Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
CHAPTER II—ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE SEWER
Let the reader imagine Paris lifted off like a cover, the subterranean
network of sewers, from a bird’s-eye view, will outline on the banks a
species of large branch grafted on the river. On the right bank, the
belt sewer will form the trunk of this branch, the secondary ducts will
form the branches, and those without exit the twigs.
This figure is but a summary one and half exact, the right angle, which
is the customary angle of this species of subterranean ramifications,
being very rare in vegetation.
A more accurate image of this strange geometrical plan can be formed by
supposing that one is viewing some eccentric oriental alphabet, as
intricate as a thicket, against a background of shadows, and the
misshapen letters should be welded one to another in apparent
confusion, and as at haphazard, now by their angles, again by their
extremities.
Sinks and sewers played a great part in the Middle Ages, in the Lower
Empire and in the Orient of old. The masses regarded these beds of
decomposition, these monstrous cradles of death, with a fear that was
almost religious. The vermin ditch of Benares is no less conducive to
giddiness than the lions’ ditch of Babylon. Teglath-Phalasar, according
to the rabbinical books, swore by the sink of Nineveh. It was from the
sewer of Münster that John of Leyden produced his false moon, and it
was from the cesspool of Kekscheb that oriental menalchme, Mokanna, the
veiled prophet of Khorassan, caused his false sun to emerge.
The history of men is reflected in the history of sewers. The
Germoniæ58 narrated Rome. The sewer of Paris has been an ancient and
formidable thing. It has been a sepulchre, it has served as an asylum.
Crime, intelligence, social protest, liberty of conscience, thought,
theft, all that human laws persecute or have persecuted, is hidden in
that hole; the _maillotins_ in the fourteenth century, the _tire-laine_
of the fifteenth, the Huguenots in the sixteenth, Morin’s _illuminated_
in the seventeenth, the _chauffeurs_ [brigands] in the eighteenth. A
hundred years ago, the nocturnal blow of the dagger emerged thence, the
pickpocket in danger slipped thither; the forest had its cave, Paris
had its sewer. Vagrancy, that Gallic _picareria_, accepted the sewer as
the adjunct of the Cour des Miracles, and at evening, it returned
thither, fierce and sly, through the Maubuée outlet, as into a
bed-chamber.
It was quite natural, that those who had the blind-alley Vide-Gousset,
[Empty-Pocket] or the Rue Coupe-Gorge [Cut-Throat], for the scene of
their daily labor, should have for their domicile by night the culvert
of the Chemin-Vert, or the catch basin of Hurepoix. Hence a throng of
souvenirs. All sorts of phantoms haunt these long, solitary corridors;
everywhere is putrescence and miasma; here and there are
breathing-holes, where Villon within converses with Rabelais without.
The sewer in ancient Paris is the rendezvous of all exhaustions and of
all attempts. Political economy therein spies a detritus, social
philosophy there beholds a residuum.
The sewer is the conscience of the city. Everything there converges and
confronts everything else. In that livid spot there are shades, but
there are no longer any secrets. Each thing bears its true form, or at
least, its definitive form. The mass of filth has this in its favor,
that it is not a liar. Ingenuousness has taken refuge there. The mask
of Basil is to be found there, but one beholds its cardboard and its
strings and the inside as well as the outside, and it is accentuated by
honest mud. Scapin’s false nose is its next-door neighbor. All the
uncleannesses of civilization, once past their use, fall into this
trench of truth, where the immense social sliding ends. They are there
engulfed, but they display themselves there. This mixture is a
confession. There, no more false appearances, no plastering over is
possible, filth removes its shirt, absolute denudation puts to the rout
all illusions and mirages, there is nothing more except what really
exists, presenting the sinister form of that which is coming to an end.
There, the bottom of a bottle indicates drunkenness, a basket-handle
tells a tale of domesticity; there the core of an apple which has
entertained literary opinions becomes an apple-core once more; the
effigy on the big sou becomes frankly covered with verdigris, Caiphas’
spittle meets Falstaff’s puking, the louis-d’or which comes from the
gaming-house jostles the nail whence hangs the rope’s end of the
suicide. A livid fœtus rolls along, enveloped in the spangles which
danced at the Opera last Shrove-Tuesday, a cap which has pronounced
judgment on men wallows beside a mass of rottenness which was formerly
Margoton’s petticoat; it is more than fraternization, it is equivalent
to addressing each other as _thou_. All which was formerly rouged, is
washed free. The last veil is torn away. A sewer is a cynic. It tells
everything.
The sincerity of foulness pleases us, and rests the soul. When one has
passed one’s time in enduring upon earth the spectacle of the great
airs which reasons of state, the oath, political sagacity, human
justice, professional probity, the austerities of situation,
incorruptible robes all assume, it solaces one to enter a sewer and to
behold the mire which befits it.
This is instructive at the same time. We have just said that history
passes through the sewer. The Saint-Barthélemys filter through there,
drop by drop, between the paving-stones. Great public assassinations,
political and religious butcheries, traverse this underground passage
of civilization, and thrust their corpses there. For the eye of the
thinker, all historic murderers are to be found there, in that hideous
penumbra, on their knees, with a scrap of their winding-sheet for an
apron, dismally sponging out their work. Louis XI. is there with
Tristan, François I. with Duprat, Charles IX. is there with his mother,
Richelieu is there with Louis XIII., Louvois is there, Letellier is
there, Hébert and Maillard are there, scratching the stones, and trying
to make the traces of their actions disappear. Beneath these vaults one
hears the brooms of spectres. One there breathes the enormous fetidness
of social catastrophes. One beholds reddish reflections in the corners.
There flows a terrible stream, in which bloody hands have been washed.
