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butwastherenotsomethingholyinthissimplicity；whichhadbeenpreservedtothembyabstinencefromallthejoysoflife？ah！accursedbehewhofirsthadthehadcouragetoattachridiculetothatnameof〃oldmaid；〃whichrecallssomanyimagesofgrievousdeception；ofdreariness；andofabandonment！accursedbehewhocanfindasubjectforsarcasmininvoluntarymisfortune；andwhocancrowngrayhairswiththorns！
thetwosisterswerecalledfrancesandmadeleine。thisdaysjourneywasafeatofcouragewithoutexampleintheirlives。thefeverofthetimeshadinfectedthemunawares。yesterdaymadeleinehadsuddenlyproposedtheideaoftheexpedition；andfranceshadaccepteditimmediately。perhapsitwouldhavebeenbetternottoyieldtothegreattemptationofferedbyheryoungersister；but〃wehaveourfolliesatallages；〃astheprudentfrancesphilosophicallyremarked。asformadeleine；therearenoregretsordoubtsforher；sheisthelife…guardsmanoftheestablishment。
〃wereallymustamuseourselves；〃saidshe；〃welivebutonce。〃
andtheeldersistersmiledatthisepicureanmaxim。itwasevidentthatthefeverofindependencewasatitscrisisinbothofthem。
andintruthitwouldhavebeenagreatpityifanyscruplehadinterferedwiththeirhappiness；itwassofrankandgenial！thesightofthetrees；whichseemedtoflyonbothsidesoftheroad；causedthemunceasingadmiration。themeetingatrainpassinginthecontrarydirection；withthenoiseandrapidityofathunderbolt；madethemshuttheireyesandutteracry；butithadalreadydisappeared！theylookaround；takecourageagain；andexpressthemselvesfullofastonishmentatthemarvel。
madeleinedeclaresthatsuchasightisworththeexpenseofthejourney；andfranceswouldhaveagreedwithherifshehadnotrecollected；withsomelittlealarm；thedeficitwhichsuchanexpensemustmakeintheirbudget。thethreefrancsspentuponthissingleexpeditionwerethesavingsofawholeweekofwork。thusthejoyoftheelderofthetwosisterswasmixedwithremorse；theprodigalchildnowandthenturneditseyestowardthebackstreetofst。denis。
butthemotionandthesuccessionofobjectsdistracther。seethebridgeofthevalsurroundedbyitslovelylandscape：ontheright；pariswithitsgrandmonuments；whichrisethroughthefog；orsparkleinthesun；ontheleft；meudon；withitsvillas；itswoods；itsvines；anditsroyalcastle！thetwowork…womenlookfromonewindowtotheotherwithexclamationsofdelight。onefellow…passengerlaughsattheirchildishwonder；buttomeitisdeeplytouching；foriseeinitthesignofalongandmonotonousseclusion：theyaretheprisonersofwork；whohaverecoveredlibertyandfreshairforafewhours。
atlastthetrainstops；andwegetout。ishowthetwosistersthepaththatleadstosevres；betweentherailwayandthegardens；andtheygoonbefore；whileiinquireaboutthetimeofreturning。
isoonjointhemagainatthenextstation；wheretheyhavestoppedatthelittlegardenbelongingtothegatekeeper；botharealreadyindeepconversationwithhimwhilehedigshisgarden…borders；andmarksouttheplacesforflower…seeds。heinformsthemthatitisthetimeforhoeingoutweeds；formakinggraftsandlayers；forsowingannuals；andfordestroyingtheinsectsontherose…trees。madeleinehasonthesillofherwindowtwowoodenboxes；inwhich；forwantofairandsun；shehasneverbeenabletomakeanythinggrowbutmustardandcress；butshepersuadesherselfthat；thankstothisinformation；allotherplantsmayhenceforththriveinthem。atlastthegatekeeper；whoissowingaborderwithmignonette；giveshertherestoftheseedswhichhedoesnotwant；andtheoldmaidgoesoffdelighted；andbeginstoactoveragainthedreamofpairedandhercanofmilk；withtheseflowersofherimagination。
onreachingthegroveofacacias；wherethefairwasgoingon；ilostsightofthetwosisters。iwentaloneamongthesights：therewerelotteriesgoingon；mountebankshows；placesforeatinganddrinking；andforshootingwiththecross…bow。ihavealwaysbeenstruckbythespiritoftheseout…of…doorfestivities。indrawing…roomentertainments；peoplearecold；grave；oftenlistless；andmostofthosewhogotherearebroughttogetherbyhabitortheobligationsofsociety；inthecountryassemblies；onthecontrary；youonlyfindthosewhoareattractedbythehopeofenjoyment。there；itisaforcedconscription；here；theyarevolunteersforgayety！then；howeasilytheyarepleased！howfarthiscrowdofpeopleisyetfromknowingthattobepleasedwithnothing；andtolookdownoneverything；istheheightoffashionandgoodtaste！
doubtlesstheiramusementsareoftencoarse；eleganceandrefinementarewantinginthem；butatleasttheyhaveheartiness。oh；thattheheartyenjoymentsofthesemerry…makingscouldberetainedinunionwithlessvulgarfeeling！formerlyreligionstampeditsholycharacteronthecelebrationofcountryfestivals；andpurifiedthepleasureswithoutdeprivingthemoftheirsimplicity。
thehourarrivesatwhichthedoorsoftheporcelainmanufactoryandthemuseumofpotteryareopentothepublic。imeetfrancesandmadeleineagaininthefirstroom。frightenedatfindingthemselvesinthemidstofsuchregalmagnificence；theyhardlydarewalk；theyspeakinalowtone；asiftheywereinachurch。
