Les Misérables, v. 5/5: Jean Valjean

by Victor Hugo

  CHAPTER XIV.

  IN WHICH WE READ THE NAME OF THE MISTRESS OF ENJOLRAS.

  Courfeyrac, seated on a stone by the side of Enjolras, continued toinsult the cannon, and each time that the gloomy shower of projectileswhich is called a grape-shot passed with its monstrous noise he greetedit with an ironical remark.

  "You are wasting your breath, my poor old brute, and I feel sorry foryou, as your row is thrown away. That is not thunder, but a cough."

  And those around him laughed Courfeyrac and Bossuet, whose valiantgood-humor increased with danger, made up for the want of food, likeMadame Scarron, by jests, and as wine was short, poured out gayety forall.

  "I admire Enjolras," said Bossuet. "His temerity astonishes me. Helives alone, which, perhaps, renders him a little sad; and Enjolras isto be pitied for his greatness, which attaches him to widowhood. Wefellows have all, more or less, mistresses, who make us mad, that isto say brave, and when a man is as full of love as a tiger the leasthe can do is to fight like a lion. That is a way of avenging ourselvesfor the tricks which our grisettes play us. Roland lets himself bekilled to vex Angelique, and all our heroism comes from our women. Aman without a woman is like a pistol without a hammer, and it is thewoman who makes the man go off. Well, Enjolras has no woman, he is notin love, and finds means to be intrepid. It is extraordinary that a mancan be cold as ice and daring as fire."

  Enjolras did not appear to listen; but any one who had been near himmight have heard him murmur, in a low voice, _Patria._ Bossuet laughedagain, when Courfeyrac shouted, "Here's something fresh."

  And assuming the voice of a groom of the chambers who announces avisitor, he added,---"Mr. Eight-Pounder."

  In fact, a new character had come on the stage; it was a secondpiece of artillery. The gunners rapidly got it into position by theside of the first one, and this was the beginning of the end. A fewminutes later both guns, being actively served, were at work againstthe barricade, and the platoon fire of the line and the suburbanNational Guards supported the artillery. Another cannonade was audiblesome distance off. At the same time that the two guns were furiouslyassaulting the redoubt in the Rue de la Chanvrerie, two other piecesplaced in position, one in the Rue St. Denis, the other in the RueAubry le Boucher, were pounding the St. Merry barricade. The four gunsformed a lugubrious echo to one another, the barks of the grim dogs ofwar answered one another. Of the two guns now opened on the barricadeof the Rue de la Chanvrerie, one fired shell, the other solid shot.The gun which fired the latter was pointed at a slight elevation, andthe firing was so calculated that the ball struck the extreme edge ofthe crest of the barricades, and hurled the broken paying-stones onthe heads of the insurgents. This mode of fire was intended to drivethe combatants from the top of the redoubt, and compel them to closeup in the interior; that is to say, it announced the assault. Once thecombatants were driven from the top of the barricade by the cannon, andfrom the windows of the public-house by the canister, the columns ofattack could venture into the street without being aimed at, perhapswithout even being seen, suddenly escalade the barricade, as on theprevious evening, and take it by surprise.

  "The annoyance of these guns must be reduced," said Enjolras; and heshouted, "Fire at the artillerymen!"

  All were ready: the barricade, which had so long been silent, wasbelted with flame; seven or eight rounds succeeded one another witha sort of rage and joy; the street was filled with a blinding smoke,and at the expiration of a few minutes there might be confusedlyseen through the mist, all striped with flame, two thirds of theartillerymen lying under the gun-wheels. Those who remained standingcontinued to serve the guns with a stern tranquillity, but the fire wasreduced.

  "Things are going well," said Bossuet to Enjolras; "that is a success."

  Enjolras shook his head, and replied,--

  "Another quarter of an hour of that success, and there will not be tencartridges left in the barricade."

  It appears that Gavroche heard the remark.