The social observer should enter these shadows. They form a part of his
laboratory. Philosophy is the microscope of the thought. Everything
desires to flee from it, but nothing escapes it. Tergiversation is
useless. What side of oneself does one display in evasions? the
shameful side. Philosophy pursues with its glance, probes the evil, and
does not permit it to escape into nothingness. In the obliteration of
things which disappear, in the watching of things which vanish, it
recognizes all. It reconstructs the purple from the rag, and the woman
from the scrap of her dress. From the cesspool, it reconstitutes the
city; from mud, it reconstructs manners; from the potsherd it infers
the amphora or the jug. By the imprint of a finger-nail on a piece of
parchment, it recognizes the difference which separates the Jewry of
the Judengasse from the Jewry of the Ghetto. It re-discovers in what
remains that which has been, good, evil, the true, the blood-stain of
the palace, the ink-blot of the cavern, the drop of sweat from the
brothel, trials undergone, temptations welcomed, orgies cast forth, the
turn which characters have taken as they became abased, the trace of
prostitution in souls of which their grossness rendered them capable,
and on the vesture of the porters of Rome the mark of Messalina’s
elbowing.
Chapters
- Chapter 1 Ch.1
- CHAPTER XIV—WHAT HE THOUGHT Ch.2
- CHAPTER XIII—LITTLE GERVAIS Ch.3
- CHAPTER IX—A MERRY END TO MIRTH Ch.4
- CHAPTER III—THE LARK Ch.5
- CHAPTER XIII—THE SOLUTION OF SOME QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE Ch.6
- CHAPTER II—HOW JEAN MAY BECOME CHAMP Ch.7
- CHAPTER VII—THE TRAVELLER ON HIS ARRIVAL TAKES PRECAUTIONS FOR Ch.8
- CHAPTER XI—CHAMPMATHIEU MORE AND MORE ASTONISHED Ch.9
- CHAPTER V—A SUITABLE TOMB Ch.10
- CHAPTER XIX—THE BATTLE-FIELD AT NIGHT Ch.11
- CHAPTER II—IN WHICH THE READER WILL PERUSE TWO VERSES, WHICH ARE OF Ch.12
- CHAPTER III—THE ANKLE-CHAIN MUST HAVE UNDERGONE A CERTAIN PREPARATORY Ch.13
- CHAPTER VIII—THE UNPLEASANTNESS OF RECEIVING INTO ONE’S HOUSE A POOR Ch.14
- CHAPTER X—HE WHO SEEKS TO BETTER HIMSELF MAY RENDER HIS SITUATION Ch.15
- CHAPTER XI—NUMBER 9,430 REAPPEARS, AND COSETTE WINS IT IN THE LOTTERY Ch.16
- CHAPTER V—A FIVE-FRANC PIECE FALLS ON THE GROUND AND PRODUCES A TUMULT Ch.17
- CHAPTER X—WHICH EXPLAINS HOW JAVERT GOT ON THE SCENT Ch.18
- CHAPTER XI—END OF THE PETIT-PICPUS Ch.19
- CHAPTER VIII—FAITH, LAW Ch.20
- CHAPTER IV—IN WHICH JEAN VALJEAN HAS QUITE THE AIR OF HAVING READ Ch.21
- CHAPTER VII—IN WHICH WILL BE FOUND THE ORIGIN OF THE SAYING: DON’T Ch.22
- CHAPTER IX—CLOISTERED Ch.23
- CHAPTER VII—THE GAMIN SHOULD HAVE HIS PLACE IN THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF Ch.24
- CHAPTER VIII—IN WHICH THE READER WILL FIND A CHARMING SAYING OF THE Ch.25
- CHAPTER XIII—LITTLE GAVROCHE Ch.26
- CHAPTER VIII—TWO DO NOT MAKE A PAIR Ch.27
- CHAPTER V—THE UTILITY OF GOING TO MASS, IN ORDER TO BECOME A Ch.28
- CHAPTER VIII—MARBLE AGAINST GRANITE Ch.29
- CHAPTER VI—RES ANGUSTA Ch.30
- CHAPTER VI—THE SUBSTITUTE Ch.31
- CHAPTER IX—ECLIPSE Ch.32
- CHAPTER IV—COMPOSITION OF THE TROUPE Ch.33
- CHAPTER I—MARIUS, WHILE SEEKING A GIRL IN A BONNET, ENCOUNTERS A MAN Ch.34
- CHAPTER XIII—SOLUS CUM SOLO, IN LOCO REMOTO, NON COGITABUNTUR ORARE Ch.35
- CHAPTER XVI—IN WHICH WILL BE FOUND THE WORDS TO AN ENGLISH AIR WHICH Ch.36
- CHAPTER XXII—THE LITTLE ONE WHO WAS CRYING IN VOLUME TWO Ch.37
- CHAPTER VI—ENJOLRAS AND HIS LIEUTENANTS Ch.38
- CHAPTER IV—AN APPARITION TO MARIUS Ch.39
- CHAPTER VIII—THE CHAIN-GANG Ch.40
- CHAPTER II—MOTHER PLUTARQUE FINDS NO DIFFICULTY IN EXPLAINING A Ch.41
