Part II, Book 3, Chapter 1
The Problem of Water at Montfermeil
Having dumped Jean Valjean in the sea, we now get a little geography and history lesson about Montfermeil, the place where the Thénardiers are currently exploiting Cosette.
Montfermeil is a charming peasant village in the woods, with just one tiny problem: water is scarce, because it’s situated on a high plateau. The only source of water is a spring a clear 15 minutes out of town. I’m sorry, I think it’s a little insane to build a village that doesn’t have its own water source! Did you guys know aqueduct technology exists?? Ancient people solved this problem thousands of years ago!
Because this whole village doesn’t have Infrastructure Week, everyone has to trek out of town multiple times a day to haul water. The larger houses, which include the Thénardiers’ inn, just pay a guy whose sole job is hauling buckets of water (it is also insane that so many households are dependent on Just Some Guy). This guy, however, maintains respectable work-life boundaries and doesn’t work after dark.
Because on-demand Night Water is not an option, this creates issues for poor little Cosette, a CHILD, whose job it is to go get water (out of town! in the dark!) if there isn’t any water in the house after nightfall. As a result, she’s anxious about always making sure there’s water in the house. This is not something a CHILD should have to worry about!
With the water situation explained, Hugo goes on to paint a little vignette of the village and the inn at Christmas in 1823. There are street entertainers in town (they have a special bird!) and there are working-class guests at the inn, talking and drinking with Thénardier while his wife cooks supper at the fire. There are several paragraphs of the guests talking shop: the details of the wine grape harvest, customer complaints at the mill, the finer points of cutting grass, etc.
During all this, Cosette is sitting near the chimney knitting stockings for Éponine and Azelma, who are playing in another room. This is straight up Cinderella treatment and is such a far cry from Fantine’s fantasy for her daughter’s life!
Occasionally, the cry of a small child who is not Cosette can be heard in the inn. Jfc, how many neglected and abused children are there in this house?? Hugo explains that this is a 3-year-old boy who Madame Thénardier indifferently gave birth to, does not love, and promptly ignored once he entered this world.
My god, CPS needs to be called on his house right now.
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