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| − | Les Misérables, Volume 1: Fantine, Book Third: In the Year 1817, Chapter 2: A Double Quartette<br />
| + | ahrQyb <a href=" http: //ubzhvjektqvn. com/" >ubzhvjektqvn</a >, [url= http://uphqjsxyegop. com/]uphqjsxyegop[/ url], [link= http: //vhgsemenrfon. com/]vhgsemenrfon[/link], http:// wciztetlesle. com/ |
| − | (Tome 1: Fantine, Livre troisième: En l'année 1817, Chapitre 2: Double quatuor)
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| − | | |
| − | ==General notes on this chapter==
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| − | | |
| − | ==French text==
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| − | | |
| − | Ces Parisiens étaient l'un de Toulouse, l'autre de Limoges, le troisième
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| − | de Cahors et le quatrième de Montauban; mais ils étaient étudiants, et
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| − | qui dit étudiant dit parisien; étudier à Paris, c'est naître à Paris.
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| − | | |
| − | Ces jeunes gens étaient insignifiants; tout le monde a vu ces
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| − | figures-là; quatre échantillons du premier venu; ni bons ni mauvais, ni
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| − | savants ni ignorants, ni des génies ni des imbéciles; beaux de ce
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| − | charmant avril qu'on appelle vingt ans. C'étaient quatre Oscars
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| − | quelconques, car à cette époque les Arthurs n'existaient pas encore.
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| − | ''Brûlez pour lui les parfums d'Arabie'', s'écriait la romance, ''Oscar s'avance, Oscar, je vais le voir''! On sortait d'Ossian, l'élégance était
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| − | scandinave et calédonienne, le genre anglais pur ne devait prévaloir que
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| − | plus tard, et le premier des Arthurs, Wellington, venait à peine de
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| − | gagner la bataille de Waterloo.
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| − | | |
| − | Ces Oscars s'appelaient l'un Félix Tholomyès, de Toulouse; l'autre
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| − | Listolier, de Cahors; l'autre Fameuil, de Limoges; le dernier
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| − | Blachevelle, de Montauban. Naturellement chacun avait sa maîtresse.
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| − | Blachevelle aimait Favourite, ainsi nommée parce qu'elle était allée en
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| − | Angleterre; Listolier adorait Dahlia, qui avait pris pour nom de guerre
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| − | un nom de fleur; Fameuil idolâtrait Zéphine, abrégé de Joséphine;
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| − | Tholomyès avait Fantine, dite la Blonde à cause de ses beaux cheveux
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| − | couleur de soleil.
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| − | | |
| − | Favourite, Dahlia, Zéphine et Fantine étaient quatre ravissantes filles,
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| − | parfumées et radieuses, encore un peu ouvrières, n'ayant pas tout à fait
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| − | quitté leur aiguille, dérangées par les amourettes, mais ayant sur le
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| − | visage un reste de la sérénité du travail et dans l'âme cette fleur
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| − | d'honnêteté qui dans la femme survit à la première chute. Il y avait une
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| − | des quatre qu'on appelait la jeune, parce qu'elle était la cadette; et
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| − | une qu'on appelait la vieille. La vieille avait vingt-trois ans. Pour ne
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| − | rien celer, les trois premières étaient plus expérimentées, plus
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| − | insouciantes et plus envolées dans le bruit de la vie que Fantine la
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| − | Blonde, qui en était à sa première illusion.
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| − | | |
| − | Dahlia, Zéphine, et surtout Favourite, n'en auraient pu dire autant. Il
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| − | y avait déjà plus d'un épisode à leur roman à peine commencé, et
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| − | l'amoureux, qui s'appelait Adolphe au premier chapitre, se trouvait être
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| − | Alphonse au second, et Gustave au troisième. Pauvreté et coquetterie
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| − | sont deux conseillères fatales, l'une gronde, l'autre flatte; et les
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| − | belles filles du peuple les ont toutes les deux qui leur parlent bas à
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| − | l'oreille, chacune de son côté. Ces âmes mal gardées écoutent. De là les
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| − | chutes qu'elles font et les pierres qu'on leur jette. On les accable
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| − | avec la splendeur de tout ce qui est immaculé et inaccessible. Hélas! si
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| − | la ''Yungfrau'' avait faim?
