 Section 11 of Lourdes. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please contact LibriVox.org. Lourdes by Émile Zola. Translated by Ernest Visitelli. The third day. One. Bed and board. At seven o'clock on the morning of that fine, bright, warm August Sunday, Michel de Gelsain was already up and dressed in one of the two little rooms which he had fortunately been able to secure on the third floor of the hotel of the apparitions. He had gone to bed at eleven o'clock the night before and had awoke feeling quite fresh and gay. As soon as he was dressed he entered the adjoining room which Pierre occupied, but the young priest who had not returned to the hotel until past one in the morning with his blood heated by insomnia had been unable to doze off until daybreak and was now still slumbering. His cassock flung across a chair. His other garments scattered here and there, testified to his great weariness and agitation of mind. Come, come, you lazybones, cried Monsieur de Gelsain Gailly. Can't you hear the bells ringing? Pierre awoke with a start, quite surprised to find himself in that little hotel room into which the sunlight was streaming. All the joyous peals of the bells, the music of the chiming happy town, moreover, came in through the window which he had left open. We shall never have time to get to the hospital before eight o'clock to fetch Marie, resumed Monsieur de Gelsain, for we must have some breakfast, eh? Of course, make haste and order two cups of chocolate. I will get up at once. I shan't be long, replied Pierre. In spite of the fatigue which had already stiffened his joints, he sprang out of bed as soon as he was alone and made all haste with his toilet. However, he still had his head in the washing-basin, ducking it into the fresh, cool water when Monsieur de Gelsain, who was unable to remain alone, came back again. I've given the order, said he, they will bring it up. Ah, what a curious place this hotel is. You have, of course, seen the landlord, Master Magiste, clad in white from head to foot and looking so dignified in his office. The place is crammed, it appears. They have never had so many people before. So it is no wonder that there should be such a fearful noise. I was woke up three times during the night. People kept on talking in the room next to mine. And you, did you sleep well? No, indeed, answered Pierre. I was tired to death, but I couldn't close my eyes. No doubt it was the uproar you speak of that prevented me. In his turn he then began to talk of the thin partitions and the manner in which the house had been crammed with people until it seemed as though the floors and the walls would collapse with the strain. The place had been shaking all night long. Every now and then people suddenly rushed along the passages, heavy footfalls resounded, gruff voices ascended, nobody knew whence. Without speaking of all the moaning and coughing, the frightful coughing which seemed to re-echo from every wall. Throughout the night people evidently came in and went out, got up and laid down again, paying no attention to the hour in the disorder in which they lived, amid shocks of passion which made them hurry to their devotional exercises as to pleasure parties. And Marie, how was she when you left her last night? Monsieur de Gertain suddenly inquired. A great deal better, replied Pierre. She had an attack of extreme discouragement, but all her courage and faith returned to her at last. A pause followed, and then the girl's father resumed with his tranquil optimism. Oh, I am not anxious. Things will go on all right, you'll see. For my own part I am delighted. I had asked the virgin to grant me her protection in my affairs. You know, my great invention of navigable balloons. Well, suppose I told you that she has already shown me her favour. Yes, indeed. Yesterday evening while I was talking with Abidiel Mroz, he told me that at Toulouse he would no doubt be able to find a person to finance me. One of his friends, in fact, who was extremely wealthy and takes great interest in mechanics. And in this I at once saw the hand of God. Monsieur de Gertain began laughing with his childish laugh. And then he added, That Abidiel Mroz is a charming man. I shall see this afternoon if there is any means of my accompanying him on an excursion to the Cirque de Gavarni at small cost. Pierre, who wished to pay everything, the hotel bill and all the rest, at once encouraged him in this idea. Of course, said he, you ought not to miss this opportunity to visit the mountains since you have so great a wish to do so. Your daughter will be very happy to know that you are pleased. Their talk, however, was now interrupted by a servant girl bringing the two cups of chocolate with a couple of rolls on a metal tray covered with a napkin. She left the door open as she entered the room so that a glimpse was obtained of some portion of the passage. Ah, they are already doing my neighbour's room, exclaimed Monsieur de Gertain. He is a married man, isn't he? His wife is with him. The servant looked astonished. Oh no, she replied, he is quite alone. Quite alone? Why, I heard people talking in his room this morning. You must be mistaken, Monsieur, said the servant. He has just gone out after giving orders that his room was to be tidied up at once. And then, while taking the cups of chocolate off the tray and placing them on the table, she continued, Oh, he is a very respectable gentleman. Last year he was able to have one of the little pavilions which Monsieur Majesté lets out to visitors in the lane by the side of the hotel. But this year he applied too late and had to content himself with that room which greatly worried him, for it isn't a large one, though there is a big cupboard in it. As he doesn't care to eat with everybody he takes his meals there and he orders good wine and the best of everything, I can tell you. That explains it all, replied Monsieur de Gersaint gaily. He dined too well last night and I must have heard him talking in his sleep. Pierre had been listening somewhat inquisitively to all this chatter. And on this side, my side, said he, isn't there a gentleman with two ladies and a little boy who walks about with a crutch? Yes, Monsieur Labis, I know them. The aunt Madame Ches took one of the two rooms for herself and Monsieur and Madame Vigneron with their son Gustave have had to content themselves with the other one. This is the second year they have come to Lourdes. They are very respectable people too. Pierre nodded. During the night he had fancied he could recognize the voice of Monsieur Vigneron whom the heat doubtless had incommodered. However, the servant was now thoroughly started and she began to enumerate the other persons whose rooms were reached by the same passage. On the left hand there was a priest then a mother with three daughters and then an old married couple whilst on the right lodged another gentleman who was all alone, a young lady too who was unaccompanied and then a family party which included five young children. The hotel was crowded to its garretts. The servants had had to give up their rooms the previous evening and lie in a heap in the wash house. During the night also some camp bedsteads had even been set up on the landings and one honourable ecclesiastic for lack of other accommodation was managed to sleep on a billiard table. When the girl had retired and the two men had drunk their chocolate Monsieur de Gersin went back into his own room to wash his hands again for he was very careful of his person and Pierre who remained alone felt attracted by the gay sunlight and stepped for a moment onto the narrow balcony outside his window. Each of the third floor rooms on this side of the hotel was provided with a similar balcony having a carved wood balustrade. However the young priest's surprise was very great for he had scarcely stepped outside when he suddenly saw a woman protrude her head over the balcony next to him out of the room occupied by the gentleman whom Monsieur de Gersin and the servant had been speaking of and this woman he had recognised it was Madame Volmar there was no mistaking her long face with its delicate drawn features its magnificent large eyes those braziers over which a veil a dimming moiré seemed to pass at times. She gave a start of terror on perceiving him and he extremely ill at ease grieved that he should have frightened her made all haste to withdraw into his apartment a sudden light had dawned upon him and he now understood and could picture everything so this was why she had not been seen at the hospital where little Madame des Agnes was always asking for her standing motionless his heart upset Pierre fell into a deep reverie reflecting on the life led by this woman whom he knew that torturing conjugal life in Paris between a fierce mother-in-law and a married husband and then those three days of complete liberty spent at Lourdes that brief bonfire of passion to which she had hastened under the sacrilegious pretext of serving the divinity tears whose cause he could not even explain tears that ascended from the very depths of his being from his own voluntary chastity welled into his eyes amidst the feeling of intense sorrow which came over him well are you ready joyously called Monsieur de Gersin with his grey jacket buttoned up and his hands gloved yes yes let us go replied Pierre turning aside and pretending to look for his hat so that he might wipe his eyes then they went out and on crossing the threshold heard on their left hand an unctuous voice which they recognized it was that of Monsieur Vigneron who was loudly repeating the morning prayers a moment afterwards came a meeting which interested them they were walking down the passage when they were passed by a middle aged, thick set looking gentleman wearing carefully trimmed whiskers he bent his back and passed so rapidly that they were unable to distinguish his features but they noticed that he was carrying a carefully made parcel and immediately afterwards he slipped a key into the lock of the room adjoining Monsieur de Gersin's and opening the door disappeared noiselessly like a shadow Monsieur de Gersin had glanced around ah my neighbour said he has been to market and has brought back some delicacies no doubt Pierre pretended not to hear for his companion was so light-minded that he did not care to trust him with a secret which was not his own besides a feeling of uneasiness was returning to him a kind of chased terror at the thought that the world and the flesh were there taking their revenge amidst all the mystical enthusiasm which he could feel around him they reached the hospital just as the patients were being brought out to be carried to the grotto and they found that Marie had slept well and was very gay she kissed her father and scolded him when she learned that he had not yet decided on his trip to Gavarni she should really be displeased with him she said if he did not go still with the same restful smiling expression she added that she did not expect to be cured that day and then assuming an air of mystery she begged Pierre to obtain permission for her to spend the following night before the grotto this was a favour of which all the sufferers ardently coveted but which only a few favoured ones with difficulty secured after protesting anxious as he felt with regard to the effect which a night spent in the open air might have upon her health the young priest seeing how unhappy she had suddenly become at last promised that he would