by Victor Hugo
CHAPTER X.
THE SYSTEM OF DENIAL.
The moment for closing the trial had arrived: the President orderedthe prisoner to stand up, and asked him the usual question: "Have youanything to add to your defence?" The man, who was rolling in hishands his hideous cap, made no reply, and the President repeated hisquestion. This time the man heard, and seemed to understand; he movedlike a person who is waking up, looked around him, at the public, thegendarmes, his counsel, the jury, and the court, laid his monstrousfist on the wood-work in front of his bench, and, suddenly fixing hiseyes on the public prosecutor, began to speak. It was an eruption;from the way in which the words escaped from his lips, incoherent,impetuous, and pell-mell, it seemed as if they were all striving to getout at the same time. He said:
"I have this to say: That I was a wheelwright in Paris, and worked forMaster Baloup. It is a hard trade, is a wheelwright's; you always workin the open air, in yards, under sheds when you have a good master, butnever in a room, because you want space, look you. In winter you areso cold that you swing your arms to warm you, but the masters don'tlike when there is ice between the stones, is rough work; it soon usesa man up. You are old when quite young in that trade. At forty a manis finished. I was fifty-three, and had hard lines of it. And then theworkmen are so unkind. When a man is not so young as he was, they callhim an old fool, an old brute! I only earned thirty sous a day, for themasters took advantage of my age, and paid me as little as they could.With that I had my daughter, who was a washer-woman in the river. Sheearned a little for her part, and the pair of us managed to live. Shewas bothered too. All day in a tub up to your waist, in the snow andrain, and with the wind that cuts your face. When it freezes, it isall the same, for you must wash; there are persons who have not muchlinen, and expect it home; if a woman did not wash, she would lose hercustomers. The planks are badly joined, and drops of water fall onyou everywhere. Her petticoats were wet through, over and under. Thatpenetrates. She also worked at the wash-house of the Enfants Rouges,where the water is got from taps. You are no longer in the tub; youwash at the tap before you, and rinse in the basin behind you. As itis shut up, you don't feel so cold. But there is a steam of hot waterwhich ruins your sight. She came home at seven in the evening, and wentto bed directly, for she was so tired. Her husband used to beat her. Heis dead. We were not very happy. She was a good girl, who did not go toballs, and was very quiet. I remember a Mardi-gras, on which she wentto bed at eight o'clock. I am telling the truth. You need only inquire.Oh yes, inquire! What an ass I am! Paris is a gulf. Who is there thatknows Father Champmathieu? And yet, I tell you, Monsieur Baloup. Askhim. After all, I do not know what you want of me."
The man ceased speaking and remained standing; he had said all thisin a loud, quick, hoarse, hard voice, with a sort of wretched andsavage energy. Once he broke off to bow to somebody in the crowd. Theaffirmations which he seemed to throw out hap-hazard came from him ingasps, and he accompanied each by the gesture of a man who is choppingwood. When he had finished, his hearers burst into a laugh; he lookedat the public, seeing they were laughing, and understanding nothing,he began to laugh himself. That did him mischief. The President, agrave and kind man, began speaking. He reminded the "gentlemen of thejury" that "Monsieur Baloup, formerly a wheelwright in whose servicethe accused declared that he had been, was a bankrupt, and had notbeen found when an attempt was made to serve him with a subpoena."Then, turning to the prisoner, he requested him to listen to what hewas about to say, and added: "You are in a situation which should causeyou to reflect. The heaviest presumptions are weighing upon you, andmay entail capital punishment. Prisoner, I ask you for the last timeto explain yourself clearly on the two following facts: In the firstplace, did you, yes or no, climb over the wall, break a branch, andsteal apples, that is to say, commit a robbery with escalade? Secondly,yes or no, are you the liberated convict, Jean Valjean?"
The prisoner shook his head with a confident air, like a man whounderstands and knows what answer he is going to make. He opened hismouth, turned to the President, and said,--
"In the first place--"
Then he looked at his cap, looked at the ceiling, and held his tongue.
