Page 642 - les-miserables

CHAPTER II

TWO COMPLETE

PORTRAITS

So far in this book the Thenardiers have been viewed only
in profile; the moment has arrived for making the circuit of
this couple, and considering it under all its aspects.
Thenardier had just passed his fiftieth birthday; Madame
Thenardier was approaching her forties, which is equivalent
to fifty in a woman; so that there existed a balance of age be-
tween husband and wife.
Our readers have possibly preserved some recollection of
this Thenardier woman, ever since her first appearance,—
tall, blond, red, fat, angular, square, enormous, and agile;
she belonged, as we have said, to the race of those colossal
wild women, who contort themselves at fairs with paving-
stones hanging from their hair. She did everything about
the house,—made the beds, did the washing, the cooking,
and everything else. Cosette was her only servant; a mouse
in the service of an elephant. Everything trembled at the
sound of her voice,—window panes, furniture, and people.
Her big face, dotted with red blotches, presented the ap-

642 Les Miserables