawyer into our +affairs. It is for us to arrange the division between ourselves, since +you have now turned up again. I naturally thought of this as soon as +you arrived; and, while you were in bed with the fever, I did my best +to draw up this little inventory. It contains, as you see, a fairly +complete statement of everything. I have been through our old books, +and have called up my memory to help me. Read it aloud, and I will +give you any additional information you may want." + +Florent ended by smiling. He was touched by this easy and, as it were, +natural display of probity. Placing the sheet of figures on the young +woman's knee, he took hold of her hand and said, "I am very glad, my +dear Lisa, to hear that you are prosperous, but I will not take your +money. The heritage belongs to you and my brother, who took care of my +uncle up to the last. I don't require anything, and I don't intend to +hamper you in carrying on your business." + +Lisa insisted, and even showed some vexation, while Quenu gnawed his +thumbs in silence to restrain himself. + +"Ah!" resumed Florent with a laugh, "if Uncle Gradelle could hear you, +I think he'd come back and take the money away again. I was never a +favourite of his, you know." + +"Well, no," muttered Quenu, no longer able to keep still, "he +certainly wasn't over fond of you." + +Lisa, however, still pressed the matter. She did not like to have +money in her secretaire that did not belong to her; it would worry +her, said she; the thought of it would disturb her peace. Thereupon +Florent, still in a joking way, proposed to invest his share in the +business. Moreover, said he, he did not intend to refuse their help; +he would, no doubt, be unable to find employment all at once; and +then, too, he would need a complete outfit, for he was scarcely +presentable. + +"Of course," cried Quenu, "you will board and lodge with us, and we +will buy you all that you want. That's understood. You know very well +that we are not likely to leave you in the streets, I hope!" + +He was quite moved now, and even felt a trifle ashamed of the alarm he +had experienced at the thought of having to hand over a large amount +of money all at once. He began to joke, and told his brother that he +would undertake to fatten him. Florent gently shook his hand; while +Lisa folded up the sheet of figures and put it away in a drawer of the +secretaire. + +"You are wrong," she said by way of conclusion. "I have done what I +was bound to do. Now it shall be as you wish. But, for my part, I +should never have had a moment's peace if I had not put things before +you. Bad thoughts would quite upset me." + +They then began to speak of another matter. It would be necessary to +give some reason for Florent's presence, and at the same time avoid +exciting the suspicion of the police. He told them that in order to +return to France he had availed himself of the papers of a poor fellow +who had died in his arms at Surinam from yellow fever. By a singular +coincidence this young fellow's Christian name was Florent. + +Florent Laquerriere, to give him his name in full, had left but one +relation in Paris, a female cousin, and had been informed of her death +while in America. Nothing could therefore be easier than for Quenu's +half brother to pass himself off as the man who had died at Surinam. +Lisa offered to take upon herself the part of the female cousin. They +then agreed to relate that their cousin Florent had returned from +abroad, where he had failed in his attempts to make a fortune, and +that they, the Quenu-Gradelles, as they were called in the +neighbourhood, had received him into their house until he could find +suitable employment. When this was all settled, Quenu insisted upon +his brother making a thorough inspection of the rooms, and would not +spare him the examination of a single stool. Whilst they were in the +bare looking chamber containing nothing but chairs, Lisa pushed open a +door, and showing Florent a small dressing room, told him that the +shop girl should sleep in it, so that he could retain the bedroom on +the fifth floor. + +In the evening Florent was arrayed in new clothes from head to foot. +He had insisted upon again having a black coat and black trousers, +much against the advice of Quenu, upon whom black had a depressing +effect. No further attempts were made to conceal his presence in the +house, and Lisa told the story which had been planned to everyone who +cared to hear it. Henceforth Florent spent almost all his time on the +premises, lingering on a chair in the kitchen or leaning against the +marble-work in the shop. At meal times Quenu plied him with food, and +evinced considerable vexation when he proved such a small eater and +left half the contents of his liberally filled plate untouched. Lisa +had resumed her old life, evincing a kindly tolerance of her brother- +in-law's presence, even in the morning, when he somewhat interfered +with the work. Then she would momentarily forget him, and on suddenly +perceiving his black form in front of her give a slight start of +surprise, followed, however, by one of her sweet smiles, lest he might +feel at all hurt. This skinny man's disinterestedness had impressed +her, and she regarded him with a feeling akin to respect, mingled with +vague fear. Florent had for his part only felt that there was great +affection around him. + +When bedtime came he went upstairs, a little wearied by his lazy day, +with the two young men whom Quenu employed as assistants, and who +slept in attics adjoining his own. Leon, the apprentice, was barely +fifteen years of age. He was a slight, gentle looking lad, addicted to +stealing stray slices of ham and bits of sausages. These he would +conceal under his pillow, eating them during the night without any +bread. Several times at about one o'clock in the morning Florent +almost fancied that Leon was giving a supper-party; for he heard low +whispering followed by a sound of munching jaws and rustling paper. +And then a rippling girlish laugh would break faintly on the deep +silence of the sleeping house like the soft trilling of a flageolet. + +The other assistant, Auguste Landois, came from Troyes. Bloated with +unhealthy fat, he had too large a head, and was already bald, although +only twenty-eight years of age. As he went upstairs with Florent on +the first evening, he told him his story in a confused, garrulous way. +He had at first come to Paris merely for the purpose of perfecting +himself in the business, intending to return to Troyes, where his +cousin, Augustine Landois, was waiting for him, and there setting up +for himself as a pork butcher. He and she had had the game godfather +and bore virtually the same Christian name. However, he had grown +ambitious; and now hoped to establish himself in business in Paris by +the aid of the money left him by his mother, which he had deposited +with a notary before leaving Champagne. + +Auguste had got so far in his narrative when the fifth floor was +reached; however, he still detained Florent, in order to sound the +praises of Madame Quenu, who had consented to send for Augustine +Landois to replace an assistant who had turned out badly. He himself +was now thoroughly acquainted with his part of the business, and his +cousin was perfecting herself in shop management. In a year or +eighteen months they would be married, and then they would set up on +their own account in some populous corner of Paris, at Plaisance most +likely. They were in no great hurry, he added, for the bacon trade was +very bad that year. Then he proceeded to tell Florent that he and his +cousin had been photographed together at the fair of St. Ouen, and he +entered the attic to have another look at the photograph, which +Augustine had left on the mantelpiece, in her desire that Madame +Quenu's cousin should have a pretty room. Auguste lingered there for a +moment, looking quite livid in the dim yellow light of his candle, and +casting his eyes around the little chamber which was still full of +memorials of the young girl. Next, stepping up to the bed, he asked +Florent if it was comfortable. His cousin slept below now, said he, +and would be better there in the winter, for the attics were very +cold. Then at last he went off, leaving Florent alone with the bed, +and standing in front of the photograph. As shown on the latter +Auguste looked like a sort of pale Quenu, and Augustine like an +immature Lisa. + +Florent, although on friendly terms with the assistants, petted by his +brother, and cordially treated by Lisa, presently began to feel very +bored. He had tried, but without success, to obtain some pupils; +moreover, he purposely avoided the students' quarter for fear of being +recognised. Lisa gently suggested to him that he had better try to +obtain a situation in some commercial house, where he could take +charge of the correspondence and keep the books. She returned to this +subject again and again, and at last offered to find a berth for him +herself. She was gradually becoming impatient at finding him so often +in her way, idle, and not knowing what to do with himself. At first +this impatience was merely due to the dislike she felt of people who +do nothing but cross their arms and eat, and she had no thought of +reproaching him for consuming her substance. + +"For my own part," she would say to him, "I could never spend the +whole day in dreamy lounging. You can't have any appetite for your +meals. You ought to tire yourself." + +Gavard, also, was seeking a situation for Florent, but in a very +extraordinary and most mysterious fashion. He would have liked to find +some employment of a dramatic character, or in which there should be a +touch of bitter irony, as was suitable for an outlaw. Gavard was a man +who was always in opposition. He had just completed his fiftieth year, +and he boasted that he had already passed judgment on four +Governments. He still contemptuously shrugged his shoulders at the +thought of Charles X, the priests and nobles and other attendant +rabble, whom he had helped to sweep away. Louis Philippe, with his +bourgeois following, had been an imbecile, and he could tell how the +citizen-king had hoarded his coppers in a woollen stocking. As for the +Republic of '48, that had been a mere farce, the working classes had +deceived him; however, he no longer acknowledged that he had applauded +the Coup d'Etat, for he now looked upon Napoleon III as his personal +enemy, a scoundrel who shut himself up with Morny and others to +indulge in gluttonous orgies. He was never weary of holding forth upon +this subject. Lowering his voice a little, he would declare that women +were brought to the Tuileries in closed carriages every evening, and +that he, who was speaking, had one night heard the echoes of the +orgies while crossing the Place du Carrousel. It was Gavard's religion +to make himself as disagreeable as possible to any existing +Government. He would seek to spite it in all sorts of ways, and laugh +in secret for several months at the pranks he played. To begin with, +he voted for candidates who would worry the Ministers at the Corps +Legislatif. Then, if he could rob the revenue, or baffle the police, +and bring about a row of some kind or other, he strove to give the +affair as much of an insurrectionary character as possible. He told a +great many lies, too; set himself up as being a very dangerous man; +talked as though "the satellites of the Tuileries" were well +acquainted with him and trembled at the sight of him; and asserted +that one half of them must be guillotined, and the other half +transported, the next time there was "a flare-up." His violent +political creed found food in boastful, bragging talk of this sort; he +displayed all the partiality for a lark and a rumpus which prompts a +Parisian shopkeeper to take down his shutters on a day of barricade- +fighting to get a good view of the corpses of the slain. When Florent +returned from Cayenne, Gavard opined that he had got hold of a +splendid chance for some abominable trick, and bestowed much thought +upon the question of how he might best vent his spleen on the Emperor +and Ministers and everyone in office, down to the very lowest police +constable. + +Gavard's manners with Florent were altogether those of a man tasting +some forbidden pleasure. He contemplated him with blinking eyes, +lowered his voice even when making the most trifling remark, and +grasped his hand with all sorts of masonic flummery. He had at last +lighted upon something in the way of an adventure; he had a friend who +was really compromised, and could, without falsehood speak of the +dangers he incurred. He undoubtedly experienced a secret alarm at the +sight of this man who had returned from transportation, and whose +fleshlessness testified to the long sufferings he had endured; +however, this touch of alarm was delightful, for it increased his +notion of his own importance, and convinced him that he was really +doing something wonderful in treating a dangerous character as a +friend. Florent became a sort of sacred being in his eyes: he swore by +him alone, and had recourse to his name whenever arguments failed him +and he wanted to crush the Government once and for all. + +Gavard had lost his wife in the Rue Saint Jacques some months after +the Coup d'Etat; however, he had kept on his roasting shop till 1856. +At that time it was reported that he had made large sums of money by +going into partnership with a neighbouring grocer who had obtained a +contract for supplying dried vegetables to the Crimean expeditionary +corps. The truth was, however, that, having sold his shop, he lived on +his income for a year without doing anything. He himself did not care +to talk about the real origin of his fortune, for to have revealed it +would have prevented him from plainly expressing his opinion of the +Crimean War, which he referred to as a mere adventurous expedition, +"undertaken simply to consolidate the throne and to fill certain +persons' pockets." At the end of a year he had grown utterly weary of +life in his bachelor quarters. As he was in the habit of visiting the +Quenu-Gradelles almost daily, he determined to take up his residence +nearer to them, and came to live in the Rue de la Cossonnerie. The +neighbouring markets, with their noisy uproar and endless chatter, +quite fascinated him; and he decided to hire a stall in the poultry +pavilion, just for the purpose of amusing himself and occupying his +idle hours with all the gossip. Thenceforth he lived amidst ceaseless +tittle-tattle, acquainted with every little scandal in the +neighbourhood, his head buzzing with the incessant yelping around him. +He blissfully tasted a thousand titillating delights, having at last +found his true element, and bathing in it, with the voluptuous +pleasure of a carp swimming in the sunshine. Florent would sometimes +go to see him at his stall. The afternoons were still very warm. All +along the narrow alleys sat women plucking poultry. Rays of light +streamed in between the awnings, and in the warm atmosphere, in the +golden dust of the sunbeams, feathers fluttered hither and thither +like dancing snowflakes. A trail of coaxing calls and offers followed +Florent as he passed along. "Can I sell you a fine duck, monsieur?" +"I've some very fine fat chickens here, monsieur; come and see!" +"Monsieur! monsieur, do just buy this pair of pigeons!" Deafened and +embarrassed he freed himself from the women, who still went on +plucking as they fought for possession of him; and the fine down flew +about and wellnigh choked him, like hot smoke reeking with the strong +odour of the poultry. At last, in the middle of the alley, near the +water-taps, he found Gavard ranting away in his shirt-sleeves, in +front of his stall, with his arms crossed over the bib of his blue +apron. He reigned there, in a gracious, condescending way, over a +group of ten or twelve women. He was the only male dealer in that part +of the market. He was so fond of wagging his tongue that he had +quarrelled with five or six girls whom he had successively engaged to +attend to his stall, and had now made up his mind to sell his goods +himself, naively explaining that the silly women spent the whole +blessed day in gossiping, and that it was beyond his power to manage +them. As someone, however, was still necessary to supply his place +whenever he absented himself he took in Marjolin, who was prowling +about, after attempting in turn all the petty market callings. + +Florent sometimes remained for an hour with Gavard, amazed by his +ceaseless flow of chatter, and his calm serenity and assurance amid +the crowd of petticoats. He would interrupt one woman, pick a quarrel +with another ten stalls away, snatch a customer from a third, and make +as much noise himself as his hundred and odd garrulous neighbours, +whose incessant clamour kept the iron plates of the pavilion vibrating +sonorously like so many gongs. + +The poultry dealer's only relations were a sister-in-law and a niece. +When his wife died, her eldest sister, Madame Lecoeur, who had become +a widow about a year previously, had mourned for her in an exaggerated +fashion, and gone almost every evening to tender consolation to the +bereaved husband. She had doubtless cherished the hope that she might +win his affection and fill the yet warm place of the deceased. Gavard, +however, abominated lean women; and would, indeed, only stroke such +cats and dogs as were very fat; so that Madame Lecoeur, who was long +and withered, failed in her designs. + +With her feelings greatly hurt, furious at the ex-roaster's five-franc +pieces eluding her grasp, she nurtured great spite against him. He +became the enemy to whom she devoted all her time. When she saw him +set up in the markets only a few yards away from the pavilion where +she herself sold butter and eggs and cheese, she accused him of doing +so simply for the sake of annoying her and bringing her bad luck. From +that moment she began to lament, and turned so yellow and melancholy +that she indeed ended by losing her customers and getting into +difficulties. She had for a long time kept with her the daughter of +one of her sisters, a peasant woman who had sent her the child and +then taken no further trouble about it. + +This child grew up in the markets. Her surname was Sarriet, and so she +soon became generally known as La Sarriette. At sixteen years of age +she had developed into such a charming sly-looking puss that gentlemen +came to buy cheeses at her aunt's stall simply for the purpose of +ogling her. She did not care for the gentlemen, however; with her dark +hair, pale face, and eyes glistening like live embers, her sympathies +were with the lower ranks of the people. At last she chose as her +lover a young man from Menilmontant who was employed by her aunt as a +porter. At twenty she set up in business as a fruit dealer with the +help of some funds procured no one knew how; and thenceforth Monsieur +Jules, as her lover was called, displayed spotless hands, a clean +blouse, and a velvet cap; and only came down to the market in the +afternoon, in his slippers. They lived together on the third storey of +a large house in the Rue Vauvilliers, on the ground floor of which was +a disreputable cafe. + +Madame Lecoeur's acerbity of temper was brought to a pitch by what she +called La Sarriette's ingratitude, and she spoke of the girl in the +most violent and abusive language. They broke off all intercourse, the +aunt fairly exasperated, and the niece and Monsieur Jules concocting +stories about the aunt, which the young man would repeat to the other +dealers in the butter pavilion. Gavard found La Sarriette very +entertaining, and treated her with great indulgence. Whenever they met +he would good-naturedly pat her cheeks. + +One afternoon, whilst Florent was sitting in his brother's shop, tired +out with the fruitless pilgrimages he had made during the morning in +search of work, Marjolin made his appearance there. This big lad, who +had the massiveness and gentleness of a Fleming, was a protege of +Lisa's. She would say that there was no evil in him; that he was +indeed a little bit stupid, but as strong as a horse, and particularly +interesting from the fact that nobody knew anything of his parentage. +It was she who had got Gavard to employ him. + +Lisa was sitting behind the counter, feeling annoyed by the sight of +Florent's muddy boots which were soiling the pink and white tiles of +the flooring. Twice already had she risen to scatter sawdust about the +shop. However, she smiled at Marjolin as he entered. + +"Monsieur Gavard," began the young man, "has sent me to ask--" + +But all at once he stopped and glanced round; then in a lower voice he +resumed: "He told me to wait till there was no one with you, and then +to repeat these words, which he made me learn by heart: 'Ask them if +there is no danger, and if I can come and talk to them of the matter +they know about.'" + +"Tell Monsieur Gavard that we are expecting him," replied Lisa, who +was quite accustomed to the poultry dealer's mysterious ways. + +Marjolin, however, did not go away; but remained in ecstasy before the +handsome mistress of the shop, contemplating her with an expression of +fawning humility. + +Touched, as it were, by this mute adoration, Lisa spoke to him again. + +"Are you comfortable with Monsieur Gavard?" she asked. "He's not an +unkind man, and you ought to try to please him." + +"Yes, Madame Lisa." + +"But you don't behave as you should, you know. Only yesterday I saw +you clambering about the roofs of the market again; and, besides, you +are constantly with a lot of disreputable lads and lasses. You ought +to remember that you are a man now, and begin to think of the future." + +"Yes, Madame Lisa." + +However, Lisa had to get up to wait upon a lady who came in and wanted +a pound of pork chops. She left the counter and went to the block at +the far end of the shop. Here, with a long, slender knife, she cut +three chops in a loin of pork; and then, raising a small cleaver with +her strong hand, dealt three sharp blows which separated the chops +from the loin. At each blow she dealt, her black merino dress rose +slightly behind her, and the ribs of her stays showed beneath her +tightly stretched bodice. She slowly took up the chops and weighed +them with an air of gravity, her eyes gleaming and her lips tightly +closed. + +When the lady had gone, and Lisa perceived Marjolin still full of +delight at having seen her deal those three clean, forcible blows with +the cleaver, she at once called out to him, "What! haven't you gone +yet?" + +He thereupon turned to go, but she detained him for a moment longer. + +"Now, don't let me see you again with that hussy Cadine," she said. +"Oh, it's no use to deny it! I saw you together this morning in the +tripe market, watching men breaking the sheep's heads. I can't +understand what attraction a good-looking young fellow like you can +find in such a slipshod slattern as Cadine. Now then, go and tell +Monsieur Gavard that he had better come at once, while there's no one +about." + +Marjolin thereupon went off in confusion, without saying a word. + +Handsome Lisa remained standing behind her counter, with her head +turned slightly in the direction of her markets, and Florent gazed at +her in silence, surprised to see her looking so beautiful. He had +never looked at her properly before; indeed, he did not know the right +way to look at a woman. He now saw her rising above the viands on the +counter. In front of her was an array of white china dishes, +containing long Arles and Lyons sausages, slices of which had already +been cut off, with tongues and pieces of boiled pork; then a pig's +head in a mass of jelly; an open pot of preserved sausage-meat, and a +large box of sardines disclosing a pool of oil. On the right and left, +upon wooden platters, were mounds of French and Italian brawn, a +common French ham, of a pinky hue, and a Yorkshire ham, whose deep red +lean showed beneath a broad band of fat. There were other dishes too, +round ones and oval ones, containing spiced tongue, truffled +galantine, and a boar's head stuffed with pistachio nuts; while close +to her, in reach of her hand, stood some yellow earthen pans +containing larded veal, /pate de foie gras/, and hare-pie. + +As there were no signs of Gavard's coming, she arranged some fore-end +bacon upon a little marble shelf at the end of the counter, put the +jars of lard and dripping back into their places, wiped the plates of +each pair of scales, and saw to the fire of the heater, which was +getting low. Then she turned her head again, and gazed in silence +towards the markets. The smell of all the viands ascended around her, +she was enveloped, as it were, by the aroma of truffles. She looked +beautifully fresh that afternoon. The whiteness of all the dishes was +supplemented by that of her sleevelets and apron, above which appeared +her plump neck and rosy cheeks, which recalled the soft tones of the +hams and the pallor of all the transparent fat. + +As Florent continued to gaze at her he began to feel intimidated, +disquieted by her prim, sedate demeanour; and in lieu of openly +looking at her he ended by glancing surreptitiously in the mirrors +around the shop, in which her back and face and profile could be seen. +The mirror on the ceiling, too, reflected the top of her head, with +its tightly rolled chignon and the little bands lowered over her +temples. There seemed, indeed, to be a perfect crowd of Lisas, with +broad shoulders, powerful arms, and round, full bosoms. At last +Florent checked his roving eyes, and let them rest on a particularly +pleasing side view of the young woman as mirrored between two pieces +of pork. From the hooks running along the whole line of mirrors and +marbles hung sides of pork and bands of larding fat; and Lisa, with +her massive neck, rounded hips, and swelling bosom seen in profile, +looked like some waxwork queen in the midst of the dangling fat and +meat. However, she bent forward and smiled in a friendly way at the +two gold-fish which were ever and ever swimming round the aquarium in +the window. + +Gavard entered the shop. With an air of great importance he went to +fetch Quenu from the kitchen. Then he seated himself upon a small +marble-topped table, while Florent remained on his chair and Lisa +behind the counter; Quenu meantime leaning his back against a side of +pork. And thereupon Gavard announced that he had at last found a +situation for Florent. They would be vastly amused when they heard +what it was, and the Government would be nicely caught. + +But all at once he stopped short, for a passing neighbour, +Mademoiselle Saget, having seen such a large party gossiping together +at the Quenu-Gradelles', had opened the door and entered the shop. +Carrying her everlasting black ribbonless straw hat, which +appropriately cast a shadow over her prying white face, she saluted +the men with a slight bow and Lisa with a sharp smile. + +She was an acquaintance of the family, and still lived in the house in +the Rue Pirouette where she had resided for the last forty years, +probably on a small private income; but of that she never spoke. She +had, however, one day talked of Cherbourg, mentioning that she had +been born there. Nothing further was ever known of her antecedents. +All her conversation was about other people; she could tell the whole +story of their daily lives, even to the number of things they sent to +be washed each month; and she carried her prying curiosity concerning +her neighbours' affairs so far as to listen behind their doors and +open their letters. Her tongue was feared from the Rue Saint Denis to +the Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and from the Rue Saint Honore to the +Rue Mauconseil. All day long she went ferreting about with her empty +bag, pretending that she was marketing, but in reality buying nothing, +as her sole purpose was to retail scandal and gossip, and keep herself +fully informed of every trifling incident that happened. Indeed, she +had turned her brain into an encyclopaedia brimful of every possible +particular concerning the people of the neighbourhood and their homes. + +Quenu had always accused her of having spread the story of his Uncle +Gradelle's death on the chopping-block, and had borne her a grudge +ever since. She was extremely well posted in the history of Uncle +Gradelle and the Quenus, and knew them, she would say, by heart. For +the last fortnight, however, Florent's arrival had greatly perplexed +her, filled her, indeed, with a perfect fever of curiosity. She became +quite ill when she discovered any unforeseen gap in her information. +And yet she could have sworn that she had seen that tall lanky fellow +somewhere or other before. + +She remained standing in front of the counter, examining the dishes +one after another, and saying in a shrill voice: + +"I hardly know what to have. When the afternoon comes I feel quite +famished for my dinner, and then, later on, I don't seem able to fancy +anything at all. Have you got a cutlet rolled in bread-crumbs left, +Madame Quenu?" + +Without waiting for a reply, she removed one of the covers of the +heater. It was that of the compartment reserved for the chitterlings, +sausages, and black-puddings. However, the chafing-dish was quite +cold, and there was nothing left but one stray forgotten sausage. + +"Look under the other cover, Mademoiselle Saget," said Lisa. "I +believe there's a cutlet there." + +"No, it doesn't tempt me," muttered the little old woman, poking her +nose under the other cover, however, all the same. "I felt rather a +fancy for one, but I'm afraid a cutlet would be rather too heavy in +the evening. I'd rather have something, too, that I need not warm." + +While speaking she had turned towards Florent and looked at him; then +she looked at Gavard, who was beating a tattoo with his finger-tips on +the marble table. She smiled at them, as though inviting them to +continue their conversation. + +"Wouldn't a little piece of salt pork suit you?" asked Lisa. + +"A piece of salt pork? Yes, that might do." + +Thereupon she took up the fork with plated handle, which was lying at +the edge of the dish, and began to turn all the pieces of pork about, +prodding them, lightly tapping the bones to judge of their thickness, +and minutely scrutinising the shreds of pinky meat. And as she turned +them over she repeated, "No, no; it doesn't tempt me." + +"Well, then, have a sheep's tongue, or a bit of brawn, or a slice of +larded veal," suggested Lisa patiently. + +Mademoiselle Saget, however, shook her head. She remained there for a +few minutes longer, pulling dissatisfied faces over the different +dishes; then, seeing that the others were determined to remain silent, +and that she would not be able to learn anything, she took herself +off. + +"No; I rather felt a fancy for a cutlet rolled in bread-crumbs," she +said as she left the shop, "but the one you have left is too fat. I +must come another time." + +Lisa bent forward to watch her through the sausage-skins hanging in +the shop-front, and saw her cross the road and enter the fruit market. + +"The old she-goat!" growled Gavard. + +Then, as they were now alone again, he began to tell them of the +situation he had found for Florent. A friend of his, he said, Monsieur +Verlaque, one of the fish market inspectors, was so ill that he was +obliged to take a rest; and that very morning the poor man had told +him that he should be very glad to find a substitute who would keep +his berth open for him in case he should recover. + +"Verlaque, you know, won't last another six months," added Gavard, +"and Florent will keep the place. It's a splendid idea, isn't it? And +it will be such a take-in for the police! The berth is under the +Prefecture, you know. What glorious fun to see Florent getting paid by +the police, eh?" + +He burst into a hearty laugh; the idea struck him as so extremely +comical. + +"I won't take the place," Florent bluntly replied. "I've sworn I'll +never accept anything from the Empire, and I would rather die of +starvation than serve under the Prefecture. It is quite out of the +question, Gavard, quite so!" + +Gavard seemed somewhat put out on hearing this. Quenu had lowered his +head, while Lisa, turning round, looked keenly at Florent, her neck +swollen, her bosom straining her bodice almost to bursting point. She +was just going to open her mouth when La Sarriette entered the shop, +and there was another pause in the conversation. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed La Sarriette with her soft laugh, "I'd almost +forgotten to get any bacon fat. Please, Madame Quenu, cut me a dozen +thin strips--very thin ones, you know; I want them for larding larks. +Jules has taken it into his head to eat some larks. Ah! how do you do, +uncle?" + +She filled the whole shop with her dancing skirts and smiled brightly +at everyone. Her face looked fresh and creamy, and on one side her +hair was coming down, loosened by the wind which blew through the +markets. Gavard grasped her hands, while she with merry impudence +resumed: "I'll bet that you were talking about me just as I came in. +Tell me what you were saying, uncle." + +However, Lisa now called to her, "Just look and tell me if this is +thin enough." + +She was cutting the strips of bacon fat with great care on a piece of +board in front of her. Then as she wrapped them up she inquired, "Can +I give you anything else?" + +"Well, yes," replied La Sarriette; "since I'm about it, I think I'll +have a pound of lard. I'm awfully fond of fried potatoes; I can make a +breakfast off a penn'orth of potatoes and a bunch of radishes. Yes, +I'll have a pound of lard, please, Madame Quenu." + +Lisa placed a sheet of stout paper in the pan of the scales. Then she +took the lard out of a jar under the shelves with a boxwood spatula, +gently adding small quantities to the fatty heap, which began to melt +and run slightly. When the plate of the scale fell, she took up the +paper, folded it, and rapidly twisted the ends with her finger-tips. + +"That makes twenty-four sous," she said; "the bacon is six sous-- +thirty sous altogether. There's nothing else you want, is there?" + +"No," said La Sarriette, "nothing." She paid her money, still laughing +and showing her teeth, and staring the men in the face. Her grey skirt +was all awry, and her loosely fastened red neckerchief allowed a +little of her white bosom to appear. Before she went away she stepped +up to Gavard again, and pretending to threaten him exclaimed: "So you +won't tell me what you were talking about as I came in? I could see +you laughing from the street. Oh, you sly fellow! Ah! I sha'n't love +you any longer!" + +Then she left the shop and ran across the road. + +"It was Mademoiselle Saget who sent her here," remarked handsome Lisa +drily. + +Then silence fell again for some moments. Gavard was dismayed at +Florent's reception of his proposal. Lisa was the first to speak. "It +was wrong of you to refuse the post, Florent," she said in the most +friendly tones. "You know how difficult it is to find any employment, +and you are not in a position to be over-exacting." + +"I have my reasons," Florent replied. + +Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "Come now," said she, "you really can't +be serious, I'm sure. I can understand that you are not in love with +the Government, but it would be too absurd to let your opinions +prevent you from earning your living. And, besides, my dear fellow, +the Emperor isn't at all a bad sort of man. You don't suppose, do you, +that he knew you were eating mouldy bread and tainted meat? He can't +be everywhere, you know, and you can see for yourself that he hasn't +prevented us here from doing pretty well. You are not at all just; +indeed you are not." + +Gavard, however, was getting very fidgety. He could not bear to hear +people speak well of the Emperor. + +"No, no, Madame Quenu," he interrupted; "you are going too far. It is +a scoundrelly system altogether." + +"Oh, as for you," exclaimed Lisa vivaciously, "you'll never rest until +you've got yourself plundered and knocked on the head as the result of +all your wild talk. Don't let us discuss politics; you would only make +me angry. The question is Florent, isn't it? Well, for my part, I say +that he ought to accept this inspectorship. Don't you think so too, +Quenu?" + +Quenu, who had not yet said a word, was very much put out by his +wife's sudden appeal. + +"It's a good berth," he replied, without compromising himself. + +Then, amidst another interval of awkward silence, Florent resumed: "I +beg you, let us drop the subject. My mind is quite made up. I shall +wait." + +"You will wait!" cried Lisa, losing patience. + +Two rosy fires had risen to her cheeks. As she stood there, erect, in +her white apron, with rounded, swelling hips, it was with difficulty +that she restrained herself from breaking out into bitter words. +However, the entrance of another person into the shop arrested her +anger. The new arrival was Madame Lecoeur. + +"Can you let me have half a pound of mixed meats at fifty sous the +pound?" she asked. + +She at first pretended not to notice her brother-in-law; but presently +she just nodded her head to him, without speaking. Then she +scrutinised the three men from head to foot, doubtless hoping to +divine their secret by the manner in which they waited for her to go. +She could see that she was putting them out, and the knowledge of this +rendered her yet more sour and angular, as she stood there in her limp +skirts, with her long, spider-like arms bent and her knotted fingers +clasped beneath her apron. Then, as she coughed slightly, Gavard, whom +the silence embarrassed, inquired if she had a cold. + +She curtly answered in the negative. Her tightly stretched skin was of +a red-brick colour on those parts of her face where her bones +protruded, and the dull fire burning in her eyes and scorching their +lids testified to some liver complaint nurtured by the querulous +jealousy of her disposition. She turned round again towards the +counter, and watched each movement made by Lisa as she served her with +the distrustful glance of one who is convinced that an attempt will be +made to defraud her. + +"Don't give me any saveloy," she exclaimed; "I don't like it." + +Lisa had taken up a slender knife, and was cutting some thin slices of +sausage. She next passed on to the smoked ham and the common ham, +cutting delicate slices from each, and bending forward slightly as she +did so, with her eyes ever fixed on the knife. Her plump rosy hands, +flitting about the viands with light and gentle touches, seemed to +have derived suppleness from contact with all the fat. + +"You would like some larded veal, wouldn't you?" she asked, bringing a +yellow pan towards her. + +Madame Lecoeur seemed to be thinking the matter over at considerable +length; however, she at last said that she would have some. Lisa had +now begun to cut into the contents of the pans, from which she removed +slices of larded veal and hare /pate/ on the tip of a broad-bladed +knife. And she deposited each successive slice on the middle of a +sheet of paper placed on the scales. + +"Aren't you going to give me some of the boar's head with pistachio +nuts?" asked Madame Lecoeur in her querulous voice. + +Lisa was obliged to add some of the boar's head. But the butter dealer +was getting exacting, and asked for two slices of galantine. She was +very fond of it. Lisa, who was already irritated, played impatiently +with the handles of the knives, and told her that the galantine was +truffled, and that she could only include it in an "assortment" at +three francs the pound. Madame Lecoeur, however, continued to pry into +the dishes, trying to find something else to ask for. When the +"assortment" was weighed she made Lisa add some jelly and gherkins to +it. The block of jelly, shaped like a Savoy cake, shook on its white +china dish beneath the angry violence of Lisa's hand; and as with her +finger-tips she took a couple of gherkins from a jar behind the +heater, she made the vinegar spurt over the sides. + +"Twenty-five sous, isn't it?" Madame Lecoeur leisurely inquired. + +She fully perceived Lisa's covert irritation, and greatly enjoyed the +sight of it, producing her money as slowly as possible, as though, +indeed, her silver had got lost amongst the coppers in her pocket. And +she glanced askance at Gavard, relishing the embarrassed silence which +her presence was prolonging, and vowing that she would not go off, +since they were hiding some trickery or other from her. However, Lisa +at last put the parcel in her hands, and she was then obliged to make +her departure. She went away without saying a word, but darting a +searching glance all round the shop. + +"It was that Saget who sent her too!" burst out Lisa, as soon as the +old woman was gone. "Is the old wretch going to send the whole market +here to try to find out what we talk about? What a prying, malicious +set they are! Did anyone ever hear before of crumbed cutlets and +"assortments" being bought at five o'clock in the afternoon? But then +they'd rack themselves with indigestion rather than not find out! Upon +my word, though, if La Saget sends anyone else here, you'll see the +reception she'll get. I would bundle her out of the shop, even if she +were my own sister!" + +The three men remained silent in presence of this explosion of anger. +Gavard had gone to lean over the brass rail of the window-front, +where, seemingly lost in thought, he began playing with one of the +cut-glass balusters detached from its wire fastening. Presently, +however, he raised his head. "Well, for my part," he said, "I looked +upon it all as an excellent joke." + +"Looked upon what as a joke?" asked Lisa, still quivering with +indignation. + +"The inspectorship." + +She raised her hands, gave a last glance at Florent, and then sat down +upon the cushioned bench behind the counter and said nothing further. +Gavard, however, began to explain his views at length; the drift of +his argument being that it was the Government which would look foolish +in the matter, since Florent would be taking its money. + +"My dear fellow," he said complacently, "those scoundrels all but +starved you to death, didn't they? Well, you must make them feed you +now. It's a splendid idea; it caught my fancy at once!" + +Florent smiled, but still persisted in his refusal. Quenu, in the hope +of pleasing his wife, did his best to find some good arguments. Lisa, +however, appeared to pay no further attention to them. For the last +moment or two she had been looking attentively in the direction of the +markets. And all at once she sprang to her feet again, exclaiming, +"Ah! it is La Normande that they are sending to play the spy on us +now! Well, so much the worse for La Normande; she shall pay for the +others!" + +A tall female pushed the shop door open. It was the handsome fish- +girl, Louise Mehudin, generally known as La Normande. She was a bold- +looking beauty, with a delicate white skin, and was almost as plump as +Lisa, but there was more effrontery in her glance, and her bosom +heaved with warmer life. She came into the shop with a light swinging +step, her gold chain jingling on her apron, her bare hair arranged in +the latest style, and a bow at her throat, a lace bow, which made her +one of the most coquettish-looking queens of the markets. She brought +a vague odour of fish with her, and a herring-scale showed like a tiny +patch of mother-of-pearl near the little finger of one of her hands. +She and Lisa having lived in the same house in the Rue Pirouette, were +intimate friends, linked by a touch of rivalry which kept each of them +busy with thoughts of the other. In the neighbourhood people spoke of +"the beautiful Norman," just as they spoke of "beautiful Lisa." This +brought them into opposition and comparison, and compelled each of +them to do her utmost to sustain her reputation for beauty. Lisa from +her counter could, by stooping a little, perceive the fish-girl amidst +her salmon and turbot in the pavilion opposite; and each kept a watch +on the other. Beautiful Lisa laced herself more tightly in her stays; +and the beautiful Norman replied by placing additional rings on her +fingers and additional bows on her shoulders. When they met they were +very bland and unctuous and profuse in compliments; but all the while +their eyes were furtively glancing from under their lowered lids, in +the hope of discovering some flaw. They made a point of always dealing +with each other, and professed great mutual affection. + +"I say," said La Normande, with her smiling air, "it's to-morrow +evening that you make your black-puddings, isn't it?" + +Lisa maintained a cold demeanour. She seldom showed any anger; but +when she did it was tenacious, and slow to be appeased. "Yes," she +replied drily, with the tips of her lips. + +"I'm so fond of black-puddings, you know, when they come straight out +of the pot," resumed La Normande. "I'll come and get some of you +to-morrow." + +She was conscious of her rival's unfriendly greeting. However, she +glanced at Florent, who seemed to interest her; and then, unwilling to +go off without having the last word, she was imprudent enough to add: +"I bought some black-pudding of you the day before yesterday, you +know, and it wasn't quite sweet." + +"Not quite sweet!" repeated Lisa, very pale, and her lips quivering. + +She might, perhaps, have once more restrained herself, for fear of La +Normande imagining that she was overcome by envious spite at the sight +of the lace bow; but the girl, not content with playing the spy, +proceeded to insult her, and that was beyond endurance. So, leaning +forward, with her hands clenched on the counter, she exclaimed, in a +somewhat hoarse voice: "I say! when you sold me that pair of soles +last week, did I come and tell you, before everybody that they were +stinking?" + +"Stinking! My soles stinking!" cried the fish dealer, flushing +scarlet. + +For a moment they remained silent, choking with anger, but glaring +fiercely at each other over the array of dishes. All their honeyed +friendship had vanished; a word had sufficed to reveal what sharp +teeth there were behind their smiling lips. + +"You're a vulgar, low creature!" cried the beautiful Norman. "You'll +never catch me setting foot in here again, I can tell you!" + +"Get along with you, get along with you," exclaimed beautiful Lisa. "I +know quite well whom I've got to deal with!" + +The fish-girl went off, hurling behind her a coarse expression which +left Lisa quivering. The whole scene had passed so quickly that the +three men, overcome with amazement, had not had time to interfere. +Lisa soon recovered herself, and was resuming the conversation, +without making any allusion to what had just occurred, when the shop +girl, Augustine, returned from an errand on which she had been sent. +Lisa thereupon took Gavard aside, and after telling him to say nothing +for the present to Monsieur Verlaque, promised that she would +undertake to convince her brother-in-law in a couple of days' time at +the utmost. Quenu then returned to his kitchen, while Gavard took +Florent off with him. And as they were just going into Monsieur +Lebigre's to drink a drop of vermouth together he called his attention +to three women standing in the covered way between the fish and +poultry pavilions. + +"They're cackling together!" he said with an envious air. + +The markets were growing empty, and Mademoiselle Saget, Madame +Lecoeur, and La Sarriette alone lingered on the edge of the footway. +The old maid was holding forth. + +"As I told you before, Madame Lecoeur," said she, "they've always got +your brother-in-law in their shop. You saw him there yourself just +now, didn't you?" + +"Oh yes, indeed! He was sitting on a table, and seemed quite at home." + +"Well, for my part," interrupted La Sarriette, "I heard nothing wrong; +and I can't understand why you're making such a fuss." + +Mademoiselle Saget shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, you're very innocent +yet, my dear," she said. "Can't you see why the Quenus are always +attracting Monsieur Gavard to their place? Well, I'll wager that he'll +leave all he has to their little Pauline." + +"You believe that, do you?" cried Madame Lecoeur, white with rage. +Then, in a mournful voice, as though she had just received some heavy +blow, she continued: "I am alone in the world, and have no one to take +my part; he is quite at liberty to do as he pleases. His niece sides +with him too--you heard her just now. She has quite forgotten all that +she cost me, and wouldn't stir a hand to help me." + +"Indeed, aunt," exclaimed La Sarriette, "you are quite wrong there! +It's you who've never had anything but unkind words for me." + +They became reconciled on the spot, and kissed one another. The niece +promised that she would play no more pranks, and the aunt swore by all +she held most sacred that she looked upon La Sarriette as her own +daughter. Then Mademoiselle Saget advised them as to the steps they +ought to take to prevent Gavard from squandering his money. And they +all agreed that the Quenu-Gradelles were very disreputable folks, and +required closely watching. + +"I don't know what they're up to just now," said the old maid, "but +there's something suspicious going on, I'm sure. What's your opinion, +now, of that fellow Florent, that cousin of Madame Quenu's?" + +The three women drew more closely together, and lowered their voices. + +"You remember," said Madame Lecoeur, "that we saw him one morning with +his boots all split, and his clothes covered with dust, looking just +like a thief who's been up to some roguery. That fellow quite +frightens me." + +"Well, he's certainly very thin," said La Sarriette, "but he isn't +ugly." + +Mademoiselle Saget was reflecting, and she expressed her thoughts +aloud. "I've been trying to find out something about him for the last +fortnight, but I can make nothing of it. Monsieur Gavard certainly +knows him. I must have met him myself somewhere before, but I can't +remember where." + +She was still ransacking her memory when La Normande swept up to them +like a whirlwind. She had just left the pork shop. + +"That big booby Lisa has got nice manners, I must say!" she cried, +delighted to be able to relieve herself. "Fancy her telling me that I +sold nothing but stinking fish! But I gave her as good as she +deserved, I can tell you! A nice den they keep, with their tainted +pig meat which poisons all their customers!" + +"But what had you been saying to her?" asked the old maid, quite +frisky with excitement, and delighted to hear that the two women had +quarrelled. + +"I! I'd said just nothing at all--no, not that! I just went into the +shop and told her very civilly that I'd buy some black-pudding +to-morrow evening, and then she overwhelmed me with abuse. A dirty +hypocrite she is, with her saint-like airs! But she'll pay more dearly +for this than she fancies!" + +The three women felt that La Normande was not telling them the truth, +but this did not prevent them from taking her part with a rush of bad +language. They turned towards the Rue Rambuteau with insulting mien, +inventing all sorts of stories about the uncleanliness of the cookery +at the Quenu's shop, and making the most extraordinary accusations. If +the Quenus had been detected selling human flesh the women could not +have displayed more violent and threatening anger. The fish-girl was +obliged to tell her story three times over. + +"And what did the cousin say?" asked Mademoiselle Saget, with wicked +intent. + +"The cousin!" repeated La Normande, in a shrill voice. "Do you really +believe that he's a cousin? He's some lover or other, I'll wager, the +great booby!" + +The three others protested against this. Lisa's honourability was an +article of faith in the neighbourhood. + +"Stuff and nonsense!" retorted La Normande. "You can never be sure +about those smug, sleek hypocrites." + +Mademoiselle Saget nodded her head as if to say that she was not very +far from sharing La Normande's opinion. And she softly added: +"Especially as this cousin has sprung from no one knows where; for +it's a very doubtful sort of account that the Quenus give of him." + +"Oh, he's the fat woman's sweetheart, I tell you!" reaffirmed the +fish-girl; "some scamp or vagabond picked up in the streets. It's easy +enough to see it." + +"She has given him a complete outfit," remarked Madame Lecoeur. "He +must be costing her a pretty penny." + +"Yes, yes," muttered the old maid; "perhaps you are right. I must +really get to know something about him." + +Then they all promised to keep one another thoroughly informed of +whatever might take place in the Quenu-Gradelle establishment. The +butter dealer pretended that she wished to open her brother-in-law's +eyes as to the sort of places he frequented. However, La Normande's +anger had by this time toned down, and, a good sort of girl at heart, +she went off, weary of having talked so much on the matter. + +"I'm sure that La Normande said something or other insolent," remarked +Madame Lecoeur knowingly, when the fish-girl had left them. "It is +just her way; and it scarcely becomes a creature like her to talk as +she did of Lisa." + +The three women looked at each other and smiled. Then, when Madame +Lecoeur also had gone off, La Sarriette remarked to Mademoiselle +Saget: "It is foolish of my aunt to worry herself so much about all +these affairs. It's that which makes her so thin. Ah! she'd have +willingly taken Gavard for a husband if she could only have got him. +Yet she used to beat me if ever a young man looked my way." + +Mademoiselle Saget smiled once more. And when she found herself alone, +and went back towards the Rue Pirouette, she reflected that those +three cackling hussies were not worth a rope to hang them. She was, +indeed, a little afraid that she might have been seen with them, and +the idea somewhat troubled her, for she realised that it would be bad +policy to fall out with the Quenu-Gradelles, who, after all, were +well-to-do folks and much esteemed. So she went a little out of her +way on purpose to call at Taboureau the baker's in the Rue Turbigo-- +the finest baker's shop in the whole neighbourhood. Madame Taboureau +was not only an intimate friend of Lisa's, but an accepted authority +on every subject. When it was remarked that "Madame Taboureau had said +this," or "Madame Taboureau had said that," there was no more to be +urged. So the old maid, calling at the baker's under pretence of +inquiring at what time the oven would be hot, as she wished to bring a +dish of pears to be baked, took the opportunity to eulogise Lisa, and +lavish praise upon the sweetness and excellence of her black-puddings. +Then, well pleased at having prepared this moral alibi and delighted +at having done what she could to fan the flames of a quarrel without +involving herself in it, she briskly returned home, feeling much +easier in her mind, but still striving to recall where she had +previously seen Madame Quenu's so-called cousin. + +That same evening, after dinner, Florent went out and strolled for +some time in one of the covered ways of the markets. A fine mist was +rising, and a grey sadness, which the gas lights studded as with +yellow tears, hung over the deserted pavilions. For the first time +Florent began to feel that he was in the way, and to recognise the +unmannerly fashion in which he, thin and artless, had tumbled into +this world of fat people; and he frankly admitted to himself that his +presence was disturbing the whole neighbourhood, and that he was a +source of discomfort to the Quenus--a spurious cousin of far too +compromising appearance. These reflections made him very sad; not, +indeed, that the had noticed the slightest harshness on the part of +his brother or Lisa: it was their very kindness, rather, that was +troubling him, and he accused himself of a lack of delicacy in +quartering himself upon them. He was beginning to doubt the propriety +of his conduct. The recollection of the conversation in the shop +during the afternoon caused him a vague disquietude. The odour of the +viands on Lisa's counter seemed to penetrate him; he felt himself +gliding into nerveless, satiated cowardice. Perhaps he had acted +wrongly in refusing the inspectorship offered him. This reflection +gave birth to a stormy struggle in his mind, and he was obliged to +brace and shake himself before he could recover his wonted rigidity of +principles. However, a moist breeze had risen, and was blowing along +the covered way, and he regained some degree of calmness and +resolution on being obliged to button up his coat. The wind seemingly +swept from his clothes all the greasy odour of the pork shop, which +had made him feel so languid. + +He was returning home when he met Claude Lantier. The artist, hidden +in the folds of his greenish overcoat, spoke in a hollow voice full of +suppressed anger. He was in a passion with painting, declared that it +was a dog's trade, and swore that he would not take up a brush again +as long as he lived. That very afternoon he had thrust his foot +through a study which he had been making of the head of that hussy +Cadine. + +Claude was subject to these outbursts, the fruit of his inability to +execute the lasting, living works which he dreamed of. And at such +times life became an utter blank to him, and he wandered about the +streets, wrapped in the gloomiest thoughts, and waiting for the +morning as for a sort of resurrection. He used to say that he felt +bright and cheerful in the morning, and horribly miserable in the +evening.[*] Each of his days was a long effort ending in +disappointment. Florent scarcely recognised in him the careless night +wanderer of the markets. They had already met again at the pork shop, +and Claude, who knew the fugitive's story, had grasped his hand and +told him that he was a sterling fellow. It was very seldom, however, +that the artist went to the Quenus'. + +[*] Claude Lantier's struggle for fame is fully described in M. Zola's + novel, /L'Oeuvre/ ("His Masterpiece").--Translator. + +"Are you still at my aunt's?" he asked. "I can't imagine how you +manage to exist amidst all that cookery. The places reeks with the +smell of meat. When I've been there for an hour I feel as though I +shouldn't want anything to eat for another three days. I ought not to +have gone there this morning; it was that which made me make a mess of +my work." + +Then, after he and Florent had taken a few steps in silence, he +resumed: + +"Ah! the good people! They quite grieve me with their fine health. I +had thought of painting their portraits, but I've never been able to +succeed with such round faces, in which there is never a bone. Ah! You +wouldn't find my aunt Lisa kicking her foot through her pans! I was an +idiot to have destroyed Cadine's head! Now that I come to think of it, +it wasn't so very bad, perhaps, after all." + +Then they began to talk about Aunt Lisa. Claude said that his +mother[*] had not seen anything of her for a long time, and he hinted +that the pork butcher's wife was somewhat ashamed of her sister having +married a common working man; moreover, she wasn't at all fond of +unfortunate folks. Speaking of himself, he told Florent that a +benevolent gentleman had sent him to college, being very pleased with +the donkeys and old women that he had managed to draw when only eight +years old; but the good soul had died, leaving him an income of a +thousand francs, which just saved him from perishing of hunger. + +[*] Gervaise, the heroine of the /Assommoir/. + +"All the same, I would rather have been a working man," continued +Claude. "Look at the carpenters, for instance. They are very happy +folks, the carpenters. They have a table to make, say; well, they make +it, and then go off to bed, happy at having finished the table, and +perfectly satisfied with themselves. Now I, on the other hand, +scarcely get any sleep at nights. All those confounded pictures which +I can't finish go flying about my brain. I never get anything finished +and done with--never, never!" + +His voice almost broke into a sob. Then he attempted to laugh; and +afterwards began to swear and pour forth coarse expressions, with the +cold rage of one who, endowed with a delicate, sensitive mind, doubts +his own powers, and dreams of wallowing in the mire. He ended by +squatting down before one of the gratings which admit air into the +cellars beneath the markets--cellars where the gas is continually kept +burning. And in the depths below he pointed out Marjolin and Cadine +tranquilly eating their supper, whilst seated on one of the stone +blocks used for killing the poultry. The two young vagabonds had +discovered a means of hiding themselves and making themselves at home +in the cellars after the doors had been closed. + +"What a magnificent animal he is, eh!" exclaimed Claude, with envious +admiration, speaking of Marjolin. "He and Cadine are happy, at all +events! All they care for is eating and kissing. They haven't a care +in the world. Ah, you do quite right, after all, to remain at the +pork shop; perhaps you'll grow sleek and plump there." + +Then he suddenly went off. Florent climbed up to his garret, disturbed +by Claude's nervous restlessness, which revived his own uncertainty. +On the morrow, he avoided the pork shop all the morning, and went for +a long walk on the quays. When he returned to lunch, however, he was +struck by Lisa's kindliness. Without any undue insistence she again +spoke to him about the inspectorship, as of something which was well +worth his consideration. As he listened to her, with a full plate in +front of him, he was affected, in spite of himself, by the prim +comfort of his surroundings. The matting beneath his feet seemed very +soft; the gleams of the brass hanging lamp, the soft, yellow tint of +the wallpaper, and the bright oak of the furniture filled him with +appreciation of a life spent in comfort, which disturbed his notions +of right and wrong. He still, however, had sufficient strength to +persist in his refusal, and repeated his reasons; albeit conscious of +the bad taste he was showing in thus ostentatiously parading his +animosity and obstinacy in such a place. Lisa showed no signs of +vexation; on the contrary, she smiled, and the sweetness of her smile +embarrassed Florent far more than her suppressed irritation of the +previous evening. At dinner the subject was not renewed; they talked +solely of the great winter saltings, which would keep the whole staff +of the establishment busily employed. + +The evenings were growing cold, and as soon as they had dined they +retired into the kitchen, where it was very warm. The room was so +large, too, that several people could sit comfortably at the square +central table, without in any way impeding the work that was going on. +Lighted by gas, the walls were coated with white and blue tiles to a +height of some five or six feet from the floor. On the left was a +great iron stove, in the three apertures of which were set three large +round pots, their bottoms black with soot. At the end was a small +range, which, fitted with an oven and a smoking-place, served for the +broiling; and up above, over the skimming-spoons, ladles, and long- +handled forks, were several numbered drawers, containing rasped bread, +both fine and coarse, toasted crumbs, spices, cloves, nutmegs, and +pepper. On the right, leaning heavily against the wall, was the +chopping-block, a huge mass of oak, slashed and scored all over. +Attached to it were several appliances, an injecting pump, a forcing- +machine, and a mechanical mincer, which, with their wheels and cranks, +imparted to the place an uncanny and mysterious aspect, suggesting +some kitchen of the infernal regions. + +Then, all round the walls upon shelves, and even under the tables, +were iron pots, earthenware pans, dishes, pails, various kinds of tin +utensils, a perfect battery of deep copper saucepans, and swelling +funnels, racks of knives and choppers, rows of larding-pins and +needles--a perfect world of greasy things. In spite of the extreme +cleanliness, grease was paramount; it oozed forth from between the +blue and white tiles on the wall, glistened on the red tiles of the +flooring, gave a greyish glitter to the stove, and polished the edges +of the chopping-block with the transparent sheen of varnished oak. +And, indeed, amidst the ever-rising steam, the continuous evaporation +from the three big pots, in which pork was boiling and melting, there +was not a single nail from ceiling to floor from which grease did not +exude. + +The Quenu-Gradelles prepared nearly all their stock themselves. All +that they procured from outside were the potted meats of celebrated +firms, with jars of pickles and preserves, sardines, cheese, and +edible snails. They consequently became very busy after September in +filling the cellars which had been emptied during the summer. They +continued working even after the shop had been closed for the night. +Assisted by Auguste and Leon, Quenu would stuff sausages-skins, +prepare hams, melt down lard, and salt the different sorts of bacon. +There was a tremendous noise of cauldrons and cleavers, and the odour +of cooking spread through the whole house. All this was quite +independent of the daily business in fresh pork, /pate de fois gras/, +hare patty, galantine, saveloys and black-puddings. + +That evening, at about eleven o'clock, Quenu, after placing a couple +of pots on the fire in order to melt down some lard, began to prepare +the black-puddings. Auguste assisted him. At one corner of the square +table Lisa and Augustine sat mending linen, whilst opposite to them, +on the other side, with his face turned towards the fireplace, was +Florent. Leon was mincing some sausage-meat on the oak block in a +slow, rhythmical fashion. + +Auguste first of all went out into the yard to fetch a couple of jug- +like cans full of pigs' blood. It was he who stuck the animals in the +slaughter house. He himself would carry away the blood and interior +portions of the pigs, leaving the men who scalded the carcasses to +bring them home completely dressed in their carts. Quenu asserted that +no assistant in all Paris was Auguste' equal as a pig-sticker. The +truth was that Auguste was a wonderfully keen judge of the quality of +the blood; and the black-pudding proved good every time that he said +such would be the case. + +"Well, will the black-pudding be good this time?" asked Lisa. + +August put down the two cans and slowly answered: "I believe so, +Madame Quenu; yes, I believe so. I tell it at first by the way the +blood flows. If it spurts out very gently when I pull out the knife, +that's a bad sign, and shows that the blood is poor." + +"But doesn't that depend on how far the knife has been stuck in?" +asked Quenu. + +A smile came over Auguste's pale face. "No," he replied; "I always let +four digits of the blade go in; that's the right way to measure. But +the best sign of all is when the blood runs out and I beat it with my +hand when it pours into the pail; it ought to be of a good warmth, and +creamy, without being too thick." + +Augustine had put down her needle, and with her eyes raised was now +gazing at Auguste. On her ruddy face, crowned by wiry chestnut hair, +there was an expression of profound attention. Lisa and even little +Pauline were also listening with deep interest. + +"Well, I beat it, and beat it, and beat it," continued the young man, +whisking his hand about as though he were whipping cream. "And then, +when I take my hand out and look at it, it ought to be greased, as it +were, by the blood and equally coated all over. And if that's the +case, anyone can say without fear of mistake that the black-puddings +will be good." + +He remained for a moment in an easy attitude, complacently holding his +hand in the air. This hand, which spent so much of its time in pails +of blood, had brightly gleaming nails, and looked very rosy above his +white sleeve. Quenu had nodded his head in approbation, and an +interval of silence followed. Leon was still mincing. Pauline, +however, after remaining thoughtful for a little while, mounted upon +Florent's feet again, and in her clear voice exclaimed: "I say, +cousin, tell me the story of the gentleman who was eaten by the wild +beasts!" + +It was probably the mention of the pig's blood which had aroused in +the child's mind the recollection of "the gentleman who had been eaten +by the wild beasts." Florent did not at first understand what she +referred to, and asked her what gentleman she meant. Lisa began to +smile. + +"She wants you to tell her," she said, "the story of that unfortunate +man--you know whom I mean--which you told to Gavard one evening. She +must have heard you." + +At this Florent grew very grave. The little girl got up, and taking +the big cat in her arms, placed it on his knees, saying that Mouton +also would like to hear the story. Mouton, however, leapt on to the +table, where, with rounded back, he remained contemplating the tall, +scraggy individual who for the last fortnight had apparently afforded +him matter for deep reflection. Pauline meantime began to grow +impatient, stamping her feet and insisting on hearing the story. + +"Oh, tell her what she wants," said Lisa, as the child persisted and +became quite unbearable; "she'll leave us in peace then." + +Florent remained silent for a moment longer, with his eyes turned +towards the floor. Then slowly raising his head he let his gaze rest +first on the two women who were plying their needles, and next on +Quenu and Auguste, who were preparing the pot for the black-puddings. +The gas was burning quietly, the stove diffused a gentle warmth, and +all the grease of the kitchen glistened in an atmosphere of comfort +such as attends good digestion + +Then, taking little Pauline upon his knee, and smiling a sad smile, +Florent addressed himself to the child as follows[*]:-- + +[*] Florent's narrative is not romance, but is based on the statements + of several of the innocent victims whom the third Napoleon + transported to Cayenne when wading through blood to the power + which he so misused.--Translator. + +"Once upon a time there was a poor man who was sent away, a long, long +way off, right across the sea. On the ship which carried him were four +hundred convicts, and he was thrown among them. He was forced to live +for five weeks amidst all those scoundrels, dressed like them in +coarse canvas, and feeding at their mess. Foul insects preyed on him, +and terrible sweats robbed him of all his strength. The kitchen, the +bakehouse, and the engine-room made the orlop deck so terribly hot +that ten of the convicts died from it. In the daytime they were sent +up in batches of fifty to get a little fresh air from the sea; and as +the crew of the ship feared them, a couple of cannons were pointed at +the little bit of deck where they took exercise. The poor fellow was +very glad indeed when his turn to go up came. His terrible +perspiration then abated somewhat; still, he could not eat, and felt +very ill. During the night, when he was manacled again, and the +rolling of the ship in the rough sea kept knocking him against his +companions, he quite broke down, and began to cry, glad to be able to +do so without being seen." + +Pauline was listening with dilated eyes, and her little hands crossed +primly in front of her. + +"But this isn't the story of the gentleman who was eaten by the wild +beasts," she interrupted. "This is quite a different story; isn't it +now, cousin?" + +"Wait a bit, and you'll see," replied Florent gently. "I shall come to +the gentleman presently. I'm telling you the whole story from the +beginning." + +"Oh, thank you," murmured the child, with a delighted expression. +However, she remained thoughtful, evidently struggling with some great +difficulty to which she could find no explanation. At last she spoke. + +"But what had the poor man done," she asked, "that he was sent away +and put in the ship?" + +Lisa and Augustine smiled. They were quite charmed with the child's +intelligence; and Lisa, without giving the little one a direct reply, +took advantage of the opportunity to teach her a lesson by telling her +that naughty children were also sent away in boats like that. + +"Oh, then," remarked Pauline judiciously, "perhaps it served my +cousin's poor man quite right if he cried all night long." + +Lisa resumed her sewing, bending over her work. Quenu had not +listened. He had been cutting some little rounds of onion over a pot +placed on the fire; and almost at once the onions began to crackle, +raising a clear shrill chirrup like that of grasshoppers basking in +the heat. They gave out a pleasant odour too, and when Quenu plunged +his great wooden spoon into the pot the chirruping became yet louder, +and the whole kitchen was filled with the penetrating perfume of the +onions. Auguste meantime was preparing some bacon fat in a dish, and +Leon's chopper fell faster and faster, and every now and then scraped +the block so as to gather together the sausage-meat, now almost a +paste. + +"When they got across the sea," Florent continued, "they took the man +to an island called the Devil's Island,[*] where he found himself +amongst others who had been carried away from their own country. They +were all very unhappy. At first they were kept to hard labour, just +like convicts. The gendarme who had charge of them counted them three +times every day, so as to be sure that none were missing. Later on, +they were left free to do as they liked, being merely locked up at +night in a big wooden hut, where they slept in hammocks stretched +between two bars. At the end of the year they went about barefooted, +as their boots were quite worn out, and their clothes had become so +ragged that their flesh showed through them. They had built themselves +some huts with trunks of trees as a shelter against the sun, which is +terribly hot in those parts; but these huts did not shield them +against the mosquitoes, which covered them with pimples and swellings +during the night. Many of them died, and the others turned quite +yellow, so shrunken and wretched, with their long, unkempt beards, +that one could not behold them without pity." + +[*] The Ile du Diable. This spot was selected as the place of + detention of Captain Dreyfus, the French officer convicted in 1894 + of having divulged important military documents to foreign powers. + --Translator. + +"Auguste, give me the fat," cried Quenu; and when the apprentice had +handed him the dish he let the pieces of bacon-fat slide gently into +the pot, and then stirred them with his spoon. A yet denser steam now +rose from the fireplace. + +"What did they give them to eat?" asked little Pauline, who seemed +deeply interested. + +"They gave them maggoty rice and foul meat," answered Florent, whose +voice grew lower as he spoke. "The rice could scarcely be eaten. When +the meat was roasted and very well done it was just possible to +swallow it; but if it was boiled, it smelt so dreadfully that the men +had nausea and stomach ache." + +"I'd rather have lived upon dry bread," said the child, after thinking +the matter carefully over. + +Leon, having finished the mincing, now placed the sausage-meat upon +the square table in a dish. Mouton, who had remained seated with his +eyes fixed upon Florent, as though filled with amazement by his story, +was obliged to retreat a few steps, which he did with a very bad +grace. Then he rolled himself up, with his nose close to the sausage- +meat, and began to purr. + +Lisa was unable to conceal her disgust and amazement. That foul rice, +that evil-smelling meat, seemed to her to be scarcely credible +abominations, which disgraced those who had eaten them as much as it +did those who had provided them; and her calm, handsome face and round +neck quivered with vague fear of the man who had lived upon such +horrid food. + +"No, indeed, it was not a land of delights," Florent resumed, +forgetting all about little Pauline, and fixing his dreamy eyes upon +the steaming pot. "Every day brought fresh annoyances--perpetual +grinding tyranny, the violation of every principle of justice, +contempt for all human charity, which exasperated the prisoners, and +slowly consumed them with a fever of sickly rancour. They lived like +wild beasts, with the lash ceaselessly raised over their backs. Those +torturers would have liked to kill the poor man-- Oh, no; it can never +be forgotten; it is impossible! Such sufferings will some day claim +vengeance." + +His voice had fallen, and the pieces of fat hissing merrily in the pot +drowned it with the sound of their boiling. Lisa, however, heard him, +and was frightened by the implacable expression which had suddenly +come over his face; and, recollecting the gentle look which he +habitually wore, she judged him to be a hypocrite. + +Florent's hollow voice had brought Pauline's interest and delight to +the highest pitch, and she fidgeted with pleasure on his knee. + +"But the man?" she exclaimed. "Go on about the man!" + +Florent looked at her, and then appeared to remember, and smiled his +sad smile again. + +"The man," he continued, "was weary of remaining on the island, and +had but one thought--that of making his escape by crossing the sea and +reaching the mainland, whose white coast line could be seen on the +horizon in clear weather. But it was no easy matter to escape. It was +necessary that a raft should be built, and as several of the prisoners +had already made their escape, all the trees on the island had been +felled to prevent the others from obtaining timber. The island was, +indeed, so bare and naked, so scorched by the blazing sun, that life +in it had become yet more perilous and terrible. However, it occurred +to the man and two of his companions to employ the timbers of which +their huts were built; and one evening they put out to sea on some +rotten beams, which they had fastened together with dry branches. The +wind carried them towards the coast. Just as daylight was about to +appear, the raft struck on a sandbank with such violence that the +beams were severed from their lashings and carried out to sea. The +three poor fellows were almost engulfed in the sand. Two of them sank +in it to their waists, while the third disappeared up to his chin, and +his companions were obliged to pull him out. At last they reached a +rock, so small that there was scarcely room for them to sit down upon +it. When the sun rose they could see the coast in front of them, a bar +of grey cliffs stretching all along the horizon. Two, who knew how to +swim, determined to reach those cliffs. They preferred to run the risk +of being drowned at once to that of slowly starving on the rock. But +they promised their companion that they would return for him when they +had reached land and had been able to procure a boat." + +"Ah, I know now!" cried little Pauline, clapping her hands with glee. +"It's the story of the gentleman who was eaten by the crabs!" + +"They succeeded in reaching the coast," continued Florent, "but it was +quite deserted; and it was only at the end of four days that they were +able to get a boat. When they returned to the rock, they found their +companion lying on his back, dead, and half-eaten by crabs, which were +still swarming over what remained of his body."