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| − | Les Misérables, Volume 3: Marius, Book Eighth: The Wicked Poor Man, Chapter 9: Jondrette comes near Weeping<br />
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| − | (Tome 3: Marius, Livre huitième: Le mauvais pauvre, Chapitre 9: Jondrette pleure presque)
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| − | ==English text==
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| − | The hovel was so dark, that people coming from without felt on entering it
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| − | the effect produced on entering a cellar. The two new-comers advanced,
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| − | therefore, with a certain hesitation, being hardly able to distinguish the
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| − | vague forms surrounding them, while they could be clearly seen and
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| − | scrutinized by the eyes of the inhabitants of the garret, who were
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| − | accustomed to this twilight.
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| − | M. Leblanc approached, with his sad but kindly look, and said to Jondrette
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| − | the father:—
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| − | "Monsieur, in this package you will find some new clothes and some woollen
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| − | stockings and blankets."
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| − | "Our angelic benefactor overwhelms us," said Jondrette, bowing to the very
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| − | earth.
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| − | Then, bending down to the ear of his eldest daughter, while the two
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| − | visitors were engaged in examining this lamentable interior, he added in a
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| − | low and rapid voice:—
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| − | "Hey? What did I say? Duds! No money! They are all alike! By the way, how
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| − | was the letter to that old blockhead signed?"
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| − | "Fabantou," replied the girl.
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| − | "The dramatic artist, good!"
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| − | It was lucky for Jondrette, that this had occurred to him, for at the very
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| − | moment, M. Leblanc turned to him, and said to him with the air of a person
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| − | who is seeking to recall a name:—
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| − | "I see that you are greatly to be pitied, Monsieur—"
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| − | "Fabantou," replied Jondrette quickly.
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| − | "Monsieur Fabantou, yes, that is it. I remember."
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| − | "Dramatic artist, sir, and one who has had some success."
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| − | Here Jondrette evidently judged the moment propitious for capturing the
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| − | "philanthropist." He exclaimed with an accent which smacked at the same
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| − | time of the vainglory of the mountebank at fairs, and the humility of the
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| − | mendicant on the highway:—
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| − | "A pupil of Talma! Sir! I am a pupil of Talma! Fortune formerly smiled on
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| − | me—Alas! Now it is misfortune's turn. You see, my benefactor, no
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| − | bread, no fire. My poor babes have no fire! My only chair has no seat! A
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| − | broken pane! And in such weather! My spouse in bed! Ill!"
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| − | "Poor woman!" said M. Leblanc.
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| − | "My child wounded!" added Jondrette.
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| − | The child, diverted by the arrival of the strangers, had fallen to
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| − | contemplating "the young lady," and had ceased to sob.
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| − | "Cry! bawl!" said Jondrette to her in a low voice.
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| − | At the same time he pinched her sore hand. All this was done with the
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| − | talent of a juggler.
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| − | The little girl gave vent to loud shrieks.
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| − | The adorable young girl, whom Marius, in his heart, called "his Ursule,"
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| − | approached her hastily.
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| − | "Poor, dear child!" said she.
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| − | "You see, my beautiful young lady," pursued Jondrette "her bleeding wrist!
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| − | It came through an accident while working at a machine to earn six sous a
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| − | day. It may be necessary to cut off her arm."
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| − | "Really?" said the old gentleman, in alarm.
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| − | The little girl, taking this seriously, fell to sobbing more violently
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| − | than ever.
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| − | "Alas! yes, my benefactor!" replied the father.
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| − | For several minutes, Jondrette had been scrutinizing "the benefactor" in a
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| − | singular fashion. As he spoke, he seemed to be examining the other
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| − | attentively, as though seeking to summon up his recollections. All at
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| − | once, profiting by a moment when the new-comers were questioning the child
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| − | with interest as to her injured hand, he passed near his wife, who lay in
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| − | her bed with a stupid and dejected air, and said to her in a rapid but
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| − | very low tone:—
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| − | "Take a look at that man!"
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| − | Then, turning to M. Leblanc, and continuing his lamentations:—
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| − | "You see, sir! All the clothing that I have is my wife's chemise! And all
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| − | torn at that! In the depths of winter! I can't go out for lack of a coat.
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| − | If I had a coat of any sort, I would go and see Mademoiselle Mars, who
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| − | knows me and is very fond of me. Does she not still reside in the Rue de
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| − | la Tour-des-Dames? Do you know, sir? We played together in the provinces.
