Join Host Bree Carlile as she reads the sixteenth chapter of Les Miserables.

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>> Speaker A: Take a look, in the book and let's see

what we can find.

Take it chapter by chapter. One

fight M at a time

so many adventures and

mountains we can climb

to give word for word, line by

line, one bite at a time.

>> Brie Carlisle: Welcome.

>> Brie Carlisle: To bite at a time books where we read you your favorite

classics one byte at a time. my name is Bre

Carlisle and I love to read and wanted to share

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>> Brie Carlisle: Values today well be

continuing.

Les Miserable by Victor Hugo

chapter two prudence counselled to

wisdom that

evening, the bishop of D, after

his promenade through the town, remained shut up. Rather late in

his room. He was busy over a great

work on duties which was never completed.

Unfortunately, he, was carefully compiling

everything that the fathers and the doctors have said on this important

subject. His book was divided into

two parts. Firstly, the duties of

all. Secondly, the duties of each

individual according to the class to which he

belongs. The duties of all are the great

duties. There are four of these.

St. Matthew points them out. Duties towards

God, duties towards oneself,

duties towards one's neighbor, duties towards

animals. As for the other duties, the bishop

found them pointed out and prescribed elsewhere

to sovereigns and subjects in the epistle to

the Romans, to magistrates, to wives,

to mothers, to young men, by St. Peter,

to husbands, fathers, children, and servants in

the epistle to the Ephesians, to the faithful, in

the epistle to the Hebrews, to virgins in the

epistle to the Corinthians. Out of these

precepts, he was laboriously constructing a harmonious

whole. Which he desired to present to

souls. At 08:00 he was still at

work, writing with a good deal of inconvenience, upon

little squares of paper with a big book open on its

knees, when Madame Magloire entered, according

to her, wont to get the silverware from the cupboard near his

bed. A moment later, the bishop,

knowing that the table was set and that his sister was

probably waiting for him, shut his book,

rose from his table and entered the dining room.

The dining room was an oblong apartment with a

fireplace, which had a door opening on the

street, as we have said, and a window

opening on the garden. Madame Magloire

was, in fact, just putting the last touches to

the table. As, she performed this service. She

was conversing with Mademoiselle Baptistine.

A lamp stood on the table. The table was

near the fireplace. A wood fire was burning

there. One can easily picture to oneself

these two women, both of whom were over 60 years

of age. Madame Magloire,

small, plump, vivacious.

Mademoiselle Baptistine, gentle,

slender, frail, somewhat taller than her

brother, dressed in a gown of puce colored silk.

Of the fashion of 1806, which she had

purchased at that date in Paris. And which had

lasted ever since, to borrow

vulgar phrases which possessed the merit of giving

utterance in a single word to an idea which a whole page would

hardly suffice to express. Madame

Meglore had the air of a peasant, and

Mademoiselle baptistine that of a lady.

Madame Meglore wore a white quilted cap,

a gold jeannette cross on a velvet ribbon upon her

neck. The only bit of feminine jewelry

that there was in the house. A very white

fichu, puffing out from a gown of coarse black woolen stuff.

With large, short sleeves, an apron of

cotton cloth and red and green checks knotted round

the waist with a green ribbon. With a stomacher of the same

attached by two pins at the upper corners,

coarse shoes on her feet, and yellow stockings. Like the

women of Marseilles. Mademoiselle

baptistines gown was cut on the patterns of

1806. With a short waist,

a narrow sheath like skirt, puffed sleeves

with flaps and buttons. She concealed her gray

hair under a frizzed wig known as the baby wig.

Madame Magloire had an intelligent, vivacious, and

kindly air. The two corners of her mouth

unequally raised. And her upper lip, which

was larger than the lower, imparted to her a rather

crabbed and imperious look, so

long as Monseigneur held his peace, she talked to him

resolutely, with a mixture of respect and freedom.

But as soon as Monsignor began to speak,

as we have seen, she obeyed passively. Like her

mistress, Mademoiselle Baptistine did

not even speak. She confined herself to

obeying and pleasing him. She had never been

pretty, even when she was young. She had

large, blue, prominent eyes and a long

arch nose. But her whole

visage, her whole person, breathed forth an

ineffable goodness. As weve stated in the

beginning, she had always been predestined

to gentleness. But faith,

charity, hope, those three virtues

which mildly warm the soul, had gradually elevated that

gentleness to sanctity. Nature, had made

her a lamb. Religion had made her an

angel. Poor sainted virgin.

