the big girl approached and laid her hand in her father's.
"feel how cold i am," said she.
"bah!" replied the father, "i am much colder than that."
the mother exclaimed impetuously:--
"you always have something better than any one else, so you do! even bad things."
"down with you!" said the man.
the mother, being eyed after a certain fashion, held her tongue.
silence reigned for a moment in the hovel. the elder girl was removing the mud from the bottom of her mantle, with a careless air; her younger sister continued to sob; the mother had taken the latter's head between her hands, and was covering it with kisses, whispering to her the while:--
"my treasure, i entreat you, it is nothing of consequence, don't cry, you will anger your father."
"no!" exclaimed the father, "quite the contrary! sob! sob! that's right."
then turning to the elder:--
"there now! he is not coming! what if he were not to come! i shall have extinguished my fire, wrecked my chair, torn my shirt, and broken my pane all for nothing."
"and wounded the child!" murmured the mother.
"do you know," went on the father, "that it's beastly cold in this devil's garret! what if that man should not come! oh! see there, you! he makes us wait! he says to himself: `well! they will wait for me! that's what they're there for.' oh! how i hate them, and with what joy, jubilation, enthusiasm, and satisfaction i could strangle all those rich folks! all those rich folks! these men who pretend to be charitable, who put on airs, who go to mass, who make presents to the priesthood, preachy, preachy, in their skullcaps, and who think themselves above us, and who come for the purpose of humiliating us, and to bring us `clothes,' as they say! old duds that are not worth four sous! and bread! that's not what i want, pack of rascals that they are, it's money! ah! money! never! because they say that we would go off and drink it up, and that we are drunkards and idlers! and they! what are they, then, and what have they been in their time! thieves! they never could have become rich otherwise! oh! society ought to be grasped by the four corners of the cloth and tossed into the air, all of it! it would all be smashed, very likely, but at least, no one would have anything, and there would be that much gained! but what is that blockhead of a benevolent gentleman doing? will he come? perhaps the animal has forgotten the address!i'll bet that that old beast--"
at that moment there came a light tap at the door, the man rushed to it and opened it, exclaiming, amid profound bows and smiles of adoration:--
"enter, sir! deign to enter, most respected benefactor, and your charming young lady, also."
a man of ripe age and a young girl made their appearance on the threshold of the attic.
marius had not quitted his post. his feelings for the moment surpassed the powers of the human tongue.
it was she!
whoever has loved knows all the radiant meanings contained in those three letters of that word: she.
it was certainly she. marius could hardly distinguish her through the luminous vapor which had suddenly spread before his eyes. it was that sweet, absent being, that star which had beamed upon him for six months; it was those eyes, that brow, that mouth, that lovely vanished face which had created night by its departure. the vision had been eclipsed, now it reappeared.
it reappeared in that gloom, in that garret, in that misshapen attic, in all that horror.
marius shuddered in dismay. what! it was she! the palpitations of his heart troubled his sight. he felt that he was on the brink of bursting into tears! what! he beheld her again at last, after having sought her so long! it seemed to him that he had lost his soul, and that he had just found it again.
she was the same as ever, only a little pale; her delicate face was framed in a bonnet of violet velvet, her figure was concealed beneath a pelisse of black satin. beneath her long dress, a glimpse could be caught of her tiny foot shod in a silken boot.
she was still accompanied by m. leblanc.
she had taken a few steps into the room, and had deposited a tolerably bulky parcel on the table.
the eldest jondrette girl had retired behind the door, and was staring with sombre eyes at that velvet bonnet, that silk mantle, and that charming, happy face.
大女儿走过来，把手放在父亲的手上说：
“你摸摸，我多冷。”
“这算什么！”她父亲说，“我比这还冷得多呢。”
那母亲急躁地喊着说：
“你什么事都比别人强，你！连干坏事也是你强。”
“住嘴！”那男人说。
母亲看看神气不对，便不再吭气。
穷窟里一时寂静无声。大女儿闲着，正剔除她斗篷下摆上的泥巴，妹妹仍在抽抽搭搭地哭，母亲双手捧着她的头，频频亲吻，一面低声对她说：
“我的宝贝，求求你，不要紧的，别哭了，你父亲要生气的。”
“不！”她父亲喊着说，“正相反！你哭！你哭！哭哭会有好处。”
接着又对大的那个说：
“怎么了！他还不来！万一他不来呢！我泼灭了我的火，捅穿了我的椅子，撕破了我的衬衫，打碎了我的玻璃，那才冤呢！”
“还割伤了小妹！”母亲嘟囔着。
“你们知道，”父亲接着说，“在这鬼窝窝洞里，冷得象狗一样。假使那人不来！呵！我懂了！他有意叫我们等！他心想：‘好吧！就让他们等等我！这是他们分内的事！’呵！我恨透了这些家伙，我把他们一个个全掐死，这才心里欢畅、兴高采烈呢，这些阔佬！所有这些阔佬！这些自命为善士的人，满嘴蜜糖，望弥撒，信什么贼神甫，崇拜什么瓜皮帽子，颠来倒去，翻不完嘴上两张皮，还自以为要比我们高一等，走来羞辱我们，说得好听，说是来送衣服给我们！全是些不值四个苏的破衣烂衫，还有面包！我要的不是这些东西，你们这一大堆混蛋！我要的是钱！哼！钱！不用想！因为他们说我们会拿去喝酒，说我们全是醉鬼和懒汉！那么他们自己！他们是些什么东西？他们以前做过什么？做过贼！不做贼，他们哪能有钱！呵！这个社会，应当象提起台布的四只角那样，把它整个儿抛到空中！全完蛋，那是可能的，但是至少谁也不会再有什么，那样才合算呢！……他到底在干什么，你那行善的牛嘴巴先生？他究竟来不来！这畜生也许把地址忘了！我敢打赌这老畜生……”
这时，有人在门上轻轻敲了一下，那男人连忙赶到门口，开了门，一再深深敬礼，满脸堆起了倾心崇拜的笑容，一面大声说道：
“请进，先生！请赏光，进来吧，久仰了，我的恩人，您这位标致的小姐，也请进。”
一个年近高龄的男子和一个年轻姑娘出现在那穷窟门口。
马吕斯没有离开他站的地方。他这时的感受是人类语言所无法表达的。
是“她”来了。
凡是恋爱过的人都知道这个简单的“她”字所包含的种种光明灿烂的意义。
确实是她来了。马吕斯的眼上登时起了一阵明亮的水蒸气，几乎无法把她看清楚。那正是久别了的意中人，那颗向他照耀了六个月的星，那双眼睛，那个额头，那张嘴，那副在隐藏时把阳光也带走了的美丽容颜。原已破灭了的幻象现在竟又出现在眼前。
她重现在这黑暗中，在这破烂人家，在这不成形的穷窟里，在这丑陋不堪的地方！
马吕斯心惊体颤，为之骇然。怎么！竟会是她！他心跳到使他的眼睛望不真切。他感到自己要失声痛哭了。怎么！东寻西找了那么久，竟又在此地见到她！他仿佛感到他找到了自己失去的灵魂。
她仍是原来的模样，只稍微苍白一些，秀雅的面庞嵌在一顶紫绒帽子里，身体消失在黑缎斗篷里。在她的长裙袍下，能隐约看见一双缎靴紧裹着两只纤巧的脚。
她仍由白先生陪伴着。
她向那屋子中间走了几步，把一个相当大的包裹放在桌子上。
容德雷特大姑娘已退到房门背后，带着沉郁的神情望着那顶绒帽，那件缎斗篷和那张幸福迷人的脸。