Kabanata Kabanata 24 · NEW TROUBLES

When the hour came for him to take his departure from the galleys, when

Jean Valjean heard in his ear the strange words, _Thou art free!_ the

moment seemed improbable and unprecedented; a ray of vivid light, a ray

of the true light of the living, suddenly penetrated within him. But it

was not long before this ray paled. Jean Valjean had been dazzled by

the idea of liberty. He had believed in a new life. He very speedily

perceived what sort of liberty it is to which a yellow passport is

provided.

And this was encompassed with much bitterness. He had calculated that

his earnings, during his sojourn in the galleys, ought to amount to a

hundred and seventy-one francs. It is but just to add that he had

forgotten to include in his calculations the forced repose of Sundays

and festival days during nineteen years, which entailed a diminution of

about eighty francs. At all events, his hoard had been reduced by

various local levies to the sum of one hundred and nine francs fifteen

sous, which had been counted out to him on his departure. He had

understood nothing of this, and had thought himself wronged. Let us say

the word—robbed.

On the day following his liberation, he saw, at Grasse, in front of an

orange-flower distillery, some men engaged in unloading bales. He

offered his services. Business was pressing; they were accepted. He set

to work. He was intelligent, robust, adroit; he did his best; the

master seemed pleased. While he was at work, a gendarme passed,

observed him, and demanded his papers. It was necessary to show him the

yellow passport. That done, Jean Valjean resumed his labor. A little

while before he had questioned one of the workmen as to the amount

which they earned each day at this occupation; he had been told _thirty

sous_. When evening arrived, as he was forced to set out again on the

following day, he presented himself to the owner of the distillery and

requested to be paid. The owner did not utter a word, but handed him

fifteen sous. He objected. He was told, _“That is enough for thee.”_ He

persisted. The master looked him straight between the eyes, and said to

him _“Beware of the prison.”_

There, again, he considered that he had been robbed.

Society, the State, by diminishing his hoard, had robbed him wholesale.

Now it was the individual who was robbing him at retail.

Liberation is not deliverance. One gets free from the galleys, but not

from the sentence.

That is what happened to him at Grasse. We have seen in what manner he

was received at D——