make the application doubtless she imagined that she would only obtain a hearing from the virgin when they were alone together in the slumbering peacefulness of the night that morning indeed she felt so lost among the innumerable patients who were heaped together in front of the grotto that already at ten o'clock she asked to be taken back to the hospital complaining that the bright light tired her eyes and when her father and the priest had again installed her in the Saint Honoreen ward she gave them their liberty for the remainder of the day no don't come to fetch me she said I shall not go back to the grotto this afternoon it would be useless but you will come for me this evening at nine o'clock won't you Pierre it is agreed you have given me your word he repeated that he would endeavor to secure the requisite permission and that if necessary he would apply to Father Foulcard in person then till this evening darling said Monsieur de Gersin kissing his daughter and he and Pierre went off together leaving her lying on her bed with an absorbed expression on her features as her large smiling eyes wandered away into space it was barely half past ten when they got back to the hotel of the apparitions but Monsieur de Gersin whom the fine weather delighted talked of having Déjeuner at once so that he might the sooner start upon a ramble through Lourdes first of all however he wished to go up to his room and Pierre following him they met with quite a drama on their way the door of the room occupied by the Vigneron's was wide open and little Gustave could be seen lying on the sofa which served as his bed he was livid a moment previously he had suddenly fainted and this had made the father and mother imagine that the end had come Madame Vigneron was crouching on a chair still stupefied by her fright whilst Monsieur Vigneron rushed about the room thrusting everything aside in order that he might prepare a glass of sugar water to which he added a few drops of some elixir this draft he exclaimed would set the lad right again but all the same it was incomprehensible the boy was still strong and to think that he should have fainted like that and have turned as white as a chicken speaking in this wise Monsieur Vigneron glanced at Madame Chez the aunt who was standing in front of the sofa looking in good health that morning and his hands shook yet more violently at the covert idea that if that stupid attack had carried off his son they would no longer have inherited the aunt's fortune he was quite beside himself at this thought and eagerly opening the boy's mouth he compelled him to swallow the entire contents of the glass then however when he heard Gustave sigh and saw him open his eyes again his fatherly good nature reappeared and he shed tears and called the lad his dear little fellow but on Madame Chez's drawing near to offer some assistance Gustave repulsed her with a sudden gesture of hatred as though he understood how this woman's money unconsciously perverted his parents who after all were worthy folks greatly offended the old lady turned on her heel and seated herself in a corner whilst the father and mother at last freed from their anxiety returned thanks to the Blessed Virgin for having preserved their darling who smiled at them with his intelligent and infinitely sorrowful smile knowing and understanding everything as he did and no longer having any taste for life although he was not fifteen Can we be of any help to you? asked Pierre in an obliging way No, no, I thank you gentlemen replied Monsieur Vigneron coming for a moment into the passage but oh we did have a fright think of it an only son who was so dear to us too all around them the approach of the designee hour was now throwing the house into commotion every door was banging and the passages and the staircase resounded with the constant pitter-patter of feet three big girls passed by raising a current of air with the sweep of their skirts some little children were crying in a neighbouring room then there were old people who seemed quite scared and distracted priests who, forgetting their calling they cast their cassocks with both hands so that they might run the faster to the dining room from the top to the bottom of the house one could feel the floors shaking under the excessive weight of all the people who were packed inside the hotel oh I hope that it is all over now and that the Blessed Virgin will cure him repeated Monsieur Vigneron before allowing his neighbours to retire we are going downstairs for I must confess that all this has made me feel faint I need something to eat, I am terribly hungry when Pierre and Monsieur de Gersin had last left their rooms and went downstairs they found to their annoyance that there was not the smallest table-corner vacant in the large dining room a most extraordinary mob had assembled there and the few seats that were still unoccupied were reserved a waiter informed them that the room never emptied between ten and one o'clock such was the rush of appetite sharpened by the keen mountaineer so they had to resign themselves to wait requesting the waiter to warn them as soon as there should be a couple of vacant places then scarcely knowing what to do with themselves they went to walk about the hotel porch whence there was a view of the street along which the townsfolk in their Sunday best streamed without a pause all at once however the landlord of the hotel of the apparitions Master Magiste in person appeared before them clad in white from head to foot and with a great show of politeness he inquired if the gentleman would like to wait in the drawing room he was a start man of five and forty and strove to bear the burden of his name in a right royal fashion bald and clean shaven with round blue eyes in a waxy face displaying three super-posed chins he always deported himself with much dignity he had come from Nivelle with the sisters who managed the orphan asylum and was married to a dusky little woman a native of Lourdes in less than fifteen years they had made their hotel one of the most substantial and best patronised establishments in the town of recent times moreover they had started a business in religious articles installed in a large shop on the left of the hotel porch and managed by a young niece under Madame Magiste's supervision you can wait in the drawing room gentlemen again suggested the hotel keeper whom Pierre's cask rendered very attentive they replied however that they preferred to walk about and wait in the open air and there upon Magiste would not leave them but deigned to chat with them for a moment as he was wont to do with those of his customers whom he desired to honour the conversation turned at first on the procession which would take place that night and which promised to be a superb spectacle as the weather was so fine there were more than 50,000 strangers gathered together in Lourdes that day for visitors had come in from all the neighbouring bathing stations this explained the crush at the table d'haut possibly the town would run short of bread as had been the case the previous year you saw what a scramble there is concluded Magiste we really don't know how to manage it isn't my fault I assure you if you were kept waiting for a short time at this moment however a postman arrived with a large batch of newspapers and letters which he deposited on a table in the office he had kept one letter in his hand and inquired of the landlord have you a Madame Mars here Madame Mars, Madame Mars repeated the hotel keeper no no certainly not Pierre had heard both question and answer and a drawing near he exclaimed I know of a Madame Mars who must be lodging with the sisters of the immaculate conception the blue sisters as people call them here I think the postman thanked him for the information and went off but a somewhat bitter smile had risen to Magiste's lips the blue sisters he muttered oh the blue sisters then darting aside a glance at Pierre's cassock he stopped short as though he feared that he might say too much it his heart was overflowing he would have greatly liked to ease his feelings and this young priest from Paris who looked so liberal minded could not be one of the band as he called all those who discharged functions at the grotto and coined money out of our Lady of Lourdes accordingly little by little he ventured to speak out I am a good Christian I assure you Monsieur Labe he said he in fact we are all good Christians here and I am a regular worshiper and take the sacrament every Easter but really I must say that members of a religious community ought not to keep hotels no no it isn't right and thereupon he ventured all the spite of a tradesman in presence of what he considered to be disloyal competition what not those blue sisters those sisters of the immaculate conception to have confined themselves to their real functions to the manufacture of wafers for sacramental purposes and the repairing and washing of church linen instead of that however they had transformed their convent into a vast hostelry where ladies who came to Lourdes unaccompanied found separate rooms and were able to take their meals either in privacy or in a general dining room everything was certainly very clean very well organized and very inexpensive thanks to the thousand advantages which the sisters enjoyed in fact no hotel at Lourdes did so much business but all the same continued Majesty I ask you if it is proper to think of nuns selling victuals I must tell you that the Lady Superior is really a clever woman and as soon as she saw the stream of fortune rolling in she wanted to keep it all for her own community and resolutely parted from the fathers of the grotto who wanted to lay their hands on it yes Monsieur Labis she even went to Rome and gained her cause there so that now she pockets all the money that her bills bring in think of it nuns yes nuns mon dieu letting furnished rooms and keeping a table d'eau he raised his arms to heaven he was stifling with envy and vexation but as your house is crammed Pierre gently objected as you no longer have either a bed or a plate at anybody's disposal where would you put any additional visitors who might arrive here I should say it once began protesting oh Monsieur Labis said he one can see very well that you don't know the place it's quite true that there is work for all of us and that nobody has reason to complain during the national pilgrimage but that only lasts four or five days and in ordinary times the custom we secure isn't nearly so great for myself thank heaven I am always satisfied my house is well known it occupies the same rank as the hotel of the grotto where two landlords have already made their fortunes but no matter it is vexing to see those blue sisters taking all the cream of the custom for instance the ladies of the bourgeoisie who spend a fortnight and three weeks here at a stretch and that too just in the quiet season when there are not many people here you understand don't you there are people of position who dislike uproar they go by themselves to the grotto and pray their all day long for days together and pay good prices for their accommodation without any higgling Madame Majesté, whom Pierre and Messieurs de Gersin had not noticed leaning over an account book in which she was adding up some figures there upon intervened in a shrill voice we had a customer like that gentlemen who stayed here for two months last year she went to the grotto, came back went there again, took her meals and went