Hector Malot

“ When the rice was cooked to perfection, Perrine filled a bowl and placed it at her mother's bedside, also two glasses, two plates and two forks. Sitting down on the floor, with her legs tucked under her and her skirts spread out, she said, like a little girl who is playing with her doll: "Now we'll have a little din-din, mammy, dear, and I'll wait on you."
In spite of her gay tone, there was an anxious look in the child's eyes as she looked at her mother lying on the mattress, covered with an old shawl that had once been beautiful and costly, but was now only a faded rag. ”

“ It was now time for the dessert. Perrine got up and replaced the fish plates with smaller leaf plates in the shape of a cup; she had picked the prettiest, with variegated shades, and marked as exquisitely as enameled ware. Then she offered her guest the gooseberries.
"Let me offer you some fruit from my own garden," she said, laughing, as though she were playing at keeping doll's house.
"Where is your garden?"
"Over your head. There is a gooseberry bush growing in the branches of this willow tree which holds up the cabin, so it seems." ”

“ It was Perrine now who felt like crying, but catching Talouel's glance, she stiffened. It was not until they had passed out of the yard that she betrayed her emotion.
"Isn't Monsieur Vulfran kind?" she said.
"Yes," replied Rosalie; "he would be all right if he were alone, but with Skinny he can't be; he hasn't the time and he has a lot to think about."
"Well, he seemed very kind to you," said little Perrine.
"Oh, yes," Rosalie said, drawing herself up; "I make him think of his son. My mother was Monsieur Edmond's foster sister." ”

“ Perrine's heart went out to him. She also, since the death of her father and mother, knew what it was for the days to be long and empty, nothing to fill them but the anxiety, the fatigue, and the misery of the moment. No one to share them with you, none to uphold you, or cheer you. He had not known bodily fatigue, privations and poverty. But they are not the only trials to be borne, there are other sorrows in this world from which one suffers. ”

“ Long before the time for her to go back to work she was at the gates. She sat down on a bench in the shade of a tree and waited for the whistle, watching the boys and girls playing, running and jumping. She was too timid to join in their games, although she would like to have done so.
When Rosalie came she went back to her work with her.
Before the day was ended she was so tired that she did indeed merit Ninepins' sharp rebuke.
"Go on! Can't you go faster than that?" he cried. ”

“ He must come back and take his place. You may not understand all I tell you, my child, but when I die my whole fortune must go to my son. He is my heir. When I die who will take my place if he is not here? Can you understand what I am saying, little girl?" said the old man, almost entreatingly.
"I think so, sir," said Perrine gently.
"But there, I don't wish you to understand entirely. There are those around me who ought to help me. There are certain ones who do not want my boy to return; it is to their interest that he should not come back, so they try to think that he is dead. My boy dead! ”

“ Bretoneux, sent for by Casimir, came. After that came Mme. Bretoneux's two daughters, their husbands and children. No one wished to miss the funeral service for poor dear Edmond.
Besides, this was the decisive moment for clever manoeuvring. What a disaster if this big industry should fall into the hands of one so incapable as Theodore! What a misfortune if Casimir took charge! Neither side thought that a partnership could be possible, and the two cousins share alike. Each wanted all for himself.
Both Mme. Bretoneux and Mme. Paindavoine had ignored Perrine since their arrival. ”

“ When Talouel had gone, Perrine, who had been very thoughtful, decided to speak to M. Vulfran.
"Are you not going to the burial service of these little babies?" she asked. Her trembling voice betrayed her emotion.
"Why should I go?" asked M. Vulfran.
"Because that would be the most dignified answer you could give to what that poor woman said." [Pg 296]
"Did my work people come to the burial service of my son?" asked M. Vulfran, coldly.
"They did not share your sorrow," said Perrine gravely, "but if you share theirs now they will be touched."
"You don't know how ungrateful the workingman is." ”

