[Masterpiece Les Miserables] Paris Sparks

The girls' school is on the Seine, not far from the barricades.This was also the reason why Gavroche finally agreed to send the message: he calculated the time and found that if he walked faster, he would still be able to return to the barricade before the sky was completely bright.The only regret is that because it is very close to the barricades, all the surrounding residents and shops have locked their doors and windows, and all the street lights have been knocked out.Much of the fun was lost on the journey, which made Gavroche very unhappy.

Since there was no way to have fun on the way, he quickened his pace and ran towards the school.About half an hour later, at 03:30 in the morning, he came to the gate of Lucy Girls School.It was also completely dark inside the school, and it was the darkest time of day again, and Gavroche almost missed it.

The door was closed tightly with a conspicuous iron lock, and the inside was empty and dark.Ordinary people would think that there must be no one in here at a glance, and that the school must be closed at this turbulent time, and the girls and women inside either scared away or hid in the cellar and dare not go out.But Gavroche had come here many times to help, and knew in his heart that their courage was far greater than this.He peeped through the iron gate for a while, then turned and ran to the other end of the fence.

There was a small back door there, which was originally used to deliver things for poor children who were helpers to get in and out.I don't know who pulled the thick ivy on the wall next to it to cover it, but under the cover of the branches and leaves, the door was not locked.Gavroche opened the door and slipped in softly.

"Who is it?" He didn't take a few steps when he heard a soft voice beside him asking, like a ghostly voice in the night.But Gavroche was not in the least frightened. "Ah, Mother Headmaster!" he replied lightly, "I'll deliver the letter."

"Ah, Gavroche." The Headmaster also recognized him.A tall and thin figure stepped out from the recess of the nearby building, "Who are you here to deliver?"

"Mademoiselle Cosette. Two. Is she here?"

"She's inside." said the headmaster, she came up and took his hand, but Gavroche shook it off, but she didn't insist, but walked ahead in the dark to lead him, bypassing a small building, Going around to the hall behind, she reached out and knocked lightly on the door twice, then opened the door.

It was only then that Gavroche realized that the lamp was still lit inside, but thick curtains were hung on the door and windows to prevent the light from leaking out.The mother dean lifted up a corner of the curtain and walked in sideways. Gavroche followed, and found that most of the school's people stayed in this dining hall on weekdays. fell asleep, and the few who were awake were scattered here and there in twos and threes.Sister Prita, who was cooking, was sitting by the door, looking like a sentinel.The principal asked her: "Where is Mademoiselle Cosette?"

"She's in the infirmary at the back."

"Because of the girl who was brought in just now? How is the poor child?"

Aunt Prita shook her head: "I don't know either."

Gavroche knew the location of the infirmary very well, so he didn't need others to lead the way, and ran along the corridor by himself.The door of the infirmary was closed, and there were two people standing outside, Fantine and a young-looking man—Gavroche did not recognize that it was Jean Valjean.He was about to go in, but Fantine stopped him. "Don't run around! The sickness is still being treated inside." She reprimanded gently.

"I didn't run around! I want to deliver a letter to Mademoiselle Cosette." Gavroche protested dissatisfiedly, "Who is in there? Is it someone named Éponine?"

"That's right." Fantine was a little surprised, "How do you know?"

"That's my sister!" said Gavroche, darting past her and opening the door.Then he suddenly remembered: "By the way, there is another letter for you!"

He took from his bosom a crumpled, quarter-folded paper, gave it to Fantine, and burst through the door.Fantine cried out anxiously before she could catch him, and hastily pushed open the door to see, but Gavroche did not make any trouble when he entered, he just ran to the bed and watched Joly and Cosette busy beside Éponine. Busy.Fantine saw that he had made no trouble, and remembered that they were brother and sister after all, and her heart softened.She didn't force him to come out, she closed the door quietly, and went to open the letter. "It must have been written by Corona." She said nervously, "Mr. Jean, what do you think she will be for?"

Jean Valjean did not know either.Fantine approached him, and they read the letter together, but it was not Coronne's handwriting when they opened it.A handsome handwriting belonging to young people wrote hastily like this:

My dear: I can't go to England with you, and I can't live without you.I am determined to die.My spirit will accompany you as you read this letter.If there is still a corner of your heart that remembers Marius, give me one last kiss.

