The Man Who Laughs

by Victor Hugo

  It was not quite the knock of a lord; but it was the knock of a justice.

  The trembling innkeeper half opened his window. There was, indeed, the magistrate. Master Nicless perceived at the door a body of police, from the head of which two men detached themselves, one of whom was the justice of the quorum.

  Master Nicless had seen the justice of the quorum that morning, and recognised him.

  He did not know the other, who was a fat gentleman, with a waxen-coloured face, a fashionable wig, and a traveling cloak.

  Nicless was much afraid of the first of these persons, the justice of the quorum. Had he been of the court, he would have feared the other most, because it was Barkilphedro.

  One of the subordinates knocked at the door again violently.

  The innkeeper, with great drops of perspiration on his brow, from anxiety, opened it.

  The justice of the quorum, in the tone of a man who is employed in matters of police, and who is well acquainted with various shades of vagrancy, raised his voice, and asked, severely, for----

  "Master Ursus!"

  The host, cap in hand, replied: "Your honour; he lives here."

  "I know it," said the justice.

  "No doubt, your honour."

  "Tell him to come down."

  "Your honour, he is not here."

  "Where is he?"

  "I do not know."

  "How is that?"

  "He has not come in."

  "Then he must have gone out very early?"

  "No; but he went out very late."

  "What vagabonds!" replied the justice.

  "Your honour," said Master Nicless softly, "here he comes."

  Ursus, indeed, had just come in sight, round a turn of the wall. He was returning to the inn. He had passed nearly the whole night between the jail, where at midday he had seen Gwynplaine, and the cemetery, where at midnight he had heard the grave filled up. He was pallid with two pallors-that of sorrow and of twilight.

  Dawn, which is light in a chrysalis state, leaves even those forms which are in movement, in the uncertainty of night. Ursus, wan and indistinct, walked slowly, like a man in a dream.

  In the wild distraction produced by agony of mind, he had left the inn with his head bare. He had not even found out that he had no hat on. His spare, gray locks fluttered in the wind. His open eyes appeared sightless. Often when awake we are asleep, and as often when asleep we are awake.

  Ursus looked like a lunatic.

  "Master Ursus," cried the innkeeper, "come; their honours desire to speak to you."

  Master Nicless, in his endeavour to soften matters down, let slip, although he would gladly have omitted, this plural their honours--respectful to the group, but mortifying, perhaps, to the chief, confounded therein, to some degree, with his subordinates.

  Ursus started like a man falling off a bed, on which he was sound asleep.

  "What is the matter?" said he.

  He saw the police, and at the head of the police the justice.

  A fresh and rude shock.

  But a short time ago, the wapentake, now the justice of the quorum. He seemed to have been cast from one to the other, as ships by some reefs of which we have read in old stories.

  The justice of the quorum made him a sign to enter the tavern. Ursus obeyed. Govicum, who had just got up, and who was sweeping the room, stopped his work, got into a corner behind the tables, put down his broom, and held his breath. He plunged his fingers into his hair, and scratched his head, a symptom which indicated attention to what was about to occur.

  The justice of the quorum sat down on a form, before a table. Barkilphedro took a chair. Ursus and Master Nicless remained standing. The police officers, left outside, grouped themselves in front of the closed door.

  The justice of the quorum fixed his eye, full of the law, upon Ursus. He said:

  "You have a wolf."

  Ursus answered: "Not exactly."

  "You have a wolf," continued the justice, emphasising "wolf" with a decided accent.

  Ursus answered: "You see

  And he was silent.

  "A misdemeanour!" replied the justice.

  Ursus hazarded an excuse: "He is my servant."

  The justice placed his hand flat on the table, with his fingers spread out, which is a very fine gesture of authority.

  "Merry-andrew! to-morrow, by this hour, you and your wolf must have left England. If not, the wolf will be seized, carried to the register office, and killed."

  Ursus thought, "More murder!" but he breathed not a syllable, and was satisfied with trembling in every limb.

  "You hear?" said the justice.

  Ursus nodded.

  The justice persisted: "Killed."

  There was silence.

  "Strangled, or drowned."

  The justice of the quorum watched Ursus.