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| − | I shared her laurels. Celimene would come to my succor, sir! Elmire would
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| − | bestow alms on Belisaire! But no, nothing! And not a sou in the house! My
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| − | wife ill, and not a sou! My daughter dangerously injured, not a sou! My
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| − | wife suffers from fits of suffocation. It comes from her age, and besides,
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| − | her nervous system is affected. She ought to have assistance, and my
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| − | daughter also! But the doctor! But the apothecary! How am I to pay them? I
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| − | would kneel to a penny, sir! Such is the condition to which the arts are
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| − | reduced. And do you know, my charming young lady, and you, my generous
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| − | protector, do you know, you who breathe forth virtue and goodness, and who
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| − | perfume that church where my daughter sees you every day when she says her
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| − | prayers?—For I have brought up my children religiously, sir. I did
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| − | not want them to take to the theatre. Ah! the hussies! If I catch them
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| − | tripping! I do not jest, that I don't! I read them lessons on honor, on
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| − | morality, on virtue! Ask them! They have got to walk straight. They are
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| − | none of your unhappy wretches who begin by having no family, and end by
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| − | espousing the public. One is Mamselle Nobody, and one becomes Madame
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| − | Everybody. Deuce take it! None of that in the Fabantou family! I mean to
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| − | bring them up virtuously, and they shall be honest, and nice, and believe
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| − | in God, by the sacred name! Well, sir, my worthy sir, do you know what is
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| − | going to happen to-morrow? To-morrow is the fourth day of February, the
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| − | fatal day, the last day of grace allowed me by my landlord; if by this
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| − | evening I have not paid my rent, to-morrow my oldest daughter, my spouse
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| − | with her fever, my child with her wound,—we shall all four be turned
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| − | out of here and thrown into the street, on the boulevard, without shelter,
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| − | in the rain, in the snow. There, sir. I owe for four quarters—a
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| − | whole year! that is to say, sixty francs."
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| − | Jondrette lied. Four quarters would have amounted to only forty francs,
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| − | and he could not owe four, because six months had not elapsed since Marius
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| − | had paid for two.
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| − | M. Leblanc drew five francs from his pocket and threw them on the table.
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| − | Jondrette found time to mutter in the ear of his eldest daughter:—
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| − | "The scoundrel! What does he think I can do with his five francs? That
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| − | won't pay me for my chair and pane of glass! That's what comes of
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| − | incurring expenses!"
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| − | In the meanwhile, M. Leblanc had removed the large brown great-coat which
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| − | he wore over his blue coat, and had thrown it over the back of the chair.
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| − | "Monsieur Fabantou," he said, "these five francs are all that I have about
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| − | me, but I shall now take my daughter home, and I will return this evening,—it
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| − | is this evening that you must pay, is it not?"
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| − | Jondrette's face lighted up with a strange expression. He replied
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| − | vivaciously:—
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| − | "Yes, respected sir. At eight o'clock, I must be at my landlord's."
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| − | "I will be here at six, and I will fetch you the sixty francs."
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| − | "My benefactor!" exclaimed Jondrette, overwhelmed. And he added, in a low
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| − | tone: "Take a good look at him, wife!"
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| − | M. Leblanc had taken the arm of the young girl, once more, and had turned
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| − | towards the door.
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| − | "Farewell until this evening, my friends!" said he.
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| − | "Six o'clock?" said Jondrette.
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| − | "Six o'clock precisely."
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| − | At that moment, the overcoat lying on the chair caught the eye of the
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| − | elder Jondrette girl.
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| − | "You are forgetting your coat, sir," said she.
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| − | Jondrette darted an annihilating look at his daughter, accompanied by a
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| − | formidable shrug of the shoulders.
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| − | M. Leblanc turned back and said, with a smile:—
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| − | "I have not forgotten it, I am leaving it."
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| − | "O my protector!" said Jondrette, "my august benefactor, I melt into
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| − | tears! Permit me to accompany you to your carriage."
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| − | "If you come out," answered M. Leblanc, "put on this coat. It really is
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| − | very cold."
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| − | Jondrette did not need to be told twice. He hastily donned the brown
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| − | great-coat. And all three went out, Jondrette preceding the two strangers.
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| − | ==Translation notes==
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| − | ==Textual notes==
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| − | ==Citations==
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| − | <references />
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