[*] + +[*] In deference to the easily shocked feelings of the average English + reader I have somewhat modified this passage. In the original M. + Zola fully describes the awful appearance of the body.-- + Translator. + +A murmur of disgust escaped Lisa and Augustine, and a horrified +grimace passed over the face of Leon, who was preparing the skins for +the black-puddings. Quenu stopped in the midst of his work and looked +at Auguste, who seemed to have turned faint. Only little Pauline was +smiling. In imagination the others could picture those swarming, +ravenous crabs crawling all over the kitchen, and mingling gruesome +odours with the aroma of the bacon-fat and onions. + +"Give me the blood," cried Quenu, who had not been following the +story. + +Auguste came up to him with the two cans, from which he slowly poured +the blood, while Quenu, as it fell, vigorously stirred the now +thickening contents of the pot. When the cans were emptied, Quenu +reached up to one of the drawers above the range, and took out some +pinches of spice. Then he added a plentiful seasoning of pepper. + +"They left him there, didn't they," Lisa now asked of Florent, "and +returned themselves in safety?" + +"As they were going back," continued Florent, "the wind changed, and +they were driven out into the open sea. A wave carried away one of +their oars, and the water swept so furiously into the boat that their +whole time was taken up in baling it out with their hands. They tossed +about in this way in sight of the coast, carried away by squalls and +then brought back again by the tide, without a mouthful of bread to +eat, for their scanty stock of provisions had been consumed. This went +on for three days." + +"Three days!" cried Lisa in stupefaction; "three days without food!" + +"Yes, three days without food. When the east wind at last brought them +to shore, one of them was so weak that he lay on the beach the whole +day. In the evening he died. His companion had vainly attempted to get +him to chew some leaves which he gathered from the trees." + +At this point Augustine broke into a slight laugh. Then, ashamed at +having done so and not wishing to be considered heartless, she +stammered out in confusion: "Oh! I wasn't laughing at that. It was +Mouton. Do just look at Mouton, madame." + +Then Lisa in her turn began to smile. Mouton, who had been lying all +this time with his nose close to the dish of sausage-meat, had +probably begun to feel distressed and disgusted by the presence of all +this food, for he had risen and was rapidly scratching the table with +his paws as though he wanted to bury the dish and its contents. At +last, however, turning his back to it and lying down on his side, he +stretched himself out, half closing his eyes and rubbing his head +against the table with languid pleasure. Then they all began to +compliment Mouton. He never stole anything, they said, and could be +safely left with the meat. Pauline related that he licked her fingers +and washed her face after dinner without trying to bite her. + +However, Lisa now came back to the question as to whether it were +possible to live for three days without food. In her opinion it was +not. "No," she said, "I can't believe it. No one ever goes three days +without food. When people talk of a person dying of hunger, it is a +mere expression. They always get something to eat, more or less. It is +only the most abandoned wretches, people who are utterly lost----" + +She was doubtless going to add, "vagrant rogues," but she stopped +short and looked at Florent. The scornful pout of her lips and the +expression of her bright eyes plainly signified that in her belief +only villains made such prolonged fasts. It seemed to her that a man +able to remain without food for three days must necessarily be a very +dangerous character. For, indeed, honest folks never placed themselves +in such a position. + +Florent was now almost stifling. In front of him the stove, into which +Leon had just thrown several shovelfuls of coal, was snoring like a +lay clerk asleep in the sun; and the heat was very great. Auguste, who +had taken charge of the lard melting in the pots, was watching over it +in a state of perspiration, and Quenu wiped his brow with his sleeve +whilst waiting for the blood to mix. A drowsiness such as follows +gross feeding, an atmosphere heavy with indigestion, pervaded the +kitchen. + +"When the man had buried his comrade in the sand," Florent continued +slowly, "he walked off alone straight in front of him. Dutch Guiana, +in which country he now was, is a land of forests intermingled with +rivers and swamps. The man walked on for more than a week without +coming across a single human dwelling-place. All around, death seemed +to be lurking and lying in wait for him. Though his stomach was racked +by hunger, he often did not dare to eat the bright-coloured fruits +which hung from the trees; he was afraid to touch the glittering +berries, fearing lest they should be poisonous. For whole days he did +not see a patch of sky, but tramped on beneath a canopy of branches, +amidst a greenish gloom that swarmed with horrible living creatures. +Great birds flew over his head with a terrible flapping of wings and +sudden strange calls resembling death groans; apes sprang, wild +animals rushed through the thickets around him, bending the saplings +and bringing down a rain of leaves, as though a gale were passing. But +it was particularly the serpents that turned his blood cold when, +stepping upon a matting of moving, withered leaves, he caught sight of +their slim heads gliding amidst a horrid maze of roots. In certain +nooks, nooks of dank shadow, swarming colonies of reptiles--some +black, some yellow, some purple, some striped, some spotted, and some +resembling withered reeds--suddenly awakened into life and wriggled +away. At such times the man would stop and look about for a stone on +which he might take refuge from the soft yielding ground into which +his feet sank; and there he would remain for hours, terror-stricken on +espying in some open space near by a boa, who, with tail coiled and +head erect, swayed like the trunk of a big tree splotched with gold. + +"At night he used to sleep in the trees, alarmed by the slightest +rustling of the branches, and fancying that he could hear endless +swarms of serpents gliding through the gloom. He almost stifled +beneath the interminable expanse of foliage. The gloomy shade reeked +with close, oppressive heat, a clammy dankness and pestilential sweat, +impregnated with the coarse aroma of scented wood and malodorous +flowers. + +"And when at last, after a long weary tramp, the man made his way out +of the forest and beheld the sky again, he found himself confronted by +wide rivers which barred his way. He skirted their banks, keeping a +watchful eye on the grey backs of the alligators and the masses of +drifting vegetation, and then, when he came to a less suspicious- +looking spot, he swam across. And beyond the rivers the forests began +again. At other times there were vast prairie lands, leagues of thick +vegetation, in which, at distant intervals, small lakes gleamed +bluely. The man then made a wide detour, and sounded the ground +beneath him before advancing, having but narrowly escaped from being +swallowed up and buried beneath one of those smiling plains which he +could hear cracking at each step he took. The giant grass, nourished +by all the collected humus, concealed pestiferous marshes, depths of +liquid mud; and amongst the expanses of verdure spread over the +glaucous immensity to the very horizon there were only narrow +stretches of firm ground with which the traveller must be acquainted +if he would avoid disappearing for ever. One night the man sank down +as far as his waist. At each effort he made to extricate himself the +mud threatened to rise to his mouth. Then he remained quite still for +nearly a couple of hours; and when the moon rose he was fortunately +able to catch hold of a branch of a tree above his head. By the time +he reached a human dwelling his hands and feet were bruised and +bleeding, swollen with poisonous stings. He presented such a pitiable, +famished appearance that those who saw him were afraid of him. They +tossed him some food fifty yards away from the house, and the master +of it kept guard over his door with a loaded gun." + +Florent stopped, his voice choked by emotion, and his eyes gazing +blankly before him. For some minutes he had seemed to be speaking to +himself alone. Little Pauline, who had grown drowsy, was lying in his +arms with her head thrown back, though striving to keep her wondering +eyes open. And Quenu, for his part, appeared to be getting impatient. + +"Why, you stupid!" he shouted to Leon, "don't you know how to hold a +skin yet? What do you stand staring at me for? It's the skin you +should look at, not me! There, hold it like that, and don't move +again!" + +With his right hand Leon was raising a long string of sausage-skin, at +one end of which a very wide funnel was inserted; while with his left +hand he coiled the black-pudding round a metal bowl as fast as Quenu +filled the funnel with big spoonfuls of the meat. The latter, black +and steaming, flowed through the funnel, gradually inflating the skin, +which fell down again, gorged to repletion and curving languidly. As +Quenu had removed the pot from the range both he and Leon stood out +prominently, he broad visaged, and the lad slender of profile, in the +burning glow which cast over their pale faces and white garments a +flood of rosy light. + +Lisa and Augustine watched the filling of the skin with great +interest, Lisa especially; and she in her turn found fault with Leon +because he nipped the skin too tightly with his fingers, which caused +knots to form, she said. When the skin was quite full, Quenu let it +slip gently into a pot of boiling water; and seemed quite easy in his +mind again, for now nothing remained but to leave it to boil. + +"And the man--go on about the man!" murmured Pauline, opening her +eyes, and surprised at no longer hearing the narrative. + +Florent rocked her on his knee, and resumed his story in a slow, +murmuring voice, suggestive of that of a nurse singing an infant to +sleep. + +"The man," he said, "arrived at a large town. There he was at first +taken for an escaped convict, and was kept in prison for several +months. Then he was released, and turned his hand to all sorts of +work. He kept accounts and taught children to read, and at one time he +was even employed as a navvy in making an embankment. He was +continually hoping to return to his own country. He had saved the +necessary amount of money when he was attacked by yellow fever. Then, +believing him to be dead, those about him divided his clothes amongst +themselves; so that when he at last recovered he had not even a shirt +left. He had to begin all over again. The man was very weak, and was +afraid he might have to remain where he was. But at last he was able +to get away, and he returned." + +His voice had sunk lower and lower, and now died away altogether in a +final quivering of his lips. The close of the story had lulled little +Pauline to sleep, and she was now slumbering with her head on +Florent's shoulder. He held her with one arm, and still gently rocked +her on his knee. No one seemed to pay any further attention to him, so +he remained still and quiet where he was, holding the sleeping child. + +Now came the tug of war, as Quenu said. He had to remove the black- +puddings from the pot. In order to avoid breaking them or getting them +entangled, he coiled them round a thick wooden pin as he drew them +out, and then carried them into the yard and hung them on screens, +where they quickly dried. Leon helped him, holding up the drooping +ends. And as these reeking festoons of black-pudding crossed the +kitchen they left behind them a trail of odorous steam, which still +further thickened the dense atmosphere. + +Auguste, on his side, after giving a hasty glance at the lard moulds, +now took the covers off the two pots in which the fat was simmering, +and each bursting bubble discharged an acrid vapour into the kitchen. +The greasy haze had been gradually rising ever since the beginning of +the evening, and now it shrouded the gas and pervaded the whole room, +streaming everywhere, and veiling the ruddy whiteness of Quenu and his +two assistants. Lisa and Augustine had risen from their seats; and all +were panting as though they had eaten too much. + +Augustine carried the sleeping Pauline upstairs; and Quenu, who liked +to fasten up the kitchen himself, gave Auguste and Leon leave to go to +bed, saying that he would fetch the black-pudding himself. The younger +apprentice stole off with a very red face, having managed to secrete +under his shirt nearly a yard of the pudding, which must have almost +scalded him. Then the Quenus and Florent remained alone, in silence. +Lisa stood nibbling a little piece of the hot pudding, keeping her +pretty lips well apart all the while, for fear of burning them, and +gradually the black compound vanished in her rosy mouth. + +"Well," said she, "La Normande was foolish in behaving so rudely; the +black-pudding's excellent to-day." + +However, there was a knock at the passage door, and Gavard, who stayed +at Monsieur Lebigre's every evening until midnight, came in. He had +called for a definite answer about the fish inspectorship. + +"You must understand," he said, "that Monsieur Verlaque cannot wait +any longer; he is too ill. So Florent must make up his mind. I have +promised to give a positive answer early to-morrow." + +"Well, Florent accepts," Lisa quietly remarked, taking another nibble +at some black-pudding. + +Florent, who had remained in his chair, overcome by a strange feeling +of prostration, vainly endeavoured to rise and protest. + +"No, no, say nothing," continued Lisa; "the matter is quite settled. +You have suffered quite enough already, my dear Florent. What you have +just been telling us is enough to make one shudder. It is time now for +you to settle down. You belong to a respectable family, you received a +good education, and it is really not fitting that you should go +wandering about the highways like a vagrant. At your age childishness +is no longer excusable. You have been foolish; well, all that will be +forgotten and forgiven. You will take your place again among those of +your own class--the class of respectable folks--and live in future +like other people." + +Florent listened in astonishment, quite unable to say a word. Lisa +was, doubtless, right. She looked so healthy, so serene, that it was +impossible to imagine that she desired anything but what was proper. +It was he, with his fleshless body and dark, equivocal-looking +countenance, who must be in the wrong, and indulging in unrighteous +dreams. He could, indeed, no longer understand why he had hitherto +resisted. + +Lisa, however, continued to talk to him with an abundant flow of +words, as though he were a little boy found in fault and threatened +with the police. She assumed, indeed, a most maternal manner, and +plied him with the most convincing reasons. And at last, as a final +argument, she said: + +"Do it for us, Florent. We occupy a fair position in the neighbourhood +which obliges us to use a certain amount of circumspection; and, to +tell you the truth, between ourselves, I'm afraid that people will +begin to talk. This inspectorship will set everything right; you will +be somebody; you will even be an honour to us." + +Her manner had become caressingly persuasive, and Florent was +penetrated by all the surrounding plenteousness, all the aroma filling +the kitchen, where he fed, as it were, on the nourishment floating in +the atmosphere. He sank into blissful meanness, born of all the +copious feeding that went on in the sphere of plenty in which he had +been living during the last fortnight. He felt, as it were, the +titillation of forming fat which spread slowly all over his body. He +experienced the languid beatitude of shopkeepers, whose chief concern +is to fill their bellies. At this late hour of night, in the warm +atmosphere of the kitchen, all his acerbity and determination melted +away. That peaceable evening, with the odour of the black-pudding and +the lard, and the sight of plump little Pauline slumbering on his +knee, had so enervated him that he found himself wishing for a +succession of such evenings--endless ones which would make him fat. + +However, it was the sight of Mouton that chiefly decided him. Mouton +was sound asleep, with his stomach turned upwards, one of his paws +resting on his nose, and his tail twisted over this side, as though to +keep him warm; and he was slumbering with such an expression of feline +happiness that Florent, as he gazed at him, murmured: "No, it would be +too foolish! I accept the berth. Say that I accept it, Gavard." + +Then Lisa finished eating her black-pudding, and wiped her fingers on +the edge of her apron. And next she got her brother-in-law's candle +ready for him, while Gavard and Quenu congratulated him on his +decision. It was always necessary for a man to settle down, said they; +the breakneck freaks of politics did not provide one with food. And, +meantime, Lisa, standing there with the lighted candle in her hand, +looked at him with an expression of satisfaction resting on her +handsome face, placid like that of some sacred cow. + + + + CHAPTER III + +Three days later the necessary formalities were gone through, and +without demur the police authorities at the Prefecture accepted +Florent on Monsieur Verlaque's recommendation as his substitute. +Gavard, by the way, had made it a point to accompany them. When he +again found himself alone with Florent he kept nudging his ribs with +his elbow as they walked along together, and laughed, without saying +anything, while winking his eyes in a jeering way. He seemed to find +something very ridiculous in the appearance of the police officers +whom they met on the Quai de l'Horloge, for, as he passed them, he +slightly shrugged his shoulders and made the grimace of a man seeking +to restrain himself from laughing in people's faces. + +On the following morning Monsieur Verlaque began to initiate the new +inspector into the duties of his office. It had been arranged that +during the next few days he should make him acquainted with the +turbulent sphere which he would have to supervise. Poor Verlaque, as +Gavard called him was a pale little man, swathed in flannels, +handkerchiefs, and mufflers. Constantly coughing, he made his way +through the cool, moist atmosphere, and running waters of the fish +market, on a pair of scraggy legs like those of a sickly child. + +When Florent made his appearance on the first morning, at seven +o'clock, he felt quite distracted; his eyes were dazed, his head ached +with all the noise and riot. Retail dealers were already prowling +about the auction pavilion; clerks were arriving with their ledgers, +and consigners' agents, with leather bags slung over their shoulders, +sat on overturned chairs by the salesmen's desks, waiting to receive +their cash. Fish was being unloaded and unpacked not only in the +enclosure, but even on the footways. All along the latter were piles +of small baskets, an endless arrival of cases and hampers, and sacks +of mussels, from which streamlets of water trickled. The auctioneers' +assistants, all looking very busy, sprang over the heaps, tore away +the straw at the tops of the baskets, emptied the latter, and tossed +them aside. They then speedily transferred their contents in lots to +huge wickerwork trays, arranging them with a turn of the hand so that +they might show to the best advantage. And when the large tray-like +baskets were all set out, Florent could almost fancy that a whole +shoal of fish had got stranded there, still quivering with life, and +gleaming with rosy nacre, scarlet coral, and milky pearl, all the +soft, pale, sheeny hues of the ocean. + +The deep-lying forests of seaweed, in which the mysterious life of the +ocean slumbers, seemed at one haul of the nets to have yielded up all +they contained. There were cod, keeling, whiting, flounders, plaice, +dabs, and other sorts of common fish of a dingy grey with whitish +splotches; there were conger-eels, huge serpent-like creatures, with +small black eyes and muddy, bluish skins, so slimy that they still +seemed to be gliding along, yet alive. There were broad flat skate +with pale undersides edged with a soft red, and superb backs bumpy +with vertebrae, and marbled down to the tautly stretched ribs of their +fins with splotches of cinnabar, intersected by streaks of the tint of +Florentine bronze--a dark medley of colour suggestive of the hues of a +toad or some poisonous flower. Then, too, there were hideous dog-fish, +with round heads, widely-gaping mouths like those of Chinese idols, +and short fins like bats' wings; fit monsters to keep yelping guard +over the treasures of the ocean grottoes. And next came the finer +fish, displayed singly on the osier trays; salmon that gleamed like +chased silver, every scale seemingly outlined by a graving-tool on a +polished metal surface; mullet with larger scales and coarser +markings; large turbot and huge brill with firm flesh white like +curdled milk; tunny-fish, smooth and glossy, like bags of blackish +leather; and rounded bass, with widely gaping mouths which a soul too +large for the body seemed to have rent asunder as it forced its way +out amidst the stupefaction of death. And on all sides there were +sole, brown and grey, in pairs; sand-eels, slim and stiff, like +shavings of pewter; herrings, slightly twisted, with bleeding gills +showing on their silver-worked skins; fat dories tinged with just a +suspicion of carmine; burnished mackerel with green-streaked backs, +and sides gleaming with ever-changing iridescence; and rosy gurnets +with white bellies, their head towards the centre of the baskets and +their tails radiating all around, so that they simulated some strange +florescence splotched with pearly white and brilliant vermilion. There +were rock mullet, too, with delicious flesh, flushed with the pinky +tinge peculiar to the Cyprinus family; boxes of whiting with opaline +reflections; and baskets of smelts--neat little baskets, pretty as +those used for strawberries, and exhaling a strong scent of violets. +And meantime the tiny black eyes of the shrimps dotted as with beads +of jet their soft-toned mass of pink and grey; and spiny crawfish and +lobsters striped with black, all still alive, raised a grating sound +as they tried to crawl along with their broken claws. + +Florent gave but indifferent attention to Monsieur Verlaque's +explanations. A flood of sunshine suddenly streamed through the lofty +glass roof of the covered way, lighting up all these precious colours, +toned and softened by the waves--the iridescent flesh-tints of the +shell-fish, the opal of the whiting, the pearly nacre of the mackerel, +the ruddy gold of the mullets, the plated skins of the herrings, and +massive silver of the salmon. It was as though the jewel-cases of some +sea-nymph had been emptied there--a mass of fantastical, undreamt-of +ornaments, a streaming and heaping of necklaces, monstrous bracelets, +gigantic brooches, barbaric gems and jewels, the use of which could +not be divined. On the backs of the skate and the dog-fish you saw, as +it were, big dull green and purple stones set in dark metal, while the +slender forms of the sand-eels and the tails and fins of the smelts +displayed all the delicacy of finely wrought silver-work. + +And meantime Florent's face was fanned by a fresh breeze, a sharp, +salt breeze redolent of the sea. It reminded him of the coasts of +Guiana and his voyages. He half fancied that he was gazing at some bay +left dry by the receding tide, with the seaweed steaming in the sun, +the bare rocks drying, and the beach smelling strongly of the brine. +All around him the fish in their perfect freshness exhaled a pleasant +perfume, that slightly sharp, irritating perfume which depraves the +appetite. + +Monsieur Verlaque coughed. The dampness was affecting him, and he +wrapped his muffler more closely about his neck. + +"Now," said he, "we will pass on to the fresh water fish." + +This was in a pavilion beside the fruit market, the last one, indeed, +in the direction of the Rue Rambuteau. On either side of the space +reserved for the auctions were large circular stone basins, divided +into separate compartments by iron gratings. Slender streams of water +flowed from brass jets shaped like swan's necks; and the compartments +were filled with swarming colonies of crawfish, black-backed carp ever +on the move, and mazy tangles of eels, incessantly knotting and +unknotting themselves. Again was Monsieur Verlaque attacked by an +obstinate fit of coughing. The moisture of the atmosphere was more +insipid here than amongst the sea water fish: there was a riverside +scent, as of sun-warmed water slumbering on a bed of sand. + +A great number of crawfishes had arrived from Germany that morning in +cases and hampers, and the market was also crowded with river fish +from Holland and England. Several men were unpacking shiny carp from +the Rhine, lustrous with ruddy metallic hues, their scales resembling +bronzed /cloisonne/ enamel; and others were busy with huge pike, the +cruel iron-grey brigands of the waters, who ravenously protruded their +savage jaws; or with magnificent dark-hued with verdigris. And amidst +these suggestions of copper, iron, and bronze, the gudgeon and perch, +the trout, the bleak, and the flat-fish taken in sweep-nets showed +brightly white, the steel-blue tints of their backs gradually toning +down to the soft transparency of their bellies. However, it was the +fat snowy-white barbel that supplied the liveliest brightness in this +gigantic collection of still life. + +Bags of young carp were being gently emptied into the basins. The fish +spun round, then remained motionless for a moment, and at last shot +away and disappeared. Little eels were turned out of their hampers in +a mass, and fell to the bottom of the compartments like tangled knots +of snakes; while the larger ones--those whose bodies were about as +thick as a child's arm--raised their heads and slipped of their own +accord into the water with the supple motion of serpents gliding into +the concealment of a thicket. And meantime the other fish, whose death +agony had been lasting all the morning as they lay on the soiled +osiers of the basket-trays, slowly expired amidst all the uproar of +the auctions, opening their mouths as though to inhale the moisture of +the air, with great silent gasps, renewed every few seconds. + +However, Monsieur Verlaque brought Florent back to the salt water +fish. He took him all over the place and gave him the minutest +particulars about everything. Round the nine salesmen's desks ranged +along three sides of the pavilion there was now a dense crowd of +surging, swaying heads, above which appeared the clerks, perched upon +high chairs and making entries in their ledgers. + +"Are all these clerks employed by the salesmen?" asked Florent. + +By way of reply Monsieur Verlaque made a detour along the outside +footway, led him into the enclosure of one of the auctions, and then +explained the working of the various departments of the big yellow +office, which smelt strongly of fish and was stained all over by +drippings and splashings from the hampers. In a little glazed +compartment up above, the collector of the municipal dues took note of +the prices realised by the different lots of fish. Lower down, seated +upon high chairs and with their wrists resting upon little desks, were +two female clerks, who kept account of the business on behalf of the +salesmen. At each end of the stone table in front of the office was a +crier who brought the basket-trays forward in turn, and in a bawling +voice announced what each lot consisted of; while above him the female +clerk, pen in hand, waited to register the price at which the lots +were knocked down. And outside the enclosure, shut up in another +little office of yellow wood, Monsieur Verlaque showed Florent the +cashier, a fat old woman, who was ranging coppers and five-franc +pierces in piles. + +"There is a double control, you see," said Monsieur Verlaque; "the +control of the Prefecture of the Seine and that of the Prefecture of +Police. The latter, which licenses the salesmen, claims to have the +right of supervision over them; and the municipality asserts its right +to be represented at the transactions as they are subject to +taxation." + +He went on expatiating at length in his faint cold voice respecting +the rival claims of the two Prefectures. Florent, however, was paying +but little heed, his attention being concentrated on a female clerk +sitting on one of the high chairs just in front of him. She was a +tall, dark woman of thirty, with big black eyes and an easy calmness +of manner, and she wrote with outstretched fingers like a girl who had +been taught the regulation method of the art. + +However, Florent's attention was diverted by the yelping of the crier, +who was just offering a magnificent turbot for sale. + +"I've a bid of thirty francs! Thirty francs, now; thirty francs!" + +He repeated these words in all sorts of keys, running up and down a +strange scale of notes full of sudden changes. Humpbacked and with +his face twisted askew, and his hair rough and disorderly, he wore a +great blue apron with a bib; and with flaming eyes and outstretched +arms he cried vociferously: "Thirty-one! thirty-two! thirty-three! +Thirty-three francs fifty centimes! thirty-three fifty!" + +Then he paused to take breath, turning the basket-tray and pushing it +farther upon the table. The fish-wives bent forward and gently touched +the turbot with their finger-tips. Then the crier began again with +renewed energy, hurling his figures towards the buyers with a wave of +the hand and catching the slightest indication of a fresh bid--the +raising of a finger, a twist of the eyebrows, a pouting of the lips, a +wink, and all with such rapidity and such a ceaseless jumble of words +that Florent, utterly unable to follow him, felt quite disconcerted +when, in a sing-song voice like that of a priest intoning the final +words of a versicle, he chanted: "Forty-two! forty-two! The turbot +goes for forty-two francs." + +It was the beautiful Norman who had made the last bid. Florent +recognised her as she stood in the line of fish-wives crowding against +the iron rails which surrounded the enclosure. The morning was fresh +and sharp, and there was a row of tippets above the display of big +white aprons, covering the prominent bosoms and stomachs and sturdy +shoulders. With high-set chignon set off with curls, and white and +dainty skin, the beautiful Norman flaunted her lace bow amidst tangled +shocks of hair covered with dirty kerchiefs, red noses eloquent of +drink, sneering mouths, and battered faces suggestive of old pots. And +she also recognised Madame Quenu's cousin, and was so surprised to see +him there that she began gossiping to her neighbours about him. + +The uproar of voices had become so great that Monsieur Verlaque +renounced all further attempt to explain matters to Florent. On the +footway close by, men were calling out the larger fish with prolonged +shouts, which sounded as though they came from gigantic speaking- +trumpets; and there was one individual who roared "Mussels! Mussels!" +in such a hoarse, cracked, clamorous voice that the very roofs of the +market shook. Some sacks of mussels were turned upside down, and their +contents poured into hampers, while others were emptied with shovels. +And there was a ceaseless procession of basket-trays containing skate, +soles, mackerel, conger-eels, and salmon, carried backwards and +forwards amidst the ever-increasing cackle and pushing of the fish- +women as they crowded against the iron rails which creaked with their +pressure. The humpbacked crier, now fairly on the job, waved his +skinny arms in the air and protruded his jaws. Presently, seemingly +lashed into a state of frenzy by the flood of figures that spurted +from his lips, he sprang upon a stool, where, with his mouth twisted +spasmodically and his hair streaming behind him, he could force +nothing more than unintelligible hisses from his parched throat. And +in the meantime, up above, the collector of municipal dues, a little +old man, muffled in a collar of imitation astrachan, remained with +nothing but his nose showing under his black velvet skullcap. And the +tall, dark-complexioned female clerk, with eyes shining calmly in her +face, which had been slightly reddened by the cold, sat on her high +wooden chair, quietly writing, apparently unruffled by the continuous +rattle which came from the hunchback below her. + +"That fellow Logre is wonderful," muttered Monsieur Verlaque with a +smile. "He is the best crier in the markets. I believe he could make +people buy boot soles in the belief they were fish!" + +Then he and Florent went back into the pavilion. As they again passed +the spot where the fresh water fish was being sold by auction, and +where the bidding seemed much quieter, Monsieur Verlaque explained +that French river fishing was in a bad way.[*] The crier here, a fair, +sorry-looking fellow, who scarcely moved his arms, was disposing of +some lots of eels and crawfish in a monotonous voice, while the +assistants fished fresh supplies out of the stone basins with their +short-handled nets. + +[*] M. Zola refers, of course, to the earlier years of the Second + Empire. Under the present republican Government, which has largely + fostered fish culture, matters have considerably improved.-- + Translator. + +However, the crowd round the salesmen's desks was still increasing. +Monsieur Verlaque played his part as Florent's instructor in the most +conscientious manner, clearing the way by means of his elbows, and +guiding his successor through the busiest parts. The upper-class +retail dealers were there, quietly waiting for some of the finer fish, +or loading the porters with their purchases of turbot, tunny, and +salmon. The street-hawkers who had clubbed together to buy lots of +herrings and small flat-fish were dividing them on the pavement. There +were also some people of the smaller middle class, from distant parts +of the city, who had come down at four o'clock in the morning to buy a +really fresh fish, and had ended by allowing some enormous lot, +costing from forty to fifty francs, to be knocked down to them, with +the result that they would be obliged to spend the whole day in +getting their friends and acquaintances to take the surplus off their +hands. Every now and then some violent pushing would force a gap +through part of the crowd. A fish-wife, who had got tightly jammed, +freed herself, shaking her fists and pouring out a torrent of abuse. +Then a compact mass of people again collected, and Florent, almost +suffocated, declared that he had seen quite enough, and understood all +that was necessary. + +As Monsieur Verlaque was helping him to extricate himself from the +crowd, they found themselves face to face with the handsome Norman. +She remained stock-still in front of them, and with her queenly air +inquired: + +"Well, is it quite settled? You are going to desert us, Monsieur +Verlaque?" + +"Yes, yes," replied the little man; "I am going to take a rest in the +country, at Clamart. The smell of the fish is bad for me, it seems. +Here, this is the gentleman who is going to take my place." + +So speaking he turned round to introduce Florent to her. The handsome +Norman almost choked; however, as Florent went off, he fancied he +could hear her whisper to her neighbours, with a laugh: "Well, we +shall have some fine fun now, see if we don't!" + +The fish-wives had begun to set out their stalls. From all the taps at +the corners of the marble slabs water was gushing freely; and there +was a rustling sound all round, like the plashing of rain, a streaming +of stiff jets of water hissing and spurting. And then, from the lower +side of the sloping slabs, great drops fell with a softened murmur, +splashing on the flagstones where a mass of tiny streams flowed along +here and there, turning holes and depressions into miniature lakes, +and afterwards gliding in a thousand rills down the slope towards the +Rue Rambuteau. A moist haze ascended, a sort of rainy dust, bringing +fresh whiffs of air to Florent's face, whiffs of that salt, pungent +sea breeze which he remembered so well; while in such fish as was +already laid out he once more beheld the rosy nacres, gleaming corals, +and milky pearls, all the rippling colour and glaucous pallidity of +the ocean world. + +That first morning left him much in doubt; indeed, he regretted that +he had yielded to Lisa's insistence. Ever since his escape from the +greasy drowsiness of the kitchen he had been accusing himself of base +weakness with such violence that tears had almost risen in his eyes. +But he did not dare to go back on his word. He was a little afraid of +Lisa, and could see the curl of her lips and the look of mute reproach +upon her handsome face. He felt that she was too serious a woman to be +trifled with. However, Gavard happily inspired him with a consoling +thought. On the evening of the day on which Monsieur Verlaque had +conducted him through the auction sales, Gavard took him aside and +told him, with a good deal of hesitation, that "the poor devil" was +not at all well off. And after various remarks about the scoundrelly +Government which ground the life out of its servants without allowing +them even the means to die in comfort, he ended by hinting that it +would be charitable on Florent's part to surrender a part of his +salary to the old inspector. Florent welcomed the suggestion with +delight. It was only right, he considered, for he looked upon himself +simply as Monsieur Verlaque's temporary substitute; and besides, he +himself really required nothing, as he boarded and lodged with his +brother. Gavard added that he thought if Florent gave up fifty francs +out of the hundred and fifty which he would receive monthly, the +arrangement would be everything that could be desired; and, lowering +his voice, he added that it would not be for long, for the poor fellow +was consumptive to his very bones. Finally it was settled that Florent +should see Monsieur Verlaque's wife, and arrange matters with her, to +avoid any possibility of hurting the old man's feelings. + +The thought of this kindly action afforded Florent great relief, and +he now accepted his duties with the object of doing good, thus +continuing to play the part which he had been fulfilling all his life. +However, he made the poultry dealer promise that he would not speak of +the matter to anyone; and as Gavard also felt a vague fear of Lisa, he +kept the secret, which was really very meritorious in him. + +And now the whole pork shop seemed happy. Handsome Lisa manifested the +greatest friendliness towards her brother-in-law. She took care that +he went to bed early, so as to be able to rise in good time; she kept +his breakfast hot for him; and she no longer felt ashamed at being +seen talking to him on the footway, now that he wore a laced cap. +Quenu, quite delighted by all these good signs, sat down to table in +the evening between his wife and brother with a lighter heart than +ever. They often lingered over dinner till nine o'clock, leaving the +shop in Augustine's charge, and indulging in a leisurely digestion +interspersed with gossip about the neighbourhood, and the dogmatic +opinions of Lisa on political topics; Florent also had to relate how +matters had gone in the fish market that day. He gradually grew less +frigid, and began to taste the happiness of a well-regulated +existence. There was a well-to-do comfort and trimness about the light +yellowish dining room which had a softening influence upon him as soon +as he crossed its threshold. Handsome Lisa's kindly attentions wrapped +him, as it were, in cotton-wool; and mutual esteem and concord reigned +paramount. + +Gavard, however, considered the Quenu-Gradelles' home to be too +drowsy. He forgave Lisa her weakness for the Emperor, because, he +said, one ought never to discuss politics with women, and beautiful +Madame Quenu was, after all, a very worthy person, who managed her +business admirably. Nevertheless, he much preferred to spend his +evenings at Monsieur Lebigre's, where he met a group of friends who +shared his own opinions. Thus when Florent was appointed to the +inspectorship of the fish market, Gavard began to lead him astray, +taking him off for hours, and prompting him to lead a bachelor's life +now that he had obtained a berth. + +Monsieur Lebigre was the proprietor of a very fine establishment, +fitted up in the modern luxurious style. Occupying the right-hand +corner of the Rue Pirouette, and looking on to the Rue Rambuteau, it +formed, with its four small Norwegian pines in green-painted tubs +flanking the doorway, a worthy pendant to the big pork shop of the +Quenu-Gradelles. Through the clear glass windows you could see the +interior, which was decorated with festoons of foliage, vine branches, +and grapes, painted on a soft green ground. The floor was tiled with +large black and white squares. At the far end was the yawning cellar +entrance, above which rose a spiral staircase hung with red drapery, +and leading to the billiard-room on the first floor. The counter or +"bar" on the right looked especially rich, and glittered like polished +silver. Its zinc-work, hanging with a broad bulging border over the +sub-structure of white and red marble, edged it with a rippling sheet +of metal as if it were some high altar laden with embroidery. At one +end, over a gas stove, stood porcelain pots, decorated with circles of +brass, and containing punch and hot wine. At the other extremity was a +tall and richly sculptured marble fountain, from which a fine stream +of water, so steady and continuous that it looked as though it were +motionless, flowed into a basin. In the centre, edged on three sides +by the sloping zinc surface of the counter, was a second basin for +rinsing and cooling purposes, where quart bottles of draught wine, +partially empty, reared their greenish necks. Then on the counter, to +the right and left of this central basin, were batches of glasses +symmetrically arranged: little glasses for brandy, thick tumblers for +draught wine, cup glasses for brandied fruits, glasses for absinthe, +glass mugs for beer, and tall goblets, all turned upside down and +reflecting the glitter of the counter. On the left, moreover, was a +metal urn, serving as a receptacle for gratuities; whilst a similar +one on the right bristled with a fan-like arrangement of coffee +spoons. + +Monsieur Lebigre was generally to be found enthroned behind his +counter upon a seat covered with buttoned crimson leather. Within easy +reach of his hand were the liqueurs in cut-glass decanters protruding +from the compartments of a stand. His round back rested against a huge +mirror which completely filled the panel behind him; across it ran two +glass shelves supporting an array of jars and bottles. Upon one of +them the glass jars of preserved fruits, cherries, plums, and peaches, +stood out darkly; while on the other, between symmetrically arranged +packets of finger biscuits, were bright flasks of soft green and red +and yellow glass, suggesting strange mysterious liqueurs, or floral +extracts of exquisite limpidity. Standing on the glass shelf in the +white glow of the mirror, these flasks, flashing as if on fire, seemed +to be suspended in the air. + +To give his premises the appearance of a cafe, Monsieur Lebigre had +placed two small tables of bronzed iron and four chairs against the +wall, in front of the counter. A chandelier with five lights and +frosted globes hung down from the ceiling. On the left was a round +gilt timepiece, above a /tourniquet/[*] fixed to the wall. Then at the +far end came the private "cabinet," a corner of the shop shut off by a +partition glazed with frosted glass of a small square pattern. In the +daytime this little room received a dim light from a window that +looked on to the Rue Pirouette; and in the evening, a gas jet burnt +over the two tables painted to resemble marble. It was there that +Gavard and his political friends met each evening after dinner. They +looked upon themselves as being quite at home there, and had prevailed +on the landlord to reserve the place for them. When Monsieur Lebigre +had closed the door of the glazed partition, they knew themselves to +be so safely screened from intrusion that they spoke quite +unreservedly of the great "sweep out" which they were fond of +discussing. No unprivileged customer would have dared to enter. + +[*] This is a kind of dial turning on a pivot, and usually enclosed in + a brass frame, from which radiate a few small handles or spokes. + Round the face of the dial--usually of paper--are various + numerals, and between the face and its glass covering is a small + marble or wooden ball. The appliance is used in lieu of dice or + coins when two or more customers are "tossing" for drinks. Each in + turn sends the dial spinning round, and wins or loses according to + the numeral against which the ball rests when the dial stops. As I + can find no English name for the appliance, I have thought it best + to describe it.--Translator. + +On the first day that Gavard took Florent off he gave him some +particulars of Monsieur Lebigre. He was a good fellow, he said, who +sometimes came to drink his coffee with them; and, as he had said one +day that he had fought in '48, no one felt the least constraint in his +presence. He spoke but little, and seemed rather thick-headed. As the +gentlemen passed him on their way to the private room they grasped his +hand in silence across the glasses and bottles. By his side on the +crimson leather seat behind the counter there was generally a fair +little woman, whom he had engaged as counter assistant in addition to +the white-aproned waiter who attended to the tables and the billiard- +room. The young woman's name was Rose, and she seemed a very gentle +and submissive being. Gavard, with a wink of his eye, told Florent +that he fancied Lebigre had a weakness for her. It was she, by the +way, who waited upon the friends in the private room, coming and +going, with her happy, humble air, amidst the stormiest political +discussions. + +Upon the day on which the poultry dealer took Florent to Lebigre's to +present him to his friends, the only person whom the pair found in the +little room when they entered it was a man of some fifty years of age, +of a mild and thoughtful appearance. He wore a rather shabby-looking +hat and a long chestnut-coloured overcoat, and sat, with his chin +resting on the ivory knob of a thick cane, in front of a glass mug +full of beer. His mouth was so completely concealed by a vigorous +growth of beard that his face had a dumb, lipless appearance. + +"How are you, Robine?" exclaimed Gavard. + +Robine silently thrust out his hand, without making any reply, though +his eyes softened into a slight smile of welcome. Then he let his chin +drop on to the knob of his cane again, and looked at Florent over his +beer. Florent had made Gavard swear to keep his story a secret for +fear of some dangerous indiscretion; and he was not displeased to +observe a touch of distrust in the discreet demeanour of the gentleman +with the heavy beard. However, he was really mistaken in this, for +Robine never talked more than he did now. He was always the first to +arrive, just as the clock struck eight; and he always sat in the same +corner, never letting go his hold of his cane, and never taking off +either his hat or his overcoat. No one had ever seen him without his +hat upon his head. He remained there listening to the talk of the +others till midnight, taking four hours to empty his mug of beer, and +gazing successively at the different speakers as though he heard them +with his eyes. When Florent afterwards questioned Gavard about Robine, +the poultry dealer spoke of the latter as though he held him in high +esteem. Robine, he asserted, was an extremely clever and able man, +and, though he was unable to say exactly where he had given proof of +his hostility to the established order of things, he declared that he +was one of the most dreaded of the Government's opponents. He lived in +the Rue Saint Denis, in rooms to which no one as a rule could gain +admission. The poultry dealer, however, asserted that he himself had +once been in them. The wax floors, he said, were protected by strips +of green linen; and there were covers over the furniture, and an +alabaster timepiece with columns. He had caught a glimpse of the back +of a lady, who was just disappearing through one doorway as he was +entering by another, and had taken her to be Madame Robine. She +appeared to be an old lady of very genteel appearance, with her hair +arranged in corkscrew curls; but of this he could not be quite +certain. No one knew why they had taken up their abode amidst all the +uproar of a business neighbourhood; for the husband did nothing at +all, spending his days no one knew how and living on no one knew what, +though he made his appearance every evening as though he were tired +but delighted with some excursion into the highest regions of +politics. + +"Well, have you read the speech from the throne?" asked Gavard, taking +up a newspaper that was lying on the table. + +Robine shrugged his shoulders. Just at that moment, however, the door +of the glazed partition clattered noisily, and a hunchback made his +appearance. Florent at once recognised the deformed crier of the fish +market, though his hands were now washed and he was neatly dressed, +with his neck encircled by a great red muffler, one end of which hung +down over his hump like the skirt of a Venetian cloak. + +"Ah, here's Logre!" exclaimed the poultry dealer. "Now we shall hear +what he thinks about the speech from the throne." + +Logre, however, was apparently furious. To begin with he almost broke +the pegs off in hanging up his hat and muffler. Then he threw himself +violently into a chair, and brought his fist down on the table, while +tossing away the newspaper. + +"Do you think I read their fearful lies?" he cried. + +Then he gave vent to the anger raging within him. "Did ever anyone +hear," he cried, "of masters making such fools of their people? For +two whole hours I've been waiting for my pay! There were ten of us in +the office kicking our heels there. Then at last Monsieur Manoury +arrived in a cab. Where he had come from I don't know, and don't care, +but I'm quite sure it wasn't any respectable place. Those salesmen are +all a parcel of thieves and libertines! And then, too, the hog +actually gave me all my money in small change!" + +Robine expressed his sympathy with Logre by the slight movement of his +eyelids. But suddenly the hunchback bethought him of a victim upon +whom to pour out his wrath. "Rose! Rose!" he cried, stretching his +head out of the little room. + +The young woman quickly responded to the call, trembling all over. + +"Well," shouted Logre, "what do you stand staring at me like that for? +Much good that'll do! You saw me come in, didn't you? Why haven't you +brought me my glass of black coffee, then?" + +Gavard ordered two similar glasses, and Rose made all haste to bring +what was required, while Logre glared sternly at the glasses and +little sugar trays as if studying them. When he had taken a drink he +seemed to grow somewhat calmer. + +"But it's Charvet who must be getting bored," he said presently. "He +is waiting outside on the pavement for Clemence." + +Charvet, however, now made his appearance, followed by Clemence. He +was a tall, scraggy young man, carefully shaved, with a skinny nose +and thin lips. He lived in the Rue Vavin, behind the Luxembourg, and +called himself a professor. In politics he was a disciple of +Hebert.[*] He wore his hair very long, and the collar and lapels of +his threadbare frock-coat were broadly turned back. Affecting the +manner and speech of a member of the National Convention, he would +pour out such a flood of bitter words and make such a haughty display +of pedantic learning that he generally crushed his adversaries. Gavard +was afraid of him, though he would not confess it; still, in Charvet's +absence he would say that he really went too far. Robine, for his +part, expressed approval of everything with his eyes. Logre sometimes +opposed Charvet on the question of salaries; but the other was really +the autocrat of the coterie, having the greatest fund of information +and the most overbearing manner. For more than ten years he and +Clemence had lived together as man and wife, in accordance with a +previously arranged contract, the terms of which were strictly +observed by both parties to it. Florent looked at the young woman with +some little surprise, but at last he recollected where he had +previously seen her. This was at the fish auction. She was, indeed, +none other than the tall dark female clerk whom he had observed +writing with outstretched fingers, after the manner of one who had +been carefully instructed in the art of holding a pen. + +[*] Hebert, as the reader will remember, was the furious demagogue + with the foul tongue and poisoned pen who edited the /Pere + Duchesne/ at the time of the first French Revolution. We had a + revival of his politics and his journal in Paris during the + Commune of 1871.--Translator. + +Rose made her appearance at the heels of the two newcomers. Without +saying a word she placed a mug of beer before Charvet and a tray +before Clemence, who in a leisurely way began to compound a glass of +"grog," pouring some hot water over a slice of lemon, which she +crushed with her spoon, and glancing carefully at the decanter as she +poured out some rum, so as not to add more of it than a small liqueur +glass could contain. + +Gavard now presented Florent to the company, but more especially to +Charvet. He introduced them to one another as professors, and very +able men, who would be sure to get on well together. But it was +probable that he had already been guilty of some indiscretion, for all +the men at once shook hands with a tight and somewhat masonic squeeze +of each other's fingers. Charvet, for his part, showed himself almost +amiable; and whether he and the others knew anything of Florent's +antecedents, they at all events indulged in no embarrassing allusions. + +"Did Manoury pay you in small change?" Logre asked Clemence. + +She answered affirmatively, and produced a roll of francs and another +of two-franc pieces, and unwrapped them. Charvet watched her, and his +eyes followed the rolls as she replaced them in her pocket, after +counting their contents and satisfying herself that they were correct. + +"We have our accounts to settle," he said in a low voice. + +"Yes, we'll settle up to-night," the young woman replied. "But we are +about even, I should think. I've breakfasted with you four times, +haven't I? But I lent you a hundred sous last week, you know." + +Florent, surprised at hearing this, discreetly turned his head away. +Then Clemence slipped the last roll of silver into her pocket, drank a +little of her grog, and, leaning against the glazed partition, quietly +settled herself down to listen to the men talking politics. Gavard had +taken up the newspaper again, and, in tones which he strove to render +comic, was reading out some passages of the speech from the throne +which had been delivered that morning at the opening of the Chambers. +Charvet made fine sport of the official phraseology; there was not a +single line of it which he did not tear to pieces. One sentence +afforded especial amusement to them all. It was this: "We are +confident, gentlemen, that, leaning on your lights[*] and the +conservative sentiments of the country, we shall succeed in increasing +the national prosperity day by day." + +[*] In the sense of illumination of mind. It has been necessary to + give a literal translation of this phrase to enable the reader to + realise the point of subsequent witticisms in which Clemence and + Gavard indulge.--Translator. + +Logre rose up and repeated this sentence, and by speaking through his +nose succeeded fairly well in mimicking the Emperor's drawling voice. + +"It's lovely, that prosperity of his; why, everyone's dying of +hunger!" said Charvet. + +"Trade is shocking," asserted Gavard. + +"And what in the name of goodness is the meaning of anybody 'leaning +on lights'?" continued Clemence, who prided herself upon literary +culture. + +Robine himself even allowed a faint laugh to escape from the depths of +his beard. The discussion began to grow warm. The party fell foul of +the Corps Legislatif, and spoke of it with great severity. Logre did +not cease ranting, and Florent found him the same as when he cried the +fish at the auctions--protruding his jaws and hurling his words +forward with a wave of the arm, whilst retaining the crouching +attitude of a snarling dog. Indeed, he talked politics in just the +same furious manner as he offered a tray full of soles for sale. + +Charvet, on the other hand, became quieter and colder amidst the smoke +of the pipes and the fumes of the gas which were now filling the +little den; and his voice assumed a dry incisive tone, sharp like a +guillotine blade, while Robine gently wagged his head without once +removing his chin from the ivory knob of his cane. However, some +remark of Gavard's led the conversation to the subject of women. + +"Woman," declared Charvet drily, "is the equal of man; and, that being +so, she ought not to inconvenience him in the management of his life. +Marriage is a partnership, in which everything should be halved. Isn't +that so, Clemence?" + +"Clearly so," replied the young woman, leaning back with her head +against the wall and gazing into the air. + +However, Florent now saw Lacaille, the costermonger, and Alexandre, +the porter, Claude Lantier's friend, come into the little room. In the +past these two had long remained at the other table in the sanctum; +they did not belong to the same class as the others. By the help of +politics, however, their chairs had drawn nearer, and they had ended +by forming part of the circle. Charvet, in whose eyes they represented +"the people," did his best to indoctrinate them with his advanced +political theories, while Gavard played the part of the shopkeeper +free from all social prejudices by clinking glasses with them. +Alexandre was a cheerful, good-humoured giant, with the manner of a +big merry lad. Lacaille, on the other hand, was embittered; his hair +was already grizzling; and, bent and wearied by his ceaseless +perambulations through the streets of Paris, he would at times glance +loweringly at the placid figure of Robine, and his sound boots and +heavy coat. + +That evening both Lacaille and Alexandre called for a liqueur glass of +brandy, and then the conversation was renewed with increased warmth +and excitement, the party being now quite complete. A little later, +while the door of the cabinet was left ajar, Florent caught sight of +Mademoiselle Saget standing in front of the counter. She had taken a +bottle from under her apron, and was watching Rose as the latter +poured into it a large measureful of black-currant syrup and a smaller +one of brandy. Then the bottle disappeared under the apron again, and +Mademoiselle Saget, with her hands out of sight, remained talking in +the bright glow of the counter, face to face with the big mirror, in +which the flasks and bottles of liqueurs were reflected like rows of +Venetian lanterns. In the evening all the metal and glass of the +establishment helped to illuminate it with wonderful brilliancy. The +old maid, standing there in her black skirts, looked almost like some +big strange insect amidst all the crude brightness. Florent noticed +that she was trying to inveigle Rose into a conversation, and shrewdly +suspected that she had caught sight of him through the half open +doorway. Since he had been on duty at the markets he had met her at +almost every step, loitering in one or another of the covered ways, +and generally in the company of Madame Lecoeur and La Sarriette. He +had noticed also that the three women stealthily examined him, and +seemed lost in amazement at seeing him installed in the position of +inspector. That evening, however, Rose was no doubt loath to enter +into conversation with the old maid, for the latter at last turned +round, apparently with the intention of approaching Monsieur Lebigre, +who was playing piquet with a customer at one of the bronzed tables. +Creeping quietly along, Mademoiselle Saget had at last managed to +install herself beside the partition of the cabinet, when she was +observed by Gavard, who detested her. + +"Shut the door, Florent!" he cried unceremoniously. "We can't even be +by ourselves, it seems!" + +When midnight came and Lacaille went away he exchanged a few whispered +words with Monsieur Lebigre, and as the latter shook hands with him he +slipped four five-franc pieces into his palm, without anyone noticing +it. "That'll make twenty-two francs that you'll have to pay to-morrow, +remember," he whispered in his ear. "The person who lends the money +won't do it for less in future. Don't forget, too, that you owe three +days' truck hire. You must pay everything off." + +Then Monsieur Lebigre wished the friends good night. He was very +sleepy and should sleep well, he said, with a yawn which revealed his +big teeth, while Rose gazed at him with an air of submissive humility. +However, he gave her a push, and told her to go and turn out the gas +in the little room. + +On reaching the pavement, Gavard stumbled and nearly fell. And being +in a humorous vein, he thereupon exclaimed: "Confound it all! At any +rate, I don't seem to be leaning on anybody's lights." + +This remark seemed to amuse the others, and the party broke up. A +little later Florent returned to Lebigre's, and indeed he became quite +attached to the "cabinet," finding a seductive charm in Robine's +contemplative silence, Logre's fiery outbursts, and Charvet's cool +venom. When he went home, he did not at once retire to bed. He had +grown very fond of his attic, that girlish bedroom, where Augustine +had left scraps of ribbons, souvenirs, and other feminine trifles +lying about. There still remained some hair-pins on the mantelpiece, +with gilt cardboard boxes of buttons and lozenges, cutout pictures, +and empty pomade pots that retained an odour of jasmine. Then there +were some reels of thread, needles, and a missal lying by the side of +a soiled Dream-book in the drawer of the rickety deal table. A white +summer dress with yellow spots hung forgotten from a nail; while upon +the board which served as a toilet-table a big stain behind the water- +jug showed where a bottle of bandoline had been overturned. The little +chamber, with its narrow iron bed, its two rush-bottomed chairs, and +its faded grey wallpaper, was instinct with innocent simplicity. The +plain white curtains, the childishness suggested by the cardboard +boxes and the Dream-book, and the clumsy coquetry which had stained +the walls, all charmed Florent and brought him back to dreams of +youth. He would have preferred not to have known that plain, wiry- +haired Augustine, but to have been able to imagine that he was +occupying the room of a sister, some bright sweet girl of whose +budding womanhood every trifle around him spoke. + +Yet another pleasure which he took was to lean out of the garret +window at nighttime. In front of it was a narrow ledge of roof, +enclosed by an iron railing, and forming a sort of balcony, on which +Augustine had grown a pomegranate in a box. Since the nights had +turned cold, Florent had brought the pomegranate indoors and kept it +by the foot of his bed till morning. He would linger for a few minutes +by the open window, inhaling deep draughts of the sharp fresh air +which was wafted up from the Seine, over the housetops of the Rue de +Rivoli. Below him the roofs of the markets spread confusedly in a grey +expanse, like slumbering lakes on whose surface the furtive reflection +of a pane of glass gleamed every now and then like a silvery ripple. +Farther away the roofs of the meat and poultry pavilions lay in deeper +gloom, and became mere masses of shadow barring the horizon. Florent +delighted in the great stretch of open sky in front of him, in that +spreading expanse of the markets which amidst all the narrow city +streets brought him a dim vision of some strip of sea coast, of the +still grey waters of a bay scarce quivering from the roll of the +distant billows. He used to lose himself in dreams as he stood there; +each night he conjured up the vision of some fresh coast line. To +return in mind to the eight years of despair which he had spent away +from France rendered him both very sad and very happy. Then at last, +shivering all over, he would close the window. Often, as he stood in +front of the fireplace taking off his collar, the photograph of +Auguste and Augustine would fill him with disquietude. They seemed to +be watching him as they stood there, hand in hand, smiling faintly. + +Florent's first few weeks at the fish market were very painful to him. +The Mehudins treated him with open hostility, which infected the whole +market with a spirit of opposition. The beautiful Norman intended to +revenge herself on the handsome Lisa, and the latter's cousin seemed a +victim ready to hand. + +The Mehudins came from Rouen. Louise's mother still related how she +had first arrived in Paris with a basket of eels. She had ever +afterwards remained in the fish trade. She had married a man employed +in the Octroi service, who had died leaving her with two little girls. +It was she who by her full figure and glowing freshness had won for +herself in earlier days the nickname of "the beautiful Norman," which +her eldest daughter had inherited. Now five and sixty years of age, +Madame Mehudin had become flabby and shapeless, and the damp air of +the fish market had rendered her voice rough and hoarse, and given a +bluish tinge to her skin. Sedentary life had made her extremely bulky, +and her head was thrown backwards by the exuberance of her bosom. She +had never been willing to renounce the fashions of her younger days, +but still wore the flowered gown, the yellow kerchief, and turban-like +head-gear of the classic fish-wife, besides retaining the latter's +loud voice and rapidity of gesture as she stood with her hands on her +hips, shouting out the whole abusive vocabulary of her calling. + +She looked back regretfully to the old Marche des Innocents, which the +new central markets had supplanted. She would talk of the ancient +rights of the market "ladies," and mingle stories of fisticuffs +exchanged with the police with reminiscences of the visits she had +paid the Court in the time of Charles X and Louis Philippe, dressed in +silk, and carrying a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Old Mother +Mehudin, as she was now generally called, had for a long time been the +banner-bearer of the Sisterhood of the Virgin at St. Leu. She would +relate that in the processions in the church there she had worn a +dress and cap of tulle trimmed with satin ribbons, whilst holding +aloft in her puffy fingers the gilded staff of the richly-fringed silk +standard on which the figure of the Holy Mother was embroidered. + +According to the gossip of the neighbourhood, the old woman had made a +fairly substantial fortune, though the only signs of it were the +massive gold ornaments with which she loaded her neck and arms and +bosom on important occasions. Her two daughters got on badly together +as they grew up. The younger one, Claire, an idle, fair-complexioned +girl, complained of the ill-treatment which she received from her +sister Louise, protesting, in her languid voice, that she could never +submit to be the other's servant. As they would certainly have ended +by coming to blows, their mother separated them. She gave her stall in +the fish market to Louise, while Claire, whom the smell of the skate +and the herrings affected in the lungs, installed herself among the +fresh water fish. And from that time the old mother, although she +pretended to have retired from business altogether, would flit from +one stall to the other, still interfering in the selling of the fish, +and causing her daughters continual annoyance by the foul insolence +with which she would at times speak to customers. + +Claire was a fantastical creature, very gentle in her manner, and yet +continually at loggerheads with others. People said that she +invariably followed her own whimsical inclinations. In spite of her +dreamy, girlish face she was imbued with a nature of silent firmness, +a spirit of independence which prompted her to live apart; she never +took things as other people did, but would one day evince perfect +fairness, and the next day arrant injustice. She would sometimes throw +the market into confusion by suddenly increasing or lowering the +prices at her stall, without anyone being able to guess her reason for +doing so. She herself would refuse to explain her motive. By the time +she reached her thirtieth year, her delicate physique and fine skin, +which the water of the tanks seemed to keep continually fresh and +soft, her small, faintly-marked face and lissome limbs would probably +become heavy, coarse, and flabby, till she would look like some faded +saint that had stepped from a stained-glass window into the degrading +sphere of the markets. At twenty-two, however, Claire, in the midst of +her carp and eels, was, to use Claude Lantier's expression, a Murillo. +A Murillo, that is, whose hair was often in disorder, who wore heavy +shoes and clumsily cut dresses, which left her without any figure. But +she was free from all coquetry, and she assumed an air of scornful +contempt when Louise, displaying her bows and ribbons, chaffed her +about her clumsily knotted neckerchiefs. Moreover, she was virtuous; +it was said that the son of a rich shopkeeper in the neighbourhood had +gone abroad in despair at having failed to induce her to listen to his +suit. + +Louise, the beautiful Norman, was of a different nature. She had been +engaged to be married to a clerk in the corn market; but a sack of +flour falling upon the young man had broken his back and killed him. +Not very long afterwards Louise had given birth to a boy. In the +Mehudins' circle of acquaintance she was looked upon as a widow; and +the old fish-wife in conversation would occasionally refer to the time +when her son-in-law was alive. + +The Mehudins were a power in the markets. When Monsieur Verlaque had +finished instructing Florent in his new duties, he advised him to +conciliate certain of the stall-holders, if he wished his life to be +endurable; and he even carried his sympathy so far as to put him in +possession of the little secrets of the office, such as the various +little breaches of rule that it was necessary to wink at, and those at +which he would have to feign stern displeasure; and also the +circumstances under which he might accept a small present. A market +inspector is at once a constable and a magistrate; he has to maintain +proper order and cleanliness, and settle in a conciliatory spirit all +disputes between buyers and sellers. Florent, who was of a weak +disposition put on an artificial sternness when he was obliged to +exercise his authority, and generally over-acted his part. Moreover, +his gloomy, pariah-like face and bitterness of spirit, the result of +long suffering, were against him. + +The beautiful Norman's idea was to involve him in some quarrel or +other. She had sworn that he would not keep his berth a fortnight. +"That fat Lisa's much mistaken," said she one morning on meeting +Madame Lecoeur, "if she thinks that she's going to put people over us. +We don't want such ugly wretches here. That sweetheart of hers is a +perfect fright!" + +After the auctions, when Florent commenced his round of inspection, +strolling slowly through the dripping alleys, he could plainly see the +beautiful Norman watching him with an impudent smile on her face. Her +stall, which was in the second row on the left, near the fresh water +fish department faced the Rue Rambuteau. She would turn round, +however, and never take her eyes off her victim whilst making fun of +him with her neighbours. And when he passed in front of her, slowly +examining the slabs, she feigned hilarious merriment, slapped her fish +with her hand, and turned her jets of water on at full stream, +flooding the pathway. Nevertheless Florent remained perfectly calm. + +At last, one morning as was bound to happen, war broke out. As Florent +reached La Normande's stall that day an unbearable stench assailed his +nostrils. On the marble slab, in addition to part of a magnificent +salmon, showing its soft roseate flesh, there lay some turbots of +creamy whiteness, a few conger-eels pierced with black pins