〃weareinthekingshouse；〃saidtheeldestsister；forgettingthatthereisnolongerakinginfrance。
iencouragethemtogoon；iwalkfirst；andtheymakeuptheirmindstofollowme。
whatwondersarebroughttogetherinthiscollection！hereweseeclaymouldedintoeveryshape；tintedwitheverycolor；andbinedwitheverysortofsubstance！
earthandwoodarethefirstsubstancesworkeduponbyman；andseemmoreparticularlymeantforhisuse。they；likethedomesticanimals；aretheessentialaccessoriesofhislife；thereforetheremustbeamoreintimateconnectionbetweenthemandus。stoneandmetalsrequirelongpreparations；theyresistourfirstefforts；andbelonglesstotheindividualthantomunities。earthandwoodare；onthecontrary；theprincipalinstrumentsoftheisolatedbeingwhomustfeedandshelterhimself。
this；doubtless；makesmefeelsomuchinterestedinthecollectioniamexamining。thesecups；soroughlymodelledbythesavage；admitmetoaknowledgeofsomeofhishabits；theseelegantyetincorrectlyformedvasesoftheindiantellmeofadecliningintelligence；鈥斺�攊nwhichstillglimmersthetwilightofwhatwasoncebrightsunshine；thesejars；loadedwitharabesques；showthefancyofthearabrudelyandignorantlycopiedbythespaniard！wefindherethestampofeveryrace；everycountry；andeveryage。
mypanionsseemedlittleinterestedinthesehistoricalassociations；theylookedatallwiththatcredulousadmirationwhichleavesnoroomforexaminationordiscussion。madeleinereadthenamewrittenundereverypieceofworkmanship；andhersisteransweredwithanexclamationofwonder。
inthiswaywereachedalittlecourtyard；wheretheyhadthrownawaythefragmentsofsomebrokenchina。
francesperceivedacoloredsauceralmostwhole；ofwhichshetookpossessionasarecordofthevisitshewasmaking；henceforthshewouldhaveaspecimenofthesevreschina；〃whichisonlymadeforkings！〃
iwouldnotundeceiveherbytellingherthattheproductsofthemanufactoryaresoldallovertheworld；andthathersaucer；beforeitwascracked；wasthesameasthosethatareboughtattheshopsforsixpence！whyshouldidestroytheillusionsofherhumbleexistence？
arewetobreakdownthehedge…flowersthatperfumeourpaths？thingsareoftenestnothinginthemselves；thethoughtsweattachtothemalonegivethemvalue。torectifyinnocentmistakes；inordertorecoversomeuselessreality；istobelikethoselearnedmenwhowillseenothinginaplantbutthechemicalelementsofwhichitisposed。
onleavingthemanufactory；thetwosisters；whohadtakenpossessionofmewiththefreedomofartlessness；invitedmetosharetheluncheontheyhadbroughtwiththem。ideclinedatfirst；buttheyinsistedwithsomuchgood…nature；thatifearedtopainthem；andwithsomeawkwardnessgaveway。
wehadonlytolookforaconvenientspot。iledthemupthehill；andwefoundaplotofgrassenamelledwithdaisies；andshadedbytwowalnut…trees。
madeleinecouldnotcontainherselfforjoy。allherlifeshehaddreamedofadinneroutonthegrass！whilehelpinghersistertotaketheprovisionsfromthebasket；shetellsmeofallherexpeditionsintothecountrythathadbeenplanned；andputoff。frances；ontheotherhand；wasbroughtupatmontmorency；andbeforeshebecameanorphanshehadoftengonebacktohernurseshouse。thatwhichhadtheattractionofnoveltyforhersister；hadforherthecharmofrecollection。shetoldofthevintageharveststowhichherparentshadtakenher；theridesonmotherluretsdonkey；thattheycouldnotmakegototherightwithoutpullinghimtotheleft；thecherry…gathering；andthesailsonthelakeintheinnkeepersboat。
theserecollectionshaveallthecharmandfreshnessofchildhood。
francesrecallstoherselflesswhatshehasseenthanwhatshehasfelt。
whilesheistalkingtheclothislaid；andwesitdownunderatree。
beforeuswindsthevalleyofsevres；itsmany…storiedhousesabuttinguponthegardensandtheslopesofthehill；ontheothersidespreadsouttheparkofst。cloud；withitsmagnificentclumpsoftreesinterspersedwithmeadows；abovestretchtheheavenslikeanimmenseocean；inwhichthecloudsaresailing！ilookatthisbeautifulcountry；andilistentothesegoodoldmaids；iadmire；andiaminterested；andtimepassesgentlyonwithoutmyperceivingit。
atlastthesunsets；andwehavetothinkofreturning。whilemadeleineandfrancesclearawaythedinner；iwalkdowntothemanufactorytoaskthehour。themerrymakingisatitsheight；theblastsofthetrombonesresoundfromthebandundertheacacias。forafewmomentsiforgetmyselfwithlookingabout；butihavepromisedthetwosisterstotakethembacktothebellevuestation；thetraincannotwait；andimakehastetoclimbthepathagainwhichleadstothewalnut…trees。
justbeforeireachedthem；iheardvoicesontheothersideofthehedge。madeleineandfranceswerespeakingtoapoorgirlwhoseclotheswereburned；herhandsblackened；andherfacetiedupwithbloodstainedbandages。isawthatshewasoneofthegirlsemployedatthegunpowdermills；whicharebuiltfurtheruponthemon。anexplosionhadtakenplaceafewdaysbefore；thegirlsmotherandeldersisterwerekilled；sheherselfescapedbyamiracle；andwasnowleftwithoutanymeansofsupport。shetoldallthiswiththeresignedand