- CHAPTER VI—OLD PEOPLE ARE MADE TO GO OUT OPPORTUNELY Ch.42
- CHAPTER II—IN WHICH LITTLE GAVROCHE EXTRACTS PROFIT FROM NAPOLEON THE Ch.43
- CHAPTER III—THE VICISSITUDES OF FLIGHT Ch.44
- CHAPTER IV—THE TWO DUTIES: TO WATCH AND TO HOPE Ch.45
- CHAPTER VI—MARIUS BECOMES PRACTICAL ONCE MORE TO THE EXTENT OF GIVING Ch.46
- CHAPTER VII—THE OLD HEART AND THE YOUNG HEART IN THE PRESENCE OF EACH Ch.47
- CHAPTER III—M. MABEUF Ch.48
- CHAPTER V—ORIGINALITY OF PARIS Ch.49
- CHAPTER I—SOME EXPLANATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF GAVROCHE’S Ch.50
- CHAPTER VI—RECRUITS Ch.51
- CHAPTER VIII—MANY INTERROGATION POINTS WITH REGARD TO A CERTAIN LE Ch.52
- CHAPTER III—THE EXTREME EDGE Ch.53
- CHAPTER III—GAVROCHE WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER TO ACCEPT ENJOLRAS’ Ch.54
- CHAPTER VII—GAVROCHE AS A PROFOUND CALCULATOR OF DISTANCES Ch.55
- CHAPTER IV—GAVROCHE’S EXCESS OF ZEAL Ch.56
- CHAPTER IX—EMPLOYMENT OF THE OLD TALENTS OF A POACHER AND THAT Ch.57
- CHAPTER XX—THE DEAD ARE IN THE RIGHT AND THE LIVING ARE NOT IN THE Ch.58
- CHAPTER XXIV—PRISONER Ch.59
- CHAPTER VI—FUTURE PROGRESS Ch.60
- CHAPTER V—IN THE CASE OF SAND AS IN THAT OF WOMAN, THERE IS A FINENESS Ch.61
- CHAPTER VII—ONE SOMETIMES RUNS AGROUND WHEN ONE FANCIES THAT ONE IS Ch.62
- CHAPTER IX—MARIUS PRODUCES ON SOME ONE WHO IS A JUDGE OF THE MATTER, Ch.63
- CHAPTER XII—THE GRANDFATHER Ch.64
- CHAPTER I Ch.65
- CHAPTER II—MARIUS, EMERGING FROM CIVIL WAR, MAKES READY FOR DOMESTIC Ch.66
- CHAPTER IV—MADEMOISELLE GILLENORMAND ENDS BY NO LONGER THINKING IT A Ch.67
- CHAPTER VI—THE TWO OLD MEN DO EVERYTHING, EACH ONE AFTER HIS OWN Ch.68
- CHAPTER VIII—TWO MEN IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND Ch.69
- CHAPTER IV—THE IMMORTAL LIVER Ch.70
- CHAPTER II—THE OBSCURITIES WHICH A REVELATION CAN CONTAIN Ch.71
- CHAPTER IV—ATTRACTION AND EXTINCTION Ch.72
- CHAPTER III—A PEN IS HEAVY TO THE MAN WHO LIFTED THE FAUCHELEVENT’S Ch.73
- CHAPTER VI—THE GRASS COVERS AND THE RAIN EFFACES Ch.74
- CHAPTER I—M. MYRIEL Ch.75
- CHAPTER II—M. MYRIEL BECOMES M. WELCOME Ch.76
- 1712. This palace was a genuine seignorial residence. Everything about Ch.77
- CHAPTER III—A HARD BISHOPRIC FOR A GOOD BISHOP Ch.78
- CHAPTER IV—WORKS CORRESPONDING TO WORDS Ch.79
- CHAPTER V—MONSEIGNEUR BIENVENU MADE HIS CASSOCKS LAST TOO LONG Ch.80
- CHAPTER VI—WHO GUARDED HIS HOUSE FOR HIM Ch.81
- CHAPTER VII—CRAVATTE Ch.82
- CHAPTER VIII—PHILOSOPHY AFTER DRINKING Ch.83
- CHAPTER IX—THE BROTHER AS DEPICTED BY THE SISTER Ch.84
- CHAPTER X—THE BISHOP IN THE PRESENCE OF AN UNKNOWN LIGHT Ch.85
- CHAPTER XI—A RESTRICTION Ch.86
- CHAPTER XII—THE SOLITUDE OF MONSEIGNEUR WELCOME Ch.87
- CHAPTER XIII—WHAT HE BELIEVED Ch.88
- CHAPTER XIV—WHAT HE THOUGHT Ch.89
- CHAPTER I—THE EVENING OF A DAY OF WALKING Ch.90
- CHAPTER II—PRUDENCE COUNSELLED TO WISDOM. Ch.91
- CHAPTER III—THE HEROISM OF PASSIVE OBEDIENCE. Ch.92
- CHAPTER IV—DETAILS CONCERNING THE CHEESE-DAIRIES OF PONTARLIER. Ch.93
- CHAPTER V—TRANQUILLITY Ch.94
- CHAPTER VI—JEAN VALJEAN Ch.95
- CHAPTER VII—THE INTERIOR OF DESPAIR Ch.96
- CHAPTER VIII—BILLOWS AND SHADOWS Ch.97
- CHAPTER IX—NEW TROUBLES Ch.98
- CHAPTER X—THE MAN AROUSED Ch.99
- CHAPTER XI—WHAT HE DOES Ch.100
- CHAPTER XII—THE BISHOP WORKS Ch.101
- CHAPTER XIII—LITTLE GERVAIS Ch.102
- CHAPTER I—THE YEAR 1817 Ch.103
- CHAPTER II—A DOUBLE QUARTETTE Ch.104
- CHAPTER III—FOUR AND FOUR Ch.105
- CHAPTER IV—THOLOMYÈS IS SO MERRY THAT HE SINGS A SPANISH DITTY Ch.106
- CHAPTER V—AT BOMBARDA’S Ch.107
- CHAPTER VI—A CHAPTER IN WHICH THEY ADORE EACH OTHER Ch.108