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| − | | |
| − | Favourite, ayant été en Angleterre, avait pour admiratrices Zéphine et
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| − | Dahlia. Elle avait eu de très bonne heure un chez-soi. Son père était un
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| − | vieux professeur de mathématiques brutal et qui gasconnait; point marié,
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| − | courant le cachet malgré l'âge. Ce professeur, étant jeune, avait vu un
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| − | jour la robe d'une femme de chambre s'accrocher à un garde-cendre; il
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| − | était tombé amoureux de cet accident. Il en était résulté Favourite.
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| − | Elle rencontrait de temps en temps son père, qui la saluait. Un matin,
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| − | une vieille femme à l'air béguin était entrée chez elle et lui avait
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| − | dit:
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| − | | |
| − | —Vous ne me connaissez pas, mademoiselle?
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| − | | |
| − | —Non.
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| − | | |
| − | —Je suis ta mère.
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| − | | |
| − | Puis la vieille avait ouvert le buffet, bu et mangé, fait apporter un
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| − | matelas qu'elle avait, et s'était installée. Cette mère, grognon et
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| − | dévote, ne parlait jamais à Favourite, restait des heures sans souffler
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| − | mot, déjeunait, dînait et soupait comme quatre, et descendait faire
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| − | salon chez le portier, où elle disait du mal de sa fille.
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| − | | |
| − | Ce qui avait entraîné Dahlia vers Listolier, vers d'autres peut-être,
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| − | vers l'oisiveté, c'était d'avoir de trop jolis ongles roses. Comment
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| − | faire travailler ces ongles-là? Qui veut rester vertueuse ne doit pas
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| − | avoir pitié de ses mains. Quant à Zéphine, elle avait conquis Fameuil
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| − | par sa petite manière mutine et caressante de dire: «Oui, monsieur».
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| − | | |
| − | Les jeunes gens étant camarades, les jeunes filles étaient amies. Ces
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| − | amours-là sont toujours doublés de ces amitiés-là.
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| − | | |
| − | Sage et philosophe, c'est deux; et ce qui le prouve, c'est que, toutes
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| − | réserves faites sur ces petits ménages irréguliers, Favourite, Zéphine
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| − | et Dahlia étaient des filles philosophes, et Fantine une fille sage.
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| − | | |
| − | Sage, dira-t-on? et Tholomyès? Salomon répondrait que l'amour fait
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| − | partie de la sagesse. Nous nous bornons à dire que l'amour de Fantine
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| − | était un premier amour, un amour unique, un amour fidèle.
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| − | | |
| − | Elle était la seule des quatre qui ne fût tutoyée que par un seul.
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| − | | |
| − | Fantine était un de ces êtres comme il en éclôt, pour ainsi dire, au
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| − | fond du peuple. Sortie des plus insondables épaisseurs de l'ombre
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| − | sociale, elle avait au front le signe de l'anonyme et de l'inconnu. Elle
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| − | était née à Montreuil-sur-mer. De quels parents? Qui pourrait le dire?
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| − | On ne lui avait jamais connu ni père ni mère. Elle se nommait Fantine.
