#1.2.4

image is official art by hannah friederichs from ExU kymal

“Then my brother, while giving this man something to eat, explained to him in detail what these fruitières were--that there were two kinds; the great barns, belonging to the rich, and where there are forty or fifty cows producing from seven to eight thousand cheeses during the summer; and the associated fruitières, which belong to the poor; these consist of peasants living in the mountains who put their cows into a common herd and divide the proceeds. They hire a cheesemaker, whom they call a grurin; the grurin takes in the milk of the associates three times a day and notes the quantities in duplicate. It’s toward the end of April that the dairy work starts up, and about the middle of June the cheesemakers drive their cows into the mountains.”

“He no doubt thought that this man, whose name is Jean Valjean, was only too well aware of his misery, that the best thing to do was to distract him from it and to make him believe, if only for a moment, that he was a man like any other, by being perfectly normal with him. Indeed, isn’t that what charity is, properly called? Isn’t there, my good madame, something truly evangelical in the sort of delicacy that abstains from sermons, moral lessons, allusions, and isn’t the highest form of pity, when a man has a sore spot, not to touch it at all?”

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“The man paid no attention to anyone. He ate with the voracity of a starving man. After supper, however, he said, “Monsieur Curé, all this is too good for me, but I must say that the wagon drivers, who wouldn’t let me eat with them, live better than you do.”

“Isn’t this a true understanding of charity? Isn’t there, dear lady, something truly evangelical in this tact, which refrains from sermonizing, moralizing, and making allusions? Isn’t it most sympathetic, when a man has a bruise, not to touch it at all?”