to bed and never did we have a word of complaint from her she was always smiling as though to say that she found everything very nice she paid her bill too without even looking at it one regrets people of that kind short, thin, very dark and dressed in black with a little white collar Madame Majesté had risen to her feet and she now began to solicit custom if you would like to buy a few little souvenirs of Lourdes before you leave gentlemen I hope that you will not forget us we have a shop close by where you will find an assortment of all the articles that are most in request as a rule the persons who stay here are kind enough not to deal elsewhere however Majesté was again wagging his head with the air of a good Christian saddened by the scandals of the time certainly said he I don't want to show any disrespect to the Reverend Fathers but it must in all truth be admitted that they are too greedy you must have seen the shop which they have set up near the grotto, that shop which is always crowded and where tapers and articles of piety are sold a bishop declared that it was shameful and that the buyers and sellers ought to be driven out of the temple afresh it is said too that the Fathers run that big shop yonder just across the street which supplies all the petty dealers in the town and according to the reports which circulate they have a finger in all the trade in religious articles and levy a percentage on the millions of chaplets statuettes and medals which are sold every year at Lourdes Majesté had now lowered his voice for his accusations were becoming precise and he ended by trembling somewhat at his imprudence in talking so confidentially to strangers however the expression of Pierre's gentle, attentive face reassured him and so he continued with the passion of a wounded rival resolved to go on to the very end I am willing to admit said he that there is some exaggeration in all this but nonetheless it does religion no good for people to see the Reverend Fathers keeping shops like us tradesmen for my part of course I don't go and ask for a share of the money which they make by their masses or a percentage on the presents which they receive so why should they start selling what I sell our business was a poor one last year owing to them there are already too many of us nowadays everyone at Lourdes sells religious articles to such an extent in fact that there will soon be no butchers or wine merchants left nothing but bread to eat and water to drink ah Monsieur Labé it is no doubt nice to have the Blessed Virgin with us but things are nonetheless very bad at times a person staying at the hotel at that moment disturbed him but he returned just as a young girl came in search of Madame Majesté the damsel who evidently belonged to Lourdes was very pretty, small but plump with beautiful black hair and a round face full of bright gaité that is our niece Apolline resumed Majesté she has been keeping our shop for two years past she is the daughter of one of my wife's brothers who is in poor circumstances she was keeping sheep at Lausanne in the neighbourhood of Bautres when we were struck by her intelligence and nice looks and decided to bring her here and we don't repent having done so for she has a great deal of merit and has become a very good saleswoman a point to which he omitted to refer was that there were rumours current of somewhat flighty conduct on Mademoiselle Apolline's part but she undoubtedly had her value she attracted customers by the power possibly of her large black eyes which smiled so readily during his sojourned Lourdes the previous year Gérard de Père Long had scarcely stirred from the shop she managed and doubtless it was only the matrimonial ideas now flitting through his head that prevented him from returning thither it seemed as though the Abbey de Irmoires had taken his place for this gallant ecclesiastic brought a great many ladies to make purchases at the repository ah you are speaking of Apolline said Madame Majesté at that moment coming back from the shop have you noticed one thing about her gentlemen her extraordinary likeness to Bernadette there on the wall yonder is a photograph of Bernadette when she was 18 years old Pierre and Monsieur de Gersin drew near to examine the portrait whilst Majesté exclaimed Bernadette yes certainly she was rather like Apolline but not nearly so nice she looked so sad and poor he would doubtless have gone on chattering but just then the waiter appeared and announced that there was at last a little table vacant Monsieur de Gersin had twice gone to glance inside the dining room for he was eager to have his déjeuner and spend the remainder of that fine Sunday out of doors so he now hastened away without paying any further attention to Majesté who remarked with an amiable smile that the gentleman had not had so very long to wait after all to reach the table mentioned by the waiter the architect and Pierre had to cross the dining room from end to end it was a long apartment a painted a light oak colour an oily yellow which was already peeling away in places and soiled with stains in others he realised that rapid wear and tear went on here amidst the continual scramble of the big eaters who sat down at table the only ornaments were a gilt a zinc clock and a couple of meagre candelabra on the mantelpiece Gipure curtains moreover hung at the five large windows looking on to the street which was flooded with sunshine some of the ardent arrow like rays penetrating into the room although the blinds had been lowered and in the middle of the apartment some 40 persons were packed together at the table d'haut which was scarcely 11 yards in length and did not supply proper accommodation for more than 30 people whilst at the little table standing against the walls upon either side another 40 persons sat close together hustled by the three waiters each time that they went by you had scarcely reached the threshold deafened by the extraordinary uproar the noise of voices and the clatter of forks and plates and it seemed too as if you were entering a damp oven for a warm steamy mist laden with a suffocating smell of victuals assailed to the face Pierre at first failed to distinguish anything but when he was installed at the little table a garden table which had been brought indoors for the occasion and on which there was scarcely room for two covers he felt quite upset at the sight presented by the table d'haut which is glanced now inflated from end to end people had been eating at it for an hour already two sets of customers had followed one upon the other and the covers were strewn about in higgledy biggledy fashion on the cloth were numerous stains of wine and sauce and there was even no symmetry in the arrangement of the glass fruit stands which formed the only decorations of the table then one's astonishment increased at the sight of the motley mob that was seated there huge priests, scraggie girls mothers overflowing with superfluous fat gentlemen with red faces and families ranged in rows and displaying all the pitiable increasing ugliness of successive generations all these people were perspiring greedily swallowing seated slant wise lacking room to move their arms and unable even to use their hands deftly and amidst this display of appetite increased tenfold by fatigue and of eager haste to fill one's stomach in order to return to the grotto more quickly there was a corpulent ecclesiastic who in no wise hurried but ate of every dish with prudent slowness crunching his food with a ceaseless dignified movement of the jaws Vistra exclaimed Monsieur de Gelsin it is by no means cool in here all the same I shall be glad of something to eat for I've felt a sinking in the stomach ever since I have been at Lord and you are you hungry yes yes I shall eat replied Pierre though truth to tell he felt quite upset the menu was a copious one there was salmon an omelet mutton cutlets with mashed potatoes stewed kidneys cauliflower cold meats and apricot tarts everything cooked too much and swimming in sauce which but for its grittiness would have been flavourless however there was some fairly fine fruit on the glass stands particularly some peaches and besides the people did not seem at all difficult to please they apparently had no pallets for there was no sign of nausea hemmed in between an old priest and a dirty full bearded man a girl of delicate build who looked very pretty with her soft eyes and silken skin was eating some kidneys with an expression of absolute beatitude although the so-called sauce in which they swam was simply grayish water hum resumed even Monsieur de Gelsin this salmon is not so bad add a little salt to it you'll find it all right Pierre made up his mind to eat for after all he must take sustenance for strength's sake at a little table close by however he had just caught sight of Madame Vigneron, Madame Chez who sat face to face apparently waiting and indeed Monsieur Vigneron his son Gustave soon appeared the latter still pale and leaning more heavily than usual on his crutch sit down next to your aunt said his father I will take the chair beside your mother but just then he perceived his two neighbours and stepping up to them he added oh he is now all right again I have been rubbing him with some odor cologne and by and by he will be able to take his bath at the piscina there upon Monsieur Vigneron sat down and began to devour but what an awful fright he had had he again began talking of it aloud despite himself so intense had been his terror at the thought that the lad might go off before his aunt the latter related that whilst she was kneeling at the grotto the day before she had experienced a sudden feeling of relief in fact she flattered herself that she was cured of her heart complaint and began giving precise particulars to which her brother in law listened with dilated eyes full of involuntary anxiety most certainly he was a good natured man he had never desired anybody's death only he felt indignant at the idea that the virgin might cure this old woman and forget his son who was so young talking and eating he had got to the cutlets and was swallowing the mashed potatoes by the forkful when he fancied he could detect that Madame Chers was sulking with her nephew Gustave he suddenly inquired have you asked your aunt's forgiveness the lad quite astonished began staring at his father with his large clear eyes yes added Monsieur Vigneron you behaved very badly you pushed her back just now when she wanted to help you to sit up Madame Chers said nothing the dignified heir whilst Gustave who without any show of appetite was finishing the noir of his cutlet which had been cut into small pieces remained with his eyes lowered on his plate this time obstinately refusing to make the sorry show of affection which was demanded of him come Gustave resumed his father be a good boy you know how kind your aunt is and all that she had tends to do for you but no he would not yield at that moment indeed he really hated that woman who did not die quickly enough who polluted the affection of his parents to such a point that when he saw them surround him with attentions he no longer knew whether it were himself or the inheritance which his life represented that they wished to save however Madame Vigneron so dignified in her demeanor came to her husband's help you really grieve me Gustave Chershi ask your aunt's forgiveness or you will make me quite angry with you there upon he gave way what was the use of resisting was