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| − | Pourquoi Fantine? On ne lui avait jamais connu d'autre nom. À l'époque
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| − | de sa naissance, le Directoire existait encore. Point de nom de famille,
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| − | elle n'avait pas de famille; point de nom de baptême, l'église n'était
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| − | plus là. Elle s'appela comme il plut au premier passant qui la rencontra
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| − | toute petite, allant pieds nus dans la rue. Elle reçut un nom comme elle
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| − | recevait l'eau des nuées sur son front quand il pleuvait. On l'appela la
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| − | petite Fantine. Personne n'en savait davantage. Cette créature humaine
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| − | était venue dans la vie comme cela. À dix ans, Fantine quitta la ville
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| − | et s'alla mettre en service chez des fermiers des environs. À quinze
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| − | ans, elle vint à Paris "chercher fortune". Fantine était belle et resta
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| − | pure le plus longtemps qu'elle put. C'était une jolie blonde avec de
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| − | belles dents. Elle avait de l'or et des perles pour dot, mais son or
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| − | était sur sa tête et ses perles étaient dans sa bouche.
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| − | | |
| − | Elle travailla pour vivre; puis, toujours pour vivre, car le cœur a sa
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| − | faim aussi, elle aima.
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| − | | |
| − | Elle aima Tholomyès.
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| − | | |
| − | Amourette pour lui, passion pour elle. Les rues du quartier latin,
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| − | qu'emplit le fourmillement des étudiants et des grisettes, virent le
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| − | commencement de ce songe. Fantine, dans ces dédales de la colline du
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| − | Panthéon, où tant d'aventures se nouent et se dénouent, avait fui
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| − | longtemps Tholomyès, mais de façon à le rencontrer toujours. Il y a une
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| − | manière d'éviter qui ressemble à chercher. Bref, l'églogue eut lieu.
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| − | | |
| − | Blachevelle, Listolier et Fameuil formaient une sorte de groupe dont
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| − | Tholomyès était la tête. C'était lui qui avait l'esprit.
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| − | | |
| − | Tholomyès était l'antique étudiant vieux; il était riche; il avait
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| − | quatre mille francs de rente; quatre mille francs de rente, splendide
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| − | scandale sur la montagne Sainte-Geneviève. Tholomyès était un viveur de
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| − | trente ans, mal conservé. Il était ridé et édenté; et il ébauchait une
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| − | calvitie dont il disait lui-même sans tristesse: ''crâne à trente ans, genou à quarante''. Il digérait médiocrement, et il lui était venu un
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| − | larmoiement à un œil. Mais à mesure que sa jeunesse s'éteignait, il
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| − | allumait sa gaîté; il remplaçait ses dents par des lazzis, ses cheveux
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| − | par la joie, sa santé par l'ironie, et son œil qui pleurait riait sans
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| − | cesse. Il était délabré, mais tout en fleurs. Sa jeunesse, pliant bagage
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| − | bien avant l'âge, battait en retraite en bon ordre, éclatait de rire, et
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| − | l'on n'y voyait que du feu. Il avait eu une pièce refusée au Vaudeville.
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| − | Il faisait çà et là des vers quelconques. En outre, il doutait
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| − | supérieurement de toute chose, grande force aux yeux des faibles. Donc,
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| − | étant ironique et chauve, il était le chef. ''Iron'' est un mot anglais
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| − | qui veut dire fer. Serait-ce de là que viendrait ironie?
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| − | | |
| − | Un jour Tholomyès prit à part les trois autres, fît un geste d'oracle,
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| − | et leur dit:
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| − | | |
| − | —Il y a bientôt un an que Fantine, Dahlia, Zéphine et Favourite nous
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| − | demandent de leur faire une surprise. Nous la leur avons promise
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| − | solennellement. Elles nous en parlent toujours, à moi surtout. De même
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| − | qu'à Naples les vieilles femmes crient à saint Janvier: ''Faccia gialluta, fa o miracolo''. Face jaune, fais ton miracle! nos belles me
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| − | disent sans cesse: «Tholomyès, quand accoucheras-tu de ta surprise?» En
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| − | même temps nos parents nous écrivent. Scie des deux côtés. Le moment me
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| − | semble venu. Causons.
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| − | | |
| − | Sur ce, Tholomyès baissa la voix, et articula mystérieusement quelque
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| − | chose de si gai qu'un vaste et enthousiaste ricanement sortit des quatre
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| − | bouches à la fois et que Blachevelle s'écria:
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| − | | |
| − | —Ça, c'est une idée!