  "And yourself in prison."

  Ursus murmured: "Your worship!"

  "Be off before to-morrow morning; if not, such is the order."

  "Your worship!"

  "What?"

  "Must we leave England, he and I?"

  "Yes."

  "To-day?"

  "To-day."

  "What is to be done?"

  Master Nicless was happy. The magistrate, whom he had feared, had come to his aid. The police had acted as auxiliary to him, Nicless. They had delivered him from "such people." The means he had sought were brought to him. Ursus, whom he wanted to get rid of, was being driven away by the police, a superior authority. Nothing to object to. He was delighted. He interrupted:

  "Your honour, that man----"

  He pointed to Ursus with his finger.

  "That man wants to know how he is to leave England to-day. Nothing can be easier. There are night and day at anchor on the Thames, both on this and on the other side of London Bridge, vessels that sail to the Continent. They go from England to Denmark, to Holland, to Spain; not to France, on account of the war, but everywhere else. To-night several ships will sail, about one o'clock in the morning, which is the hour of high tide, and, among others, the Vograat, of Rotterdam."

  The justice of the quorum made a movement of his shoulder toward Ursus.

  "Be it so. Leave by the first ship--by the Vograat."

  "Your worship," said Ursus.

  "Well?"

  "Your worship, if I had, as formerly, only my little box on wheels, it might be done. A boat would contain that, but----"

  "But what?"

  "But now I have got the Green Box, which is a great caravan drawn by two horses, and however wide the ship might be, we could not get it into her."

  "What is that to me?" said the justice. "The wolf will be killed."

  Ursus shuddered, as if he were grasped by a hand of ice.

  "Monsters!" he thought. "Murdering people is their way of settling matters."

  The innkeeper smiled and addressed Ursus.

  "Master Ursus, you can sell the Green Box."

  Ursus looked at Nicless.

  "Master Ursus, you have the offer."

  "From whom?"

  "An offer for the caravan, an over for the two horses, an offer for the two gypsy-women, an offer

  "From whom?" repeated Ursus.

  "From the proprietor of the neighbouring circus."

  Ursus remembered it.

  "It is true."

  Master Nicless turned to the justice of the quorum.

  "Your honour, the bargain can be completed to-day. The proprietor of the circus close by wishes to buy the caravan and the horses."

  "The proprietor of the circus is right," said the justice; "because he will soon require them. A caravan and horses will be useful to him. He, too, will depart to-day. The reverend gentlemen of the parish of Southwark have complained of the indecent riot in Tarrinzeau Field. The sheriff has taken his measures. To-night there will not be a single juggler's booth in the place. There must be an end to all these scandals. The honourable gentleman who deigns to be here present----"

&nbs
p; The justice of the quorum interrupted his speech to salute Barkilphedro, who returned the bow.

  "The honourable gentleman who deigns to be present has just arrived from Windsor. He brings orders. Her Majesty has said, 'It must be swept away.' "

  Ursus, during his long meditation all night, had not failed to put himself some questions. After all, he had only seen a bier. Could he be sure that it contained Gwynplaine? Other people might have died besides Gwynplaine. A coffin does not announce the name of the corpse, as it passes by. A funeral had followed the arrest of Gwynplaine. That proved nothing. Post hoc, non propter hoc, etc. Ursus had begun to doubt.

  Hope burns and glimmers over misery like naphtha over water. Its hovering flame ever floats over human sorrow. Ursus had come to this conclusion, "It is probable that it was Gwynplaine whom they buried, but it is not certain. Who knows?--perhaps Gwynplaine is still alive."

  "Honourable judge, I will go away, we will go away, all will go away, by the Vograat, of Rotterdam. to-day. I will sell the Green Box, the horses, the trumpets, the gypsies. But I have a comrade, whom I can not leave behind--Gwynplaine. "

  "Gwynplaine is dead," said a voice.

  Ursus felt a cold sensation, such as is produced by a reptile crawling over the skin. It was Barkilphedro who had just spoken.

  The last gleam was extinguished. No more doubt now. Gwynplaine was dead. A person in authority must know. This one looked ill-favoured enough to do so.

  Ursus bowed to him.