it not better that his parents should obtain that money would he not himself die later on so as to suit the family convenience he was aware of all this he understood everything even when not a word was spoken so keen was the sense of hearing with which suffering had endowed him that he even heard the other's thoughts I beg your pardon aunt he said for not having behaved well to you just now then two big tears rolled down from his eyes whilst he smiled with the air of a tender-hearted man who has seen too much of life and can no longer be deceived by anything Madame Chershi at once kissed him and told him that she was not at all angry and the Vigneron's delight in living was displayed in all candour if the kidneys are not up to much Monsieur de Gershan now said to Pierre here at all events are some cauliflower with a good flavour the formidable mastication was still going on around them Pierre had never seen such an amount of eating amidst such perspiration in an atmosphere as stifling as that of a wash house full of hot steam the odour of the victual seemed to thicken into a kind of smoke you had to shout to make yourself heard for everybody was talking in loud tones and the scared waiters raised a fearful clatter in changing the plates and forks not to mention the noise of all the jaw crunching a mill-like grinding which was distinctly audible what most hurt the feelings of the young priest however was the extraordinary promiscuity of the table dote at which men and women, young girls and ecclesiastics were packed together in chance order and satisfied their hunger like a pack of hounds snapping at awful in all haste baskets of bread went round and were promptly emptied and there was a perfect massacre of cold meats all the remnants of the victuals of the day before leg of mutton, veal and ham encompassed by a fallen mass of transparent jelly which quivered like soft glue they had all eaten too much already but these vians seemed to wet their appetites afresh as though the idea had come to them that nothing whatever ought to be left the fat priest in the middle of the table who had shown himself such a capital knife and fork was now lingering over the fruit having just got to his third peach a huge one which he slowly peeled and swallowed in slices with an air of compunction all at once however the whole room was thrown into agitation a waiter had come in and begun distributing the letters which madame majeste had finished sorting hello exclaimed a monsieur vigneron a letter for me this is surprising I did not give my address to anybody then at a sudden recollection he added yes I did though this must have come from sauvageur who was filling my place at the ministry he opened the letter his hands began to tremble and suddenly he raised a cry the chief clerk is dead deeply agitated madame vigneron was also unable to bridle her tongue then you will have the appointment this was the secret dream in which they had so long and so fondly indulged the chief clerk's death in order that he vigneron assistant chief clerk for ten years past might at last rise to the supreme post the bureaucratic marshal ship and so great was his delight that he cast aside all restraint oh the blessed virgin is certainly protecting me my dear only this morning I again prayed to her and you see she grants my prayer however finding madame shares his eyes fixed upon his own and seeing gustav smile he realized that he ought not to exult in this fashion each member of the family no doubt thought of his or her interests and prayed to the blessed virgin for such personal favours as might be desired and so again putting on his good natured air he resumed I mean that the blessed virgin takes an interest in every one of us and will send us all home well satisfied ah the poor chief I'm sorry for him I shall have to send my card to his widow in spite of all his efforts he could not restrain his exultation and no longer doubted that his most secret desires those which he did not even confess to himself would soon be gratified and so all honour was done to the apricot tarts even gustav being allowed to eat a portion of one it is surprising now remarked Monsieur de Gersaint who had just ordered a cup of coffee it is surprising that one doesn't see more sick people here all these folks seem to me to have first-rate appetites after a close inspection however in addition to gustav who ate no more than a little chicken he ended by finding a man with a goiter seated at the tabledot between two women one of whom certainly suffered from cancer farther on too there was a girl so thin and pale that she must surely be a consumptive and still farther away there was a female idiot who had made her entry leaning on two relatives and with expressionless eyes and lifeless features was now carrying her food to her mouth with a spoon and slobbering over her napkin perhaps there were yet other ailing ones present who could not be distinguished among all those noisy appetites ailing ones whom the journey had braced and who were eating as they had not eaten for a long time past the apricot tarts the cheese the fruits were all engulfed amidst the increasing disorder of the table where at last there only remained the stains of all the wine and sauce which had been spilled upon the cloth it was nearly noon we will go back to the grotto at once eh? said Monsieur Vigneron indeed to the grotto to the grotto were well nigh the only words you now heard the full mouths were eagerly masticating and swallowing in order that they might repeat prayers and hymns again with all speed well as we have the whole afternoon before us declared Monsieur de Gersin I suggest that we should visit the town a little I want to see also if I can get a conveyance for my excursion as my daughter so particularly wishes me to make it Pierre who was stifling was glad indeed to leave the dining room in the porch he was able to breathe again though even there he found a torrent of customers new arrivals who were waiting for places no sooner did one of the little tables become vacant than its possession was eagerly contested whilst the smallest gap at the table was instantly filled up in this wise the assault would continue for less than another hour and again with the different courses of the menu appear in procession to be engulfed amidst the crunching of jaws the stifling heat and the growing nausea end of section 11 section 12 of Lourdes this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please contact LibriVox.org Lourdes by Emile Zola translated by Ernest Visitelli The Third Day 2. The Ordinary when Pierre and Monsieur de Gersin got outside they began walking slowly amidst the ever-growing stream of the Sunday-fied crowd the sky was a bright blue the sun warmed the whole town and there was a festive gaiety in the atmosphere the keen delight that attends those great fairs which bring entire communities into the open air when they had descended the crowded footway of the Avenue de la Grotte had reached the corner of the Plateau de la Merlas they found their way barred by a throng which was slowly flowing backward amidst a block of vehicles and stamping of horses there is no hurry however remarked Monsieur de Gersin my idea is to go as far as the Place du Marcadal in the old town for the servant girl at the hotel told me of a hairdresser there whose brother lets out conveyance as cheaply do you mind going so far? I replied Pierre whatever you like, I'll follow you all right and I'll profit by the opportunity to have a shave they were nearing the Place du Grosère and found themselves in front of the lawn stretching to the garve when an encounter again stopped them Médame des Agneaux and Raymond de Jean-Quière were here chatting gaily with young Gérard de Père Longue both women wore light-coloured gowns seaside dresses as it were and their white silk parasols shone in the bright sunlight they imparted so to say a pretty note to the scene a touch of society chatter blended with the fresh laughter of youth no, no Médame des Agneaux was saying we certainly can't go and visit your ordinary like that at the very moment when all your comrades are eating Gérard however with a very gallant air insisted on their accompanying him turning more particularly towards Raymond whose somewhat massive face was that day brightened by the radiant charm of health but it is a very curious sight I assure you said the young man and you would be very respectfully received trust yourself to me mademoiselle besides we should certainly find Monsieur Berto there and he would be delighted to do you the honours Raymond's smiled her clear eyes plainly saying that she was quite agreeable and just then as Pierre and Monsieur de Gersaint drew near in order to present their respects to the ladies they were made acquainted with the question under discussion the ordinary was a kind of restaurant or table d'oeuvre which the members of the hospitality of our Lady of Salvation the bearers, the hospitalers of the grotto the piscinas and the hospitals had established among themselves with the view of taking their meals together at small cost many of them were not rich for they were recruited among all classes however they had contrived to secure three good meals for a daily payment of three francs a piece and in fact they often had provisions to spare and distributed them among the poor everything was in their own management they purchased their own supplies recruited a cook and a few waiters and did not disdain to lend a hand to themselves in order that everything might be comfortable and orderly it must be very interesting said Monsieur de Gersaint when these explanations had been given him let us go and see it if we are not in the way little madame designeaux thereupon gave her consent well if we are going in a party said she I am quite willing but when this gentleman first proposed to take me in remonde I was afraid that it might not be quite proper then as she began to laugh the others followed her example she had accepted Monsieur de Gersaint's arm and Pierre walked beside her on the other hand experiencing a sudden feeling of sympathy for this gay little woman who was so full of life and so charming with her fair frizzy hair and creamy complexion behind them came remonde leaning upon Gérard's arm and talking to him in the calm young lady who holds the best of principles despite her air of heedless youth and since here was the husband whom she had so often dreamt of she resolved that she would this time secure him, make him beyond all question her own she intoxicated him with the perfume of health and youth which she diffused and at the same time astonished him by her knowledge of housewifely duties and of the manner in which money may be economised even in the most trifling matters for having questioned him with regard to the purchases that he and his comrades made for their ordinary she proceeded to show him that they might have reduced their expenditure still further meantime Monsieur de Gersaint Madame des Agneaux were also chatting together you must be fearfully tired Madame said the architect but with a gesture of revolt and an exclamation of genuine anger she replied oh no indeed last night it is true fatigue quite overcame me at the hospital I sat down and dozed off and the other ladies were good enough to let me sleep on at this the others again began to laugh but still with the same angry air she continued and so I slept like a log until this morning it was disgraceful especially