Page 1071 - les-miserables

CHAPTER V

THE UTILITY OF GOING

TO MASS, IN ORDER TO

BECOME A REVOLUTIONIST

Marius had preserved the religious habits of his
childhood. One Sunday, when he went to hear mass at Saint-
Sulpice, at that same chapel of the Virgin whither his aunt
had led him when a small lad, he placed himself behind a
pillar, being more absent-minded and thoughtful than usu-
al on that occasion, and knelt down, without paying any
special heed, upon a chair of Utrecht velvet, on the back of
which was inscribed this name: Monsieur Mabeuf, warden.
Mass had hardly begun when an old man presented himself
and said to Marius:—
‘This is my place, sir.’
Marius stepped aside promptly, and the old man took
possession of his chair.
The mass concluded, Marius still stood thoughtfully a
few paces distant; the old man approached him again and
said:—

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