Page 1271 - les-miserables

and complementing each other; the pettifogger making the
bird of prey ignoble, the bird of prey making the pettifog-
ger horrible.
This man had a long gray beard. He was clad in a wom-
an’s chemise, which allowed his hairy breast and his bare
arms, bristling with gray hair, to be seen. Beneath this che-
mise, muddy trousers and boots through which his toes
projected were visible.
He had a pipe in his mouth and was smoking. There was
no bread in the hovel, but there was still tobacco.
He was writing probably some more letters like those
which Marius had read.
On the corner of the table lay an ancient, dilapidat-
ed, reddish volume, and the size, which was the antique
12mo of reading-rooms, betrayed a romance. On the cover
sprawled the following title, printed in large capitals: GOD;
THE KING; HONOR AND THE LADIES; BY DUCRAY
DUMINIL, 1814.
As the man wrote, he talked aloud, and Marius heard
his words:—
‘The idea that there is no equality, even when you are
dead! Just look at Pere Lachaise! The great, those who are
rich, are up above, in the acacia alley, which is paved. They
can reach it in a carriage. The little people, the poor, the un-
happy, well, what of them? they are put down below, where
the mud is up to your knees, in the damp places. They are
put there so that they will decay the sooner! You cannot go
to see them without sinking into the earth.’
He paused, smote the table with his fist, and added, as he

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