as I had sworn that I would remain up all night then merriment gaining upon her in her turn she suddenly burst into a sonorous laugh displaying her beautiful white teeth oh a pretty nurse I am and no mistake it was poor Madame de Junkière on her legs all the time I tried to coax her to come out with us just now but she preferred to take a little rest Raymond who overheard these words thereupon raised her voice to say yes indeed my poor mamma could no longer keep on her feet it was I who compelled her to lie down telling her that she could go to sleep without any uneasiness for we should get on all right without her so saying the girl gave Gérard a laughing glance he even fancied that he could detect a squeeze of the fresh round arm which was resting on his own as though, indeed, she had wished to express her happiness at being alone with him so that they might settle their own affairs without any interference this quite delighted him and he began to explain that if he had not had de Jonnais with his comrades that day it was because some friends had invited him to join them at the railway station refreshment room at ten o'clock and had not given him his liberty until after the departure of the eleven thirty train ah, the rascals he suddenly resumed do you hear them, Montmoiselle? the little party was now nearing its destination and the uproarious laughter and chatter of youth rang out from a clump of trees which concealed the old zinc and plaster building in which the ordinary was installed Gérard began by taking the visitors into the kitchen a very spacious apartment well fitted up and containing a huge range and an immense table to say nothing of numerous gigantic cauldrons here more over the young man called the attention of his companions to the circumstance that the cook a fat jovial looking man had the red cross pinned on his white jacket being himself a member of the pilgrimage then pushing open a door Gérard invited his friends to enter the common room it was a long apartment containing two rows of plain deal tables and the only other articles of furniture were the numerous rush-seater to tavern chairs with an additional table served as a sideboard the white-washed walls and the flooring of shiny red tiles looked, however, extremely clean amidst this intentional bareness which was similar to that of a monkish refectory but the feature of the place which more particularly struck you as you crossed the threshold was the childish gaiety which rang there for packed together at the tables were 150 hospitalers of all ages eating with splendid appetites laughing, applauding and singing with their mouths full a wondrous fraternity united these men who had flocked to Lourdes from every province of France and who belonged to all classes and represented every degree of fortune many of them knew nothing of one another save that they met here and elbowed one another during three days every year living together like brothers and then going off and remaining in absolute ignorance of each other during the rest of the 12th month nothing could be more charming, however than to meet again at the next pilgrimage united in the same charitable work and to spend a few days of hard labour and a boyish delight in common once more for it all became as it were an outing of a number of big fellows let loose under a lovely sky and well pleased to be able to enjoy themselves and laugh together and even the frugality of the table with the pride of managing things themselves of eating the provisions which they had purchased and cooked added to the general good humour you see, explained Gérard we are not at all inclined to be sad although we have so much hard work to do although we have so much hard work to get through the hospitality numbers more than 300 members but there are only about 150 here at a time for we have had to organise two successive services so that there may always be some of us on duty at the grotto and the hospitals the sight of the little party of visitors assembled on the threshold of the room seemed to have increased the general delight and Bertot, the superintendent of the bearers who was lunching at the head of one of the tables gallantly rose up to receive the ladies but it smells very nice exclaimed Madame des Agneaux in her giddy way won't you invite us to come and taste your cookery tomorrow? oh, we can't ask ladies replied Bertot, laughing but if you gentlemen would like to join us tomorrow we should be extremely pleased to entertain you he had at once noticed the good understanding which prevailed between Gérard and Raymond and seemed delighted at it for he greatly wished his cousin to make this match he laughed pleasantly at the enthusiastic gaiety which the young girl displayed as she began to question him he's not that the Marquis de Salmore Rocbert, she asked who is sitting over yonder between these two young men who look like shop assistants they are in fact the sons of a small stationer at Taub replied Bertot and that is really the Marquis your neighbour of the Rue de Lille the owner of that magnificent mansion one of the richest and most noble men the title in France you see how he is enjoying our mutton stew it was true the millionaire Marquis seemed delighted to be able to board himself for his three francs a day and to sit down at table in genuine democratic fashion by the side of Petit Bourgeois and workmen who would not have dared to accost him in the street was not that chance table symbolical of social communion effected by the joint practice of charity for his part the Marquis was the more hungry that day as he had bathed over 60 patients sufferers from all the most abominable diseases of unhappy humanity at the piscinas that morning and the scene around him seemed like a realisation of the evangelical commonality but doubtless it was so charming and so gay simply because its duration was limited to three days although Monsieur de Gelsin had but lately risen from table his curiosity prompted him to taste the mutton stew and he pronounced it perfect meantime Pierre caught sight of Baron Suir the director of the hospitality walking about between the rows of tables with an air of some importance as though he had allotted himself the task of keeping an eye on everything even on the manner in which his staff fed itself the young priest thereupon remembered the ardent desire which Marie had expressed to spend the night in front of the grotto and it occurred to him that the Baron might be willing to give the necessary authorisation certainly replied the director who had become quite grave whilst listening to Pierre we do sometimes allow it but it is always a very delicate matter you assure me at all events that this young person is not consumptive well since you say that she so much desires it I will mention the matter to Father Foucaud and warn Madame de Jean-Chière so that she may let you take the young lady away he was in reality a very good natured fellow albeit so fond of assuming the air of an indispensable man weighed down by the heaviest responsibilities in his turn he now detained the visitors and gave them full particulars concerning the organisation of the hospitality its members said prayers together every morning two board meetings were held each day and were attended by all the heads of departments as well as by the Reverend Fathers and some of the chaplains all the hospitalers took the sacrament as frequently as possible and moreover there were many complicated tasks to be attended to a prodigious rotation of duties quite a little world to be governed with a firm hand the Baron spoke like a general who each year gains a great victory over the spirit of the age and sending Belto back to finish his déjeuner he insisted on escorting the ladies into the little sanded courtyard which was shaded by some fine trees it is very interesting very interesting repeated Madame de Jean-Chière we are greatly obliged to you for your kindness Monsieur don't mention it, don't mention it Madame answered the Baron it is I who am pleased at having had an opportunity to show you my little army so far Gérald had not quitted Raymond's side but Monsieur de Gersin and Pierre were already exchanging glances suggestive of leave-taking in order that they might repair by themselves to the Place du Mercadal when Madame des Agneaux suddenly remembered that a friend had requested her to send her a bottle of lured water and asked Gérald how she was to execute this commission the young man began to laugh will you again accept me as a guide? said he and by the way, if these gentlemen like to come as well I will show you the place where the bottles are filled corked, packed in cases and then sent off it is a curious sight Monsieur de Gersin immediately consented and all five of them set out again Madame des Agneaux still between the architect and the priest whilst Raymond and Gérald brought up the rear the crowd in the burning sunlight was increasing the Place du Rousseau was now overflowing with an idle, sauntering mob resembling some concourse of sightseers on a day of public rejoicing the bottling and packing shops were situated under one of the arches on the left-hand side of the Place they formed a suite of three apartments of very simple aspect in the first one the bottles were filled in the most ordinary of fashions a little green painted zinc barrel not unlike a watering-kask was dragged by a man from the grotto and the light-coloured bottles were then simply filled at its tap one by one the blouse-clad workman entrusted with the duty exercising no particular watchfulness to prevent the water from overflowing in fact there was quite a puddle of it up on the ground there were no labels on the bottles the little lead and capsules placed over the corks alone bore an inscription and they were coated with a kind of ceruse doubtless to ensure preservation then came two other rooms which formed regular packing shops with carpenters benches, tools and heaps of shavings the boxes most frequently made for one bottle or for two were put together with great care and the bottles were deposited inside them on beds of fine wood pairings the scene reminded one in some degree of the packing halls for flowers at Nice and for preserved fruits at Grasse Géral went on giving explanations with a quiet, satisfied air the water, he said, really comes from the grotto as you can yourself see so that all the foolish jokes which one hears really have no basis and everything is perfectly simple, natural and goes on in the broad daylight I would also point out to you that the fathers don't sell the water as they are accused of doing for instance a bottle of water here costs 20 centine tuppence, which is only the price of the bottle itself if you wish to have it sent to anybody you naturally have to pay for the packing and the carriage and then it costs you one franc and 70 centine one shilling and four pence however you are perfectly at liberty to go to the source and fill the flasks and cans and other receptacles that you may choose to bring with you Pierre reflected that the profits of the reverend fathers in this respect could not be very large ones for their gains were limited to what they made by manufacturing the boxes and supplying the bottles which latter, purchased by the thousand certainly did not cost them so much as 20 centines a piece however Raymond and Madame Desagnos as well as Monsieur de Galcins who had such a lively imagination experienced deep disappointment at the