Chapter 336 six subsidence

Before Jean Valjean was a sunken field. At that time, this kind of collapse often occurred under the Elysee Square. The underground layer here is not good for water conservancy projects, because its fluidity is extremely high, so the underground buildings are not strong enough.This fluid soil is less secure than the quicksand of St. George's Quarter, which can only be overcome when a foundation is built of stone and concrete; The clay is so thin that the channel of the underground corridor in the martyr's area can only be communicated with a cast iron pipe.In 1836, the authorities dismantled and rebuilt the old stone ditch under the suburb of Saint-Honoré, where Jean Valjean is now, when there was quicksand from the Elysée to the Seine, and this obstacle made The project was extended for nearly six months, which caused strong protests from the residents along the coast, especially those who lived in large mansions and had carriages.The project was not only arduous, but also very dangerous. At that time, it rained for four and a half months, and the water level of the Seine rose three times.

The subsidence which Jean Valjean encountered was caused by the torrential rain of the previous night.The underside of the paving stones is sand and there is no solid support, so the paving stones bend, creating a pool of rainwater.The paving stones were soaked by rain, and collapses ensued, and the trenches cracked open and sank into the mire.How long is the collapsed place?It's impossible to tell.The darkness is deeper here than anywhere, a mud pit in the Caverns of Night. Jean Valjean felt the channel give way under his feet, and he stepped into the mud.Here is water above and silt below.But he still had to go.It was impossible to turn around and go back.Now Marius was on the verge of death, and Jean Valjean was exhausted.What else is there to do?So Jean Valjean went on.Besides, at first he walked a few steps in the hollow, but he didn't feel deep, but the further he walked, the deeper his feet sank.Before long the mud was halfway up my legs and the water was up to my knees.As he walked, he lifted Marius as high as he could in his arms, above the water.Now the mud was knee-deep and the water was waist-high.He couldn't go back anymore, he was getting deeper and deeper.The consistency of this silt could bear the weight of one person, obviously not two.If Marius and Jean Valjean had gone alone, they might have escaped.Jean Valjean went on, holding up the dying man, which might have been a corpse.

The water was up to his armpits and he felt himself sinking, barely moving in the muddy depths.Density supports weight but is also a hindrance.Jean Valjean, who was holding Marius up all the time, was walking forward with great exertion, and he was sinking.Only his head remained above the water now, but his hands still held Marius aloft.In some ancient oil paintings of floods, a mother holds her baby in this way. Still sinking, he put his face up from the water to keep breathing.If anyone saw him in this darkness, he would think it was a mask floating in the dark; he saw vaguely above him the inverted head and livid face of Marius; Stretched forward; his foot touched something hard.This is a fulcrum.so close!It won't work any later.

He stood up and bent down again, desperately trying to stand firm on this fulcrum.He felt as if he had stepped onto the first rung on the ladder of life. The fulcrum encountered in the midst of the crisis turned out to be the beginning of the slope on the other side of the ditch, curved without breaking, arched under the water, like a whole floor, well laid with stones. The building is arched and quite solid.This section of the trench, partly submerged in water, is still solid, and is indeed a slope.As soon as one steps on this slope, one is saved.Jean Valjean walked up the flat slope and came to the other side of the morass.

When he came out of the water, he hit a stone and fell on his knees.He thought it so, and he remained like that for a while, his soul lost in some kind of language in which he prayed to God. He stood up again, trembling, cold and foul-smelling, and he stooped to carry the dying man, mud dripping, and his heart filled with a strange radiance.