- CHAPTER VII—THE WISDOM OF THOLOMYÈS Ch.109
- CHAPTER VIII—THE DEATH OF A HORSE Ch.110
- CHAPTER IX—A MERRY END TO MIRTH Ch.111
- CHAPTER I—ONE MOTHER MEETS ANOTHER MOTHER Ch.112
- CHAPTER II—FIRST SKETCH OF TWO UNPREPOSSESSING FIGURES Ch.113
- CHAPTER III—THE LARK Ch.114
- CHAPTER I—THE HISTORY OF A PROGRESS IN BLACK GLASS TRINKETS Ch.115
- CHAPTER II—MADELEINE Ch.116
- CHAPTER III—SUMS DEPOSITED WITH LAFFITTE Ch.117
- CHAPTER IV—M. MADELEINE IN MOURNING Ch.118
- CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON Ch.119
- CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT Ch.120
- CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN PARIS Ch.121
- CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY FRANCS ON MORALITY Ch.122
- CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS Ch.123
- CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS Ch.124
- CHAPTER XI—CHRISTUS NOS LIBERAVIT Ch.125
- CHAPTER XII—M. BAMATABOIS’S INACTIVITY Ch.126
- CHAPTER XIII—THE SOLUTION OF SOME QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE Ch.127
- CHAPTER I—THE BEGINNING OF REPOSE Ch.128
- CHAPTER II—HOW JEAN MAY BECOME CHAMP Ch.129
- CHAPTER I—SISTER SIMPLICE Ch.130
- CHAPTER II—THE PERSPICACITY OF MASTER SCAUFFLAIRE Ch.131
- CHAPTER III—A TEMPEST IN A SKULL Ch.132
- CHAPTER IV—FORMS ASSUMED BY SUFFERING DURING SLEEP Ch.133
- CHAPTER V—HINDRANCES Ch.134
- CHAPTER VI—SISTER SIMPLICE PUT TO THE PROOF Ch.135
- CHAPTER VII—THE TRAVELLER ON HIS ARRIVAL TAKES PRECAUTIONS FOR Ch.136
- CHAPTER VIII—AN ENTRANCE BY FAVOR Ch.137
- CHAPTER IX—A PLACE WHERE CONVICTIONS ARE IN PROCESS OF FORMATION Ch.138
- CHAPTER X—THE SYSTEM OF DENIALS Ch.139
- CHAPTER XI—CHAMPMATHIEU MORE AND MORE ASTONISHED Ch.140
- CHAPTER I—IN WHAT MIRROR M. MADELEINE CONTEMPLATES HIS HAIR Ch.141
- CHAPTER II—FANTINE HAPPY Ch.142
- CHAPTER III—JAVERT SATISFIED Ch.143
- CHAPTER IV—AUTHORITY REASSERTS ITS RIGHTS Ch.144
- CHAPTER V—A SUITABLE TOMB Ch.145
- CHAPTER I—WHAT IS MET WITH ON THE WAY FROM NIVELLES Ch.146
- CHAPTER II—HOUGOMONT Ch.147
- CHAPTER III—THE EIGHTEENTH OF JUNE, 1815 Ch.148
- CHAPTER IV—A Ch.149
- CHAPTER V—THE QUID OBSCURUM OF BATTLES Ch.150
- CHAPTER VI—FOUR O’CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON Ch.151
- CHAPTER VII—NAPOLEON IN A GOOD HUMOR Ch.152
- CHAPTER VIII—THE EMPEROR PUTS A QUESTION TO THE GUIDE LACOSTE Ch.153
- CHAPTER IX—THE UNEXPECTED Ch.154
- CHAPTER X—THE PLATEAU OF MONT-SAINT-JEAN Ch.155
- CHAPTER XI—A BAD GUIDE TO NAPOLEON; A GOOD GUIDE TO BÜLOW Ch.156
- CHAPTER XII—THE GUARD Ch.157
- CHAPTER XIII—THE CATASTROPHE Ch.158
- CHAPTER XIV—THE LAST SQUARE Ch.159
- CHAPTER XV—CAMBRONNE Ch.160
- CHAPTER XVI—QUOT LIBRAS IN DUCE? Ch.161
- CHAPTER XVII—IS WATERLOO TO BE CONSIDERED GOOD? Ch.162
- CHAPTER XVIII—A RECRUDESCENCE OF DIVINE RIGHT Ch.163
- CHAPTER XIX—THE BATTLE-FIELD AT NIGHT Ch.164
- CHAPTER I—NUMBER 24,601 BECOMES NUMBER 9,430 Ch.165
- CHAPTER II—IN WHICH THE READER WILL PERUSE TWO VERSES, WHICH ARE OF THE Ch.166
- CHAPTER III—THE ANKLE-CHAIN MUST HAVE UNDERGONE A CERTAIN PREPARATORY Ch.167
- CHAPTER I—THE WATER QUESTION AT MONTFERMEIL Ch.168
- CHAPTER II—TWO COMPLETE PORTRAITS Ch.169
- CHAPTER III—MEN MUST HAVE WINE, AND HORSES MUST HAVE WATER Ch.170
- CHAPTER IV—ENTRANCE ON THE SCENE OF A DOLL Ch.171
- CHAPTER V—THE LITTLE ONE ALL ALONE Ch.172
- CHAPTER VI—WHICH POSSIBLY PROVES BOULATRUELLE’S INTELLIGENCE Ch.173
- CHAPTER VII—COSETTE SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE STRANGER IN THE DARK Ch.174
- CHAPTER VIII—THE UNPLEASANTNESS OF RECEIVING INTO ONE’S HOUSE A POOR Ch.175
- CHAPTER IX— THÉNARDIER AND HIS MANŒUVRES Ch.176