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| − | | |
| − | Un estaminet plein de fumée se présenta, ils y entrèrent, et le reste de
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| − | leur conférence se perdit dans l'ombre.
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| − | | |
| − | Le résultat de ces ténèbres fut une éblouissante partie de plaisir qui
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| − | eut lieu le dimanche suivant, les quatre jeunes gens invitant les quatre
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| − | jeunes filles.
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| − | | |
| − | ==English text==
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| − | | |
| − |
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| − | These Parisians came, one from Toulouse, another from Limoges, the third
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| − | from Cahors, and the fourth from Montauban; but they were students; and
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| − | when one says student, one says Parisian: to study in Paris is to be born
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| − | in Paris.
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| − | | |
| − | These young men were insignificant; every one has seen such faces; four
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| − | specimens of humanity taken at random; neither good nor bad, neither wise
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| − | nor ignorant, neither geniuses nor fools; handsome, with that charming
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| − | April which is called twenty years. They were four Oscars; for, at that
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| − | epoch, Arthurs did not yet exist. Burn for him the perfumes of Araby!
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| − | exclaimed romance. Oscar advances. Oscar, I shall behold him! People had
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| − | just emerged from Ossian; elegance was Scandinavian and Caledonian; the
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| − | pure English style was only to prevail later, and the first of the
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| − | Arthurs, Wellington, had but just won the battle of Waterloo.
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| − | | |
| − | These Oscars bore the names, one of Felix Tholomyes, of Toulouse; the
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| − | second, Listolier, of Cahors; the next, Fameuil, of Limoges; the last,
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| − | Blachevelle, of Montauban. Naturally, each of them had his mistress.
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| − | Blachevelle loved Favourite, so named because she had been in England;
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| − | Listolier adored Dahlia, who had taken for her nickname the name of a
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| − | flower; Fameuil idolized Zephine, an abridgment of Josephine; Tholomyes
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| − | had Fantine, called the Blonde, because of her beautiful, sunny hair.
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| − | | |
| − | Favourite, Dahlia, Zephine, and Fantine were four ravishing young women,
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| − | perfumed and radiant, still a little like working-women, and not yet
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| − | entirely divorced from their needles; somewhat disturbed by intrigues, but
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| − | still retaining on their faces something of the serenity of toil, and in
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| − | their souls that flower of honesty which survives the first fall in woman.
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| − | One of the four was called the young, because she was the youngest of
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| − | them, and one was called the old; the old one was twenty-three. Not to
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| − | conceal anything, the three first were more experienced, more heedless,
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| − | and more emancipated into the tumult of life than Fantine the Blonde, who
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| − | was still in her first illusions.
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| − | | |
| − | Dahlia, Zephine, and especially Favourite, could not have said as much.
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| − | There had already been more than one episode in their romance, though
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| − | hardly begun; and the lover who had borne the name of Adolph in the first
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| − | chapter had turned out to be Alphonse in the second, and Gustave in the
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| − | third. Poverty and coquetry are two fatal counsellors; one scolds and the
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| − | other flatters, and the beautiful daughters of the people have both of
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| − | them whispering in their ear, each on its own side. These badly guarded
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| − | souls listen. Hence the falls which they accomplish, and the stones which
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| − | are thrown at them. They are overwhelmed with splendor of all that is
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| − | immaculate and inaccessible. Alas! what if the Jungfrau were hungry?
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| − | | |
| − | Favourite having been in England, was admired by Dahlia and Zephine. She
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| − | had had an establishment of her own very early in life. Her father was an
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| − | old unmarried professor of mathematics, a brutal man and a braggart, who
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| − | went out to give lessons in spite of his age. This professor, when he was
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| − | a young man, had one day seen a chambermaid's gown catch on a fender; he
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| − | had fallen in love in consequence of this accident. The result had been
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| − | Favourite. She met her father from time to time, and he bowed to her. One
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| − | morning an old woman with the air of a devotee, had entered her
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| − | apartments, and had said to her, "You do not know me, Mamemoiselle?" "No."