sight of the little green barrel the capsules, sticky with serous and the piles of shavings lying around the benches they had doubtless imagined all sorts of ceremonies the observance of certain rites in bottling the miraculous water priests' investments pronouncing blessings and choir boys singing hymns of praise in pure crystalline voices for his part Pierre in presence of all this vulgar bottling and packing ended by thinking of the active power of faith when one of those bottles reaches some far away sick room and is unpacked there and the sufferer falls upon his knees and so excites himself by contemplating and drinking the pure water that he actually brings about the cure of his ailment there must truly be a most extraordinary plunge into all powerful illusion ah exclaimed Gerard as they came out would you like to see the storehouse where the tapers are kept before going to the offices it is only a couple of steps away and they're not even waiting for their answer he led them to the opposite side of the Place du Rosaire his one desire was to amuse Raymond but in point of fact the aspect of the place where the tapers were stored was even less entertaining than that of the packing rooms which they had just left this storehouse, a kind of deep vault under one of the right hand arches of the Place was divided by timber into a number of spacious compartments in which lay an extraordinary collection of tapers classified according to size the over-plus of all the tapers offered to the grotto was deposited here and such was the number of these superfluous candles that the little conveyance has stationed near the grotto railing ready to receive the pilgrims offerings had to be brought to the storehouse several times a day in order to be emptied there after which they were returned to the grotto and were promptly filled again in theory each taper that was offered was thought to have been burnt at the feet of the Virgin statue but so great was the number of these offerings that although a couple of hundred tapers of all sizes were kept burning by day and night it was impossible to exhaust the supply which went on increasing and increasing there was a rumour that the Fathers could not even find room to store all this wax but had to sell it over and over again and indeed certain friends of the grotto confessed with a touch of pride that the profit on the tapers alone would defray all the expenses of the business the quantity of these votive candles quite stupefied remonde at Madame des Agneaux how many, how many there were the smaller ones costing from 50 centimes to a franc apiece were piled up in fabulous numbers Monsieur de Gersin desirous of getting at the exact figures quite lost himself in the puzzling calculation he attempted as for Pierre it was in silence that he gazed upon this mass of wax destined to be burned in open daylight to the glory of God and although he was by no means a rigid utilitarian and could well understand that some apparent acts of extravagance yield an elusive enjoyment and satisfaction which provides humanity with as much sustenance as bread he could not on the other hand refrain from reflecting on the many benefits which might have been conferred on the poor and the ailing with the money represented by all that wax which would fly away in smoke but come what about that bottle which I am to send off abruptly asked Madame des Agneaux we will go to the office replied Gérard in five minutes everything will be settled they had to cross the Place du Rosal once more and ascend the stone stairway leading to the Basilica the office was up above on the left hand at the corner of the path leading to the Calvary the building was a paltry one a hut of lath and plaster and the rain had reduced to a state of ruin on a board outside was the inscription apply here with reference to masses offerings and brotherhoods forwarding office for Lord Water subscriptions to the annals of OL of Lord how many millions of people must have already passed through this wretched shanty which seemed to date from the innocent days when the foundations of the adjacent Basilica had scarcely been laid the whole party went in eager to see what might be inside but they simply found a wicket at which Madame des Agneaux had to stop in order to give her friend's name and address and when she had paid one franc and seventy centime a small printed receipt was handed to her such as you receive on registering luggage at a railway station as soon as they were outside again Gérard pointed to a large building standing two or three hundred yards away and resumed there that is where the fathers reside but we see nothing of them remarked Pierre this observation so astonished the young man that he remained for a moment without replying it's true he at last said we do not see them but then they give up the custody of everything the grotto and all the rest to the fathers of the assumption during the national pilgrimage Pierre looked at the building which had been pointed out to him and noticed that it was a massive stone pile resembling a fortress the windows were closed and the whole edifice looked lifeless yet everything at Lord came from it and to it also everything returned it seemed in fact to the young priest that he could hear the silent formidable rake stroke which extended over the entire valley which caught hold of all who had come to the spot and placed both the gold and the blood of the throng in the clutches of those reverend fathers however Gérard just then resumed in a low voice but come they do show themselves for here is the reverend superior father cupped about himself an ecclesiastic was indeed just passing a man with the appearance of a peasant a knotty frame and a large head which looked as though carved with a bill hook his opaque eyes were quite expressionless and his face with its worn features had retained a loamy tint a gloomy russet reflection of the earth Monseigneur Laurence had really made a politic selection in confiding the organisation and management of the grotto to those garrison missionaries who were so tenacious and covetous that most parts sons of mountain peasants and passionately attached to the soil however the little party now slowly retraced its steps by way of the plateau de la merlas the broad boulevard which skirts the inclined way on the left hand and leads to the avenue de la grotte it was already past one o'clock but people were still eating their des genes from one to the other end of the overflowing town many of the 50,000 pilgrims and sightseers collected within it had not yet been able to sit down and eat and Pierre who had left the tabledoids still crowded who had just seen the hospitalers squeezing together so gaily at the ordinary found more and more tables at each step he took on all sides people were eating without a pause hereabouts however in the open air on either side of the broad road the hungry ones were humble folk who had rushed upon the tables set up on either footway tables formed on a couple of long boards flanked by two forms and shaded from the sun by narrow linen awnings broth and coffee were sold at these places at a penny the cup the little loaves heaped up in high baskets also cost a penny a piece hanging from the poles which upheld the awnings were sausages, chitterlings and hams some of the open air restaurateurs were frying potatoes and others were concocting more or less savoury messes of inferior meat and onions a pungent smoke, a violent odor rose into the sunlight mingling with the dust which was raised by the continuous tramp of the promenaders rows of people moreover were waiting at each canteen so that each time a party rose from table fresh customers took position of the benches ranged beside the oil cloth covered planks which were so narrow that there was scarcely room for two bowls of soup to be placed side by side and one and all made haste and devoured with the ravenous hunger born of their fatigue that insatiable appetite which so often follows upon great moral shocks in fact when the mind had exhausted itself in prayer when everything physical had been forgotten amidst the mental flight into the legendary heavens the human animal suddenly appeared again asserted itself and began to gorge moreover under that dazzling Sunday sky the scene was like that of a fairfield with all the gluttony of a merry-making community a display of the delight which they felt in living despite the multiplicity of their abominable ailments and the dearth of the miracles they hoped for they eat, they amuse themselves, what else can one expect? remarked Gérard guessing the thoughts of his amiable companions ah poor people, murmured Pierre, they have a perfect right to do so he was greatly touched to see human nature reassert itself in this fashion however when they had got to the lower part of the boulevard near the grotto feelings were hurt at sight of the desperate eagerness displayed by the female vendors of tapers and bouquets who with the rough fierceness of conquerors assailed the passers-by in bands they were mostly young women with bare heads or with kerchiefs tied over their hair and they displayed extraordinary effrontery even the old ones were scarcely more discreet with parcels of tapers under their arms they brandished the one which they offered for sale and even thrust it into the hand of the promenade still madame they called by a taper by a taper it will bring you luck one gentleman who was surrounded and shaken by three of the youngest of these harpies almost lost the skirts of his frock coat in attempting to escape their clutches then the scene began afresh with the bouquets large round bouquets they were carelessly fastened together and looking like cabbages a bouquet madame was the cry a bouquet for the blessed virgin if the lady escaped she heard muttered insults behind her trafficking impudent trafficking pursued the pilgrims to the very outskirts of the grotto trade was not merely triumphantly installed in every one of the shops standing close together and transforming each street into a bazaar but it overran the footways and barred the road with hand-cards full of chaplets, medals, statuettes and religious prints on all sides people were buying almost to the same extent as they ate in order that they might take away with them some souvenir of this holy kermesse and the bright gay note of this commercial eagerness, this scramble of hawkers was supplied by the urchins who rushed about through the crowd crying the journal de la grotte their sharp shrill voices pierced the ear the journal de la grotte this morning's number, two sous, the journal de la grotte amidst the continual pushing which accompanied the eddying of the ever-moving crowd Géral's little party became separated he and Rémond remained behind the others they had begun talking together in low tones with an air of smiling intimacy lost and isolated as they were in the dense crowd and Madame Designure at last had to stop look back and call to them come on or we shall lose one another as they drew near Pierre heard the girl exclaim mamai so very busy, speak to her before we leave and Géral thereupon replied it is understood, you have made me very happy mademoiselle thus the husband had been secured the marriage decided upon during this charming promenade among the sights of Lourdes Rémond had completed her conquest and Géral had at last taken a resolution realising how gay and sensible she was as she walked beside him leaning on his arm Monsieur