[Masterpiece Les Miserables] Paris Sparks

Carton and Dane looked at each other in surprise.The two drove forward cautiously, and soon saw a crazy man beside the road, running and calling the name of little Rui Erwei.He was dressed in rags, with a full cloth bag on his back, beard and hair all over his face, with a panicked expression.Darnay hardly wanted to stop, but the man ran straight into the middle of the road and stopped in front of the carriage, so he stopped at last.The man approached the carriage, and Caton secretly reached down and grabbed a stick, but the man just asked: "Gentlemen, have you ever seen a child walk by?"

"No." Darney said calmly.

"One called Little Rielway?"

"What are you doing with this kid?" Carton asked.

"I have something to give back to him," said the man, taking out two five-franc pieces from his pocket and handing them to Caton. "This is for you, take it. It's a ten-year-old The boy on the left and right, with a field mouse cage on his back, walked in that direction, he must be a poor boy down the chimney. Have you seen him?"

Carton didn't take his money. "We did see a kid. He cried and said he was robbed."

"That's me!" cried the man suddenly, "it's me, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know! . . . Me! I'm a scoundrel, and I stole the boy's money!"

He lowered his head, pulled his hair with both hands, and his voice gradually weakened.Darnay and Caton watched him with a mixture of vigilance and sympathy.These two old people are now 60 years old.The middle-aged man in front of him could be their son if he was a few years younger.Besides, they were also looking for a poor girl whose life was like duckweed, and in this case, sympathy and concern for other poor people will naturally creep out.In the end, compassion overcame guard, and Darney jumped out of the car, walked up to the man, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We have seen little Realva," he said. "How much did you take from that boy?"

The man opened his palm, revealing a forty-sou piece.

"We gave him five francs," said Darnay. "The boy's loss has been made good. You needn't worry about it."

The man was taken aback, and stared at Dane blankly, as if he didn't believe that such a good thing existed in this world.

"Where are you going now?" Darnay asked.

The man subconsciously pointed to the road ahead.

"We're on our way, then," Darnay said. "It's getting late. Would you like a lift?"

"Will you let me go?" said the man, staring. "My name is Jean Valjean. I am a convict. After nineteen years in prison, no one would receive me when I came out, in Digne." Everyone avoided me, the inn refused to take me in, no one opened the door for me, but the good bishop took me in for the night, treated me like a human being, and rewarded him by stealing his silver. He interceded for me before the police and let me go. I went out of town and robbed another kid. Would you let me in the car?"

He talked about these vicious evil deeds, but his eyes shone with the kind of light that only those who truly regret and yearn for the light will have.Carton jumped out of the car without saying a word, walked to the back of the carriage, and opened the rear door.

"Come up, please," he said.

The man walked slowly to the door of the car, gave him a tentative look, and then got into the car.It was a very small carriage, barely able to seat three or four people in it.Carton and Darne looked at each other, then got into the car and closed the door from the inside.Danai started to drive the horse again, and the carriage continued to move forward.

Because the two of them were sitting outside the car before, it was very dark in the car now, and none of the candles on the wall and the oil lamps in the corner were lit.Caton turned and drew aside the curtain on the window to let in a ray of moonlight. When he turned again, he saw Jean Valjean looking at him with an indescribable, dreamlike expression.

"Why!" he said, "you paid back little Rielwei's money for me, and you are willing to give me a ride!"

Suddenly, he began to cry.He buried his head in his hands, weeping bitterly, sobbing uncontrollably, crying more wantonly than a child.Caton sat beside him in silence, and when Jean Valjean's cries gradually subsided, he laid a comforting hand on the convict's knee.

"I don't ask questions," he said, "but if you have anything to say, I'd love to hear it."

Jean Valjean told him the whole thing, and the night was long, and they had plenty of time, so he told him more details and more than he did to the Bishop.He talked about his sister and those children; he talked about the 19 years of hard labor in prison; he talked about the cold reception along the way; the glory of God.

Carton listened quietly all the time, Darne outside the car heard every word, but didn't say a word.When Jean Valjean finally finished speaking, he paused, and Caton said: "Then, please listen to me too."

He told about the purpose of himself and Danet's trip to Montreuil, and then he talked about the fanatical and terrifying revolution more than 20 years ago, about his chance encounter with Ramona Defarge, and about After many years of hard pursuit, he still missed a hair in the end.He spoke of Corona with a smile, of her rebellious and obstinate behavior with a sad face, and confessed with pain that he feared that one day telling the truth would make him lose her love.