Fantine and Jean Valjean, looking at each other in horror, went back to the letter, and both of them read and reread the words, unable to believe their eyes. "Is this a letter to Cosette?" asked Fantine to herself.Jean Valjean was silent, he could not utter a word.

Suddenly, Gavroche rushed out again, and Cosette followed closely behind him. He had just washed his hands, and there was still blood on one hand that had not been wiped clean.He snatched the letter back anxiously and annoyed, with such force that a corner of the letter paper was torn. "Wrong, wrong! This is for you." He cried, and stuffed another piece of paper in it: it was also crumpled and folded in four, the difference was that the reverse side of this paper had A few sketches.That was Corona's letter. Gavroche patronized and worried about his sister, but he didn't expect to get the two letters reversed.

Fantine was worried about Corona on the one hand, and was so confused by this inexplicable letter from Cosette on the other, that she was so anxious for a while that she wished to have another head.She opened the letter with trembling hands, looked at Cosette, and read it several times, always feeling that the words were reflected in her eyes, but not in her chaotic mind. She read the letters, but could not understand their meaning.Finally, she had to force herself to read aloud:

"I have been able to foresee and accept all the fate that is about to face me. I know that no matter how things go, this is by no means my worst fate, and it is by no means my most unfortunate ending. I'm sorry. CC

"P.S. Jean, do you remember the young man we were talking about? His name is Marius."

Tears streamed down her face while she was reading, and she felt nothing at all, but the people around her were petrified.Gavroche in particular: he himself was fearless on the barricades, and he also found it remarkable what the students were doing.But seeing Fantine's tears now, he somehow felt a little guilty.After reading the letter, Fantine raised her head and looked at Jean Valjean as if grasping at straws: "This is not Corona's letter! It must not be. You see, it is signed by CC! How could she sign such a name? Her name is Evermond!"

Without waiting for Jean Valjean's reply, she asked Gavroche again: "Who, you say, is the one who sent you this letter?"

Gavroche lowered his head and rubbed his torn shoe on the floor. "Her name is Corona." He replied in a low voice.

"...It's 'Carton'." Jean Valjean said softly, "The name she left behind was not Evermond, but Corona Carton."

Fantine fell silent.Suddenly her legs gave way, and she fell backwards. Jean Valjean hurriedly supported her, and made her sit against the wall.Fantine sat empty on the floor, only weeping. "There's no hope for them," she said, "they're not going to win! I heard the army go out in the night with cannon. She only had two pistols/guns. God, why did she have to go by herself, why? Why stay at home Enjoying wealth is not enough to satisfy her?"

Gavroche was really uncomfortable.He can deal with the enemy's bullets, but he can't deal with the weak cries of his family in the middle of the night.He turned to run, but Jean Valjean seized him again by the shoulder.Jean Valjean asked him: "How did you get out?"

"What's your business? Old man. Who are you?"

"I am the father of Mademoiselle Cosette whom you are sending."

Cosette squatted beside her mother, and only then remembered that she also had a letter.She took out the note, and when she took a look, her face changed completely.Jean Valjean went on to ask Gavroche: "How did you get out? How did that medical student bring a wounded girl just now?"

"Well," said Gavroche, and seeing Fantine and Cosette's intimate posture around him, he concluded that the man before him was not lying.In addition, the headmaster and the nurse in the infirmary looked very familiar with him, which meant that this person had some relationship with the girls' school, which made him finally believe that this was a trustworthy person.Then he replied: "I slipped out from behind the little barricade in the Rue de Mondéau. As for the two of them, they came out in front of the Rue des Basques. Coronne got a bunch of keys from somewhere." , you can open the back door of the front building.”

"Ah! that would be wonderful," whispered Jean Valjean to himself. "Is that door still usable?"

"It can still be opened from the inside, but not from the outside. We cannot allow officers and soldiers to attack through the back door of the building."

That glimmer of hope was dashed again.Jean Valjean looked down at the letter in his hand in disappointment, but suddenly he noticed that on the folded corner, several thick and black capital letters ran through the back of the letter.He turned the piece of paper over and saw the line of crooked words hastily written.Because she was in the dark, Corona couldn't pay attention to the picture, the conspicuous letters ran across the girls' sketches, blurring a few young faces.On it was written: "Please be sure to leave the child who delivered the letter."