to mark +their divisions, several pairs of soles, and some bass and red mullet +--in fact, quite a display of fresh fish. But in the midst of it, +amongst all these fish whose eyes still gleamed and whose gills were +of a bright crimson, there lay a huge skate of a ruddy tinge, +splotched with dark stains--superb, indeed, with all its strange +colourings. Unfortunately, it was rotten; its tail was falling off and +the ribs of its fins were breaking through the skin. + +"You must throw that skate away," said Florent as he came up. + +The beautiful Norman broke into a slight laugh. Florent raised his +eyes and saw her standing before him, with her back against the bronze +lamp post which lighted the stalls in her division. She had mounted +upon a box to keep her feet out of the damp, and appeared very tall as +he glanced at her. She looked also handsomer than usual, with her hair +arranged in little curls, her sly face slightly bent, her lips +compressed, and her hands showing somewhat too rosily against her big +white apron. Florent had never before seen her decked with so much +jewellery. She had long pendants in her ears, a chain round her neck, +a brooch in her dress body, and quite a collection of rings on two +fingers of her left hand and one of her right. + +As she still continued to look slyly at Florent, without making any +reply, the latter continued: "Do you hear? You must remove that +skate." + +He had not yet noticed the presence of old Madame Mehudin, who sat all +of a heap on a chair in a corner. She now got up, however, and, with +her fists resting on the marble slap, insolently exclaimed: "Dear me! +And why is she to throw her skate away? You won't pay her for it, I'll +bet!" + +Florent immediately understood the position. The women at the other +stalls began to titter, and he felt that he was surrounded by covert +rebellion, which a word might cause to blaze forth. He therefore +restrained himself, and in person drew the refuse-pail from under the +stall and dropped the skate into it. Old Madame Mehudin had already +stuck her hands on her hips, while the beautiful Norman, who had not +spoken a word, burst into another malicious laugh as Florent strode +sternly away amidst a chorus of jeers, which he pretended not to hear. + +Each day now some new trick was played upon him, and he was obliged to +walk through the market alleys as warily as though he were in a +hostile country. He was splashed with water from the sponges employed +to cleanse the slabs; he stumbled and almost fell over slippery refuse +intentionally spread in his way; and even the porters contrived to run +their baskets against the nape of his neck. One day, moreover, when +two of the fish-wives were quarrelling, and he hastened up to prevent +them coming to blows, he was obliged to duck in order to escape being +slapped on either cheek by a shower of little dabs which passed over +his head. There was a general outburst of laughter on this occasion, +and Florent always believed that the two fish-wives were in league +with the Mehudins. However, his old-time experiences as a teacher had +endowed him with angelic patience, and he was able to maintain a +magisterial coolness of manner even when anger was hotly rising within +him, and his whole being quivered with a sense of humiliation. Still, +the young scamps of the Rue de l'Estrapade had never manifested the +savagery of these fish-wives, the cruel tenacity of these huge +females, whose massive figures heaved and shook with a giant-like joy +whenever he fell into any trap. They stared him out of countenance +with their red faces; and in the coarse tones of their voices and the +impudent gesture of their hands he could read volumes of filthy abuse +levelled at himself. Gavard would have been quite in his element +amidst all these petticoats, and would have freely cuffed them all +round; but Florent, who had always been afraid of women, gradually +felt overwhelmed as by a sort of nightmare in which giant women, buxom +beyond all imagination, danced threateningly around him, shouting at +him in hoarse voices and brandishing bare arms, as massive as any +prize-fighter's. + +Amongst this hoard of females, however, Florent had one friend. Claire +unhesitatingly declared that the new inspector was a very good fellow. +When he passed in front of her, pursued by the coarse abuse of the +others, she gave him a pleasant smile, sitting nonchalantly behind her +stall, with unruly errant locks of pale hair straying over her neck +and her brow, and the bodice of her dress pinned all askew. He also +often saw her dipping her hands into her tanks, transferring the fish +from one compartment to another, and amusing herself by turning on the +brass taps, shaped like little dolphins with open mouths, from which +the water poured in streamlets. Amidst the rustling sound of the water +she had some of the quivering grace of a girl who has just been +bathing and has hurriedly slipped on her clothes. + +One morning she was particularly amiable. She called the inspector to +her to show him a huge eel which had been the wonder of the market +when exhibited at the auction. She opened the grating, which she had +previously closed over the basin in whose depths the eel seemed to be +lying sound asleep. + +"Wait a moment," she said, "and I'll show it to you." + +Then she gently slipped her bare arm into the water; it was not a very +plump arm, and its veins showed softly blue beneath its satiny skin. +As soon as the eel felt her touch, it rapidly twisted round, and +seemed to fill the narrow trough with its glistening greenish coils. +And directly it had settled down to rest again Claire once more +stirred it with her fingertips. + +"It is an enormous creature," Florent felt bound to say. "I have +rarely seen such a fine one." + +Claire thereupon confessed to him that she had at first been +frightened of eels; but now she had learned how to tighten her grip so +that they could not slip away. From another compartment she took a +smaller one, which began to wriggle both with head and tail, as she +held it about the middle in her closed fist. This made her laugh. She +let it go, then seized another and another, scouring the basin and +stirring up the whole heap of snaky-looking creatures with her slim +fingers. + +Afterwards she began to speak of the slackness of trade. The hawkers +on the foot-pavement of the covered way did the regular saleswomen a +great deal of injury, she said. Meantime her bare arm, which she had +not wiped, was glistening and dripping with water. Big drops trickled +from each finger. + +"Oh," she exclaimed suddenly, "I must show you my carp, too!" + +She now removed another grating, and, using both hands, lifted out a +large carp, which began to flap its tail and gasp. It was too big to +be held conveniently, so she sought another one. This was smaller, and +she could hold it with one hand, but the latter was forced slightly +open by the panting of the sides each time that the fish gasped. To +amuse herself it occurred to Claire to pop the tip of her thumb into +the carp's mouth whilst it was dilated. "It won't bite," said she with +her gentle laugh; "it's not spiteful. No more are the crawfishes; I'm +not the least afraid of them." + +She plunged her arm into the water again, and from a compartment full +of a confused crawling mass brought up a crawfish that had caught her +little finger in its claws. She gave the creature a shake, but it no +doubt gripped her too tightly, for she turned very red, and snapped +off its claw with a quick, angry gesture, though still continuing to +smile. + +"By the way," she continued quickly, to conceal her emotion, "I +wouldn't trust myself with a pike; he'd cut off my fingers like a +knife." + +She thereupon showed him some big pike arranged in order of size upon +clean scoured shelves, beside some bronze-hued tench and little heaps +of gudgeon. Her hands were now quite slimy with handling the carp, and +as she stood there in the dampness rising from the tanks, she held +them outstretched over the dripping fish on the stall. She seemed +enveloped by an odour of spawn, that heavy scent which rises from +among the reeds and water-lilies when the fish, languid in the +sunlight, discharge their eggs. Then she wiped her hands on her apron, +still smiling the placid smile of a girl who knew nothing of passion +in that quivering atmosphere of the frigid loves of the river. + +The kindliness which Claire showed to Florent was but a slight +consolation to him. By stopping to talk to the girl he only drew upon +himself still coarser jeers from the other stallkeepers. Claire +shrugged her shoulders, and said that her mother was an old jade, and +her sister a worthless creature. The injustice of the market folk +towards the new inspector filled her with indignation. The war between +them, however, grew more bitter every day. Florent had serious +thoughts of resigning his post; indeed, he would not have retained it +for another twenty-four hours if he had not been afraid that Lisa +might imagine him to be a coward. He was frightened of what she might +say and what she might think. She was naturally well aware of the +contest which was going on between the fish-wives and their inspector; +for the whole echoing market resounded with it, and the entire +neighbourhood discussed each fresh incident with endless comments. + +"Ah, well," Lisa would often say in the evening, after dinner, "I'd +soon bring them to reason if I had anything to do with them! Why, they +are a lot of dirty jades that I wouldn't touch with the tip of my +finger! That Normande is the lowest of the low! I'd soon crush her, +that I would! You should really use your authority, Florent. You are +wrong to behave as you do. Put your foot down, and they'll all come to +their senses very quickly, you'll see." + +A terrible climax was presently reached. One morning the servant of +Madame Taboureau, the baker, came to the market to buy a brill; and +the beautiful Norman, having noticed her lingering near her stall for +several minutes, began to make overtures to her in a coaxing way: +"Come and see me; I'll suit you," she said. "Would you like a pair of +soles, or a fine turbot?" + +Then as the servant at last came up, and sniffed at a brill with that +dissatisfied pout which buyers assume in the hope of getting what they +want at a lower price, La Normande continued: + +"Just feel the weight of that, now," and so saying she laid the brill, +wrapped in a sheet of thick yellow paper, on the woman's open palm. + +The servant, a mournful little woman from Auvergne, felt the weight of +the brill, and examined its gills, still pouting, and saying not a +word. + +"And how much do you want for it?" she asked presently, in a reluctant +tone. + +"Fifteen francs," replied La Normande. + +At this the servant hastily laid the brill on the stall again, and +seemed anxious to hurry away, but the other detained her. "Wait a +moment," said she. "What do you offer?" + +"No, no, I can't take it. It is much too dear." + +"Come, now, make me an offer." + +"Well, will you take eight francs?" + +Old Madame Mehudin, who was there, suddenly seemed to wake up, and +broke out into a contemptuous laugh. Did people think that she and her +daughter stole the fish they sold? "Eight francs for a brill that +size!" she exclaimed. "You'll be wanting one for nothing next, to use +as a cooling plaster!" + +Meantime La Normande turned her head away, as though greatly offended. +However, the servant came back twice and offered nine francs; and +finally she increased her bid to ten. + +"All right, come on, give me your money!" cried the fish-girl, seeing +that the woman was now really going away. + +The servant took her stand in front of the stall and entered into a +friendly gossip with old Madame Mehudin. Madame Taboureau, she said, +was so exacting! She had got some people coming to dinner that +evening, some cousins from Blois a notary and his wife. Madame +Taboureau's family, she added, was a very respectable one, and she +herself, although only a baker, had received an excellent education. + +"You'll clean it nicely for me, won't you?" added the woman, pausing +in her chatter. + +With a jerk of her finger La Normande had removed the fish's entrails +and tossed them into a pail. Then she slipped a corner of her apron +under its gills to wipe away a few grains of sand. "There, my dear," +she said, putting the fish into the servant's basket, "you'll come +back to thank me." + +Certainly the servant did come back a quarter of an hour afterwards, +but it was with a flushed, red face. She had been crying, and her +little body was trembling all over with anger. Tossing the brill on to +the marble slab, she pointed to a broad gash in its belly that reached +the bone. Then a flood of broken words burst from her throat, which +was still contracted by sobbing: "Madame Taboureau won't have it. She +says she couldn't put it on her table. She told me, too, that I was an +idiot, and let myself be cheated by anyone. You can see for yourself +that the fish is spoilt. I never thought of turning it round; I quite +trusted you. Give me my ten francs back." + +"You should look at what you buy," the handsome Norman calmly +observed. + +And then, as the servant was just raising her voice again, old Madame +Mehudin got up. "Just you shut up!" she cried. "We're not going to +take back a fish that's been knocking about in other people's houses. +How do we know that you didn't let it fall and damage it yourself?" + +"I! I damage it!" The little servant was choking with indignation. +"Ah! you're a couple of thieves!" she cried, sobbing bitterly. "Yes, a +couple of thieves! Madame Taboureau herself told me so!" + +Matters then became uproarious. Boiling over with rage and brandishing +their fists, both mother and daughter fairly exploded; while the poor +little servant, quite bewildered by their voices, the one hoarse and +the other shrill, which belaboured her with insults as though they +were battledores and she a shuttlecock, sobbed on more bitterly than +ever. + +"Be off with you! Your Madame Taboureau would like to be half as fresh +as that fish is! She'd like us to sew it up for her, no doubt!" + +"A whole fish for ten francs! What'll she want next!" + +Then came coarse words and foul accusations. Had the servant been the +most worthless of her sex she could not have been more bitterly +upbraided. + +Florent, whom the market keeper had gone to fetch, made his appearance +when the quarrel was at its hottest. The whole pavilion seemed to be +in a state of insurrection. The fish-wives, who manifest the keenest +jealousy of each other when the sale of a penny herring is in +question, display a united front when a quarrel arises with a buyer. +They sang the popular old ditty, "The baker's wife has heaps of +crowns, which cost her precious little"; they stamped their feet, and +goaded the Mehudins as though the latter were dogs which they were +urging on to bite and devour. And there were even some, having stalls +at the other end of the alley, who rushed up wildly, as though they +meant to spring at the chignon of the poor little woman, she meantime +being quite submerged by the flood of insulting abuse poured upon her. + +"Return mademoiselle her ten francs," said Florent sternly, when he +had learned what had taken place. + +But old Madame Mehudin had her blood up. "As for you, my little man," +quoth she, "go to blazes! Here, that's how I'll return the ten +francs!" + +As she spoke, she flung the brill with all her force at the head of +Madame Taboureau's servant, who received it full in the face. The +blood spurted from her nose, and the brill, after adhering for a +moment to her cheeks, fell to the ground and burst with a flop like +that of a wet clout. This brutal act threw Florent into a fury. The +beautiful Norman felt frightened and recoiled, as he cried out: "I +suspend you for a week, and I will have your licence withdrawn. You +hear me?" + +Then, as the other fish-wives were still jeering behind him, he turned +round with such a threatening air that they quailed like wild beasts +mastered by the tamer, and tried to assume an expression of innocence. +When the Mehudins had returned the ten francs, Florent peremptorily +ordered them to cease selling at once. The old woman was choking with +rage, while the daughter kept silent, but turned very white. She, the +beautiful Norman, to be driven out of her stall! + +Claire said in her quiet voice that it served her mother and sister +right, a remark which nearly resulted in the two girls tearing each +other's hair out that evening when they returned home to the Rue +Pirouette. However, when the Mehudins came back to the market at the +week's end, they remained very quiet, reserved, and curt of speech, +though full of a cold-blooded wrath. Moreover, they found the pavilion +quite calm and restored to order again. From that day forward the +beautiful Norman must have harboured the thought of some terrible +vengeance. She felt that she really had Lisa to thank for what had +happened. She had met her, the day after the battle, carrying her head +so high, that she had sworn she would make her pay dearly for her +glance of triumph. She held interminable confabulations with Madame +Saget, Madame Lecoeur, and La Sarriette, in quiet corners of the +market; however, all their chatter about the shameless conduct which +they slanderously ascribed to Lisa and her cousin, and about the hairs +which they declared were found in Quenu's chitterlings, brought La +Normande little consolation. She was trying to think of some very +malicious plan of vengeance, which would strike her rival to the +heart. + +Her child was growing up in the fish market in all freedom and +neglect. When but three years old the youngster had been brought +there, and day by day remained squatting on some rag amidst the fish. +He would fall asleep beside the big tunnies as though he were one of +them, and awake among the mackerel and whiting. The little rascal +smelt of fish as strongly as though he were some big fish's offspring. +For a long time his favourite pastime, whenever his mother's back was +turned, was to build walls and houses of herrings; and he would also +play at soldiers on the marble slab, arranging the red gurnets in +confronting lines, pushing them against each other, and battering +their heads, while imitating the sound of drum and trumpet with his +lips; after which he would throw them all into a heap again, and +exclaim that they were dead. When he grew older he would prowl about +his aunt Claire's stall to get hold of the bladders of the carp and +pike which she gutted. He placed them on the ground and made them +burst, an amusement which afforded him vast delight. When he was seven +he rushed about the alleys, crawled under the stalls, ferreted amongst +the zinc bound fish boxes, and became the spoiled pet of all the +women. Whenever they showed him something fresh which pleased him, he +would clasp his hands and exclaim in ecstasy, "Oh, isn't it stunning!" +/Muche/ was the exact word which he used; /muche/ being the equivalent +of "stunning" in the lingo of the markets; and he used the expression +so often that it clung to him as a nickname. He became known all over +the place as "Muche." It was Muche here, there and everywhere; no one +called him anything else. He was to be met with in every nook; in out- +of-the-way corners of the offices in the auction pavilion; among the +piles of oyster baskets, and betwixt the buckets where the refuse was +thrown. With a pinky fairness of skin, he was like a young barbel +frisking and gliding about in deep water. He was as fond of running, +streaming water as any young fry. He was ever dabbling in the pools in +the alleys. He wetted himself with the drippings from the tables, and +when no one was looking often slyly turned on the taps, rejoicing in +the bursting gush of water. But it was especially beside the fountains +near the cellar steps that his mother went to seek him in the evening, +and she would bring him thence with his hands quite blue, and his +shoes, and even his pockets, full of water. + +At seven years old Muche was as pretty as an angel, and as coarse in +his manners as any carter. He had curly chestnut hair, beautiful eyes, +and an innocent-looking mouth which gave vent to language that even a +gendarme would have hesitated to use. Brought up amidst all the +ribaldry and profanity of the markets, he had the whole vocabulary of +the place on the tip of his tongue. With his hands on his hips he +often mimicked Grandmother Mehudin in her anger, and at these times +the coarsest and vilest expressions would stream from his lips in a +voice of crystalline purity that might have belonged to some little +chorister chanting the /Ave Maria/. He would even try to assume a +hoarse roughness of tone, seek to degrade and taint that exquisite +freshness of childhood which made him resemble a /bambino/ on the +Madonna's knees. The fish-wives laughed at him till they cried; and +he, encouraged, could scarcely say a couple of words without rapping +out an oath. But in spite of all this he still remained charming, +understanding nothing of the dirt amidst which he lived, kept in +vigorous health by the fresh breezes and sharp odours of the fish +market, and reciting his vocabulary of coarse indecencies with as pure +a face as though he were saying his prayers. + +The winter was approaching, and Muche seemed very sensitive to the +cold. As soon as the chilly weather set in he manifested a strong +predilection for the inspector's office. This was situated in the +left-hand corner of the pavilion, on the side of the Rue Rambuteau. +The furniture consisted of a table, a stack of drawers, an easy-chair, +two other chairs, and a stove. It was this stove which attracted +Muche. Florent quite worshipped children, and when he saw the little +fellow, with his dripping legs, gazing wistfully through the window, +he made him come inside. His first conversation with the lad caused +him profound amazement. Muche sat down in front of the stove, and in +his quiet voice exclaimed: "I'll just toast my toes, do you see? It's +d----d cold this morning." Then he broke into a rippling laugh, and +added: "Aunt Claire looks awfully blue this morning. Is it true, sir, +that you are sweet on her?" + +Amazed though he was, Florent felt quite interested in the odd little +fellow. The handsome Norman retained her surly bearing, but allowed +her son to frequent the inspector's office without a word of +objection. Florent consequently concluded that he had the mother's +permission to receive the boy, and every afternoon he asked him in; by +degrees forming the idea of turning him into a steady, respectable +young fellow. He could almost fancy that his brother Quenu had grown +little again, and that they were both in the big room in the Rue +Royer-Collard once more. The life which his self-sacrificing nature +pictured to him as perfect happiness was a life spent with some young +being who would never grow up, whom he could go on teaching for ever, +and in whose innocence he might still love his fellow man. On the +third day of his acquaintance with Muche he brought an alphabet to the +office, and the lad delighted him by the intelligence he manifested. +He learned his letters with all the sharp precocity which marks the +Parisian street arab, and derived great amusement from the woodcuts +illustrating the alphabet. + +He found opportunities, too, for plenty of fine fun in the little +office, where the stove still remained the chief attraction and a +source of endless enjoyment. At first he cooked potatoes and chestnuts +at it, but presently these seemed insipid, and he thereupon stole some +gudgeons from his aunt Claire, roasted them one by one, suspended from +a string in front of the glowing fire, and then devoured them with +gusto, though he had no bread. One day he even brought a carp with +him; but it was impossible to roast it sufficiently, and it made such +a smell in the office that both window and door had to be thrown open. +Sometimes, when the odour of all these culinary operations became too +strong, Florent would throw the fish into the street, but as a rule he +only laughed. By the end of a couple of months Muche was able to read +fairly well, and his copy-books did him credit. + +Meantime, every evening the lad wearied his mother with his talk about +his good friend Florent. His good friend Florent had drawn him +pictures of trees and of men in huts, said he. His good friend Florent +waved his arm and said that men would be far better if they all knew +how to read. And at last La Normande heard so much about Florent that +she seemed to be almost intimate with this man against whom she +harboured so much rancour. One day she shut Muche up at home to +prevent him from going to the inspector's, but he cried so bitterly +that she gave him his liberty again on the following morning. There +was very little determination about her, in spite of her broad +shoulders and bold looks. When the lad told her how nice and warm he +had been in the office, and came back to her with his clothes quite +dry, she felt a sort of vague gratitude, a pleasure in knowing that he +had found a shelter-place where he could sit with his feet in front of +a fire. Later on, she was quite touched when he read her some words +from a scrap of soiled newspaper wrapped round a slice of conger-eel. +By degrees, indeed, she began to think, though without admitting it, +that Florent could not really be a bad sort of fellow. She felt +respect for his knowledge, mingled with an increasing curiosity to see +more of him and learn something of his life. Then, all at once, she +found an excuse for gratifying this inquisitiveness. She would use it +as a means of vengeance. It would be fine fun to make friends with +Florent and embroil him with that great fat Lisa. + +"Does your good friend Florent ever speak to you about me?" she asked +Muche one morning as she was dressing him. + +"Oh, no," replied the boy. "We enjoy ourselves." + +"Well, you can tell him that I've quite forgiven him, and that I'm +much obliged to him for having taught you to read." + +Thenceforward the child was entrusted with some message every day. He +went backwards and forwards from his mother to the inspector, and from +the inspector to his mother, charged with kindly words and questions +and answers, which he repeated mechanically without knowing their +meaning. He might, indeed, have been safely trusted with the most +compromising communications. However, the beautiful Norman felt afraid +of appearing timid, and so one day she herself went to the inspector's +office and sat down on the second chair, while Muche was having his +writing lesson. She proved very suave and complimentary, and Florent +was by far the more embarrassed of the two. They only spoke of the +lad; and when Florent expressed a fear that he might not be able to +continue the lessons in the office, La Normande invited him to come to +their home in the evening. She spoke also of payment; but at this he +blushed, and said that he certainly would not come if any mention were +made of money. Thereupon the young woman determined in her own mind +that she would recompense him with presents of choice fish. + +Peace was thus made between them; the beautiful Norman even took +Florent under her protection. Apart from this, however, the whole +market was becoming reconciled to the new inspector, the fish-wives +arriving at the conclusion that he was really a better fellow than +Monsieur Verlaque, notwithstanding his strange eyes. It was only old +Madame Mehudin who still shrugged her shoulders, full of rancour as +she was against the "long lanky-guts," as she contemptuously called +him. And then, too, a strange thing happened. One morning, when +Florent stopped with a smile before Claire's tanks, the girl dropped +an eel which she was holding and angrily turned her back upon him, her +cheeks quite swollen and reddened by temper. The inspector was so much +astonished that he spoke to La Normande about it. + +"Oh, never mind her," said the young woman; "she's cracked. She makes +a point of always differing from everybody else. She only behaved like +that to annoy me." + +La Normande was now triumphant--she strutted about her stall, and +became more coquettish than ever, arranging her hair in the most +elaborate manner. Meeting the handsome Lisa one day she returned her +look of scorn, and even burst out laughing in her face. The certainty +she felt of driving the mistress of the pork shop to despair by +winning her cousin from her endowed her with a gay, sonorous laugh, +which rolled up from her chest and rippled her white plump neck. She +now had the whim of dressing Muche very showily in a little Highland +costume and velvet bonnet. The lad had never previously worn anything +but a tattered blouse. It unfortunately happened, however, that just +about this time he again became very fond of the water. The ice had +melted and the weather was mild, so he gave his Scotch jacket a bath, +turning the fountain tap on at full flow and letting the water pour +down his arm from his elbow to his hand. He called this "playing at +gutters." Then a little later, when his mother came up and caught him, +she found him with two other young scamps watching a couple of little +fishes swimming about in his velvet cap, which he had filled with +water. + +For nearly eight months Florent lived in the markets, feeling +continual drowsiness. After his seven years of suffering he had +lighted upon such calm quietude, such unbroken regularity of life, +that he was scarcely conscious of existing. He gave himself up to this +jog-trot peacefulness with a dazed sort of feeling, continually +experiencing surprise at finding himself each morning in the same +armchair in the little office. This office with its bare hut-like +appearance had a charm for him. He here found a quiet and secluded +refuge amidst that ceaseless roar of the markets which made him dream +of some surging sea spreading around him, and isolating him from the +world. Gradually, however, a vague nervousness began to prey upon him; +he became discontented, accused himself of faults which he could not +define, and began to rebel against the emptiness which he experienced +more and more acutely in mind and body. Then, too, the evil smells of +the fish market brought him nausea. By degrees he became unhinged, his +vague boredom developing into restless, nervous excitement. + +All his days were precisely alike, spent among the same sounds and the +same odours. In the mornings the noisy buzzing of the auction sales +resounded in his ears like a distant echo of bells; and sometimes, +when there was a delay in the arrival of the fish, the auctions +continued till very late. Upon these occasions he remained in the +pavilion till noon, disturbed at every moment by quarrels and +disputes, which he endeavoured to settle with scrupulous justice. +Hours elapsed before he could get free of some miserable matter or +other which was exciting the market. He paced up and down amidst the +crush and uproar of the sales, slowly perambulating the alleys and +occasionally stopping in front of the stalls which fringed the Rue +Rambuteau, and where lay rosy heaps of prawns and baskets of boiled +lobsters with tails tied backwards, while live ones were gradually +dying as they sprawled over the marble slabs. And then he would watch +gentlemen in silk hats and black gloves bargaining with the fish- +wives, and finally going off with boiled lobsters wrapped in paper in +the pockets of their frock-coats.[*] Farther away, at the temporary +stalls, where the commoner sorts of fish were sold, he would recognise +the bareheaded women of the neighbourhood, who always came at the same +hour to make their purchases. + +[*] The little fish-basket for the use of customers, so familiar in + London, is not known in Paris.--Translator. + +At times he took an interest in some well-dressed lady trailing her +lace petticoats over the damp stones, and escorted by a servant in a +white apron; and he would follow her at a little distance on noticing +how the fish-wives shrugged their shoulders at sight of her air of +disgust. The medley of hampers and baskets and bags, the crowd of +skirts flitting along the damp alleys, occupied his attention until +lunchtime. He took a delight in the dripping water and the fresh +breeze as he passed from the acrid smell of the shell-fish to the +pungent odour of the salted fish. It was always with the latter that +he brought his official round of inspection to a close. The cases of +red herrings, the Nantes sardines on their layers of leaves, and the +rolled cod, exposed for sale under the eyes of stout, faded fish- +wives, brought him thoughts of a voyage necessitating a vast supply of +salted provisions. + +In the afternoon the markets became quieter, grew drowsy; and Florent +then shut himself up in his office, made out his reports, and enjoyed +the happiest hours of his day. If he happened to go out and cross the +fish market, he found it almost deserted. There was no longer the +crushing and pushing and uproar of ten o'clock in the morning. The +fish-wives, seated behind their stalls, leant back knitting, while a +few belated purchasers prowled about casting sidelong glances at the +remaining fish, with the thoughtful eyes and compressed lips of women +closely calculating the price of their dinner. At last the twilight +fell, there was a noise of boxes being moved, and the fish was laid +for the night on beds of ice; and then, after witnessing the closing +of the gates, Florent went off, seemingly carrying the fish market +along with him in his clothes and his beard and his hair. + +For the first few months this penetrating odour caused him no great +discomfort. The winter was a severe one, the frosts converted the +alleys into slippery mirrors, and the fountains and marble slabs were +fringed with a lacework of ice. In the mornings it was necessary to +place little braziers underneath the taps before a drop of water could +be drawn. The frozen fish had twisted tails; and, dull of hue and hard +to the touch like unpolished metal, gave out a ringing sound akin to +that of pale cast-iron when it snaps. Until February the pavilion +presented a most mournful appearance: it was deserted, and wrapped in +a bristling shroud of ice. But with March came a thaw, with mild +weather and fogs and rain. Then the fish became soft again, and +unpleasant odours mingled with the smell of mud wafted from the +neighbouring streets. These odours were as yet vague, tempered by the +moisture which clung to the ground. But in the blazing June afternoons +a reeking stench arose, and the atmosphere became heavy with a +pestilential haze. The upper windows were then opened, and huge blinds +of grey canvas were drawn beneath the burning sky. Nevertheless, a +fiery rain seemed to be pouring down, heating the market as though it +were a big stove, and there was not a breath of air to waft away the +noxious emanations from the fish. A visible steam went up from the +stalls. + +The masses of food amongst which Florent lived now began to cause him +the greatest discomfort. The disgust with which the pork shop had +filled him came back in a still more intolerable fashion. He almost +sickened as he passed these masses of fish, which, despite all the +water lavished upon them, turned bad under a sudden whiff of hot air. +Even when he shut himself up in his office his discomfort continued, +for the abominable odour forced its way through the chinks in the +woodwork of the window and door. When the sky was grey and leaden, the +little room remained quite dark; and then the day was like a long +twilight in the depths of some fetid march. He was often attacked by +fits of nervous excitement, and felt a craving desire to walk; and he +would then descend into the cellars by the broad staircase opening in +the middle of the pavilion. In the pent-up air down below, in the dim +light of the occasional gas jets, he once more found the refreshing +coolness diffused by pure cold water. He would stand in front of the +big tank where the reserve stock of live fish was kept, and listen to +the ceaseless murmur of the four streamlets of water falling from the +four corners of the central urn, and then spreading into a broad +stream and gliding beneath the locked gratings of the basins with a +gentle and continuous flow. This subterranean spring, this stream +murmuring in the gloom, had a tranquillising effect upon him. Of an +evening, too, he delighted in the fine sunsets which threw the +delicate lacework of the market buildings blackly against the red glow +of the heavens. The dancing dust of the last sun rays streamed through +every opening, through every chink of the Venetian shutters, and the +whole was like some luminous transparency on which the slender shafts +of the columns, the elegant curves of the girders, and the geometrical +tracery of the roofs were minutely outlined. Florent feasted his eyes +on this mighty diagram washed in with Indian ink on phosphorescent +vellum, and his mind reverted to his old fancy of a colossal machine +with wheels and levers and beams espied in the crimson glow of the +fires blazing beneath its boilers. At each consecutive hour of the day +the changing play of the light--from the bluish haze of early morning +and the black shadows of noon to the flaring of the sinking sun and +the paling of its fires in the ashy grey of the twilight--revealed the +markets under a new aspect; but on the flaming evenings, when the foul +smells arose and forced their way across the broad yellow beams like +hot puffs of steam, Florent again experienced discomfort, and his +dream changed, and he imagined himself in some gigantic knacker's +boiling-house where the fat of a whole people was being melted down. + +The coarseness of the market people, whose words and gestures seemed +to be infected with the evil smell of the place, also made him suffer. +He was very tolerant, and showed no mock modesty; still, these +impudent women often embarrassed him. Madame Francois, whom he had +again met, was the only one with whom he felt at ease. She showed such +pleasure on learning he had found a berth and was quite comfortable +and out of worry, as she put it, that he was quite touched. The +laughter of Lisa, the handsome Norman, and the others disquieted him; +but of Madame Francois he would willingly have made a confidante. She +never laughed mockingly at him; when she did laugh, it was like a +woman rejoicing at another's happiness. She was a brave, plucky +creature, too; hers was a hard business in winter, during the frosts, +and the rainy weather was still more trying. On some mornings Florent +saw her arrive in a pouring deluge which had been slowly, coldly +falling ever since the previous night. Between Nanterre and Paris the +wheels of her cart had sunk up to the axles in mud, and Balthazar was +caked with mire to his belly. His mistress would pity him and +sympathise with him as she wiped him down with some old aprons. + +"The poor creatures are very sensitive," said she; "a mere nothing +gives them a cold. Ah, my poor old Balthazar! I really thought that we +had tumbled into the Seine as we crossed the Neuilly bridge, the rain +came down in such a deluge!" + +While Balthazar was housed in the inn stable his mistress remained in +the pouring rain to sell her vegetables. The footway was transformed +into a lake of liquid mud. The cabbages, carrots, and turnips were +pelted by the grey water, quite drowned by the muddy torrent that +rushed along the pavement. There was no longer any of that glorious +greenery so apparent on bright mornings. The market gardeners, +cowering in their heavy cloaks beneath the downpour, swore at the +municipality which, after due inquiry, had declared that rain was in +no way injurious to vegetables, and that there was accordingly no +necessity to erect any shelters. + +Those rainy mornings greatly worried Florent, who thought about Madame +Francois. He always managed to slip away and get a word with her. But +he never found her at all low-spirited. She shook herself like a +poodle, saying that she was quite used to such weather, and was not +made of sugar, to melt away beneath a few drops of rain. However, he +made her seek refuge for a few minutes in one of the covered ways, and +frequently even took her to Monsieur Lebigre's, where they had some +hot wine together. While she with her peaceful face beamed on him in +all friendliness, he felt quite delighted with the healthy odour of +the fields which she brought into the midst of the foul market +atmosphere. She exhaled a scent of earth, hay, fresh air, and open +skies. + +"You must come to Nanterre, my lad," she said to him, "and look at my +kitchen garden. I have put borders of thyme everywhere. How bad your +villainous Paris does smell!" + +Then she went off, dripping. Florent, on his side, felt quite +re-invigorated when he parted from her. He tried, too the effect of +work upon the nervous depression from which he suffered. He was a man +of a very methodical temperament, and sometimes carried out his plans +for the allotment of his time with a strictness that bordered on +mania. He shut himself up two evenings a week in order to write an +exhaustive work on Cayenne. His modest bedroom was excellently +adapted, he thought, to calm his mind and incline him to work. He +lighted his fire, saw that the pomegranate at the foot of the bed was +looking all right, and then seated himself at the little table, and +remained working till midnight. He had pushed the missal and Dream- +book back in the drawer, which was now filling with notes, memoranda, +manuscripts of all kinds. The work on Cayenne made but slow progress, +however, as it was constantly being interrupted by other projects, +plans for enormous undertakings which he sketched out in a few words. +He successively drafted an outline of a complete reform of the +administrative system of the markets, a scheme for transforming the +city dues, levied on produce as it entered Paris, into taxes levied +upon the sales, a new system of victualling the poorer neighbourhoods, +and, lastly, a somewhat vague socialist enactment for the storing in +common warehouses of all the provisions brought to the markets, and +the ensuring of a minimum daily supply to each household in Paris. As +he sat there, with his head bent over his table, and his mind absorbed +in thoughts of all these weighty matters, his gloomy figure cast a +great black shadow on the soft peacefulness of the garret. Sometimes a +chaffinch which he had picked up one snowy day in the market would +mistake the lamplight for the day, and break the silence, which only +the scratching of Florent's pen on his paper disturbed, by a cry. + +Florent was fated to revert to politics. He had suffered too much +through them not to make them the dearest occupation of his life. +Under other conditions he might have become a good provincial +schoolmaster, happy in the peaceful life of some little town. But he +had been treated as though he were a wolf, and felt as though he had +been marked out by exile for some great combative task. His nervous +discomfort was the outcome of his long reveries at Cayenne, the +brooding bitterness he had felt at his unmerited sufferings, and the +vows he had secretly sworn to avenge humanity and justice--the former +scourged with a whip, and the latter trodden under foot. Those +colossal markets and their teeming odoriferous masses of food had +hastened the crisis. To Florent they appeared symbolical of some +glutted, digesting beast, of Paris, wallowing in its fat and silently +upholding the Empire. He seemed to be encircled by swelling forms and +sleek, fat faces, which ever and ever protested against his own +martyrlike scragginess and sallow, discontented visage. To him the +markets were like the stomach of the shopkeeping classes, the stomach +of all the folks of average rectitude puffing itself out, rejoicing, +glistening in the sunshine, and declaring that everything was for the +best, since peaceable people had never before grown so beautifully +fat. As these thoughts passed through his mind Florent clenched his +fists, and felt ready for a struggle, more irritated now by the +thought of his exile than he had been when he first returned to +France. Hatred resumed entire possession of him. He often let his pen +drop and became absorbed in dreams. The dying fire cast a bright glow +upon his face; the lamp burned smokily, and the chaffinch fell asleep +again on one leg, with its head tucked under its wing. + +Sometimes Auguste, on coming upstairs at eleven o'clock and seeing the +light shining under the door, would knock, before going to bed. +Florent admitted him with some impatience. The assistant sat down in +front of the fire, speaking but little, and never saying why he had +come. His eyes would all the time remain fixed upon the photograph of +himself and Augustine in their Sunday finery. Florent came to the +conclusion that the young man took a pleasure in visiting the room for +the simple reason that it had been occupied by his sweetheart; and one +evening he asked him with a smile if he had guessed rightly. + +"Well, perhaps it is so," replied Auguste, very much surprised at the +discovery which he himself now made of the reasons which actuated him. +"I'd really never thought of that before. I came to see you without +knowing why. But if I were to tell Augustine, how she'd laugh!" + +Whenever he showed himself at all loquacious, his one eternal theme +was the pork shop which he was going to set up with Augustine at +Plaisance. He seemed so perfectly assured of arranging his life in +accordance with his desires, that Florent grew to feel a sort of +respect for him, mingled with irritation. After all, the young fellow +was very resolute and energetic, in spite of his seeming stupidity. He +made straight for the goal he had in view, and would doubtless reach +it in perfect assurance and happiness. On the evenings of these visits +from the apprentice, Florent could not settle down to work again; he +went off to bed in a discontented mood, and did not recover his +equilibrium till the thought passed through his mind, "Why, that +Auguste is a perfect animal!" + +Every month he went to Clamart to see Monsieur Verlaque. These visits +were almost a delight to him. The poor man still lingered on, to the +great astonishment of Gavard, who had not expected him to last for +more than six months. Every time that Florent went to see him Verlaque +would declare that he was feeling better, and was most anxious to +resume his work again. But the days glided by, and he had serious +relapses. Florent would sit by his bedside, chat about the fish +market, and do what he could to enliven him. He deposited on the +pedestal table the fifty francs which he surrendered to him each +month; and the old inspector, though the payment had been agreed upon, +invariably protested, and seemed disinclined to take the money. Then +they would begin to speak of something else, and the coins remained +lying on the table. When Florent went away, Madame Verlaque always +accompanied him to the street door. She was a gentle little woman, of +a very tearful disposition. Her one topic of conversation was the +expense necessitated by her husband's illness, the costliness of +chicken broth, butcher's meat, Bordeaux wine, medicine, and doctors' +fees. Her doleful conversation greatly embarrassed Florent, and on the +first few occasions he did not understand the drift of it. But at +last, as the poor woman seemed always in a state of tears, and kept +saying how happy and comfortable they had been when they had enjoyed +the full salary of eighteen hundred francs a year, he timidly offered +to make her a private allowance, to be kept secret from her husband. +This offer, however, she declined, inconsistently declaring that the +fifty francs were sufficient. But in the course of the month she +frequently wrote to Florent, calling him their saviour. Her +handwriting was small and fine, yet she would contrive to fill three +pages of letter paper with humble, flowing sentences entreating the +loan of ten francs; and this she at last did so regularly that +wellnigh the whole of Florent's hundred and fifty francs found its way +to the Verlaques. The husband was probably unaware of it; however, the +wife gratefully kissed Florent's hands. This charity afforded him the +greatest pleasure, and he concealed it as though it were some +forbidden selfish indulgence. + +"That rascal Verlaque is making a fool of you," Gavard would sometimes +say. "He's coddling himself up finely now that you are doing the work +and paying him an income." + +At last one day Florent replied: + +"Oh, we've arranged matters together. I'm only to give him twenty-five +francs a month in future." + +As a matter of fact, Florent had but little need of money. The Quenus +continued to provide him with board and lodging; and the few francs +which he kept by him sufficed to pay for the refreshment he took in +the evening at Monsieur Lebigre's. His life had gradually assumed all +the regularity of clockwork. He worked in his bedroom, continued to +teach little Muche twice a week from eight to nine o'clock, devoted an +evening to Lisa, to avoid offending her, and spent the rest of his +spare time in the little "cabinet" with Gavard and his friends. + +When he went to the Mehudins' there was a touch of tutorial stiffness +in his gentle demeanour. He was pleased with the old house in the Rue +Pirouette. On the ground floor he passed through the faint odours +pervading the premises of the purveyor of cooked vegetables. Big pans +of boiled spinach and sorrel stood cooling in the little backyard. +Then he ascended the winding staircase, greasy and dark, with worn and +bulging steps which sloped in a disquieting manner. The Mehudins +occupied the whole of the second floor. Even when they had attained to +comfortable circumstances the old mother had always declined to move +into fresh quarters, despite all the supplications of her daughters, +who dreamt of living in a new house in a fine broad street. But on +this point the old woman was not to be moved; she had lived there, she +said, and meant to die there. She contented herself, moreover, with a +dark little closet, leaving the largest rooms to Claire and La +Normande. The later, with the authority of the elder born, had taken +possession of the room that overlooked the street; it was the best and +largest of the suite. Claire was so much annoyed at her sister's +action in the matter that she refused to occupy the adjoining room, +whose window overlooked the yard, and obstinately insisted on sleeping +on the other side of the landing, in a sort of garret, which she did +not even have whitewashed. However, she had her own key, and so was +independent; directly anything happened to displease her she locked +herself up in her own quarters. + +As a rule, when Florent arrived the Mehudins were just finishing their +dinner. Muche sprang to his neck, and for a moment the young man +remained seated with the lad chattering between his legs. Then, when +the oilcloth cover had been wiped, the lesson began on a corner of the +table. The beautiful Norman gave Florent a cordial welcome. She +generally began to knit or mend some linen, and would draw her chair +up to the table and work by the light of the same lamp as the others; +and she frequently put down her needle to listen to the lesson, which +filled her with surprise. She soon began to feel warm esteem for this +man who seemed so clever, who, in speaking to the little one, showed +himself as gentle as a woman, and manifested angelic patience in again +and again repeating the same instructions. She no longer considered +him at all plain, but even felt somewhat jealous of beautiful Lisa. +And then she drew her chair still nearer, and gazed at Florent with an +embarrassing smile. + +"But you are jogging my elbow, mother, and I can't write," Muche +exclaimed angrily. "There! see what a blot you've made me make! Get +further away, do!" + +La Normande now gradually began to say a good many unpleasant things +about beautiful Lisa. She pretended that the latter concealed her real +age, that she laced her stays so tightly that she nearly suffocated +herself, and that if she came down of a morning looking so trim and +neat, without a single hair out of place, it must be because she +looked perfectly hideous when in dishabille. Then La Normande would +raise her arm a little, and say that there was no need for her to wear +any stays to cramp and deform her figure. At these times the lessons +would be interrupted, and Muche gazed with interest at his mother as +she raised her arms. Florent listened to her, and even laughed, +thinking to himself that women were very odd creatures. The rivalry +between the beautiful Norman and beautiful Lisa amused him. + +Muche, however, managed to finish his page of writing. Florent, who +was a good penman, set him copies in large hand and round hand on +slips of paper. The words he chose were very long and took up the +whole line, and he evinced a marked partiality for such expressions as +"tyrannically," "liberticide," "unconstitutional," and +"revolutionary." At times also he made the boy copy such sentences as +these: "The day of justice will surely come"; "The suffering of the +just man is the condemnation of the oppressor"; "When the hour +strikes, the guilty shall fall." In preparing these copy slips he was, +indeed, influenced by the ideas which haunted his brain; he would for +the time become quite oblivious of Muche, the beautiful Norman, and +all his surroundings. The lad would have copied Rousseau's "Contrat +Social" had he been told to do so; and thus, drawing each letter in +turn, he filled page after page with lines of "tyrannically" and +"unconstitutional." + +As long as the tutor remained there, old Madame Mehudin kept fidgeting +round the table, muttering to herself. She still harboured terrible +rancour against Florent; and asserted that it was folly to make the +lad work in that way at a time when children should be in bed. She +would certainly have turned that "spindle-shanks" out of the house, if +the beautiful Norman, after a stormy scene, had not bluntly told her +that she would go to live elsewhere if she were not allowed to receive +whom she chose. However, the pair began quarrelling again on the +subject every evening. + +"You may say what you like," exclaimed the old woman; "but he's got +treacherous eyes. And, besides, I'm always suspicious of those skinny +people. A skinny man's capable of anything. I've never come across a +decent one yet. That one's as flat as a board. And he's got such an +ugly face, too! Though I'm sixty-five and more, I'd precious soon send +him about his business if he came a-courting of me!" + +She said this because she had a shrewd idea of how matters were likely +to turn out. And then she went on to speak in laudatory terms of +Monsieur Lebigre, who, indeed, paid the greatest attention to the +beautiful Norman. Apart from the handsome dowry which he imagined she +would bring with her, he considered that she would be a magnificent +acquisition to his counter. The old woman never missed an opportunity +to sound his praises; there was no lankiness, at any rate, about him, +said she; he was stout and strong, with a pair of calves which would +have done honour even to one of the Emperor's footmen. + +However, La Normande shrugged her shoulders and snappishly replied: +"What do I care whether he's stout or not? I don't want him or +anybody. And besides, I shall do as I please." + +Then, if the old woman became too pointed in her remarks, the other +added: "It's no business of yours, and besides, it isn't true. Hold +your tongue and don't worry me." And thereupon she would go off into +her room, banging the door behind her. Florent, however, had a yet +more bitter enemy than Madame Mehudin in the house. As soon as ever he +arrived there, Claire would get up without a word, take a candle, and +go off to her own room on the other side of the landing; and she could +be heard locking her door in a burst of sullen anger. One evening when +her sister asked the tutor to dinner, she prepared her own food on the +landing, and ate it in her bedroom; and now and again she secluded +herself so closely that nothing was seen of her for a week at a time. +She usually retained her appearance of soft lissomness, but +periodically had a fit of iron rigidity, when her eyes blazed from +under her pale tawny locks like those of a distrustful wild animal. +Old Mother Mehudin, fancying that she might relieve herself in her +company, only made her furious by speaking to her of Florent; and +thereupon the old woman, in her exasperation, told everyone that she +would have gone off and left her daughters to themselves had she not +been afraid of their devouring each other if they remained alone +together. + +As Florent went away one evening, he passed in front of Claire's door, +which was standing wide open. He saw the girl look at him, and turn +very red. Her hostile demeanour annoyed him; and it was only the +timidity which he felt in the presence of women that restrained him +from seeking an explanation of her conduct. On this particular evening +he would certainly have addressed her if he had not detected +Mademoiselle Saget's pale face peering over the balustrade of the +upper landing. So he went his way, but had not taken a dozen steps +before Claire's door was closed behind him with such violence as to +shake the whole staircase. It was after this that Mademoiselle Saget, +eager to propagate slander, went about repeating everywhere that +Madame Quenu's cousin was "carrying on" most dreadfully with both the +Mehudin girls. + +Florent, however, gave very little thought to these two handsome young +women. His usual manner towards them was that of a man who has but +little success with the sex. Certainly he had come to entertain a +feeling of genuine friendship for La Normande, who really displayed a +very good heart when her impetuous temper did not run away with her. +But he never went any further than this. Moreover, the queenly +proportions of her robust figure filled him with a kind of alarm; and +of an evening, whenever she drew her chair up to the lamp and bent +forward as though to look at Muche's copy-book, he drew in his own +sharp bony elbows and shrunken shoulders as if realising what a +pitiful specimen of humanity he was by the side of that buxom, hardy +creature so full of the life of ripe womanhood. Moreover, there was +another reason why he recoiled from her. The smells of the markets +distressed him; on finishing his duties of an evening he would have +liked to escape from the fishy odour amidst which his days were spent; +but, alas! beautiful though La Normande was, this odour seemed to +adhere to her silky skin. She had tried every sort of aromatic oil, +and bathed freely; but as soon as the freshening influence of the bath +was over her blood again impregnated her skin with the faint odour of +salmon, the musky perfume of smelts, and the pungent scent of herrings +and skate. Her skirts, too, as she moved about, exhaled these fishy +smells, and she walked as though amidst an atmosphere redolent of +slimy seaweed. With her tall, goddess-like figure, her purity of form, +and transparency of complexion she resembled some lovely antique +marble that had rolled about in the depths of the sea and had been +brought to land in some fisherman's net. + +Mademoiselle Saget, however, swore by all her gods that Florent was +the young woman's lover. According to her account, indeed, he courted +both the sisters. She had quarrelled with the beautiful Norman about a +ten-sou dab; and ever since this falling-out she had manifested warm +friendship for handsome Lisa. By this means she hoped the sooner to +arrive at a solution of what she called the Quenus' mystery. Florent +still continued to elude her curiosity, and she told her friends that +she felt like a body without a soul, though she was careful not to +reveal what was troubling her so grievously. A young girl infatuated +with a hopeless passion could not have been in more distress than this +terrible old woman at finding herself unable to solve the mystery of +the Quenus' cousin. She was constantly playing the spy on Florent, +following him about, and watching him, in a burning rage at her +failure to satisfy her rampant curiosity. Now that he had begun to +visit the Mehudins she was for ever haunting the stairs and landings. +She soon discovered that handsome Lisa was much annoyed at Florent +visiting "those women," and accordingly she called at the pork shop +every morning with a budget of information. She went in shrivelled and +shrunk by the frosty air, and, resting her hands on the heating-pan to +warm them, remained in front of the counter buying nothing, but +repeating in her shrill voice: "He was with them again yesterday; he +seems to live there now. I heard La Normande call him 'my dear' on the +staircase." + +She indulged like this in all sorts of lies in order to remain in the +shop and continue warming her hands for a little longer. On the +morning after the evening when she had heard Claire close her door +behind Florent, she spun out her story for a good half hour, inventing +all sorts of mendacious and abominable particulars. + +Lisa, who had assumed a look of contemptuous scorn, said but little, +simply encouraging Mademoiselle Saget's gossip by her silence. At +last, however, she interrupted her. "No, no," she said; "I can't +really listen to all that. Is it possible that there can be such +women?" + +Thereupon Mademoiselle Saget told Lisa that unfortunately all women +were not so well conducted as herself. And then she pretended to find +all sorts of excuses for Florent: it wasn't his fault; he was no doubt +a bachelor; these women had very likely inveigled him in their snares. +In this way she hinted questions without openly asking them. But Lisa +preserved silence with respect to her cousin, merely shrugging her +shoulders and compressing her lips. When Mademoiselle Saget at last +went away, the mistress of the shop glanced with disgust at the cover +of the heating-pan, the glistening metal of which had been tarnished +by the impression of the old woman's little hands. + +"Augustine," she cried, "bring a duster, and wipe the cover of the +heating-pan. It's quite filthy!" + +The rivalry between the beautiful Lisa and the beautiful Norman now +became formidable. The beautiful Norman flattered herself that she had +carried a lover off from her enemy; and the beautiful Lisa was +indignant with the hussy who, by luring the sly cousin to her home, +would surely end by compromising them all. The natural temperament of +each woman manifested itself in the hostilities which ensued. The one +remained calm and scornful, like a lady who holds up her skirts to +keep them from being soiled by the mud; while the other, much less +subject to shame, displayed insolent gaiety and swaggered along the +footways with the airs of a duellist seeking a cause of quarrel. Each +of their skirmishes would be the talk of the fish market for the whole +day. When the beautiful Norman saw the beautiful Lisa standing at the +door of her shop, she would go out of her way in order to pass her, +and brush against her with her apron; and then the angry glances of +the two rivals crossed like rapiers, with the rapid flash and thrust +of pointed steel. When the beautiful Lisa, on the other hand, went to +the fish market, she assumed an expression of disgust on approaching +the beautiful Norman's stall. And then she proceeded to purchase some +big fish--a turbot or a salmon--of a neighbouring dealer, spreading +her money out on the marble slab as she did so, for she had noticed +that this seemed to have a painful effect upon the "hussy," who ceased +laughing at the sight. To hear the two rivals speak, anyone would have +supposed that the fish and pork they sold were quite unfit for food. +However, their principal engagements took place when the beautiful +Norman was seated at her stall and the beautiful Lisa at her counter, +and they glowered blackly at each other across the Rue Rambuteau. They +sat in state in their big white aprons, decked out with showy toilets +and jewels, and the battle between them would commence early in the +morning. + +"Hallo, the fat woman's got up!" the beautiful Norman would exclaim. +"She ties herself up as tightly as her sausages! Ah, she's got +Saturday's collar on again, and she's still wearing that poplin +dress!" + +At the same moment, on the opposite side of the street, beautiful Lisa +was saying to her shop girl: "Just look at that creature staring at us +over yonder, Augustine! She's getting quite deformed by the life she +leads. Do you see her earrings? She's wearing those big drops of hers, +isn't she? It makes one feel ashamed to see a girl like that with +brilliants." + +All complaisance, Augustine echoed her mistress's words. + +When either of them was able to display a new ornament it was like +scoring a victory--the other one almost choked with spleen. Every day +they would scrutinise and count each other's customers, and manifest +the greatest annoyance if they thought that the "big thing over the +way" was doing the better business. Then they spied out what each had +for lunch. Each knew what the other ate, and even watched to see how +she digested it. In the afternoon, while the one sat amidst her cooked +meats and the other amidst her fish, they posed and gave themselves +airs, as though they were queens of beauty. It was then that the +victory of the day was decided. The beautiful Norman embroidered, +selecting the most delicate and difficult work, and this aroused +Lisa's exasperation. + +"Ah!" she said, speaking of her rival, "she had far better mend her +boy's stockings. He's running about quite barefooted. Just look at +that fine lady, with her red hands stinking of fish!" + +For her part, Lisa usually knitted. + +"She's still at that same sock," La Normande would say, as she watched +her. "She eats so much that she goes to sleep over her work. I pity +her poor husband if he's waiting for those socks to keep his feet +warm!" + +They would sit glowering at each other with this implacable hostility +until evening, taking note of every customer, and displaying such keen +eyesight that they detected the smallest details of each other's dress +and person when other women declared that they could see nothing at +such a distance. Mademoiselle Saget expressed the highest admiration +for Madame Quenu's wonderful sight when she one day detected a scratch +on the fish-girl's left cheek. With eyes like those, said the old +maid, one might even see through a door. However, the victory often +remained undecided when night fell; sometimes one or other of the +rivals was temporarily crushed, but she took her revenge on the +morrow. Several people of the neighbourhood actually laid wagers on +these contests, some backing the beautiful Lisa and others the +beautiful Norman. + +At last they ended by forbidding their children to speak to one +another. Pauline and Muche had formerly been good friends, +notwithstanding the girl's stiff petticoats and lady-like demeanour, +and the lad's tattered appearance, coarse language, and rough manners. +They had at times played together at horses on the broad footway in +front of the fish market, Pauline always being the horse and Muche the +driver. One day, however, when the boy came in all simplicity to seek +his playmate, Lisa turned him out of the house, declaring that he was +a dirty little street arab. + +"One can't tell what may happen with children who have been so +shockingly brought up," she observed. + +"Yes, indeed; you are quite right," replied Mademoiselle Saget, who +happened to be present. + +When Muche, who was barely seven years old, came in tears to his +mother to tell her of what had happened, La Normande broke out into a +terrible passion. At the first moment she felt a strong inclination to +rush over to the Quenu-Gradelles' and smash everything in their shop. +But eventually she contented herself with giving Muche a whipping. + +"If ever I catch you going there again," she cried, boiling over with +anger, "you'll get it hot from me, I can tell you!" + +Florent, however, was the real victim of the two women. It was he, in +truth, who had set them by the ears, and it was on his account that +they were fighting each other. Ever since he had appeared upon the +scene things had been going from bad to worse. He compromised and +disturbed and embittered all these people, who had previously lived in +such sleek peace and harmony. The beautiful Norman felt inclined to +claw him when he lingered too long with the Quenus, and it was chiefly +from an impulse of hostile rivalry that she desired to win him to +herself. The beautiful Lisa, on her side, maintained a cold judicial +bearing, and although extremely annoyed, forced herself to silence +whenever she saw Florent leaving the pork shop to go to the Rue +Pirouette. + +Still, there was now much less cordiality than formerly round the +Quenus' dinner-table in the evening. The clean, prim dining-room +seemed to have assumed an aspect of chilling severity. Florent divined +a reproach, a sort of condemnation in the bright oak, the polished +lamp, and the new matting. He scarcely dared to eat for fear of +letting crumbs fall on the floor or soiling his plate. There was a +guileless simplicity about him which prevented him from seeing how the +land really lay. He still praised Lisa's affectionate kindliness on +all sides; and outwardly, indeed, she did continue to treat him with +all gentleness. + +"It is very strange," she said to him one day with a smile, as though +she were joking; "although you don't eat at all badly now, you don't +get fatter. Your food doesn't seem to do you any good." + +At this Quenu laughed aloud, and tapping his brother's stomach, +protested that the whole contents of the pork shop might pass through +it without depositing a layer of fat as thick as a two-sou piece. +However, Lisa's insistence on this particular subject was instinct +with that same suspicious dislike for fleshless men which Madame +Mehudin manifested more outspokenly; and behind it all there was +likewise a veiled allusion to the disorderly life which she imagined +Florent was leading. She never, however, spoke a word to him about La +Normande. Quenu had attempted a joke on the subject one evening, but +Lisa had received it so icily that the good man had not ventured to +refer to the matter again. They would remain seated at table for a few +moments after dessert, and Florent, who had noticed his sister-in- +law's vexation if ever he went off too soon, tried to find something +to talk about. On these occasions Lisa would be near him, and +certainly he did not suffer in her presence from that fishy smell +which assailed him when he was in the company of La Normande. The +mistress of the pork shop, on the contrary, exhaled an odour of fat +and rich meats. Moreover, not a thrill of life stirred her tight- +fitting bodice; she was all massiveness and all sedateness. Gavard +once said to Florent in confidence that Madame Quenu was no doubt +handsome, but that for his part he did not admire such armour-plated +women. + +Lisa avoided talking to Quenu of Florent. She habitually prided +herself on her patience, and considered, too, that it would not be +proper to cause any unpleasantness between the brothers, unless some +peremptory reason for her interference should arise. As she said, she +could put up with a good deal, but, of course, she must not be tried +too far. She had now reached the period of courteous tolerance, +wearing an expressionless face, affecting perfect indifference and +strict politeness, and carefully avoiding everything which might seem +to hint that Florent was boarding and lodging with them without their +receiving the slightest payment from him. Not, indeed, that she would +have accepted any payment from him, she was above all that; still he +might, at any rate, she thought, have lunched away from the house. + +"We never seem to be alone now," she remarked to Quenu one day. "If +there is anything we want to say to one another we have to wait till +we go upstairs at night." + +And then, one night when they were in bed, she said to him: "Your +brother earns a hundred and fifty francs a month, doesn't he? Well, +it's strange he can't put a trifle by to buy himself some more linen. +I've been obliged to give him three more of your old shirts." + +"Oh, that doesn't matter," Quenu replied. "Florent's not hard to +please; and we must let him keep his money for himself." + +"Oh, yes, of course," said Lisa, without pressing the matter further. +"I didn't mention it for that reason. Whether he spends his money well +or ill, it isn't our business." + +In her own mind she felt quite sure that he wasted his salary at the +Mehudins'. + +Only on one occasion did she break through her habitual calmness of +demeanour, the quiet reserve which was the result of both natural +temperament and preconceived design. The beautiful Norman had made +Florent a present of a magnificent salmon. Feeling very much +embarrassed with the fish, and not daring to refuse it, he brought it +to Lisa. + +"You can make a pasty of it," he said ingenuously. + +Lisa looked at him sternly with whitening lips. Then, striving to +restrain her anger, she exclaimed: "Do you think that we are short of +food? Thank God, we've got quite enough to eat here! Take it back!" + +"Well, at any rate, cook it for me," replied Florent, amazed by her +anger; "I'll eat it myself." + +At this she burst out furiously. + +"The house isn't an inn! Tell those who gave you the fish to cook it +for you! I won't have my pans tainted and infected! Take it back +again! Do you hear?" + +If he had not gone away with it, she would certainly have seized it +and hurled it into the street. Florent took it to Monsieur Lebigre's, +where Rose was ordered to make a pasty of it; and one evening the +pasty was eaten in the little "cabinet," Gavard, who was present, +"standing" some oysters for the occasion. Florent now gradually came +more and more frequently to Monsieur Lebigre's, till at last he was +constantly to be met in the little private room. He there found an +atmosphere of heated excitement in which his political feverishness +could pulsate freely. At times, now, when he shut himself up in his +garret to work, the quiet simplicity of the little room irritated him, +his theoretical search for liberty proved quite insufficient, and it +became necessary that he should go downstairs, sally out, and seek +satisfaction in the trenchant axioms of Charvet and the wild outbursts +of Logre. During the first few evenings the clamour and chatter had +made him feel ill at ease; he was then quite conscious of their utter +emptiness, but he felt a need of drowning his thoughts, of goading +himself on to some extreme resolution which might calm his mental +disquietude. The atmosphere of the little room, reeking with the odour +of spirits and warm with tobacco smoke, intoxicated him and filled him +with peculiar beatitude, prompting a kind of self-surrender which made +him willing to acquiesce in the wildest ideas. He grew attached to +those he met there, and looked for them and awaited their coming with +a pleasure which increased with habit. Robine's mild, bearded +countenance, Clemence's serious profile, Charvet's fleshless pallor, +Logre's hump, Gavard, Alexandre, and Lacaille, all entered into his +life, and assumed a larger and larger place in it. He took quite a +sensual enjoyment in these meetings. When his fingers closed round the +brass knob on the door of the little cabinet it seemed to be animated +with life, to warm him, and turn of its own accord. Had he grasped the +supple wrist of a woman he could not have felt a more thrilling +emotion. + +To tell the truth, very serious things took place in that little room. +One evening, Logre, after indulging in wilder outbursts than usual, +banged his fist upon the table, declaring that if they were men they +would make a clean sweep of the Government. And he