[Masterpiece Les Miserables] Paris Sparks

Things are often like this: if you encounter several bad things in a row, then the whole world will be against you next.

The heavy fog in winter made the ship arrive at the port late for half a day, and Corona missed the originally scheduled train and had to wait for another one.So it was past midnight when she stepped on the platform of the Gare de Paris.It was originally scheduled that Jean Valjean would come to pick her up at the station, but because of the delay, she and he missed it too.

It is snowing lightly in Paris.The snowflakes melted as soon as they hit the ground, making the road slippery and slippery.She waited a long time at the railway station for a stagecoach, perhaps because of the weather, perhaps because of the slippery road, and even the horses seemed tired and sluggish.Corona was too sleepy to bother with the coachman.The cold inside the car was too cold for her, so she simply got out of the carriage on German Avenue and walked the remaining half of the street by herself, hoping that walking would warm her body and dispel her drowsiness.

She wrapped her cloak and hood tightly, carrying the suitcase with one hand and the front of the cloak with the other, and focused on her feet.It is difficult to discern puddles underfoot at night with only the dim light of street lamps.Corona was so concentrated that she didn't notice that there were other pedestrians on the road.Suddenly a black shadow flashed past her, and when she realized it, a hand was already tightly grasping her arm.

Corona screamed in fright, and subconsciously shook her hand to break away, but the other party grabbed her hand tightly.It was in the darkest section of the road between two streetlights, until the other party spoke in a low voice, Coronna recognized that it was a young girl's voice.The voice of the other party was as low as a whisper. Even in such a dead night, only when the two of them were almost face to face could they hear what she said clearly: "Run! Someone is staring at you."

The young girl who jumped out of nowhere said so, with her face turned to her, but the corner of her eyes glanced to the opposite side of the street.Corona peeked at the opposite side following her gaze, feeling a shiver running through her whole body: at the very edge of the street lights, at the entrance of an alley, two dark figures seemed to be faintly visible.

Without saying a word, she grabbed the girl's arm with her backhand and dragged her forward together, not caring about the water on the ground anymore.Fortunately, it was not far from her house at this time, as long as a few houses were ahead, it was her residence.To her horror, however, came the sound of running footsteps behind them.The villains lurking in the dark caught up.

Corona is very courageous, but she also clearly knows that her strength is far from enough to contend with the villains behind her.The girl next to her took a deep breath, and then let out a scream that nearly shattered Corona's eardrums.

"ah--------!!!"

Even Corona was almost staggered by her fright, but their galloping pace did not stop.The effect of this scream was immediate: the lights of several nearby houses were quickly turned on, and the scattered footsteps behind them changed direction and gradually moved away, no longer chasing them.After the two girls supported each other and ran through a few houses, Corona gave the strange girl a hand, and they threw themselves on the iron gate of the garden together.Coronne fumbled for the key in her pocket with numb fingers, but before she could find it, the door opened from the inside: Jean Valjean stood inside the door, in only his pajamas, with a poker in his hand. .

"Monsieur Jean!" cried Coronne, almost crying with so much relief.

"Corona!" Jean Valjean was almost as shocked as she was. He stepped forward with two big strides, blocking the two girls behind him, holding an iron bar and looking vigilantly at the empty street, "Someone is chasing you? Then It was you who screamed?"

"It's her—almost," said Corona panting, shivering from the cold and fear.

"Come on, they are after you! A rich lady, walking on the street in the middle of the night, dressed so gorgeously, not paying attention to her surroundings at all—what are you thinking?" The strange girl reprimanded her rudely. , "Still carrying the box! Damn it! The first two robbers are after us, and you're still carrying this big box! Can't you throw it to them?"

"Oh! I... I didn't think of that. I totally forgot," Corona said, feeling a pang of shame.It happened so suddenly that she ran in panic and didn't have time to think more.Jean Valjean, gripping the poker tightly, paced a few paces towards one end of the street, but did not go far. "They're gone," he said, turning around. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"It's all right, we're fine—Mr. Jean! You're still wearing unlined clothing!" Coronne exclaimed, before noticing Jean Valjean's clothes, "Go back to the house quickly!...Are you coming too?" She Instead, he asked the strange girl who saved him.

"What else? I came here to remind you, otherwise I would have gone home." The other party said, she glanced at the beautiful house and well-tended garden behind her, her previous aggressive appearance He subsided a little, and his words seemed somewhat cramped, "So I think... I should at least be able to go inside and enjoy the fire, right?"

"Of course! Please come in." Corona said, pulling her a few steps inside.Monsieur Mazlo, the porter, was also awakened by the previous commotion, but he was old and not as quick as Jean Valjean, and only then came out trembling with his overcoat on.He locked the door, and Coronne led the strange girl into the house with Jean Valjean.

At this time in the middle of the night, everyone had already gone back to the house to sleep, and the fireplace in the living room had been extinguished, leaving only a few embers.Jean Valjean stooped to relight the fireplace, and steps were heard in the passage leading to the inner room.Fantine put her head out cautiously a few moments later.

"Mr. Jean—" she wanted to ask, but when her eyes fell on Corona, she interrupted the question, "Corona!"

"Fantine!"

In the next instant Fantine had rushed across the drawing-room, and was clasping her icy hands. "You're back! Why so late? No, why so early? We thought your train wasn't coming until tomorrow morning! That's what the people at the station said, the next one is coming tomorrow morning! God, we heard that Scream, are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine, sister! We're all fine." Corona comforted softly.When being chased by the bandits, she was indeed frightened to death, but when faced with a panicked Fantine, she immediately and naturally returned to the role of comfort and protection, completely forgetting her fear, "Where is Cosette? Didn't she wake up?"

