Page 32 - les-miserables
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his peace for long hours beside the man who had lost the
wife of his love, of the mother who had lost her child. As
he knew the moment for silence he knew also the moment
for speech. Oh, admirable consoler! He sought not to efface
sorrow by forgetfulness, but to magnify and dignify it by
hope. He said:—
‘Have a care of the manner in which you turn towards the
dead. Think not of that which perishes. Gaze steadily. You
will perceive the living light of your well-beloved dead in
the depths of heaven.’ He knew that faith is wholesome. He
sought to counsel and calm the despairing man, by point-
ing out to him the resigned man, and to transform the grief
which gazes upon a grave by showing him the grief which
fixes its gaze upon a star.
32 Les Miserables