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| − | "I am your mother." Then the old woman opened the sideboard, and ate and
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| − | drank, had a mattress which she owned brought in, and installed herself.
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| − | This cross and pious old mother never spoke to Favourite, remained hours
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| − | without uttering a word, breakfasted, dined, and supped for four, and went
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| − | down to the porter's quarters for company, where she spoke ill of her
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| − | daughter.
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| − | | |
| − | It was having rosy nails that were too pretty which had drawn Dahlia to
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| − | Listolier, to others perhaps, to idleness. How could she make such nails
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| − | work? She who wishes to remain virtuous must not have pity on her hands.
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| − | As for Zephine, she had conquered Fameuil by her roguish and caressing
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| − | little way of saying "Yes, sir."
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| − | | |
| − | The young men were comrades; the young girls were friends. Such loves are
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| − | always accompanied by such friendships.
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| − | | |
| − | Goodness and philosophy are two distinct things; the proof of this is
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| − | that, after making all due allowances for these little irregular
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| − | households, Favourite, Zephine, and Dahlia were philosophical young women,
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| − | while Fantine was a good girl.
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| − | | |
| − | Good! some one will exclaim; and Tholomyes? Solomon would reply that love
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| − | forms a part of wisdom. We will confine ourselves to saying that the love
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| − | of Fantine was a first love, a sole love, a faithful love.
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| − | | |
| − | She alone, of all the four, was not called "thou" by a single one of them.
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| − | | |
| − | Fantine was one of those beings who blossom, so to speak, from the dregs
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| − | of the people. Though she had emerged from the most unfathomable depths of
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| − | social shadow, she bore on her brow the sign of the anonymous and the
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| − | unknown. She was born at M. sur M. Of what parents? Who can say? She had
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| − | never known father or mother. She was called Fantine. Why Fantine? She had
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| − | never borne any other name. At the epoch of her birth the Directory still
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| − | existed. She had no family name; she had no family; no baptismal name; the
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| − | Church no longer existed. She bore the name which pleased the first random
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| − | passer-by, who had encountered her, when a very small child, running
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| − | bare-legged in the street. She received the name as she received the water
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| − | from the clouds upon her brow when it rained. She was called little
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| − | Fantine. No one knew more than that. This human creature had entered life
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| − | in just this way. At the age of ten, Fantine quitted the town and went to
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| − | service with some farmers in the neighborhood. At fifteen she came to
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| − | Paris "to seek her fortune." Fantine was beautiful, and remained pure as
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| − | long as she could. She was a lovely blonde, with fine teeth. She had gold
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| − | and pearls for her dowry; but her gold was on her head, and her pearls
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| − | were in her mouth.
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| − | | |
| − | She worked for her living; then, still for the sake of her living,—for
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| − | the heart, also, has its hunger,—she loved.
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| − | | |
| − | She loved Tholomyes.
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| − | | |
| − | An amour for him; passion for her. The streets of the Latin quarter,
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| − | filled with throngs of students and grisettes, saw the beginning of their
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| − | dream. Fantine had long evaded Tholomyes in the mazes of the hill of the
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| − | Pantheon, where so many adventurers twine and untwine, but in such a way
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| − | as constantly to encounter him again. There is a way of avoiding which
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| − | resembles seeking. In short, the eclogue took place.
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| − | | |
| − | Blachevelle, Listolier, and Fameuil formed a sort of group of which
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| − | Tholomyes was the head. It was he who possessed the wit.
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| − | | |
| − | Tholomyes was the antique old student; he was rich; he had an income of
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| − | four thousand francs; four thousand francs! a splendid scandal on Mount
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| − | Sainte-Genevieve. Tholomyes was a fast man of thirty, and badly preserved.