This undoubtedly further showed that she herself knew that the outcome of the battle was more or less fatal.This made Jean Valjean even more disturbed.He thought for a while, took out a gold coin to the child, and asked, "Can you do me a favor?"

Gavroche raised his nose and was a little surprised to see the size of the coin. He had never seen such a large coin, and he had only heard that there was such a thing as a gold coin in the world. He did not expect to see it with his own eyes today. I was very happy to see it.He played with it cheerfully for a while, and when he had had enough of admiring the design on it, he returned it. "You can't corrupt me with money," he said. "I beg your pardon, but I must go back to the barricades."

"You keep it. I'm not trying to corrupt you, I just want you to do a little favor. A little favor that will definitely not damage the revolution."

"what is it then?"

"Could you help me run Glassworks Row to the old Durantos on the third floor of 86?"

"Glassfactory Row! That won't work, that's too far. I've got to get back to the barricades before daylight."

"Why do you have to go back?"

"For the war!"

"With all due respect, boy. You can't win."

"Ha! When I join, it might be!" Gavroche said nonchalantly, and shot him through the air with one hand squeezed into a pistol.

Jean Valjean was unmoved. "You know that. Look at this letter." He showed him the big thick black characters on the letter paper. "Can you read? It says: 'Please leave the messenger My child.” By this time, Coronne must have understood that the situation of the revolution was not good, otherwise she would not have written this way. The cannons had already been fired at the barricade in Saint-Merry at night, and the revolutionaries would not be able to hold out for long without armed forces. Why do you have to go back and die?"

"Death?" said Gavroche, folding his arms over his chest. "You want me to live?"

"Yes," said Jean Valjean earnestly.Gavroche let out a laugh.

"To survive? Let me tell you what it means to survive. To be alive is to be like you, Miss Corona, and Miss Cosette. Me? We waifs, these drudges live like mice: It's not that people don't want to run us over, they just don't bother to catch us. Old man, I didn't see your help when we were suffering and poor, so please save your kindness now. We are not human beings when we live, and we die You have the right to die as you wish, right?"

These words made Jean Valjean feel like a knife in his heart. "So, where's your sister?" he asked.

"She doesn't want to die!" said Gavroche, "she just..."

His words were interrupted.Cosette next to her, after reading the letter, broke out into a burst of weeping, the most miserable sound that can only be uttered by a person whose heart is completely broken. "He is going to die," she broke out sobbing, throwing herself into Fantine's arms. "My Marius! He says he is going to die! Coronne went to the barricades, and Marius went to the barricades." What shall I do, mother? How can he die, how can he die like this?"

The mother and daughter put their heads against each other, hugging each other and weeping.Those two letters were put in the middle.There is hardly a more heartbreaking scene in the world.Fantine turned suddenly, and taking Gavroche's hand in her own, she knelt down and looked at him with tears in her face. "Please," she said, "please! You know where the barricade is. Please get her out, will you?"

Gavroche was so overwhelmed that he jumped back a few steps in fright, and almost ran out along the corridor. "But, ma'am," he said awkwardly, "no one forced them. They chose to sacrifice themselves, so I think they should have the right to sacrifice without being disturbed."

Jean Valjean followed closely and seized the loophole. "But what if they, like your sister, don't really want to die?"

"There is no one on the barricade who loves life and fears death," said Gavroche without hesitation.

"But Marius died believing he could not find love," said Jean Valjean.Although the very mention of the name made his heart ache, and the flames of jealousy blazed within him; despite the schadenfreude he felt at the thought of the man's imminent death, he was now compelled to cling to the name as Excuse, "If the misunderstanding can be cleared up, this tragedy can be avoided. Don't you hope so?"

"Father! Really?" Cosette jumped up, clasping Jean Valjean's arms with both hands, "I beg you—is it true?" She looked at Jean Valjean imploringly with her face covered with tears, and again Look at Gavroche.

Gavroche yielded. "Okay, okay." He sighed heavily, "For the sake of your help—what do you want me to do?"

"I beg you to go to the Durantos," said Jean Valjean, "and let him come in his carriage."

He went into the room by himself.Eponine had just escaped danger and was unconscious on the bed, while Joly leaned against the wall with blood all over her hands.Jean Valjean gave him a slight push on the shoulder. "I want to borrow this police uniform from you," he said.