Chapter 100 6 This may prove the cleverness of Pu La Tu Liu Er

That is, on the afternoon of Christmas Day in 1823, a man wandered for a long time in the most secluded part of the rue de Hospital in Paris.The man seemed to be looking for a place to live, and liked to stop and look at the most modest houses on the poor fringes of the San Marceau suburb. As we shall learn later, the man did rent a room in that remote area. The man, from his dress and air, was extremely poor and extremely neat, and embodied, so to speak, what is called a superior beggar.That rare mixed form can inspire a double respect in the heart of a sensible person, respecting both his abject poverty and his dignity.He wore an old well-brushed round hat, a duffel coat of ochre-yellow that had been worn down to the warp and weft (a color that was not at all strange in those days), an old-fashioned long waistcoat with pockets, A pair of black trousers that had turned gray at the knees, a pair of black woolen stockings, and a pair of thick shoes with brass buckles.He was very much like a person who lived abroad and returned to work as a private school teacher in a wealthy family.He has white hair, wrinkles on his forehead, gray lips, and a face full of sorrow and fatigue. He looks like a man in his sixties.But judging from his slow and steady pace, and the fullness of spirit shown in his movements, we can feel that he is only a man in his fifties.The wrinkles on his forehead are just right, and can make people who pay attention to him feel good about him.His lips pursed in a strange line, both serious and humble.There was a melancholy tranquility in his eyes.In his left hand he held a small bundle of hand-knotted towels, and in his right he held a wooden stick, which seemed to have been cut from some bush.The stick was carefully processed, and the appearance was not too ugly; the knots on the stick were used skillfully, and a coral-colored beeswax round head was installed on the top. It was a stick, and it also looked like a walking stick.

There are always few pedestrians on that road, especially in winter.The man seemed to be avoiding the pedestrians rather than approaching them, but he didn't appear to be avoiding them. At that time, King Louis XVIII went to Choisy-le-Roi almost every day.That's where he likes to hang out.Nearly two o'clock every day, the king's car and the guard of honor would speed past on Hospital Road. For the poor women in that area, it was their clock, and they often said: "It's two o'clock, and he has already returned to the palace." There were people who came to watch the excitement, and there were people who crowded on the side of the road, because the king passed by, which was always a disturbing thing for everyone.The king's coming and going in the streets of Paris always caused a moment of tension in the hearts of the people.His team, fleeting, but also majestic.The physically disabled king had a penchant for galloping. He couldn't walk, but he had to run. The man wanted to imitate Thunder's galloping.He was passing the place at that time, with a calm and solemn look, and his sharp saber was around him.His tall carriage, gilded all over, with boughs of lilies painted on the panels, rolled rattling along the road.People barely have time to take a look.On a white satin cushion in the right corner, there is a broad, firm, blush face, with a freshly powdered royal bird wig on his forehead, a pair of arrogant piercing eyes, an elegant smile, and a gentleman and two epaulettes with gold tassels, and the Knight of the Golden Fleece, the Cross of St. Louis, the Knight's Cross of Glory, the silver medal of the Holy Ghost, a potbelly, and a broad blue sash, and that's the king.As soon as he left Paris, he put his white feather hat on his knees wrapped in English leggings, and when he entered the city, he put his hat on his head again, paying no attention to people.He looked at the people with cold eyes, and the people responded with cold eyes.On his first appearance at Saint-Marceau, the only victory he had was when a resident of that suburb said to his companion: "The fat man is the boss."

The king walked by on time, which is an everyday occurrence on Hospital Road. The walker in the yellow coat was obviously not from that district, and probably not from Paris, since he didn't know it.When the King's chariot, escorted by a squadron of silver-laced cavalry, turned from the Women's Hospice into the Hospital Road, he saw it with some surprise, and was almost taken aback.He was the only one in the alley at that time, so he avoided it quickly and stood behind the corner of a wall, but he had already been seen by the Duke of Harfrey.Mr. Duke Harfrey was the captain of the guard on duty that day, and he sat in the car facing the king.He said to the king, "That man has a very ugly face." Some policemen who were patrolling along the king's route also noticed him, and one of them was ordered to follow him.But the man had disappeared into a secluded alley, and as it grew dark, the police were unable to follow him.This incident was listed in the report of the day Earl Anglers, Minister of State and Chief of Police.

