“If There is No Sun, One Must be Made” (#Treesquare July 11 & Lens Artists #156)

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Happy Sunday

Combining #Treesquares with the Lens-Artists’ Black and White theme this week. 

 

 

I have been enjoying reading some of Les Mis this month and so here is another excerpt, which I chose because it adds a bit of a color to a black and white theme.  

 

     Cosette had never been more tender with Jean Valjean. She was in unison with Father Gillenormand; while he incited joy into aphorisms and maxims, she exhaled goodness like a perfume.

Happiness desires that all the world should be happy.

She regained, for the purpose of addressing Jean Valjean, inflections of voice belonging to the time when she was a little girl. She caressed him with her smile.

A banquet had been spread in the dining-room.

Illumination as brilliant as the daylight is the necessary seasoning of a great joy. Mist and obscurity are not accepted by the happy. They do not consent to be black. The night, yes; the shadows, no.

If there is no sun, one must be made.

The dining-room was full of joyful things. In the centre, above the white and glittering table, was a Venetian lustre with flat plates, with all sorts of colored birds, blue, violet, red, and green, perched amid the candles; around the chandelier, girandoles, on the walls, sconces with triple and quintuple branches; mirrors, silverware, glassware, plate, porcelain, faïence, pottery, gold and silversmith’s work, all was sparkling and joyous. The empty spaces between the candelabra were filled in with bouquets, so that where there was not a light, there was a flower.

In the antechamber, three violins and a flute softly played quartettes by Haydn.

Jean Valjean had seated himself on a chair in the drawing-room, behind the door, the leaf of which folded back upon him in such a manner as to nearly conceal him. A few moments before they sat down to table, Cosette came, as though inspired by a sudden whim, and made him a deep courtesy, spreading out her bridal toilet with both hands, and with a tenderly roguish glance, she asked him:

“Father, are you satisfied?”

“Yes,” said Jean Valjean, “I am content!”

“Well, then, laugh.”

Jean Valjean began to laugh.

A few moments later, Basque announced that dinner was served.

The guests, preceded by M. Gillenormand with Cosette on his arm, entered the dining-room, and arranged themselves in the proper order around the table.

taken from Book VI, Chapter 2 from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables

 

 

Hope your weekend is going well.  

What books have been opened around your house this month? 

 

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36 thoughts on ““If There is No Sun, One Must be Made” (#Treesquare July 11 & Lens Artists #156)”

        1. well keep us posted – and I can skim a few books at once but not fiction – that can be hard to follow – so do let us know how it goes

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    1. well it is so nice to read short stories in any kind of weather – but all the more in nice weather with a short attention span – hahah

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  15. I like your black-and-white tree pictures … they seem bigger than life this way. I have never read “Les Mis” nor have I seen the most-recent movie, but I’ve seen the original movie. I have so many things I want to do when retired – books to read are high on that agenda. There are many classics I’ve not read yet. I don’t have a book “on the go” at the present time. I’d really be more behind here on Reader if I began reading again. You know, one of those books that grabs your attention and you can’t put it down?

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    1. Hi Linda – well you seem to be making room for blogging friends and walking adventures – and all of that is keeping you connected and your brain alive.
      I know there are a lot of classic books out there to read – but Les Mis is a special one so I hope you add it to the “when retired” list
      🙂

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      1. I have a growing list of books Yvette and there are many classics I never read in high school or college. I was reading a synopsis of an episode of the series Mad Men recently and they mentioned a character was similar to “The Catcher in the Rye” which is a book I’ve not read.

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