Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Mayor

One hundred feet above the surface of the Du River, there is a public promenade along the hill, and a huge retaining wall needs to be built.For Mr. de Renal's political voice, this is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.The location of the promenade is excellent, and what you can see is the most beautiful scenery in France.However, every spring, when the rain washes down, the road surface will be full of ravines and potholes, making it difficult to walk through, and everyone will feel inconvenient. Mr. de Renal took the opportunity to build a wall that is 20 feet high and 200 feet long. Otherwise, it is not enough to make his achievements immortal.

For the parapet on this wall, M. de Renal had to go to Paris three times, because the former minister of the interior claimed to be the sworn enemy of Verrières promenade; the parapet is now raised, four feet above the ground.As if in protest to all the ministers, present and former, some one is now putting up the ashlars. How many times have I pressed my breast against a huge boulder of a beautiful blue-gray color, and I have thought of last night's farewell ball in Paris, and my eyes have looked out over the valley of the Doub!In the distance, on the left bank, there are five or six valleys with twists and turns, and there are several small streams in the depths, rushing and jumping all the way, and hurriedly falling into the Du River.The sun in the mountains is very strong, and when it is just at the top, travelers can enjoy the shade of the sycamore trees with whirling branches and leaves on this platform, and let their imaginations gallop.The trees are fast growing, a beautiful green with a hint of blue, thanks to the new soil that Mr. Mayor ordered to fill in behind the huge retaining wall, because he widened the promenade by six feet in spite of the opposition of the city council. (Although he is an extreme royalist, I am a liberal, I still have to praise him for this matter) Therefore, both he and Mr. Valenod, the lucky beggar's asylum director, believe that this platform is better than St. Germain —Ang-Lay's platform is not inferior.

The official name of the promenade is the Avenue of Allegiance, and it is found on fifteen or twenty marble slabs along it, which earned M. de Renal a cross.I have only one thing to blame for this Avenue of Loyalty, and that is the brutal way the municipality has had these strong plane trees trimmed and even shaved.Rather than making their heads low and round, round and flat, like the most common vegetables in the garden, these trees prefer the beautiful and generous shapes that are common in English gardens.However, Mr. Mayor's will is irresistible, and those trees belonging to the municipal government are ruthlessly destroyed twice a year.The local Liberals claimed (somewhat exaggeratedly, of course) that the hands of the city gardeners had grown more ruthless since the rector of Masloon had acquired the habit of keeping the prunings for himself.

This young priest had been sent from Besançon some years before to watch over the Abbe Chelan and the cures of the neighbourhood.There was an old surgeon who had fought in Italy and came to Verrières after he retired. According to the mayor, he was both a Jacobin and a Bonapartist during his lifetime. Periodic damage done to trees. "I like the shade," replied M. de Renal, in a condescending tone, but that is only appropriate for a surgeon who is a knight of the Legion of Honor; I prune my tree for more shade, and I can think of no other use for a tree than the useful walnut."

"Bring profit", this is the maxim that decides everything in Villiers.This word alone represents the habitual thought of three-quarters of the inhabitants. In this small town that you think is so beautiful, bringing income is the big reason that determines everything.Foreigners who have just arrived here are fascinated by the cool and deep valleys around them. First, they will think that the residents are very sensitive to beauty; Heavy, because the beautiful scenery attracts outsiders, and the money from tourists enriches the innkeepers, so they bring benefits to the city through tax channels.

One fine autumn day, Monsieur de Renal walked with his wife on his arm in the Boulevard Faithful, and while he spoke with seriousness, Madame de Renal listened, but her eyes rested on her three children. movement.The older ones, up to eleven years old, were always close to the parapet, and made as if they were going to climb it.Then a soft voice called out the name Adolf, and the boy gave up his ambition.Madame de Renal looked thirty years old, and was still quite handsome. "He will regret it, this handsome gentleman from Paris," said M. de Renal angrily, turning paler than usual; "I am not without friends at court. . . . "

As much as I would like to spend two hundred pages talking about the provinces, I cannot be so cruel as to make you suffer with the prolixity and the ingenious obliqueness of provincial talk. This handsome gentleman from Paris, so detestable in the eyes of the mayor of Verrières, is none other than M. Appel, who two days ago managed not only to enter the prison and beggar's asylum of Verrières, but also the mayor. And hospitals managed by major local owners on a voluntary basis. "But," said Madame de Renal timidly, "what can this gentleman from Paris do to you, since you administer the welfare of the poor with integrity?"

They're here to find fault, and then they write articles in the Liberal papers. "But you never read the papers, my friend." "But we're told about these Jacobin articles; it disturbs us, and we can't do good. Well, me, I'll never forgive the curé."