added that it was +necessary they should come to an understanding without further delay, +if they desired to be fully prepared when the time for action arrived. +Then they all bent their heads together, discussed the matter in lower +tones, and decided to form a little "group," which should be ready for +whatever might happen. From that day forward Gavard flattered himself +that he was a member of a secret society, and was engaged in a +conspiracy. The little circle received no new members, but Logre +promised to put it into communication with other associations with +which he was acquainted; and then, as soon as they held all Paris in +their grasp, they would rise and make the Tuileries' people dance. A +series of endless discussions, renewed during several months, then +began--discussions on questions of organisation, on questions of ways +and means, on questions of strategy, and of the form of the future +Government. As soon as Rose had brought Clemence's grog, Charvet's and +Robine's beer, the coffee for Logre, Gavard, and Florent, and the +liqueur glasses of brandy for Lacaille and Alexandre, the door of the +cabinet was carefully fastened, and the debate began. + +Charvet and Florent were naturally those whose utterances were +listened to with the greatest attention. Gavard had not been able to +keep his tongue from wagging, but had gradually related the whole +story of Cayenne; and Florent found himself surrounded by a halo of +martyrdom. His words were received as though they were the expression +of indisputable dogmas. One evening, however, the poultry dealer, +vexed at hearing his friend, who happened to be absent, attacked, +exclaimed: "Don't say anything against Florent; he's been to Cayenne!" + +Charvet was rather annoyed by the advantage which this circumstance +gave to Florent. "Cayenne, Cayenne," he muttered between his teeth. +"Ah, well, they were not so badly off there, after all." + +Then he attempted to prove that exile was a mere nothing, and that +real suffering consisted in remaining in one's oppressed country, +gagged in presence of triumphant despotism. And besides, he urged, it +wasn't his fault that he hadn't been arrested on the Second of +December. Next, however, he hinted that those who had allowed +themselves to be captured were imbeciles. His secret jealousy made him +a systematic opponent of Florent; and the general discussions always +ended in a duel between these two, who, while their companions +listened in silence, would speak against one another for hours at a +time, without either of them allowing that he was beaten. + +One of the favourite subjects of discussion was that of the +reorganisation of the country which would have to be effected on the +morrow of their victory. + +"We are the conquerors, are we not?" began Gavard. + +And, triumph being taken for granted, everyone offered his opinion. +There were two rival parties. Charvet, who was a disciple of Hebert, +was supported by Logre and Robine; while Florent, who was always +absorbed in humanitarian dreams, and called himself a Socialist, was +backed by Alexandre and Lacaille. As for Gavard, he felt no repugnance +for violent action; but, as he was often twitted about his fortune +with no end of sarcastic witticisms which annoyed him, he declared +himself a Communist. + +"We must make a clean sweep of everything," Charvet would curtly say, +as though he were delivering a blow with a cleaver. "The trunk is +rotten, and it must come down." + +"Yes! yes!" cried Logre, standing up that he might look taller, and +making the partition shake with the excited motion of his hump. +"Everything will be levelled to the ground; take my word for it. After +that we shall see what to do." + +Robine signified approval by wagging his beard. His silence seemed +instinct with delight whenever violent revolutionary propositions were +made. His eyes assumed a soft ecstatic expression at the mention of +the guillotine. He half closed them, as though he could see the +machine, and was filled with pleasant emotion at the sight; and next +he would gently rub his chin against the knob of his stick, with a +subdued purr of satisfaction. + +"All the same," said Florent, in whose voice a vague touch of sadness +lingered, "if you cut down the tree it will be necessary to preserve +some seed. For my part, I think that the tree ought to be preserved, +so that we may graft new life on it. The political revolution, you +know, has already taken place; to-day we have got to think of the +labourer, the working man. Our movement must be altogether a social +one. I defy you to reject the claims of the people. They are weary of +waiting, and are determined to have their share of happiness." + +These words aroused Alexandre's enthusiasm. With a beaming, radiant +face he declared that this was true, that the people were weary of +waiting. + +"And we will have our share," added Lacaille, with a more menacing +expression. "All the revolutions that have taken place have been for +the good of the middle classes. We've had quite enough of that sort of +thing, and the next one shall be for our benefit." + +From this moment disagreement set in. Gavard offered to make a +division of his property, but Logre declined, asserting that he cared +nothing for money. Then Charvet gradually overcame the tumult, till at +last he alone was heard speaking. + +"The selfishness of the different classes does more than anything else +to uphold tyranny," said he. "It is wrong of the people to display +egotism. If they assist us they shall have their share. But why should +I fight for the working man if the working man won't fight for me? +Moreover, that is not the question at present. Ten years of +revolutionary dictatorship will be necessary to accustom a nation like +France to the fitting enjoyment of liberty." + +"All the more so as the working man is not ripe for it, and requires +to be directed," said Clemence bluntly. + +She but seldom spoke. This tall, serious looking girl, alone among so +many men, listened to all the political chatter with a learnedly +critical air. She leaned back against the partition, and every now and +then sipped her grog whilst gazing at the speakers with frowning brows +or inflated nostrils, thus silently signifying her approval or +disapproval, and making it quite clear that she held decided opinions +upon the most complicated matters. At times she would roll a +cigarette, and puff slender whiffs of smoke from the corners of her +mouth, whilst lending increased attention to what was being debated. +It was as though she were presiding over the discussion, and would +award the prize to the victor when it was finished. She certainly +considered that it became her, as a woman, to display some reserve in +her opinions, and to remain calm whilst the men grew more and more +excited. Now and then, however, in the heat of the debate, she would +let a word or a phrase escape her and "clench the matter" even for +Charvet himself, as Gavard said. In her heart she believed herself the +superior of all these fellows. The only one of them for whom she felt +any respect was Robine, and she would thoughtfully contemplate his +silent bearing. + +Neither Florent nor any of the others paid any special attention to +Clemence. They treated her just as though she were a man, shaking +hands with her so roughly as almost to dislocate her arms. One evening +Florent witnessed the periodical settlement of accounts between her +and Charvet. She had just received her pay, and Charvet wanted to +borrow ten francs from her; but she first of all insisted that they +must reckon up how matters stood between them. They lived together in +a voluntary partnership, each having complete control of his or her +earnings, and strictly paying his or her expenses. By so doing, said +they, they were under no obligations to one another, but retained +entire freedom. Rent, food, washing, and amusements, were all noted +down and added up. That evening, when the accounts had been verified, +Clemence proved to Charvet that he already owed her five francs. Then +she handed him the other ten which he wished to borrow, and exclaimed: +"Recollect that you now owe me fifteen. I shall expect you to repay me +on the fifth, when you get paid for teaching little Lehudier." + +When Rose was summoned to receive payment for the "drinks," each +produced the few coppers required to discharge his or her liability. +Charvet laughingly called Clemence an aristocrat because she drank +grog. She wanted to humiliate him, said he, and make him feel that he +earned less than she did, which, as it happened, was the fact. Beneath +his laugh, however, there was a feeling of bitterness that the girl +should be better circumstanced than himself, for, in spite of his +theory of the equality of the sexes, this lowered him. + +Although the discussions in the little room had virtually no result, +they served to exercise the speakers' lungs. A tremendous hubbub +proceeded from the sanctum, and the panes of frosted glass vibrated +like drum-skins. Sometimes the uproar became so great that Rose, while +languidly serving some blouse-wearing customer in the shop, would turn +her head uneasily. + +"Why, they're surely fighting together in there," the customer would +say, as he put his glass down on the zinc-covered counter, and wiped +his mouth with the back of his hand. + +"Oh, there's no fear of that," Monsieur Lebigre tranquilly replied. +"It's only some gentlemen talking together." + +Monsieur Lebigre, indeed, although very strict with his other +customers, allowed the politicians to shout as loudly as they pleased, +and never made the least remark on the subject. He would sit for hours +together on the bench behind the counter, with his big head lolling +drowsily against the mirror, whilst he watched Rose uncorking the +bottles and giving a wipe here and there with her duster. And in spite +of the somniferous effects of the wine fumes and the warm streaming +gaslight, he would keep his ears open to the sounds proceeding from +the little room. At times, when the voices grew noisier than usual, he +got up from his seat and went to lean against the partition; and +occasionally he even pushed the door open, and went inside and sat +down there for a few minutes, giving Gavard a friendly slap on the +thigh. And then he would nod approval of everything that was said. The +poultry dealer asserted that although friend Lebigre hadn't the stuff +of an orator in him, they might safely reckon on him when the "shindy" +came. + +One morning, however, at the markets, when a tremendous row broke out +between Rose and one of the fish-wives, through the former +accidentally knocking over a basket of herrings, Florent heard Rose's +employer spoken of as a "dirty spy" in the pay of the police. And +after he had succeeded in restoring peace, all sorts of stories about +Monsieur Lebigre were poured into his ears. Yes, the wine seller was +in the pay of the police, the fish-wives said; all the neighbourhood +knew it. Before Mademoiselle Saget had begun to deal with him she had +once met him entering the Prefecture to make his report. It was +asserted, too, that he was a money-monger, a usurer, and lent petty +sums by the day to costermongers, and let out barrows to them, +exacting a scandalous rate of interest in return. Florent was greatly +disturbed by all this, and felt it his duty to repeat it that evening +to his fellow politicians. The latter, however, only shrugged their +shoulders, and laughed at his uneasiness. + +"Poor Florent!" Charvet exclaimed sarcastically; "he imagines the +whole police force is on his track, just because he happens to have +been sent to Cayenne!" + +Gavard gave his word of honour that Lebigre was perfectly staunch and +true, while Logre, for his part, manifested extreme irritation. He +fumed and declared that it would be quite impossible for them to get +on if everyone was to be accused of being a police spy; for his own +part, he would rather stay at home, and have nothing more to do with +politics. Why, hadn't people even dared to say that he, Logre himself, +who had fought in '48 and '51, and had twice narrowly escaped +transportation, was a spy as well? As he shouted this out, he thrust +his jaws forward, and glared at the others as though he would have +liked to ram the conviction that he had nothing to do with the police +down their throats. At the sight of his furious glances his companions +made gestures of protestation. However, Lacaille, on hearing Monsieur +Lebigre accused of usury, silently lowered his head. + +The incident was forgotten in the discussions which ensued. Since +Logre had suggested a conspiracy, Monsieur Lebigre had grasped the +hands of the frequenters of the little room with more vigor than ever. +Their custom, to tell the truth, was of but small value to him, for +they never ordered more than one "drink" apiece. They drained the last +drops just as they rose to leave, having been careful to allow a +little to remain in their glasses, even during their most heated +arguments. In this wise the one "shout" lasted throughout the evening. +They shivered as they turned out into the cold dampness of the night, +and for a moment or two remained standing on the footway with dazzled +eyes and buzzing ears, as though surprised by the dark silence of the +street. Rose, meanwhile, fastened the shutters behind them. Then, +quite exhausted, at a loss for another word they shook hands, +separated, and went their different ways, still mentally continuing +the discussion of the evening, and regretting that they could not ram +their particular theories down each other's throats. Robine walked +away, with his bent back bobbing up and down, in the direction of the +Rue Rambuteau; whilst Charvet and Clemence went off through the +markets on their return to the Luxembourg quarter, their heels +sounding on the flag-stones in military fashion, whilst they still +discussed some question of politics or philosophy, walking along side +by side, but never arm-in-arm. + +The conspiracy ripened very slowly. At the commencement of the summer +the plotters had got no further than agreeing that it was necessary a +stroke should be attempted. Florent, who had at first looked upon the +whole business with a kind of distrust, had now, however, come to +believe in the possibility of a revolutionary movement. He took up the +matter seriously; making notes, and preparing plans in writing, while +the others still did nothing but talk. For his part, he began to +concentrate his whole life in the one persistent idea which made his +brain throb night after night; and this to such a degree that he at +last took his brother Quenu with him to Monsieur Lebigre's, as though +such a course were quite natural. Certainly he had no thought of doing +anything improper. He still looked upon Quenu as in some degree his +pupil, and may even have considered it his duty to start him on the +proper path. Quenu was an absolute novice in politics, but after +spending five or six evenings in the little room he found himself +quite in accord with the others. When Lisa was not present he +manifested much docility, a sort of respect for his brother's +opinions. But the greatest charm of the affair for him was really the +mild dissipation of leaving his shop and shutting himself up in the +little room where the others shouted so loudly, and where Clemence's +presence, in his opinion, gave a tinge of rakishness and romance to +the proceedings. He now made all haste with his chitterlings in order +that he might get away as early as possible, anxious to lose not a +single word of the discussions, which seemed to him to be very +brilliant, though he was not always able to follow them. The beautiful +Lisa did not fail to notice his hurry to be gone, but as yet she +refrained from saying anything. When Florent took him off, she simply +went to the door-step, and watched them enter Monsieur Lebigre's, her +face paling somewhat, and a severe expression coming into her eyes. + +One evening, as Mademoiselle Saget was peering out of her garret +casement, she recognised Quenu's shadow on the frosted glass of the +"cabinet" window facing the Rue Pirouette. She had found her casement +an excellent post of observation, as it overlooked that milky +transparency, on which the gaslight threw silhouettes of the +politicians, with noses suddenly appearing and disappearing, gaping +jaws abruptly springing into sight and then vanishing, and huge arms, +apparently destitute of bodies, waving hither and thither. This +extraordinary jumble of detached limbs, these silent but frantic +profiles, bore witness to the heated discussions that went on in the +little room, and kept the old maid peering from behind her muslin +curtains until the transparency turned black. She shrewdly suspected +some "bit of trickery," as she phrased it. By continual watching she +had come to recognise the different shadows by their hands and hair +and clothes. As she gazed upon the chaos of clenched fists, angry +heads, and swaying shoulders, which seemed to have become detached +from their trunks and to roll about one atop of the other, she would +exclaim unhesitatingly, "Ah, there's that big booby of a cousin; +there's that miserly old Gavard; and there's the hunchback; and +there's that maypole of a Clemence!" Then, when the action of the +shadow-play became more pronounced, and they all seemed to have lost +control over themselves, she felt an irresistible impulse to go +downstairs to try to find out what was happening. Thus she now made a +point of buying her black-currant syrup at nights, pretending that she +felt out-of-sorts in the morning, and was obliged to take a sip as +soon as ever she was out of bed. On the evening when she noticed +Quenu's massive head shadowed on the transparency in close proximity +to Charvet's fist, she made her appearance at Monsieur Lebigre's in a +breathless condition. To gain more time, she made Rose rinse out her +little bottle for her; however, she was about to return to her room +when she heard the pork butcher exclaim with a sort of childish +candour: + +"No, indeed, we'll stand for it no longer! We'll make a clean sweep of +all those humbugging Deputies and Ministers! Yes, we'll send the whole +lot packing." + +Eight o'clock had scarcely struck on the following morning when +Mademoiselle Saget was already at the pork shop. She found Madame +Lecoeur and La Sarriette there, dipping their noses into the heating- +pan, and buying hot sausages for breakfast. As the old maid had +managed to draw them into her quarrel with La Normande with respect to +the ten-sou dab, they had at once made friends again with Lisa, and +they now had nothing but contempt for the handsome fish-girl, and +assailed her and her sister as good-for-nothing hussies, whose only +aim was to fleece men of their money. This opinion had been inspired +by the assertions of Mademoiselle Saget, who had declared to Madame +Lecoeur that Florent had induced one of the two girls to coquette with +Gavard, and that the four of them had indulged in the wildest +dissipation at Barratte's--of course, at the poultry dealer's expense. +From the effects of this impudent story Madame Lecoeur had not yet +recovered; she wore a doleful appearance, and her eyes were quite +yellow with spleen. + +That morning, however, it was for Madame Quenu that the old maid had a +shock in store. She looked round the counter, and then in her most +gentle voice remarked: + +"I saw Monsieur Quenu last night. They seem to enjoy themselves +immensely in that little room at Lebigre's, if one may judge from the +noise they make." + +Lisa had turned her head towards the street, listening very +attentively, but apparently unwilling to show it. The old maid paused, +hoping that one of the others would question her; and then, in a lower +tone, she added: "They had a woman with them. Oh, I don't mean +Monsieur Quenu, of course! I didn't say that; I don't know--" + +"It must be Clemence," interrupted La Sarriette; "a big scraggy +creature who gives herself all sorts of airs just because she went to +boarding school. She lives with a threadbare usher. I've seen them +together; they always look as though they were taking each other off +to the police station." + +"Oh, yes; I know," replied the old maid, who, indeed, knew everything +about Charvet and Clemence, and whose only purpose was to alarm Lisa. + +The mistress of the pork shop, however, never flinched. She seemed to +be absorbed in watching something of great interest in the market +yonder. Accordingly the old maid had recourse to stronger measures. "I +think," said she, addressing herself to Madame Lecoeur, "that you +ought to advise your brother-in-law to be careful. Last night they +were shouting out the most shocking things in that little room. Men +really seem to lose their heads over politics. If anyone had heard +them, it might have been a very serious matter for them." + +"Oh! Gavard will go his own way," sighed Madame Lecoeur. "It only +wanted this to fill my cup. I shall die of anxiety, I am sure, if he +ever gets arrested." + +As she spoke, a gleam shot from her dim eyes. La Sarriette, however, +laughed and wagged her little face, bright with the freshness of the +morning air. + +"You should hear what Jules says of those who speak against the +Empire," she remarked. "They ought all to be thrown into the Seine, he +told me; for it seems there isn't a single respectable person amongst +them." + +"Oh! there's no harm done, of course, so long as only people like +myself hear their foolish talk," resumed Mademoiselle Saget. "I'd +rather cut my hand off, you know, than make mischief. Last night now, +for instance, Monsieur Quenu was saying----" + +She again paused. Lisa had started slightly. + +"Monsieur Quenu was saying that the Ministers and Deputies and all who +are in power ought to be shot." + +At this Lisa turned sharply, her face quite white and her hands +clenched beneath her apron. + +"Quenu said that?" she curtly asked. + +"Yes, indeed, and several other similar things that I can't recollect +now. I heard him myself. But don't distress yourself like that, Madame +Quenu. You know very well that I sha'n't breathe a word. I'm quite old +enough to know what might harm a man if it came out. Oh, no; it will +go no further." + +Lisa had recovered her equanimity. She took a pride in the happy +peacefulness of her home; she would not acknowledge that there had +ever been the slightest difference between herself and her husband. +And so now she shrugged her shoulders and said with a smile: "Oh, it's +all a pack of foolish nonsense." + +When the three others were in the street together they agreed that +handsome Lisa had pulled a very doleful face; and they were +unanimously of opinion that the mysterious goings-on of the cousin, +the Mehudins, Gavard, and the Quenus would end in trouble. Madame +Lecoeur inquired what was done to the people who got arrested "for +politics," but on this point Mademoiselle Saget could not enlighten +her; she only knew that they were never seen again--no, never. And +this induced La Sarriette to suggest that perhaps they were thrown +into the Seine, as Jules had said they ought to be. + +Lisa avoided all reference to the subject at breakfast and dinner that +day; and even in the evening, when Florent and Quenu went off together +to Monsieur Lebigre's, there was no unwonted severity in her glance. +On that particular evening, however, the question of framing a +constitution for the future came under discussion, and it was one +o'clock in the morning before the politicians could tear themselves +away from the little room. The shutters had already been fastened, and +they were obliged to leave by a small door, passing out one at a time +with bent backs. Quenu returned home with an uneasy conscience. He +opened the three or four doors on his way to bed as gently as +possible, walking on tip-toe and stretching out his hands as he passed +through the sitting-room, to avoid a collision with any of the +furniture. The whole house seemed to be asleep. When he reached the +bedroom, he was annoyed to find that Lisa had not extinguished the +candle, which was burning with a tall, mournful flame in the midst of +the deep silence. As Quenu took off his shoes, and put them down in a +corner, the time-piece struck half past one with such a clear, ringing +sound that he turned in alarm, almost frightened to move, and gazing +with an expression of angry reproach at the shining gilded Gutenberg +standing there, with his finger on a book. Lisa's head was buried in +her pillow, and Quenu could only see her back; but he divined that she +was merely feigning sleep, and her conduct in turning her back upon +him was so instinct with reproach that he felt sorely ill at ease. At +last he slipped beneath the bed-clothes, blew out the candle, and lay +perfectly still. He could have sworn that his wife was awake, though +she did not speak to him; and presently he fell asleep, feeling +intensely miserable, and lacking the courage to say good night. + +He slept till late, and when he awoke he found himself sprawling in +the middle of the bed with the eider-down quilt up to his chin, whilst +Lisa sat in front of the secretaire, arranging some papers. His +slumber had been so heavy that he had not heard her rise. However, he +now took courage, and spoke to her from the depths of the alcove: "Why +didn't you wake me? What are you doing there?" + +"I'm sorting the papers in these drawers," she replied in her usual +tone of voice. + +Quenu felt relieved. But Lisa added: "One never knows what may happen. +If the police were to come--" + +"What! the police?" + +"Yes, indeed, the police; for you're mixing yourself up with politics +now." + +At this Quenu sat up in bed, quite dazed and confounded by such a +violent and unexpected attack. + +"I mix myself up with politics! I mix myself up with politics!" he +repeated. "It's no concern of the police. I've nothing to do with any +compromising matters." + +"No," replied Lisa, shrugging her shoulders; "you merely talk about +shooting everybody." + +"I! I!" + +"Yes. And you bawl it out in a public-house! Mademoiselle Saget heard +you. All the neighbourhood knows by this time that you are a Red +Republican!" + +Quenu fell back in bed again. He was not perfectly awake as yet. +Lisa's words resounded in his ears as though he already heard the +heavy tramp of gendarmes at the bedroom door. He looked at her as she +sat there, with her hair already arranged, her figure tightly +imprisoned in her stays, her whole appearance the same as it was on +any other morning; and he felt more astonished than ever that she +should be so neat and prim under such extraordinary circumstances. + +"I leave you absolutely free, you know," she continued, as she went on +arranging the papers. "I don't want to wear the breeches, as the +saying goes. You are the master, and you are at liberty to endanger +your position, compromise our credit, and ruin our business." + +Then, as Quenu tried to protest, she silenced him with a gesture. "No, +no; don't say anything," she continued. "This is no quarrel, and I am +not even asking an explanation from you. But if you had consulted me, +and we had talked the matter over together, I might have intervened. +Ah! it's a great mistake to imagine that women understand nothing +about politics. Shall I tell you what my politics are?" + +She had risen from her seat whilst speaking, and was now walking to +and fro between the bed and the window, wiping as she went some specks +of dust from the bright mahogany of the mirrored wardrobe and the +dressing-table. + +"My politics are the politics of honest folks," said she. "I'm +grateful to the Government when business is prosperous, when I can eat +my meals in peace and comfort, and can sleep at nights without being +awakened by the firing of guns. There were pretty times in '48, were +there not? You remember our uncle Gradelle, the worthy man, showing us +his books for that year? He lost more than six thousand francs. Now +that we have got the Empire, however, everything prospers. We sell our +goods readily enough. You can't deny it. Well, then, what is it that +you want? How will you be better off when you have shot everybody?" + +She took her stand in front of the little night-table, crossed her +arms over her breast, and fixed her eyes upon Quenu, who had shuffled +himself beneath the bed-clothes, almost out of sight. He attempted to +explain what it was that his friends wanted, but he got quite confused +in his endeavours to summarise Florent's and Charvet's political and +social systems; and could only talk about the disregard shown to +principles, the accession of the democracy to power, and the +regeneration of society, in such a strange tangled way that Lisa +shrugged her shoulders, quite unable to understand him. At last, +however, he extricated himself from his difficulties by declaring that +the Empire was the reign of licentiousness, swindling finance, and +highway robbery. And, recalling an expression of Logre's he added: "We +are the prey of a band of adventurers, who are pillaging, violating, +and assassinating France. We'll have no more of them." + +Lisa, however, still shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well, and is that all you have got to say?" she asked with perfect +coolness. "What has all that got to do with me? Even supposing it were +true, what then? Have I ever advised you to practise dishonest +courses? Have I ever prompted you to dishonour your acceptances, or +cheat your customers, or pile up money by fraudulent practices? +Really, you'll end by making me quite angry! We are honest folks, and +we don't pillage or assassinate anybody. That's quite sufficient. What +other folks do is no concern of ours. If they choose to be rogues it's +their affair." + +She looked quite majestic and triumphant; and again pacing the room, +drawing herself up to her full height, she resumed: "A pretty notion +it is that people are to let their business go to rack and ruin just +to please those who are penniless. For my part, I'm in favour of +making hay while the sun shines, and supporting a Government which +promotes trade. If it does do dishonourable things, I prefer to know +nothing about them. I know that I myself commit none, and that no one +in the neighbourhood can point a finger at me. It's only fools who go +tilting at windmills. At the time of the last elections, you remember, +Gavard said that the Emperor's candidate had been bankrupt, and was +mixed up in all sorts of scandalous matters. Well, perhaps that was +true, I don't deny it; but all the same, you acted wisely in voting +for him, for all that was not in question; you were not asked to lend +the man any money or to transact any business with him, but merely to +show the Government that you were pleased with the prosperity of the +pork trade." + +At this moment Quenu called to mind a sentence of Charvet's, asserting +that "the bloated bourgeois, the sleek shopkeepers, who backed up that +Government of universal gormandising, ought to be hurled into the +sewers before all others, for it was owing to them and their +gluttonous egotism that tyranny had succeeded in mastering and preying +upon the nation." He was trying to complete this piece of eloquence +when Lisa, carried off by her indignation, cut him short. + +"Don't talk such stuff! My conscience doesn't reproach me with +anything. I don't owe a copper to anybody; I'm not mixed up in any +dishonest business; I buy and sell good sound stuff; and I charge no +more than others do. What you say may perhaps apply to people like our +cousins, the Saccards. They pretend to be even ignorant that I am in +Paris; but I am prouder than they are, and I don't care a rap for +their millions. It's said that Saccard speculates in condemned +buildings, and cheats and robs everybody. I'm not surprised to hear +it, for he was always that way inclined. He loves money just for the +sake of wallowing in it, and then tossing it out of his windows, like +the imbecile he is. I can understand people attacking men of his +stamp, who pile up excessive fortunes. For my part, if you care to +know it, I have but a bad opinion of Saccard. But we--we who live so +quietly and peaceably, who will need at least fifteen years to put by +sufficient money to make ourselves comfortably independent, we who +have no reason to meddle in politics, and whose only aim is to bring +up our daughter respectably, and to see that our business prospers-- +why you must be joking to talk such stuff about us. We are honest +folks!" + +She came and sat down on the edge of the bed. Quenu was already much +shaken in his opinions. + +"Listen to me, now," she resumed in a more serious voice. "You surely +don't want to see your own shop pillaged, your cellar emptied, and +your money taken from you? If these men who meet at Monsieur Lebigre's +should prove triumphant, do you think that you would then lie as +comfortably in your bed as you do now? And on going down into the +kitchen, do you imagine that you would set about making your +galantines as peacefully as you will presently? No, no, indeed! So why +do you talk about overthrowing a Government which protects you, and +enables you to put money by? You have a wife and a daughter, and your +first duty is towards them. You would be in fault if you imperilled +their happiness. It is only those who have neither home nor hearth, +who have nothing to lose, who want to be shooting people. Surely you +don't want to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for /them/! So stay +quietly at home, you foolish fellow, sleep comfortably, eat well, make +money, keep an easy conscience, and leave France to free herself of +the Empire if the Empire annoys her. France can get on very well +without /you/." + +She laughed her bright melodious laugh as she finished; and Quenu was +now altogether convinced. Yes, she was right, after all; and she +looked so charming, he thought, as she sat there on the edge of the +bed, so trim, although it was so early, so bright, and so fresh in the +dazzling whiteness of her linen. As he listened to her his eyes fell +on their portraits hanging on either side of the fireplace. Yes, they +were certainly honest folks; they had such a respectable, well-to-do +air in their black clothes and their gilded frames! The bedroom, too, +looked as though it belonged to people of some account in the world. +The lace squares seemed to give a dignified appearance to the chairs; +and the carpet, the curtains, and the vases decorated with painted +landscapes--all spoke of their exertions to get on in the world and +their taste for comfort. Thereupon he plunged yet further beneath the +eider-down quilt, which kept him in a state of pleasant warmth. He +began to feel that he had risked losing all these things at Monsieur +Lebigre's--his huge bed, his cosy room, and his business, on which his +thoughts now dwelt with tender remorse. And from Lisa, from the +furniture, from all his cosy surroundings, he derived a sense of +comfort which thrilled him with a delightful, overpowering charm. + +"You foolish fellow!" said his wife, seeing that he was now quite +conquered. "A pretty business it was that you'd embarked upon; but +you'd have had to reckon with Pauline and me, I can tell you! And now +don't bother your head any more about the Government. To begin with, +all Governments are alike, and if we didn't have this one, we should +have another. A Government is necessary. But the one thing is to be +able to live on, to spend one's savings in peace and comfort when one +grows old, and to know that one has gained one's means honestly." + +Quenu nodded his head in acquiescence, and tried to commence a +justification of his conduct. + +"It was Gavard--," he began. + +But Lisa's face again assumed a serious expression, and she +interrupted him sharply. + +"No, it was not Gavard. I know very well who it was; and it would be a +great deal better if he would look after his own safety before +compromising that of others." + +"Is it Florent you mean?" Quenu timidly inquired after a pause. + +Lisa did not immediately reply. She got up and went back to the +secretaire, as if trying to restrain herself. + +"Yes, it is Florent," she said presently, in incisive tones. "You know +how patient I am. I would bear almost anything rather than come +between you and your brother. The tie of relationship is a sacred +thing. But the cup is filled to overflowing now. Since your brother +came here things have been constantly getting worse and worse. But +now, I won't say anything more; it is better that I shouldn't." + +There was another pause. Then, as her husband gazed up at the ceiling +with an air of embarrassment, she continued, with increased violence: + +"Really, he seems to ignore all that we have done for him. We have put +ourselves to great inconvenience for his sake; we have given him +Augustine's bedroom, and the poor girl sleeps without a murmur in a +stuffy little closet where she can scarcely breathe. We board and +lodge him and give him every attention--but no, he takes it all quite +as a matter of course. He is earning money, but what he does with it +nobody knows; or, rather, one knows only too well." + +"But there's his share of the inheritance, you know," Quenu ventured +to say, pained at hearing his brother attacked. + +Lisa suddenly stiffened herself as though she were stunned, and her +anger vanished. + +"Yes, you are right; there is his share of the inheritance. Here is +the statement of it, in this drawer. But he refused to take it; you +remember, you were present, and heard him. That only proves that he is +a brainless, worthless fellow. If he had had an idea in his head, he +would have made something out of that money by now. For my own part, I +should be very glad to get rid of it; it would be a relief to us. I +have told him so twice, but he won't listen to me. You ought to +persuade him to take it. Talk to him about it, will you?" + +Quenu growled something in reply; and Lisa refrained from pressing the +point further, being of opinion that she had done all that could be +expected of her. + +"He is not like other men," she resumed. "He's not a comfortable sort +of person to have in the house. I shouldn't have said this if we +hadn't got talking on the subject. I don't busy myself about his +conduct, though it's setting the whole neighbourhood gossiping about +us. Let him eat and sleep here, and put us about, if he likes; we can +get over that; but what I won't tolerate is that he should involve us +in his politics. If he tries to lead you off again, or compromises us +in the least degree, I shall turn him out of the house without the +least hesitation. I warn you, and now you understand!" + +Florent was doomed. Lisa was making a great effort to restrain +herself, to prevent the animosity which had long been rankling in her +heart from flowing forth. But Florent and his ways jarred against her +every instinct; he wounded her, frightened her, and made her quite +miserable. + +"A man who has made such a discreditable career," she murmured, "who +has never been able to get a roof of his own over his head! I can very +well understand his partiality for bullets! He can go and stand in +their way if he chooses; but let him leave honest folks to their +families! And then, he isn't pleasant to have about one! He reeks of +fish in the evening at dinner! It prevents me from eating. He himself +never lets a mouthful go past him, though it's little better he seems +to be for it all! He can't even grow decently stout, the wretched +fellow, to such a degree do his bad instincts prey on him!" + +She had stepped up to the window whilst speaking, and now saw Florent +crossing the Rue Rambuteau on his way to the fish market. There was a +very large arrival of fish that morning; the tray-like baskets were +covered with rippling silver, and the auction rooms roared with the +hubbub of their sales. Lisa kept her eyes on the bony shoulders of her +brother-in-law as he made his way into the pungent smells of the +market, stooping beneath the sickening sensation which they brought +him; and the glance with which she followed his steps was that of a +woman bent on combat and resolved to be victorious. + +When she turned round again, Quenu was getting up. As he sat on the +edge of the bed in his night-shirt, still warm from the pleasant heat +of the eider-down quilt and with his feet resting on the soft fluffy +rug below him, he looked quite pale, quite distressed at the +misunderstanding between his wife and his brother. Lisa, however, gave +him one of her sweetest smiles, and he felt deeply touched when she +handed him his socks. + + + + CHAPTER IV + +Marjolin had been found in a heap of cabbages at the Market of the +Innocents. He was sleeping under the shelter of a large white-hearted +one, a broad leaf of which concealed his rosy childish face It was +never known what poverty-stricken mother had laid him there. When he +was found he was already a fine little fellow of two or three years of +age, very plump and merry, but so backward and dense that he could +scarcely stammer a few words, and only seemed able to smile. When one +of the vegetable saleswomen found him lying under the big white +cabbage she raised such a loud cry of surprise that her neighbours +rushed up to see what was the matter, while the youngster, still in +petticoats, and wrapped in a scrap of old blanket, held out his arms +towards her. He could not tell who his mother was, but opened his eyes +in wide astonishment as he squeezed against the shoulder of a stout +tripe dealer who eventually took him up. The whole market busied +itself about him throughout the day. He soon recovered confidence, ate +slices of bread and butter, and smiled at all the women. The stout +tripe dealer kept him for a time, then a neighbour took him; and a +month later a third woman gave him shelter. When they asked him where +his mother was, he waved his little hand with a pretty gesture which +embraced all the women present. He became the adopted child of the +place, always clinging to the skirts of one or another of the women, +and always finding a corner of a bed and a share of a meal somewhere. +Somehow, too, he managed to find clothes, and he even had a copper or +two at the bottom of his ragged pockets. It was a buxom, ruddy girl +dealing in medicinal herbs who gave him the name of Marjolin,[*] +though no one knew why. + +[*] Literally "Marjoram." + +When Marjolin was nearly four years of age, old Mother Chantemesse +also happened to find a child, a little girl, lying on the footway of +the Rue Saint Denis, near the corner of the market. Judging by the +little one's size, she seemed to be a couple of years old, but she +could already chatter like a magpie, murdering her words in an +incessant childish babble. Old Mother Chantemesse after a time +gathered that her name was Cadine, and that on the previous evening +her mother had left her sitting on a doorstep, with instructions to +wait till she returned. The child had fallen asleep there, and did not +cry. She related that she was beaten at home; and she gladly followed +Mother Chantemesse, seemingly quite enchanted with that huge square, +where there were so many people and such piles of vegetables. Mother +Chantemesse, a retail dealer by trade, was a crusty but very worthy +woman, approaching her sixtieth year. She was extremely fond of +children, and had lost three boys of her own when they were mere +babies. She came to the opinion that the chit she had found "was far +too wide awake to kick the bucket," and so she adopted her. + +One evening, however, as she was going off home with her right hand +clasping Cadine's, Marjolin came up and unceremoniously caught hold of +her left hand. + +"Nay, my lad," said the old woman, stopping, "the place is filled. +Have you left your big Therese, then? What a fickle little gadabout +you are!" + +The boy gazed at her with his smiling eyes, without letting go of her +hand. He looked so pretty with his curly hair that she could not +resist him. "Well, come along, then, you little scamp," said she; +"I'll put you to bed as well." + +Thus she made her appearance in the Rue au Lard, where she lived, with +a child clinging to either hand. Marjolin made himself quite at home +there. When the two children proved too noisy the old woman cuffed +them, delighted to shout and worry herself, and wash the youngsters, +and pack them away beneath the blankets. She had fixed them up a +little bed in an old costermonger's barrow, the wheels and shafts of +which had disappeared. It was like a big cradle, a trifle hard, but +retaining a strong scent of the vegetables which it had long kept +fresh and cool beneath a covering of damp cloths. And there, when four +years old, Cadine and Marjolin slept locked in each other's arms. + +They grew up together, and were always to be seen with their arms +about one another's waist. At night time old Mother Chantemesse heard +them prattling softly. Cadine's clear treble went chattering on for +hours together, while Marjolin listened with occasional expressions of +astonishment vented in a deeper tone. The girl was a mischievous young +creature, and concocted all sorts of stories to frighten her +companion; telling him, for instance, that she had one night seen a +man, dressed all in white, looking at them and putting out a great red +tongue, at the foot of the bed. Marjolin quite perspired with terror, +and anxiously asked for further particulars; but the girl would then +begin to jeer at him, and end by calling him a big donkey. At other +times they were not so peaceably disposed, but kicked each other +beneath the blankets. Cadine would pull up her legs, and try to +restrain her laughter as Marjolin missed his aim, and sent his feet +banging against the wall. When this happened, old Madame Chantemesse +was obliged to get up to put the bed-clothes straight again; and, by +way of sending the children to sleep, she would administer a box on +the ear to both of them. For a long time their bed was a sort of +playground. They carried their toys into it, and munched stolen +carrots and turnips as they lay side by side. Every morning their +adopted mother was amazed at the strange things she found in the bed-- +pebbles, leaves, apple cores, and dolls made out of scraps of rags. +When the very cold weather came, she went off to her work, leaving +them sleeping there, Cadine's black mop mingling with Marjolin's sunny +curls, and their mouths so near together that they looked as though +they were keeping each other warm with their breath. + +The room in the Rue au Lard was a big, dilapidated garret, with a +single window, the panes of which were dimmed by the rain. The +children would play at hide-and-seek in the tall walnut wardrobe and +underneath Mother Chantemesse's colossal bed. There were also two or +three tables in the room, and they crawled under these on all fours. +They found the place a very charming playground, on account of the dim +light and the vegetables scattered about in the dark corners. The +street itself, too, narrow and very quiet, with a broad arcade opening +into the Rue de la Lingerie, provided them with plenty of +entertainment. The door of the house was by the side of the arcade; it +was a low door and could only be opened half way owing to the near +proximity of the greasy corkscrew staircase. The house, which had a +projecting pent roof and a bulging front, dark with damp, and +displaying greenish drain-sinks near the windows of each floor, also +served as a big toy for the young couple. They spent their mornings +below in throwing stones up into the drain-sinks, and the stones +thereupon fell down the pipes with a very merry clatter. In thus +amusing themselves, however, they managed to break a couple of +windows, and filled the drains with stones, so that Mother +Chantemesse, who had lived in the house for three and forty years, +narrowly escaped being turned out of it. + +Cadine and Marjolin then directed their attention to the vans and +drays and tumbrels which were drawn up in the quiet street. They +clambered on to the wheels, swung from the dangling chains, and larked +about amongst the piles of boxes and hampers. Here also were the back +premises of the commission agents of the Rue de la Poterie--huge, +gloomy warehouses, each day filled and emptied afresh, and affording a +constant succession of delightful hiding-places, where the youngsters +buried themselves amidst the scent of dried fruits, oranges, and fresh +apples. When they got tired of playing in his way, they went off to +join old Madame Chantemesse at the Market of the Innocents. They +arrived there arm-in-arm, laughing gaily as they crossed the streets +with never the slightest fear of being run over by the endless +vehicles. They knew the pavement well, and plunged their little legs +knee-deep in the vegetable refuse without ever slipping. They jeered +merrily at any porter in heavy boots who, in stepping over an +artichoke stem, fell sprawling full-length upon the ground. They were +the rosy-cheeked familiar spirits of those greasy streets. They were +to be seen everywhere. + +On rainy days they walked gravely beneath the shelter of a ragged old +umbrella, with which Mother Chantemesse had protected her stock-in- +trade for twenty years, and sticking it up in a corner of the market +they called it their house. On sunny days they romped to such a degree +that when evening came they were almost too tired to move. They bathed +their feet in the fountains, dammed up the gutters, or hid themselves +beneath piles of vegetables, and remained there prattling to each +other just as they did in bed at night. People passing some huge +mountain of cos or cabbage lettuces often heard a muffled sound of +chatter coming from it. And when the green-stuff was removed, the two +children would be discovered lying side by side on their couch of +verdure, their eyes glistening uneasily like those of birds discovered +in the depth of a thicket. As time went on, Cadine could not get along +without Marjolin, and Marjolin began to cry when he lost sight of +Cadine. If they happened to get separated, they sought one another +behind the petticoats of every stallkeeper in the markets, amongst the +boxes and under the cabbages. If was, indeed, chiefly under the +cabbages that they grew up and learned to love each other. + +Marjolin was nearly eight years old, and Cadine six, when old Madame +Chantemesse began to reproach them for their idleness. She told them +that she would interest them in her business, and pay them a sou a day +to assist her in paring her vegetables. During the first few days the +children displayed eager zeal; they squatted down on either side of +the big flat basket with little knives in their hands, and worked away +energetically. Mother Chantemesse made a specialty of pared +vegetables; on her stall, covered with a strip of damp black lining, +were little lots of potatoes, turnips, carrots, and white onions, +arranged in pyramids of four--three at the base and one at the apex, +all quite ready to be popped into the pans of dilatory housewives. She +also had bundles duly stringed in readiness for the soup-pot--four +leeks, three carrots, a parsnip, two turnips, and a couple of springs +of celery. Then there were finely cut vegetables for julienne soup +laid out on squares of paper, cabbages cut into quarters, and little +heaps of tomatoes and slices of pumpkin which gleamed like red stars +and golden crescents amidst the pale hues of the other vegetables. +Cadine evinced much more dexterity than Marjolin, although she was +younger. The peelings of the potatoes she pared were so thin that you +could see through them; she tied up the bundles for the soup-pot so +artistically that they looked like bouquets; and she had a way of +making the little heaps she set up, though they contained but three +carrots or turnips, look like very big ones. The passers-by would stop +and smile when she called out in her shrill childish voice: "Madame! +madame! come and try me! Each little pile for two sous." + +She had her regular customers, and her little piles and bundles were +widely known. Old Mother Chantemesse, seated between the two children, +would indulge in a silent laugh which made her bosom rise almost to +her chin, at seeing them working away so seriously. She paid them +their daily sous most faithfully. But they soon began to weary of the +little heaps and bundles; they were growing up, and began to dream of +some more lucrative business. Marjolin remained very childish for his +years, and this irritated Cadine. He had no more brains than a +cabbage, she often said. And it was, indeed, quite useless for her to +devise any plan for him to make money; he never earned any. He could +not even do an errand satisfactorily. The girl, on the other hand, was +very shrewd. When but eight years old she obtained employment from one +of those women who sit on a bench in the neighbourhood of the markets +provided with a basket of lemons, and employ a troop of children to go +about selling them. Carrying the lemons in her hands and offering them +at two for three sous, Cadine thrust them under every woman's nose, +and ran after every passer-by. Her hands empty, she hastened back for +a fresh supply. She was paid two sous for every dozen lemons that she +sold, and on good days she could earn some five or six sous. During +the following year she hawked caps at nine sous apiece, which proved a +more profitable business; only she had to keep a sharp look-out, as +street trading of this kind is forbidden unless one be licensed. +However, she scented a policeman at a distance of a hundred yards; and +the caps forthwith disappeared under her skirts, whilst she began to +munch an apple with an air of guileless innocence. Then she took to +selling pastry, cakes, cherry-tarts, gingerbread, and thick yellow +maize biscuits on wicker trays. Marjolin, however, ate up nearly the +whole of her stock-in-trade. At last, when she was eleven years old, +she succeeded in realising a grand idea which had long been worrying +her. In a couple of months she put by four francs, bought a small +/hotte/,[*] and then set up as a dealer in birds' food. + +[*] A basket carried on the back.--Translator. + +It was a big affair. She got up early in the morning and purchased her +stock of groundsel, millet, and bird-cake from the wholesale dealers. +Then she set out on her day's work, crossing the river, and +perambulating the Latin Quarter from the Rue Saint Jacques to the Rue +Dauphine, and even to the Luxembourg. Marjolin used to accompany her, +but she would not let him carry the basket. He was only fit to call +out, she said; and so, in his thick, drawling voice, he would raise +the cry, "Chickweed for the little birds!" + +Then Cadine herself, with her flute-like voice, would start on a +strange scale of notes ending in a clear, protracted alto, "Chickweed +for the little birds!" + +They each took one side of the road, and looked up in the air as they +walked along. In those days Marjolin wore a big scarlet waistcoat +which hung down to his knees; it had belonged to the defunct Monsieur +Chantemesse, who had been a cab-driver. Cadine for her part wore a +white and blue check gown, made out of an old tartan of Madame +Chantemesse's. All the canaries in the garrets of the Latin Quarter +knew them; and, as they passed along, repeating their cry, each +echoing the other's voice, every cage poured out a song. + +Cadine sold water-cress, too. "Two sous a bunch! Two sous a bunch!" +And Marjolin went into the shops to offer it for sale. "Fine water- +cress! Health for the body! Fine fresh water-cress!" + +However, the new central markets had just been erected, and the girl +would stand gazing in ecstacy at the avenue of flower stalls which +runs through the fruit pavilion. Here on either hand, from end to end, +big clumps of flowers bloom as in the borders of a garden walk. It is +a perfect harvest, sweet with perfume, a double hedge of blossoms, +between which the girls of the neighbourhood love to walk, smiling the +while, though almost stifled by the heavy perfume. And on the top +tiers of the stalls are artificial flowers, with paper leaves, in +which dewdrops are simulated by drops of gum; and memorial wreaths of +black and white beads rippling with bluish reflections. Cadine's rosy +nostrils would dilate with feline sensuality; she would linger as long +as possible in that sweet freshness, and carry as much of the perfume +away with her as she could. When her hair bobbed under Marjolin's nose +he would remark that it smelt of pinks. She said that she had given +over using pomatum; that is was quite sufficient for her to stroll +through the flower walk in order to scent her hair. Next she began to +intrigue and scheme with such success that she was engaged by one of +the stallkeepers. And then Marjolin declared that she smelt sweet from +head to foot. She lived in the midst of roses, lilacs, wall-flowers, +and lilies of the valley; and Marjolin would playfully smell at her +skirts, feign a momentary hesitation, and then exclaim, "Ah, that's +lily of the valley!" Next he would sniff at her waist and bodice: "Ah, +that's wall-flowers!" And at her sleeves and wrists: "Ah, that's +lilac!" And at her neck, and her cheeks and lips: "Ah, but that's +roses!" he would cry. Cadine used to laugh at him, and call him a +"silly stupid," and tell him to get away, because he was tickling her +with the tip of his nose. As she spoke her breath smelt of jasmine. +She was verily a bouquet, full of warmth and life. + +She now got up at four o'clock every morning to assist her mistress in +her purchases. Each day they bought armfuls of flowers from the +suburban florists, with bundles of moss, and bundles of fern fronds, +and periwinkle leaves to garnish the bouquets. Cadine would gaze with +amazement at the diamonds and Valenciennes worn by the daughters of +the great gardeners of Montreuil, who came to the markets amidst their +roses. + +On the saints' days of popular observance, such as Saint Mary's, Saint +Peter's, and Saint Joseph's days, the sale of flowers began at two +o'clock. More than a hundred thousand francs' worth of cut flowers +would be sold on the footways, and some of the retail dealers would +make as much as two hundred francs in a few hours. On days like those +only Cadine's curly locks peered over the mounds of pansies, +mignonette, and marguerites. She was quite drowned and lost in the +flood of flowers. Then she would spend all her time in mounting +bouquets on bits of rush. In a few weeks she acquired considerable +skillfulness in her business, and manifested no little originality. +Her bouquets did not always please everybody, however. Sometimes they +made one smile, sometimes they alarmed the eyes. Red predominated in +them, mottled with violent tints of blue, yellow, and violet of a +barbaric charm. On the mornings when she pinched Marjolin, and teased +him till she made him cry, she made up fierce-looking bouquets, +suggestive of her own bad temper, bouquets with strong rough scents +and glaring irritating colours. On other days, however, when she was +softened by some thrill of joy or sorrow, her bouquets would assume a +tone of silvery grey, very soft and subdued, and delicately perfumed. + +Then, too, she would set roses, as sanguineous as open hearts, in +lakes of snow-white pinks; arrange bunches of tawny iris that shot up +in tufts of flame from foliage that seemed scared by the brilliance of +the flowers; work elaborate designs, as complicated as those of Smyrna +rugs, adding flower to flower, as on a canvas; and prepare rippling +fanlike bouquets spreading out with all the delicacy of lace. Here was +a cluster of flowers of delicious purity, there a fat nosegay, +whatever one might dream of for the hand of a marchioness or a fish- +wife; all the charming quaint fancies, in short, which the brain of a +sharp-witted child of twelve, budding into womanhood, could devise. + +There were only two flowers for which Cadine retained respect; white +lilac, which by the bundle of eight or ten sprays cost from fifteen to +twenty francs in the winter time; and camellias, which were still more +costly, and arrived in boxes of a dozen, lying on beds of moss, and +covered with cotton wool. She handled these as delicately as though +they were jewels, holding her breath for fear of dimming their lustre, +and fastening their short stems to springs of cane with the tenderest +care. She spoke of them with serious reverence. She told Marjolin one +day that a speckless white camellia was a very rare and exceptionally +lovely thing, and, as she was making him admire one, he exclaimed: +"Yes; it's pretty; but I prefer your neck, you know. It's much more +soft and transparent than the camellia, and there are some little blue +and pink veins just like the pencillings on a flower." Then, drawing +near and sniffing, he murmured: "Ah! you smell of orange blossom +to-day." + +Cadine was self-willed, and did not get on well in the position of a +servant, so she ended by setting up in business on her own account. As +she was only thirteen at the time, and could not hope for a big trade +and a stall in the flower avenue, she took to selling one-sou bunches +of violets pricked into a bed of moss in an osier tray which she +carried hanging from her neck. All day long she wandered about the +markets and their precincts with her little bit of hanging garden. She +loved this continual stroll, which relieved the numbness of her limbs +after long hours spent, with bent knees, on a low chair, making +bouquets. She fastened her violets together with marvellous deftness +as she walked along. She counted out six or eight flowers, according +to the season, doubled a sprig of cane in half, added a leaf, twisted +some damp thread round the whole, and broke off the thread with her +strong young teeth. The little bunches seemed to spring spontaneously +from the layer of moss, so rapidly did she stick them into it. + +Along the footways, amidst the jostling of the street traffic, her +nimble fingers were ever flowering though she gave them not a glance, +but boldly scanned the shops and passers-by. Sometimes she would rest +in a doorway for a moment; and alongside the gutters, greasy with +kitchen slops, she sat, as it were a patch of springtime, a +suggestion of green woods, and purple blossoms. Her flowers still +betokened her frame of mind, her fits of bad temper and her thrills of +tenderness. Sometimes they bristled and glowered with anger amidst +their crumpled leaves; at other times they spoke only of love and +peacefulness as they smiled in their prim collars. As Cadine passed +along, she left a sweet perfume behind her; Marjolin followed her +devoutly. From head to foot she now exhaled but one scent, and the lad +repeated that she was herself a violet, a great big violet. + +"Do you remember the day when we went to Romainville together?" he +would say; "Romainville, where there are so many violets. The scent +was just the same. Oh! don't change again--you smell too sweetly." + +And she did not change again. This was her last trade. Still, she +often neglected her osier tray to go rambling about the neighbourhood. +The building of the central markets--as yet incomplete--provided both +children with endless opportunities for amusement. They made their way +into the midst of the work-yards through some gap or other between the +planks; they descended into the foundations, and climbed up to the +cast-iron pillars. Every nook, every piece of the framework witnessed +their games and quarrels; the pavilions grew up under the touch of +their little hands. From all this arose the affection which they felt +for the great markets, and which the latter seemed to return. They +were on familiar terms with that gigantic pile, old friends as they +were, who had seen each pin and bolt put into place. They felt no fear +of the huge monster; but slapped it with their childish hands, treated +it like a good friend, a chum whose presence brought no constraint. +And the markets seemed to smile at these two light-hearted children, +whose love was the song, the idyll of their immensity. + +Cadine alone now slept at Mother Chantemesse's. The old woman had +packed Marjolin off to a neighbour's. This made the two children very +unhappy. Still, they contrived to spend much of their time together. +In the daytime they would hide themselves away in the warehouses of +the Rue au Lard, behind piles of apples and cases of oranges; and in +the evening they would dive into the cellars beneath the poultry +market, and secret themselves among the huge hampers of feathers which +stood near the blocks where the poultry was killed. They were quite +alone there, amidst the strong smell of the poultry, and with never a +sound but the sudden crowing of some rooster to break upon their +babble and their laughter. The feathers amidst which they found +themselves were of all sorts--turkey's feathers, long and black; goose +quills, white and flexible; the downy plumage of ducks, soft like +cotton wool; and the ruddy and mottled feathers of fowls, which at the +faintest breath flew up in a cloud like a swarm of flies buzzing in +the sun. And then in wintertime there was the purple plumage of the +pheasants, the ashen grey of the larks, the splotched silk of the +partridges, quails, and thrushes. And all these feathers freshly +plucked were still warm and odoriferous, seemingly endowed with life. +The spot was as cosy as a nest; at times a quiver as of flapping wings +sped by, and Marjolin and Cadine, nestling amidst all the plumage, +often imagined that they were being carried aloft by one of those huge +birds with outspread pinions that one hears of in the fairy tales. + +As time went on their childish affection took the inevitable turn. +Veritable offsprings of Nature, knowing naught of social conventions +and restraints, they loved one another in all innocence and +guilelessness. They mated even as the birds of the air mate, even as +youth and maid mated in primeval times, because such is Nature's law. +At sixteen Cadine was a dusky town gipsy, greedy and sensual, whilst +Marjolin, now eighteen, was a tall, strapping fellow, as handsome a +youth as could be met, but still with his mental faculties quite +undeveloped. He had lived, indeed, a mere animal life, which had +strengthened his frame, but left his intellect in a rudimentary state. + +When old Madame Chantemesse realised the turn that things were taking +she wrathfully upbraided Cadine and struck out vigorously at her with +her broom. But the hussy only laughed and dodged the blows, and then +hied off to her lover. And gradually the markets became their home, +their manger, their aviary, where they lived and loved amidst the +meat, the butter, the vegetables, and the feathers. + +They discovered another little paradise in the pavilion where butter, +eggs, and cheese were sold wholesale. Enormous walls of empty baskets +were here piled up every morning, and amidst these Cadine and Marjolin +burrowed and hollowed out a dark lair for themselves. A mere partition +of osier-work separated them from the market crowd, whose loud voices +rang out all around them. They often shook with laughter when people, +without the least suspicion of their presence, stopped to talk +together a few yards away from them. On these occasions they would +contrive peepholes, and spy through them, and when cherries were in +season Cadine tossed the stones in the faces of all the old women who +passed along--a pastime which amused them the more as the startled old +crones could never make out whence the hail of cherry-stones had come. +They also prowled about the depths of the cellars, knowing every +gloomy corner of them, and contriving to get through the most +carefully locked gates. One of their favourite amusements was to visit +the track of the subterranean railway, which had been laid under the +markets, and which those who planned the latter had intended to +connect with the different goods' stations of Paris. Sections of this +railway were laid beneath each of the covered ways, between the +cellars of each pavilion; the work, indeed, was in such an advanced +state that turn-tables had been put into position at all the points of +intersection, and were in readiness for use. After much examination, +Cadine and Marjolin had at last succeeded in discovering a loose plank +in the hoarding which enclosed the track, and they had managed to +convert it into a door, by which they could easily gain access to the +line. There they were quite shut off from the world, though they could +hear the continuous rumbling of the street traffic over their heads. + +The line stretched through deserted vaults, here and there illumined +by a glimmer of light filtering through iron gratings, while in +certain dark corners gas jets were burning. And Cadine and Marjolin +rambled about as in the secret recesses of some castle of their own, +secure from all interruption, and rejoicing in the buzzy silence, the +murky glimmer, and subterranean secrecy, which imparted a touch of +melodrama to their experiences. All sorts of smells were wafted +through the hoarding from the neighbouring cellars; the musty smell of +vegetables, the pungency of fish, the overpowering stench of cheese, +and the warm reek of poultry. + +At other times, on clear nights and fine dawns, they would climb on to +the roofs, ascending thither by the steep staircases of the turrets at +the angles of the pavilions. Up above they found fields of leads, +endless promenades and squares, a stretch of undulating country which +belonged to them. They rambled round the square roofs of the +pavilions, followed the course of the long roofs of the covered ways, +climbed and descended the slopes, and lost themselves in endless +perambulations of discovery. And when they grew tired of the lower +levels they ascended still higher, venturing up the iron ladders, on +which Cadine's skirts flapped like flags. Then they ran along the +second tier of roofs beneath the open heavens. There was nothing save +the stars above them. All sorts of sounds rose up from the echoing +markets, a clattering and rumbling, a vague roar as of a distant +tempest heard at nighttime. At that height the morning breeze swept +away the evil smells, the foul breath of the awaking markets. They +would kiss one another on the edge of the gutterings like sparrows +frisking on the house-tops. The rising fires of the sun illumined +their faces with a ruddy glow. Cadine laughed with pleasure at being +so high up in the air, and her neck shone with iridescent tints like a +dove's; while Marjolin bent down to look at the street still wrapped +in gloom, with his hands clutching hold of the leads like the feet of +a wood-pigeon. When they descended to earth again, joyful from their +excursion in the fresh air, they would remark to one another that they +were coming back from the country. + +It was in the tripe market that they had made the acquaintance of +Claude Lantier. They went there every day, impelled thereto by an +animal taste for blood, the cruel instinct of urchins who find +amusement in the sight of severed heads. A ruddy stream flowed along +the gutters round the pavilion; they dipped the tips of their shoes in +it, and dammed it up with leaves, so as to form large pools of blood. +They took a strong interest in the arrival of the loads of offal in +carts which always smelt offensively, despite all the drenchings of +water they got; they watched the unloading of the bundles of sheep's +trotters, which were piled up on the ground like filthy paving-stones, +of the huge stiffened tongues, bleeding at their torn roots, and of +the massive bell-shaped bullocks' hearts. But the spectacle which, +above all others, made them quiver with delight was that of the big +dripping hampers, full of sheep's heads, with greasy horns and black +muzzles, and strips of woolly skin dangling from bleeding flesh. The +sight of these conjured up in their minds the idea of some guillotine +casting into the baskets the heads of countless victims. + +They followed the baskets into the depths of the cellar, watching them +glide down the rails laid over the steps, and listening to the rasping +noise which the casters of these osier waggons made in their descent. +Down below there was a scene of exquisite horror. They entered into a +charnel-house atmosphere, and walked along through murky puddles, +amidst which every now and then purple eyes seem to be glistening. At +times the soles of their boots stuck to the ground, at others they +splashed through the horrible mire, anxious and yet delighted. The +gas jets burned low, like blinking, bloodshot eyes. Near the water- +taps, in the pale light falling through the gratings, they came upon +the blocks; and there they remained in rapture watching the tripe men, +who, in aprons stiffened by gory splashings, broke the sheep's heads +one after another with a blow of their mallets. They lingered there +for hours, waiting till all the baskets were empty, fascinated by the +crackling of the bones, unable to tear themselves away till all was +over. Sometimes an attendant passed behind them, cleansing the cellar +with a hose; floods of water rushed out with a sluice-like roar, but +although the violence of the discharge actually ate away the surface +of the flagstones, it was powerless to remove the ruddy stains and +stench of blood. + +Cadine and Marjolin were sure of meeting Claude between four and five +in the afternoon at the wholesale auction of the bullocks' lights. He +was always there amidst the tripe dealers' carts backed up against the +kerb-stones and the blue-bloused, white-aproned men who jostled him +and deafened his ears by their loud bids. But he never felt their +elbows; he stood in a sort of ecstatic trance before the huge hanging +lights, and often told Cadine and Marjolin that there was no finer +sight to be seen. The lights were of a soft rosy hue, gradually +deepening and turning at the lower edges to a rich carmine; and Claude +compared them to watered satin, finding no other term to describe the +soft silkiness of those flowing lengths of flesh which drooped in +broad folds like ballet dancers' skirts. He thought, too, of gauze and +lace allowing a glimpse of pinky skin; and when a ray of sunshine fell +upon the lights and girdled them with gold an expression of languorous +rapture came into his eyes, and he felt happier than if he had been +privileged to contemplate the Greek goddesses in their sovereign +nudity, or the chatelaines of romance in their brocaded robes. + +The artist became a great friend of the two young scapegraces. He +loved beautiful animals, and such undoubtedly they were. For a long +time he dreamt of a colossal picture which should represent the loves +of Cadine and Marjolin in the central markets, amidst the vegetables, +the fish, and the meat. He would have depicted them seated on some +couch of food, their arms circling each other's waists, and their lips +exchanging an idyllic kiss. In this conception he saw a manifesto +proclaiming the positivism of art--modern art, experimental and +materialistic. And it seemed to him also that it would be a smart +satire on the school which wishes every painting to embody an "idea," +a slap for the old traditions and all they represented. But during a +couple of years he began study after study without succeeding in +giving the particular "note" he desired. In this way he spoilt fifteen +canvases. His failure filled him with rancour; however, he continued +to associate with his two models from a sort of hopeless love for his +abortive picture. When he met them prowling about in the afternoon, he +often scoured the neighbourhood with them, strolling around with his +hands in his pockets, and deeply interested in the life of the +streets. + +They all three trudged along together, dragging their heels over the +footways and monopolising their whole breadth so as to force others to +step down into the road. With their noses in the air they sniffed in +the odours of Paris, and could have recognised every corner blindfold +by the spirituous emanations of the wine shops, the hot puffs that +came from the bakehouses and confectioners', and the musty odours +wafted from the fruiterers'. They would make the circuit of the whole +district. They delighted in passing through the rotunda of the corn +market, that huge massive stone cage where sacks of flour were piled +up on every side, and where their footsteps echoed in the silence of +the resonant roof. They were fond, too, of the little narrow streets +in the neighbourhood, which had become as deserted, as black, and as +mournful as though they formed part of an abandoned city. These were +the Rue Babille, the Rue Sauval, the Rue des Deux Ecus, and the Rue de +Viarmes, this last pallid from its proximity to the millers' stores, +and at four o'clock lively by reason of the corn exchange held there. +It was generally at this point that they started on their round. They +made their way slowly along the Rue Vauvilliers, glancing as they went +at the windows of the low eating-houses, and thus reaching the +miserably narrow Rue des Prouvaires, where Claude blinked his eyes as +he saw one of the covered ways of the market, at the far end of which, +framed round by this huge iron nave, appeared a side entrance of St. +Eustache with its rose and its tiers of arched windows. And then, with +an air of defiance, he would remark that all the middle ages and the +Renaissance put together were less mighty than the central markets. +Afterwards, as they paced the broad new streets, the Rue du Pont Neuf +and the Rue des Halles, he explained modern life with its wide +footways, its lofty houses, and its luxurious shops, to the two +urchins. He predicted, too, the advent of new and truly original art, +whose approach he could divine, and despair filled him that its +revelation should seemingly be beyond his own powers. + +Cadine and Marjolin, however, preferred the provincial quietness of +the Rue des Bourdonnais, where one can play at marbles without fear of +being run over. The girl perked her head affectedly as she passed the +wholesale glove and hosiery stores, at each door of which bareheaded +assistants, with their pens stuck in their ears, stood watching her +with a weary gaze. And she and her lover had yet a stronger preference +for such bits of olden Paris as still existed: the Rue de la Poterie +and the Rue de la Lingerie, with their butter and egg and cheese +dealers; the Rue de la Ferronerie and the Rue de l'Aiguillerie (the +beautiful streets of far-away times), with their dark narrow shops; +and especially the Rue Courtalon, a dank, dirty by-way running from +the Place Sainte Opportune to the Rue Saint Denis, and intersected by +foul-smelling alleys where they had romped in their younger days. In +the Rue Saint Denis they entered into the land of dainties; and they +smiled upon the dried apples, the "Spanishwood," the prunes, and the +sugar-candy in the windows of the grocers and druggists. Their +ramblings always set them dreaming of a feast of good things, and +inspired them with a desire to glut themselves on the contents of the +windows. To them the district seemed like some huge table, always laid +with an everlasting dessert into which they longed to plunge their +fingers. + +They devoted but a moment to visiting the other blocks of tumble-down +old houses, the Rue Pirouette, the Rue de Mondetour, the Rue de la +Petite Truanderie, and the Rue de la Grande Truanderie, for they took +little interest in the shops of the dealers in edible snails, cooked +vegetables, tripe, and drink. In the Rue de la Grand Truanderie, +however, there was a soap factory, an oasis of sweetness in the midst +of all the foul odours, and Marjolin was fond of standing outside it +till some one happened to enter or come out, so that the perfume which +swept through the doorway might blow full in his face. Then with all +speed they returned to the Rue Pierre Lescot and the Rue Rambuteau. +Cadine was extremely fond of salted provisions; she stood in +admiration before the bundles of red-herrings, the barrels of +anchovies and capers, and the little casks of gherkins and olives, +standing on end with wooden spoons inside them. The smell of the +vinegar titillated her throat; the pungent odour of the rolled cod, +smoked salmon, bacon and ham, and the sharp acidity of the baskets of +lemons, made her mouth water longingly. She was also fond of feasting +her eyes on the boxes of sardines piled up in metallic columns amidst +the cases and sacks. In the Rue Montorgueil and the Rue Montmartre +were other tempting-looking groceries and restaurants, from whose +basements appetising odours were wafted, with glorious shows of game +and poultry, and preserved-provision shops, which last displayed +beside their doors open kegs overflowing with yellow sour-krout +suggestive of old lacework. Then they lingered in the Rue Coquilliere, +inhaling the odour of truffles from the premises of a notable dealer +in comestibles, which threw so strong a perfume into the street that +Cadine and Marjolin closed their eyes and imagined they were +swallowing all kinds of delicious things. These perfumes, however, +distressed Claude. They made him realise the emptiness of his stomach, +he said; and, leaving the "two animals" to feast on the odour of the +truffles--the most penetrating odour to be found in all the +neighbourhood--he went off again to the corn market by way of the Rue +Oblin, studying on his road the old women who sold green-stuff in the +doorways and the displays of cheap pottery spread out on the foot- +pavements. + +Such were their rambles in common; but when Cadine set out alone with +her bunches of violets she often went farther afield, making it a +point to visit certain shops for which she had a particular +partiality. She had an especial weakness for the Taboureau bakery +establishment, one of the windows of which was exclusively devoted to +pastry. She would follow the Rue Turbigo and retrace her steps a dozen +times in order to pass again and again before the almond cakes, the +/savarins/, the St. Honore tarts, the fruit tarts, and the various +dishes containing bunlike /babas/ redolent of rum, eclairs combining +the finger biscuit with chocolate, and /choux a la crème/, little +rounds of pastry overflowing with whipped white of egg. The glass jars +full of dry biscuits, macaroons, and /madeleines/ also made her mouth +water; and the bright shop with its big mirrors, its marble slabs, its +gilding, its bread-bins of ornamental ironwork, and its second window +in which long glistening loaves were displayed slantwise, with one end +resting on a crystal shelf whilst above they were upheld by a brass +rod, was so warm and odoriferous of baked dough that her features +expanded with pleasure when, yielding to temptation, she went in to +buy a /brioche/ for two sous. + +Another shop, one in front of the Square des Innocents, also filled +her with gluttonous inquisitiveness, a fever of longing desire. This +shop made a specialty of forcemeat pasties. In addition to the +ordinary ones there were pasties of pike and pasties of truffled /foie +gras/; and the girl would gaze yearningly at them, saying to herself +that she would really have to eat one some day. + +Cadine also had her moments of vanity and coquetry. When these fits +were on her, she bought herself in imagination some of the magnificent +dresses displayed in the windows of the "Fabriques de France" which +made the Pointe Saint Eustache gaudy with their pieces of bright stuff +hanging from the first floor to the footway and flapping in the +breeze. Somewhat incommoded by the flat basket hanging before her, +amidst the crowd of market women in dirty aprons gazing at future +Sunday dresses, the girl would feel the woollens, flannels, and +cottons to test the texture and suppleness of the material; and she +would promise herself a gown of bright-coloured flannelling, flowered +print, or scarlet poplin. Sometimes even from amongst the pieces +draped and set off to advantage by the window-dressers she would +choose some soft sky-blue or apple-green silk, and dream of wearing it +with pink ribbons. In the evenings she would dazzle herself with the +displays in the windows of the big jewellers in the Rue Montmartre. +That terrible street deafened her with its ceaseless flow of vehicles, +and the streaming crowd never ceased to jostle her; still she did not +stir, but remained feasting her eyes on the blazing splendour set out +in the light of the reflecting lamps which hung outside the windows. +On one side all was white with the bright glitter of silver: watches +in rows, chains hanging, spoons and forks laid crossways, cups, snuff- +boxes, napkin-rings, and combs arranged on shelves. The silver +thimbles, dotting a porcelain stand covered with a glass shade, had an +especial attraction for her. Then on the other side the windows +glistened with the tawny glow of gold. A cascade of long pendant +chains descended from above, rippling with ruddy gleams; small ladies' +watches, with the backs of their cases displayed, sparkled like fallen +stars; wedding rings clustered round slender rods; bracelets, +broaches, and other costly ornaments glittered on the black velvet +linings of their cases; jewelled rings set their stands aglow with +blue, green, yellow, and violet flamelets; while on every tier of the +shelves superposed rows of earrings and crosses and lockets hung +against the crystal like the rich fringes of altar-cloths. The glow of +this gold illumined the street half way across with a sun-like +radiance. And Cadine, as she gazed at it, almost fancied that she was +in presence of something holy, or on the threshold of the Emperor's +treasure chamber. She would for a long time scrutinise all this show +of gaudy jewellery, adapted to the taste of the fish-wives, and +carefully read the large figures on the tickets affixed to each +article; and eventually she would select for herself a pair of earrings +--pear-shaped drops of imitation coral hanging from golden roses. + +One morning Claude caught her standing in ecstasy before a hair- +dresser's window in the Rue Saint Honore. She was gazing at the +display of hair with an expression of intense envy. High up in the +window was a streaming cascade of long manes, soft wisps, loose +tresses, frizzy falls, undulating comb-curls, a perfect cataract of +silky and bristling hair, real and artificial, now in coils of a +flaming red, now in thick black crops, now in pale golden locks, and +even in snowy white ones for the coquette of sixty. In cardboard boxes +down below were cleverly arranged fringes, curling side-ringlets, and +carefully combed chignons glossy with pomade. And amidst this +framework, in a sort of shrine beneath the ravelled ends of the +hanging locks, there revolved the bust of a woman, arrayed in a +wrapper of cherry-coloured satin fastened between the breasts with a +brass brooch. The figure wore a lofty bridal coiffure picked out with +sprigs of orange blossom, and smiled with a dollish smile. Its eyes +were pale blue; its eyebrows were very stiff and of exaggerated +length; and its waxen cheeks and shoulders bore evident traces of the +heat and smoke of the gas. Cadine waited till the revolving figure +again displayed its smiling face, and as its profile showed more +distinctly and it slowly went round from left to right she felt +perfectly happy. Claude, however, was indignant, and, shaking Cadine, +he asked her what she was doing in front of "that abomination, that +corpse-like hussy picked up at the Morgue!" He flew into a temper with +the "dummy's" cadaverous face and shoulders, that disfigurement of the +beautiful, and remarked that artists painted nothing but that unreal +type of woman nowadays. Cadine, however, remained unconvinced by his +oratory, and considered the lady extremely beautiful. Then, resisting +the attempts of the artist to drag her away by the arm, and scratching +her black mop in vexation, she pointed to an enormous ruddy tail, +severed from the quarters of some vigorous mare, and told him she +would have liked to have a crop of hair like that. + +During the long rambles when Claude, Cadine, and Marjolin prowled +about the neighbourhood of the markets, they saw the iron ribs of the +giant building at the end of every street. Wherever they turned they +caught sudden glimpses of it; the horizon was always bounded by it; +merely the aspect under which it was seen varied. Claude was +perpetually turning round, and particularly in the Rue Montmartre, +after passing the church. From that point the markets, seen obliquely +in the distance, filled him with enthusiasm. A huge arcade, a giant, +gaping gateway, was open before him; then came the crowding pavilions +with their lower and upper roofs, their countless Venetian shutters +and endless blinds, a vision, as it were, of superposed houses and +palaces; a Babylon of metal of Hindoo delicacy of workmanship, +intersected by hanging terraces, aerial galleries, and flying bridges +poised over space. The trio always returned to this city round which +they strolled, unable to stray more than a hundred yards away. They +came back to it during the hot afternoons when the Venetian shutters +were closed and the blinds lowered. In the covered ways all seemed to +be asleep, the ashy greyness was streaked by yellow bars of sunlight +falling through the high windows. Only a subdued murmur broke the +silence; the steps of a few hurrying passers-by resounded on the +footways; whilst the badge-wearing porters sat in rows on the stone +ledges at the corners of the pavilions, taking off their boots and +nursing their aching feet. The quietude was that of a colossus at +rest, interrupted at times by some cock-crow rising from the cellars +below. + +Claude, Cadine, and Marjolin then often went to see the empty hampers +piled upon the drays, which came to fetch them every afternoon so that +they might be sent back to the consignors. There were mountains of +them, labelled with black letters and figures, in front of the +salesmen's warehouses in the Rue Berger. The porters arranged them +symmetrically, tier by tier, on the vehicles. When the pile rose, +however, to the height of a first floor, the porter who stood below +balancing the next batch of hampers had to make a spring in order to +toss them up to his mate, who was perched aloft with arms extended. +Claude, who delighted in feats of strength and dexterity, would stand +for hours watching the flight of these masses of osier, and would +burst into a hearty laugh whenever too vigorous a toss sent them +flying over the pile into the roadway beyond. He was fond, too, of the +footways of the Rue Rambuteau and the Rue du Pont Neuf, near the fruit +market, where the retail dealers congregated. The sight of the +vegetables displayed in the open air, on trestle-tables covered with +damp black rags, was full of charm for him. At four in the afternoon +the whole of this nook of greenery was aglow with sunshine; and Claude +wandered between the stalls, inspecting the bright-coloured heads of +the saleswomen with keen artistic relish. The younger ones, with their +hair in nets, had already lost all freshness of complexion through the +rough life they led; while the older ones were bent and shrivelled, +with wrinkled, flaring faces showing under the yellow kerchiefs bound +round their heads. Cadine and Marjolin refused to accompany him +hither, as they could perceive old Mother Chantemesse shaking her fist +at them, in her anger at seeing them prowling about together. He +joined them again, however, on the opposite footway, where he found a +splendid subject for a picture in the stallkeepers squatting under +their huge umbrellas of faded red, blue, and violet, which, mounted +upon poles, filled the whole market-side with bumps, and showed +conspicuously against the fiery glow of the sinking sun, whose rays +faded amidst the carrots and the turnips. One tattered harridan, a +century old, was sheltering three spare-looking lettuces beneath an +umbrella of pink silk, shockingly split and stained. + +Cadine and Marjolin had struck up an acquaintance with Leon, Quenu's +apprentice, one day when he was taking a pie to a house in the +neighbourhood. They saw him cautiously raise the lid of his pan in a +secluded corner of the Rue de Mondetour, and delicately take out a +ball of forcemeat. They smiled at the sight, which gave them a very +high opinion of Leon. And the idea came to Cadine that she might at +last satisfy one of her most ardent longings. Indeed, the very next +time that she met the lad with his basket she made herself very +agreeable, and induced him to offer her a forcemeat ball. But, +although she laughed and licked her fingers, she experienced some +disappointment. The forcemeat did not prove nearly so nice as she had +anticipated. On the other hand, the lad, with his sly, greedy phiz and +his white garments, which made him look like a girl going to her first +communion, somewhat took her fancy. + +She invited him to a monster lunch which she gave amongst the hampers +in the auction room at the butter market. The three of them--herself, +Marjolin, and Leon--completely secluded themselves from the world +within four walls of osier. The feast was laid out on a large flat +basket. There were pears, nuts, cream-cheese, shrimps, fried potatoes, +and radishes. The cheese came from a fruiterer's in the Rue de la +Cossonnerie, and was a present; and a "frier" of the Rue de la Grande +Truanderie had given Cadine credit for two sous' worth of potatoes. +The rest of the feast, the pears, the nuts, the shrimps, and the +radishes, had been pilfered from different parts of the market. It was +a delicious treat; and Leon, desirous of returning the hospitality, +gave a supper in his bedroom at one o'clock in the morning. The bill +of fare included cold black-pudding, slices of polony, a piece of salt +pork, some gherkins, and some goose-fat. The Quenu-Gradelles' shop had +provided everything. And matters did not stop there. Dainty suppers +alternated with delicate luncheons, and invitation upon invitation. +Three times a week there were banquets, either amidst the hampers or +in Leon's garret, where Florent, on the nights when he lay awake, +could hear a stifled sound of munching and rippling laughter until day +began to break. + +The loves of Cadine and Marjolin now took another turn. The youth +played the gallant, and just as another might entertain his +/innamorata/ at a champagne supper /en tete a tete/ in a private room, +he led Cadine into some quiet corner of the market cellars to munch +apples or sprigs of celery. One day he stole a red-herring, which they +devoured with immense enjoyment on the roof of the fish market beside +the guttering. There was not a single shady nook in the whole place +where they did not indulge in secret feasts. The district, with its +rows of open shops full of fruit and cakes and preserves, was no +longer a closed paradise, in front of which they prowled with greedy, +covetous appetites. As they passed the shops they now extended their +hands and pilfered a prune, a few cherries, or a bit of cod. They also +provisioned themselves at the markets, keeping a sharp look-out as +they made their way between the stalls, picking up everything that +fell, and often assisting the fall by a push of their shoulders. + +In spite, however, of all the marauding, some terrible scores had to +be run up with the "frier" of the Rue de la Grand Truanderie. This +"frier," whose shanty leaned against a tumble-down house, and was +propped up by heavy joists, green with moss, made a display of boiled +mussels lying in large earthenware bowls filled to the brim with clear +water; of dishes of little yellow dabs stiffened by too thick a +coating of paste; of squares of tripe simmering in a pan; and of +grilled herrings, black and charred, and so hard that if you tapped +them they sounded like wood. On certain weeks Cadine owed the frier as +much as twenty sous, a crushing debt, which required the sale of an +incalculable number of bunches of violets, for she could count upon no +assistance from Marjolin. Moreover, she was bound to return Leon's +hospitalities; and she even felt some little shame at never being able +to offer him a scrap of meat. He himself had now taken to purloining +entire hams. As a rule, he stowed everything away under his shirt; and +at night when he reached his bedroom he drew from his bosom hunks of +polony, slices of /pate de foie gras/, and bundles of pork rind. They +had to do without bread, and there was nothing to drink; but no +matter. One night Marjolin saw Leon kiss Cadine between two mouthfuls; +however, he only laughed. He could have smashed the little fellow with +a blow from his fist, but he felt no jealousy in respect of Cadine. He +treated her simply as a comrade with whom he had chummed for years. + +Claude never participated in these feasts. Having caught Cadine one +day stealing a beet-root from a little hamper lined with hay, he had +pulled her ears and given her a sound rating. These thieving +propensities made her perfect as a ne'er-do-well. However, in spite of +himself, he could not help feeling a sort of admiration for these +sensual, pilfering, greedy creatures, who preyed upon everything that +lay about, feasting off the crumbs that fell from the giant's table. + +At last Marjolin nominally took service under Gavard, happy in having +nothing to do except to listen to his master's flow of talk, while +Cadine still continued to sell violets, quite accustomed by this time +to old Mother Chantemesse's scoldings. They were still the same +children as ever, giving way to their instincts and appetites without +the slightest shame--they were the growth of the slimy pavements of +the market district, where, even in fine weather, the mud remains +black and sticky. However, as Cadine walked along the footways, +mechanically twisting her bunches of violets, she was sometimes +disturbed by disquieting reveries; and Marjolin, too, suffered from an +uneasiness which he could not explain. He would occasionally leave the +girl and miss some ramble or feast in order to go and gaze at Madame +Quenu through the windows of her pork shop. She was so handsome and +plump and round that it did him good to look at her. As he stood +gazing at her, he felt full and satisfied, as though he had just eaten +or drunk something extremely nice. And when he went off, a sort of +hunger and thirst to see her again suddenly came upon him. This had +been going on for a couple of months. At first he had looked at her +with the respectful glance which he bestowed upon the shop-fronts of +the grocers and provision dealers; but subsequently, when he and +Cadine had taken to general pilfering, he began to regard her smooth +cheeks much as he regarded the barrels of olives and boxes of dried +apples. + +For some time past Marjolin had seen handsome Lisa every day, in the +morning. She would pass Gavard's stall, and stop for a moment or two +to chat with the poultry dealer. She now did her marketing herself, so +that she might be cheated as little as possible, she said. The truth, +however, was that she wished to make Gavard speak out. In the pork +shop he was always distrustful, but at his stall he chatted and talked +with the utmost freedom. Now, Lisa had made up her mind to ascertain +from him exactly what took place in the little room at Monsieur +Lebigre's; for she had no great confidence in her secret police +office, Mademoiselle Saget. In a short time she learnt from the +incorrigible chatterbox a lot of vague details which very much alarmed +her. Two days after her explanation with Quenu she returned home from +the market looking very pale. She beckoned to her husband to follow +her into the dining-room, and having carefully closed the door she +said to him: "Is your brother determined to send us to the scaffold, +then? Why did you conceal from me what you knew?" + +Quenu declared that he knew nothing. He even swore a great oath that +he had not returned to Monsieur Lebigre's, and would never go there +again. + +"You will do well not to do so," replied Lisa, shrugging her +shoulders, "unless you want to get yourself into a serious scrape. +Florent is up to some evil trick, I'm certain of it! I have just +learned quite sufficient to show me where he is going. He's going back +to Cayenne, do you hear?" + +Then, after a pause, she continued in calmer ones: "Oh, the unhappy +man! He had everything here that he could wish for. He might have +redeemed his character; he had nothing but good examples before him. +But no, it is in his blood! He will come to a violent end with his +politics! I insist upon there being an end to all this! You hear me, +Quenu? I gave you due warning long ago!" + +She spoke the last words very incisively. Quenu bent his head, as if +awaiting sentence. + +"To begin with," continued Lisa, "he shall cease to take his meals +here. It will be quite sufficient if we give him a bed. He is earning +money; let him feed himself." + +Quenu seemed on the point of protesting, but his wife silenced him by +adding energetically: + +"Make your choice between him and me. If he remains here, I swear to +you that I will go away, and take my daughter with me. Do you want me +to tell you the whole truth about him? He is a man capable of +anything; he has come here to bring discord into our household. But I +will set things right, you may depend on it. You have your choice +between him and me; you hear me?" + +Then, leaving her husband in silent consternation, she returned to the +shop, where she served a customer with her usual affable smile. The +fact was that, having artfully inveigled Gavard into a political +discussion, the poultry dealer had told her that she would soon see +how the land lay, that they were going to make a clean sweep of +everything, and that two determined men like her brother-in-law and +himself would suffice to set the fire blazing. This was the evil trick +of which she had spoken to Quenu, some conspiracy to which Gavard was +always making mysterious allusions with a sniggering grin from which +he seemingly desired a great deal to be inferred. And in imagination +Lisa already saw the gendarmes invading the pork shop, gagging +herself, her husband, and Pauline, and casting them into some +underground dungeon. + +In the evening, at dinner, she evinced an icy frigidity. She made no +offers to serve Florent, but several times remarked: "It's very +strange what an amount of bread we've got through lately." + +Florent at last understood. He felt that he was being treated like a +poor relation who is gradually turned out of doors. For the last two +months Lisa had dressed him in Quenu's old trousers and coats; and, as +he was as thin as his brother was fat, these ragged garments had a +most extraordinary appearance upon him. She also turned her oldest +linen over to him: pocket-handkerchiefs which had been darned a score +of times, ragged towels, sheets which were only fit to be cut up into +dusters and dish-cloths, and worn-out shirts, distended by Quenu's +corpulent figure, and so short that they would have served Florent as +under-vests. Moreover, he no longer found around him the same good- +natured kindliness as in the earlier days. The whole household seemed +to shrug its shoulders after the example set by handsome Lisa. Auguste +and Augustine turned their backs upon him, and little Pauline, with +the cruel frankness of childhood, let fall some bitter remarks about +the stains on his coat and the holes in his shirt. However, during the +last days he suffered most at table. He scarcely dared to eat, as he +saw the mother and daughter fix their gaze upon him whenever he cut +himself a piece of bread. Quenu meantime peered into his plate, to +avoid having to take any part in what went on. + +That which most tortured Florent was his inability to invent a reason +for leaving the house. During a week he kept on revolving in his mind +a sentence expressing his resolve to take his meals elsewhere, but +could not bring himself to utter it. Indeed, this man of tender nature +lived in such a world of illusions that he feared he might hurt his +brother and sister-in-law by ceasing to lunch and dine with them. It +had taken him over two months to detect Lisa's latent hostility; and +even now he was sometimes inclined to think that he must be mistaken, +and that she was in reality kindly disposed towards him. Unselfishness +with him extended to forgetfulness of his requirements; it was no +longer a virtue, but utter indifference to self, an absolute +obliteration of personality. Even when he recognised that he was being +gradually turned out of the house, his mind never for a moment dwelt +upon his share in old Gradelle's fortune, or upon the accounts which +Lisa had offered him. He had already planned out his expenditure for +the future; reckoning that with what Madame Verlaque still allowed him +to retain of his salary, and the thirty francs a month which a pupil, +obtained through La Normande, paid him he would be able to spend +eighteen sous on his breakfast and twenty-six sous on his dinner. +This, he thought, would be ample. And so, at last, taking as his +excuse the lessons which he was giving his new pupil, he emboldened +himself one morning to pretend that it would be impossible for him in +future to come to the house at mealtimes. He blushed as he gave +utterance to this laboriously constructed lie, which had given him so +much trouble, and continued apologetically: + +"You mustn't be offended; the boy only has those hours free. I can +easily get something to eat, you know; and I will come and have a chat +with you in the evenings." + +Beautiful Lisa maintained her icy reserve, and this increased +Florent's feeling of trouble. In order to have no cause for self- +reproach she had been unwilling to send him about his business, +preferring to wait till he should weary of the situation and go of his +own accord. Now he was going, and it was a good riddance; and she +studiously refrained from all show of kindliness for fear it might +induce him to remain. Quenu, however, showed some signs of emotion, +and exclaimed: "Don't think of putting yourself about; take your meals +elsewhere by all means, if it is more convenient. It isn't we who are +turning you way; you'll at all events dine with us sometimes on +Sundays, eh?" + +Florent hurried off. His heart was very heavy. When he had gone, the +beautiful Lisa did not venture to reproach her husband for his +weakness in giving that invitation for Sundays. She had conquered, and +again breathed freely amongst the light oak of her dining-room, where +she would have liked to burn some sugar to drive away the odour of +perverse leanness which seemed to linger about. Moreover, she +continued to remain on the defensive; and at the end of another week +she felt more alarmed than ever. She only occasionally saw Florent in +the evenings, and began to have all sorts of dreadful thoughts, +imagining that her brother-in-law was constructing some infernal +machine upstairs in Augustine's bedroom, or else making signals which +would result in barricades covering the whole neighbourhood. Gavard, +who had become gloomy, merely nodded or shook his head when she spoke +to him, and left his stall for days together in Marjolin's charge. The +beautiful Lisa, however, determined that she would get to the bottom +of affairs. She knew that Florent had obtained a day's leave, and +intended to spend it with Claude Lantier, at Madame Francois's, at +Nanterre. As he would start in the morning, and remain away till +night, she conceived the idea of inviting Gavard to dinner. He would +be sure to talk freely, at table, she thought. But throughout the +morning she was unable to meet the poultry dealer, and so in the +afternoon she went back again to the markets. + +Marjolin was in the stall alone. He used to drowse there for hours, +recouping himself from the fatigue of his long rambles. He generally +sat upon one chair with his legs resting upon another, and his head +leaning against a little dresser. In the wintertime he took a keen +delight in lolling there and contemplating the display of game; the +bucks hanging head downwards, with their fore-legs broken and twisted +round their necks; the larks festooning the stall like garlands; the +big ruddy hares, the mottled partridges, the water-fowl of a bronze- +grey hue, the Russian black cocks and hazel hens, which arrived in a +packing of oat straw and charcoal;[*] and the pheasants, the +magnificent pheasants, with their scarlet hoods, their stomachers of +green satin, their mantles of embossed gold, and their flaming tails, +that trailed like trains of court robes. All this show of plumage +reminded Marjolin of his rambles in the cellars with Cadine amongst +the hampers of feathers. + +[*] The baskets in which these are sent to Paris are identical with + those which in many provinces of Russia serve the /moujiks/ as + cradles for their infants.--Translator. + +That afternoon the beautiful Lisa found Marjolin in the midst of the +poultry. It was warm, and whiffs of hot air passed along the narrow +alleys of the pavilion. She was obliged to stoop before she could see +him stretched out inside the stall, below the bare flesh of the birds. +From the hooked bar up above hung fat geese, the hooks sticking in the +bleeding wounds of their long stiffened necks, while their huge bodies +bulged out, glowing ruddily beneath their fine down, and, with their +snowy tails and wings, suggesting nudity encompassed by fine linen. +And also hanging from the bar, with ears thrown back and feet parted +as though they were bent on some vigorous leap, were grey rabbits +whose turned-up tails gleamed whitely, whilst their heads, with sharp +teeth and dim eyes, laughed with the grin of death. On the counter of +the stall plucked fowls showed their strained fleshy breasts; pigeons, +crowded on osier trays, displayed the soft bare skin of innocents; +ducks, with skin of rougher texture, exhibited their webbed feet; and +three magnificent turkeys, speckled with blue dots, like freshly- +shaven chins, slumbered on their backs amidst the black fans of their +expanded tails. On plates near by were giblets, livers, gizzards, +necks, feet, and wings; while an oval dish contained a skinned and +gutted rabbit, with its four legs wide apart, its head bleeding, and +is kidneys showing through its gashed belly. A streamlet of dark +blood, after trickling along its back to its tail, had fallen drop by +drop, staining the whiteness of the dish. Marjolin had not even taken +the trouble to wipe the block, near which the rabbit's feet were still +lying. He reclined there with his eyes half closed, encompassed by +other piles of dead poultry which crowded the shelves of the stall, +poultry in paper wrappers like bouquets, rows upon rows of protuberant +breasts and bent legs showing confusedly. And amidst all this mass of +food, the young fellow's big, fair figure, the flesh of his cheeks, +hands, and powerful neck covered with ruddy down seemed as soft as +that of the magnificent turkeys, and as plump as the breasts of the +fat geese. + +When he caught sight of Lisa, he at once sprang up, blushing at having +been caught sprawling in this way. He always seemed very nervous and +ill at ease in Madame Quenu's presence; and when she asked him if +Monsieur Gavard was there, he stammered out: "No, I don't think so. He +was here a little while ago, but he want away again." + +Lisa looked at him, smiling; she had a great liking for him. But +feeling something warm brush against her hand, which was hanging by +her side, she raised a little shriek. Some live rabbits were thrusting +their noses out of a box under the counter of the stall, and sniffing +at her skirts. + +"Oh," she exclaimed with a laugh, "it's your rabbits that are tickling +me." + +Then she stooped and attempted to stroke a white rabbit, which darted +in alarm into a corner of the box. + +"Will Monsieur Gavard be back soon, do you think?" she asked, as she +again rose erect. + +Marjolin once more replied that he did not know; then in a hesitating +way he continued: "He's very likely gone down into the cellars. He +told me, I think, that he was going there." + +"Well, I think I'll wait for him, then," replied Lisa. "Could you let +him know that I am here? or I might go down to him, perhaps. Yes, +that's a good idea; I've been intending to go and have a look at the +cellars for these last five years. You'll take me down, won't you, and +explain things to me?" + +Marjolin blushed crimson, and, hurrying out of the stall, walked on in +front of her, leaving the poultry to look after itself. "Of course I +will," said he. "I'll do anything you wish, Madame Lisa." + +When they got down below, the beautiful Lisa felt quite suffocated by +the dank atmosphere of the cellar. She stood at the bottom step, and +raised her eyes to look at the vaulted roofing of red and white bricks +arching slightly between the iron ribs upheld by small columns. What +made her hesitate more than the gloominess of the place was a warm, +penetrating odour, the exhalations of large numbers of living +creatures, which irritated her nostrils and throat. + +"What a nasty smell!" she exclaimed. "It must be very unhealthy down +here." + +"It never does me any harm," replied Marjolin in astonishment. +"There's nothing unpleasant about the smell when you've got accustomed +to it; and it's very warm and cosy down here in the wintertime." + +As Lisa followed him, however, she declared that the strong scent of +the poultry quite turned her stomach, and that she would certainly not +be able to eat a fowl for the next two months. All around her, the +storerooms, the small cabins where the stallkeepers keep their live +stock, formed regular streets, intersecting each other at right +angles. There were only a few scattered gas lights, and the little +alleys seemed wrapped in sleep like the lanes of a village where the +inhabitants have all gone to bed. Marjolin made Lisa feel the close- +meshed wiring, stretched on a framework of cast iron; and as she made +her way along one of the streets she amused herself by reading the +names of the different tenants, which were inscribed on blue labels. + +"Monsieur Gavard's place is quite at the far end," said the young man, +still walking on. + +They turned to the left, and found themselves in a sort of blind +alley, a dark, gloomy spot where not a ray of light penetrated. Gavard +was not there. + +"Oh, it makes no difference," said Marjolin. "I can show you our birds +just the same. I have a key of the storeroom." + +Lisa followed him into the darkness. + +"You don't suppose that I can see your birds in this black oven, do +you?" she asked, laughing. + +Marjolin did not reply at once; but presently he stammered out that +there was always a candle in the storeroom. He was fumbling about the +lock, and seemed quite unable to find the keyhole. As Lisa came up to +help him, she felt a hot breath on her neck; and when the young man +had at last succeeded in opening the door and lighted the candle, she +saw that he was trembling. + +"You silly fellow!" she exclaimed, "to get yourself into such a state +just because a door won't open! Why, you're no better than a girl, in +spite of your big fists!" + +She stepped inside the storeroom. Gavard had rented two compartments, +which he had thrown into one by removing the partition between them. +In the dirt on the floor wallowed the larger birds--the geese, +turkeys, and ducks--while up above, on tiers of shelves, were boxes +with barred fronts containing fowls and rabbits. The grating of the +storeroom was so coated with dust and cobwebs that it looked as though +covered with grey blinds. The woodwork down below was rotting, and +covered with filth. Lisa, however, not wishing to vex Marjolin, +refrained from any further expression of disgust. She pushed her +fingers between the bars of the boxes, and began to lament the fate of +the unhappy fowls, which were so closely huddled together and could +not even stand upright. Then she stroked a duck with a broken leg +which was squatting in a corner, and the young man told her that it +would be killed that very evening, for fear lest it should die during +the night. + +"But what do they do for food?" asked Lisa. + +Thereupon he explained to her that poultry would not eat in the dark, +and that it was necessary to light a candle and wait there till they +had finished their meal. + +"It amuses me to watch them," he continued; "I often stay here with a +light for hours altogether. You should see how they peck away; and +when I hide the flame of the candle with my hand they all stand stock- +still with their necks in the air, just as though the sun had set. It +is against the rules to leave a lighted candle here and go away. One +of the dealers, old Mother Palette--you know her, don't you?--nearly +burned the whole place down the other day. A fowl must have knocked +the candle over into the straw while she was away." + +"A pretty thing, isn't it," said Lisa, "for fowls to insist upon +having the chandeliers lighted up every time they take a meal?" + +This idea made her laugh. Then she came out of the storeroom, wiping +her feet, and holding up her skirts to keep them from the filth. +Marjolin blew out the candle and locked the door. Lisa felt rather +nervous at finding herself in the dark again with this big young +fellow, and so she hastened on in front. + +"I'm glad I came, all the same," she presently said, as he joined her. +"There is a great deal more under these markets than I ever imagined. +But I must make haste now and get home again. They'll wonder what has +become of me at the shop. If Monsieur Gavard comes back, tell him that +I want to speak to him immediately." + +"I expect he's in the killing-room," said Marjolin. "We'll go and see, +if you like." + +Lisa made no reply. She felt oppressed by the close atmosphere which +warmed her face. She was quite flushed, and her bodice, generally so +still and lifeless, began to heave. Moreover, the sound of Marjolin's +hurrying steps behind her filled her with an uneasy feeling. At last +she stepped aside, and let him go on in front. The lanes of this +underground village were still fast asleep. Lisa noticed that her +companion was taking the longest way. When they came out in front of +the railway track he told her that he had wished to show it to her; +and they stood for a moment or two looking through the chinks in the +hoarding of heavy beams. Then Marjolin proposed to take her on to the +line; but she refused, saying that it was not worth while, as she +could see things well enough where she was. + +As they returned to the poultry cellars they found old Madame Palette +in front of her storeroom, removing the cords of a large square +hamper, in which a furious fluttering of wings and scraping of feet +could be heard. As she unfastened the last knot the lid suddenly flew +open, as though shot up by a spring, and some big geese thrust out +their heads and necks. Then, in wild alarm, they sprang from their +prison and rushed away, craning their necks, and filling the dark +cellars with a frightful noise of hissing and clattering of beaks. +Lisa could not help laughing, in spite of the lamentations of the old +woman, who swore like a carter as she caught hold of two of the +absconding birds and dragged them back by the neck. Marjolin, +meantime, set off in pursuit of a third. They could hear him running +along the narrow alleys, hunting for the runaway, and delighting in +the chase. Then, far off in the distance, they heard the sounds of a +struggle, and presently Marjolin came back again, bringing the goose +with him. Mother Palette, a sallow-faced old woman, took it in her +arms and clasped it for a moment to her bosom, in the classic attitude +of Leda. + +"Well, well, I'm sure I don't know what I should have done if you +hadn't been here," said she. "The other day I had a regular fight with +one of the brutes; but I had my knife with me, and I cut its throat." + +Marjolin was quite out of breath. When they reached the stone blocks +where the poultry were killed, and where the gas burnt more brightly, +Lisa could see that he was perspiring, and had bold, glistening eyes. +She thought he looked very handsome like that, with his broad +shoulders, big flushed face, and fair curly hair, and she looked at +him so complacently, with that air of admiration which women feel they +may safely express for quite young lads, that he relapsed into timid +bashfulness again. + +"Well, Monsieur Gavard isn't here, you see," she said. "You've only +made me waste my time." + +Marjolin, however, began rapidly explaining the killing of the poultry +to her. Five huge stone slabs stretched out in the direction of the +Rue Rambuteau under the yellow light of the gas jets. A woman was +killing fowls at one end; and this led him to tell Lisa that the birds +were plucked almost before they were dead, the operation thus being +much easier. Then he wanted her to feel the feathers which were lying +in heaps on the stone slabs; and told her that they were sorted and +sold for as much as nine sous the pound, according to their quality. +To satisfy him, she was also obliged to plunge her hand into the big +hampers full of down. Then he turned the water-taps, of which there +was one by every pillar. There was no end to the particulars he gave. +The blood, he said, streamed along the stone blocks, and collected +into pools on the paved floor, which attendants sluiced with water +every two hours, removing the more recent stains with coarse brushes. + +When Lisa stooped over the drain which carries away the swillings, +Marjolin found a fresh text for talk. On rainy days, said he, the +water sometimes rose through this orifice and flooded the place. It +had once risen a foot high; and they had been obliged to transport all +the poultry to the other end of the cellar, which is on a higher +level. He laughed as he recalled the wild flutter of the terrified +creatures. However, he had now finished, and it seemed as though there +remained nothing else for him to show, when all at once he bethought +himself of the ventilator. Thereupon he took Lisa off to the far end +of the cellar, and told her to look up; and inside one of the turrets +at the corner angles of the pavilion she observed a sort of escape- +pipe, by which the foul atmosphere of the storerooms ascended into +space. + +Here, in this corner, reeking with abominable odours, Marjolin's +nostrils quivered, and his breath came and went violently. His long +stroll with Lisa in these cellars, full of warm animal perfumes, had +gradually intoxicated him. + +She had again turned towards him. "Well," said she, "it was very kind +of you to show me all this, and when you come to the shop I will give +you something." + +Whilst speaking she took hold of his soft chin, as she often did, +without recognising that he was no longer a child; and perhaps she +allowed her hand to linger there a little longer than was her wont. At +all events, Marjolin, usually so bashful, was thrilled by the caress, +and all at once he impetuously sprang forward, clasped Lisa by the +shoulders, and pressed his lips to her soft cheeks. She raised no cry, +but turned very pale at this sudden attack, which showed her how +imprudent she had been. And then, freeing herself from the embrace, +she raised her arm, as she had seen men do in slaughter houses, +clenched her comely fist, and knocked Marjolin down with a single +blow, planted straight between his eyes; and as he fell his head came +into collision with one of the stone slabs, and was split open. Just +at that moment the hoarse and prolonged crowing of a cock sounded +through the gloom. + +Handsome Lisa, however, remained perfectly cool. Her lips were tightly +compressed, and her bosom had recovered its wonted immobility. Up +above she could hear the heavy rumbling of the markets, and through +the vent-holes alongside the Rue Rambuteau the noise of the street +traffic made its way into the oppressive silence of the cellar. Lisa +reflected that her own strong arm had saved her; and then, fearing +lest some one should come and find her there, she hastened off, +without giving a glance at Marjolin. As she climbed the steps, after +passing through the grated entrance of the cellars, the daylight +brought her great relief. + +She returned to the shop, quite calm, and only looking a little pale. + +"You've been a long time," Quenu said to her. + +"I can't find Gavard. I have looked for him everywhere," she quietly +replied. "We shall have to eat our leg of mutton without him." + +Then she filled the lard pot, which she noticed was empty; and cut +some pork chops for her friend Madame Taboureau, who had sent her +little servant for them. The blows which she dealt with her cleaver +reminded her of Marjolin. She felt that she had nothing to reproach +herself with. She had acted like an honest woman. She was not going to +disturb her peace of mind; she was too happy to do anything to +compromise herself. However, she glanced at Quenu, whose neck was +coarse and ruddy, and whose shaven chin looked as rough as knotted +wood; whereas Marjolin's chin and neck resembled rosy satin. But then +she must not think of him any more, for he was no longer a child. She +regretted it, and could not help thinking that children grew up much +too quickly. + +A slight flush came back to her cheeks, and Quenu considered that she +looked wonderfully blooming. He came and sat down beside her at the +counter for a moment or two. "You ought to go out oftener," said he; +"it does you good. We'll go to the theatre together one of these +nights, if you like; to the Gaite, eh? Madame Taboureau has been to +see the piece they are playing there, and she declares it's splendid." + +Lisa smiled, and said they would see about it, and then once more she +took herself off. Quenu thought that it was too good of her to take so +much trouble in running about after that brute Gavard. In point of +fact, however, she had simply gone upstairs to Florent's bedroom, the +key of which was hanging from a nail in the kitchen. She hoped to find +out something or other by an inspection of this room, since the +poultry dealer had failed her. She went slowly round it, examining the +bed, the mantelpiece, and every corner. The window with the little +balcony was open, and the budding pomegranate was steeped in the +golden beams of the setting sun. The room looked to her as though +Augustine had never left it--had slept there only the night before. +There seemed to be nothing masculine about the place. She was quite +surprised, for she had expected to find some suspicious-looking +chests, and coffers with strong locks. She went to feel Augustine's +summer gown, which was still hanging against the wall. Then she sat +down at the table, and began to read an unfinished page of manuscript, +in which the word "revolution" occurred twice. This alarmed her, and +she opened the drawer, which she saw was full of papers. But her sense +of honour awoke within her in presence of the secret which the rickety +deal table so badly guarded. She remained bending over the papers, +trying to understand them without touching them, in a state of great +emotion, when the shrill song of the chaffinch, on whose cage streamed +a ray of sunshine, made her start. She closed the drawer. It was a +base thing that she had contemplated, she thought. + +Then, as she lingered by the window, reflecting that she ought to go +and ask counsel of Abbe Roustan, who was a very sensible man, she saw +a crowd of people round a stretcher in the market square below. The +night was falling, still she distinctly recognised Cadine weeping in +the midst of the crowd; while Florent and Claude, whose boots were +white with dust, stood together talking earnestly at the edge of the +footway. She hurried downstairs again, surprised to see them back so +soon, and scarcely had she reached her counter when Mademoiselle Saget +entered the shop. + +"They have found that scamp of a Marjolin in the cellar, with his head +split open," exclaimed the old maid. "Won't you come to see him, +Madame Quenu?" + +Lisa crossed the road to look at him. The young fellow was lying on +his back on the stretcher, looking very pale. His eyes were closed, +and a stiff wisp of his fair hair was clotted with blood. The +bystanders, however, declared that there was no serious harm done, +and, besides, the scamp had only himself to blame, for he was always +playing all sorts of wild pranks in the cellars. It was generally +supposed that he had been trying to jump over one of the stone blocks +--one of his favourite amusements--and had fallen with his head +against the slab. + +"I dare say that hussy there gave him a shove," remarked Mademoiselle +Saget, pointing to Cadine, who was weeping. "They are always larking +together." + +Meantime the fresh air had restored Marjolin to consciousness, and he +opened his eyes in wide astonishment. He looked round at everybody, +and then, observing Lisa bending over him, he gently smiled at her +with an expression of mingled humility and affection. He seemed to +have forgotten all that had happened. Lisa, feeling relieved, said +that he ought to be taken to the hospital at once, and promised to go +and see him there, and take him some oranges and biscuits. However, +Marjolin's head had fallen back, and when the stretcher was carried +away Cadine followed it, with her flat basket slung round her neck, +and her hot tears rolling down upon the bunches of violets in their +mossy bed. She certainly had no thoughts for the flowers that she was +thus scalding with her bitter grief. + +As Lisa went back to her shop, she heard Claude say, as he shook hands +with Florent and parted from him: "Ah! the confounded young scamp! +He's quite spoiled my day for me! Still, we had a very enjoyable time, +didn't we?" + +Claude and Florent had returned both worried and happy, bringing with +them the pleasant freshness of the country air. Madame Francois had +disposed of all her vegetables that morning before daylight; and they +had all three gone to the Golden Compasses, in the Rue Montorgueil, to +get the cart. Here, in the middle of Paris, they found a foretaste of +the country. Behind the Restaurant Philippe, with its frontage of gilt +woodwork rising to the first floor, there was a yard like that of a +farm, dirty, teeming with life, reeking with the odour of manure and +straw. Bands of fowls were pecking at the soft ground. Sheds and +staircases and galleries of greeny wood clung to the old houses +around, and at the far end, in a shanty of big beams, was Balthazar, +harnessed to the cart, and eating the oats in his nosebag. He went +down the Rue Montorgueil at a slow trot, seemingly well pleased to +return to Nanterre so soon. However, he was not going home without a +load. Madame Francois had a contract with the company which undertook +the scavenging of the markets, and twice a week she carried off with +her a load of leaves, forked up from the mass of refuse which littered +the square. It made excellent manure. In a few minutes the cart was +filled to overflowing. Claude and Florent stretched themselves out on +the deep bed of greenery; Madame Francois grasped her reins, and +Balthazar went off at his slow, steady pace, his head somewhat bent by +reason of there being so many passengers to pull along. + +This excursion had been talked of for a long time past. Madame +Francois laughed cheerily. She was partial to the two men, and +promised them an /omelette au lard/ as had never been eaten, said she, +in "that villainous Paris." Florent and Claude revelled in the thought +of this day of lounging idleness which as yet had scarcely begun to +dawn. Nanterre seemed to be some distant paradise into which they +would presently enter. + +"Are you quite comfortable?" Madame Francois asked as the cart turned +into the Rue du Pont Neuf. + +Claude declared that their couch was as soft as a bridal bed. Lying on +their backs, with their hands crossed under their heads, both men were +looking up at the pale sky from which the stars were vanishing. All +along the Rue de Rivoli they kept unbroken silence, waiting till they +should have got clear of the houses, and listening to the worthy woman +as she chattered to Balthazar: "Take your time, old man," she said to +him in kindly tones. "We're in no hurry; we shall be sure to get there +at last." + +On reaching the Champs Elysees, when the artist saw nothing but tree- +tops on either side of him, and the great green mass of the Tuileries +gardens in the distance, he woke up, as it were, and began to talk. +When the cart had passed the end of the Rue du Roule he had caught a +glimpse of the side entrance of Saint Eustache under the giant roofing +of one of the market covered-ways. He was constantly referring to this +view of the church, and tried to give it a symbolical meaning. + +"It's an odd mixture," he said, "that bit of church framed round by an +avenue of cast iron. The one will kill the other; the iron will slay +the stone, and the time is not very far off. Do you believe in chance, +Florent? For my part, I don't think that it was any mere chance of +position that set a rose-window of Saint Eustache right in the middle +of the central markets. No; there's a whole manifesto in it. It is +modern art, realism, naturalism--whatever you like to call it--that +has grown up and dominates ancient art. Don't you agree with me?" + +Then, as Florent still kept silence, Claude continued: "Besides, that +church is a piece of bastard architecture, made up of the dying gasp +of the middle ages, and the first stammering of the Renaissance. Have +you noticed what sort of churches are built nowadays? They resemble +all kinds of things--libraries, observatories, pigeon-cotes, barracks; +and surely no one can imagine that the Deity dwells in such places. +The pious old builders are all dead and gone; and it would be better +to cease erecting those hideous carcasses of stone, in which we have +no belief to enshrine. Since the beginning of the century there has +only been one large original pile of buildings erected in Paris--a +pile in accordance with modern developments--and that's the central +markets. You hear me, Florent? Ah! they are a fine bit of building, +though they but faintly indicate what we shall see in the twentieth +century! And so, you see, Saint Eustache is done for! It stands there +with its rose-windows, deserted by worshippers, while the markets +spread out by its side and teem with noisy life. Yes! that's how I +understand it all, my friend." + +"Ah! Monsieur Claude," said Madame Francois, laughing, "the woman who +cut your tongue-string certainly earned her money. Look at Balthazar +laying his ears back to listen to you. Come, come, get along, +Balthazar!" + +The cart was slowly making its way up the incline. At this early hour +of the morning the avenue, with its double lines of iron chairs on +either pathway, and its lawns, dotted with flowerbeds and clumps of +shrubbery, stretching away under the blue shadows of the trees, was +quite deserted; however, at the Rond-Point a lady and gentleman on +horseback passed the cart at a gentle trot. Florent, who had made +himself a pillow with a bundle of cabbage-leaves, was still gazing at +the sky, in which a far-stretching rosy glow was appearing. Every now +and then he would close his eyes, the better to enjoy the fresh breeze +of the morning as it fanned his face. He was so happy to escape from +the markets, and travel on through the pure air, that he remained +speechless, and did not even listen to what was being said around him. + +"And then, too, what fine jokers are those fellows who imprison art in +a toy-box!" resumed Claude, after a pause. "They are always repeating +the same idiotic words: 'You can't create art out of science,' says +one; 'Mechanical appliances kill poetry,' says another; and a pack of +fools wail over the fate of the flowers, as though anybody wished the +flowers any harm! I'm sick of all such twaddle; I should like to +answer all that snivelling with some work of open defiance. I should +take a pleasure in shocking those good people. Shall I tell you what +was the finest thing I ever produced since I first began to work, and +the one which I recall with the greatest pleasure? It's quite a story. +When I was at my Aunt Lisa's on Christmas Eve last year that idiot of +an Auguste, the assistant, was setting out the shop-window. Well, he +quite irritated me by the weak, spiritless way in which he arranged +the display; and at last I requested him to take himself off, saying +that I would group the things myself in a proper manner. You see, I +had plenty of bright colours to work with--the red of the tongues, the +yellow of the hams, the blue of the paper shavings, the rosy pink of +the things that had been cut into, the green of the sprigs of heath, +and the black of the black-puddings--ah! a magnificent black, which I +have never managed to produce on my palette. And naturally, the +/crepine/, the small sausages, the chitterlings, and the crumbed +trotters provided me with delicate greys and browns. I produced a +perfect work of art. I took the dishes, the plates, the pans, and the +jars, and arranged the different colours; and I devised a wonderful +picture of still life, with subtle scales of tints leading up to +brilliant flashes of colour. The red tongues seemed to thrust +themselves out like greedy flames, and the black-puddings, surrounded +by pale sausages, suggested a dark night fraught with terrible +indigestion. I had produced, you see, a picture symbolical of the +gluttony of Christmas Eve, when people meet and sup--the midnight +feasting, the ravenous gorging of stomachs void and faint after all +the singing of hymns.[*] At the top of everything a huge turkey +exhibited its white breast, marbled blackly by the truffles showing +through its skin. It was something barbaric and superb, suggesting a +paunch amidst a halo of glory; but there was such a cutting, sarcastic +touch about it all that people crowded to the window, alarmed by the +fierce flare of the shop-front. When my aunt Lisa came back from the +kitchen she was quite frightened, and thought I'd set the fat in the +shop on fire; and she considered the appearance of the turkey so +indelicate that she turned me out of the place while Auguste +re-arranged the window after his own idiotic fashion. Such brutes will +never understand the language of a red splotch by the side of a grey +one. Ah, well! that was my masterpiece. I have never done anything +better." + +[*] An allusion to the "midnight mass" usually celebrated in Roman + Catholic churches on Christmas Eve.--Translator. + +He relapsed into silence, smiling and dwelling with gratification on +this reminiscence. The cart had now reached the Arc de Triomphe, and +strong currents of air swept from the avenues across the expanse of +open ground. Florent sat up, and inhaled with zest the first odours of +grass wafted from the fortifications. He turned his back on Paris, +anxious to behold the country in the distance. At the corner of the +Rue de Longchamp, Madame Francois pointed out to him the spot where +she had picked him up. This rendered him thoughtful, and he gazed at +her as she sat there, so healthy-looking and serene, with her arms +slightly extended so as to grasp the reins. She looked even handsomer +than Lisa, with her neckerchief tied over her head, her robust glow of +health, and her brusque, kindly air. When she gave a slight cluck with +her tongue, Balthazar pricked up his ears and rattled down the road at +a quicker pace. + +On arriving at Nanterre, the cart turned to the left into a narrow +lane, skirted some blank walls, and finally came to a standstill at +the end of a sort of blind alley. It was the end of the world, Madame +Francois used to say. The load of vegetable leaves now had to be +discharged. Claude and Florent would not hear of the journeyman +gardener, who was planting lettuces, leaving his work, but armed +themselves with pitchforks and proceeded to toss the leaves into the +manure pit. This occupation afforded them much amusement. Claude had +quite a liking for manure, since it symbolises the world and its life. +The strippings and parings of the vegetables, the scourings of the +markets, the refuse that fell from that colossal table, remained full +of life, and returned to the spot where the vegetables had previously +sprouted, to warm and nourish fresh generations of cabbages, turnips, +and carrots. They rose again in fertile crops, and once more went to +spread themselves out upon the market square. Paris rotted everything, +and returned everything to the soil, which never wearied of repairing +the ravages of death. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Claude, as he plied his fork for the last time, +"here's a cabbage-stalk that I'm sure I recognise. It has grown up at +least half a score of times in that corner yonder by the apricot +tree." + +This remark made Florent laugh. But he soon became grave again, and +strolled slowly through the kitchen garden, while Claude made a sketch +of the stable, and Madame Francois got breakfast ready. The kitchen +garden was a long strip of ground, divided in the middle by a narrow +path; it rose slightly, and at the top end, on raising the head, you +could perceive the low barracks of Mont Valerien. Green hedges +separated it from other plots of land, and these lofty walls of +hawthorn fringed the horizon with a curtain of greenery in such wise +that of all the surrounding country Mont Valerien alone seemed to rise +inquisitively on tip-toe in order to peer into Madame Francois's +close. Great peacefulness came from the countryside which could not +be seen. Along the kitchen garden, between the four hedges, the May +sun shone with a languid heat, a silence disturbed only by the buzzing +of insects, a somnolence suggestive of painless parturition. Every now +and then a faint cracking sound, a soft sigh, made one fancy that one +could hear the vegetables sprout into being. The patches of spinach +and sorrel, the borders of radishes, carrots, and turnips, the beds of +potatoes and cabbages, spread out in even regularity, displaying their +dark leaf-mould between their tufts of greenery. Farther away, the +trenched lettuces, onions, leeks, and celery, planted by line in long +straight rows, looked like soldiers on parade; while the peas and +beans were beginning to twine their slender tendrils round a forest of +sticks, which, when June came, they would transform into a thick and +verdant wood. There was not a weed to be seen. The garden resembled +two parallel strips of carpet of a geometrical pattern of green on a +reddish ground, which were carefully swept every morning. Borders of +thyme grew like greyish fringe along each side of the pathway. + +Florent paced backwards and forwards amidst the perfume of the thyme, +which the sun was warming. He felt profoundly happy in the +peacefulness and cleanliness of the garden. For nearly a year past he +had only seen vegetables bruised and crushed by the jolting of the +market-carts; vegetables torn up on the previous evening, and still +bleeding. He rejoiced to find them at home, in peace in the dark +mould, and sound in every part. The cabbages had a bulky, prosperous +appearance; the carrots looked bright and gay; and the lettuces +lounged in line with an air of careless indolence. And as he looked at +them all, the markets which he had left behind him that morning seemed +to him like a vast mortuary, an abode of death, where only corpses +could be found, a charnel-house reeking with foul smells and +putrefaction. He slackened his steps, and rested in that kitchen +garden, as after a long perambulation amidst deafening noises and +repulsive odours. The uproar and the sickening humidity of the fish +market had departed from him; and he felt as though he were being born +anew in the pure fresh air. Claude was right, he thought. The markets +were a sphere of death. The soil was the life, the eternal cradle, the +health of the world. + +"The omelet's ready!" suddenly cried Madame Francois. + +When they were all three seated round the table in the kitchen, with +the door thrown open to the sunshine, they ate their breakfast with +such light-hearted gaiety that Madame Francois looked at Florent in +amazement, repeating between each mouthful: "You're quite altered. +You're ten years younger. It is that villainous Paris which makes you +seem so gloomy. You've got a little sunshine in your eyes now. Ah! +those big towns do one's health no good, you ought to come and live +here." + +Claude laughed, and retorted that Paris was a glorious place. He stuck +up for it and all that belonged to it, even to its gutters; though at +the same time retaining a keen affection for the country. + +In the afternoon Madame Francois and Florent found themselves alone at +the end of the garden, in a corner planted with a few fruit trees. +Seated on the ground, they talked somewhat seriously together. The +good woman advised Florent with an affectionate and quite maternal +kindness. She asked him endless questions about his life, and his +intentions for the future, and begged him to remember that he might +always count upon her, if ever he thought that she could in the +slightest degree contribute to his happiness. Florent was deeply +touched. No woman had ever spoken to him in that way before. Madame +Francois seemed to him like some healthy, robust plant that had grown +up with the vegetables in the leaf-mould of the garden; while the +Lisas, the Normans, and other pretty women of the markets appeared to +him like flesh of doubtful freshness decked out for exhibition. He +here enjoyed several hours of perfect well-being, delivered from all +that reek of food which sickened him in the markets, and reviving to +new life amidst the fertile atmosphere of the country, like that +cabbage stalk which Claude declared he had seen sprout up more than +half a score of times. + +The two men took leave of Madame Francois at about five o'clock. They +had decided to walk back to Paris; and the market gardener accompanied +them into the lane. As she bade good-bye to Florent, she kept his hand +in her own for a moment, and said gently: "If ever anything happens to +trouble you, remember to come to me." + +For a quarter of an hour Florent walked on without speaking, already +getting gloomy again, and reflecting that he was leaving health behind +him. The road to Courbevoie was white with dust. However, both men +were fond of long walks and the ringing of stout boots on the hard +ground. Little clouds of dust rose up behind their heels at every +step, while the rays of the sinking sun darted obliquely over the +avenue, lengthening their shadows in such wise that their heads +reached the other side of the road, and journeyed along the opposite +footway. + +Claude, swinging his arms, and taking long, regular strides, +complacently watched these two shadows, whilst enjoying the rhythmical +cadence of his steps, which he accentuated by a motion of his +shoulders. Presently, however, as though just awaking from a dream, he +exclaimed: "Do you know the 'Battle of the Fat and the Thin'?" + +Florent, surprised by the question, replied in the negative; and +thereupon Claude waxed enthusiastic, talking of that series of prints +in very eulogical fashion. He mentioned certain incidents: the Fat, so +swollen that they almost burst, preparing their evening debauch, while +the Thin, bent double by fasting, looked in from the street with the +appearance of envious laths; and then, again, the Fat, with hanging +cheeks, driving off one of the Thin, who had been audacious enough to +introduce himself into their midst in lowly humility, and who looked +like a ninepin amongst a population of balls. + +In these designs Claude detected the entire drama of human life, and +he ended by classifying men into Fat and Thin, two hostile groups, one +of which devours the other, and grows fat and sleek and enjoys itself. + +"Cain," said he, "was certainly one of the Fat, and Abel one of the +Thin. Ever since that first murder, there have been rampant appetites +which have drained the life-blood of small eaters. It's a continual +preying of the stronger upon the weaker; each swallowing his +neighbour, and then getting swallowed in his turn. Beware of the Fat, +my friend." + +He relapsed into silence for a moment, still watching their two +shadows, which the setting sun elongated more than ever. Then he +murmured: "You see, we belong to the Thin--you and I. Those who are no +more corpulent than we are don't take up much room in the sunlight, +eh?" + +Florent glanced at the two shadows, and smiled. But Claude waxed +angry, and exclaimed: "You make a mistake if you think it is a +laughing matter. For my own part, I greatly suffer from being one of +the Thin. If I were one of the Fat, I could paint at my ease; I should +have a fine studio, and sell my pictures for their weight in gold. +But, instead of that, I'm one of the Thin; and I have to grind my life +out in producing things which simply make the Fat ones shrug their +shoulders. I shall die of it all in the end, I'm sure of it, with my +skin clinging to my bones, and so flattened that they will be able to +bury me between two leaves of a book. And you, too, you are one of the +Thin, a wonderful one; the very king of Thin, in fact! Do you remember +your quarrel with the fish-wives? It was magnificent; all those +colossal bosoms flying at your scraggy breast! Oh! they were simply +acting from natural instinct; they were pursuing one of the Thin just +as cats pursue a mouse. The Fat, you know, have an instinctive hatred +of the Thin, to such an extent that they must needs drive the latter +from their sight, either by means of their teeth or their feet. And +that is why, if I were in your place, I should take my precautions. +The Quenus belong to the Fat, and so do the Mehudins; indeed, you have +none but Fat ones around you. I should feel uneasy under such +circumstances." + +"And what about Gavard, and Mademoiselle Saget, and your friend +Marjolin?" asked Florent, still smiling. + +"Oh, if you like, I will classify all our acquaintances for you," +replied Claude. "I've had their heads in a portfolio in my studio for +a long time past, with memoranda of the order to which they belong. +Gavard is one of the Fat, but of the kind which pretends to belong to +the Thin. The variety is by no means uncommon. Mademoiselle Saget and +Madame Lecoeur belong to the Thin, but to a variety which is much to +be feared--the Thin ones whom envy drives to despair, and who are +capable of anything in their craving to fatten themselves. My friend +Marjolin, little Cadine, and La Sarriette are three Fat ones, still +innocent, however, and having nothing but the guileless hunger of +youth. I may remark that the Fat, so long as they've not grown old, +are charming creatures. Monsieur Lebigre is one of the Fat--don't you +think so? As for your political friends, Charvet, Clemence, Logre, and +Lacaille, they mostly belong to the Thin. I only except that big +animal Alexandre, and that prodigy Robine, who has caused me a vast +amount of annoyance." + +The artist continued to talk in this strain from the Pont de Neuilly +to the Arc de Triomphe. He returned to some of those whom he had +already mentioned, and completed their portraits with a few +characteristic touches. Logre, he said, was one of the Thin whose +belly had been placed between his shoulders. Beautiful Lisa was all +stomach, and the beautiful Norman all bosom. Mademoiselle Saget, in +her earlier life, must have certainly lost some opportunity to fatten +herself, for she detested the Fat, while, at the same time, she +despised the Thin. As for Gavard, he was compromising his position as +one of the Fat, and would end by becoming as flat as a bug. + +"And what about Madame Francois?" Florent asked. + +Claude seemed much embarrassed by this question. He cast about for an +answer, and at last stammered: + +"Madame Francois, Madame Francois--well, no, I really don't know; I +never thought about classifying her. But she's a dear good soul, and +that's quite sufficient. She's neither one of the Fat nor one of the +Thin!" + +They both laughed. They were now in front of the Arc de Triomphe. The +sun, over by the hills of Suresnes, was so low on the horizon that +their colossal shadows streaked the whiteness of the great structure +even above the huge groups of statuary, like strokes made with a piece +of charcoal. This increased Claude's merriment, he waved his arms and +bent his body; and then, as he started on his way again, he said; "Did +you notice--just as the sun set our two heads shot up to the sky!" + +But Florent no longer smiled. Paris was grasping him again, that Paris +which now frightened him so much, after having cost him so many tears +at Cayenne. When he reached the markets night was falling, and there +was a suffocating smell. He bent his head as he once more returned to +the nightmare of endless food, whilst preserving the sweet yet sad +recollection of that day of bright health odorous with the perfume of +thyme. + + + + CHAPTER V + +At about four o'clock on the afternoon of the following day Lisa +betook herself to Saint Eustache. For the short walk across the square +she had arrayed herself very seriously in a black silk gown and thick +woollen shawl. The handsome Norman, who, from her stall in the fish +market, watched her till she vanished into the church porch, was quite +amazed. + +"Hallo! So the fat thing's gone in for priests now, has she?" she +exclaimed, with a sneer. "Well, a little holy water may do her good!" + +She was mistaken in her surmises, however, for Lisa was not a devotee. +She did not observe the ordinances of the Church, but said that she +did her best to lead an honest life, and that this was all that was +necessary. At the same time, however, she disliked to hear religion +spoken ill of, and often silenced Gavard, who delighted in scandalous +stories of priests and their doings. Talk of that sort seemed to her +altogether improper. Everyone, in her opinion, should be allowed to +believe as they pleased, and every scruple should be respected. +Besides, the majority of the clergy were most estimable men. She knew +Abbe Roustan, of Saint Eustache--a distinguished priest, a man of +shrewd sense, and one, she thought, whose friendship might be safely +relied upon. And she would wind up by explaining that religion was +absolutely necessary for the people; she looked upon it as a sort of +police force that helped to maintain order, and without which no +government would be possible. When Gavard went too far on this subject +and asserted that the priests ought to be turned into the streets and +have their shops shut up, Lisa, shrugged her shoulders and replied: "A +great deal of good that would do! Why, before a month was over the +people would be murdering one another in the streets, and you would be +compelled to invent another God. That was just what happened in '93. +You know very well that I'm not given to mixing with the priests, but +for all that I say that they are necessary, as we couldn't do without +them." + +And so when Lisa happened to enter a church she always manifested the +utmost decorum. She had bought a handsome missal, which she never +opened, for use when she was invited to a funeral or a wedding. She +knelt and rose at the proper times, and made a point of conducting +herself with all propriety. She assumed, indeed, what she considered a +sort of official demeanour, such as all well-to-do folks, +tradespeople, and house-owners ought to observe with regard to +religion. + +As she entered Saint Eustache that afternoon she let the double doors, +covered with green baize, faded and worn by the frequent touch of +pious hands, close gently behind her. Then she dipped her fingers in +the holy water and crossed herself in the correct fashion. And +afterwards, with hushed footsteps, she made her way to the chapel of +Saint Agnes, where two kneeling women with their faces buried in their +hands were waiting, whilst the blue skirts of a third protruded from +the confessional. Lisa seemed rather put out by the sight of these +women, and, addressing a verger who happened to pass along, wearing a +black skullcap and dragging his feet over the slabs, she inquired: +"Is this Monsieur l'Abbe Roustan's day for hearing confessions?" + +The verger replied that his reverence had only two more penitents +waiting, and that they would not detain him long, so that if Lisa +would take a chair her turn would speedily come. She thanked him, +without telling him that she had not come to confess; and, making up +her mind to wait, she began to pace the church, going as far as the +chief entrance, whence she gazed at the lofty, severe, bare nave +stretching between the brightly coloured aisles. Raising her head a +little, she examined the high altar, which she considered too plain, +having no taste for the cold grandeur of stonework, but preferring the +gilding and gaudy colouring of the side chapels. Those on the side of +the Rue du Jour looked greyish in the light which filtered through +their dusty windows, but on the side of the markets the sunset was +lighting up the stained glass with lovely tints, limpid greens and +yellows in particular, which reminded Lisa of the bottle of liqueurs +in front of Monsieur Lebigre's mirror. She came back by this side, +which seemed to be warmed by the glow of light, and took a passing +interest in the reliquaries, altar ornaments, and paintings steeped in +prismatic reflections. The church was empty, quivering with the +silence that fell from its vaulted roofing. Here and there a woman's +dress showed like a dark splotch amidst the vague yellow of the +chairs; and a low buzzing came from the closed confessionals. As Lisa +again passed the chapel of Saint Agnes she saw the blue dress still +kneeling at Abbe Roustan's feet. + +"Why, if I'd wanted to confess I could have said everything in ten +seconds," she thought, proud of her irreproachable integrity. + +Then she went on to the end of the church. Behind the high altar, in +the gloom of a double row of pillars, is the chapel of the Blessed +Virgin, damp and dark and silent. The dim stained windows only show +the flowing crimson and violet robes of saints, which blaze like +flames of mystic love in the solemn, silent adoration of the darkness. +It is a weird, mysterious spot, like some crepuscular nook of paradise +solely illumined by the gleaming stars of two tapers. The four brass +lamps hanging from the roof remain unlighted, and are but faintly +seen; on espying them you think of the golden censers which the angels +swing before the throne of Mary. And kneeling on the chairs between +the pillars there are always women surrendering themselves +languorously to the dim spot's voluptuous charm. + +Lisa stood and gazed tranquilly around her. She did not feel the least +emotion, but considered that it was a mistake not to light the lamps. +Their brightness would have given the place a more cheerful look. The +gloom even struck her as savouring of impropriety. Her face was warmed +by the flames of some candles burning in a candelabrum by her side, +and an old woman armed with a big knife was scraping off the wax which +had trickled down and congealed into pale tears. And amidst the +quivering silence, the mute ecstasy of adoration prevailing in the +chapel, Lisa would distinctly hear the rumbling of the vehicles +turning out of the Rue Montmartre, behind the scarlet and purple +saints on the windows, whilst in the distance the markets roared +without a moment's pause. + +Just as Lisa was leaving the chapel, she saw the younger of the +Mehudins, Claire, the dealer in fresh water fish, come in. The girl +lighted a taper at the candelabrum, and then went to kneel behind a +pillar, her knees pressed upon the hard stones, and her face so pale +beneath her loose fair hair that she seemed a corpse. And believing +herself to be securely screened from observation, she gave way to +violent emotion, and wept hot tears with a passionate outpouring of +prayer which bent her like a rushing wind. Lisa looked on in +amazement, for the Mehudins were not known to be particularly pious; +indeed, Claire was accustomed to speak of religion and priests in such +terms as to horrify one. + +"What's the meaning of this, I wonder?" pondered Lisa, as she again +made her way to the chapel of Saint Agnes. "The hussy must have been +poisoning some one or other." + +Abbe Roustan was at last coming out of his confessional. He was a +handsome man, of some forty years of age, with a smiling, kindly air. +When he recognised Madame Quenu he grasped her hand, called her "dear +lady," and conducted her to the vestry, where, taking off his +surplice, he told her that he would be entirely at her service in a +moment. They returned, the priest in his cassock, bareheaded, and Lisa +strutting along in her shawl, and paced up and down in front of the +side-chapels adjacent to the Rue du Jour. They conversed together in +low tones. The sunlight was departing from the stained windows, the +church was growing dark, and the retreating footsteps of the last +worshippers sounded but faintly over the flagstones. + +Lisa explained her doubts and scruples to Abbe Roustan. There had +never been any question of religion between them; she never confessed, +but merely consulted him in cases of difficulty, because he was shrewd +and discreet, and she preferred him, as she sometimes said, to shady +business men redolent of the galleys. The abbe, on his side, +manifested inexhaustible complaisance. He looked up points of law for +her in the Code, pointed out profitable investments, resolved her +moral difficulties with great tact, recommended tradespeople to her, +invariably having an answer ready however diverse and complicated her +requirements might be. And he supplied all this help in a natural +matter-of-fact way, without ever introducing the Deity into his talk, +or seeking to obtain any advantage either for himself or the cause of +religion. A word of thanks and a smile sufficed him. He seemed glad to +have an opportunity of obliging the handsome Madame Quenu, of whom his +housekeeper often spoke to him in terms of praise, as of a woman who +was highly respected in the neighbourhood. + +Their consultation that afternoon was of a peculiarly delicate nature. +Lisa was anxious to know what steps she might legitimately take, as a +woman of honour, with respect to her brother-in-law. Had she a right +to keep a watch upon him, and to do what she could to prevent him from +compromising her husband, her daughter, and herself? And then how far +might she go in circumstances of pressing danger? She did not bluntly +put these questions to the abbe, but asked them with such skilful +circumlocutions that he was able to discuss the matter without +entering into personalities. He brought forward arguments on both +sides of the question, but the conclusion he came to was that a person +of integrity was entitled, indeed bound, to prevent evil, and was +justified in using whatever means might be necessary to ensure the +triumph of that which was right and proper. + +"That is my opinion, dear lady," he said in conclusion. "The question +of means is always a very grave one. It is a snare in which souls of +average virtue often become entangled. But I know your scrupulous +conscience. Deliberate carefully over each step you think of taking, +and if it contains nothing repugnant to you, go on boldly. Pure +natures have the marvelous gift of purifying all that they touch." + +Then, changing his tone of voice, he continued: "Pray give my kind +regards to Monsieur Quenu. I'll come in to kiss my dear little Pauline +some time when I'm passing. And now good-bye, dear lady; remember that +I'm always at your service." + +Thereupon he returned to the vestry. Lisa, on her way out, was curious +to see if Claire was still praying, but the girl had gone back to her +eels and carp; and in front of the Lady-chapel, which was already +shrouded in darkness, there was now but a litter of chairs overturned +by the ardent vehemence of the woman who had knelt there. + +When the handsome Lisa again crossed the square, La Normande, who had +been watching for her exit from the church, recognised her in the +twilight by the rotundity of her skirts. + +"Good gracious!" she exclaimed, "she's been more than an hour in +there! When the priests set about cleansing her of her sins, the +choir-boys have to form in line to pass the buckets of filth and empty +them in the street!" + +The next morning Lisa went straight up to Florent's bedroom and +settled herself there with perfect equanimity. She felt certain that +she would not be disturbed, and, moreover, she had made up her mind to +tell a falsehood and say that she had come to see if the linen was +clean, should Florent by any chance return. Whilst in the shop, +however, she had observed him busily engaged in the fish market. +Seating herself in front of the little table, she pulled out the +drawer, placed it upon her knees, and began to examine its contents, +taking the greatest care to restore them to their original positions. + +First of all she came upon the opening chapters of the work on +Cayenne; then upon the drafts of Florent's various plans and projects, +his schemes for converting the Octroi duties into taxes upon sales, +for reforming the administrative system of the markets, and all the +others. These pages of small writing, which she set herself to read, +bored her extremely, and she was about to restore the drawer to its +place, feeling convinced that Florent concealed the proofs of his +wicked designs elsewhere, and already contemplating a searching +visitation of his mattress, when she discovered a photograph of La +Normande in an envelope. The impression was rather dark. La Normande +was standing up with her right arm resting on a broken column. Decked +out with all her jewels, and attired in a new silk dress, the fish- +girl was smiling impudently, and Lisa, at the sight, forgot all about +her brother-in-law, her fears, and the purpose for which she had come +into the room. She became quite absorbed in her examination of the +portrait, as often happens when one woman scrutinises the photograph +of another at her ease, without fear of being seen. Never before had +she so favourable an opportunity to study her rival. She scrutinised +her hair, her nose, her mouth; held the photograph at a distance, and +then brought it closer again. And, finally, with compressed lips, she +read on the back of it, in a big, ugly scrawl: "Louise, to her friend, +Florent." This quite scandalised her; to her mind it was a confession, +and she felt a strong impulse to take possession of the photograph, +and keep it as a weapon against her enemy. However, she slowly +replaced it in the envelope on coming to the conclusion that this +course would be wrong, and reflecting that she would always know where +to find it should she want it again. + +Then, as she again began turning over the loose sheets of paper, it +occurred to her to look at the back end of the drawer, where Florent +had relegated Augustine's needles and thread; and there, between the +missal and the Dream-book, she discovered what she sought, some +extremely compromising memoranda, simply screened from observation by +a wrapper of grey paper. + +That idea of an insurrection, of the overthrow of the Empire by means +of an armed rising, which Logre had one evening propounded at Monsieur +Lebigre's, had slowly ripened in Florent's feverish brain. He soon +grew to see a duty, a mission in it. Therein undoubtedly lay the task +to which his escape from Cayenne and his return to Paris predestined +him. Believing in a call to avenge his leanness upon the city which +wallowed in food while the upholders of right and equity were racked +by hunger in exile, he took upon himself the duties of a justiciary, +and dreamt of rising up, even in the midst of those markets, to sweep +away the reign of gluttony and drunkenness. In a sensitive nature like +his, this idea quickly took root. Everything about him assumed +exaggerated proportions, the wildest fancies possessed him. He +imagined that the markets had been conscious of his arrival, and had +seized hold of him that they might enervate him and poison him with +their stenches. Then, too, Lisa wanted to cast a spell over him, and +for two or three days at a time he would avoid her, as though she were +some dissolving agency which would destroy all his power of will +should he approach too closely. However, these paroxysms of puerile +fear, these wild surgings of his rebellious brain, always ended in +thrills of the gentlest tenderness, with yearnings to love and be +loved, which he concealed with a boyish shame. + +It was more especially in the evening that his mind became blurred by +all his wild imaginings. Depressed by his day's work, but shunning +sleep from a covert fear--the fear of the annihilation it brought with +it--he would remain later than ever at Monsieur Lebigre's, or at the +Mehudins'; and on his return home he still refrained from going to +bed, and sat up writing and preparing for the great insurrection. By +slow degrees he devised a complete system of organisation. He divided +Paris into twenty sections, one for each arrondissement. Each section +would have a chief, a sort of general, under whose orders there were +to be twenty lieutenants commanding twenty companies of affiliated +associates. Every week, among the chiefs, there would be a +consultation, which was to be held in a different place each time; +and, the better to ensure secrecy and discretion, the associates would +only come in contact with their respective lieutenants, these alone +communicating with the chiefs of the sections. It also occurred to +Florent that it would be as well that the companies should believe +themselves charged with imaginary missions, as a means of putting the +police upon a wrong scent. + +As for the employment of the insurrectionary forces, that would be all +simplicity. It would, of course, be necessary to wait till the +companies were quite complete, and then advantage would be taken of +the first public commotion. They would doubtless only have a certain +number of guns used for sporting purposes in their possession, so they +would commence by seizing the police stations and guard-houses, +disarming the soldiers of the line; resorting to violence as little as +possible, and inviting the men to make common cause with the people. +Afterwards they would march upon the Corps Legislatif, and thence to +the Hotel de Ville. This plan, to which Florent returned night after +night, as though it were some dramatic scenario which relieved his +over-excited nervous system, was as yet simply jotted down on scraps +of paper, full of erasures, which showed how the writer had felt his +way, and revealed each successive phase of his scientific yet puerile +conception. When Lisa had glanced through the notes, without +understanding some of them, she remained there trembling with fear; +afraid to touch them further lest they should explode in her hands +like live shells. + +A last memorandum frightened her more than any of the others. It was a +half sheet of paper on which Florent had sketched the distinguishing +insignia which the chiefs and the lieutenants were to wear. By the +side of these were rough drawings of the standards which the different +companies were to carry; and notes in pencil even described what +colours the banners should assume. The chiefs were to wear red +scarves, and the lieutenants red armlets. + +To Lisa this seemed like an immediate realisation of the rising; she +saw all the men with their red badges marching past the pork shop, +firing bullets into her mirrors and marble, and carrying off sausages +and chitterlings from the window. The infamous projects of her +brother-in-law were surely directed against herself--against her own +happiness. She closed the drawer and looked round the room, reflecting +that it was she herself who had provided this man with a home--that he +slept between her sheets and used her furniture. And she was +especially exasperated at his keeping his abominable infernal machine +in that little deal table which she herself had used at Uncle +Gradelle's before her marriage--a perfectly innocent, rickety little +table. + +For a while she stood thinking what she should do. In the first place, +it was useless to say anything to Quenu. For a moment it occurred to +her to provoke an explanation with Florent, but she dismissed that +idea, fearing lest he would only go and perpetrate his crime +elsewhere, and maliciously make a point of compromising them. Then +gradually growing somewhat calmer, she came to the conclusion that her +best plan would be to keep a careful watch over her brother-in-law. It +would be time enough to take further steps at the first sign of +danger. She already had quite sufficient evidence to send him back to +the galleys. + +On returning to the shop again, she found Augustine in a state of +great excitement. Little Pauline had disappeared more than half an +hour before, and to Lisa's anxious questions the young woman could +only reply: "I don't know where she can have got to, madame. She was +on the pavement there with a little boy. I was watching them, and then +I had to cut some ham for a gentleman, and I never saw them again." + +"I'll wager it was Muche!" cried Lisa. "Ah, the young scoundrel!" + +It was, indeed, Muche who had enticed Pauline away. The little girl, +who was wearing a new blue-striped frock that day for the first time, +had been anxious to exhibit it, and had accordingly taken her stand +outside the shop, manifesting great propriety of bearing, and +compressing her lips with the grave expression of a little woman of +six who is afraid of soiling her clothes. Her short and stiffly- +starched petticoats stood out like the skirts of a ballet girl, +allowing a full view of her tightly stretched white stockings and +little sky-blue boots. Her pinafore, which hung low about her neck, +was finished off at the shoulders with an edging of embroidery, below +which appeared her pretty little arms, bare and rosy. She had small +turquoise rings in her ears, a cross at her neck, a blue velvet ribbon +in her well-brushed hair; and she displayed all her mother's plumpness +and softness--the gracefulness, indeed, of a new doll. + +Muche had caught sight of her from the market, where he was amusing +himself by dropping little dead fishes into the gutter, following them +along the kerb as the water carried them away, and declaring that they +were swimming. However, the sight of Pauline standing in front of the +shop and looking so smart and pretty made him cross over to her, +capless as he was, with his blouse ragged, his trousers slipping down, +and his whole appearance suggestive of a seven-year-old street-arab. +His mother had certainly forbidden him to play any more with "that fat +booby of a girl who was stuffed by her parents till she almost burst"; +so he stood hesitating for a moment, but at last came up to Pauline, +and wanted to feel her pretty striped frock. The little girl, who had +at first felt flattered, then put on a prim air and stepped back, +exclaiming in a tone of displeasure: "Leave me alone. Mother says I'm +not to have anything to do with you." + +This brought a laugh to the lips of Muche, who was a wily, +enterprising young scamp. + +"What a little flat you are!" he retorted. "What does it matter what +your mother says? Let's go and play at shoving each other, eh?" + +He doubtless nourished some wicked idea of dirtying the neat little +girl; but she, on seeing him prepare to give her a push in the back, +retreated as though about to return inside the shop. Muche thereupon +adopted a flattering tone like a born cajoler. + +"You silly! I didn't mean it," said he. "How nice you look like that! +Is that little cross your mother's?" + +Pauline perked herself up, and replied that it was her own, whereupon +Muche gently led her to the corner of the Rue Pirouette, touching her +skirts the while and expressing his astonishment at their wonderful +stiffness. All this pleased the little girl immensely. She had been +very much vexed at not receiving any notice while she was exhibiting +herself outside the shop. However, in spite of all Muche's +blandishments, she still refused to leave the footway. + +"You stupid fatty!" thereupon exclaimed the youngster, relapsing into +coarseness. "I'll squat you down in the gutter if you don't look out, +Miss Fine-airs!" + +The girl was dreadfully alarmed. Muche had caught hold of her by the +hand; but, recognising his mistake in policy, he again put on a +wheedling air, and began to fumble in his pocket. + +"I've got a sou," said he. + +The sight of the coin had a soothing effect upon Pauline. The boy held +up the sou with the tips of his fingers, and the temptation to follow +it proved so great that the girl at last stepped down into the +roadway. Muche's diplomacy was eminently successful. + +"What do you like best?" he asked. + +Pauline gave no immediate answer. She could not make up her mind; +there were so many things that she liked. Muche, however, ran over a +whole list of dainties--liquorice, molasses, gum-balls, and powdered +sugar. The powdered sugar made the girl ponder. One dipped one's +fingers into it and sucked them; it was very nice. For a while she +gravely considered the matter. Then, at last making up her mind, she +said: + +"No, I like the mixed screws the best." + +Muche thereupon took hold of her arm, and she unresistingly allowed +him to lead her away. They crossed the Rue Rambuteau, followed the +broad footway skirting the markets, and went as far as a grocer's shop +in the Rue de la Cossonnerie which was celebrated for its mixed +screws. These mixed screws are small screws of paper in which grocers +put up all sorts of damaged odds and ends, broken sugar-plums, +fragments of crystallised chestnuts--all the doubtful residuum of +their jars of sweets. Muche showed himself very gallant, allowed +Pauline to choose the screw--a blue one--paid his sou, and did not +attempt to dispossess her of the sweets. Outside, on the footway, she +emptied the miscellaneous collection of scraps into both pockets of +her pinafore; and they were such little pockets that they were quite +filled. Then in delight she began to munch the fragments one by one, +wetting her fingers to catch the fine sugary dust, with such effect +that she melted the scraps of sweets, and the pockets of her pinafore +soon showed two brownish stains. Muche laughed slily to himself. He +had his arm about the girl's waist, and rumpled her frock at his ease +whilst leading her round the corner of the Rue Pierre Lescot, in the +direction of the Place des Innocents. + +"You'll come and play now, won't you?" he asked. "That's nice what +you've got in your pockets, ain't it? You see that I didn't want to do +you any harm, you big silly!" + +Thereupon he plunged his own fingers into her pockets, and they +entered the square together. To this spot, no doubt, he had all along +intended to lure his victim. He did the honours of the square as +though it were his own private property, and indeed it was a favourite +haunt of his, where he often larked about for whole afternoons. +Pauline had never before strayed so far from home, and would have wept +like an abducted damsel had it not been that her pockets were full of +sweets. The fountain in the middle of the flowered lawn was sending +sheets of water down its tiers of basins, whilst, between the +pilasters above, Jean Goujon's nymphs, looking very white beside the +dingy grey stonework, inclined their urns and displayed their nude +graces in the grimy air of the Saint Denis quarter. The two children +walked round the fountain, watching the water fall into the basins, +and taking an interest in the grass, with thoughts, no doubt, of +crossing the central lawn, or gliding into the clumps of holly and +rhododendrons that bordered the railings of the square. Little Muche, +however, who had now effectually rumpled the back of the pretty frock, +said with his sly smile: + +"Let's play at throwing sand at each other, eh?" + +Pauline had no will of her own left; and they began to throw the sand +at each other, keeping their eyes closed meanwhile. The sand made its +way in at the neck of the girl's low bodice, and trickled down into +her stockings and boots. Muche was delighted to see the white pinafore +become quite yellow. But he doubtless considered that it was still far +too clean. + +"Let's go and plant trees, shall we?" he exclaimed suddenly. "I know +how to make such pretty gardens." + +"Really, gardens!" murmured Pauline full of admiration. + +Then, as the keeper of the square happened to be absent, Muche told +her to make some holes in one of the borders; and dropping on her +knees in the middle of the soft mould, and leaning forward till she +lay at full length on her stomach, she dug her pretty little arms into +the ground. He, meantime, began to hunt for scraps of wood, and broke +off branches. These were the garden-trees which he planted in the +holes that Pauline made. He invariably complained, however, that the +holes were not deep enough, and rated the girl as though she were an +idle workman and he an indignant master. When she at last got up, she +was black from head to foot. Her hair was full of mould, her face was +smeared with it, she looked such a sight with her arms as black as a +coalheaver's that Muche clapped his hands with glee, and exclaimed: +"Now we must water the trees. They won't grow, you know, if we don't +water them." + +That was the finishing stroke. They went outside the square, scooped +the gutter-water up in the palms of their hands, and then ran back to +pour it over the bits of wood. On the way, Pauline, who was so fat +that she couldn't run properly, let the water trickle between her +fingers on to her frock, so that by the time of her sixth journey she +looked as if she had been rolled in the gutter. Muche chuckled with +delight on beholding her dreadful condition. He made her sit down +beside him under a rhododendron near the garden they had made, and +told her that the trees were already beginning to grow. He had taken +hold of her hand and called her his little wife. + +"You're not sorry now that you came, are you," he asked, "instead of +mooning about on the pavement, where there was nothing to do? I know +all sorts of fun we can have in the streets; you must come with me +again. You will, won't you? But you mustn't say anything to your +mother, mind. If you say a word to her, I'll pull your hair the next +time I come past your shop." + +Pauline consented to everything; and then, as a last attention, Muche +filled both pockets of her pinafore with mould. However, all the +sweets were finished, and the girl began to get uneasy, and ceased +playing. Muche thereupon started pinching her, and she burst into +tears, sobbing that she wanted to go away. But at this the lad only +grinned, and played the bully, threatening that he would not take her +home at all. Then she grew terribly alarmed, and sobbed and gasped +like a maiden in the power of a libertine. Muche would certainly have +ended by punching her in order to stop her row, had not a shrill +voice, the voice of Mademoiselle Saget, exclaimed, close by: "Why, I +declare it's Pauline! Leave her alone, you wicked young scoundrel!" + +Then the old maid took the girl by the hand, with endless expressions +of amazement at the pitiful condition of her clothes. Muche showed no +alarm, but followed them, chuckling to himself, and declaring that it +was Pauline who had wanted to come with him, and had tumbled down. + +Mademoiselle Saget was a regular frequenter of the Square des +Innocents. Every afternoon she would spend a good hour there to keep +herself well posted in the gossip of the common people. On either side +there is a long crescent of benches placed end to end; and on these +the poor folks who stifle in the hovels of the neighbouring narrow +streets assemble in crowds. There are withered, chilly-looking old +women in tumbled caps, and young ones in loose jackets and carelessly +fastened skirts, with bare heads and tired, faded faces, eloquent of +the wretchedness of their lives. There are some men also: tidy old +buffers, porters in greasy jackets, and equivocal-looking individuals +in black silk hats, while the foot-path is overrun by a swarm of +youngsters dragging toy carts without wheels about, filling pails with +sand, and screaming and fighting; a dreadful crew, with ragged clothes +and dirty noses, teeming in the sunshine like vermin. + +Mademoiselle Saget was so slight and thin that she always managed to +insinuate herself into a place on one of the benches. She listened to +what was being said, and started a conversation with her neighbour, +some sallow-faced workingman's wife, who sat mending linen, from time +to time producing handkerchiefs and stockings riddled with holes from +a little basket patched up with string. Moreover, Mademoiselle Saget +had plenty of acquaintances here. Amidst the excruciating squalling of +the children, and the ceaseless rumble of the traffic in the Rue Saint +Denis, she took part in no end of gossip, everlasting tales about the +tradesmen of the neighbourhood, the grocers, the butchers, and the +bakers, enough, indeed, to fill the columns of a local paper, and the +whole envenomed by refusals of credit and covert envy, such as is +always harboured by the poor. From these wretched creatures she also +obtained the most disgusting revelations, the gossip of low lodging- +houses and doorkeepers' black-holes, all the filthy scandal of the +neighbourhood, which tickled her inquisitive appetite like hot spice. + +As she sat with her face turned towards the markets, she had +immediately in front of her the square and its three blocks of houses, +into the windows of which her eyes tried to pry. She seemed to +gradually rise and traverse the successive floors right up to the +garret skylights. She stared at the curtains; based an entire drama on +the appearance of a head between two shutters; and, by simply gazing +at the facades, ended by knowing the history of all the dwellers in +these houses. The Baratte Restaurant, with its wine shop, its gilt +wrought-iron /marquise/, forming a sort of terrace whence peeped the +foliage of a few plants in flower-pots, and its four low storeys, all +painted and decorated, had an especial interest for her. She gazed at +its yellow columns standing out against a background of tender blue, +at the whole of its imitation temple-front daubed on the facade of a +decrepit, tumble-down house, crowned at the summit by a parapet of +painted zinc. Behind the red-striped window-blinds she espied visions +of nice little lunches, delicate suppers, and uproarious, unlimited +orgies. And she did not hesitate to invent lies about the place. It +was there, she declared, that Florent came to gorge with those two +hussies, the Mehudins, on whom he lavished his money. + +However, Pauline cried yet louder than before when the old maid took +hold of her hand. Mademoiselle Saget at first led her towards the gate +of the square; but before she got there she seemed to change her mind; +for she sat down at the end of a bench and tried to pacify the child. + +"Come, now, give over crying, or the policeman will lock you up," she +said to Pauline. "I'll take you home safely. You know me, don't you? +I'm a good friend. Come, come, let me see how prettily you can smile." + +The child, however, was choking with sobs and wanted to go away. +Mademoiselle Saget thereupon quietly allowed her to continue weeping, +reserving further remarks till she should have finished. The poor +little creature was shivering all over; her petticoats and stockings +were wet through, and as she wiped her tears away with her dirty hands +she plastered the whole of her face with earth to the very tips of her +ears. When at last she became a little calmer the old maid resumed in +a caressing tone: "Your mamma isn't unkind, is she? She's very fond of +you, isn't she?" + +"Oh, yes, indeed," replied Pauline, still sobbing. + +"And your papa, he's good to you, too, isn't he? He doesn't flog you, +or quarrel with your mother, does he? What do they talk about when +they go to bed?" + +"Oh, I don't know. I'm asleep then." + +"Do they talk about your cousin Florent?" + +"I don't know." + +Mademoiselle Saget thereupon assumed a severe expression, and got up +as if about to go away. + +"I'm afraid you are a little story-teller," she said. "Don't you know +that it's very wicked to tell stories? I shall go away and leave you, +if you tell me lies, and then Muche will come back and pinch you." + +Pauline began to cry again at the threat of being abandoned. "Be +quiet, be quiet, you wicked little imp!" cried the old maid shaking +her. "There, there, now, I won't go away. I'll buy you a stick of +barley-sugar; yes, a stick of barley-sugar! So you don't love your +cousin Florent, eh?" + +"No, mamma says he isn't good." + +"Ah, then, so you see your mother does say something." + +"One night when I was in bed with Mouton--I sleep with Mouton +sometimes, you know--I heard her say to father, 'Your brother has only +escaped from the galleys to take us all back with him there.'" + +Mademoiselle Saget gave vent to a faint cry, and sprang to her feet, +quivering all over. A ray of light had just broken upon her. Then +without a word she caught hold of Pauline's hand and made her run till +they reached the pork shop, her lips meanwhile compressed by an inward +smile, and her eyes glistening with keen delight. At the corner of the +Rue Pirouette, Muche, who had so far followed them, amused at seeing +the girl running along in her muddy stockings, prudently disappeared. + +Lisa was now in a state of terrible alarm; and when she saw her +daughter so bedraggled and limp, her consternation was such that she +turned the child round and round, without even thinking of beating +her. + +"She has been with little Muche," said the old maid, in her malicious +voice. "I took her away at once, and I've brought her home. I found +them together in the square. I don't know what they've been up to; but +that young vagabond is capable of anything." + +Lisa could not find a word to say; and she did not know where to take +hold of her daughter, so great was her disgust at the sight of the +child's muddy boots, soiled stockings, torn skirts, and filthy face +and hands. The blue velvet ribbon, the earrings, and the necklet were +all concealed beneath a crust of mud. But what put the finishing touch +to Lisa's exasperation was the discovery of the two pockets filled +with mould. She stooped and emptied them, regardless of the pink and +white flooring of the shop. And as she dragged Pauline away, she could +only gasp: "Come along, you filthy thing!" + +Quite enlivened by this scene, Mademoiselle Saget now hurriedly made +her way across the Rue Rambuteau. Her little feet scarcely touched the +ground; her joy seemed to carry her along like a breeze which fanned +her with a caressing touch. She had at last found out what she had so +much wanted to know! For nearly a year she had been consumed by +curiosity, and now at a single stroke she had gained complete power +over Florent! This was unhoped-for contentment, positive salvation, +for she felt that Florent would have brought her to the tomb had she +failed much longer in satisfying her curiosity about him. At present +she was complete mistress of the whole neighbourhood of the markets. +There was no longer any gap in her information. She could have +narrated the secret history of every street, shop by shop. And thus, +as she entered the fruit market, she fairly gasped with delight, in a +perfect transport of pleasure. + +"Hallo, Mademoiselle Saget," cried La Sarriette from her stall, "what +are you smiling to yourself like that about? Have you won the grand +prize in the lottery?" + +"No, no. Ah, my dear, if you only knew!" + +Standing there amidst her fruit, La Sarriette, in her picturesque +disarray, looked charming. Frizzy hair fell over her brow like vine +branches. Her bare arms and neck, indeed all the rosy flesh she +showed, bloomed with the freshness of peach and cherry. She had +playfully hung some cherries on her ears, black cherries which dangled +against her cheeks when she stooped, shaking with merry laughter. She +was eating currants, and her merriment arose from the way in which she +was smearing her face with them. Her lips were bright red, glistening +with the juice of the fruit, as though they had been painted and +perfumed with some seraglio face-paint. A perfume of plum exhaled from +her gown, while from the kerchief carelessly fastened across her +breast came an odour of strawberries. + +Fruits of all kinds were piled around her in her narrow stall. On the +shelves at the back were rows of melons, so-called "cantaloups" +swarming with wart-like knots, "maraichers" whose skin was covered +with grey lace-like netting, and "culs-de-singe" displaying smooth +bare bumps. In front was an array of choice fruits, carefully arranged +in baskets, and showing like smooth round cheeks seeking to hide +themselves, or glimpses of sweet childish faces, half veiled by +leaves. Especially was this the case with the peaches, the blushing +peaches of Montreuil, with skin as delicate and clear as that of +northern maidens, and the yellow, sun-burnt peaches from the south, +brown like the damsels of Provence. The apricots, on their beds of +moss, gleamed with the hue of amber or with that sunset glow which so +warmly colours the necks of brunettes at the nape, just under the +little wavy curls which fall below the chignon. The cherries, ranged +one by one, resembled the short lips of smiling Chinese girls; the +Montmorencies suggested the dumpy mouths of buxom women; the English +ones were longer and graver-looking; the common black ones seemed as +though they had been bruised and crushed by kisses; while the white- +hearts, with their patches of rose and white, appeared to smile with +mingled merriment and vexation. Then piles of apples and pears, built +up with architectural symmetry, often in pyramids, displayed the ruddy +glow of budding breasts and the gleaming sheen of shoulders, quite a +show of nudity, lurking modestly behind a screen of fern-leaves. There +were all sorts of varieties--little red ones so tiny that they seemed +to be yet in the cradle, shapeless "rambours" for baking, "calvilles" +in light yellow gowns, sanguineous-looking "Canadas," blotched +"chataignier" apples, fair freckled rennets and dusky russets. Then +came the pears--the "blanquettes," the "British queens," the +"Beurres," the "messirejeans," and the "duchesses"--some dumpy, some +long and tapering, some with slender necks, and others with thick-set +shoulders, their green and yellow bellies picked out at times with a +splotch of carmine. By the side of these the transparent plums +resembled tender, chlorotic virgins; the greengages and the Orleans +plums paled as with modest innocence, while the mirabelles lay like +golden beads of a rosary forgotten in a box amongst sticks of vanilla. +And the strawberries exhaled a sweet perfume--a perfume of youth-- +especially those little ones which are gathered in the woods, and +which are far more aromatic than the large ones grown in gardens, for +these breathe an insipid odour suggestive of the watering-pot. +Raspberries added their fragrance to the pure scent. The currants-- +red, white, and black--smiled with a knowing air; whilst the heavy +clusters of grapes, laden with intoxication, lay languorously at the +edges of their wicker baskets, over the sides of which dangled some of +the berries, scorched by the hot caresses of the voluptuous sun. + +It was there that La Sarriette lived in an orchard, as it were, in an +atmosphere of sweet, intoxicating scents. The cheaper fruits--the +cherries, plums, and strawberries--were piled up in front of her in +paper-lined baskets, and the juice coming from their bruised ripeness +stained the stall-front, and steamed, with a strong perfume, in the +heat. She would feel quite giddy on those blazing July afternoons when +the melons enveloped her with a powerful, vaporous odour of musk; and +then with her loosened kerchief, fresh as she was with the springtide +of life, she brought sudden temptation to all who saw her. It was +she--it was her arms and necks which gave that semblance of amorous +vitality to her fruit. On the stall next to her an old woman, a +hideous old drunkard, displayed nothing but wrinkled apples, pears as +flabby as herself, and cadaverous apricots of a witch-like sallowness. +La Sarriette's stall, however, spoke of love and passion. The cherries +looked like the red kisses of her bright lips; the silky peaches were +not more delicate than her neck; to the plums she seemed to have lent +the skin from her brow and chin; while some of her own crimson blood +coursed through the veins of the currants. All the scents of the +avenue of flowers behind her stall were but insipid beside the aroma +of vitality which exhaled from her open baskets and falling kerchief. + +That day she was quite intoxicated by the scent of a large arrival of +mirabelle plums, which filled the market. She could plainly see that +Mademoiselle Saget had learnt some great piece of news, and she wished +to make her talk. But the old maid stamped impatiently whilst she +repeated: "No, no; I've no time. I'm in a great hurry to see Madame +Lecoeur. I've just learnt something and no mistake. You can come with +me, if you like." + +As a matter of fact, she had simply gone through the fruit market for +the purpose of enticing La Sarriette to go with her. The girl could +not refuse temptation. Monsieur Jules, clean-shaven and as fresh as a +cherub, was seated there, swaying to and fro on his chair. + +"Just look after the stall for a minute, will you?" La Sarriette said +to him. "I'll be back directly." + +Jules, however, got up and called after her, in a thick voice: "Not I; +no fear! I'm off! I'm not going to wait an hour for you, as I did the +other day. And, besides, those cursed plums of yours quite make my +head ache." + +Then he calmly strolled off, with his hands in his pockets, and the +stall was left to look after itself. Mademoiselle Saget went so fast +that La Sarriette had to run. In the butter pavilion a neighbour of +Madame Lecoeur's told them that she was below in the cellar; and so, +whilst La Sarriette went down to find her, the old maid installed +herself amidst the cheeses. + +The cellar under the butter market is a very gloomy spot. The rows of +storerooms are protected by a very fine wire meshing, as a safeguard +against fire; and the gas jets, which are very few and far between, +glimmer like yellow splotches destitute of radiance in the heavy, +malordorous atmosphere beneath the low vault. Madame Lecoeur, however, +was at work on her butter at one of the tables placed parallel with +the Rue Berger, and here a pale light filtered through the vent-holes. +The tables, which are continually sluiced with a flood of water from +the taps, are as white as though they were quite new. With her back +turned to the pump in the rear, Madame Lecoeur was kneading her butter +in a kind of oak box. She took some of different sorts which lay +beside her, and mixed the varieties together, correcting one by +another, just as is done in the blending of wines. Bent almost double, +and showing sharp, bony shoulders, and arms bared to the elbows, as +scraggy and knotted as pea-rods, she dug her fists into the greasy +paste in front of her, which was assuming a whitish and chalky +appearance. It was trying work, and she heaved a sigh at each fresh +effort. + +"Mademoiselle Saget wants to speak to you, aunt," said La Sarriette. + +Madame Lecoeur stopped her work, and pulled her cap over her hair with +her greasy fingers, seemingly quite careless of staining it. "I've +nearly finished. Ask her to wait a moment," she said. + +"She's got something very particular to tell you," continued La +Sarriette. + +"I won't be more than a minute, my dear." + +Then she again plunged her arms into the butter, which buried them up +to the elbows. Previously softened in warm water, it covered Madame +Lecoeur's parchment-like skin as with an oily film, and threw the big +purple veins that streaked her flesh into strong relief. La Sarriette +was quite disgusted by the sight of those hideous arms working so +frantically amidst the melting mass. However, she could recall the +time when her own pretty little hands had manipulated the butter for +whole afternoons at a time. It had even been a sort of almond-paste to +her, a cosmetic which had kept her skin white and her nails delicately +pink; and even now her slender fingers retained the suppleness it had +endowed them with. + +"I don't think that butter of yours will be very good, aunt," she +continued, after a pause. "Some of the sorts seem much too strong." + +"I'm quite aware of that," replied Madame Lecoeur, between a couple of +groans. "But what can I do? I must use everything up. There are some +folks who insist upon having butter cheap, and so cheap butter must be +made for them. Oh! it's always quite good enough for those who buy +it." + +La Sarriette reflected that she would hardly care to eat butter which +had been worked by her aunt's arms. Then she glanced at a little jar +full of a sort of reddish dye. "Your colouring is too pale," she said. + +This colouring-matter--"raucourt," as the Parisians call it is used to +give the butter a fine yellow tint. The butter women imagine that its +composition is known only to themselves, and keep it very secret. +However, it is merely made from anotta;[*] though a composition of +carrots and marigold is at times substituted for it. + +[*] Anotta, which is obtained from the pulp surrounding the seeds of + the /Bixa Orellana/, is used for a good many purposes besides the + colouring of butter and cheese. It frequently enters into the + composition of chocolate, and is employed to dye nankeen. Police + court proceedings have also shown that it is well known to the + London milkmen, who are in the habit of adding water to their + merchandise.--Translator. + +"Come, do be quick!" La Sarriette now exclaimed, for she was getting +impatient, and was, moreover, no longer accustomed to the malodorous +atmosphere of the cellar. "Mademoiselle Saget will be going. I fancy +she's got something very important to tell you abut my uncle Gavard." + +On hearing this, Madame Lecoeur abruptly ceased working. She at once +abandoned both butter and dye, and did not even wait to wipe her arms. +With a slight tap of her hand she settled her cap on her head again, +and made her way up the steps, at her niece's heels, anxiously +repeating: "Do you really think that she'll have gone away?" + +She was reassured, however, on catching sight of Mademoiselle Saget +amidst the cheeses. The old maid had taken good care not to go away +before Madame Lecoeur's arrival. The three women seated themselves at +the far end of the stall, crowding closely together, and their faces +almost touching one another. Mademoiselle Saget remained silent for +two long minutes, and then, seeing that the others were burning with +curiosity, she began, in her shrill voice: "You know that Florent! +Well, I can tell you now where he comes from." + +For another moment she kept them in suspense; and then, in a deep, +melodramatic voice, she said: "He comes from the galleys!" + +The cheeses were reeking around the three women. On the two shelves at +the far end of the stall were huge masses of butter: Brittany butters +overflowing from baskets; Normandy butters, wrapped in canvas, and +resembling models of stomachs over which some sculptor had thrown damp +cloths to keep them from drying; while other great blocks had been cut +into, fashioned into perpendicular rocky masses full of crevasses and +valleys, and resembling fallen mountain crests gilded by the pale sun +of an autumn evening. + +Beneath the stall show-table, formed of a slab of red marble veined +with grey, baskets of eggs gleamed with a chalky whiteness; while on +layers of straw in boxes were Bondons, placed end to end, and +Gournays, arranged like medals, forming darker patches tinted with +green. But it was upon the table that the cheeses appeared in greatest +profusion. Here, by the side of the pound-rolls of butter lying on +white-beet leaves, spread a gigantic Cantal cheese, cloven here and +there as by an axe; then came a golden-hued Cheshire, and next a +Gruyere, resembling a wheel fallen from some barbarian chariot; whilst +farther on were some Dutch cheeses, suggesting decapitated heads +suffused with dry blood, and having all that hardness of skulls which +in France has gained them the name of "death's heads." Amidst the +heavy exhalations of these, a Parmesan set a spicy aroma. Then there +came three Brie cheeses displayed on round platters, and looking like +melancholy extinct moons. Two of them, very dry, were at the full; the +third, in its second quarter, was melting away in a white cream, which +had spread into a pool and flowed over the little wooden barriers with +which an attempt had been made to arrest its course. Next came some +Port Saluts, similar to antique discs, with exergues bearing their +makers' names in print. A Romantour, in its tin-foil wrapper, +suggested a bar of nougat or some sweet cheese astray amidst all these +pungent, fermenting curds. The Roqueforts under their glass covers +also had a princely air, their fat faces marbled with blue and yellow, +as though they were suffering from some unpleasant malady such as +attacks the wealthy gluttons who eat too many truffles. And on a dish +by the side of these, the hard grey goats' milk cheeses, about the +size of a child's fist, resembled the pebbles which the billy-goats +send rolling down the stony paths as they clamber along ahead of their +flocks. Next came the strong smelling cheeses: the Mont d'Ors, of a +bright yellow hue, and exhaling a comparatively mild odour; the +Troyes, very thick, and bruised at the edges, and of a far more +pungent smell, recalling the dampness of a cellar; the Camemberts, +suggestive of high game; the square Neufchatels, Limbourgs, Marolles, +and Pont l'Eveques, each adding its own particular sharp scent to the +malodorous bouquet, till it became perfectly pestilential; the +Livarots, ruddy in hue, and as irritating to the throat as sulphur +fumes; and, lastly, stronger than all the others, the Olivets, wrapped +in walnut leaves, like the carrion which peasants cover with branches +as it lies rotting in the hedgerow under the blazing sun. + +The heat of the afternoon had softened the cheeses; the patches of +mould on their crusts were melting, and glistening with tints of ruddy +bronze and verdigris. Beneath their cover of leaves, the skins of the +Olivets seemed to be heaving as with the slow, deep respiration of a +sleeping man. A Livarot was swarming with life; and in a fragile box +behind the scales a Gerome flavoured with aniseed diffused such a +pestilential smell that all around it the very flies had fallen +lifeless on the gray-veined slap of ruddy marble. + +This Gerome was almost immediately under Mademoiselle Saget's nose; so +she drew back, and leaned her head against the big sheets of white and +yellow paper which were hanging in a corner. + +"Yes," she repeated, with an expression of disgust, "he comes from the +galleys! Ah, those Quenu-Gradelles have no reason to put on so many +airs!" + +Madame Lecoeur and La Sarriette, however, had burst into exclamations +of astonishment: "It wasn't possible, surely! What had he done to be +sent to the galleys? Could anyone, now, have ever suspected that +Madame Quenu, whose virtue was the pride of the whole neighbourhood, +would choose a convict for a lover?" + +"Ah, but you don't understand at all!" cried the old maid impatiently. +"Just listen, now, while I explain things. I was quite certain that I +had seen that great lanky fellow somewhere before." + +Then she proceeded to tell them Florent's story. She had recalled to +mind a vague report which had circulated of a nephew of old Gradelle +being transported to Cayenne for murdering six gendarmes at a +barricade. She had even seen this nephew on one occasion in the Rue +Pirouette. The pretended cousin was undoubtedly the same man. Then she +began to bemoan her waning powers. Her memory was quite going, she +said; she would soon be unable to remember anything. And she bewailed +her perishing memory as bitterly as any learned man might bewail the +loss of his notes representing the work of a life-time, on seeing them +swept away by a gust of wind. + +"Six gendarmes!" murmured La Sarriette, admiringly; "he must have a +very heavy fist!" + +"And he's made away with plenty of others, as well," added +Mademoiselle Saget. "I shouldn't advise you to meet him at night!" + +"What a villain!" stammered out Madame Lecoeur, quite terrified. + +The slanting beams of the sinking sun were now enfilading the +pavilion, and the odour of the cheeses became stronger than ever. That +of the Marolles seemed to predominate, borne hither and thither in +powerful whiffs. Then, however, the wind appeared to change, and +suddenly the emanations of the Limbourgs were wafted towards the three +women, pungent and bitter, like the last gasps of a dying man. + +"But in that case," resumed Madame Lecoeur, "he must be fat Lisa's +brother-in-law. And we thought that he was her lover!" + +The women exchanged glances. This aspect of the case took them by +surprise. They were loth to give up their first theory. However, La +Sarriette, turning to Mademoiselle Saget, remarked: "That must have +been all wrong. Besides, you yourself say that he's always running +after the two Mehudin girls." + +"Certainly he is," exclaimed Mademoiselle Saget sharply, fancying that +her word was doubted. "He dangles about them every evening. But, after +all, it's no concern of ours, is it? We are virtuous women, and what +he does makes no difference to us, the horrid scoundrel!" + +"No, certainly not," agreed the other two. "He's a consummate +villain." + +The affair was becoming tragical. Of course beautiful Lisa was now out +of the question, but for this they found ample consolation in +prophesying that Florent would bring about some frightful catastrophe. +It was quite clear, they said, that he had got some base design in his +head. When people like him escaped from gaol it was only to burn +everything down; and if he had come to the markets it must assuredly +be for some abominable purpose. Then they began to indulge in the +wildest suppositions. The two dealers declared that they would put +additional padlocks to the doors of their storerooms; and La Sarriette +called to mind that a basket of peaches had been stolen from her +during the previous week. Mademoiselle Saget, however, quite +frightened the two others by informing them that that was not the way +in which the Reds behaved; they despised such trifles as baskets of +peaches; their plan was to band themselves together in companies of +two or three hundred, kill everybody they came across, and then +plunder and pillage at their ease. That was "politics," she said, with +the superior air of one who knew what she was talking about. Madame +Lecoeur felt quite ill. She already saw Florent and his accomplices +hiding in the cellars, and rushing out during the night to set the +markets in flames and sack Paris. + +"Ah! by the way," suddenly exclaimed the old maid, "now I think of it, +there's all that money of old Gradelle's! Dear me, dear me, those +Quenus can't be at all at their ease!" + +She now looked quite gay again. The conversation took a fresh turn, +and the others fell foul of the Quenus when Mademoiselle Saget had +told them the history of the treasure discovered in the salting-tub, +with every particular of which she was acquainted. She was even able +to inform them of the exact amount of the money found--eighty-five +thousand francs--though neither Lisa nor Quenu was aware of having +revealed this to a living soul. However, it was clear that the Quenus +had not given the great lanky fellow his share. He was too shabbily +dressed for that. Perhaps he had never even heard of the discovery of +the treasure. Plainly enough, they were all thieves in his family. +Then the three women bent their heads together and spoke in lower +tones. They were unanimously of opinion that it might perhaps be +dangerous to attack the beautiful Lisa, but it was decidedly necessary +that they should settle the Red Republican's hash, so that he might no +longer prey upon the purse of poor Monsieur Gavard. + +At the mention of Gavard there came a pause. The gossips looked at +each other with a circumspect air. And then, as they drew breath, they +inhaled the odour of the Camemberts, whose gamy scent had overpowered +the less penetrating emanations of the Marolles and the Limbourgs, and +spread around with remarkable power. Every now and then, however, a +slight whiff, a flutelike note, came from the Parmesan, while the +Bries contributed a soft, musty scent, the gentle, insipid sound, as +it were, of damp tambourines. Next followed an overpowering refrain +from the Livarots, and afterwards the Gerome, flavoured with aniseed, +kept up the symphony with a high prolonged note, like that of a +vocalist during a pause in the accompaniment. + +"I have seen Madame Leonce," Mademoiselle Saget at last continued, +with a significant expression. + +At this the two others became extremely attentive. Madame Leonce was +the doorkeeper of the house where Gavard lived in the Rue de la +Cossonnerie. It was an old house standing back, with its ground floor +occupied by an importer of oranges and lemons, who had had the +frontage coloured blue as high as the first floor. Madame Leonce acted +as Gavard's housekeeper, kept the keys of his cupboards and closets, +and brought him up tisane when he happened to catch cold. She was a +severe-looking woman, between fifty and sixty years of age, and spoke +slowly, but at endless length. Mademoiselle Saget, who went to drink +coffee with her every Wednesday evening, had cultivated her friendship +more closely than ever since the poultry dealer had gone to lodge in +the house. They would talk about the worthy man for hours at a time. +They both professed the greatest affection for him, and a keen desire +to ensure his comfort and happiness. + +"Yes, I have seen Madame Leonce," repeated the old maid. "We had a cup +of coffee together last night. She was greatly worried. It seems that +Monsieur Gavard never comes home now before one o'clock in the +morning. Last Sunday she took him up some broth, as she thought he +looked quite ill." + +"Oh, she knows very well what she's about," exclaimed Madame Lecoeur, +whom these attentions to Gavard somewhat alarmed. + +Mademoiselle Saget felt bound to defend her friend. "Oh, really, you +are quite mistaken," said she. "Madame Leonce is much above her +position; she is quite a lady. If she wanted to enrich herself at +Monsieur Gavard's expense, she might easily have done so long ago. It +seems that he leaves everything lying about in the most careless +fashion. It's about that, indeed, that I want to speak to you. But +you'll not repeat anything I say, will you? I am telling it you in +strict confidence." + +Both the others swore that they would never breathe a word of what +they might hear; and they craned out their necks with eager curiosity, +whilst the old maid solemnly resumed: "Well, then, Monsieur Gavard has +been behaving very strangely of late. He has been buying firearms--a +great big pistol--one of those which revolve, you know. Madame Leonce +says that things are awful, for this pistol is always lying about on +the table or the mantelpiece; and she daren't dust anywhere near it. +But that isn't all. His money--" + +"His money!" echoed Madame Lecoeur, with blazing cheeks. + +"Well, he's disposed of all his stocks and shares. He's sold +everything, and keeps a great heap of gold in a cupboard." + +"A heap of gold!" exclaimed La Sarriette in ecstasy. + +"Yes, a great heap of gold. It covers a whole shelf, and is quite +dazzling. Madame Leonce told me that one morning Gavard opened the +cupboard in her presence, and that the money quite blinded her, it +shone so." + +There was another pause. The eyes of the three women were blinking as +though the dazzling pile of gold was before them. Presently La +Sarriette began to laugh. + +"What a jolly time I would have with Jules if my uncle would give that +money to me!" said she. + +Madame Lecoeur, however, seemed quite overwhelmed by this revelation, +crushed beneath the weight of the gold which she could not banish from +her sight. Covetous envy thrilled her. But at last, raising her skinny +arms and shrivelled hands, her finger-nails still stuffed with butter, +she stammered in a voice full of bitter distress: "Oh, I mustn't think +of it! It's too dreadful!" + +"Well, it would all be yours, you know, if anything were to happen to +Monsieur Gavard," retorted Mademoiselle Saget. "If I were in your +place, I would look after my interests. That revolver means nothing +good, you may depend upon it. Monsieur Gavard has got into the hands +of evil counsellors; and I'm afraid it will all end badly." + +Then the conversation again turned upon Florent. The three women +assailed him more violently than ever. And afterwards, with perfect +composure, they began to discuss what would be the result of all these +dark goings-on so far as he and Gavard were concerned; certainly it +would be no pleasant one if there was any gossiping. And thereupon +they swore that they themselves would never repeat a word of what they +knew; not, however, because that scoundrel Florent merited any +consideration, but because it was necessary, at all costs, to save +that worthy Monsieur Gavard from being compromised. Then they rose +from their seats, and Mademoiselle Saget was burning as if to go away +when the butter dealer asked her: "All the same, in case of accident, +do you think that Madame Leonce can be trusted? I dare say she has the +key of the cupboard." + +"Well, that's more than I can tell you," replied the old maid. "I +believe she's a very honest woman; but, after all, there's no telling. +There are circumstances, you know, which tempt the best of people. +Anyhow, I've warned you both; and you must do what you think proper." + +As the three women stood there, taking leave of each other, the odour +of the cheeses seemed to become more pestilential than ever. It was a +cacophony of smells, ranging from the heavily oppressive odour of the +Dutch cheeses and the Gruyeres to the alkaline pungency of the +Olivets. From the Cantal, the Cheshire, and the goats' milk cheeses +there seemed to come a deep breath like the sound of a bassoon, amidst +which the sharp, sudden whiffs of the Neufchatels, the Troyes, and the +Mont d'Ors contributed short, detached notes. And then the different +odours appeared to mingle one with another, the reek of the Limbourgs, +the Port Saluts, the Geromes, the Marolles, the Livarots, and the Pont +l'Eveques uniting in one general, overpowering stench sufficient to +provoke asphyxia. And yet it almost seemed as though it were not the +cheeses but the vile words of Madame Lecoeur and Mademoiselle Saget +that diffused this awful odour. + +"I'm very much obliged to you, indeed I am," said the butter dealer. +"If ever I get rich, you shall not find yourself forgotten." + +The old maid still lingered in the stall. Taking up a Bondon, she +turned it round, and put it down on the slab again. Then she asked its +price. + +"To me!" she added, with a smile. + +"Oh, nothing to you," replied Madame Lecoeur. "I'll make you a present +of it." And again she exclaimed: "Ah, if I were only rich!" + +Mademoiselle Saget thereupon told her that some day or other she would +be rich. The Bondon had already disappeared within the old maid's bag. +And now the butter dealer returned to the cellar, while Mademoiselle +Saget escorted La Sarriette back to her stall. On reaching it they +talked for a moment or two about Monsieur Jules. The fruits around +them diffused a fresh scent of summer. + +"It smells much nicer here than at your aunt's," said the old maid. "I +felt quite ill a little time ago. I can't think how she manages to +exist there. But here it's very sweet and pleasant. It makes you look +quite rosy, my dear." + +La Sarriette began to laugh, for she was fond of compliments. Then she +served a lady with a pound of mirabelle plums, telling her that they +were as sweet as sugar. + +"I should like to buy some of those mirabelles too," murmured +Mademoiselle Saget, when the lady had gone away; "only I want so few. +A lone woman, you know." + +"Take a handful of them," exclaimed the pretty brunette. "That won't +ruin me. Send Jules back to me if you see him, will you? You'll most +likely find him smoking his cigar on the first bench to the right as +you turn out of the covered way." + +Mademoiselle Saget distended her fingers as widely as possible in +order to take a handful of mirabelles, which joined the Bondon in the +bag. Then she pretended to leave the market, but in reality made a +detour by one of the covered ways, thinking, as she walked slowly +along, that the mirabelles and Bondon would not make a very +substantial dinner. When she was unable, during her afternoon +perambulations, to wheedle stallkeepers into filling her bag for her, +she was reduced to dining off the merest scraps. So she now slyly made +her way back to the butter pavilions, where, on the side of the Rue +Berger, at the back of the offices of the oyster salesmen, there were +some stalls at which cooked meat was sold. Every morning little closed +box-like carts, lined with zinc and furnished with ventilators, drew +up in front of the larger Parisian kitchens and carried away the +leavings of the restaurants, the embassies, and State Ministries. +These leavings were conveyed to the market cellars and there sorted. +By nine o'clock plates of food were displayed for sale at prices +ranging from three to five sous, their contents comprising slices of +meat, scraps of game, heads and tails of fishes, bits of galantine, +stray vegetables, and, by way of dessert, cakes scarcely cut into, and +other confectionery. Poor starving wretches, scantily-paid clerks, and +women shivering with fever were to be seen crowding around, and the +street lads occasionally amused themselves by hooting the pale-faced +individuals, known to be misers, who only made their purchases after +slyly glancing about them to see that they were not observed.[*] +Mademoiselle Saget wriggled her way to a stall, the keeper of which +boasted that the scraps she sold came exclusively from the Tuileries. +One day, indeed, she had induced the old maid to buy a slice of leg of +mutton by informing that it had come from the plate of the Emperor +himself; and this slice of mutton, eaten with no little pride, had +been a soothing consolation to Mademoiselle Saget's vanity. The +wariness of her approach to the stall was, moreover, solely caused by +her desire to keep well with the neighbouring shop people, whose +premises she was eternally haunting without ever buying anything. Her +usual tactics were to quarrel with them as soon as she had managed to +learn their histories, when she would bestow her patronage upon a +fresh set, desert it in due course, and then gradually make friends +again with those with whom she had quarrelled. In this way she made +the complete circuit of the market neighbourhood, ferreting about in +every shop and stall. Anyone would have imagined that she consumed an +enormous amount of provisions, whereas, in point of fact, she lived +solely upon presents and the few scraps which she was compelled to buy +when people were not in the giving vein. + +[*] The dealers in these scraps are called /bijoutiers/, or jewellers, + whilst the scraps themselves are known as /harlequins/, the idea + being that they are of all colours and shapes when mingled + together, thus suggesting harlequin's variegated attire.-- + Translator. + +On that particular evening there was only a tall old man standing in +front of the stall. He was sniffing at a plate containing a mixture of +meat and fish. Mademoiselle Saget, in her turn, began to sniff at a +plate of cold fried fish. The price of it was three sous, but, by dint +of bargaining, she got it for two. The cold fish then vanished into +the bag. Other customers now arrived, and with a uniform impulse +lowered their noses over the plates. The smell of the stall was very +disgusting, suggestive alike of greasy dishes and a dirty sink.[*] + +[*] Particulars of the strange and repulsive trade in harlequins, + which even nowadays is not extinct, will be found in Privat + d'Anglemont's well-known book /Paris Anecdote/, written at the + very period with which M. Zola deals in the present work. My + father, Henry Vizetelly, also gave some account of it in his + /Glances Back through Seventy Years/, in a chapter describing the + odd ways in which certain Parisians contrive to get a living.