  Master Nicless was a good-hearted man enough, but a dreadful coward. Once terrified he became a brute. The greatest cruelty is that inspired by fear.

  He growled out:

  "This simplifies matters."

  And he indulged, standing behind Ursus, in rubbing his hands, a peculiarity of the selfish, signifying, "I am well out of it," and suggestive of Pontius Pilate washing his hands.

  Ursus, overwhelmed, bent down his head.

  The sentence on Gwynplaine had been executed: Death. His sentence was pronounced: Exile. Nothing remained but to obey. He felt as in a dream.

  Some one touched his arm. It was the other person, who was with the justice of the quorum. Ursus shuddered.

  The voice which had said, "Gwynplaine is dead," whispered in his ear: "Here are ten guineas, sent you by one who wishes you well."

  And Barkilphedro placed a little purse on a table before Ursus. We must not forget the casket that Barkilphedro had taken with him.

  Ten guineas out of two thousand! It was all that Barkilphedro could make up his mind to part with. In all conscience it was enough. If he had given more, he would have lost. He had taken the trouble of finding out a lord, and having sunk the shaft it was but fair that the first proceeds of the mine should belong to him. Those who see meanness in the act are right, but they would be wrong to feel astonished. Barkilphedro loved money, especially money which was stolen. An envious man is an avaricious one. Barkilphedro was not without his faults. The commission of crimes does not preclude the possession of vices. Tigers have their lice.

  Besides, he belonged to the school of Bacon.

  Barkilphedro turned toward the justice of the quorum and said to him:

  "Sir, be so good as to conclude this matter. I am in haste. carriage and horses belonging to her Majesty await me. I must go full gallop to Windsor, for I must be there within two hours' time. I have intelligence to give and orders to take."

  The justice of the quorum arose.

  He went to the door, which was only latched, opened it, and, looking silently toward the police, beckoned to them authoritatively. They entered with that silence which heralds severity of action.

  Master Nicless--satisfied with the rapid dénouement which cut short his Difficulties--charmed to be out of the entangled skein, was afraid, when he saw the muster of officers, that they were going to apprehend Ursus in his house. Two arrests--one after the other--made in his house, first that of Gwynplaine, then that of Ursus, might be injurious to the inn. Customers dislike police raids.

  Here then was a time for a respectful appeal, suppliant and generous. Master Nicless turned toward the Justice of the quorum a smiling face, in which confidence was tempered by respect.

  "Your honour, I venture to observe to your honour, that these honourable gentlemen, the police officers, might be dispensed with now that the wolf is about to be carried away from England, and that this man, Ursus, makes no resistance; and since your honour's orders are being punctually carried out, your honour will consider that the respectable business of the police, so necessary to the good of the kingdom, does great harm to an establishment, and that my house is innocent. The merry-andrews of the Green Box having been swept away, as her Majesty says, there is no longer any criminal here, as I do not suppose that the blind girl and the two women are criminals; therefore, I implore your honour to deign to shorten your august visit, and to dismiss these worthy gentlemen who have just entered, because there is nothing for them to do in my house; and, if your honour will permit me to prove the justice of my speech under the form of a humble question, I will prove the inutility of these revered gentlemen's presence by asking your honour if the man, Ursus, obeys orders and departs who there can be to arrest here?"

  "Yourself," said the justice.

  A man does not argue with a sword which runs him through and through. Master Nicless subsided--he cared not on what, on a table, on a form, on anything that happened to be there--prostrate.

  The justice raised his voice, so that if there were people outside they might hear.

  "Master Nicless Plumptree, keeper of this tavern, this is the last point to be settled. This mountebank and the wolf are vagabonds. They are driven away. But the person most in fault is yourself. It is in your house, and with your consent, that the law has been violated; and you, a man licenced, invested with a public responsibility, have established the scandal here. Master Nicless, your licence is taken away; you must pay the penalty and go to prison."

  The policemen surrounded the innkeeper.

  The justice continued, pointing out Govicum:

  "Arrest that boy as an accomplice."

  The hand of an officer fell upon the collar of Govicum, who looked at him inquisitively. The boy was not much alarmed, scarcely understanding the occurrence; having already observed many things out of the way, he wondered if this were the end of the comedy.