“ Better to sleep by the roadside and have nothing to eat than to stay in Paris. You promise to leave Paris at once, Perrine?"
"I promise, mama," sobbed the little girl.
The sick woman made a sign that she wanted to say more, but that she must rest for a moment. Little Perrine waited, her eyes fixed on her mother's face.
"You will go to Maraucourt?" said the dying woman after a few moments had passed. "You have no right to claim anything ... what you get must be for yourself alone ... be good, and make yourself loved. All is there ... for you. I have hope ... you will be loved for yourself ... ”

“ From the expression of his face little Perrine tried to read the inmost thoughts that stirred this old man's heart. [Pg 183]
"Well," he said, after waiting a moment, "what do you think you will do?"
"I hesitate because I feel so bad about it," she said. "If I could only believe that they would be glad to have me and would not turn me away...."
"You know nothing of life, poor little girl," said the old gentleman. "Age should not be alone any more than youth."
"Do you think all old people feel like that?" asked Perrine. ”

“ Groups of men, women and children dressed up in their Sunday clothes stood chatting before the houses or sat in the low rooms, the windows of which were thrown wide open. A mass of people, people everywhere. In the low-ceiling rooms, where those from outside could see all that was passing within, some were drinking bright colored drinks, others had jugs of cider, while others had on the tables before them black coffee or whisky. And what a tapping of glasses and voices raised in angry dispute!
"What a lot of people there seem to be drinking," said Perrine. ”

“ Bretoneux smiled as though she could still see Perrine in the hideous waist.
"But there," she said brightly, "all that can be remedied; you are a beautiful girl, there is no denying that, and I shall see that you have a dinner dress to set off your beauty and a smart little tailored costume to wear in the carriage, and when you see yourself in it you will remember who gave it you. I expect your underwear is no better than your waist. ”

“ In the nursery the children sprang forward and jumped upon Perrine, showing her the playthings that they had in their hands.
"I see that you are known here," said M. Vulfran.
"Known!" replied Mlle. Belhomme, greeting them. "She is loved by all; she is a little mother to them, and no one can play like she can."
M. Vulfran put his arms affectionately around his granddaughter as they went on to the carriage. ”

“ Hearing the carriage in the road, she ran out to meet the doctor. As he was walking towards the house she pointed to the wagon.
"We live there in our wagon," she said.
He did not seem surprised; he was accustomed to the extreme poverty of his patients; but Perrine, who was looking at him, noticed that he frowned when he saw the sick woman lying on the mattress in the miserable cart.
"Put out your tongue and give me your hand," he said.
Those who pay forty or a hundred francs for a visit from a doctor have no idea of the brevity with which the poor people's cases are diagnosed. ”

“ Oh! the fresh, delicious air! Never had she taken a breath with such thankfulness. She went through the little yard with her mouth wide open, her nostrils quivering, her head thrown back. The sound of her footsteps awoke a dog, which commenced to bark; then several other dogs joined in.
But what did that matter? She was no longer a little tramp at whom dogs were at liberty to bark. If she wished to leave her bed she had a perfect right to do so; she had paid out money for it. ”

“ Friendship creates friendship. One often loves when one knows one is loved, and it seems to me that when we are friendly to others, we make friends ourselves. It means so much to lighten the burdens of the poor, but how much more is it to lighten their sorrows ... by helping to share them."
It seemed to her that she had still so much to say on this subject, but M. Vulfran did not reply. ”

“ You know, my child, you cannot expect others to share your sorrows if you are not willing to share theirs.
"M. Vulfran gives his men what he considers their due," she continued, in a lower voice. "He is just, but that is all. He has never been a father to his men. He is all for business, business only. What a lot of good he could have done, however, not only here, but everywhere, if he had wished, by setting an example. Had he been more to his men you may be sure that the church would not have been as empty as it was today." ”

“ The Baroness had black ribbons on her bonnet; Grain-of-Salt was dressed like a gentleman and wore a high silk hat; Carp had replaced his leather apron by a black Prince Albert which came down to his feet, and the candy man had cast aside his white blouse for a cloth coat. For, like the real Parisian who practises the cult of the dead, they had dressed themselves up in their best to pay respect to the one they had just buried. ”