The man in the yellow coat quickened his pace after escaping from the police, but he kept looking back to see if anyone was following him.At a quarter past four, that is to say, when it was already dark, he passed the door of the theater at the Porte Saint-Martin, on the day when "The Two Convicts" was being played.The poster pasted under the backlight at the entrance of the theater caught his attention, because although he was walking fast at that time, he still stopped to look at it.After a while, he was on Little Pan Lane, and went into the offices of Rani's Garage in Tinpan Flats.The car leaves at half past four.The horses were all set up, and when the passengers heard the coachman calling, they all hurriedly climbed up the iron ladder of the sun sparrow cart.

The man asked: "Are there any seats left?" "There is only one, next to me, on the front of the car." The driver said. "I need to." "Please come up." However, before setting off, the coachman took a look at the passenger and saw how poor his clothes were and how small his luggage was, so he asked him to pay. "Do you go all the way to Lani?" asked the coachman. "Yes," said the man. The traveler paid the fare up to Lani. The car moved.After going out of the wicket, the coachman tried to chat with him, but the passenger always only answered a word or two.So the coachman resolved to devote himself to whistling, or to scolding his cattle.

The coachman wrapped his cloak.It's getting cold.The man didn't seem to feel it.In that way we passed Gournay and Neuilly-sur-Marne. At nearly six o'clock the car reached Shell.When they reached the horse shop in the old house of the royal monastery, the coachman stopped the car and let the horses rest. "I'm going down here," said the man. He picked up his pack and stick and jumped out of the car. After a while, he disappeared. He didn't go into the horse shop. A few minutes later the car continued on to Lani and met him again on the street in Shell. The coachman turned back to the guests sitting inside and said:

"That guy is not from here, because I don't know him. He looks like he doesn't necessarily have money, but he spends it and doesn't care. He pays the fare to Lani, but only to Shell. It was getting dark, and all the houses were closed, but he didn’t enter the inn, and he disappeared all of a sudden. Could it be that he got into the soil?” The man didn't get into the soil, he was still on the street in Shell, walking three steps forward in the dark.Then, before reaching the chapel, he turned left into the country road to Montfermeil, like a man who has been there and knows it well.

He walked quickly along the road.The old tree-planted road from Gany to Lani crossed the road he had taken, and when he came to the fork he heard someone approaching ahead.He quickly hid in the ditch, waiting for those people to pass by.That caution was unnecessary, for, as we have said, it was a December night and very dark.Only two or three stars were faintly visible in the sky. It is at that point that the slope begins.The man did not return to the road to Montfermeil, he turned to the right, strode across the fields towards the woods. After walking into the woods, he slowed down and began to examine each tree carefully, walking forward step by step, as if he was looking for a secret road that only he knew.For a moment, as if disoriented, he stopped and hesitated.After touching and walking for a while, he finally came to a place where the trees were sparse and there were a lot of gray and white stones.He excitedly walked towards the stones, and in the mist of night, carefully inspected them one by one, as if conducting a review.A few paces from the pile of stones stood a large, gnarled tree.He went under the tree and felt the bark of the trunk with his hands, as if he wanted to recognize and count the burls.

The tree he touched was an ash tree, and opposite the ash tree there was a chestnut tree suffering from bark, and a zinc bark was nailed to it to protect the bark.He tiptoed again to touch the piece of zinc. After that, he stepped on the ground between the big tree and the pile of stones for a while, as if to know whether someone had recently moved the soil there. After stepping on it, he discerned his direction again and walked through the woods again. It was the man who had just met Cosette. As he was walking towards Montfermeil from a bush, he saw a small black figure moaning as he walked, unloading a heavy object on the ground, picking it up again, and walking.He caught up to look, and it turned out to be a child carrying a large bucket.So he walked up to the child and, without a word, grabbed the handle of the bucket.