- CHAPTER X—HE WHO SEEKS TO BETTER HIMSELF MAY RENDER HIS SITUATION WORSE Ch.177
- CHAPTER XI—NUMBER 9,430 REAPPEARS, AND COSETTE WINS IT IN THE LOTTERY Ch.178
- CHAPTER I—MASTER GORBEAU Ch.179
- CHAPTER II—A NEST FOR OWL AND A WARBLER Ch.180
- CHAPTER III—TWO MISFORTUNES MAKE ONE PIECE OF GOOD FORTUNE Ch.181
- CHAPTER IV—THE REMARKS OF THE PRINCIPAL TENANT Ch.182
- CHAPTER V—A FIVE-FRANC PIECE FALLS ON THE GROUND AND PRODUCES A TUMULT Ch.183
- CHAPTER I—THE ZIGZAGS OF STRATEGY Ch.184
- CHAPTER II—IT IS LUCKY THAT THE PONT D’AUSTERLITZ BEARS CARRIAGES Ch.185
- CHAPTER III—TO WIT, THE PLAN OF PARIS IN 1727 Ch.186
- CHAPTER IV—THE GROPINGS OF FLIGHT Ch.187
- CHAPTER V—WHICH WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH GAS LANTERNS Ch.188
- CHAPTER VI—THE BEGINNING OF AN ENIGMA Ch.189
- CHAPTER VII—CONTINUATION OF THE ENIGMA Ch.190
- CHAPTER VIII—THE ENIGMA BECOMES DOUBLY MYSTERIOUS Ch.191
- CHAPTER IX—THE MAN WITH THE BELL Ch.192
- CHAPTER X—WHICH EXPLAINS HOW JAVERT GOT ON THE SCENT Ch.193
- episode of the thousand-franc bill. She had seen it! She had handled Ch.194
- CHAPTER I—NUMBER 62 RUE PETIT-PICPUS Ch.195
- CHAPTER II—THE OBEDIENCE OF MARTIN VERGA Ch.196
- CHAPTER III—AUSTERITIES Ch.197
- CHAPTER IV—GAYETIES Ch.198
- CHAPTER V—DISTRACTIONS Ch.199
- CHAPTER VI—THE LITTLE CONVENT Ch.200
- CHAPTER VII—SOME SILHOUETTES OF THIS DARKNESS Ch.201
- CHAPTER VIII—POST CORDA LAPIDES Ch.202
- CHAPTER IX—A CENTURY UNDER A GUIMPE Ch.203
- CHAPTER X—ORIGIN OF THE PERPETUAL ADORATION Ch.204
- CHAPTER XI—END OF THE PETIT-PICPUS Ch.205
- CHAPTER I—THE CONVENT AS AN ABSTRACT IDEA Ch.206
- CHAPTER II—THE CONVENT AS AN HISTORICAL FACT Ch.207
- CHAPTER III—ON WHAT CONDITIONS ONE CAN RESPECT THE PAST Ch.208
- CHAPTER IV—THE CONVENT FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF PRINCIPLES Ch.209
- CHAPTER V—PRAYER Ch.210
- CHAPTER VI—THE ABSOLUTE GOODNESS OF PRAYER Ch.211
- CHAPTER VII—PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED IN BLAME Ch.212
- CHAPTER VIII—FAITH, LAW Ch.213
- CHAPTER I—WHICH TREATS OF THE MANNER OF ENTERING A CONVENT Ch.214
- CHAPTER II—FAUCHELEVENT IN THE PRESENCE OF A DIFFICULTY Ch.215
- CHAPTER III—MOTHER INNOCENTE Ch.216
- CHAPTER IV—IN WHICH JEAN VALJEAN HAS QUITE THE AIR OF HAVING READ Ch.217
- CHAPTER V—IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO BE DRUNK IN ORDER TO BE IMMORTAL Ch.218
- CHAPTER VI—BETWEEN FOUR PLANKS Ch.219
- CHAPTER VII—IN WHICH WILL BE FOUND THE ORIGIN OF THE SAYING: DON’T LOSE Ch.220
- CHAPTER VIII—A SUCCESSFUL INTERROGATORY Ch.221
- CHAPTER IX—CLOISTERED Ch.222
- CHAPTER I—PARVULUS Ch.223
- CHAPTER II—SOME OF HIS PARTICULAR CHARACTERISTICS Ch.224
- CHAPTER III—HE IS AGREEABLE Ch.225
- CHAPTER IV—HE MAY BE OF USE Ch.226
- CHAPTER V—HIS FRONTIERS Ch.227
- CHAPTER VI—A BIT OF HISTORY Ch.228
- CHAPTER VII—THE GAMIN SHOULD HAVE HIS PLACE IN THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF Ch.229
- CHAPTER VIII—IN WHICH THE READER WILL FIND A CHARMING SAYING OF THE Ch.230
- CHAPTER IX—THE OLD SOUL OF GAUL Ch.231
- CHAPTER X—ECCE PARIS, ECCE HOMO Ch.232
- CHAPTER XI—TO SCOFF, TO REIGN Ch.233
- CHAPTER XII—THE FUTURE LATENT IN THE PEOPLE Ch.234
- CHAPTER XIII—LITTLE GAVROCHE Ch.235
- CHAPTER I—NINETY YEARS AND THIRTY-TWO TEETH Ch.236
- CHAPTER II—LIKE MASTER, LIKE HOUSE Ch.237
- CHAPTER III—LUC-ESPRIT Ch.238
- CHAPTER IV—A CENTENARIAN ASPIRANT Ch.239
- CHAPTER V—BASQUE AND NICOLETTE Ch.240
- CHAPTER VI—IN WHICH MAGNON AND HER TWO CHILDREN ARE SEEN Ch.241
- CHAPTER VII—RULE: RECEIVE NO ONE EXCEPT IN THE EVENING Ch.242
- CHAPTER VIII—TWO DO NOT MAKE A PAIR Ch.243
