Join Host Bree Carlile as she reads the forty-third chapter of Les Miserables.
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>> Speaker A: Take a look, in the book and let's see
Speaker:what we can find.
Speaker:Take it chapter by chapter. One
Speaker:fight M at a time.
Speaker:>> Brie Carlisle: So.
Speaker:>> Speaker A: Many adventures and mountains
Speaker:we can climb
Speaker:to give word for word, line by
Speaker:line, one bite at a time.
Speaker:>> Brie Carlisle: Welcome to bite at a time books where we read you your
Speaker:favorite classics one byte at a time. my name is
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Speaker:>> Brie Carlisle: Values today well be
Speaker:continuing Les Miserable by Victor
Speaker:Hugo chapter four
Speaker:Monsieur Madeleine in mourning
Speaker:at the beginning of 1820, the
Speaker:newspapers announced the death of Monsieur Mariel, bishop of
Speaker:D, surnamed Monsignor Bienvenue,
Speaker:who had died in the odor of sanctity at the age of
Speaker:82. The bishop of D,
Speaker:to supply here a detail which the papers omitted,
Speaker:had been blind for many years before his death, and
Speaker:content to be blind as his sister was beside him.
Speaker:Let us remark by the way that to be blind and to be
Speaker:loved is in fact one of the most strangely
Speaker:exquisite forms of happiness upon this earth, where nothing
Speaker:is complete. To have continually at one side
Speaker:a woman, a daughter, a sister, a charming
Speaker:being who is there because you need her and because she
Speaker:cannot do without you. To know that we are
Speaker:indispensable to a person who is necessary to
Speaker:us, to be able to incessantly measure ones
Speaker:affection by the amount of her presence which she bestows on
Speaker:us, and to say to ourselves, since
Speaker:she consecrates the whole of her time to me, it is because I
Speaker:possess the whole of her heart. To behold her
Speaker:thought in lieu of her face. To be able to
Speaker:verify the fidelity of one being amid the eclipse of the
Speaker:world. To regard the rustle of a gown as
Speaker:the sound of wings. To hear her come and
Speaker:go, retire, speak,
Speaker:return, sing. And to think that one is the center
Speaker:of these steps of this speech.
Speaker:To manifest at each instant ones personal
Speaker:attraction. To feel oneself all the more
Speaker:powerful because of ones infirmity. To become
Speaker:in ones obscurity. And through ones
Speaker:obscurity. The star round which this angel
Speaker:gravitates. Few felicities equal.
Speaker:This, the supreme happiness of life.
Speaker:Consists in the conviction that one is loved.
Speaker:Loved for ones own sake, let us
Speaker:say, rather loved in spite of oneself.
Speaker:This conviction the blind man possesses.
Speaker:To be served in distress is to be crassed.
Speaker:Does he lack anything? No.
Speaker:One does not lose the sight when one has love.
Speaker:And what love? A love wholly constituted
Speaker:a virtue. There is no blindness where there is
Speaker:certainty. Soul, seeks soul
Speaker:gropingly. And finds it in this soul,
Speaker:found and tested, is a woman. A
Speaker:hand sustains you. it is hers. A mouth
Speaker:lightly touches your brow. It is her
Speaker:mouth. You hear a breath very near you. It is
Speaker:hers to have everything of her. From her
Speaker:worship to her pity. Never to be left. To have
Speaker:that sweet weakness aiding you, to lean upon that immovable
Speaker:reed. To touch providence with ones hands. And
Speaker:to be able to take it in ones arms. God made
Speaker:tangible. What bliss.
Speaker:The heart, that obscure celestial flower.
Speaker:Undergoes a mysterious blossoming. One would not
Speaker:exchange that shadow for all brightness. The
Speaker:angel soul is there, uninterruptingly there. If she
Speaker:departs, it is but to return again. She
Speaker:vanishes like a dream and reappears like reality.
Speaker:One feels the warmth approaching. And
Speaker:behold, she is there. One overflows
Speaker:with serenity, with gaiety, with ecstasy.
Speaker:One is a radiance amid the night. And there are a thousand
Speaker:little cares nothings which are enormous.
Speaker:In that void. The most ineffable accents
Speaker:of the feminine voice employed to lull you. And supplying
Speaker:the vanished universe to you. One is
Speaker:caressed with the soul. One sees nothing. But
Speaker:one feels that one is adored. It is
Speaker:a paradise of shadows. It was from
Speaker:this paradise that Monsignor welcome had passed to the
Speaker:other. The announcement of his death was
Speaker:reprinted by the local journal of M. Sur M
Speaker:m. On the following day, Monsieur Madeleine appeared,
Speaker:clad wholly in black and with crepe on his hat.
Speaker:This morning was noticed in the town and
Speaker:commented on it seemed to throw a light on
Speaker:Monsieur Madeleines origin. It was concluded
Speaker:that some relationship existed between him and the
Speaker:venerable bishop. He has gone into mourning for the
Speaker:bishop of D, said the drawing rooms.
Speaker:This raised Monsieur Madeleines credit greatly
Speaker:and procured for him instantly and at one blow
Speaker:a certain consideration. In the noble world of M, Sir
Speaker:M. The microscopic faubourg
Speaker:Saint Germain of the place meditated, raising the quarantine against
Speaker:Monsieur Madeleine, the probable relative of a
Speaker:bishop, M. Madeleine perceived the advancement which he had
Speaker:obtained by the more numerous courtesies of the old
Speaker:women and the more plentiful smiles of the young
Speaker:ones. One evening, a ruler in
Speaker:that petty great world, who was curious by right of
Speaker:seniority, ventured to ask him, Monsieur le
Speaker:Maire is doubtless a cousin of the late bishop of D.
Speaker:He said, no, madame, but,
Speaker:resumed the dowager. You are wearing mourning for
Speaker:him, he replied. It is
Speaker:because I was a servant in his family in my youth.
Speaker:Another thing which was remarked was that every time that he
Speaker:encountered in the town a young Saviard who was
Speaker:roaming about the country and seeking chimneys to sweep,
Speaker:the mayor had him summoned, inquired his name,
Speaker:and gave him money. The little Saviards told
Speaker:each other about it. A great many of them passed that
Speaker:way.
Speaker:Thank you for joining bite at a time books today while
Speaker:we read a bite of one of your favorite classics.
Speaker:Again, my name is Bree Carlisle, and
Speaker:I hope you come back tomorrow for the next bite of
Speaker:Le Miserable.
Speaker:>> Brie Carlisle: Dont forget to sign up for our
Speaker:newsletter@byteadatimebooks.com, and check
Speaker:out the shop. You can check out the show notes or
Speaker:our website, byteadatimebooks.com, for
Speaker:the rest of the links for our show. wed love to hear from you on
Speaker:social media as well.
Speaker:>> Speaker A: Take a look and let's
Speaker:see what we can find.
Speaker:Take it chapter by chapter. One.