de Gersin however had raised his eyes and was heard inquiring are not those people up there on that balcony the rich folk who made the journey in the same train as ourselves you know whom I mean, that lady who was so very ill and whose husband and sister accompany her he was alluding to the Dior Lafayse and they indeed were the persons whom he now saw on the balcony of a suite of rooms which they had rented in a new house overlooking the lawns of the rosary they here occupied a first floor furnished with all the luxury that Lourdes could provide carpets, hangings, mirrors and many other things without mentioning a staff of servants dispatched beforehand from Paris as the weather was so fine that afternoon the large armchair on which lay the poor ailing woman had been rolled onto the balcony you could see her there clad in a lace peignoir her husband always correctly attired in a black frock coat stood beside her on her right hand whilst her sister in a delightful pale move gown sat on her left smiling and leaning over every now and then so as to speak to her but apparently receiving no reply Oh! declared little Madame Designaux I have often heard people speak of Madame Jousseau that lady in mauve she is the wife of a diplomatess to neglect her it seems in spite of her rare beauty and last year there was a great deal of talk about her fancy for a young colonel who was well known in Parisian society it is said, however, in catholic salons that her religious principles enabled her to conquer it they all five remained there looking up at the balcony to think, resumed Madame Designaux that her sister, poor woman, was once her living portrait and indeed there was an expression of greater kindliness and more gentle gaiety on Madame Dior Lafay's face and now you see her no different from a dead woman except that she is above instead of underground, with her flesh wasted away reduced to a livid, boneless thing which they scarcely dare to move Oh! the unhappy woman Remorned thereupon assured the others that Madame Dior Lafay, who had been married scarcely two years previously had brought all the jewellery given her on the occasion of her wedding to offer it as a gift to our Lady of Lourdes and Gérard confirmed this assertion saying that the jewellery had been handed over to the treasurer of the Basilica that very morning with a golden lantern studded with gems and a large sum of money destined for the relief of the poor however the blessed virgin could not have been touched as yet for the sufferer's condition seemed, if anything, to be worse from that moment Pierre no longer beheld ought to save that young woman on that handsome balcony that woeful wealthy creature lying there high above the merrymaking throne the lured mob which was feasting and laughing in the Sunday sunshine the two dear ones who were so tenderly watching over her her sister who had forsaken her society triumphs her husband who had forgotten his financial business his millions dispersed throughout the world increased by their irreproachable demeanour the woefulness of the group which they thus formed on high above all other heads and face to face with the lovely valley for Pierre they alone remained and they were exceedingly wealthy and exceedingly wretched however lingering in this wise on the footway with their eyes upturned the five promenades narrowly escaped being knocked down and run over for at every moment fresh vehicles were coming up for the most part land ours drawn by four horses which were driven at a fast trot and whose bells jingled merrily the occupants of these carriages were tourists visitors to the waters of Poe, Barrages and Côtré whom curiosity had attracted to lured and who were delighted with the fine weather and quite inspired by their rapid drive across the mountains they would remain at lured only a few hours after hastening to the grotto and the basilica in seaside costumes they would start off again laughing and well pleased at having seen it all in this wise families in light attire the vans of young women with bright parasols darted hither and thither among the grey neutral-tinted crowd of pilgrims imparting to it in a yet more pronounced manner the aspect of a fair day mob amidst which folks of good society dain to come and amuse themselves all at once madame designeur raised a cry what is it you Beltle? and thereupon she embraced a tall charming brunette who had just alighted from a landau with three other young women the whole party smiling and animated everyone began talking at once and all sorts of merry exclamations rang out in the delight they felt at meeting in this fashion oh, we're at Côtré, my dear, said the tall brunette and as everybody comes here we decided to come all four together and your husband is he here with you? madame designeur began protesting of course not, said she, he is at Truville as you ought to know I shall start to join him on Thursday yes, yes, of course, resumed the tall brunette who, like her friend, seemed to be an amiable giddy creature I was forgetting you are here with the pilgrimage then madame designeur offered to guide her friends promising to show them everything of interest in less than a couple of hours and turning to Raymond who stood by smiling she added come with us, my dear, your mother won't be anxious the ladies and Pierre and Monsieur de Gersaint thereupon exchanged bows and Gérard also took leave tenderly pressing Raymond's hand with his eyes fixed on hers as though to pledge himself definitively the women swiftly departed directing their steps towards the grotto and when Gérard also had gone off returning to his duties Monsieur de Gersaint said to Pierre and the hairdresser on the place du Marc-Cadal I really must go and see him, you will come with me, won't you? of course, I will go wherever you like I am quite at your disposal as Marie does not need us following the pathways between the large lawns which stretch out in front of the rosary they reached the new bridge where they had another encounter this time with Abbey des Renoirs who was acting as guide to two young married ladies who had arrived that morning from Talbot walking between them with the gallant air of a society priest he was showing them Lord and explaining it to them keeping them well away however from its more repugnant features its poor and its ailing folk its odor of low misery must be admitted and well nigh disappeared that fine sun-shiny day at the first word which Monsieur de Gersaint addressed to him with respect to the hiring of a vehicle for the trip to Gavarni the Abbey was seized with a dread lest he should be obliged to leave his pretty lady visitors as you please my dear sir he replied kindly attend to the matter and you are quite right make the cheapest arrangements possible for I shall have two ecclesiastics of small means with me there will be four of us we will know at the hotel this evening at what hour which will start thereupon he again joined his lady friends and led them towards the grotto following the shady path which skirts the Gav a cool sequestered path well suited for lovers' walks feeling somewhat tired Pierre had remained apart from the others leaning against the parapet of the new bridge and now for the first time he was struck by the prodigious number of priests among the crowd he saw all varieties of them swarming across the bridge priests of correct mean who had come with the pilgrimage and who could be recognized by their area of assurance and their clean cassocks poor village priests who were far more timid and badly clothed and who after making sacrifices in order that they might indulge in the journey would return home quite scared and finally there was the whole cloud of unattached ecclesiastics who had come nobody knew whence and who enjoyed such absolute liberty that it was difficult to be sure whether they had even said their mass that morning they doubtless found this liberty very agreeable and thus the greater number of them like Abeday Amwaz had simply come on a holiday excursion free from all duties and happy at being able to live like ordinary men lost unnoticed as they were in the multitude around them and from the young carefully groomed and perfumed priest to the old one in a dirty cassock and shoes down at heel the entire species had its representatives in the throng there were corpulent ones others but moderately fat thin ones, tall ones and short ones some whom faith had brought and whom Arda was consuming some also who simply plied their calling like worthy men and some moreover who were fond of intriguing and were only present in order that they might help the good cause however Pierre was quite surprised to see such a stream of priests pass before him each with his special passion and one and all hurrying to the grotto as one hurries to a duty a belief, a pleasure or a task he noticed one among the number of very short slim dark man with a pronounced Italian accent whose glittering eyes seemed to be taking a plan of lured who looked indeed like one of those spies who come and peer around with a view to conquest and then he observed another one an enormous fellow with a paternal air who was breathing hard through inordinate eating and who paused in front of a poor sick woman and ended by slipping a five franc piece into her hand just then however Monsieur de Gelsain returned we merely have to go down the boulevard and the roue-basse, said he Pierre followed him without answering he had just felt his cassock on his shoulders for the first time that afternoon for never had it seemed so light to him as whilst he was walking about amidst the scramble of the pilgrimage the young fellow was now living in a state of mingled unconsciousness and dizziness ever hoping that faith would fall upon him like a lightning flash in spite of all the vague uneasiness which was growing within him at the sight of the things which he beheld however the spectacle of that ever-swelling stream of priests no longer wounded his heart fraternal feelings towards these unknown colleagues had returned to him how many of them there must be who believed no more than he did himself and yet like himself, honestly fulfilled their mission as guides and consolers this boulevard is a new one, you know, said Monsieur de Gelsain all at once raising his voice the number of houses built during the last twenty years is almost beyond belief there is quite a new town here the La Paca flowed along behind the buildings on their right and their curiosity inducing them to turn into a narrow lane they came upon some strange old structures on the margin of the narrow stream several ancient mills here displayed their wheels among them one which Monseigneur Laurence had given to Bernadette's parents after the apparitions tourists, moreover, were here shown the pretended abode of Bernadette a hovel where the Soubirou family had removed on leaving the Rue des Petits Fourcy and in which the young girl, as she was already boarding with the sisters of Nivelle can have but seldom slept at last by way of the Rue bus Pierre and his companion reached the Place du Marcadal this was a long triangular open space the most animated and luxurious of the squares of the old town the one where the cafes, the chemists, all the finest shops were situated and among the latter one showed conspicuously coloured as it was a lively green adorned with lofty mirrors and surmounted by a broad board bearing in gilt letters the inscription Casabon, hairdresser Monsieur de Gelsin