Sometimes, it is a very wonderful fate to be able to easily and frankly confide to strangers the secrets kept secret by relatives and friends.Carton and Jean Valjean were in this state.Jean Valjean had just experienced a crucial turning point in his heart, and Caton was half infected by him, and the other half was because his painful thoughts had been suppressed for too long, no matter how unbearable, within half an hour of knowing each other, The two had already said their most intimate words to each other.For any of them before, this was unimaginable, but only at this moment, the same intense pain connected them together.

In the end, the conversation was interrupted by the stop of the carriage.

"There's an inn up ahead," Darnay said.

They still need sleep after all, and horses need rest too.Mumbling after being disturbed from sleeping, the displeased shopkeeper took them into the simple room: each room only had a bed, a folding stool and a small kettle, the teacup was chipped, and the curtains were covered with Mildew.The next day they set off early in the morning, and Caton was the driver, and Darnay sat side by side with Jean Valjean in the car.

"So, my friend, what are your plans next?" Dane asked gently.

A gloomy expression appeared on Jean Valjean's face, but he did not struggle, as if he had spent the whole evening thinking about the matter and had now made up his mind, "I will not go to Pontarière."

Dane was taken aback: "This is...very risky."

"You may say, I know it is against the law, monsieur. But I cannot go on living as Jean Valjean. I do not wish to remain a convict. You have heard what has been done to me since I was released." Yes, I work like a decent man, and more, and they won't give me my fair wages; I lodging like any traveler, asking for a roof, and being turned down everywhere, not even a dog Such a man cannot be a decent man, sir. If society decides a man is a bad man, and treats him like a scoundrel, it always succeeds in the end and turns him into a real scoundrel. To start over , I can’t let the rest of my life be always under the shadow of convicts.”

Darnay put a hand of sympathy and relief on his knee. "I haven't studied French law for many years, but isn't there any way to get a fair, legal status today? You just stole a loaf of bread, and that was 19 years ago. Isn't it possible to apply Commutation or pardon?"

"I don't know," said Jean Valjean, with a sad smile; "I have no hope. Even if there is an amnesty, it is only for the nobles and the rich, and it has nothing to do with me. If I want to be reborn, You have to get rid of the past completely first.”

If either of the two of them were sitting outside, next to Caton, they might cast doubtful and concerned looks at him.Caton's face turned pale, he gritted his teeth and frowned, his eyes projected the fierce struggle going on in his heart.If one looked only at his eyes, one would think he was in Paris in [-], not in Bas-Alpes in [-].But there was no one outside the car, and no one could see his distressed expression.He stared blankly at the road ahead, but saw nothing.At the dawn of dawn, the cold light of the morning casts a whitish and bleak hue on the wilderness and dead trees.

He knew what neither Charles Darnay nor Jean Valjean knew.The laws are strict, but nobility have their privileges in every field.The chances of securing Jean Valjean's amnesty were remote, but not impossible.There is still a chance, there is still hope, he can become an upright person who can walk in the world with his original identity without worrying, but that requires Caton to do one thing first.A thing he desperately didn't want to do.

Once upon a time, he was also a young man who was full of ambition, full of vitality, and looking forward to the future!Then the blow of fate and the depression of life made him weaken and sink, his talents and enthusiasm could not be brought into play, and all kinds of sweet dreams withered into deserts.When he thought that his life was hopeless and his greatest achievement was to die on behalf of his friend so that he could have a happy family and the woman he loved, the responsibility for Ramona suddenly fell on him, and he was miraculous in the yellow sand. Like digging out a clear spring, it can almost turn the wasteland into fertile soil.

However, the power that can turn the barren land into fertile soil is always enough to return the fertile soil to the desert.Caton dreaded such a day for many years.He is now 60 years old. 40 years have passed, and he has entered the twilight years of his life. The injustice, resentment and discouragement of his youth have all passed away. His only joy is watching the children of Corona and Dane grow up, glowing with youth and sweetness of gloss.At this time, is it necessary for him to touch and embrace the wound that has never been healed in the past 40 years, and look back at the culprit who almost ruined his life for the sake of a glimmer of hope?Why did Jean Valjean ask him to do this, and why did God ask him to do this?After all, it was just a stranger who met by chance, and based on his words of repentance, it is impossible to be sure that this 19-year hard labor prisoner can really reform.

But what if he sincerely wanted to start over?Can he deny the kindness of a suffering man?Could he turn his head away and turn a blind eye to a person who is enduring the suffering and injustice of society?