-- + Translator. + +"Come and see me to-morrow," the stallkeeper called out to the old +maid, "and I'll put something nice on one side for you. There's going +to be a grand dinner at the Tuileries to-night." + +Mademoiselle Saget was just promising to come, when, happening to turn +round, she discovered Gavard looking at her and listening to what she +was saying. She turned very red, and, contracting her skinny +shoulders, hurried away, affecting not to recognise him. Gavard, +however, followed her for a few yards, shrugging his shoulders and +muttering to himself that he was no longer surprised at the old +shrew's malice, now he knew that "she poisoned herself with the filth +carted away from the Tuileries." + +On the very next morning vague rumours began to circulate in the +markets. Madame Lecoeur and La Sarriette were in their own fashion +keeping the oaths of silence they had taken. For her own part, +Mademoiselle Saget warily held her tongue, leaving the two others to +circulate the story of Florent's antecedents. At first only a few +meagre details were hawked about in low tones; then various versions +of the facts got into circulation, incidents were exaggerated, and +gradually quite a legend was constructed, in which Florent played the +part of a perfect bogey man. He had killed ten gendarmes at the +barricade in the Rue Greneta, said some; he had returned to France on +a pirate ship whose crew scoured the seas to murder everyone they came +across, said others; whilst a third set declared that ever since his +arrival he had been observed prowling about at nighttime with +suspicious-looking characters, of whom he was undoubtedly the leader. +Soon the imaginative market women indulged in the highest flights of +fancy, revelled in the most melodramatic ideas. There was talk of a +band of smugglers plying their nefarious calling in the very heart of +Paris, and of a vast central association formed for systematically +robbing the stalls in the markets. Much pity was expressed for the +Quenu-Gradelles, mingled with malicious allusions to their uncle's +fortune. That fortune was an endless subject of discussion. The +general opinion was that Florent had returned to claim his share of +the treasure; however, as no good reason was forthcoming to explain +why the division had not taken place already, it was asserted that +Florent was waiting for some opportunity which might enable him to +pocket the whole amount. The Quenu-Gradelles would certainly be found +murdered some morning, it was said; and a rumour spread that dreadful +quarrels already took place every night between the two brothers and +beautiful Lisa. + +When these stories reached the ears of the beautiful Norman, she +shrugged her shoulders and burst out laughing. + +"Get away with you!" she cried, "you don't know him. Why, the dear +fellow's as gentle as a lamb." + +She had recently refused the hand of Monsieur Lebigre, who had at last +ventured upon a formal proposal. For two months past he had given the +Mehudins a bottle of some liqueur every Sunday. It was Rose who +brought it, and she was always charged with a compliment for La +Normande, some pretty speech which she faithfully repeated, without +appearing in the slightest degree embarrassed by the peculiar +commission. When Monsieur Lebigre was rejected, he did not pine, but +to show that he took no offence and was still hopeful, he sent Rose on +the following Sunday with two bottles of champagne and a large bunch +of flowers. She gave them into the handsome fish-girl's own hands, +repeating, as she did so, the wine dealer's prose madrigal: + +"Monsieur Lebigre begs you to drink this to his health, which has been +greatly shaken by you know what. He hopes that you will one day be +willing to cure him, by being for him as pretty and as sweet as these +flowers." + +La Normande was much amused by the servant's delighted air. She kissed +her as she spoke to her of her master, and asked her if he wore +braces, and snored at nights. Then she made her take the champagne and +flowers back with her. "Tell Monsieur Lebigre," said she, "that he's +not to send you here again. It quite vexes me to see you coming here +so meekly, with your bottles under your arms." + +"Oh, he wishes me to come," replied Rose, as she went away. "It is +wrong of you to distress him. He is a very handsome man." + +La Normande, however, was quite conquered by Florent's affectionate +nature. She continued to follow Muche's lessons of an evening in the +lamplight, indulging the while in a dream of marrying this man who was +so kind to children. She would still keep her fish stall, while he +would doubtless rise to a position of importance in the administrative +staff of the markets. This dream of hers, however, was scarcely +furthered by the tutor's respectful bearing towards her. He bowed to +her, and kept himself at a disntace, when she have liked to laugh with +him, and love him as she knew how to love. But it was just this covert +resistance on Florent's part which continually brought her back to the +dream of marrying him. She realised that he lived in a loftier sphere +than her own; and by becoming his wife she imagined that her vanity +would reap no little satisfaction. + +She was greatly surprised when she learned the history of the man she +loved. He had never mentioned a word of those things to her; and she +scolded him about it. His extraordinary adventures only increased her +tenderness for him, and for evenings together she made him relate all +that had befallen him. She trembled with fear lest the police should +discover him; but he reassured her, saying that the matter was now too +old for the police to trouble their heads about it. One evening he +told her of the woman on the Boulevard Montmartre, the woman in the +pink bonnet, whose blood had dyed his hands. He still frequently +thought of that poor creature. His anguish-stricken mind had often +dwelt upon her during the clear nights he had passed in Cayenne; and +he had returned to France with a wild dream of meeting her again on +some footway in the bright sunshine, even though he could still feel +her corpse-like weight across his legs. And yet, he thought, she might +perhaps have recovered. At times he received quite a shock while he +was walking through the streets, on fancying that he recognised her; +and he followed pink bonnets and shawl-draped shoulders with a wildly +beating heart. When he closed his eyes he could see her walking, and +advancing towards him; but she let her shawl slip down, showing the +two red stains on her chemisette; and then he saw that her face was +pale as wax, and that her eyes were blank, and her lips distorted by +pain. For a long time he suffered from not knowing her name, from +being forced to look upon her as a mere shadow, whose recollection +filled him with sorrow. Whenever any idea of woman crossed his mind it +was always she that rose up before him, as the one pure, tender wife. +He often found himself fancying that she might be looking for him on +that boulevard where she had fallen dead, and that if she had met him +a few seconds sooner she would have given him a life of joy. And he +wished for no other wife; none other existed for him. When he spoke of +her, his voice trembled to such a degree that La Normande, her wits +quickened by her love, guessed his secret, and felt jealous. + +"Oh, it's really much better that you shouldn't see her again," she +said maliciously. "She can't look particularly nice by this time." + +Florent turned pale with horror at the vision which these words +evoked. His love was rotting in her grave. He could not forgive La +Normande's savage cruelty, which henceforth made him see the grinning +jaws and hollow eyes of a skeleton within that lovely pink bonnet. +Whenever the fish-girl tried to joke with him on the subject he turned +quite angry, and silenced her with almost coarse language. + +That, however, which especially surprised the beautiful Norman in +these revelations was the discovery that she had been quite mistaken +in supposing that she was enticing a lover away from handsome Lisa. +This so diminished her feeling of triumph, that for a week or so her +love for Florent abated. She consoled herself, however, with the story +of the inheritance, no longer calling Lisa a strait-laced prude, but a +thief who kept back her brother-in-law's money, and assumed +sanctimonious airs to deceive people. Every evening, while Muche took +his writing lesson, the conversation turned upon old Gradelle's +treasure. + +"Did anyone ever hear of such an idea?" the fish-girl would exclaim, +with a laugh. "Did the old man want to salt his money, since he put it +in a salting-tub? Eighty-five thousand francs! That's a nice sum of +money! And, besides, the Quenus, no doubt, lied about it--there was +perhaps two or three times as much. Ah, if I were in your place, I +shouldn't lose any time about claiming my share; indeed I shouldn't." + +"I've no need of anything," was Florent's invariable answer. "I +shouldn't know what to do with the money if I had it." + +"Oh, you're no man!" cried La Normande, losing all control over +herself. "It's pitiful! Can't you see that the Quenus are laughing at +you? That great fat thing passes all her husband's old clothes over to +you. I'm not saying this to hurt your feelings, but everybody makes +remarks about it. Why, the whole neighbourhood has seen the greasy +pair of trousers, which you're now wearing, on your brother's legs for +three years and more! If I were in your place I'd throw their dirty +rags in their faces, and insist upon my rights. Your share comes to +forty-two thousand five hundred francs, doesn't it? Well, I shouldn't +go out of the place till I'd got forty-two thousand five hundred +francs." + +It was useless for Florent to explain to her that his sister-in-law +had offered to pay him his share, that she was taking care of it for +him, and that it was he himself who had refused to receive it. He +entered into the most minute particulars, seeking to convince her of +the Quenus' honesty, but she sarcastically replied: "Oh, yes, I dare +say! I know all about their honesty. That fat thing folds it up every +morning and puts it away in her wardrobe for fear it should get +soiled. Really, I quite pity you, my poor friend. It's easy to gull +you, for you can't see any further than a child of five. One of these +days she'll simply put your money in her pocket, and you'll never look +on it again. Shall I go, now, and claim your share for you, just to +see what she says? There'd be some fine fun, I can tell you! I'd +either have the money, or I'd break everything in the house--I swear I +would!" + +"No, no, it's no business of yours," Florent replied, quite alarmed. +"I'll see about it; I may possibly be wanting some money soon." + +At this La Normande assumed an air of doubt, shrugged her shoulders, +and told him that he was really too chicken-hearted. Her one great aim +now was to embroil him with the Quenu-Gradelles, and she employed +every means she could think of to effect her purpose, both anger and +banter, as well as affectionate tenderness. She also cherished another +design. When she had succeeded in marrying Florent, she would go and +administer a sound cuffing to beautiful Lisa, if the latter did not +yield up the money. As she lay awake in her bed at night she pictured +every detail of the scene. She saw herself sitting down in the middle +of the pork shop in the busiest part of the day, and making a terrible +fuss. She brooded over this idea to such an extent, it obtained such a +hold upon her, that she would have been willing to marry Florent +simply in order to be able to go and demand old Gradelle's forty-two +thousand five hundred francs. + +Old Madame Mehudin, exasperated by La Normande's dismissal of Monsieur +Lebigre, proclaimed everywhere that her daughter was mad, and that the +"long spindle-shanks" must have administered some insidious drug to +her. When she learned the Cayenne story, her anger was terrible. She +called Florent a convict and murderer, and said it was no wonder that +his villainy had kept him lank and flat. Her versions of Florent's +biography were the most horrible of all that were circulated in the +neighbourhood. At home she kept a moderately quiet tongue in her head, +and restricted herself to muttered indignation, and a show of locking +up the drawer where the silver was kept whenever Florent arrived. One +day, however, after a quarrel with her elder daughter, she exclaimed: + +"Things can't go on much longer like this! It is that vile man who is +setting you against me. Take care that you don't try me too far, or +I'll go and denounce him to the police. I will, as true as I stand +here!" + +"You'll denounce him!" echoed La Normande, trembling violently, and +clenching her fists. "You'd better not! Ah, if you weren't my +mother----" + +At this, Claire, who was a spectator of the quarrel, began to laugh, +with a nervous laughter that seemed to rasp her throat. For some time +past she had been gloomier and more erratic than ever, invariably +showing red eyes and a pale face. + +"Well, what would you do?" she asked. "Would you give her a cuffing? +Perhaps you'd like to give me, your sister, one as well? I dare say it +will end in that. But I'll clear the house of him. I'll go to the +police to save mother the trouble." + +Then, as La Normande almost choked with the angry threats that rose to +her throat, the younger girl added: "I'll spare you the exertion of +beating me. I'll throw myself into the river as I come back over the +bridge." + +Big tears were streaming from her eyes; and she rushed off to her +bedroom, banging the doors violently behind her. Old Madame Mehudin +said nothing more about denouncing Florent. Muche, however, told La +Normande that he met his grandma talking with Monsieur Lebigre in +every corner of the neighbourhood. + +The rivalry between the beautiful Norman and the beautiful Lisa now +assumed a less aggressive but more disturbing character. In the +afternoon, when the red-striped canvas awning was drawn down in front +of the pork shop, the fish-girl would remark that the big fat thing +felt afraid, and was concealing herself. She was also much exasperated +by the occasional lowering of the window-blind, on which was pictured +a hunting-breakfast in a forest glade, with ladies and gentlemen in +evening dress partaking of a red pasty, as big as themselves, on the +yellow grass. + +Beautiful Lisa, however, was by no means afraid. As soon as the sun +began to sink she drew up the blind; and, as she sat knitting behind +her counter, she serenely scanned the market square, where numerous +urchins were poking about in the soil under the gratings which +protected the roots of the plane-trees, while porters smoked their +pipes on the benches along the footway, at either end of which was an +advertisement column covered with theatrical posters, alternately +green, yellow, red, and blue, like some harlequin's costume. And while +pretending to watch the passing vehicles, Lisa would really be +scrutinising the beautiful Norman. She might occasionally be seen +bending forward, as though her eyes were following the Bastille and +Place Wagram omnibus to the Pointe Saint Eustache, where it always +stopped for a time. But this was only a manoeuvre to enable her to get +a better view of the fish-girl, who, as a set-off against the blind, +retorted by covering her head and fish with large sheets of brown +paper, on the pretext of warding off the rays of the setting sun. The +advantage at present was on Lisa's side, for as the time for striking +the decisive blow approached she manifested the calmest serenity of +bearing, whereas her rival, in spite of all her efforts to attain the +same air of distinction, always lapsed into some piece of gross +vulgarity, which she afterwards regretted. La Normande's ambition was +to look "like a lady." Nothing irritated her more than to hear people +extolling the good manners of her rival. This weak point of hers had +not escaped old Madame Mehudin's observation, and she now directed all +her attacks upon it. + +"I saw Madame Quenu standing at her door this evening," she would say +sometimes. "It is quite amazing how well she wears. And she's so +refined-looking, too; quite the lady, indeed. It's the counter that +does it, I'm sure. A fine counter gives a woman such a respectable +look." + +In this remark there was a veiled allusion to Monsieur Lebigre's +proposal. The beautiful Norman would make no reply; but for a moment +or two she would seem deep in thought. In her mind's eye she saw +herself behind the counter of the wine shop at the other corner of the +street, forming a pendent, as it were, to beautiful Lisa. It was this +that first shook her love for Florent. + +To tell the truth, it was now becoming a very difficult thing to +defend Florent. The whole neighbourhood was in arms against him; it +seemed as though everyone had an immediate interest in exterminating +him. Some of the market people swore that he had sold himself to the +police; while others asserted that he had been seen in the butter- +cellar, attempting to make holes in the wire grating, with the +intention of tossing lighted matches through them. There was a vast +increase of slander, a perfect flood of abuse, the source of which +could not be exactly determined. The fish pavilion was the last one to +join in the revolt against the inspector. The fish-wives liked Florent +on account of his gentleness, and for some time they defended him; +but, influenced by the stallkeepers of the butter and fruit pavilions, +they at last gave way. Then hostilities began afresh between these +huge, swelling women and the lean and lank inspector. He was lost in +the whirl of the voluminous petticoats and buxom bodices which surged +furiously around his scraggy shoulders. However, he understood +nothing, but pursued his course towards the realisation of his one +haunting idea. + +At every hour of the day, and in every corner of the market, +Mademoiselle Saget's black bonnet was now to be seen in the midst of +this outburst of indignation. Her little pale face seemed to multiply. +She had sworn a terrible vengeance against the company which assembled +in Monsieur Lebigre's little cabinet. She accused them of having +circulated the story that she lived on waste scraps of meat. The truth +was that old Gavard had told the others one evening that the "old +nanny-goat" who came to play the spy upon them gorged herself with the +filth which the Bonapartist clique tossed away. Clemence felt quite +ill on hearing this, and Robine hurriedly gulped down a draught of +beer, as though to wash his throat. In Gavard's opinion, the scraps of +meat left on the Emperor's plate were so much political ordure, the +putrid remnants of all the filth of the reign. Thenceforth the party +at Monsieur Lebigre's looked on Mademoiselle Saget as a creature whom +no one could touch except with tongs. She was regarded as some unclean +animal that battened upon corruption. Clemence and Gavard circulated +the story so freely in the markets that the old maid found herself +seriously injured in her intercourse with the shopkeepers, who +unceremoniously bade her go off to the scrap-stalls when she came to +haggle and gossip at their establishments without the least intention +of buying anything. This cut her off from her sources of information; +and sometimes she was altogether ignorant of what was happening. She +shed tears of rage, and in one such moment of anger she bluntly said +to La Sarriette and Madame Lecoeur: "You needn't give me any more +hints: I'll settle your Gavard's hash for him now--that I will!" + +The two women were rather startled, but refrained from all +protestation. The next day, however, Mademoiselle Saget had calmed +down, and again expressed much tender-hearted pity for that poor +Monsieur Gavard who was so badly advised, and was certainly hastening +to his ruin. + +Gavard was undoubtedly compromising himself. Ever since the conspiracy +had begun to ripen he had carried the revolver, which caused Madame +Leonce so much alarm, in his pocket wherever he went. It was a big, +formidable-looking weapon, which he had bought of the principal +gunmaker in Paris. He exhibited it to all the women in the poultry +market, like a schoolboy who has got some prohibited novel hidden in +his desk. First he would allow the barrel to peer out of his pocket, +and call attention to it with a wink. Then he affected a mysterious +reticence, indulged in vague hints and insinuations--played, in short, +the part of a man who revelled in feigning fear. The possession of +this revolver gave him immense importance, placed him definitely +amongst the dangerous characters of Paris. Sometimes, when he was safe +inside his stall, he would consent to take it out of his pocket, and +exhibit it to two or three of the women. He made them stand before him +so as to conceal him with their petticoats, and then he brandished the +weapon, cocked the lock, caused the breech to revolve, and took aim at +one of the geese or turkeys that were hanging in the stall. He was +immensely delighted at the alarm manifested by the women; but +eventually reassured them by stating that the revolver was not loaded. +However, he carried a supply of cartridges about with him, in a case +which he opened with the most elaborate precautions. When he had +allowed his friends to feel the weight of the cartridges, he would +again place both weapon and ammunition in his pockets. And afterwards, +crossing his arms over his breast, he would chatter away jubilantly +for hours. + +"A man's a man when he's got a weapon like that," he would say with a +swaggering air. "I don't care a fig now for the gendarmes. A friend +and I went to try it last Sunday on the plain of Saint Denis. Of +course, you know, a man doesn't tell everyone that he's got a +plaything of that sort. But, ah! my dears, we fired at a tree, and hit +it every time. Ah, you'll see, you'll see. You'll hear of Anatole one +of these days, I can tell you." + +He had bestowed the name of Anatole upon the revolver; and he carried +things so far that in a week's time both weapon and cartridges were +known to all the women in the pavilion. His friendship for Florent +seemed to them suspicious; he was too sleek and rich to be visited +with the hatred that was manifested towards the inspector; still, he +lost the esteem of the shrewder heads amongst his acquaintances, and +succeeded in terrifying the timid ones. This delighted him immensely. + +"It is very imprudent for a man to carry firearms about with him," +said Mademoiselle Saget. "Monsieur Gavard's revolver will end by +playing him a nasty trick." + +Gavard now showed the most jubilant bearing at Monsieur Lebigre's. +Florent, since ceasing to take his meals with the Quenus, had come +almost to live in the little "cabinet." He breakfasted, dined, and +constantly shut himself up there. In fact he had converted the place +almost into a sort of private room of his own, where he left his old +coats and books and papers lying about. Monsieur Lebigre had offered +no objection to these proceedings; indeed, he had even removed one of +the tables to make room for a cushioned bench, on which Florent could +have slept had he felt so inclined. When the inspector manifested any +scruples about taking advantage of Monsieur Lebigre's kindness, the +latter told him to do as he pleased, saying that the whole house was +at his service. Logre also manifested great friendship for him, and +even constituted himself his lieutenant. He was constantly discussing +affairs with him, rendering an account of the steps he was supposed to +take, and furnishing the names of newly affiliated associates. Logre, +indeed, had now assumed the duties of organiser; on him rested the +task of bringing the various plotters together, forming the different +sections, and weaving each mesh of the gigantic net into which Paris +was to fall at a given signal. Florent meantime remained the leader, +the soul of the conspiracy. + +However, much as the hunchback seemed to toil, he attained no +appreciable result. Although he had loudly asserted that in each +district of Paris he knew two or three groups of men as determined and +trustworthy as those who met at Monsieur Lebigre's, he had never yet +given any precise information about them, but had merely mentioned a +name here and there, and recounted stories of endless alleged secret +expeditions, and the wonderful enthusiasm that the people manifested +for the cause. He made a great point of the hand-grasps he had +received. So-and-so, whom he thou'd and thee'd, had squeezed his +fingers and declared he would join them. At the Gros Caillou a big, +burly fellow, who would make a magnificent sectional leader, had +almost dislocated his arm in his enthusiasm; while in the Rue +Popincourt a whole group of working men had embraced him. He declared +that at a day's notice a hundred thousand active supporters could be +gathered together. Each time that he made his appearance in the little +room, wearing an exhausted air, and dropping with apparent fatigue on +the bench, he launched into fresh variations of his usual reports, +while Florent duly took notes of what he said, and relied on him to +realise his many promises. And soon in Florent's pockets the plot +assumed life. The notes were looked upon as realities, as indisputable +facts, upon which the entire plan of the rising was constructed. All +that now remained to be done was to wait for a favourable opportunity, +and Logre asserted with passionate gesticulations that the whole thing +would go on wheels. + +Florent was at last perfectly happy. His feet no longer seemed to +tread the ground; he was borne aloft by his burning desire to pass +sentence on all the wickedness he had seen committed. He had all the +credulity of a little child, all the confidence of a hero. If Logre +had told him that the Genius of Liberty perched on the Colonne de +Juillet[*] would have come down and set itself at their head, he would +hardly have expressed any surprise. In the evenings, at Monsieur +Lebigre's, he showed great enthusiasm and spoke effusively of the +approaching battle, as though it were a festival to which all good and +honest folks would be invited. But although Gavard in his delight +began to play with his revolver, Charvet got more snappish than ever, +and sniggered and shrugged his shoulders. His rival's assumption of +the leadership angered him extremely; indeed, quite disgusted him with +politics. One evening when, arriving early, he happened to find +himself alone with Logre and Lebigre, he frankly unbosomed himself. + +[*] The column erected on the Place de la Bastille in memory of the + Revolution of July 1830, by which Charles X was dethroned.-- + Translator. + +"Why," said he, "that fellow Florent hasn't an idea about politics, +and would have done far better to seek a berth as writing master in a +ladies' school! It would be nothing short of a misfortune if he were +to succeed, for, with his visionary social sentimentalities, he would +crush us down beneath his confounded working men! It's all that, you +know, which ruins the party. We don't need any more tearful +sentimentalists, humanitarian poets, people who kiss and slobber over +each other for the merest scratch. But he won't succeed! He'll just +get locked up, and that will be the end of it." + +Logre and the wine dealer made no remark, but allowed Charvet to talk +on without interruption. + +"And he'd have been locked up long ago," he continued, "if he were +anything as dangerous as he fancies he is. The airs he puts on just +because he's been to Cayenne are quite sickening. But I'm sure that +the police knew of his return the very first day he set foot in Paris, +and if they haven't interfered with him it's simply because they hold +him in contempt." + +At this Logre gave a slight start. + +"They've been dogging me for the last fifteen years," resumed the +Hebertist, with a touch of pride, "but you don't hear me proclaiming +it from the house-tops. However, he won't catch me taking part in his +riot. I'm not going to let myself be nabbed like a mere fool. I dare +say he's already got half a dozen spies at his heels, who will take +him by the scruff of the neck whenever the authorities give the word." + +"Oh, dear, no! What an idea!" exclaimed Monsieur Lebigre, who usually +observed complete silence. He was rather pale, and looked at Logre, +who was gently rubbing his hump against the partition. + +"That's mere imagination," murmured the hunchback. + +"Very well; call it imagination, if you like," replied the tutor; "but +I know how these things are arranged. At all events, I don't mean to +let the 'coppers' nab me this time. You others, of course, will please +yourselves, but if you take my advice--and you especially, Monsieur +Lebigre--you'll take care not to let your establishment be +compromised, or the authorities will close it." + +At this Logre could not restrain a smile. On several subsequent +occasions Charvet plied him and Lebigre with similar arguments, as +though he wished to detach them from Florent's project by frightening +them; and he was much surprised at the calmness and confidence which +they both continued to manifest. For his own part, he still came +pretty regularly in the evening with Clemence. The tall brunette was +no longer a clerk at the fish auctions--Monsieur Manoury had +discharged her. + +"Those salesmen are all scoundrels!" Logre growled, when he heard of +her dismissal. + +Thereupon Clemence, who, lolling back against the partition, was +rolling a cigarette between her long, slim fingers, replied in a sharp +voice: "Oh, it's fair fighting! We don't hold the same political +views, you know. That fellow Manoury, who's making no end of money, +would lick the Emperor's boots. For my part, if I were an auctioneer, +I wouldn't keep him in my service for an hour." + +The truth was that she had been indulging in some clumsy pleasantry, +amusing herself one day by inscribing in the sale-book, alongside of +the dabs and skate and mackerel sold by auction, the names of some of +the best-known ladies and gentlemen of the Court. This bestowal of +piscine names upon high dignitaries, these entries of the sale of +duchesses and baronesses at thirty sous apiece, had caused Monsieur +Manoury much alarm. Gavard was still laughing over it. + +"Well, never mind!" said he, patting Clemence's arm; "you are every +inch a man, you are!" + +Clemence had discovered a new method of mixing her grog. She began by +filling her glass with hot water; and after adding some sugar she +poured the rum drop by drop upon the slice of lemon floating on the +surface, in such wise that it did not mix with the water. Then she +lighted it and with a grave expression watched it blaze, slowly +smoking her cigarette while the flame of the alcohol cast a greenish +tinge over her face. "Grog," however, was an expensive luxury in which +she could not afford to indulge after she had lost her place. Charvet +told her, with a strained laugh, that she was no longer a millionaire. +She supported herself by giving French lessons, at a very early hour +in the morning, to a young lady residing in the Rue de Miromesnil, who +was perfecting her education in secrecy, unknown even to her maid. And +so now Clemence merely ordered a glass of beer in the evenings, but +this she drank, it must be admitted, with the most philosophical +composure. + +The evenings in the little sanctum were now far less noisy than they +had been. Charvet would suddenly lapse into silence, pale with +suppressed rage, when the others deserted him to listen to his rival. +The thought that he had been the king of the place, had ruled the +whole party with despotic power before Florent's appearance there, +gnawed at his heart, and he felt all the regretful pangs of a +dethroned monarch. If he still came to the meetings, it was only +because he could not resist the attraction of the little room where he +had spent so many happy hours in tyrannising over Gavard and Robine. +In those days even Logre's hump had been his property, as well as +Alexandre's fleshy arms and Lacaille's gloomy face. He had done what +he liked with them, stuffed his opinions down their throats, +belaboured their shoulders with his sceptre. But now he endured much +bitterness of spirit; and ended by quite ceasing to speak, simply +shrugging his shoulders and whistling disdainfully, without +condescending to combat the absurdities vented in his presence. What +exasperated him more than anything else was the gradual way in which +he had been ousted from his position of predominance without being +conscious of it. He could not see that Florent was in any way his +superior, and after hearing the latter speak for hours, in his gentle +and somewhat sad voice, he often remarked: "Why, the fellow's a +parson! He only wants a cassock!" + +The others, however, to all appearance eagerly absorbed whatever the +inspector said. When Charvet saw Florent's clothes hanging from every +peg, he pretended not to know where he could put his hat so that it +would not be soiled. He swept away the papers that lay about the +little room, declaring that there was no longer any comfort for anyone +in the place since that "gentleman" had taken possession of it. He +even complained to the landlord, and asked if the room belonged to a +single customer or to the whole company. This invasion of his realm +was indeed the last straw. Men were brutes, and he conceived an +unspeakable scorn for humanity when he saw Logre and Monsieur Lebigre +fixing their eyes on Florent with rapt attention. Gavard with his +revolver irritated him, and Robine, who sat silent behind his glass of +beer, seemed to him to be the only sensible person in the company, and +one who doubtless judged people by their real value, and was not led +away by mere words. As for Alexandre and Lacaille, they confirmed him +in his belief that "the people" were mere fools, and would require at +least ten years of revolutionary dictatorship to learn how to conduct +themselves. + +Logre, however, declared that the sections would soon be completely +organised; and Florent began to assign the different parts that each +would have to play. One evening, after a final discussion in which he +again got worsted, Charvet rose up, took his hat, and exclaimed: +"Well, I'll wish you all good night. You can get your skulls cracked +if it amuses you; but I would have you understand that I won't take +any part in the business. I have never abetted anybody's ambition." + +Clemence, who had also risen and was putting on her shawl, coldly +added: "The plan's absurd." + +Then, as Robine sat watching their departure with a gentle glance, +Charvet asked him if he were not coming with them; but Robine, having +still some beer left in his glass, contented himself with shaking +hands. Charvet and Clemence never returned again; and Lacaille one day +informed the company that they now frequented a beer-house in the Rue +Serpente. He had seen them through the window, gesticulating with +great energy, in the midst of an attentive group of very young men. + +Florent was never able to enlist Claude amongst his supporters. He had +once entertained the idea of gaining him over to his own political +views, of making a disciple of him, an assistant in his revolutionary +task; and in order to initiate him he had taken him one evening to +Monsieur Lebigre's. Claude, however, spent the whole time in making a +sketch of Robine, in his hat and chestnut cloak, and with his beard +resting on the knob of his walking-stick. + +"Really, you know," he said to Florent, as they came away, "all that +you have been saying inside there doesn't interest me in the least. It +may be very clever, but, for my own part, I see nothing in it. Still, +you've got a splendid fellow there, that blessed Robine. He's as deep +as a well. I'll come with you again some other time, but it won't be +for politics. I shall make sketches of Logre and Gavard, so as to put +them with Robine in a picture which I was thinking about while you +were discussing the question of--what do you call it? eh? Oh, the +question of the two Chambers. Just fancy, now, a picture of Gavard and +Logre and Robine talking politics, entrenched behind their glasses of +beer! It would be the success of the Salon, my dear fellow, an +overwhelming success, a genuine modern picture!" + +Florent was grieved by the artist's political scepticism; so he took +him up to his bedroom, and kept him on the narrow balcony in front of +the bluish mass of the markets, till two o'clock in the morning, +lecturing him, and telling him that he was no man to show himself so +indifferent to the happiness of his country. + +"Well, you're perhaps right," replied Claude, shaking his head; "I'm +an egotist. I can't even say that I paint for the good of my country; +for, in the first place, my sketches frighten everybody, and then, +when I'm busy painting, I think about nothing but the pleasure I take +in it. When I'm painting, it is as though I were tickling myself; it +makes me laugh all over my body. Well, I can't help it, you know; it's +my nature to be like that; and you can't expect me to go and drown +myself in consequence. Besides, France can get on very well without +me, as my aunt Lisa says. And--may I be quite frank with you?--if I +like you it's because you seem to me to follow politics just as I +follow painting. You titillate yourself, my good friend." + +Then, as Florent protested, he continued: + +"Yes, yes; you are an artist in your own way; you dream of politics, +and I'll wager you spend hours here at night gazing at the stars and +imagining they are the voting-papers of infinity. And then you +titillate yourself with your ideas of truth and justice; and this is +so evidently the case that those ideas of yours cause just as much +alarm to commonplace middle-class folks as my sketches do. Between +ourselves, now, do you imagine that if you were Robine I should take +any pleasure in your friendship? Ah, no, my friend, you are a great +poet!" + +Then he began to joke on the subject, saying that politics caused him +no trouble, and that he had got accustomed to hear people discussing +them in beer shops and studios. This led him to speak of a cafe in the +Rue Vauvilliers; the cafe on the ground-floor of the house where La +Sarriette lodged. This smoky place, with its torn, velvet-cushioned +seats, and marble table-tops discoloured by the drippings from coffee- +cups, was the chief resort of the young people of the markets. +Monsieur Jules reigned there over a company of porters, apprentices, +and gentlemen in white blouses and velvet caps. Two curling "Newgate +knockers" were glued against his temples; and to keep his neck white +he had it scraped with a razor every Saturday at a hair-dresser's in +the Rue des Deux Ecus. At the cafe he gave the tone to his associates, +especially when he played billiards with studied airs and graces, +showing off his figure to the best advantage. After the game the +company would begin to chat. They were a very reactionary set, taking +a delight in the doings of "society." For his part, Monsieur Jules +read the lighter boulevardian newspapers, and knew the performers at +the smaller theatres, talked familiarly of the celebrities of the day, +and could always tell whether the piece first performed the previous +evening had been a success or a failure. He had a weakness, however, +for politics. His ideal man was Morny, as he curtly called him. He +read the reports of the discussions of the Corps Legislatif, and +laughed with glee over the slightest words that fell from Morny's +lips. Ah, Morny was the man to sit upon your rascally republicans! And +he would assert that only the scum detested the Emperor, for his +Majesty desired that all respectable people should have a good time of +it. + +"I've been to the cafe occasionally," Claude said to Florent. "The +young men there are vastly amusing, with their clay pipes and their +talk about the Court balls! To hear them chatter you might almost +fancy they were invited to the Tuileries. La Sarriette's young man was +making great fun of Gavard the other evening. He called him uncle. +When La Sarriette came downstairs to look for him she was obliged to +pay his bill. It cost her six francs, for he had lost at billiards, +and the drinks they had played for were owing. And now, good night, my +friend, and pleasant dreams. If ever you become a Minister, I'll give +you some hints on the beautifying of Paris." + +Florent was obliged to relinquish the hope of making a docile disciple +of Claude. This was a source of grief to him, for, blinded though he +was by his fanatical ardour, he at last grew conscious of the ever- +increasing hostility which surrounded him. Even at the Mehudins' he +now met with a colder reception: the old woman would laugh slyly; +Muche no longer obeyed him, and the beautiful Norman cast glances of +hasty impatience at him, unable as she was to overcome his coldness. +At the Quenus', too, he had lost Auguste's friendship. The assistant +no longer came to see him in his room on the way to bed, being greatly +alarmed by the reports which he heard concerning this man with whom he +had previously shut himself up till midnight. Augustine had made her +lover swear that he would never again be guilty of such imprudence; +however, it was Lisa who turned the young man into Florent's +determined enemy by begging him and Augustine to defer their marriage +till her cousin should vacate the little bedroom at the top of the +house, as she did not want to give that poky dressing-room on the +first floor to the new shop girl whom she would have to engage. From +that time forward Auguste was anxious that the "convict" should be +arrested. He had found such a pork shop as he had long dreamed of, not +at Plaisance certainly, but at Montrouge, a little farther away. And +now trade had much improved, and Augustine, with her silly, overgrown +girl's laugh, said that she was quite ready. So every night, whenever +some slight noise awoke him, August was thrilled with delight as he +imagined that the police were at last arresting Florent. + +Nothing was said at the Quenu-Gradelles' about all the rumours which +circulated. There was a tacit understanding amongst the staff of the +pork shop to keep silent respecting them in the presence of Quenu. The +latter, somewhat saddened by the falling-out between his brother and +his wife, sought consolation in stringing his sausages and salting his +pork. Sometimes he would come and stand on his door-step, with his red +face glowing brightly above his white apron, which his increasing +corpulence stretched quite taut, and never did he suspect all the +gossip which his appearance set on foot in the markets. Some of the +women pitied him, and thought that he was losing flesh, though he was, +indeed, stouter than ever; while others, on the contrary, reproached +him for not having grown thin with shame at having such a brother as +Florent. He, however, like one of those betrayed husbands who are +always the last to know what has befallen them, continued in happy +ignorance, displaying a light-heartedness which was quite affecting. +He would stop some neighbour's wife on the footway to ask her if she +found his brawn or truffled boar's head to her liking, and she would +at once assume a sympathetic expression, and speak in a condoling way, +as though all the pork on his premises had got jaundice. + +"What do they all mean by looking at me with such a funereal air?" he +asked Lisa one day. "Do you think I'm looking ill?" + +Lisa, well aware that he was terribly afraid of illness, and groaned +and made a dreadful disturbance if he suffered the slightest ailment, +reassured him on this point, telling him that he was as blooming as a +rose. The fine pork shop, however, was becoming gloomy; the mirrors +seemed to pale, the marbles grew frigidly white, and the cooked meats +on the counter stagnated in yellow fat or lakes of cloudy jelly. One +day, even, Claude came into the shop to tell his aunt that the display +in the window looked quite "in the dumps." This was really the truth. +The Strasburg tongues on their beds of blue paper-shavings had a +melancholy whiteness of hue, like the tongues of invalids; and the +whilom chubby hams seemed to be wasting away beneath their mournful +green top-knots. Inside the shop, too, when customers asked for a +black-pudding or ten sous' worth of bacon, or half a pound of lard, +they spoke in subdued, sorrowful voices, as though they were in the +bed-chamber of a dying man. There were always two or three lachrymose +women in front of the chilled heating-pan. Beautiful Lisa meantime +discharged the duties of chief mourner with silent dignity. Her white +apron fell more primly than ever over her black dress. Her hands, +scrupulously clean and closely girded at the wrists by long white +sleevelets, her face with its becoming air of sadness, plainly told +all the neighbourhood, all the inquisitive gossips who streamed into +the shop from morning to night, that they, the Quenu-Gradelles, were +suffering from unmerited misfortune, but that she knew the cause of +it, and would triumph over it at last. And sometimes she stooped to +look at the two gold-fish, who also seemed ill at ease as they swam +languidly around the aquarium in the window, and her glance seemed to +promise them better days in the future. + +Beautiful Lisa now only allowed herself one indulgence. She fearlessly +patted Marjolin's satiny chin. The young man had just come out of the +hospital. His skull had healed, and he looked as fat and merry as +ever; but even the little intelligence he had possessed had left him, +he was now quite an idiot. The gash in his skull must have reached his +brain, for he had become a mere animal. The mind of a child of five +dwelt in his sturdy frame. He laughed and stammered, he could no +longer pronounce his words properly, and he was as submissively +obedient as a sheep. Cadine took entire possession of him again; +surprised, at first, at the alteration in him, and then quite +delighted at having this big fellow to do exactly as she liked with. +He was her doll, her toy, her slave in all respects but one: she could +not prevent him from going off to Madame Quenu's every now and then. +She thumped him, but he did not seem to feel her blows; as soon as she +had slung her basket round her neck, and set off to sell her violets +in the Rue du Pont Neuf and the Rue de Turbigo, he went to prowl about +in front of the pork shop. + +"Come in!" Lisa cried to him. + +She generally gave him some gherkins, of which he was extremely fond; +and he ate them, laughing in a childish way, whilst he stood in front +of the counter. The sight of the handsome mistress of the shop filled +him with rapture; he often clapped his hands with joy and began to +jump about and vent little cries of pleasure, like a child delighted +at something shown to it. On the first few occasions when he came to +see her after leaving the hospital Lisa had feared that he might +remember what had happened. + +"Does your head still hurt you?" she asked him. + +But he swayed about and burst into a merry laugh as he answered no; +and then Lisa gently inquired: "You had a fall, hadn't you?" + +"Yes, a fall, fall, fall," he sang, in a happy voice, tapping his +skull the while. + +Then, as though he were in a sort of ecstasy, he continued in +lingering notes, as he gazed at Lisa, "Beautiful, beautiful, +beautiful!" This quite touched Madame Quenu. She had prevailed upon +Gavard to keep him in his service. It was on the occasions when he so +humbly vented his admiration that she caressed his chin, and told him +that he was a good lad. He smiled with childish satisfaction, at times +closing his eyes like some domestic pet fondled by its mistress; and +Lisa thought to herself that she was making him some compensation for +the blow with which she had felled him in the cellar of the poultry +market. + +However, the Quenus' establishment still remained under a cloud. +Florent sometimes ventured to show himself, and shook hands with his +brother, while Lisa observed a frigid silence. He even dined with them +sometimes on Sundays, at long intervals, and Quenu then made great +efforts at gaiety, but could not succeed in imparting any cheerfulness +to the meal. He ate badly, and ended by feeling altogether put out. +One evening, after one of these icy family gatherings, he said to his +wife with tears in his eyes: + +"What can be the matter with me? Is it true that I'm not ill? Don't +you really see anything wrong in my appearance? I feel just as though +I'd got a heavy weight somewhere inside me. And I'm so sad and +depressed, too, without in the least knowing why. What can it be, do +you think?" + +"Oh, a little attack of indigestion, I dare say," replied Lisa. + +"No, no; it's been going on too long for that; I feel quite crushed +down. Yet the business is going on all right; I've no great worries, +and I am leading just the same steady life as ever. But you, too, my +dear, don't look well; you seem melancholy. If there isn't a change +for the better soon, I shall send for the doctor." + +Lisa looked at him with a grave expression. + +"There's no need of a doctor," she said, "things will soon be all +right again. There's something unhealthy in the atmosphere just now. +All the neighbourhood is unwell." Then, as if yielding to an impulse +of anxious affection, she added: "Don't worry yourself, my dear. I +can't have you falling ill; that would be the crowning blow." + +As a rule she sent him back to the kitchen, knowing that the noise of +the choppers, the tuneful simmering of the fat, and the bubbling of +the pans had a cheering effect upon him. In this way, too, she kept +him at a distance from the indiscreet chatter of Mademoiselle Saget, +who now spent whole mornings in the shop. The old maid seemed bent on +arousing Lisa's alarm, and thus driving her to some extreme step. She +began by trying to obtain her confidence. + +"What a lot of mischievous folks there are about!" she exclaimed; +"folks who would be much better employed in minding their own +business. If you only knew, my dear Madame Quenu--but no, really, I +should never dare to repeat such things to you." + +And, as Madame Quenu replied that she was quite indifferent to gossip, +and that it had no effect upon her, the old maid whispered into her +ear across the counter: "Well, people say, you know, that Monsieur +Florent isn't your cousin at all." + +Then she gradually allowed Lisa to see that she knew the whole story; +by way of proving that she had her quite at her mercy. When Lisa +confessed the truth, equally as a matter of diplomacy, in order that +she might have the assistance of some one who would keep her well +posted in all the gossip of the neighbourhood, the old maid swore that +for her own part she would be as mute as a fish, and deny the truth of +the reports about Florent, even if she were to be led to the stake for +it. And afterwards this drama brought her intense enjoyment; every +morning she came to the shop with some fresh piece of disturbing news. + +"You must be careful," she whispered one day; "I have just heard two +women in the tripe market talking about you know what. I can't +interrupt people and tell them they are lying, you know. It would look +so strange. But the story's got about, and it's spreading farther +every day. It can't be stopped now, I fear; the truth will have to +come out." + +A few days later she returned to the assault in all earnest. She made +her appearance looking quite scared, and waited impatiently till there +was no one in the shop, when she burst out in her sibilant voice: + +"Do you know what people are saying now? Well, they say that all those +men who meet at Monsieur Lebigre's have got guns, and are going to +break out again as they did in '48. It's quite distressing to see such +a worthy man as Monsieur Gavard--rich, too, and so respectable-- +leaguing himself with such scoundrels! I was very anxious to let you +know, on account of your brother-in-law." + +"Oh, it's mere nonsense, I'm sure; it can't be serious," rejoined +Lisa, just to incite the old maid to tell her more. + +"Not serious, indeed! Why, when one passes along the Rue Pirouette in +the evening one can hear them screaming out in the most dreadful way. +Oh! they make no mystery of it all. You know yourself how they tried +to corrupt your husband. And the cartridges which I have seen them +making from my own window, are they mere nonsense? Well, well, I'm +only telling you this for your own good." + +"Oh! I'm sure of that, and I'm very much obliged to you," replied +Lisa; "but people do invent such stories, you know." + +"Ah, but this is no invention, unfortunately. The whole neighbourhood +is talking of it. It is said, too, that if the police discover the +matter there will be a great many people compromised--Monsieur Gavard, +for instance." + +Madame Quenu shrugged her shoulders as though to say that Monsieur +Gavard was an old fool, and that it would do him good to be locked up. + +"Well, I merely mention Monsieur Gavard as I might mention any of the +others, your brother-in-law, for instance," resumed the old maid with +a wily glance. "Your brother-in-law is the leader, it seems. That's +very annoying for you, and I'm very sorry indeed; for if the police +were to make a descent here they might march Monsieur Quenu off as +well. Two brothers, you know, they're like two fingers of the same +hand." + +Beautiful Lisa protested against this, but she turned very pale, for +Mademoiselle Saget's last thrust had touched a vulnerable point. From +that day forward the old maid was ever bringing her stories of +innocent people who had been thrown into prison for extending +hospitality to criminal scoundrels. In the evening, when La Saget went +to get her black-currant syrup at the wine dealer's, she prepared her +budget for the next morning. Rose was but little given to gossiping, +and the old main reckoned chiefly on her own eyes and ears. She had +been struck by Monsieur Lebigre's extremely kind and obliging manner +towards Florent, his eagerness to keep him at his establishment, all +the polite civilities, for which the little money which the other +spent in the house could never recoup him. And this conduct of +Monsieur Lebigre's surprised her the more as she was aware of the +position in which the two men stood in respect to the beautiful +Norman. + +"It looks as though Lebigre were fattening him up for sale," she +reflected. "Whom can he want to sell him to, I wonder?" + +One evening when she was in the bar she saw Logre fling himself on the +bench in the sanctum, and heard him speak of his perambulations +through the faubourgs, with the remark that he was dead beat. She cast +a hasty glance at his feet, and saw that there was not a speck of dust +on his boots. Then she smiled quietly, and went off with her black- +currant syrup, her lips closely compressed. + +She used to complete her budget of information on getting back to her +window. It was very high up, commanding a view of all the neighbouring +houses, and proved a source of endless enjoyment to her. She was +constantly installed at it, as though it were an observatory from +which she kept watch upon everything that went on in the +neighbourhood. She was quite familiar with all the rooms opposite her, +both on the right and the left, even to the smallest details of their +furniture. She could have described, without the least omission, the +habits of their tenants, have related if the latter's homes were happy +or the contrary, have told when and how they washed themselves, what +they had for dinner, and who it was that came to see them. Then she +obtained a side view of the markets, and not a woman could walk along +the Rue Rambuteau without being seen by her; and she could have +correctly stated whence the woman had come and whither she was going, +what she had got in her basket, and, in short, every detail about her, +her husband, her clothes, her children, and her means. "That's Madame +Loret, over there; she's giving her son a fine education; that's +Madame Hutin, a poor little woman who's dreadfully neglected by her +husband; that's Mademoiselle Cecile, the butcher's daughter, a girl +that no one will marry because she's scrofulous." In this way she +could have continued jerking out biographical scraps for days +together, deriving extraordinary amusement from the most trivial, +uninteresting incidents. However, as soon as eight o'clock struck, she +only had eyes for the frosted "cabinet" window on which appeared the +black shadows of the coterie of politicians. She discovered the +secession of Charvet and Clemence by missing their bony silhouettes +from the milky transparency. Not an incident occurred in that room but +she sooner or later learnt it by some sudden motion of those silent +arms and heads. She acquired great skill in interpretation, and could +divine the meaning of protruding noses, spreading fingers, gaping +mouths, and shrugging shoulders; and in this way she followed the +progress of the conspiracy step by step, in such wise that she could +have told day by day how matters stood. One evening the terrible +outcome of it all was revealed to her. She saw the shadow of Gavard's +revolver, a huge silhouette with pointed muzzle showing very blackly +against the glimmering window. It kept appearing and disappearing so +rapidly that it seemed as though the room was full of revolvers. Those +were the firearms of which Mademoiselle Saget had spoken to Madame +Quenu. On another evening she was much puzzled by the sight of endless +lengths of some material or other, and came to the conclusion that the +men must be manufacturing cartridges. The next morning, however, she +made her appearance in the wine shop by eleven o'clock, on the pretext +of asking Rose if she could let her have a candle, and, glancing +furtively into the little sanctum, she espied a heap of red material +lying on the table. This greatly alarmed her, and her next budget of +news was one of decisive gravity. + +"I don't want to alarm you, Madame Quenu," she said, "but matters are +really looking very serious. Upon my word, I'm quite alarmed. You must +on no account repeat what I am going to confide to you. They would +murder me if they knew I had told you." + +Then, when Lisa had sworn to say nothing that might compromise her, +she told her about the red material. + +"I can't think what it can be. There was a great heap of it. It looked +just like rags soaked in blood. Logre, the hunchback, you know, put +one of the pieces over his shoulder. He looked like a headsman. You +may be sure this is some fresh trickery or other." + +Lisa made no reply, but seemed deep in thought whilst with lowered +eyes, she handled a fork and mechanically arranged some piece of salt +pork on a dish. + +"If I were you," resumed Mademoiselle Saget softly, "I shouldn't be +easy in mind; I should want to know the meaning of it all. Why +shouldn't you go upstairs and examine your brother-in-law's bedroom?" + +At this Lisa gave a slight start, let the fork drop, and glanced +uneasily at the old maid, believing that she had discovered her +intentions. But the other continued: "You would certainly be justified +in doing so. There's no knowing into what danger your brother-in-law +may lead you, if you don't put a check on him. They were talking about +you yesterday at Madame Taboureau's. Ah! you have a most devoted +friend in her. Madame Taboureau said that you were much too easy- +going, and that if she were you she would have put an end to all this +long ago." + +"Madame Taboureau said that?" murmured Lisa thoughtfully. + +"Yes, indeed she did; and Madame Taboureau is a woman whose advice is +worth listening to. Try to find out the meaning of all those red +bands; and if you do, you'll tell me, won't you?" + +Lisa, however, was no longer listening to her. She was gazing +abstractedly at the edible snails and Gervais cheeses between the +festoons of sausages in the window. She seemed absorbed in a mental +conflict, which brought two little furrows to her brow. The old maid, +however, poked her nose over the dishes on the counter. + +"Ah, some slices of saveloy!" she muttered, as though she were +speaking to herself. "They'll get very dry cut up like that. And that +black-pudding's broken, I see--a fork's been stuck into it, I expect. +It might be taken away--it's soiling the dish." + +Lisa, still absent-minded, gave her the black-pudding and slices of +saveloy. "You may take them," she said, "if you would care for them." + +The black bag swallowed them up. Mademoiselle Saget was so accustomed +to receiving presents that she had actually ceased to return thanks +for them. Every morning she carried away all the scraps of the pork +shop. And now she went off with the intention of obtaining her dessert +from La Sarriette and Madame Lecoeur, by gossiping to them about +Gavard. + +When Lisa was alone again she installed herself on the bench, behind +the counter, as though she thought she would be able to come to a +sounder decision if she were comfortably seated. For the last week she +had been very anxious. Florent had asked Quenu for five hundred francs +one evening, in the easy, matter-of-course way of a man who had money +lying to his credit at the pork shop. Quenu referred him to his wife. +This was distasteful to Florent, who felt somewhat uneasy on applying +to beautiful Lisa. But she immediately went up to her bedroom, brought +the money down and gave it to him, without saying a word, or making +the least inquiry as to what he intended to do with it. She merely +remarked that she had made a note of the payment on the paper +containing the particulars of Florent's share of the inheritance. +Three days later he took a thousand francs. + +"It was scarcely worth while trying to make himself out so +disinterested," Lisa said to Quenu that night, as they went to bed. "I +did quite right, you see, in keeping the account. By the way, I +haven't noted down the thousand francs I gave him to-day." + +She sat down at the secretaire, and glanced over the page of figures. +Then she added: "I did well to leave a blank space. I'll put down what +I pay him on the margin. You'll see, now, he'll fritter it all away by +degrees. That's what I've been expecting for a long time past." + +Quenu said nothing, but went to bed feeling very much put out. Every +time that his wife opened the secretaire the drawer gave out a +mournful creak which pierced his heart. He even thought of +remonstrating with his brother, and trying to prevent him from ruining +himself with the Mehudins; but when the time came, he did not dare to +do it. Two days later Florent asked for another fifteen hundred +francs. Logre had said one evening that things would ripen much faster +if they could only get some money. The next day he was enchanted to +find these words of his, uttered quite at random, result in the +receipt of a little pile of gold, which he promptly pocketed, +sniggering as he did so, and his hunch fairly shaking with delight. +From that time forward money was constantly being needed: one section +wished to hire a room where they could meet, while another was +compelled to provide for various needy patriots. Then there were arms +and ammunition to be purchased, men to be enlisted, and private police +expenses. Florent would have paid for anything. He had bethought +himself of Uncle Gradelle's treasure, and recalled La Normande's +advice. So he made repeated calls upon Lisa's secretaire, being merely +kept in check by the vague fear with which his sister-in-law's grave +face inspired him. Never, thought he, could he have spent his money in +a holier cause. Logre now manifested the greatest enthusiasm, and wore +the most wonderful rose-coloured neckerchiefs and the shiniest of +varnished boots, the sight of which made Lacaille glower blackly. + +"That makes three thousand francs in seven days," Lisa remarked to +Quenu. "What do you think of that? A pretty state of affairs, isn't +it? If he goes on at this rate his fifty thousand francs will last him +barely four months. And yet it took old Gradelle forty years to put +his fortune together!" + +"It's all your own fault!" cried Quenu. "There was no occasion for you +to say anything to him about the money." + +Lisa gave her husband a severe glance. "It is his own," she said; "and +he is entitled to take it all. It's not the giving him the money that +vexes me, but the knowledge that he must make a bad use of it. I tell +you again, as I have been telling you for a long time past, all this +must come to an end." + +"Do whatever you like; I won't prevent you," at last exclaimed the +pork butcher, who was tortured by his cupidity. + +He still loved his brother; but the thought of fifty thousand francs +squandered in four months was agony to him. As for his wife, after all +Mademoiselle Saget's chattering she guessed what became of the money. +The old maid having ventured to refer to the inheritance, Lisa had +taken advantage of the opportunity to let the neighbourhood know that +Florent was drawing his share, and spending it after his own fashion. + +It was on the following day that the story of the strips of red +material impelled Lisa to take definite actin. For a few moments she +remained struggling with herself whilst gazing at the depressed +appearance of the shop. The sides of pork hung all around in a sullen +fashion, and Mouton, seated beside a bowl of fat, displayed the +ruffled coat and dim eyes of a cat who no longer digests his meals in +peace. Thereupon Lisa called to Augustine and told her to attend to +the counter, and she herself went up to Florent's room. + +When she entered it, she received quite a shock. The bed, hitherto so +spotless, was quite ensanguined by a bundle of long red scarves +dangling down to the floor. On the mantelpiece, between the gilt +cardboard boxes and the old pomatum-pots, were several red armlets and +clusters of red cockades, looking like pools of blood. And hanging +from every nail and peg against the faded grey wallpaper were pieces +of bunting, square flags--yellow, blue, green, and black--in which +Lisa recognised the distinguishing banners of the twenty sections. The +childish simplicity of the room seemed quite scared by all this +revolutionary decoration. The aspect of guileless stupidity which the +shop girl had left behind her, the white innocence of the curtains and +furniture, now glared as with the reflection of a fire; while the +photograph of Auguste and Augustine looked white with terror. Lisa +walked round the room, examining the flags, the armlets, and the +scarves, without touching any of them, as though she feared that the +dreadful things might burn her. She was reflecting that she had not +been mistaken, that it was indeed on these and similar things that +Florent's money had been spent. And to her this seemed an utter +abomination, an incredibility which set her whole being surging with +indignation. To think that her money, that money which had been so +honestly earned, was being squandered to organise and defray the +expenses of an insurrection! + +She stood there, gazing at the expanded blossoms of the pomegranate on +the balcony--blossoms which seemed to her like an additional supply of +crimson cockades--and listening to the sharp notes of the chaffinch, +which resembled the echo of a distant fusillade. And then it struck +her that the insurrection might break out the next day, or perhaps +that very evening. She fancied she could see the banners streaming in +the air and the scarves advancing in line, while a sudden roll of +drums broke on her ear. Then she hastily went downstairs again, +without even glancing at the papers which were lying on the table. She +stopped on the first floor, went into her own room, and dressed +herself. + +In this critical emergency Lisa arranged her hair with scrupulous care +and perfect calmness. She was quite resolute; not a quiver of +hesitation disturbed her; but a sterner expression than usual had come +into her eyes. As she fastened her black silk dress, straining the +waistband with all the strength of her fingers, she recalled Abbe +Roustan's words; and she questioned herself, and her conscience +answered that she was going to fulfil a duty. By the time she drew her +broidered shawl round her broad shoulders, she felt that she was about +to perform a deed of high morality. She put on a pair of dark mauve +gloves, secured a thick veil to her bonnet; and before leaving the +room she double-locked the secretaire, with a hopeful expression on +her face which seemed to say that that much worried piece of furniture +would at last be able to sleep in peace again. + +Quenu was exhibiting his white paunch at the shop door when his wife +came down. He was surprised to see her going out in full dress at ten +o'clock in the morning. "Hallo! Where are you off to?" he asked. + +She pretended that she was going out with Madame Taboureau, and added +that she would call at the Gaite Theatre to buy some tickets. Quenu +hurried after her to tell her to secure some front seats, so that they +might be able to see well. Then, as he returned to the shop, Lisa made +her way to the cab-stand opposite St. Eustache, got into a cab, pulled +down the blinds, and told the driver to go to the Gaite Theatre. She +felt afraid of being followed. When she had booked two seats, however, +she directed the cabman to drive her to the Palais de Justice. There, +in front of the gate, she discharged him, and then quietly made her +way through the halls and corridors to the Prefecture of Police. + +She soon lost herself in a noisy crowd of police officers and +gentlemen in long frock-coats, but at last gave a man half a franc to +guide her to the Prefect's rooms. She found, however, that the Prefect +only received such persons as came with letters of audience; and she +was shown into a small apartment, furnished after the style of a +boarding-house parlour. A fat, bald-headed official, dressed in black +from head to foot, received her there with sullen coldness. What was +her business? he inquired. Thereupon she raised her veil, gave her +name, and told her story, clearly and distinctly, without a pause. The +bald man listened with a weary air. + +"You are this man's sister-in-law, are you not?" he inquired, when she +had finished. + +"Yes," Lisa candidly replied. "We are honest, straight-forward people, +and I am anxious that my husband should not be compromised." + +The official shrugged his shoulders, as though to say that the whole +affair was a great nuisance. + +"Do you know," he said impatiently, "that I have been pestered with +this business for more than a year past? Denunciation after +denunciation has been sent to me, and I am being continually goaded +and pressed to take action. You will understand that if I haven't done +so as yet, it is because I prefer to wait. We have good reasons for +our conduct in the matter. Stay, now, here are the papers relating to +it. I'll let you see them." + +He laid before her an immense collection of papers in a blue wrapper. +Lisa turned them over. They were like detached chapters of the story +she had just been relating. The commissaires of police at Havre, +Rouen, and Vernon notified Florent's arrival within their respective +jurisdictions. Then came a report which announced that he had taken up +his residence with the Quenu-Gradelles. Next followed his appointment +at the markets, an account of his mode of life, the spending of his +evenings at Monsieur Lebigre's; not a detail was deficient. Lisa, +quite astounded as she was, noticed that the reports were in +duplicate, so that they must have emanated from two different sources. +And at last she came upon a pile of letters, anonymous letters of +every shape, and in every description of handwriting. They brought her +amazement to a climax. In one letter she recognised the villainous +hand of Mademoiselle Saget, denouncing the people who met in the +little sanctum at Lebigre's. On a large piece of greasy paper she +identified the heavy pot-hooks of Madame Lecoeur; and there was also a +sheet of cream-laid note-paper, ornamented with a yellow pansy, and +covered with the scrawls of La Sarriette and Monsieur Jules. These two +letters warned the Government to beware of Gavard. Farther on Lisa +recognised the coarse style of old Madame Mehudin, who in four pages +of almost indecipherable scribble repeated all the wild stories about +Florent that circulated in the markets. However, what startled her +more than anything else was the discovery of a bill-head of her own +establishment, with the inscription /Quenu-Gradelle, Pork Butcher/, on +its face, whilst on the back of it Auguste had penned a denunciation +of the man whom he looked upon as an obstacle to his marriage. + +The official had acted upon a secret idea in placing these papers +before her. "You don't recognise any of these handwritings, do you?" +he asked. + +"No," she stammered, rising from her seat, quite oppressed by what she +had just learned; and she hastily pulled down her veil again to +conceal the blush of confusion which was rising to her cheeks. Her +silk dress rustled, and her dark gloves disappeared beneath her heavy +shawl. + +"You see, madame," said the bald man with a faint smile, "your +information comes a little late. But I promise you that your visit +shall not be forgotten. And tell your husband not to stir. It is +possible that something may happen soon that----" + +He did not complete his sentence, but, half rising from his armchair, +made a slight bow to Lisa. It was a dismissal, and she took her leave. +In the ante-room she caught sight of Logre and Monsieur Lebigre, who +hastily turned their faces away; but she was more disturbed than they +were. She went her way through the halls and along the corridors, +feeling as if she were in the clutches of this system of police which, +it now seemed to her, saw and knew everything. At last she came out +upon the Place Dauphine. When she reached the Quai de l'Horloge she +slackened her steps, and felt refreshed by the cool breeze blowing +from the Seine. + +She now had a keen perception of the utter uselessness of what she had +done. Her husband was in no danger whatever; and this thought, whilst +relieving her, left her a somewhat remorseful feeling. She was +exasperated with Auguste and the women who had put her in such a +ridiculous position. She walked on yet more slowly, watching the Seine +as it flowed past. Barges, black with coal-dust, were floating down +the greenish water; and all along the bank anglers were casting their +lines. After all, it was not she who had betrayed Florent. This +reflection suddenly occurred to her and astonished her. Would she have +been guilty of a wicked action, then, if she had been his betrayer? +She was quite perplexed; surprised at the possibility of her +conscience having deceived her. Those anonymous letters seemed +extremely base. She herself had gone openly to the authorities, given +her name, and saved innocent people from being compromised. Then at +the sudden thought of old Gradelle's fortune she again examined +herself, and felt ready to throw the money into the river if such a +course should be necessary to remove the blight which had fallen on +the pork shop. No, she was not avaricious, she was sure she wasn't; it +was no thought of money that had prompted her in what she had just +done. As she crossed the Pont au Change she grew quite calm again, +recovering all her superb equanimity. On the whole, it was much +better, she felt, that others should have anticipated her at the +Prefecture. She would not have to deceive Quenu, and she would sleep +with an easier conscience. + +"Have you booked the seats?" Quenu asked her when she returned home. + +He wanted to see the tickets, and made Lisa explain to him the exact +position the seats occupied in the dress-circle. Lisa had imagined +that the police would make a descent upon the house immediately after +receiving her information, and her proposal to go to the theatre had +only been a wily scheme for getting Quenu out of the way while the +officers were arresting Florent. She had contemplated taking him for +an outing in the afternoon--one of those little jaunts which they +occasionally allowed themselves. They would then drive in an open cab +to the Bois de Boulogne, dine at a restaurant, and amuse themselves +for an hour or two at some cafe concern. But there was no need to go +out now, she thought; so she spent the rest of the day behind her +counter, with a rosy glow on her face, and seeming brighter and gayer, +as though she were recovering from some indisposition. + +"You see, I told you it was fresh air you wanted!" exclaimed Quenu. +"Your walk this morning has brightened you up wonderfully!" + +"No, indeed," she said after a pause, again assuming her look of +severity; "the streets of Paris are not at all healthy places." + +In the evening they went to the Gaite to see the performance of "La +Grace de Dieu." Quenu, in a frock-coat and drab gloves, with his hair +carefully pomatumed and combed, was occupied most of the time in +hunting for the names of the performers in the programme. Lisa looked +superb in her low dress as she rested her hands in their tight-fitting +white gloves on the crimson velvet balustrade. They were both of them +deeply affected by the misfortunes of Marie. The commander, they +thought, was certainly a desperate villain; while Pierrot made them +laugh from the first moment of his appearance on the stage. But at +last Madame Quenu cried. The departure of the child, the prayer in the +maiden's chamber, the return of the poor mad creature, moistened her +eyes with gentle tears, which she brushed away with her handkerchief. + +However, the pleasure which the evening afforded her turned into a +feeling of triumph when she caught sight of La Normande and her mother +sitting in the upper gallery. She thereupon puffed herself out more +than ever, sent Quenu off to the refreshment bar for a box of +caramels, and began to play with her fan, a mother-of-pearl fan, +elaborately gilt. The fish-girl was quite crushed; and bent her head +down to listen to her mother, who was whispering to her. When the +performance was over and beautiful Lisa and the beautiful Norman met +in the vestibule they exchanged a vague smile. + +Florent had dined early at Monsieur Lebigre's that day. He was +expecting Logre, who had promised to introduce to him a retired +sergeant, a capable man, with whom they were to discuss the plan of +attack upon the Palais Bourbon and the Hotel de Ville. The night +closed in, and the fine rain, which had begun to fall in the +afternoon, shrouded the vast markets in a leaden gloom. They loomed +darkly against the copper-tinted sky, while wisps of murky cloud +skimmed by almost on a level with the roofs, looking as though they +were caught and torn by the points of the lightning-conductors. +Florent felt depressed by the sight of the muddy streets, and the +streaming yellowish rain which seemed to sweep the twilight away and +extinguish it in the mire. He watched the crowds of people who had +taken refuge on the foot-pavements of the covered ways, the umbrellas +flitting past in the downpour, and the cabs that dashed with increased +clatter and speed along the wellnigh deserted roads. Presently there +was a rift in the clouds; and a red glow arose in the west. Then a +whole army of street-sweepers came into sight at the end of the Rue +Montmartre, driving a lake of liquid mud before them with their +brooms. + +Logre did not turn up with the