Cosette was always the best topic for distracting Fantine, even now. "Cosette is awake. I kept her in the bedroom—what happened?"

"I think there are two robbers on the street outside, they have already run away, don't worry." Corona comforted her lightly, "Let Cosette continue to sleep, doesn't she have to go to school tomorrow?"

She coaxed Fantine back into the room, and when she turned around, Jean Valjean had relighted the fireplace, which finally gave some light to the living room which had not had time to light it.He and the strange girl were sitting next to the fireplace, and Corona didn't really see her appearance until then.

It was a very young girl.The marks of poverty and hardship on her face make it difficult to judge her age accurately, but she is obviously very young, maybe not more than twenty years old.She has curly red hair scattered over her shoulders, and she is wearing a worn skirt and a patched coat. Judging from the gray-brown wool remaining on the shoulders and chest, it may have been a sweater, but now it looks like a sweater. It's just some bits and pieces of rags barely connected together.These clothes were obviously too thin for the winter weather. She clasped her shoulders with her hands, leaned against the fireplace, stomped her feet, and deliberately raised her chin when Corona looked over.Corona is very familiar with that gesture: she herself often makes that gesture subconsciously, often to prove that she refuses to admit defeat, or to make herself appear less embarrassed.Jean Valjean stood a little behind, giving the girl the warmest place by the fire, still in his pajamas, with some wet marks on his shoulders and sleeves, where the snow outside had melted on his clothes. up.

Corona walked quickly to the coat rack at the door. She first took off her wet coat, and then took down two thick overcoats from it: one was Jean Valjean, which she stuffed into He; the other Fantine's coat she shakes out over the girl's shoulders.

"Thank you for saving me!" She thanked sincerely, "My name is Corona, Corona Evermond."

The girl shrugged. "Forget it, just don't do such stupid things again." She sneezed while wrapping her coat tightly, "My name is Anne."

"What just happened?" asked Jean Valjean.

"I want to know too." Fantine said, she did not know when she quietly came out from the corridor behind, "Corona, are you in danger?"

Corona looked at her, then at Jean Valjean, and sighed. "Let's sit down first," she said.

She explained the whole story to them as simply as possible: the passenger ship that was delayed because of the fog; Anne who sprang out. "Speaking of which, why are you out alone in the middle of the night?" She turned to Anne and asked, "Aren't you also dangerous?"

"Me! I'm not in danger." Annie sneered, "People like us can tell that there is nothing oily on us at a glance, and even thieves don't bother to rob us! Risking being caught by the police, we may only get five What the hell would they do to lose money like this? No. They're targeting the rich, like the people who live on your street. Today they're probably planning to sneak into a house to get his vote. Of course, there was a young lady walking alone in the street at this time - beautifully dressed, carrying a small suitcase, looking rich - how could they pass up such a great opportunity? ?”

"That's right." Fantine agreed, and she frowned slightly. "People who are too poor don't need to worry about robbers. The robbers may be richer than us. But you, Corona, you should pay attention."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done this." Corona smiled wryly, "I'm probably too...too absent-minded for a while."

"I was supposed to meet you," said Jean Valjean. "Your train arrives at midnight. I should have waited at the station..."

"Oh, Monsieur Jean, don't say that. You don't know that my train arrives at midnight! Please don't blame yourself for the crimes of the whole world. It's not your fault that I met a robber. It's the robber's fault."

"—I beg you." Seeing that Jean Valjean was about to open his mouth again, she said pitifully, "can you at least save this argument until tomorrow? I'm so sleepy, Monsieur Jean, I can sit down." Asleep here."

Jean Valjean had to give in.Anne looked from one to the other with interest, seeming to struggle between being polite and being curious, which finally got the better of her. "I'd say you're a strange family!" she said. "A lady from a rich family on a midnight train with no servants to follow or pick her up? A young girl walking down the street in the middle of the night by herself, 'absent minded'? Hell, what distraction would make you do such a thing? Don't you know how dangerous Paris can be at night?"

Corona paused, and found that she could only respond with a wry smile for a while.

Indeed, this is a strange family, completely different from normal families with parents and children.Jean Valjean is almost entirely Cosette's father, but he is not Fantine's husband at the same time.Corona is Cosette's aunt in blood, but actually she is more like her elder sister.Fantine is Corona's sister, but she almost obeys Corona and Jean Valjean.They were indeed a wealthy family, even once aristocrats—of course, Corona did not inherit this title—but no one was used to ordering servants.The relationship between them was too complicated, and she didn't even know how to explain it to Annie, so she shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe we can save the explanation for tomorrow too?" she asked.Traveling all the way, and experiencing the scare of being robbed, she felt that her mind had almost stopped.

Anne's eyes widened.She stared at Corona earnestly for a while, even in her drowsy tiredness, Corona could still detect her emotion almost instinctively: as if she couldn't believe that there was an invitation to stay overnight hidden behind it. "It's too late now. If you don't mind, you can stay here for one night. I think the guest room is still available." She looked at Fantine, and Fantine nodded, confirming that there were indeed no other guests in the house. . "Or if you have something to go back—please let us know how we can thank you."

"Seriously?" asked Anne, looking at Jean Valjean and Fantine, but they made no objection to Coronne's invitation.She seemed to struggle internally for a few seconds before finally shrugging: "Well, why not - it's not bad that I stumbled on one side of the street and got an invitation on the other. But I have to say in advance that this place is far away from the factory where I am going to work. I will wake you up very early."

Corona gave her a weary smile. "I'll try to get up early," she said.

The author has something to say: Annie is an original character.

There aren't many original characters, and she should be the only one with an important role...