- CHAPTER I—AN ANCIENT SALON Ch.244
- CHAPTER II—ONE OF THE RED SPECTRES OF THAT EPOCH Ch.245
- 1794. Pontmercy fought at Spire, at Worms, at Neustadt, at Turkheim, at Ch.246
- CHAPTER III—REQUIESCANT Ch.247
- introduction into history of M. le Marquis de Bonaparte, Ch.248
- CHAPTER IV—END OF THE BRIGAND Ch.249
- CHAPTER V—THE UTILITY OF GOING TO MASS, IN ORDER TO BECOME A Ch.250
- CHAPTER VI—THE CONSEQUENCES OF HAVING MET A WARDEN Ch.251
- CHAPTER VII—SOME PETTICOAT Ch.252
- CHAPTER VIII—MARBLE AGAINST GRANITE Ch.253
- CHAPTER I—A GROUP WHICH BARELY MISSED BECOMING HISTORIC Ch.254
- CHAPTER II—BLONDEAU’S FUNERAL ORATION BY BOSSUET Ch.255
- CHAPTER III—MARIUS’ ASTONISHMENTS Ch.256
- CHAPTER IV—THE BACK ROOM OF THE CAFÉ MUSAIN Ch.257
- CHAPTER V—ENLARGEMENT OF HORIZON Ch.258
- CHAPTER VI—RES ANGUSTA Ch.259
- CHAPTER I—MARIUS INDIGENT Ch.260
- CHAPTER II—MARIUS POOR Ch.261
- CHAPTER III—MARIUS GROWN UP Ch.262
- CHAPTER IV—M. MABEUF Ch.263
- CHAPTER V—POVERTY A GOOD NEIGHBOR FOR MISERY Ch.264
- CHAPTER VI—THE SUBSTITUTE Ch.265
- CHAPTER I—THE SOBRIQUET: MODE OF FORMATION OF FAMILY NAMES Ch.266
- CHAPTER II—LUX FACTA EST Ch.267
- CHAPTER III—EFFECT OF THE SPRING Ch.268
- CHAPTER IV—BEGINNING OF A GREAT MALADY Ch.269
- CHAPTER V—DIVERS CLAPS OF THUNDER FALL ON MA’AM BOUGON Ch.270
- CHAPTER VI—TAKEN PRISONER Ch.271
- CHAPTER VII—ADVENTURES OF THE LETTER U DELIVERED OVER TO CONJECTURES Ch.272
- CHAPTER VIII—THE VETERANS THEMSELVES CAN BE HAPPY Ch.273
- CHAPTER IX—ECLIPSE Ch.274
- CHAPTER I—MINES AND MINERS Ch.275
- CHAPTER II—THE LOWEST DEPTHS Ch.276
- CHAPTER III—BABET, GUEULEMER, CLAQUESOUS, AND MONTPARNASSE Ch.277
- CHAPTER IV—COMPOSITION OF THE TROUPE Ch.278
- CHAPTER I—MARIUS, WHILE SEEKING A GIRL IN A BONNET, ENCOUNTERS A MAN IN Ch.279
- CHAPTER II—TREASURE TROVE Ch.280
- CHAPTER III—QUADRIFRONS Ch.281
- CHAPTER IV—A ROSE IN MISERY Ch.282
- CHAPTER V—A PROVIDENTIAL PEEP-HOLE Ch.283
- CHAPTER VI—THE WILD MAN IN HIS LAIR Ch.284
- CHAPTER VII—STRATEGY AND TACTICS Ch.285
- CHAPTER VIII—THE RAY OF LIGHT IN THE HOVEL Ch.286
- CHAPTER IX—JONDRETTE COMES NEAR WEEPING Ch.287
- CHAPTER X—TARIFF OF LICENSED CABS: TWO FRANCS AN HOUR Ch.288
- CHAPTER XI—OFFERS OF SERVICE FROM MISERY TO WRETCHEDNESS Ch.289
- CHAPTER XII—THE USE MADE OF M. LEBLANC’S FIVE-FRANC PIECE Ch.290
- CHAPTER XIII—SOLUS CUM SOLO, IN LOCO REMOTO, NON COGITABUNTUR ORARE Ch.291
- CHAPTER XIV—IN WHICH A POLICE AGENT BESTOWS TWO FISTFULS ON A LAWYER Ch.292
- CHAPTER XV—JONDRETTE MAKES HIS PURCHASES Ch.293
- CHAPTER XVI—IN WHICH WILL BE FOUND THE WORDS TO AN ENGLISH AIR WHICH Ch.294
- CHAPTER XVII—THE USE MADE OF MARIUS’ FIVE-FRANC PIECE Ch.295
- CHAPTER XVIII—MARIUS’ TWO CHAIRS FORM A VIS-A-VIS Ch.296
- CHAPTER XIX—OCCUPYING ONE’S SELF WITH OBSCURE DEPTHS Ch.297
- CHAPTER XX—THE TRAP Ch.298
- CHAPTER XXI—ONE SHOULD ALWAYS BEGIN BY ARRESTING THE VICTIMS Ch.299
- CHAPTER XXII—THE LITTLE ONE WHO WAS CRYING IN VOLUME TWO Ch.300
- CHAPTER I—WELL CUT Ch.301
- CHAPTER II—BADLY SEWED Ch.302
- CHAPTER III—LOUIS PHILIPPE Ch.303
- CHAPTER IV—CRACKS BENEATH THE FOUNDATION Ch.304
- CHAPTER V—FACTS WHENCE HISTORY SPRINGS AND WHICH HISTORY IGNORES Ch.305
- CHAPTER VI—ENJOLRAS AND HIS LIEUTENANTS Ch.306
- CHAPTER I—THE LARK’S MEADOW Ch.307
- CHAPTER II—EMBRYONIC FORMATION OF CRIMES IN THE INCUBATION OF PRISONS Ch.308
- CHAPTER III—APPARITION TO FATHER MABEUF Ch.309
- CHAPTER IV—AN APPARITION TO MARIUS Ch.310
- CHAPTER I—THE HOUSE WITH A SECRET Ch.311
- CHAPTER II—JEAN VALJEAN AS A NATIONAL GUARD Ch.312
- 1831. The municipal information collected at that time had even reached Ch.313
