Mon torero and Victor Hugo excerpt

Posted on by Prior...

This holiday season, mon torero has some twinkling lights to adorn his stately presence in the dining room.

mon terero at xmas- twinkle photo 5

A little Christmas twinkle.

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A little musical twinkle:

priorhouse twinkle photo 3

 

And here is a snippet from Les Mis:

Are you what is called a happy man?

Well! you are sad every day.

Each day has its own great grief or its little care.

Yesterday you were trembling for a health that is dear to you, to-day you fear for your own; to-morrow it will be anxiety about money, the day after to-morrow the diatribe of a slanderer, the day after that, the misfortune of some friend; then the prevailing weather, then something that has been broken or lost, then a pleasure with which your conscience and your vertebral column reproach you; again, the course of public affairs. This without reckoning in the pains of the heart. And so it goes on. One cloud is dispelled, another forms.

There is hardly one day out of a hundred which is wholly joyous and sunny.

And you belong to that small class who are happy!

As for the rest of mankind, stagnating night rests upon them.

Thoughtful minds make but little use of the phrase: the fortunate and the unfortunate. In this world, evidently the vestibule of another, there are no fortunate.

The real human division is this: the luminous and the shady. To diminish the number of the shady, to augment the number of the luminous,—that is the object. That is why we cry: Education! Science! To teach reading – means to light the fire; every syllable spelled out twinkles.

However, he who says light does not, necessarily, say joy.

People suffer in the light; excess burns. The flame is the enemy of the wing.

To burn without ceasing to fly,—therein lies the marvel of genius.

When you shall have learned to know, and to love, you will still suffer.

The day is born in tears.

The luminous weep, if only over those in darkness.

Victor Hugo, Les Miserables Volume 4 – Book 7 – Chapter 1

 

That snippet kind of reminds me of “Blessed are those mourn…” – because when you “know” and when you “love” – when you deeply “see” -well sometimes you grieve and ache for the hurting – you mourn because you care…but you’re also blessed because you feel with depth…and you will be comforted!

More musical twinkle:

edited – pictures removed

Have a great Sunday!

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52 thoughts on “Mon torero and Victor Hugo excerpt”

    1. hahah – well I thought about using the CP4 version, but this is the one that sits in the dining room – but maybe I can modify yours with a holiday touch Sir Spaniard!!

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      1. That would be nice, you can print it and then put me there on chair around the table where all your family will be eating for Christmas and I´ll be there in Spirit

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      2. awe – that sounds so sweet – and I think I am going to do that – with a little salut for the “brother from another mother living in a foreign land”

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  7. That first photo of the decorated torero has me chuckling. Wonderful twinkle happening in your home Yvette, green textured rugs and all. 🙂

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    1. haha – glad mom teredo brought a smile – cos if the house was on fire that would be one of three things I would grab (not sure what the other two things are – but I am sure there would be two more things – like my purse and well….) jk
      have a great day Sue

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  8. My goodness my fingers are clumsy today. I had begun a comment, hit a key, and it disappeared. Anyways, your first pic is mesmerizing, one I really do like, Lady Blue-ski. As for the quote, so much to ponder there, words that I can really relate to. When you take the chance to Love, yes you do hurt and yes you will experience pain. But to have not Loved, ah, there is the tragedy. Bless for this wondrous post! Love, Amy

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    1. ah – thanks for the rich comment – “But to have not Loved, ah, there is the tragedy.” – and I am reading Les Mis over the upcoming holiday break and so was skimming the download and that seemed to fit – 🙂 ❤ ❤

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  10. I used my Stereo Pulsar Variable Shape Tremolo (electro-harmonix) pedal for the first time at a gig last night. I’ve been reluctant to use it with my Martin GPCPA 4 acoustic electric guitar. But it sounded lovely on a couple choice songs. I love musical twinkle.

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    1. Thanks Katie 🙂 and I put holiday lights on the bullfighter painting because that has been a special find for me this year – which by the way – I cannot believe it is almost coming to an end! and for the east coasters in the US we have about 16 days and 20 hours to go until 2015 (Crazy) and minus 5 hours for you…

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    1. yeah – the lights are an easy way to add a warm feel – 🙂 – and that Christmas sign is actually kinda small, but I just noticed that it looks rather large in the photo – hm – anyhow,t hanks for dropping by Pomme ❤

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  14. Mon Torero looks merrier with the twinkle lights! You are ready for Christmas!!
    Really nice post Yvette, you always managed to combine artistic point of view with daily life reflection..enjoy reading your post 🙂 Happy Monday!!

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    1. Thanks Indah – I am honored to read that – seriously – and I have to admit that the posts I end up enjoying the most are the ones that I just throw together from my heart – like this one – cos if I would have thought about it in depth – I might have wanted to share something from Christmas story – and well, this was what was on my mind.
      thx again ❤

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  16. So happy to see the bull fighter again… and twinkling this time! I love the Les Mis excerpt, Yvette…. very profound. I still have to read it (I promised you this a while back, but still haven’t gotten around to it). Hope you are having a great week! XO

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  17. Looks like a home full of love and music Yvette, what could be better than that?! As for feeling – while it’s true deep sadness has a positive aspect in that it shows one’s ability to feel, I’ve learned from a very good friend who suffered serious tragedy that climbing out of the darkness and finding light is the mark of true strength. Thanks for the thoughtful post and the best of holidays to you and yours!