sergeant; Gavard had gone to dine with +some friends at Batignolles, and so Florent was reduced to spending +the evening alone with Robine. He had all the talking to himself, and +ended by feeling very low-spirited. His companion merely wagged his +beard, and stretched out his hand every quarter of an hour to raise +his glass of beer to his lips. At last Florent grew so bored that he +went off to bed. Robine, however, though left to himself, still +lingered there, contemplating his glass with an expression of deep +thought. Rose and the waiter, who had hoped to shut up early, as the +coterie of politicians was absent, had to wait a long half hour before +he at last made up his mind to leave. + +When Florent got to his room, he felt afraid to go to bed. He was +suffering from one of those nervous attacks which sometimes plunged +him into horrible nightmares until dawn. On the previous day he had +been to Clamart to attend the funeral of Monsieur Verlaque, who had +died after terrible sufferings; and he still felt sad at the +recollection of the narrow coffin which he had seen lowered into the +earth. Nor could he banish from his mind the image of Madame Verlaque, +who, with a tearful voice, though there was not a tear in her eyes, +kept following him and speaking to him about the coffin, which was not +paid for, and of the cost of the funeral, which she was quite at a +loss about, as she had not a copper in the place, for the druggist, on +hearing of her husband's death on the previous day, had insisted upon +his bill being paid. So Florent had been obliged to advance the money +for the coffin and other funeral expenses, and had even given the +gratuities to the mutes. Just as he was going away, Madame Verlaque +looked at him with such a heartbroken expression that he left her +twenty francs. + +And now Monsieur Verlaque's death worried him very much. It affected +his situation in the markets. He might lose his berth, or perhaps be +formally appointed inspector. In either case he foresaw vexatious +complications which might arouse the suspicions of the police. He +would have been delighted if the insurrection could have broken out +the very next day, so that he might at once have tossed the laced cap +of his inspectorship into the streets. With his mind full of harassing +thoughts like these, he stepped out upon the balcony, as though +soliciting of the warm night some whiff of air to cool his fevered +brow. The rain had laid the wind, and a stormy heat still reigned +beneath the deep blue, cloudless heavens. The markets, washed by the +downpour, spread out below him, similar in hue to the sky, and, like +the sky, studded with the yellow stars of their gas lamps. + +Leaning on the iron balustrade, Florent recollected that sooner or +later he would certainly be punished for having accepted the +inspectorship. It seemed to lie like a stain on his life. He had +become an official of the Prefecture, forswearing himself, serving the +Empire in spite of all the oaths he had taken in his exile. His +anxiety to please Lisa, the charitable purpose to which he had devoted +the salary he received, the just and scrupulous manner in which he had +always struggled to carry out his duties, no longer seemed to him +valid excuses for his base abandonment of principle. If he had +suffered in the midst of all that sleek fatness, he had deserved to +suffer. And before him arose a vision of the evil year which he had +just spent, his persecution by the fish-wives, the sickening +sensations he had felt on close, damp days, the continuous indigestion +which had afflicted his delicate stomach, and the latent hostility +which was gathering strength against him. All these things he now +accepted as chastisement. That dull rumbling of hostility and spite, +the cause of which he could not divine, must forebode some coming +catastrophe before whose approach he already stooped, with the shame +of one who knows there is a transgression that he must expiate. Then +he felt furious with himself as he thought of the popular rising he +was preparing; and reflected that he was no longer unsullied enough to +achieve success. + +In how many dreams he had indulged in that lofty little room, with his +eyes wandering over the spreading roofs of the market pavilions! They +usually appeared to him like grey seas that spoke to him of far-off +countries. On moonless nights they would darken and turn into stagnant +lakes of black and pestilential water. But on bright nights they +became shimmering fountains of light, the moonbeams streaming over +both tiers like water, gliding along the huge plates of zinc, and +flowing over the edges of the vast superposed basins. Then frosty +weather seemed to turn these roofs into rigid ice, like the Norwegian +bays over which skaters skim; while the warm June nights lulled them +into deep sleep. One December night, on opening his window, he had +seen them white with snow, so lustrously white that they lighted up +the coppery sky. Unsullied by a single footstep, they then stretched +out like the lonely plains of the Far North, where never a sledge +intrudes. Their silence was beautiful, their soft peacefulness +suggestive of innocence. + +And at each fresh aspect of the ever-changing panorama before him, +Florent yielded to dreams which were now sweet, now full of bitter +pain. The snow calmed him; the vast sheet of whiteness seemed to him +like a veil of purity thrown over the filth of the markets. The +bright, clear nights, the shimmering moonbeams, carried him away into +the fairy-land of story-books. It was only the dark, black nights, the +burning nights of June, when he beheld, as it were, a miasmatic marsh, +the stagnant water of a dead and accursed sea, that filled him with +gloom and grief; and then ever the same dreadful visions haunted his +brain. + +The markets were always there. He could never open the window and rest +his elbows on the balustrade without having them before him, filling +the horizon. He left the pavilions in the evening only to behold their +endless roofs as he went to bed. They shut him off from the rest of +Paris, ceaselessly intruded their huge bulk upon him, entered into +every hour of his life. That night again horrible fancies came to him, +fancies aggravated by the vague forebodings of evil which distressed +him. The rain of the afternoon had filled the markets with malodorous +dampness, and as they wallowed there in the centre of the city, like +some drunken man lying, after his last bottle, under the table, they +cast all their foul breath into his face. He seemed to see a thick +vapour rising up from each pavilion. In the distance the meat and +tripe markets reeked with the sickening steam of blood; nearer in, the +vegetable and fruit pavilions diffused the odour of pungent cabbages, +rotten apples, and decaying leaves; the butter and cheese exhaled a +poisonous stench; from the fish market came a sharp, fresh gust; while +from the ventilator in the tower of the poultry pavilion just below +him, he could see a warm steam issuing, a fetid current rising in +coils like the sooty smoke from a factory chimney. And all these +exhalations coalesced above the roofs, drifted towards the +neighbouring houses, and spread themselves out in a heavy cloud which +stretched over the whole of Paris. It was as though the markets were +bursting within their tight belt of iron, were beating the slumber of +the gorged city with the stertorous fumes of their midnight +indigestion. + +However, on the footway down below Florent presently heard a sound of +voices, the laughter of happy folks. Then the door of the passage was +closed noisily. It was Quenu and Lisa coming home from the theatre. +Stupefied and intoxicated, as it were, by the atmosphere he was +breathing, Florent thereupon left the balcony, his nerves still +painfully excited by the thought of the tempest which he could feel +gathering round his head. The source of his misery was yonder, in +those markets, heated by the day's excesses. He closed the window with +violence, and left them wallowing in the darkness, naked and +perspiring beneath the stars. + + + + CHAPTER VI + +A week later, Florent thought that he would at last be able to proceed +to action. A sufficiently serious outburst of public dissatisfaction +furnished an opportunity for launching his insurrectionary forces upon +Paris. The Corps Legislatif, whose members had lately shown great +variance of opinion respecting certain grants to the Imperial family, +was now discussing a bill for the imposition of a very unpopular tax, +at which the lower orders had already begun to growl. The Ministry, +fearing a defeat, was straining every nerve. It was probable, thought +Florent, that no better pretext for a rising would for a long time +present itself. + +One morning, at daybreak, he went to reconnoitre the neighbourhood of +the Palais Bourbon. He forgot all about his duties as inspector, and +lingered there, studying the approaches of the palace, till eight +o'clock, without ever thinking that his absence would revolutionise +the fish market. He perambulated all the surrounding streets, the Rue +de Lille, the Rue de l'Universite, the Rue de Bourgogne, the Rue Saint +Dominique, and even extended his examination to the Esplanade des +Invalides, stopping at certain crossways, and measuring distances as +he walked along. Then, on coming back to the Quai d'Orsay, he sat down +on the parapet, and determined that the attack should be made +simultaneously from all sides. The contingents from the Gros-Caillou +district should arrive by way of the Champ de Mars; the sections from +the north of Paris should come down by the Madeleine; while those from +the west and the south would follow the quays, or make their way in +small detachments through the then narrow streets of the Faubourg +Saint Germain. However, the other side of the river, the Champs +Elysees, with their open avenues, caused him some uneasiness; for he +foresaw that cannon would be stationed there to sweep the quays. He +thereupon modified several details of his plan, and marked down in a +memorandum-book the different positions which the several sections +should occupy during the combat. The chief attack, he concluded, must +certainly be made from the Rue de Bourgogne and the Rue de +l'Universite, while a diversion might be effected on the side of the +river. + +Whilst he thus pondered over his plans the eight o'clock sun, warming +the nape of his neck, shone gaily on the broad footways, and gilded +the columns of the great structure in front of him. In imagination he +already saw the contemplated battle; clusters of men clinging round +those columns, the gates burst open, the peristyle invaded; and then +scraggy arms suddenly appearing high aloft and planting a banner +there. + +At last he slowly went his way homewards again with his gaze fixed +upon the ground. But all at once a cooing sound made him look up, and +he saw that he was passing through the garden of the Tuileries. A +number of wood-pigeons, bridling their necks, were strutting over a +lawn near by. Florent leant for a moment against the tub of an orange- +tree, and looked at the grass and the pigeons steeped in sunshine. +Right ahead under the chestnut-trees all was black. The garden was +wrapped in a warm silence, broken only by the distant rumbling which +came from behind the railings of the Rue de Rivoli. The scent of all +the greenery affected Florent, reminding him of Madame Francois. +However, a little girl ran past, trundling a hoop, and alarmed the +pigeons. They flew off, and settled in a row on the arm of a marble +statue of an antique wrestler standing in the middle of the lawn, and +once more, but with less vivacity, they began to coo and bridle their +necks. + +As Florent was returning to the markets by way of the Rue Vauvilliers, +he heard Claude Lantier calling to him. The artist was going down into +the basement of the poultry pavilion. "Come with me!" he cried. "I'm +looking for that brute Marjolin." + +Florent followed, glad to forget his thoughts and to defer his return +to the fish market for a little longer. Claude told him that his +friend Marjolin now had nothing further to wish for: he had become an +utter animal. Claude entertained an idea of making him pose on all- +fours in future. Whenever he lost his temper over some disappointing +sketch he came to spend whole hours in the idiot's company, never +speaking, but striving to catch his expression when he laughed. + +"He'll be feeding his pigeons, I dare say," he said; "but +unfortunately I don't know whereabouts Monsieur Gavard's storeroom +is." + +They groped about the cellar. In the middle of it some water was +trickling from a couple of taps in the dim gloom. The storerooms here +are reserved for pigeons exclusively, and all along the trellising +they heard faint cooings, like the hushed notes of birds nestling +under the leaves when daylight is departing. Claude began to laugh as +he heard it. + +"It sounds as though all the lovers in Paris were embracing each other +inside here, doesn't it?" he exclaimed to his companion. + +However, they could not find a single storeroom open, and were +beginning to think that Marjolin could not be in the cellar, when a +sound of loud, smacking kisses made them suddenly halt before a door +which stood slightly ajar. Claude pulled it open and beheld Marjolin, +whom Cadine was kissing, whilst he, a mere dummy, offered his face +without feeling the slightest thrill at the touch of her lips. + +"Oh, so this is your little game, is it?" said Claude with a laugh. + +"Oh," replied Cadine, quite unabashed, "he likes being kissed, because +he feels afraid now in the dim light. You do feel frightened, don't +you?" + +Like the idiot he was, Marjolin stroked his face with his hands as +though trying to find the kisses which the girl had just printed +there. And he was beginning to stammer out that he was afraid, when +Cadine continued: "And, besides, I came to help him; I've been feeding +the pigeons." + +Florent looked at the poor creatures. All along the shelves were rows +of lidless boxes, in which pigeons, showing their motley plumage, +crowded closely on their stiffened legs. Every now and then a tremor +ran along the moving mass; and then the birds settled down again, and +nothing was heard but their confused, subdued notes. Cadine had a +saucepan near her; she filled her mouth with the water and tares which +it contained, and then, taking up the pigeons one by one, shot the +food down their throats with amazing rapidity. The poor creatures +struggled and nearly choked, and finally fell down in the boxes with +swimming eyes, intoxicated, as it were, by all the food which they +were thus forced to swallow.[*] + +[*] This is the customary mode of fattening pigeons at the Paris + markets. The work is usually done by men who make a specialty of + it, and are called /gaveurs/.--Translator. + +"Poor creatures!" exclaimed Claude. + +"Oh, so much the worse for them," said Cadine, who had now finished. +"They are much nicer eating when they've been well fed. In a couple of +hours or so all those over yonder will be given a dose of salt water. +That makes their flesh white and tender. Then two hours afterwards +they'll be killed. If you would like to see the killing, there are +some here which are quite ready. Marjolin will settle their account +for them in a jiffy." + +Marjolin carried away a box containing some fifty pigeons, and Claude +and Florent followed him. Squatting upon the ground near one of the +water-taps, he placed the box by his side. Then he laid a framework of +slender wooden bars on the top of a kind of zinc trough, and forthwith +began to kill the pigeons. His knife flashed rapidly in his fingers, +as he seized the birds by the wings, stunned them by a blow on the +head from the knife-handle, and then thrust the point of the blade +into their throats. They quivered for an instant, and ruffled their +feathers as Marjolin laid them in a row, with their heads between the +wooden bars above the zinc trough, into which their blood fell drop by +drop. He repeated each different movement with the regularity of +clockwork, the blows from the knife-handle falling with a monotonous +tick-tack as he broke the birds' skulls, and his hand working +backwards and forwards like a pendulum as he took up the living +pigeons on one side and laid them down dead on the other. Soon, +moreover, he worked with increasing rapidity, gloating over the +massacre with glistening eyes, squatting there like a huge delighted +bull-dog enjoying the sight of slaughtered vermin. "Tick-tack! Tick- +tack!" whilst his tongue clucked as an accompaniment to the rhythmical +movements of his knife. The pigeons hung down like wisps of silken +stuff. + +"Ah, you enjoy that, don't you, you great stupid?" exclaimed Cadine. +"How comical those pigeons look when they bury their heads in their +shoulders to hide their necks! They're horrid things, you know, and +would give one nasty bites if they got the chance." Then she laughed +more loudly at Marjolin's increasing, feverish haste; and added: "I've +killed them sometimes myself, but I can't get on as quickly as he +does. One day he killed a hundred in ten minutes." + +The wooden frame was nearly full; the blood could be heard falling +into the zinc trough; and as Claude happened to turn round he saw +Florent looking so pale that he hurriedly led him away. When they got +above-ground again he made him sit down on a step. + +"Why, what's the matter with you?" he exclaimed, tapping him on the +shoulder. "You're fainting away like a woman!" + +"It's the smell of the cellar," murmured Florent, feeling a little +ashamed of himself. + +The truth was, however, that those pigeons, which were forced to +swallow tares and salt water, and then had their skulls broken and +their throats slit, had reminded him of the wood-pigeons of the +Tuileries gardens, strutting over the green turf, with their satiny +plumage flashing iridescently in the sunlight. He again heard them +cooing on the arm of the marble wrestler amidst the hushed silence of +the garden, while children trundled their hoops in the deep gloom of +the chestnuts. And then, on seeing that big fair-haired animal +massacring his boxful of birds, stunning them with the handle of his +knife and driving its point into their throats, in the depths of that +foul-smelling cellar, he had felt sick and faint, his legs had almost +given way beneath him, while his eyelids quivered tremulously. + +"Well, you'd never do for a soldier!" Claude said to him when he +recovered from his faintness. "Those who sent you to Cayenne must have +been very simple-minded folks to fear such a man as you! Why, my good +fellow, if ever you do put yourself at the head of a rising, you won't +dare to fire a shot. You'll be too much afraid of killing somebody." + +Florent got up without making any reply. He had become very gloomy, +his face was furrowed by deep wrinkles; and he walked off, leaving +Claude to go back to the cellar alone. As he made his way towards the +fish market his thoughts returned to his plan of attack, to the levies +of armed men who were to invade the Palais Bourbon. Cannon would roar +from the Champs Elysees; the gates would be burst open; blood would +stain the steps, and men's brains would bespatter the pillars. A +vision of the fight passed rapidly before him; and he beheld himself +in the midst of it, deadly pale, and hiding his face in his hands, not +daring to look around him. + +As he was crossing the Rue du Pont Neuf he fancied he espied Auguste's +pale face peering round the corner of the fruit pavilion. The +assistant seemed to be watching for someone, and his eyes were +starting from his head with an expression of intense excitement. +Suddenly, however, he vanished and hastened back to the pork shop. + +"What's the matter with him?" thought Florent. "Is he frightened of +me, I wonder?" + +Some very serious occurrences had taken place that morning at the +Quenu-Gradelles'. Soon after daybreak, Auguste, breathless with +excitement, had awakened his mistress to tell her that the police had +come to arrest Monsieur Florent. And he added, with stammering +incoherence, that the latter had gone out, and that he must have done +so with the intention of escaping. Lisa, careless of appearances, at +once hurried up to her brother-in-law's room in her dressing-wrapper, +and took possession of La Normande's photograph, after glancing round +to see if there was anything lying about that might compromise herself +and Quenu. As she was making her way downstairs again, she met the +police agents on the first floor. The commissary requested her to +accompany them to Florent's room, where, after speaking to her for a +moment in a low tone, he installed himself with his men, bidding her +open the shop as usual so as to avoid giving the alarm to anyone. The +trap was set. + +Lisa's only worry in the matter was the terrible blow that the arrest +would prove to poor Quenu. She was much afraid that if he learned that +the police were in the house, he would spoil everything by his tears; +so she made Auguste swear to observe the most rigid silence on the +subject. Then she went back to her room, put on her stays, and +concocted some story for the benefit of Quenu, who was still drowsy. +Half an hour later she was standing at the door of the shop with all +her usual neatness of appearance, her hair smooth and glossy, and her +face glowing rosily. Auguste was quietly setting out the window. Quenu +came for a moment on to the footway, yawning slightly, and ridding +himself of all sleepiness in the fresh morning air. There was nothing +to indicate the drama that was in preparation upstairs. + +The commissary himself, however, gave the alarm to the neighbourhood +by paying a domiciliary visit to the Mehudins' abode in the Rue +Pirouette. He was in possession of the most precise information. In +the anonymous letters which had been sent to the Prefecture, all sorts +of statements were made respecting Florent's alleged intrigue with the +beautiful Norman. Perhaps, thought the commissary, he had now taken +refuge with her; and so, accompanied by two of his men, he proceeded +to knock at the door in the name of the law. The Mehudins had only +just got up. The old woman opened the door in a fury; but suddenly +calmed down and began to smile when she learned the business on hand. +She seated herself and fastened her clothes, while declaring to the +officers: "We are honest folks here, and have nothing to be afraid of. +You can search wherever you like." + +However, as La Normande delayed to open the door of her room, the +commissary told his men to break it open. The young woman was scarcely +clad when the others entered, and this unceremonious invasion, which +she could not understand, fairly exasperated her. She flushed crimson +from anger rather than from shame, and seemed as though she were about +to fly at the officers. The commissary, at the sight, stepped forward +to protect his men, repeating in his cold voice: "In the name of the +law! In the name of the law!" + +Thereupon La Normande threw herself upon a chair, and burst into a +wild fit of hysterical sobbing at finding herself so powerless. She +was quite at a loss to understand what these men wanted with her. The +commissary, however, had noticed how scantily she was clad, and taking +a shawl from a peg, he flung it over her. Still she did not wrap it +round her, but only sobbed the more bitterly as she watched the men +roughly searching the apartment. + +"But what have I done?" she at last stammered out. "What are you +looking for here?" + +Thereupon the commissary pronounced the name of Florent; and La +Normande, catching sight of the old woman, who was standing at the +door, cried out: "Oh, the wretch! This is her doing!" and she rushed +at her mother. + +She would have struck her if she had reached her; but the police +agents held her back, and forcibly wrapped her in the shawl. +Meanwhile, she struggled violently, and exclaimed in a choking voice: + +"What do you take me for? That Florent has never been in this room, I +tell you. There was nothing at all between us. People are always +trying to injure me in the neighbourhood; but just let anyone come +here and say anything before my face, and then you'll see! You'll lock +me up afterwards, I dare say, but I don't mind that! Florent, indeed! +What a lie! What nonsense!" + +This flood of words seemed to calm her; and her anger now turned +against Florent, who was the cause of all the trouble. Addressing the +commissary, she sought to justify herself. + +"I did not know his real character, sir," she said. "He had such a +mild manner that he deceived us all. I was unwilling to believe all I +heard, because I know people are so malicious. He only came here to +give lessons to my little boy, and went away directly they were over. +I gave him a meal here now and again, that's true and sometimes made +him a present of a fine fish. That's all. But this will be a warning +to me, and you won't catch me showing the same kindness to anyone +again." + +"But hasn't he given you any of his papers to take care of?" asked the +commissary. + +"Oh no, indeed! I swear it. I'd give them up to you at once if he had. +I've had quite enough of this, I can tell you! It's no joke to see you +tossing all my things about and ferreting everywhere in this way. Oh! +you may look; there's nothing." + +The officers, who examined every article of furniture, now wished to +enter the little closet where Muche slept. The child had been awakened +by the noise, and for the last few moments he had been crying +bitterly, as though he imagined that he was going to be murdered. + +"This is my boy's room," said La Normande, opening the door. + +Muche, quite naked, ran up and threw his arms round his mother's neck. +She pacified him, and laid him down in her own bed. The officers came +out of the little room again almost immediately, and the commissary +had just made up his mind to retire, when the child, still in tears, +whispered in his mother's ear: "They'll take my copy-books. Don't let +them have my copy-books." + +"Oh, yes; that's true," cried La Normande; "there are some copy-books. +Wait a moment, gentlemen, and I'll give them to you. I want you to see +that I'm not hiding anything from you. Then, you'll find some of his +writing inside these. You're quite at liberty to hang him as far as +I'm concerned; you won't find me trying to cut him down." + +Thereupon she handed Muche's books and the copies set by Florent to +the commissary. But at this the boy sprang angrily out of bed, and +began to scratch and bite his mother, who put him back again with a +box on the ears. Then he began to bellow. + +In the midst of the uproar, Mademoiselle Saget appeared on the +threshold, craning her neck forward. Finding all the doors open, she +had come in to offer her services to old Madame Mehudin. She spied +about and listened, and expressed extreme pity for these poor women, +who had no one to defend them. The commissary, however, had begun to +read the copies with a grave air. The frequent repetition of such +words as "tyrannically," "liberticide," "unconstitutional," and +"revolutionary" made him frown; and on reading the sentence, "When the +hour strikes, the guilty shall fall," he tapped his fingers on the +paper and said: "This is very serious, very serious indeed." + +Thereupon he gave the books to one of his men, and went off. Claire, +who had hitherto not shown herself, now opened her door, and watched +the police officers go down the stairs. And afterwards she came into +her sister's bedroom, which she had not entered for a year. +Mademoiselle Saget appeared to be on the best of terms with La +Normande, and was hanging over her in a caressing way, bringing the +shawl forward to cover her the better, and listening to her angry +indignation with an expression of the deepest sympathy. + +"You wretched coward!" exclaimed Claire, planting herself in front of +her sister. + +La Normande sprang up, quivering with anger, and let the shawl fall to +the floor. + +"Ah, you've been playing the spy, have you?" she screamed. "Dare to +repeat what you've just said!" + +"You wretched coward!" repeated Claire, in still more insulting tones +than before. + +Thereupon La Normande struck Claire with all her force; and in return +Claire, turning terribly pale, sprang upon her sister and dug her +nails into her neck. They struggled together for a moment or two, +tearing at each other's hair and trying to choke one another. Claire, +fragile though she was, pushed La Normande backward with such +tremendous violence that they both fell against the wardrobe, smashing +the mirror on its front. Muche was roaring, and old Madame Mehudin +called to Mademoiselle Saget to come and help her separate the +sisters. Claire, however, shook herself free. + +"Coward! Coward!" she cried; "I'll go and tell the poor fellow that it +is you who have betrayed him." + +Her mother, however, blocked the doorway, and would not let her pass, +while La Normande seized her from behind, and then, Mademoiselle Saget +coming to the assistance of the other two, the three of them dragged +Claire into her bedroom and locked the door upon her, in spite of all +her frantic resistance. In her rage she tried to kick the door down, +and smashed everything in the room. Soon afterwards, however, nothing +could be heard except a furious scratching, the sound of metal +scarping at the plaster. The girl was trying to loosen the door hinges +with the points of her scissors. + +"She would have murdered me if she had had a knife," said La Normande, +looking about for her clothes, in order to dress herself. "She'll be +doing something dreadful, you'll see, one of these days, with that +jealousy of hers! We mustn't let her get out on any account: she'd +bring the whole neighbourhood down upon us!" + +Mademoiselle Saget went off in all haste. She reached the corner of +the Rue Pirouette just as the commissary of police was re-entering the +side passage of the Quenu-Gradelles' house. She grasped the situation +at once, and entered the shop with such glistening eyes that Lisa +enjoined silence by a gesture which called her attention to the +presence of Quenu, who was hanging up some pieces of salt pork. As +soon as he had returned to the kitchen, the old maid in a low voice +described the scenes that had just taken place at the Mehudins'. Lisa, +as she bent over the counter, with her hand resting on a dish of +larded veal, listened to her with the happy face of one who triumphs. +Then, as a customer entered the shop, and asked for a couple of pig's +trotters, Lisa wrapped them up, and handed them over with a thoughtful +air. + +"For my own part, I bear La Normande no ill-will," she said to +Mademoiselle Saget, when they were alone again. "I used to be very +fond of her, and have always been sorry that other people made +mischief between us. The proof that I've no animosity against her is +here in this photograph, which I saved from falling into the hands of +the police, and which I'm quite ready to give her back if she will +come and ask me for it herself." + +She took the photograph out of her pocket as she spoke. Mademoiselle +Saget scrutinised it and sniggered as she read the inscription, +"Louise, to her dear friend Florent." + +"I'm not sure you'll be acting wisely," she said in her cutting voice. +"You'd do better to keep it." + +"No, no," replied Lisa; "I'm anxious for all this silly nonsense to +come to an end. To-day is the day of reconciliation. We've had enough +unpleasantness, and the neighbourhood's now going to be quiet and +peaceful again." + +"Well, well, shall I go and tell La Normande that you are expecting +her?" asked the old maid. + +"Yes; I shall be very glad if you will." + +Mademoiselle Saget then made her way back to the Rue Pirouette, and +greatly frightened the fish-girl by telling her that she had just seen +her photograph in Lisa's pocket. She could not, however, at once +prevail upon her to comply with her rival's terms. La Normande +propounded conditions of her own. She would go, but Madame Quenu must +come to the door of the shop to receive her. Thus the old maid was +obliged to make another couple of journeys between the two rivals +before their meeting could be satisfactorily arranged. At last, +however, to her great delight, she succeeded in negotiating the peace +which was destined to cause so much talk and excitement. As she passed +Claire's door for the last time she still heard the sound of the +scissors scraping away at the plaster. + +When she had at last carried a definite reply to Madame Quenu, +Mademoiselle Saget hurried off to find Madame Lecoeur and La +Sarriette; and all three of them took up their position on the footway +at the corner of the fish market, just in front of the pork shop. Here +they would be certain to have a good view of every detail of the +meeting. They felt extremely impatient, and while pretending to chat +together kept an anxious look-out in the direction of the Rue +Pirouette, along which La Normande must come. The news of the +reconciliation was already travelling through the markets, and while +some saleswomen stood up behind their stalls trying to get a view of +what was taking place, others, still more inquisitive, actually left +their places and took up a position in the covered way. Every eye in +the markets was directed upon the pork shop; the whole neighbourhood +was on the tip-toe of expectation. + +It was a very solemn affair. When La Normande at last turned the +corner of the Rue Pirouette the excitement was so great that the women +held their breath. + +"She has got her diamonds on," murmured La Sarriette. + +"Just look how she stalks along," added Madame Lecoeur; "the stuck-up +creature!" + +The beautiful Norman was, indeed, advancing with the mien of a queen +who condescends to make peace. She had made a most careful toilet, +frizzing her hair and turning up a corner of her apron to display her +cashmere skirt. She had even put on a new and rich lace bow. Conscious +that the whole market was staring at her, she assumed a still +haughtier air as she approached the pork shop. When she reached the +door she stopped. + +"Now it's beautiful Lisa's turn," remarked Mademoiselle Saget. "Mind +you pay attention." + +Beautiful Lisa smilingly quitted her counter. She crossed the shop- +floor at a leisurely pace, and came and offered her hand to the +beautiful Norman. She also was smartly dressed, with her dazzling +linen and scrupulous neatness. A murmur ran through the crowd of fish- +wives, all their heads gathered close together, and animated chatter +ensued. The two women had gone inside the shop, and the /crepines/ in +the window prevented them from being clearly seen. However, they +seemed to be conversing affectionately, addressing pretty compliments +to one another. + +"See!" suddenly exclaimed Mademoiselle Saget, "the beautiful Norman's +buying something! What is it she's buying? It's a chitterling, I +believe! Ah! Look! look! You didn't see it, did you? Well, beautiful +Lisa just gave her the photograph; she slipped it into her hand with +the chitterling." + +Fresh salutations were then seen to pass between the two women; and +the beautiful Lisa, exceeding even the courtesies which had been +agreed upon, accompanied the beautiful Norman to the footway. There +they stood laughing together, exhibiting themselves to the +neighbourhood like a couple of good friends. The markets were quite +delighted; and the saleswomen returned to their stalls, declaring that +everything had passed off extremely well. + +Mademoiselle Saget, however, detained Madame Lecoeur and La Sarriette. +The drama was not over yet. All three kept their eyes fixed on the +house opposite with such keen curiosity that they seemed trying to +penetrate the very walls. To pass the time away they once more began +to talk of the beautiful Norman. + +"She's without a lover now," remarked Madame Lecoeur. + +"Oh! she's got Monsieur Lebigre," replied La Sarriette, with a laugh. + +"But surely Monsieur Lebigre won't have anything more to say to her." + +Mademoiselle Saget shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, you don't know him," +she said. "He won't care a straw about all this business. He knows +what he's about, and La Normande is rich. They'll come together in a +couple of months, you'll see. Old Madame Mehudin's been scheming to +bring about their marriage for a long time past." + +"Well, anyway," retorted the butter dealer, "the commissary found +Florent at her lodgings." + +"No, no, indeed; I'm sure I never told you that. The long spindle- +shanks had gone way," replied the old maid. She paused to take a +breath; then resumed in an indignant tone, "What distressed me most +was to hear of all the abominable things that the villain had taught +little Muche. You'd really never believe it. There was a whole bundle +of papers." + +"What sort of abominable things?" asked La Sarriette with interest. + +"Oh, all kinds of filth. The commissary said there was quite +sufficient there to hang him. The fellow's a perfect monster! To go +and demoralise a child! Why, it's almost past believing! Little Muche +is certainly a scamp, but that's no reason why he should be given over +to the 'Reds,' is it?" + +"Certainly not," assented the two others. + +"However, all these mysterious goings-on will come to an end now. You +remember my telling you once that there was some strange goings-on at +the Quenus'? Well, you see, I was right in my conclusions, wasn't I? +Thank God, however, the neighbourhood will now be able to breathe +easily. It was high time strong steps were taken, for things had got +to such a pitch that one actually felt afraid of being murdered in +broad daylight. There was no pleasure in life. All the dreadful +stories and reports one heard were enough to worry one to death. And +it was all owing to that man, that dreadful Florent. Now beautiful +Lisa and the beautiful Norman have sensibly made friends again. It was +their duty to do so for the sake of the peace and quietness of us all. +Everything will go on satisfactorily now, you'll find. Ah! there's +poor Monsieur Quenu laughing yonder!" + +Quenu had again come on to the footway, and was joking with Madame +Taboureau's little servant. He seemed quite gay and skittish that +morning. He took hold of the little servant's hands, and squeezed her +fingers so tightly, in the exuberance of his spirits, that he made her +cry out. Lisa had the greatest trouble to get him to go back into the +kitchen. She was impatiently pacing about the shop, fearing lest +Florent should make his appearance; and she called to her husband to +come away, dreading a meeting between him and his brother. + +"She's getting quite vexed," said Mademoiselle Saget. "Poor Monsieur +Quenu, you see, knows nothing at all about what's taking place. Just +look at him there, laughing like a child! Madame Taboureau, you know, +said that she should have nothing more to do with the Quenus if they +persisted in bringing themselves into discredit by keeping that +Florent with them." + +"Well, now, I suppose, they will stick to the fortune," remarked +Madame Lecoeur. + +"Oh, no, indeed, my dear. The other one has had his share already." + +"Really? How do you know that?" + +"Oh, it's clear enough, that is!" replied the old maid after a +momentary hesitation, but without giving any proof of her assertions. +"He's had even more than his share. The Quenus will be several +thousand francs out of pocket. Money flies, you know, when a man has +such vices as he has. I dare say you don't know that there was another +woman mixed up in it all. Yes, indeed, old Madame Verlaque, the wife +of the former inspector; you know the sallow-faced thing well enough." + +The others protested that it surely wasn't possible. Why, Madame +Verlaque was positively hideous! + +"What! do you think me a liar?" cried Mademoiselle Saget, with angry +indignation. "Why, her letters to him have been found, a whole pile of +letters, in which she asks for money, ten and twenty francs at a time. +There's no doubt at all about it. I'm quite certain in my own mind +that they killed the husband between them." + +La Sarriette and Madame Lecoeur were convinced; but they were +beginning to get very impatient. They had been waiting on the footway +for more than an hour, and feared that somebody might be robbing their +stalls during their long absence. So Mademoiselle Saget began to give +them some further interesting information to keep them from going off. +Florent could not have taken to flight, said she; he was certain to +return, and it would be very interesting to see him arrested. Then she +went on to describe the trap that had been laid for him, while Madame +Lecoeur and La Sarriette continued scrutinising the house from top to +bottom, keeping watch upon every opening, and at each moment expecting +to see the hats of the detectives appear at one of the doors or +windows. + +"Who would ever imagine, now, that the place was full of police?" +observed the butter dealer. + +"Oh! they're in the garret at the top," said the old maid. "They've +left the window open, you see, just as they found it. Look! I think I +can see one of them hiding behind the pomegranate on the balcony." + +The others excitedly craned out their necks, but could see nothing. + +"Ah, no, it's only a shadow," continued Mademoiselle Saget. "The +little curtains even are perfectly still. The detectives must be +sitting down in the room, and keeping quiet." + +Just at that moment the women caught sight of Gavard coming out of the +fish market with a thoughtful air. They looked at him with glistening +eyes, without speaking. They had drawn close to one another, and stood +there rigid in their drooping skirts. The poultry dealer came up to +them. + +"Have you seen Florent go by?" he asked. + +They replied that they had not. + +"I want to speak to him at once," continued Gavard. "He isn't in the +fish market. He must have gone up to his room. But you would have seen +him, though, if he had." + +The women had turned rather pale. They still kept looking at each +other with a knowing expression, their lips twitching slightly every +now and then. "We have only been here some five minutes, said Madame +Lecoeur unblushingly, as her brother-in-law still stood hesitating. + +"Well, then, I'll go upstairs and see. I'll risk the five flights," +rejoined Gavard with a laugh. + +La Sarriette stepped forward as though she wished to detain him, but +her aunt took hold of her arm and drew her back. + +"Let him alone, you big simpleton!" she whispered. "It's the best +thing that can happen to him. It'll teach him to treat us with respect +in future." + +"He won't say again that I ate tainted meat," muttered Mademoiselle +Saget in a low tone. + +They said nothing more. La Sarriette was very red; but the two others +still remained quite yellow. But they now averted their heads, feeling +confused by each other's looks, and at a loss what to do with their +hands, which they buried beneath their aprons. Presently their eyes +instinctively came back to the house, penetrating the walls, as it +were, following Gavard in his progress up the stairs. When they +imagined that he had entered Florent's room they again exchanged +furtive glances. La Sarriette laughed nervously. All at once they +fancied they could see the window curtains moving, and this led them +to believe that a struggle was taking place. But the house-front +remained as tranquil as ever in the sunshine; and another quarter of +an hour of unbroken quietness passed away, during which the three +women's nervous excitement became more and more intense. They were +beginning to feel quite faint when a man hurriedly came out of the +passage and ran off to get a cab. Five minutes later Gavard appeared, +followed by two police officers. Lisa, who had stepped out on to the +footway on observing the cab, hastily hurried back into the shop. + +Gavard was very pale. The police had searched him upstairs, and had +discovered the revolver and cartridge case in his possession. Judging +by the commissary's stern expression on hearing his name, the poultry +dealer deemed himself lost. This was a terrible ending to his plotting +that had never entered into his calculations. The Tuileries would +never forgive him! His legs gave way beneath him as though the firing +party was already awaiting him outside. When he got into the street, +however, his vanity lent him sufficient strength to walk erect; and he +even managed to force a smile, as he knew the market people were +looking at him. They should see him die bravely, he resolved. + +However, La Sarriette and Madame Lecoeur rushed up to him and +anxiously inquired what was the matter; and the butter dealer began to +cry, while La Sarriette embraced her uncle, manifesting the deepest +emotion. As Gavard held her clasped in his arms, he slipped a key into +her hand, and whispered in her ear: "Take everything, and burn the +papers." + +Then he got into the cab with the same mien as he would have ascended +the scaffold. As the vehicle disappeared round the corner of the Rue +Pierre Lescot, Madame Lecoeur observed La Sarriette trying to hide the +key in her pocket. + +"It's of no use you trying that little game on me, my dear," she +exclaimed, clenching her teeth; "I saw him slip it into your hand. As +true as there's a God in Heaven, I'll go to the gaol and tell him +everything, if you don't treat me properly." + +"Of course I shall treat you properly, aunt, dear," replied La +Sarriette, with an embarrassed smile. + +"Very well, then, let us go to his rooms at once. It's of no use to +give the police time to poke their dirty hands in the cupboards." + +Mademoiselle Saget, who had been listening with gleaming eyes, +followed them, running along in the rear as quickly as her short legs +could carry her. She had no thought, now, of waiting for Florent. From +the Rue Rambuteau to the Rue de la Cossonnerie she manifested the most +humble obsequiousness, and volunteered to explain matters to Madame +Leonce, the doorkeeper. + +"We'll see, we'll see," the butter dealer curtly replied. + +However, on reaching the house a preliminary parley--as Mademoiselle +Saget had opined--proved to be necessary. Madame Leonce refused to +allow the women to go up to her tenant's room. She put on an +expression of severe austerity, and seemed greatly shocked by the +sight of La Sarriette's loosely fastened fichu. However, after the old +maid had whispered a few words to her and she was shown the key, she +gave way. When they got upstairs she surrendered the rooms and +furniture to the others article by article, apparently as heartbroken +as if she had been compelled to show a party of burglars the place +where her own money was secreted. + +"There, take everything and have done with it!" she cried at last, +throwing herself into an arm-chair. + +La Sarriette was already eagerly trying the key in the locks of +different closets. Madame Lecoeur, all suspicion, pressed her so +closely that she exclaimed: "Really, aunt, you get in my way. Do leave +my arms free, at any rate." + +At last they succeeded in opening a wardrobe opposite the window, +between the fireplace and the bed. And then all four women broke into +exclamations. On the middle shelf lay some ten thousand francs in +gold, methodically arranged in little piles. Gavard, who had prudently +deposited the bulk of his fortune in the hands of a notary, had kept +this sum by him for the purposes of the coming outbreak. He had been +wont to say with great solemnity that his contribution to the +revolution was quite ready. The fact was that he had sold out certain +stock, and every night took an intense delight in contemplating those +ten thousand francs, gloating over them, and finding something quite +roysterous and insurrectional in their appearance. Sometimes when he +was in bed he dreamed that a fight was going on in the wardrobe; he +could hear guns being fired there, paving-stones being torn up and +piled into barricades, and voices shouting in clamorous triumph; and +he said to himself that it was his money fighting against the +Government. + +La Sarriette, however, had stretched out her hands with a cry of +delight. + +"Paws off, little one!" exclaimed Madame Lecoeur in a hoarse voice. + +As she stood there in the reflection of the gold, she looked yellower +than ever--her face discoloured by biliousness, her eyes glowing +feverishly from the liver complaint which was secretly undermining +her. Behind her Mademoiselle Saget on tip-toe was gazing ecstatically +into the wardrobe, and Madame Leonce had now risen from her seat, and +was growling sulkily. + +"My uncle said I was to take everything," declared the girl. + +"And am I to have nothing, then; I who have done so much for him?" +cried the doorkeeper. + +Madame Lecoeur was almost choking with excitement. She pushed the +others away, and clung hold of the wardrobe, screaming: "It all +belongs to me! I am his nearest relative. You are a pack of thieves, +you are! I'd rather throw it all out of the window than see you have +it!" + +Then silence fell, and they all four stood glowering at each other. +The kerchief that La Sarriette wore over her breast was now altogether +unfastened, and she displayed her bosom heaving with warm life, her +moist red lips, her rosy nostrils. Madame Lecoeur grew still more sour +as she saw how lovely the girl looked in the excitement of her longing +desire. + +"Well," she said in a lower tone, "we won't fight about it. You are +his niece, and I'll divide the money with you. We will each take a +pile in turn." + +Thereupon they pushed the other two aside. The butter dealer took the +first pile, which at once disappeared within her skirts. Then La +Sarriette took a pile. They kept a close watch upon one another, ready +to fight at the slightest attempt at cheating. Their fingers were +thrust forward in turn, the hideous knotted fingers of the aunt and +the white fingers of the niece, soft and supple as silk. Slowly they +filled their pockets. When there was only one pile left, La Sarriette +objected to her aunt taking it, as she had commenced; and she suddenly +divided it between Mademoiselle Saget and Madame Leonce, who had +watched them pocket the gold with feverish impatience. + +"Much obliged to you!" snarled the doorkeeper. "Fifty francs for +having coddled him up with tisane and broth! The old deceiver told me +he had no relatives!" + +Before locking the wardrobe up again, Madame Lecoeur searched it +thoroughly from top to bottom. It contained all the political works +which were forbidden admission into the country, the pamphlets printed +at Brussels, the scandalous histories of the Bonapartes, and the +foreign caricatures ridiculing the Emperor. One of Gavard's greatest +delights was to shut himself up with a friend, and show him all these +compromising things. + +"He told me that I was to burn all the papers," said La Sarriette. + +"Oh, nonsense! we've no fire, and it would take up too long. The +police will soon be here! We must get out of this!" + +They all four hastened off; but they had not reached the bottom of the +stairs before the police met them, and made Madame Leonce return with +them upstairs. The three others, making themselves as small as +possible, hurriedly escaped into the street. They walked away in +single file at a brisk pace; the aunt and niece considerably +incommoded by the weight of their drooping pockets. Mademoiselle Saget +had kept her fifty francs in her closed fist, and remained deep in +thought, brooding over a plan for extracting something more from the +heavy pockets in front of her. + +"Ah!" she exclaimed, as they reached the corner of the fish market, +"we've got here at a lucky moment. There's Florent yonder, just going +to walk into the trap." + +Florent, indeed, was just then returning to the markets after his +prolonged perambulation. He went into his office to change his coat, +and then set about his daily duties, seeing that the marble slabs were +properly washed, and slowly strolling along the alleys. He fancied +that the fish-wives looked at him in a somewhat strange manner; they +chuckled too, and smiled significantly as he passed them. Some new +vexation, he thought, was in store for him. For some time past those +huge, terrible women had not allowed him a day's peace. However, as he +passed the Mehudins' stall he was very much surprised to hear the old +woman address him in a honeyed tone: "There's just been a gentleman +inquiring for you, Monsieur Florent; a middle-aged gentleman. He's +gone to wait for you in your room." + +As the old fish-wife, who was squatting, all of a heap, on her chair, +spoke these words, she felt such a delicious thrill of satisfied +vengeance that her huge body fairly quivered. Florent, still doubtful, +glanced at the beautiful Norman; but the young woman, now completely +reconciled with her mother, turned on her tap and slapped her fish, +pretending not to hear what was being said. + +"You are quite sure?" said Florent to Mother Mehudin. + +"Oh, yes, indeed. Isn't that so, Louise?" said the old woman in a +shriller voice. + +Florent concluded that it must be some one who wanted to see him about +the great business, and he resolved to go up to his room. He was just +about to leave the pavilion, when, happening to turn round, he +observed the beautiful Norman watching him with a grave expression on +her face. Then he passed in front of the three gossips. + +"Do you notice that there's no one in the pork shop?" remarked +Mademoiselle Saget. "Beautiful Lisa's not the woman to compromise +herself." + +The shop was, indeed, quite empty. The front of the house was still +bright with sunshine; the building looked like some honest, prosperous +pile guilelessly warming itself in the morning rays. Up above, the +pomegranate on the balcony was in full bloom. As Florent crossed the +roadway he gave a friendly nod to Logre and Monsieur Lebigre, who +appeared to be enjoying the fresh air on the doorstep of the latter's +establishment. They returned his greeting with a smile. Florent was +then about to enter the side-passage, when he fancied he saw Auguste's +pale face hastily vanishing from its dark and narrow depths. Thereupon +he turned back and glanced into the shop to make sure that the middle- +aged gentleman was not waiting for him there. But he saw no one but +Mouton, who sat on a block displaying his double chin and bristling +whiskers, and gazed at him defiantly with his great yellow eyes. And +when he had at last made up his mind to enter the passage, Lisa's face +appeared behind the little curtain of a glazed door at the back of the +shop. + +A hush had fallen over the fish market. All the huge paunches and +bosoms held their breath, waiting till Florent should disappear from +sight. Then there was an uproarious outbreak; and the bosoms heaved +wildly and the paunches nearly burst with malicious delight. The joke +had succeeded. Nothing could be more comical. As old Mother Mehudin +vented her merriment she shook and quivered like a wine-skin that is +being emptied. Her story of the middle-aged gentleman went the round +of the market, and the fish-wives found it extremely amusing. At last +the long spindle-shanks was collared, and they would no longer always +have his miserable face and gaol-bird's expression before their eyes. +They all wished him a pleasant journey, and trusted that they might +get a handsome fellow for their next inspector. And in their delight +they rushed about from one stall to another, and felt inclined to +dance round their marble slabs like a lot of holiday-making +schoolgirls. The beautiful Norman, however, watched this outbreak of +joy in a rigid attitude, not daring to move for fear she should burst +into tears; and she kept her hands pressed upon a big skate to cool +her feverish excitement. + +"You see how those Mehudins turn their backs upon him now that he's +come to grief," said Madame Lecoeur. + +"Well, and they're quite right too," replied Mademoiselle Saget. +"Besides, matters are settled now, my dear, and we're to have no more +disputes. You've every reason to be satisfied; leave the others to act +as they please." + +"It's only the old woman who is laughing," La Sarriette remarked; "La +Normande looks anything but happy." + +Meantime, upstairs in his bedroom, Florent allowed himself to be taken +as unresistingly as a sheep. The police officers sprang roughly upon +him, expecting, no doubt, that they would meet with a desperate +resistance. He quietly begged them to leave go of him; and then sat +down on a chair while they packed up his papers, and the red scarves, +armlets, and banners. He did not seem at all surprised at this ending; +indeed, it was something of a relief to him, though he would not +frankly confess it. But he suffered acutely at thought of the bitter +hatred which had sent him into that room; he recalled Auguste's pale +face and the sniggering looks of the fish-wives; he bethought himself +of old Madame Mehudin's words, La Normande's silence, and the empty +shop downstairs. The markets were leagued against him, he reflected; +the whole neighbourhood had conspired to hand him over to the police. +The mud of those greasy streets had risen up all around to overwhelm +him! + +And amidst all the round faces which flitted before his mind's eye +there suddenly appeared that of Quenu, and a spasm of mortal agony +contracted his heart. + +"Come, get along downstairs!" exclaimed one of the officers, roughly. + +Florent rose and proceeded to go downstairs. When he reached the +second floor he asked to be allowed to return; he had forgotten +something, he said. But the officers refused to let him go back, and +began to hustle him forward. Then he besought them to let him return +to his room again, and even offered them the money he had in his +pocket. Two of them at last consented to return with him, threatening +to blow his brains out should he attempt to play them any trick; and +they drew their revolvers out of their pockets as they spoke. However, +on reaching his room once more Florent simply went straight to the +chaffinch's cage, took the bird out of it, kissed it between its +wings, and set it at liberty. He watched it fly away through the open +window, into the sunshine, and alight, as though giddy, on the roof of +the fish market. Then it flew off again and disappeared over the +markets in the direction of the Square des Innocents. For a moment +longer Florent remained face to face with the sky, the free and open +sky; and he thought of the wood-pigeons cooing in the garden of the +Tuileries, and of those other pigeons down in the market cellars with +their throats slit by Marjolin's knife. Then he felt quite broken, and +turned and followed the officers, who were putting their revolvers +back into their pockets as they shrugged their shoulders. + +On reaching the bottom of the stairs, Florent stopped before the door +which led into the kitchen. The commissary, who was waiting for him +there, seemed almost touched by his gentle submissiveness, and asked +him: "Would you like to say good-bye to your brother?" + +For a moment Florent hesitated. He looked at the door. A tremendous +noise of cleavers and pans came from the kitchen. Lisa, with the +design of keeping her husband occupied, had persuaded him to make the +black-puddings in the morning instead of in the evening, as was his +wont. The onions were simmering on the fire, and over all the noisy +uproar Florent could hear Quenu's joyous voice exclaiming, "Ah, dash +it all, the pudding will be excellent, that it will! Auguste, hand me +the fat!" + +Florent thanked the commissary, but refused his offer. He was afraid +to return any more into that warm kitchen, reeking with the odour of +boiling onions, and so he went on past the door, happy in the thought +that his brother knew nothing of what had happened to him, and +hastening his steps as if to spare the establishment all further +worry. However, on emerging into the open sunshine of the street he +felt a touch of shame, and got into the cab with bent back and ashen +face. He was conscious that the fish market was gazing at him in +triumph; it seemed to him, indeed, as though the whole neighbourhood +had gathered there to rejoice at his fall. + +"What a villainous expression he's got!" said Mademoiselle Saget. + +"Yes, indeed, he looks just like a thief caught with his hand in +somebody's till," added Madame Lecoeur. + +"I once saw a man guillotined who looked exactly like he does," +asserted La Sarriette, showing her white teeth. + +They stepped forward, lengthened their necks, and tried to see into +the cab. Just as it was starting, however, the old maid tugged sharply +at the skirts of her companions, and pointed to Claire, who was coming +round the corner of the Rue Pirouette, looking like a mad creature, +with her hair loose and her nails bleeding. She had at last succeeded +in opening her door. When she discovered that she was too late, and +that Florent was being taken off, she darted after the cab, but +checked herself almost immediately with a gesture of impotent rage, +and shook her fists at the receding wheels. Then, with her face quite +crimson beneath the fine plaster dust with which she was covered, she +ran back again towards the Rue Pirouette. + +"Had he promised to marry her, eh?" exclaimed La Sarriette, laughing. +"The silly fool must be quite cracked." + +Little by little the neighbourhood calmed down, though throughout the +day groups of people constantly assembled and discussed the events of +the morning. The pork shop was the object of much inquisitive +curiosity. Lisa avoided appearing there, and left the counter in +charge of Augustine. In the afternoon she felt bound to tell Quenu of +what had happened, for fear the news might cause him too great a shock +should he hear it from some gossiping neighbour. She waited till she +was alone with him in the kitchen, knowing that there he was always +most cheerful, and would weep less than if he were anywhere else. +Moreover, she communicated her tidings with all sorts of motherly +precautions. Nevertheless, as soon as he knew the truth he fell on the +chopping-block, and began to cry like a calf. + +"Now, now, my poor dear, don't give way like that; you'll make +yourself quite ill," exclaimed Lisa, taking him in her arms. + +His tears were inundating his white apron, the whole of his massive, +torpid form quivered with grief. He seemed to be sinking, melting +away. When he was at last able to speak, he stammered: "Oh, you don't +know how good he was to me when we lived together in the Rue Royer- +Collard! He did everything. He swept the room and cooked the meals. He +loved me as though I were his own child; and after his day's work he +used to come back splashed with mud, and so tired that he could +scarcely move, while I stayed warm and comfortable in the house, and +had nothing to do but eat. And now they're going to shoot him!" + +At this Lisa protested, saying that he would certainly not be shot. +But Quenu only shook his head. + +"I haven't loved him half as much as I ought to have done," he +continued. "I can see that very well now. I had a wicked heart, and I +hesitated about giving him his half of the money." + +"Why, I offered it to him a dozen times and more!" Lisa interrupted. +"I'm sure we've nothing to reproach ourselves with." + +"Oh, yes, I know that you are everything that is good, and that you +would have given him every copper. But I hesitated, I didn't like to +part with it; and now it will be a sorrow to me for the rest of my +life. I shall always think that if I'd shared the fortune with him he +wouldn't have gone wrong a second time. Oh, yes; it's my fault! It is +I who have driven him to this." + +Then Lisa, expostulating still more gently, assured him that he had +nothing to blame himself for, and even expressed some pity for +Florent. But he was really very culpable, she said, and if he had had +more money he would probably have perpetrated greater follies. +Gradually she gave her husband to understand that it was impossible +matters could have had any other termination, and that now everything +would go on much better. Quenu was still weeping, wiping his cheeks +with his apron, trying to suppress his sobs to listen to her, and then +breaking into a wilder fit of tears than before. His fingers had +mechanically sought a heap of sausage-meat lying on the block, and he +was digging holes in it, and roughly kneading it together. + +"And how unwell you were feeling, you know," Lisa continued. "It was +all because our life had got so shifted out of its usual course. I was +very anxious, though I didn't tell you so, at seeing you getting so +low." + +"Yes, wasn't I?" he murmured, ceasing to sob for a moment. + +"And the business has been quite under a cloud this year. It was as +though a spell had been cast on it. Come, now, don't take on so; +you'll see that everything will look up again now. You must take care +of yourself, you know, for my sake and your daughter's. You have +duties to us as well as to others, remember." + +Quenu was now kneading the sausage-meat more gently. Another burst of +emotion was thrilling him, but it was a softer emotion, which was +already bringing a vague smile to his grief-stricken face. Lisa felt +that she had convinced him, and she turned and called to Pauline, who +was playing in the shop, and sat her on Quenu's knee. + +"Tell your father, Pauline, that he ought not to give way like this. +Ask him nicely not to go on distressing us so." + +The child did as she was told, and their fat, sleek forms united in a +general embrace. They all three looked at one another, already feeling +cured of that twelve months' depression from which they had but just +emerged. Their big, round faces smiled, and Lisa softly repeated, "And +after all, my dear, there are only we three, you know, only we three." + +Two months later Florent was again sentenced to transportation. The +affair caused a great stir. The newspapers published all possible +details, and gave portraits of the accused, sketches of the banners +and scarves, and plans of the places where the conspirators had met. +For a fortnight nothing but the great plot of the central markets was +talked of in Paris. The police kept on launching more and more +alarming reports, and it was at last even declared that the whole of +the Montmartre Quarter was undermined. The excitement in the Corps +Legislatif was so intense that the members of the Centre and the Right +forgot their temporary disagreement over the Imperial Grant Bill, and +became reconciled. And then by an overwhelming majority they voted the +unpopular tax, of which even the lower classes, in the panic which was +sweeping over the city, dared no longer complain. + +The trial lasted a week. Florent was very much surprised at the number +of accomplices with which he found himself credited. Out of the twenty +and more who were placed in the dock with him, he knew only some six +or seven. After the sentence of the court had been read, he fancied he +could see Robine's innocent-looking hat and back going off quietly +through the crowd. Logre was acquitted, as was also Lacaille; +Alexandre was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for his child-like +complicity in the conspiracy; while as for Gavard, he, like Florent, +was condemned to transportation. This was a heavy blow, which quite +crushed him amidst the final enjoyment that he derived from those +lengthy proceedings in which he had managed to make himself so +conspicuous. He was paying very dearly for the way in which he had +vented the spirit of perpetual opposition peculiar to the Paris +shopkeeping classes. Two big tears coursed down his scared face--the +face of a white-haired child. + +And then one morning in August, amidst the busy awakening of the +markets, Claude Lantier, sauntering about in the thick of the arriving +vegetables, with his waist tightly girded by his red sash, came to +grasp Madame Francois's hand close by Saint Eustache. She was sitting +on her carrots and turnips, and her long face looked very sad. The +artist, too, was gloomy, notwithstanding the bright sun which was +already softening the deep-green velvet of the mountains of cabbages. + +"Well, it's all over now," he said. "They are sending him back again. +He's already on his way to Brest, I believe." + +Madame Francois made a gesture of mute grief. Then she gently waved +her hand around, and murmured in a low voice; "Ah, it is all Paris's +doing, this villainous Paris!" + +"No, no, not quite that; but I know whose doing it is, the +contemptible creatures!" exclaimed Claude, clenching his fists. "Do +you know, Madame Francois, there was nothing too ridiculous for those +fellows in the court to say! Why, they even went ferreting in a +child's copy-books! That great idiot of a Public Prosecutor made a +tremendous fuss over them, and ranted about the respect due to +children, and the wickedness of demagogical education! It makes me +quite sick to think of it all!" + +A shudder of disgust shook him, and then, burying himself more deeply +in his discoloured cloak, he resumed: "To think of it! A man who was +as gentle as a girl! Why, I saw him turn quite faint at seeing a +pigeon killed! I couldn't help smiling with pity when I saw him +between two gendarmes. Ah, well, we shall never see him again! He +won't come back this time." + +"He ought to have listened to me," said Madame Francois, after a +pause, "and have come to live at Nanterre with my fowls and rabbits. I +was very fond of him, you see, for I could tell that he was a good- +hearted fellow. Ah, we might have been so happy together! It's a sad +pity. Well, we must bear it as best we can, Monsieur Claude. Come and +see me one of these days. I'll have an omelet ready for you." + +Her eyes were dim with tears; but all at once she sprang up like a +brave woman who bears her sorrows with fortitude. + +"Ah!" she exclaimed, "here's old Mother Chantemesse coming to buy some +turnips of me. The fat old lady's as sprightly as ever!" + +Claude went off, and strolled about the footways. The dawn had risen +in the white sheaf of light at the end of the Rue Rambuteau; and the +sun, now level with the house-tops, was diffusing rosy rays which +already fell in warm patches on the pavements. Claude was conscious of +a gay awakening in the huge resonant markets--indeed, all over the +neighbourhood--crowded with piles of food. It was like the joy that +comes after cure, the mirth of folks who are at last relieved of a +heavy weight which has been pulling them down. He saw La Sarriette +displaying a gold chain and singing amidst her plums and strawberries, +while she playfully pulled the moustaches of Monsieur Jules, who was +arrayed in a velvet jacket. He also caught sight of Madame Lecoeur and +Mademoiselle Saget passing along one of the covered ways, and looking +less sallow than usual--indeed, almost rosy--as they laughed like +bosom friends over some amusing story. In the fish market, old Madame +Mehudin, who had returned to her stall, was slapping her fish, abusing +customers, and snubbing the new inspector, a presumptuous young man +whom she had sworn to spank; while Claire, seemingly more languid and +indolent than ever, extended her hands, blue from immersion in the +water of her tanks, to gather together a great heap of edible snails, +shimmering with silvery slime. In the tripe market Auguste and +Augustine, with the foolish expression of newly-married people, had +just been purchasing some pigs' trotters, and were starting off in a +trap for their pork shop at Montrouge. Then, as it was now eight +o'clock and already quite warm, Claude, on again coming to the Rue +Rambuteau, perceived Muche and Pauline playing at horses. Muche was +crawling along on all-fours, while Pauline sat on his back, and clung +to his hair to keep herself from falling. However, a moving shadow +which fell from the eaves of the market roof made Claude look up; and +he then espied Cadine and Marjolin aloft, kissing and warming +themselves in the sunshine, parading their loves before the whole +neighbourhood like a pair of light-hearted animals. + +Claude shook his fist at them. All this joyousness down below and on +high exasperated him. He reviled the Fat; the Fat, he declared, had +conquered the Thin. All around him he could see none but the Fat +protruding their paunches, bursting with robust health, and greeting +with delight another day of gorging and digestion. And a last blow was +dealt to him by the spectacle which he perceived on either hand as he +halted opposite the Rue Pirouette. + +On his right, the beautiful Norman, or the beautiful Madame Lebigre, +as she was now called, stood at the door of her shop. Her husband had +at length been granted the privilege of adding a State tobacco +agency[*] to his wine shop, a long-cherished dream of his which he had +finally been able to realise through the great services he had +rendered to the authorities. And to Claude the beautiful Madame +Lebigre looked superb, with her silk dress and her frizzed hair, quite +ready to take her seat behind her counter, whither all the gentlemen +in the neighbourhood flocked to buy their cigars and packets of +tobacco. She had become quite distinguished, quite the lady. The shop +behind her had been newly painted, with borders of twining +vine-branches showing against a soft background; the zinc-plated +wine-counter gleamed brightly, and in the tall mirror the flasks of +liqueurs set brighter flashes of colour than ever. And the mistress of +all these things stood smiling radiantly at the bright sunshine. + +[*] Most readers will remember that the tobacco trade is a State + monopoly in France. The retail tobacconists are merely Government + agents.--Translator. + +Then, on Claude's left, the beautiful Lisa blocked up the doorway of +her shop as she stood on the threshold. Never before had her linen +shone with such dazzling whiteness; never had her serene face and rosy +cheeks appeared in a more lustrous setting of glossy locks. She +displayed the deep calmness of repletion, a massive tranquillity +unruffled even by a smile. She was a picture of absolute quietude, of +perfect felicity, not only cloudless but lifeless, the simple felicity +of basking in the warm atmosphere. Her tightly stretched bodice seemed +to be still digesting the happiness of yesterday; while her dimpled +hands, hidden in the folds of her apron, did not even trouble to grasp +at the happiness of to-day, certain as they were that it would come of +itself. And the shop-window at her side seemed to display the same +felicity. It had recovered from its former blight; the tongues lolled +out, red and healthy; the hams had regained their old chubbiness of +form; the festoons of sausages no longer wore that mournful air which +had so greatly distressed Quenu. Hearty laughter, accompanied by a +jubilant clattering of pans, sounded from the kitchen in the rear. The +whole place again reeked with fat health. The flitches of bacon and +the sides of pork that hung against the marble showed roundly like +paunches, triumphant paunches, whilst Lisa, with her imposing breadth +of shoulders and dignity of mien, bade the markets good morning with +those big eyes of hers which so clearly bespoke a gross feeder. + +However, the two women bowed to each other. Beautiful Madame Lebigre +and beautiful Madame Quenu exchanged a friendly salute. + +And then Claude, who had certainly forgotten to dine on the previous +day, was thrilled with anger at seeing them standing there, looking so +healthy and well-to-do with their buxom bosoms; and tightening his +sash, he growled in a tone of irritation: + +"What blackguards respectable people are!" + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fat and the Thin, by Emile Zola + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAT AND THE THIN *** + +This file should be named ftthn10.txt or ftthn10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, ftthn11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ftthn10a.txt + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnypg@yahoo.com + and John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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