- CHAPTER III—FOLIIS AC FRONDIBUS Ch.314
- CHAPTER IV—CHANGE OF GATE Ch.315
- CHAPTER V—THE ROSE PERCEIVES THAT IT IS AN ENGINE OF WAR Ch.316
- CHAPTER VI—THE BATTLE BEGUN Ch.317
- CHAPTER VII—TO ONE SADNESS OPPOSE A SADNESS AND A HALF Ch.318
- CHAPTER VIII—THE CHAIN-GANG Ch.319
- CHAPTER I—A WOUND WITHOUT, HEALING WITHIN Ch.320
- CHAPTER II—MOTHER PLUTARQUE FINDS NO DIFFICULTY IN EXPLAINING A Ch.321
- CHAPTER I—SOLITUDE AND THE BARRACKS COMBINED Ch.322
- CHAPTER II—COSETTE’S APPREHENSIONS Ch.323
- CHAPTER III—ENRICHED WITH COMMENTARIES BY TOUSSAINT Ch.324
- CHAPTER IV—A HEART BENEATH A STONE Ch.325
- CHAPTER V—COSETTE AFTER THE LETTER Ch.326
- CHAPTER VI—OLD PEOPLE ARE MADE TO GO OUT OPPORTUNELY Ch.327
- CHAPTER I—THE MALICIOUS PLAYFULNESS OF THE WIND Ch.328
- CHAPTER II—IN WHICH LITTLE GAVROCHE EXTRACTS PROFIT FROM NAPOLEON THE Ch.329
- CHAPTER III—THE VICISSITUDES OF FLIGHT Ch.330
- CHAPTER I—ORIGIN Ch.331
- CHAPTER II—ROOTS Ch.332
- CHAPTER III—SLANG WHICH WEEPS AND SLANG WHICH LAUGHS Ch.333
- CHAPTER IV—THE TWO DUTIES: TO WATCH AND TO HOPE Ch.334
- CHAPTER I—FULL LIGHT Ch.335
- CHAPTER II—THE BEWILDERMENT OF PERFECT HAPPINESS Ch.336
- CHAPTER III—THE BEGINNING OF SHADOW Ch.337
- CHAPTER IV—A CAB RUNS IN ENGLISH AND BARKS IN SLANG Ch.338
- CHAPTER V—THINGS OF THE NIGHT Ch.339
- CHAPTER VI—MARIUS BECOMES PRACTICAL ONCE MORE TO THE EXTENT OF GIVING Ch.340
- CHAPTER VII—THE OLD HEART AND THE YOUNG HEART IN THE PRESENCE OF EACH Ch.341
- CHAPTER I—JEAN VALJEAN Ch.342
- CHAPTER II—MARIUS Ch.343
- CHAPTER III—M. MABEUF Ch.344
- CHAPTER I—THE SURFACE OF THE QUESTION Ch.345
- CHAPTER II—THE ROOT OF THE MATTER Ch.346
- CHAPTER III—A BURIAL; AN OCCASION TO BE BORN AGAIN Ch.347
- CHAPTER IV—THE EBULLITIONS OF FORMER DAYS Ch.348
- CHAPTER V—ORIGINALITY OF PARIS Ch.349
- CHAPTER I—SOME EXPLANATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF GAVROCHE’S Ch.350
- CHAPTER II—GAVROCHE ON THE MARCH Ch.351
- CHAPTER III—JUST INDIGNATION OF A HAIR-DRESSER Ch.352
- CHAPTER IV—THE CHILD IS AMAZED AT THE OLD MAN Ch.353
- CHAPTER V—THE OLD MAN Ch.354
- CHAPTER VI—RECRUITS Ch.355
- CHAPTER I—HISTORY OF CORINTHE FROM ITS FOUNDATION Ch.356
- CHAPTER II—PRELIMINARY GAYETIES Ch.357
- CHAPTER III—NIGHT BEGINS TO DESCEND UPON GRANTAIRE Ch.358
- CHAPTER IV—AN ATTEMPT TO CONSOLE THE WIDOW HUCHELOUP Ch.359
- CHAPTER V—PREPARATIONS Ch.360
- CHAPTER VI—WAITING Ch.361
- CHAPTER VII—THE MAN RECRUITED IN THE RUE DES BILLETTES Ch.362
- CHAPTER VIII—MANY INTERROGATION POINTS WITH REGARD TO A CERTAIN LE Ch.363
- CHAPTER I—FROM THE RUE PLUMET TO THE QUARTIER SAINT-DENIS Ch.364
- CHAPTER II—AN OWL’S VIEW OF PARIS Ch.365
- CHAPTER III—THE EXTREME EDGE Ch.366
- CHAPTER I—THE FLAG: ACT FIRST Ch.367
- CHAPTER II—THE FLAG: ACT SECOND Ch.368
- CHAPTER III—GAVROCHE WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER TO ACCEPT ENJOLRAS’ CARBINE Ch.369
- CHAPTER IV—THE BARREL OF POWDER Ch.370
- CHAPTER V—END OF THE VERSES OF JEAN PROUVAIRE Ch.371
- CHAPTER VI—THE AGONY OF DEATH AFTER THE AGONY OF LIFE Ch.372
- CHAPTER VII—GAVROCHE AS A PROFOUND CALCULATOR OF DISTANCES Ch.373
- CHAPTER I—A DRINKER IS A BABBLER Ch.374
- CHAPTER II—THE STREET URCHIN AN ENEMY OF LIGHT Ch.375
- CHAPTER III—WHILE COSETTE AND TOUSSAINT ARE ASLEEP Ch.376
- CHAPTER IV—GAVROCHE’S EXCESS OF ZEAL Ch.377
- CHAPTER I—THE CHARYBDIS OF THE FAUBOURG SAINT ANTOINE AND THE SCYLLA OF Ch.378
- CHAPTER II—WHAT IS TO BE DONE IN THE ABYSS IF ONE DOES NOT CONVERSE Ch.379
- CHAPTER III—LIGHT AND SHADOW Ch.380
- CHAPTER IV—MINUS FIVE, PLUS ONE Ch.381
- CHAPTER V—THE HORIZON WHICH ONE BEHOLDS FROM THE SUMMIT OF A BARRICADE Ch.382