and Pierre went in but there was nobody in the salon and they had to wait a terrible clatter of forks resounded from the adjoining room an ordinary dining room transformed into a table d'hôte in which some twenty people were having des gennées although it was already two o'clock the afternoon was progressing and yet people were still eating from one to the other end of Lourdes like every other householder in the town whatever his religious convictions might be Casabon in the pilgrimage season let his bedrooms surrendered his dining room and sought refuge in his cellar where heaped up with his family he ate and slept although this unventilated hole was no more than three yards square however the passion for trading and money making carried all before it at pilgrimage time the whole population disappeared like that of a conquered city surrendering even the beds of its women and its children to the pilgrims seating them at its tables and supplying them with food is there nobody here called Monsieur de Gelsin after waiting a moment at last a little man made his appearance Casabon himself a type of the knotty but active Pyrenean with a long face prominent cheekbones and a sunburnt complexion spotted here and there with red his big glittering eyes never remained still and the whole of his spare little figure quivered with incessant exuberance of speech and gesture for you, Monsieur, a shave, eh? said he I must beg your pardon for keeping you waiting but my assistant has gone out and I was in there with my borders if you will kindly sit down I will attend to you at once thereupon daining to operate in person Casabon began to stir up the lather and stop the razor he had glanced rather nervously however at the cassock worn by Pierre who without a word had seated himself in a corner and taken up a newspaper in the perusal of which he appeared to be absorbed a short interval of silence followed but it was fraught with suffering for Casabon and whilst lathering his customers chin he began to chatter my borders lingered this morning such a long time at the grotto, Monsieur that they have scarcely sat down to des gennés you can hear them, eh? I was staying with them out of politeness however I owe myself to my customers as well, do I not? one must try to please everybody Monsieur de Gelsin who was also fond of a chat thereupon began to question him you lodge some of the pilgrims I suppose we all lodge some of them Monsieur it is necessary for the town replied the barber and you accompany them to the grotto? at this however Casabon revolted and holding up his razor he answered with an air of dignity never Monsieur, never! for five years past I have not been in that new town which they are building he was still seeking to restrain himself and again glanced at Pierre whose face was hidden by the newspaper the sight of the Red Cross pinned on Monsieur de Gelsin's jacket was also calculated to render him prudent nevertheless his tongue won the victory well Monsieur, opinions are free are they not? said he I respect yours but for my part I don't believe in all that phantasmagoria oh I've never concealed it I was already a republican and a free thinker in the days of the empire there were barely four men of those views in the whole town at that time oh I'm proud of it he had begun to shave Monsieur de Gelsin's left cheek and was quite triumphant from that moment a stream of words poured forth from his mouth a stream which seemed to be inexhaustible to begin with he brought the same charges as Majesté against the fathers of the grotto he reproached them for their dealings in tapers, chaplets, prints and crucifixes for the disloyal manner in which they competed with those who sold those articles as well as with the hotel and lodging housekeepers and he was also rothful with the blue sisters of the immaculate conception for had they not robbed him of two tenants, two old ladies who spent three weeks at Lourdes each year moreover you could divine within him all the slowly accumulated overflowing spite with which the old town regarded the new town that town which had sprung up so quickly on the other side of the castle that rich city with houses as big as palaces neither flowed all the life, all the luxury, all the money of Lourdes so that it was incessantly growing larger and wealthier whilst its elder sister, the poor antique town of the mountains with its narrow grass-grown deserted streets seemed near the point of death nevertheless the struggle still continued the old town seemed determined not to die and by lodging pilgrims and opening shops on her side endeavored to compel her ungrateful junior to grant her a share of the spoils but custom only flowed to the shops which were near the grotto and only the poorer pilgrims were willing to lodge so far away so that the unequal conditions of the struggle intensified the rupture and turned the high town and the low town into two irreconcilable enemies who preyed upon one another amidst continual intrigues ah no they certainly won't see me at their grotto resumed Cazabon with his rageful air what an abusive use they make of that grotto of theirs they serve it up in every fashion to think of such idolatry, such gross superstition in the 19th century just ask them if they have cured a single sufferer belonging to the town during the last twenty years yet there are plenty of infirm people crawling about our streets it was our folk that benefited by the first miracles but it would seem that the miraculous water has long lost all its power so far as we are concerned we are too near it people have to come from a long distance if they wanted to act on them it's really all too stupid why I wouldn't go there even if I were offered a hundred francs Pierre's immobility was doubtless irritating the barber he had now begun to shave Monsieur de Gelsain's rights cheek and he was invading against the fathers of the immaculate conception whose greed for gain was the one cause of all the misunderstanding these fathers who were at home there since they had purchased from the municipality the land on which they desired to build did not even carry out the stipulations of the contract they had signed the clauses in it forbidding all trading such as the sale of the water and of religious articles innumerable actions might have been brought against them but they snapped their fingers and felt themselves so powerful that they no longer allowed a single offering to go to the parish but arranged matters so that the whole harvest of money should be garnered by the grotto and the basilica and all at once Cazabon candidly exclaimed if they were only reasonable if they would only share with us then when Monsieur de Gelsain had washed his face and reseeded himself the hairdresser resumed and if I were to tell you Monsieur what they have done with our poor town forty years ago all the young girls here conducted themselves properly I assure you I remember that in my young days when a young man was wicked he generally had to go elsewhere but times have changed our manners are no longer the same nowadays nearly all the girls content themselves with selling candles and nosegays must have seen them catching hold of the passers-by and thrusting their goods into their hands it is really shameful to see so many bold girls about they make a lot of money acquire lazy habits and instead of working during the winter simply wait for the return of the pilgrimage season and I assure you that the young men don't need to go elsewhere nowadays no indeed and add to all this the suspicious floating element which swells the population as soon as the first fine weather sets in the coachmen, the hawkers, the canteen keepers all the low-class wandering folk reeking with grossness and vice and you can form an idea of the honest new town which they have given us with the crowds that come to their grotto and their basilica greatly struck by these remarks Pierre had let his newspaper fall and began to listen it was now for the first time that he fully realized the difference between the two lords old lords so honest and so pious in its tranquil solitude and new lords corrupted, demoralized by the circulation of so much money by such a great enforced increase of wealth by the ever-growing torrent of strangers sweeping through it by the fatal rotting influence of the conflux of thousands of people the contagion of evil examples and what a terrible result it seemed when one thought of Bernadette the pure candid girl kneeling before the wild primitive grotto when one thought of all the naive faith all the fervent purity of those who had first begun the work had they desired that the whole countryside should be poisoned in this wise by lucre and human filth yet it had sufficed that the nation should flock there for a pestilence to break out seeing that Pierre was listening Casablan made a final threatening gesture as though to sweep away all this poisonous superstition then relapsing into silence he finished cutting Monsieur de Gelsin's hair there you are Monsieur the architect rose and it was only now that he began to speak of the conveyance which he wished to hire at first the hairdresser declined to enter into the matter pretending that they must apply to his brother at the Chant Comain but at last he consented to take the order a pair horse lundau for Gavalny was priced at 50 francs however he was so pleased at having talked so much and so flattered at hearing himself called an honest man that he eventually agreed to charge only 40 francs there were four persons in the party so this would make 10 francs a piece and it was agreed that they should start off at about 2 in the morning so that they might get back to Lourdes at a tolerably early hour on the Monday evening the lundau will be outside the hotel of the apparitions at the appointed time repeated Casablan in his emphatic way you may rely on me Monsieur then he began to listen the clatter of crockery did not cease resounding in the adjoining room people were still eating there with that impulsive veracity which had spread from one to the other end of Lourdes and all at once a voice was heard calling for more bread excuse me hastily resumed Casablan my borders want me and thereupon he rushed away his hands still greasy through fingering the comb the door remained open for a second and on the walls of the dining room Pierre aspired various religious prints and notably a view of the grotto which surprised him in all probability however the hairdresser only hung these engravings there during the pilgrimage season by way of pleasing his borders it was now nearly three o'clock when the young priest and Monsieur de Gersin got outside they were astonished at the loud peeling of bells which was flying through the air the parish church had responded to the first stroke of Vespers chiming at the basilica and now all the convents one after another were contributing to the swelling peels the crystalline notes of the bell of the carmelites mingled with the grave notes of the bell of the immaculate conception and all the joyous bells of the Sisters of Nevers and the Dominicans were jingling together in this wise from morning till evening on fine days of festivity the chimes winged their flight above the house roofs of Lourdes and nothing could have been gayer than that sonorous melody resounding in the broad blue heavens above the gluttonous town which had at last lunched and was now comfortably digesting as it strolled about in the sunlight End of section 12