“ The success of her canvas shoes and her underwear had inspired her with a certain amount of confidence. She had proved that one can do a great deal if one perseveres, but she had not enough confidence to imagine that she could ever make a saucepan for her soup or a metal or wooden spoon, and if she waited until she had the money required to buy these utensils, she would have to content herself with the smell of the soup that came to her as she passed by the open doors. ”

“ I wonder what Aunt Zenobie will say!"
"But it wasn't your fault," insisted Perrine.
"I know that," said Rosalie, ruefully. "Grandmother will believe that, but Aunt Zenobie won't. She'll say it's 'cause I don't want to work."
On their way through the building several men stopped them to ask what was the matter. Some pitied Rosalie, but most of them listened indifferently, as though they were used to such accidents. They said that it was always so: one gets hurt the same as one falls sick; just a matter of chance, each in his turn, you today, and me tomorrow. ”

“ This remark came from Bendit, who, with his English coolheadedness, looked at things only from a practical standpoint, in which sentiment played no part. He thought that just because everyone wished for the son and heir to return, it was not enough to bring him back. The French could wish a thing and believe it, but he was English, he was, and he would not believe that he was coming back until he saw him there with his own eyes!
Day by day the blind man grew more impatient to see his son. Perrine could not bear to hear him talk of his return as a certainty. ”

“ Rosalie pointed to a house a part of which could be seen at the end of the yard; the rest of it was hidden by the brick house. It looked such a dilapidated old place that one wondered how it still held together.
"My grandmother lived there before she built this house," explained Rosalie. "She did it with the money that she got when she was nurse for Monsieur Edmond. You won't be comfortable down there as you would in this house, but factory hands can't live like rich people, can they?"
Perrine agreed that they could not. ”

“ The wind came up. A terrific swirl, carrying [Pg 63] clouds of dust and leaves, swept over the country and battered down the crops, uprooting plants and shrubs in its mad fracas. Perrine could not withstand this whirlwind. As she was lifted off her feet, a deafening crash of thunder shook the earth. Throwing herself down in the ditch, she laid flat on her stomach, covering her mouth and her eyes with her two small hands. The thunder rolled heavily on. ”

“ Perrine did not want to say anything, but as she had to make some reply to the question she put it into a smile.
"A very beautiful dress to wear in the evening," said Mme. Bretoneux.
"But I am in mourning," answered Perrine.
"But being in black does not prevent you from wearing a lovely dress. You are not dressed well enough to dine at my brother's table. You are very badly dressed—dressed up like a clever little dog." ”

“ While the little girl was scolding him, a voice from within the caravan called out:
"Perrine!"
Jumping to her feet, the child lifted up the canvas and passed inside, where a pale, thin woman was lying on a mattress.
"Do you need me, mama?"
"What is Palikare doing, dear?" asked the woman.
"He is eating the straw off the cart that's ahead of us."
"You must stop him." [Pg 4]
"He's so hungry."
"Hunger is not an excuse for taking what does not belong to us. What will you say to the driver of that cart if he's angry?"
"I'll go and see that Palikare doesn't do it again," said the little girl. ”

“ And yet there are those who envy me. There are seven thousand men and women who depend upon me for a living. If I failed there would be misery and hunger and perhaps death for many. I must keep up for them. I must uphold the honor of this house which I have built up, little by little. It is my joy, my pride ... and yet ... I am blind!"
The last words were said with such bitterness that Perrine's eyes filled with tears. The blind man [Pg 235] continued: "You ought to know from village talk and from the letter that you translated that I have a son. ”

“ Perrine assumed her most innocent air.
"Yes, but that does not prevent me from being attached to M. Vulfran," she said, "believe me, I am."
"Of course," answered Mme. Bretoneux, "and you can prove your devotion by giving him the care which I am telling you to give him. My brother must not only be protected from catching cold, but he must be guarded against sudden emotions which might, in his state of health, kill him. He is trying to find our dear Edmond, his only son. He is making inquiries in India...."
She paused, but Perrine made no reply. ”