"Prisoner," the public prosecutor said in a stern voice, "payattention. You make no answer to the questions that are asked you,and your confusion condemns you. It is evident that your name is notChampmathieu, but Jean Valjean, at first concealed under the name ofJean Mathieu, your mother's name; that you went to Auvergne; thatyour birth-place is Faverolles, and that you are a wood-cutter. It isevident that you stole ripe apples by clambering over a wall, and thegentlemen of the jury will appreciate the fact."
The prisoner had sat down again, but he hurriedly rose when the publicprosecutor had finished, and exclaimed,--
"You are a wicked man. This is what I wanted to say, but I could notthink of it at first. I have stolen nothing. I am a man who does noteat every day. I was coming from Ailly, and walking after a flood,which had made the whole country yellow; the very ponds had overflowed,and nothing grew in the sand except a few little blades of grass bythe road-side. I found a branch with apples lying on the ground, andpicked it up, little thinking that it would bring me into trouble. Ihave been in prison and bullied for three months, and after that peopletalk against me, I don't know why, and say to me, Answer. The gendarme,who is a good-hearted fellow, nudges me with his elbow, and says, Whydon't you answer? I cannot explain myself, for I am no scholar, butonly a poor man, and you are wrong not to see it. I have not stolen, Ionly picked up things lying on the ground. You talk about Jean Valjeanand Jean Mathieu. I do not know these persons, they are countrymen. Iused to work for Monsieur Baloup, Boulevard de l'H?pital, and my nameis Champmathieu. You are a very clever fellow to tell me where I wasborn, for I don't know. It is not everybody who has a house to comeinto the world in. That would be too comfortable. I believe that myfather and mother were folks who went about on the roads, but I do notknow it after all. When I was a boy I was called little, and now I amcalled old. Those are my Christian names, and you can take them as youplease. I have been in Auvergne. I have been at Faverolles. Well, hangit! may not a man have been at those two places without having been tothe galleys? I tell you that I have not stolen, and that my name isChampmathieu. I worked for M. Baloup, and kept house. You tire me withyour foolishness. Why is everybody so spiteful against me?"
The public prosecutor, who had not sat down, here addressed thePresident.
"In the presence of these confused but very clear denials on the partof the prisoner, who would like to pass for an idiot, but will notsucceed,--we warn him,--we request that it may please you, sir, and thecourt to recall the prisoners Brevet, Cochepaille, and Chenildieu, andPolice Inspector Javert, and examine them again as to the identity ofthe prisoner with Jean Valjean."
"I must remark," said the President, "that Inspector Javert, havingbeen recalled to his duties at a neighboring town, left the hall andthe town immediately after giving his evidence; we authorized him to doso with the consent of the public prosecutor and the counsel for thedefence."
"Perfectly correct, sir," the public prosecutor continued. "In theabsence of Inspector Javert, I believe it my duty to remind thegentlemen of the jury of the statement he made here a few hours ago.Javert is a worthy man, who honors by his rigorous and strict probityinferior but important functions. His evidence is as follows: "I donot require moral presumptions and material proof to contradict theprisoner's assertions, for I recognize him perfectly. This man's nameis not Champmathieu, he is Jean Valjean, an ex-convict of a veryviolent and formidable character. It was with great reluctance thathe was liberated when he completed his time. He had nineteen years'hard labor for qualified robbery, and made five or six attempts toescape. In addition to the little Gervais robbery and the larceny ofthe apples, I also suspect him of a robbery committed in the houseof his Grandeur the late Bishop of D----. I frequently saw him whenI was assistant jailer at Toulon, and I repeat that I recognize himperfectly."
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Such a precise declaration seemed to produce a lively effect on theaudience and the jury, and the public prosecutor wound up by requestingthat the other three witnesses should be brought in and reexamined. ThePresident gave an order to an usher, and a moment after the door ofthe witness-room opened. The usher, accompanied by a gendarme, broughtin the prisoner Brevet. The audience were all in suspense, and theirchests heaved as if they had but one soul among them. The ex-convictBrevet wore the black and gray jacket of the central prisons; he was aman of about sixty years of age, who had the face of a business man andthe look of a rogue,--these are sometimes seen together. He had becomea sort of jailer in the prison to which new offences had brought him,and was a man of whom the officials said, "He tries to make himselfuseful." The chaplains bore good testimony to his religious habits,and it must not be forgotten that this trial took place under theRestoration.