- CHAPTER VI—MARIUS HAGGARD, JAVERT LACONIC Ch.383
- CHAPTER VII—THE SITUATION BECOMES AGGRAVATED Ch.384
- CHAPTER VIII—THE ARTILLERY-MEN COMPEL PEOPLE TO TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY Ch.385
- CHAPTER IX—EMPLOYMENT OF THE OLD TALENTS OF A POACHER AND THAT Ch.386
- CHAPTER X—DAWN Ch.387
- CHAPTER XI—THE SHOT WHICH MISSES NOTHING AND KILLS NO ONE Ch.388
- CHAPTER XII—DISORDER A PARTISAN OF ORDER Ch.389
- 1832. Captain Fannicot, a bold and impatient bourgeois, a sort of Ch.390
- CHAPTER XIII—PASSING GLEAMS Ch.391
- CHAPTER XIV—WHEREIN WILL APPEAR THE NAME OF ENJOLRAS’ MISTRESS Ch.392
- CHAPTER XV—GAVROCHE OUTSIDE Ch.393
- CHAPTER XVI—HOW FROM A BROTHER ONE BECOMES A FATHER Ch.394
- CHAPTER XVII—MORTUUS PATER FILIUM MORITURUM EXPECTAT Ch.395
- CHAPTER XVIII—THE VULTURE BECOME PREY Ch.396
- CHAPTER XIX—JEAN VALJEAN TAKES HIS REVENGE Ch.397
- CHAPTER XX—THE DEAD ARE IN THE RIGHT AND THE LIVING ARE NOT IN THE Ch.398
- CHAPTER XXI—THE HEROES Ch.399
- CHAPTER XXII—FOOT TO FOOT Ch.400
- CHAPTER XXIII—ORESTES FASTING AND PYLADES DRUNK Ch.401
- CHAPTER XXIV—PRISONER Ch.402
- CHAPTER I—THE LAND IMPOVERISHED BY THE SEA Ch.403
- CHAPTER II—ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE SEWER Ch.404
- CHAPTER III—BRUNESEAU Ch.405
- CHAPTER IV Ch.406
- CHAPTER V—PRESENT PROGRESS Ch.407
- CHAPTER VI—FUTURE PROGRESS Ch.408
- 1806. All sorts of obstacles hindered this operation, some peculiar to Ch.409
- CHAPTER I—THE SEWER AND ITS SURPRISES Ch.410
- CHAPTER II—EXPLANATION Ch.411
- CHAPTER III—THE “SPUN” MAN Ch.412
- CHAPTER IV—HE ALSO BEARS HIS CROSS Ch.413
- CHAPTER V—IN THE CASE OF SAND AS IN THAT OF WOMAN, THERE IS A FINENESS Ch.414
- CHAPTER VI—THE FONTIS Ch.415
- CHAPTER VII—ONE SOMETIMES RUNS AGROUND WHEN ONE FANCIES THAT ONE IS Ch.416
- CHAPTER VIII—THE TORN COAT-TAIL Ch.417
- CHAPTER IX—MARIUS PRODUCES ON SOME ONE WHO IS A JUDGE OF THE MATTER, Ch.418
- CHAPTER X—RETURN OF THE SON WHO WAS PRODIGAL OF HIS LIFE Ch.419
- CHAPTER XI—CONCUSSION IN THE ABSOLUTE Ch.420
- CHAPTER XII—THE GRANDFATHER Ch.421
- CHAPTER I Ch.422
- CHAPTER I—IN WHICH THE TREE WITH THE ZINC PLASTER APPEARS AGAIN Ch.423
- CHAPTER II—MARIUS, EMERGING FROM CIVIL WAR, MAKES READY FOR DOMESTIC Ch.424
- CHAPTER III—MARIUS ATTACKED Ch.425
- 7. Ah! There we have it! Ah! so you want her! Well, you shall have her. Ch.426
- CHAPTER IV—MADEMOISELLE GILLENORMAND ENDS BY NO LONGER THINKING IT A Ch.427
- CHAPTER V—DEPOSIT YOUR MONEY IN A FOREST RATHER THAN WITH A NOTARY Ch.428
- CHAPTER VI—THE TWO OLD MEN DO EVERYTHING, EACH ONE AFTER HIS OWN Ch.429
- CHAPTER VII—THE EFFECTS OF DREAMS MINGLED WITH HAPPINESS Ch.430
- CHAPTER VIII—TWO MEN IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND Ch.431
- CHAPTER I—THE 16TH OF FEBRUARY, 1833 Ch.432
- CHAPTER II—JEAN VALJEAN STILL WEARS HIS ARM IN A SLING Ch.433
- CHAPTER III—THE INSEPARABLE Ch.434
- CHAPTER IV—THE IMMORTAL LIVER 68 Ch.435
- CHAPTER I—THE SEVENTH CIRCLE AND THE EIGHTH HEAVEN Ch.436
- CHAPTER II—THE OBSCURITIES WHICH A REVELATION CAN CONTAIN Ch.437
- CHAPTER I—THE LOWER CHAMBER Ch.438
- CHAPTER II—ANOTHER STEP BACKWARDS Ch.439
- CHAPTER III—THEY RECALL THE GARDEN OF THE RUE PLUMET Ch.440
- CHAPTER IV—ATTRACTION AND EXTINCTION Ch.441
- CHAPTER I—PITY FOR THE UNHAPPY, BUT INDULGENCE FOR THE HAPPY Ch.442
- CHAPTER II—LAST FLICKERINGS OF A LAMP WITHOUT OIL Ch.443
- CHAPTER III—A PEN IS HEAVY TO THE MAN WHO LIFTED THE FAUCHELEVENT’S Ch.444
- CHAPTER IV—A BOTTLE OF INK WHICH ONLY SUCCEEDED IN WHITENING Ch.445
- CHAPTER V—A NIGHT BEHIND WHICH THERE IS DAY Ch.446
- CHAPTER VI—THE GRASS COVERS AND THE RAIN EFFACES Ch.447