Page 907 - les-miserables

strated requirements of the orchard and vegetable garden.
This discretion of conduct had inured to his credit. None
the less, he had set two men to chattering: the porter, in the
convent, and he knew the singularities of their parlor, and
the grave-digger, at the cemetery, and he was acquainted
with the peculiarities of their sepulture; in this way, he pos-
sessed a double light on the subject of these nuns, one as to
their life, the other as to their death. But he did not abuse
his knowledge. The congregation thought a great deal of
him. Old, lame, blind to everything, probably a little deaf
into the bargain,—what qualities! They would have found it
difficult to replace him.
The goodman, with the assurance of a person who feels
that he is appreciated, entered into a rather diffuse and very
deep rustic harangue to the reverend prioress. He talked
a long time about his age, his infirmities, the surcharge of
years counting double for him henceforth, of the increas-
ing demands of his work, of the great size of the garden,
of nights which must be passed, like the last, for instance,
when he had been obliged to put straw mats over the mel-
on beds, because of the moon, and he wound up as follows:
‘That he had a brother’—(the prioress made a movement),—
‘a brother no longer young’—(a second movement on the
part of the prioress, but one expressive of reassurance),—
‘that, if he might be permitted, this brother would come and
live with him and help him, that he was an excellent gar-
dener, that the community would receive from him good
service, better than his own; that, otherwise, if his brother
were not admitted, as he, the elder, felt that his health was

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