  The justice of the quorum forced his hat down on his head, crossed his hands on his stomach, which is the height of majesty, and added:

  "It is decided, Master Nicless; you are to be taken to prison and put into jail, you and the boy, and this house, the Tadcaster Inn, is to remain shut up, condemned and closed. For the sake of example. Upon which you will follow us."

  * * *

  BOOK 7

  THE TITANESS

  I

  THE AWAKENING

  AND DEA!

  It seemed to Gwynplaine, as he watched the break of day at Corleone Lodge, while the things we have related were occurring at the Tadcaster Inn, that the call came from without--but it came from within.

  Who has not heard the deep clamours of the soul?

  Moreover, the morning was dawning.

  Aurora is a voice.

  Of what use is the sun if not to reawaken that dark sleeper--the conscience?

  Light and virtue are akin.

  Whether the god be called Christ or love, there is at times an hour when he is forgotten, even by the best. An of us, even the saints, require a voice to remind us, and the dawn speaks to us, like a sublime monitor. Conscience calls out before duty, as the cock crows before the dawn of day.

  That chaos, the human heart, hears the Fiat lux!

  Gwynplaine--we will continue thus to call him; Clancharlie is a lord, Gwynplaine is a man--Gwynplaine felt as if brought back to life. It was time that the artery was bound up.

  For a while his virtue had spread its wings and flown away.

  "And Dea!" he said.

  Then he felt through his vei
ns a generous transfusion. Something healthy and tumultuous rushed upon him. The violent irruption of good thoughts is like the return home of a man who has not his key, and who forces his own lock honestly. It is an escalade; but an escalade of good. It is a burglary; but a burglary of evil.

  "Dea! Dea! Dea!" repeated he.

  He strove to assure himself of his heart's strength. And he put the question with a loud voice--"Where are you?"

  He almost wondered that no one answered him.

  Then again, gazing on the walls and the ceiling, with wandering thoughts, through which reason returned: "Where are you? Where am I?"

  And in the chamber which was his cage he began to walk again, to and fro, like a wild beast in captivity.

  "Where am I? At Windsor; and you? in Southwark. Alas! this is the first time that there has been distance between us. Who has dug this gulf? I here, thou there. Oh! it can not be; it shall not be! What is this that they have done to me?"

  He stopped.

  "Who talked to me of the queen? What do I know of such things? I changed! Why? Because I am a lord. Do you know what has happened, Dea? You are a lady. What has come to pass is astounding. My business now is to get back into my right road. Who is it who led me astray? There is a man who spoke to me mysteriously. I remember the words which he addressed to me. 'My lord, when one door opens another is shut. That which you have left behind is no longer yours.' In other words, you are a coward. That man, the miserable wretch! said that to me before I was well awake. He took advantage of my first moment of astonishment. I was as it were a prey to him. Where is he, that I may insult him! He spoke to me with the evil smile of a demon. But see, I am myself again. That is well. They deceive themselves if they think that they can do what they like with Lord Clancharlie, a peer of England. Yes, with a peeress, who is Dea! Conditions! Shall I accept them! The queen. What is the queen to me? I never saw her. I am not a lord to be made a slave. I enter my position unfettered. Did they think they had unchained me for nothing? They have unmuzzled me. That is all. Dea! Ursus! we are together. That which you were I was. That which I am you are. Come. No. I will go to you directly--directly. I have already waited too long. What can they think, not seeing me return! That money. When I think I sent them that money! It was myself that they wanted. I remember the man said that I could not leave this place. We shall see that. Come! a carriage, a carriage! put to the horses. I am going to look for them. Where are the servants? I ought to have servants here, since I am a lord. I am master here. This is my house. I will twist off the bolts, I will break the locks, I will kick down the doors, I will run my sword through the body of any one who bars my passage. I should like to see who shall stop me. I have a wife, and she is Dea. I have a father, who is Ursus. My house is a palace, and I give it to Ursus. My name is a diadem, and I give it to Dea. Quick, directly, Dea, I am coming--yes, you may be sure that I shall soon stride across the intervening space!"