Sweet memory which has vanished. Mademoiselle

Baptistine had so often narrated what passed at the

episcopal residence that evening, that there are many

people now living who still recall the most minute

details. At the moment when the bishop

entered, Madame Magloire was talking with considerable

vivacity. she was haranguing Mademoiselle Baptistine on a

subject which was familiar to her and to which the

bishop was also accustomed. The question

concerned the lock upon the entrance door.

It appears that while procuring some provisions for

supper, Madame Megalor had heard things in divers

places. People had spoken of a prowler of

evil appearance. A suspicious vagabond had

arrived who must be somewhere about the town, and those who

should take it into their heads to return home late that night might

be subjected to unpleasant encounters.

The police was very badly organized, moreover,

because there was no love lost between the prefect and the

mayor, who sought to injure each other by making things

happen. It behooved wise people

to play the part of their own police and guard themselves

well. And care must be taken to duly close

bar and barricade their houses and to

fasten the doors well. Madame

Magloire emphasized these last words, but the bishop had

just come from his room, where it was rather cold.

He seated himself in front of the fire and warmed

himself, and then fell to thinking of other

things. He did not take up the remark dropped with

design by Madame Magloire. She repeated

it. Then Mademoiselle Baptistine,

desirous of satisfying Madame Magloire, without displeasing

her brother, ventured to say timidly, did

you hear what Madame Megalor is saying, brother?

I have heard something of it in a vague way,

replied the bishop. Then, half turning in his

chair, placing his hands on his knees and raising towards

the old servant woman his cordial face, which

so easily grew joyous, and which was illuminated from below

by the firelight. Come. What is the

matter? What is the matter? Are we in any great

danger? Then Madame Meiglor began the whole

story afresh, exaggerating it a little without

being aware of the fact. It appeared that a

bohemian, a barefooted vagabond,

a sort of dangerous mendicant, was at that

moment in the town. He had presented himself at

Jacquin le Bers to obtain lodgings, but the latter had

not been willing to take him in. He had been seen to

arrive by the way of the boulevard Gassendi, and roam about the

streets in the gloaming a gallows bird with a

terrible face. Really, said the

bishop. This willingness to interrogate

encouraged Madame Magloire. It seemed to her

to indicate that the bishop was on the point of becoming alarmed.

She pursued triumphantly, yes, monseigneur, that.

>> Brie Carlisle: Is how it is. There will be some sort of catastrophe in

this town tonight. Everyone says so. And withal,

the police is so badly regulated.

>> Brie Carlisle: A useful repetition, the idea of living.

>> Brie Carlisle: In a mountainous country and not even having lights in the

streets at night, one goes out black as ovens.

>> Brie Carlisle: Indeed.

>> Brie Carlisle: And I say, monseigneur, and Mademoiselle there.

>> Brie Carlisle: Says with me, I, interrupted his

sister. Say nothing. What my

brother does is well done, Madame

Magloire continued, as though there had been no protest.

>> Brie Carlisle: We say that this house is not safe at all, that

if Monsignor will permit, I will go and tell Pauline

Mussoix, the locksmith, to come and replace the ancient locks on

the doors. We have them, and it is only.

>> Brie Carlisle: The work of a moment.

>> Brie Carlisle: For I say that nothing is more.

>> Brie Carlisle: Terrible than a door which can be.

>> Brie Carlisle: Opened from the outside with a latch by the first passerby. and

I say that we need bolts, monsignor, if only for this

night. Moreover, Monsignor has the habit of always

saying, come in. And besides, even in the middle of the

night. Oh, mon Dieu, there is no need to ask

permission.

>> Brie Carlisle: At that moment, there came a tolerably violent knock on the

door. Come in, said the

bishop.

Thank you for joining bite at a time books today while we

read a bite of one of your favorite classics.

Again, my name is Brie Carlisle, and

I hope you come back tomorrow for the next bite of

Le Miserable.

>> Brie Carlisle: dont forget to sign up for our

newsletter@biteaudatimebooks.com. Comma. And check

out the shop. You can check out the show notes or

our website, byteadittimebooks.com, for

the rest of the links for our show. wed love to hear from you on

social media as well.

>> Speaker A: line by line, one bite at a time.