Les Miserables (Fantine) [pp. 434-446]

Les miserables-Fantine.
branches for the charminRg head behind
you?"
w,-as a rou6 but having immolated a victim,
ne returned to, and clasped to his heart
the grateful bosom of, society!
'; Fantiae was one of tliose beings which
are brought forth from the heart of the peo ple. Sprung from the most unfathomable
depthls of social darkness, she bore upon
her brow the mark of the Anonymous and
Unknown."'" She was called' Fantine,'
bccause she ihad never been known by any
other name." She had no family, no bapismnal name, for there was then no church;
iShe was named after the pleasure of the
first passer-by who found her, a mere in'ant, straying barefoot in the streets. She
'received a name as she received wate r
from the clouds on her head when it rained." "' At -fifteen she came to Paris —having been born at X[ on M, to
seek her fortune.' Fantine was beautiful
and remained pure as long as she could.
She was a pretty blonde with fine teeth.
She had gold and pearls for her dowry;
but the gold was on her head and the
pearls in her mouth"-alas! she had neither in her purse. "Shie worked to live;
then, also to live, for the heart too has its
hunger, she loved: she loved Tholymes!"
But to him, as those in the streets of Paris'
Latin Quarter knew, this love was an
amour-to her a passion.
One day Tholyimges consulted with his
male companions. He related how they
owed to the ladies a "surprise." " Our
pretty ones," said he, " ate always saying:
Thlolyines, when are you going to be delivered of your surprise?' At the same
tim,e our parents -are-writing for us. Two
birds with one stone. It' seems to me that
tke timne has come." And it is arranged
to give the surprise.
The following Sunday-, our four couples
were found in the rural environs of Paris.
a Thie young girls rattled and chattered
like uncaged birds: they were delirious
with joy;" now they boxed the ears of the
young men; now they played'at the game
of rings; now they ascended to -Diogenes'
Lantern or played at roulette; and anon
they gathered bouquets, bought reed-pipes
at Neuilly, and ate apple puffs everywhere.
"Oh, ye, whoever you may be, have you
memories of the past? Have you walked
in the brushwood, thrusting aside the
In the evening, they returned to Paris
and dined at Bombarda's, in the Champs
Elysees.
Tholymes was the ruling and presiding
genius of this group. In tlithe course of the
dinner, he delivers himself of a speech,
which is a perfect pot pourri of cynicism,
satire, irony, symbolism, wit, drollery,
humor and scholarship-a speech which,
dramatically and artistically considered, is
prominent among the marvels of Art in
the pages of Les Miserables. This speech
over, however, Favourite calls for the surprise. "Precisely," answered Tholymes.
" Gentlemen, the hour has come for surprising these ladies. Ladies, wait for usa
moment." One hour after this, a note is
handed to the ladies by a waiter, superscribed thus: " THIs IS THE SURPRISE." Its
contents were cold and callous. It contained the announcement that, the lovers
had deserted(-that they were " going,
gone"-but that " the dinner was paid for!"
Fantine was again alone, without a friend
or protector in the world; and she wept
bitter tears. This was herdfirst love; she
had given herself to Tholymes as to a husband; and she had a child-Cosette.
Man to man so oft unjust, says Byron, is
always so to women. Man approaches
woman in her innocence and adolescence;
he wins her affections; then trifles with
her; fin al ly ruins and d eserts her. Henceforth the garl and o f Venus and the plumn
of Nlars shall grace his brow; for' her there
remains but the tinsel of the Cypii'an or
the rags of Cinderilla- shame in either
case. Man is thus a greater tyrant than
Time; Time only ruins Empires, say
Thebes or Palmyra; Man destroys a human soul. Thebes anti Palmyra are unconscious of their ruin, but the soul is living consciousness. Yet, though man,
fiend-like, be triumphant, he is not the
greater vessel: the moral power remains
with woman. To'whatever depths of infamy you may sink her, some divinely
tender principle of holiness and redemption will remain unquenched and unsti.
fled. Impart to her all the elements of the
Devil you may, you cannot entirely rob
438
I JULY