"Brevet," said the President, "as you have undergone a degradingpunishment, you cannot be sworn."
Brevet looked down humbly.
"Still," the President continued, "there may remain, by the permissionof Heaven, a feeling of honor and equity even in the man whom the lawhas degraded, and it is to that feeling I appeal in this decisivehour. If it still exist in you, as I hope, reflect before answeringme; consider, on one hand, this man whom a word from you may ruin, onthe other, the justice which a word from you may enlighten. The momentis a solemn one, and there is still time for you to retract, if youbelieve that you are mistaken. Prisoner, stand up. Brevet, look at theprisoner. Think over your past recollections, and tell us on your souland conscience whether you still persist in recognizing this man asyour old mate at the galleys, Jean Valjean."
Brevet looked at the prisoner, and then turned to the court.
"Yes, sir, I was the first who recognized him, and I adhere to it. Thisman is Jean Valjean, who came to Toulon in 1796 and left in 1815. Icame out a year later. He looks like a brute now, but in that case agehas brutalized him, for he was cunning at the hulks. I recognize himpositively."
"Go and sit down," said the President. "Prisoner, remain standing."
Chenildieu was next brought in, a convict for life, as was shown by hisred jacket and green cap. He was serving his time at Toulon, whence hehad been fetched for this trial. He was a little man of about fiftyyears of age, quick, wrinkled, thin, yellow, bold, and feverish, whohad in all his limbs and his whole person a sort of sickly weakness,and immense strength in his look. His mates at the galleys had surnamedhim Je-nie-Dieu. The President addressed him much as he had doneBrevet. At the moment when he reminded him that his degradation robbedhim of the right of taking an oath, Chenildieu raised his head andlooked boldly at the crowd. The President begged him to reflect, andasked him if he still persisted in recognizing the prisoner. Chenildieuburst into a laugh:--
"I should think I do! Why, we were fastened to the same chain for fiveyears! So you are sulky, old fellow?"
"Go and sit down," said the President.
The usher brought in Cochepaille. This second convict for life,who had been fetched from the galleys and was dressed in red likeChenildieu, was a peasant of Lourdes and a half-bear of the Pyrenees.He had guarded sheep in the mountains, and had gradually drifted intobrigandage. Cochepaille was no less savage, and appeared even morestupid, than the prisoner; he was one of those wretched men whom naturehas outlined as wild beasts and whom society finishes as galley-slaves.The President tried to move him by a few grave and pathetic words, andasked him, like the two others, whether he still persisted, without anyhesitation or trouble, in recognizing the man standing before him.
"It is Jean Valjean," said Cochepaille. "He was nicknamed Jean theJack, because he was so strong."
Each of the affirmations of these three men, evidently sincere andmade in good faith, had aroused in the audience a murmur of evil omenfor the prisoner,--a murmur which grew louder and more prolongedeach time that a new declaration was added to the preceding one.The prisoner himself listened to them with that amazed face which,according to the indictment, was his principal means of defence. Atthe first the gendarmes heard him mutter between his teeth, "Well,there's one!" after the second he said rather louder, and with an airof satisfaction, "Good!" at the third he exclaimed, "Famous!" ThePresident addressed him,--
"You have heard the evidence, prisoner; have you any answer to make?"
He answered,--
"I say--famous!"
A laugh broke out in the audience and almost affected the jury. It wasplain that the man was lost.
"Ushers," said the President, "produce silence in the court: I am aboutto sum up."
At this moment there was a movement by the President's side: and avoice could be heard exclaiming,--
"Brevet, Chenildieu, and Cochepaille, look this way." All those whoheard the voice felt chilled to the heart, for it was so lamentable andterrible. All eyes were turned in the direction whence it came: a manseated among the privileged audience behind the court had risen, pushedopen the gate that separated the judges' bench from the public court,and stepped down. The President, the public prosecutor, M. Bamatabois,twenty persons, recognized him, and exclaimed simultaneously, "MonsieurMadeleine."