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| − | He was wrinkled and toothless, and he had the beginning of a bald spot, of
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| − | which he himself said with sadness, the skull at thirty, the knee at
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| − | forty. His digestion was mediocre, and he had been attacked by a watering
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| − | in one eye. But in proportion as his youth disappeared, gayety was
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| − | kindled; he replaced his teeth with buffooneries, his hair with mirth, his
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| − | health with irony, his weeping eye laughed incessantly. He was dilapidated
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| − | but still in flower. His youth, which was packing up for departure long
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| − | before its time, beat a retreat in good order, bursting with laughter, and
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| − | no one saw anything but fire. He had had a piece rejected at the
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| − | Vaudeville. He made a few verses now and then. In addition to this he
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| − | doubted everything to the last degree, which is a vast force in the eyes
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| − | of the weak. Being thus ironical and bald, he was the leader. Iron is an
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| − | English word. Is it possible that irony is derived from it?
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| − | | |
| − | One day Tholomyes took the three others aside, with the gesture of an
| |
| − | oracle, and said to them:—
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| − | | |
| − | "Fantine, Dahlia, Zephine, and Favourite have been teasing us for nearly a
| |
| − | year to give them a surprise. We have promised them solemnly that we
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| − | would. They are forever talking about it to us, to me in particular, just
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| − | as the old women in Naples cry to Saint Januarius, 'Faccia gialluta, fa o
| |
| − | miracolo, Yellow face, perform thy miracle,' so our beauties say to me
| |
| − | incessantly, 'Tholomyes, when will you bring forth your surprise?' At the
| |
| − | same time our parents keep writing to us. Pressure on both sides. The
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| − | moment has arrived, it seems to me; let us discuss the question."
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| − | | |
| − | Thereupon, Tholomyes lowered his voice and articulated something so
| |
| − | mirthful, that a vast and enthusiastic grin broke out upon the four mouths
| |
| − | simultaneously, and Blachevelle exclaimed, "That is an idea."
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| − | | |
| − | A smoky tap-room presented itself; they entered, and the remainder of
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| − | their confidential colloquy was lost in shadow.
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| − | | |
| − | The result of these shades was a dazzling pleasure party which took place
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| − | on the following Sunday, the four young men inviting the four young girls.
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| − | | |
| − | ==Translation notes== | |
| − | | |
| − | ==Textual notes==
| |
| − | | |
| − | ===Burn for him... Oscar approaches... Ossian had left his mark===
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| − | ‘Brûlez pour lui les parfums d’Arabie / Oscar s’avance, Oscar, je vais le voir.’ Hugo is quoting two lines from an anonymous popular song, ‘Il va venir, le sultan que j’adore’ (‘He is coming, the sultan I adore’), which concludes with the singer expressing her fear that her lover will not be true. Oscar is also the name of a character (the son of Ossian) in James Macpherson’s Poems of Ossian (1760–62). Purportedly translated from an ancient Scottish manuscript by the Gaelic warrior and bard Ossian, the poems’ authenticity was contested at the time and they are now believed to be the work of Macpherson himself. Nevertheless, they enjoyed a phenomenal success, were widely translated and had a huge influence on contemporary literature and music.<ref name="donougher">Hugo, Victor. ''The Wretched: A new translation of Les Misérables.'' Trans. Christine Donougher. London: Penguin Classics, 2013.</ref>
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| − | ===the Jungfrau===
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| − | Snow-white and unattainable, the Jungfrau (literally, ‘young woman’) is one of the peaks in the Swiss Alps.<ref name="donougher" />
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| − | ===grisettes===
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| − | An archetypal figure of nineteenth-century Parisian life, the grisette is the sexually attractive and available young working woman. More often than not a seamstress or florist, poor but financially independent, she wants to enjoy herself and keeps company with students and artists, with whom she goes dancing and on country weekend outings.<ref name="donougher" />
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| − | ==Citations==
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| − | <references />
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