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ifound；onaskinghim；thateverydayhecarrieddinnertohisfather；whowasthenworkingontheleftbankoftheseine；andthisresponsibledutyhadmadehimcarefulandprudent。hehadlearnedthosehardbutforciblelessonsofnecessitywhichnothingcanequalorsupplytheplaceof。unfortunately；thewantsofhispoorfamilyhadkepthimfromschool；andheseemedtofeeltheloss；forheoftenstoppedbeforetheprintshops；andaskedhispaniontoreadhimthenamesoftheengravings。inthiswaywereachedtheboulevardbonnenouvelle；whichthelittlewandererseemedtoknowagain。notwithstandinghisfatigue；hehurriedon；hewasagitatedbymixedfeelings；atthesightofhishouseheutteredacry；andrantowardtheirongatewiththegiltpoints；aladywhowasstandingattheentrancereceivedhiminherarms；andfromtheexclamationsofjoy；andthesoundofkisses；isoonperceivedshewashismother。
notseeingeithertheservantorchildreturn；shehadsentinsearchofthemineverydirection；andwaswaitingfortheminintenseanxiety。
iexplainedtoherinafewwordswhathadhappened。shethankedmewarmly；andlookedroundforthelittleboywhohadrecognizedandbroughtbackherson；butwhileweweretalking；hehaddisappeared。
itwasforthefirsttimesincethenthatihadeintothispartofparis。didthemothercontinuegrateful？hadthechildrenmetagain；andhadthehappychanceoftheirfirstmeetingloweredbetweenthemthatbarrierwhichmaymarkthedifferentranksofmen；butshouldnotdividethem？
whileputtingthesequestionstomyself；islackenedmypace；andfixedmyeyesonthegreatgate；whichijustperceived。suddenlyisawitopen；andtwochildrenappearedattheentrance。althoughmuchgrown；irecognizedthematfirstsight；theywerethechildwhowasfoundneartheparapetofthelouvre；andhisyoungguide。butthedressofthelatterwasgreatlychanged：hisblouseofgrayclothwasneat；andevenspruce；andwasfastenedroundthewaistbyapolishedleatherbelt；heworestrongshoes；butmadeforhisfeet；andhadonanewclothcap。
justatthemomentisawhim；heheldinhistwohandsanenormousbunchoflilacs；towhichhispanionwastryingtoaddnarcissusesandprimroses；thetwochildrenlaughed；andpartedwithafriendlygood…by。
m。duvalssondidnotgointillhehadseentheotherturnthecornerofthestreet。
theniaccostedthelatter；andremindedhimofourformermeeting；helookedatmeforamoment；andthenseemedtorecollectme。
〃forgivemeifidonotmakeyouabow；〃saidhe；merrily；〃butiwantbothmyhandsforthenosegaymonsieurcharleshasgivenme。〃
〃youare；then；beegreatfriends？〃saidi。
〃oh！ishouldthinkso；〃saidthechild；〃andnowmyfatherisrichtoo！〃
〃howsthat？〃
〃monsieurduvallenthimsomemoney；hehastakenashop；whereheworksonhisownaccount；and；asforme；igotoschool。〃
〃yes；〃repliedi；remarkingforthefirsttimethecrossthatdecoratedhislittlecoat；〃andiseethatyouarehead…boy！〃
〃monsieurcharleshelpsmetolearn；andsoiametobethefirstintheclass。〃
〃areyounowgoingtoyourlessons？〃
〃yes；andhehasgivenmesomelilacs；forhehasagardenwhereweplaytogether；andwheremymothercanalwayshaveflowers。〃
〃thenitisthesameasifitwerepartlyyourown。〃
〃soitis！ah！theyaregoodneighborsindeed。buthereiam；good…by；sir。〃
henoddedtomewithasmile；anddisappeared。
iwentonwithmywalk；stillpensive；butwithafeelingofrelief。
ifihadelsewherewitnessedthepainfulcontrastbetweenaffluenceandwant；hereihadfoundthetrueunionofrichesandpoverty。heartygood…willhadsmootheddownthemoreruggedinequalitiesonbothsides；andhadopenedaroadoftrueneighborhoodandfellowshipbetweenthehumbleworkshopandthestatelymansion。insteadofhearkeningtothevoiceofinterest；theyhadbothlistenedtothatofself…sacrifice；andtherewasnoplaceleftforcontemptorenvy。thus；insteadofthebeggarinrags；thatihadseenattheotherdoorcursingtherichman；ihadfoundherethehappychildofthelaborerloadedwithflowersandblessinghim！theproblem；sodifficultandsodangeroustoexamineintowithnoregardbutfortherightsofit；ihadjustseensolvedbylove。
CHAPTER V
pensation
sunday；may27th
capitalcitieshaveonethingpeculiartothem：theirdaysofrestseemtobethesignalforageneraldispersionandflight。likebirdsthatarejustrestoredtoliberty；thepeopleeoutoftheirstonecages；andjoyfullyflytowardthecountry。itiswhoshallfindagreenhillockforaseat；ortheshadeofawoodforashelter；theygathermayflowers；theyrunaboutthefields；thetownisforgottenuntiltheevening；whentheyreturnwithsprigsofbloominghawthornintheirhats；andtheirheartsgladdenedbypleasantthoughtsandrecollectionsofthepastday；thenextdaytheyreturnagaintotheirharnessandtowork。
theseruraladventuresaremostremarkableatparis。whenthefineweatheres；clerks；shopkeepers；andworkingmenlookforwardimpatientlyforthesundayasthedayfortryingafewhoursofthispastorallife；theywalkthroughsixmilesofgrocersshopsandpublic…housesinthefaubourgs；inthesolehopeoffindingarealturnip…field。