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    1. well your friend sounds like she overcame much – and before I read your comment I just had read that Victor hugo endured EXTREME poverty all opt 1821 – right after his mother died and because he refused take money form his dad (they reconciled in 1822, but he still did not take his money, didm;t need to because he started getting a pension form louisXVIII)
      anyhow, we know Hugo’s suffering led to his good writing – but whew suffering, mourning for others (and deeply thinking with the gloomy weather) well it does not all feel so great while going through it –
      thanks for your feedback Tina ❤

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  19. all I could say is: olé! 🙂 I love Victor Hugo’s works… Friday smile… 🙂

    Victor Hugo loved women to the point of being recognized as a womanizer… he was quite old, but he would continue to flirt around… a pretty and sexy young woman who was his secretary for a while, cut off Victor’s eager hope to get her into his bed:
    – Sir, stop giving yourself so much trouble, it’s completely useless, because my heart does belong to someone else…
    Having realized the huge age difference between them, he simply replied:
    – But my dear, at my age, I do not shoot that high… 🙂
    * * *
    http://myvirtualplayground.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/si-dieu-navait-fait-la-femme-il-naurait-pas-fait-la-fleurvictor-hugo/

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    1. Hi Melanie – thanks for your reply! sorry for the late response –
      and while I am not sure of all the details of Hugo’s “love life” – I think with lit and other art, it is okay to “separate the art from the artist”

      I did hear that Hugo’s love life was not smooth sailing (which likely helped his writing – ha!),and that he had a mistress for a long time, but I have not been exposed to a womanizer side – and I am checking out your post on that now.
      thx again

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      1. just FYI: from a blogger in 2013:
        https://optimisticcynicist.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/a-little-bit-about-les-miserables/

        Hugo’s religious views were complicated; although raised Catholic, Hugo gradually turned against Catholicism and even Christianity itself as he aged. Before he died he stated his belief that eventually Christianity would fade away, although the people’s faith in God would never cease – as such a more independent type of religion would emerge, as opposed to the organised religions which he so strongly condemned. These views are fairly prominent in Les Miserables (although not so much as in his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame), as although there are positive religious figures, they behave in a markedly different way to their contemporaries – the values of piety, understanding and forgiveness replacing those of ritual and dogma. And although Valjean interprets the bishop’s kindness towards him as an indirect act of God, his belief in God does not prevent him from being a free-thinker – he is a believer, but he believes that instead of waiting for God to help those is need directly, it is through the kindness and work of people through which God’s true influence lies. The absence of the church as an intermediary between the individual and God was seen and threatening to the Catholic church’s position at the time, and the ecclesiastical response to Les Miserable was not a positive one.

        Hugo went to write Les Miserables with lofty goals – it was his want that by revealing the injustices of the treatment of the poor, the inadequacies of the law and the encouragement of independent, free thinking that France would be plunged into a social revolution which would lead it towards a more democratic and liberal future. His novel was certainly influential, and highlighted the extreme inequalities in France’s rigid class structure, with those on the bottom suffering and those on the top turning a blind eye. Javert is a symbol of the uncompromising system which must be overthrown completely as it cannot be met halfway (rather than face his moral dilemma, Javert chooses to instead commit suicide) – only in that way can progress be made. Les Miserables was one of many works which were very similar to the Marxist views which become prominent in the following years – but although Marxism is no longer in its hey-day, many of the messages and views in Les Miserables still stand today, especially as we see the gap between social classes once again widening. Perhaps as well as coming into the popular view as a Hollywood production, the original Les Miserable will also once again come into public view as a story which has a lot to say about our own times.

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    1. frizztext – this fingerpicking awesome music – somehow I missed this coming to the reader –
      “the first one is my fav – du dah duh da 🎶🎶🎸

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  21. Love the share of Les Miserables. Happiness is very tricky. It can be fleeting. At times when you have it, you seem to self-destruct. It can be just denial. And it’s just hard to contain.

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    1. rommel – you have so many sides – the traveling man- the comic, lighthearted, and the everyday dude with views on this and that – and her we see beyond sophomoric views (get it cos you have the sophomore slump blog) – but instead we get this social seasoning – and out of your dense little comment – the thing that does really baffle me relates to the many who really do sabotage (or self-destruct) whew – humans are so layered, eh?
      ツ

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  22. You know I love mon torero!! And I have yet to see Les Miserables in its entirety – heard plenty about it and seen bits & pieces – but absolutely loved this excerpt from Hugo!! Great post!

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    1. well my reading friend – there is a huge difference between the book and the movies – and right now I only recommend the book! get a copy when you can (maybe make it a 2015 goal) and read it – seriously, you cannot go on living you life until you read this book! ha!

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