thefatherofafamilybeginsthepracticaleducationofhissonbyshowinghimwheatwhichhasnottakentheformofaloaf；andcabbage〃initswildstate。〃heavenonlyknowstheencounters；thediscoveries；theadventuresthataremetwith！whatparisianhasnothadhisodysseyinanexcursionthroughthesuburbs；andwouldnotbeabletowriteapaniontothefamoustravelsbylandandbyseafromparistost。
cloud？
wedonotnowspeakofthatfloatingpopulationfromallparts；forwhomourfrenchbabylonisthecaravansaryofeurope：aphalanxofthinkers；artists；menofbusiness；andtravellers；who；likehomershero；havearrivedintheirintellectualcountryafterbeholding〃manypeoplesandcities；〃butofthesettledparisian；whokeepshisappointedplace；andlivesonhisownfloorliketheoysteronhisrock；acuriousvestigeofthecredulity；theslowness；andthesimplicityofbygoneages。
foroneofthesingularitiesofparisis；thatitunitestwentypopulationspletelydifferentincharacterandmanners。bythesideofthegypsiesofmerceandofart；whowanderthroughalltheseveralstagesoffortuneorfancy；liveaquietraceofpeoplewithanindependence；orwithregularwork；whoseexistenceresemblesthedialofaclock；onwhichthesamehandpointsbyturnstothesamehours。
ifnoothercitycanshowmorebrilliantandmorestirringformsoflife；noothercontainsmoreobscureandmoretranquilones。greatcitiesarelikethesea：stormsagitateonlythesurface；ifyougotothebottom；youfindaregioninaccessibletothetumultandthenoise。
formypart；ihavesettledonthevergeofthisregion；butdonotactuallyliveinit。iamremovedfromtheturmoiloftheworld；andliveintheshelterofsolitude；butwithoutbeingabletodisconnectmythoughtsfromthestrugglegoingon。ifollowatadistanceallitseventsofhappinessorgrief；ijointhefeastsandthefunerals；forhowcanhewholookson；andknowswhatpasses；dootherthantakepart？
ignorancealonecankeepusstrangerstothelifearoundus：selfishnessitselfwillnotsufficeforthat。
thesereflectionsimadetomyselfinmyattic；intheintervalsofthevarioushouseholdworkstowhichabachelorisforcedwhenhehasnootherservantthanhisownreadywill。whileiwaspursuingmydeductions；ihadblackedmyboots；brushedmycoat；andtiedmycravat；ihadatlastarrivedattheimportantmomentwhenwepronounceplacentlythatallisfinished；andthatwell。
agrandresolvehadjustdecidedmetodepartfrommyusualhabits。
theeveningbefore；ihadseenbytheadvertisementsthatthenextdaywasaholidayatsevres；andthatthechinamanufactorywouldbeopentothepublic。iwastemptedbythebeautyofthemorning；andsuddenlydecidedtogothere。
onmyarrivalatthestationontheleftbank；inoticedthecrowdhurryingoninthefearofbeinglate。railroads；besidesmanyotheradvantages；possessthatofteachingthefrenchpunctuality。theywillsubmittotheclockwhentheyareconvincedthatitistheirmaster；theywilllearntowaitwhentheyfindtheywillnotbewaitedfor。
socialvirtues；are；inagreatdegree；goodhabits。howmanygreatqualitiesaregraftedintonationsbytheirgeographicalposition；bypoliticalnecessity；andbyinstitutions！avaricewasdestroyedforatimeamongthelacedaemoniansbythecreationofanironcoinage；tooheavyandtoobulkytobeconvenientlyhoarded。
ifoundmyselfinacarriagewithtwomiddle…agedwomenbelongingtothedomesticandretiredclassofparisiansihavespokenofabove。afewcivilitiesweresufficienttogainmetheirconfidence；andaftersomeminutesiwasacquaintedwiththeirwholehistory。
theyweretwopoorsisters；leftorphansatfifteen；andhadlivedeversince；asthosewhoworkfortheirlivelihoodmustlive；byeconomyandprivation。forthelasttwentyorthirtyyearstheyhadworkedinjewelryinthesamehouse；theyhadseentenmasterssucceedoneanother；andmaketheirfortunesinit；withoutanychangeintheirownlot。theyhadalwayslivedinthesameroom；attheendofoneofthepassagesintheruest。denis；wheretheairandthesunareunknown。theybegantheirworkbeforedaylight；wentonwithittillafternightfall；andsawyearsucceedtoyearwithouttheirlivesbeingmarkedbyanyothereventsthanthesundayservice；awalk；oranillness。
theyoungeroftheseworthywork…womenwasforty；andobeyedhersisterasshedidwhenachild。theelderlookedafterher；tookcareofher；andscoldedherwithamotherstenderness。atfirstitwasamusing；afterwardonecouldnothelpseeingsomethingaffectinginthesetwogray…hairedchildren；oneunabletoleaveoffthehabitofobeying；theotherthatofprotecting。
anditwasnotinthatalonethatmytwopanionsseemedyoungerthantheiryears；theyknewsolittlethattheirwonderneverceased。wehadhardlyarrivedatclamartbeforetheyinvoluntarilyexclaimed；likethekinginthechildrensgame；thatthey〃didnotthinktheworldwassogreat〃！
itwasthefirsttimetheyhadtrustedthemselvesonarailroad；anditwasamusingtoseetheirsuddenshocks；theiralarms；andtheircourageousdeterminations：everythingwasamarveltothem！theyhadremainsofyouthwithinthem；whichmadethemsensibletothingswhichusuallyonlystrikeusinchildhood。poorcreatures！theyhadstillthefeelingsofanotherage；thoughtheyhadlostitscharms。
butwastherenotsomethingholyinthissimplicity；wh