eam；itakemytincanoffthehookandgodowntothemilkwomans。
motherdenisisahalecountrywomanfromsavoy；whichsheleftwhenquiteyoung；and；contrarytothecustomofthesavoyards；shehasnotgonebacktoitagain。shehasneitherhusbandnorchild；notwithstandingthetitletheygiveher；butherkindness；whichneversleeps；makesherworthyofthenameofmother。
abravecreature！leftbyherselfinthebattleoflife；shemakesgoodherhumbleplaceinitbyworking；singing；helpingothers；andleavingtheresttogod。
atthedoorofthemilk…shopihearloudburstsoflaughter。inoneofthecornersoftheshopthreechildrenaresittingontheground。theywearthesootydressofsavoyardboys；andintheirhandstheyholdlargeslicesofbreadandcheese。theyoungestisbesmeareduptotheeyeswithhis；andthatisthereasonoftheirmirth。
motherdenispointsthemouttome。
〃lookatthelittlelambs；howtheyenjoythemselves！〃saidshe；puttingherhandontheheadofthelittleglutton。
〃hehashadnobreakfast；〃putsinoneoftheothersbywayofexcuse。
〃poorlittlething；〃saidthemilkwoman；〃heisleftaloneinthestreetsofparis；wherehecanfindnootherfatherthantheall…goodgod！〃
〃andthatiswhyyoumakeyourselfamothertothem？〃ireplied；gently。
〃whatidoislittleenough；〃saidmotherdenis；measuringoutmymilk；〃buteverydayigetsomeofthemtogetheroutofthestreet；thatforoncetheymayhaveenoughtoeat。dearchildren！theirmotherswillmakeupforitinheaven。nottomentionthattheyrecallmynativemountainstome：whentheysinganddance；iseemtoseeouroldfatheragain。〃
herehereyesfilledwithtears。
〃soyouarerepaidbyyourrecollectionsforthegoodyoudothem？〃
resumedi。
〃yes！yes！〃saidshe；〃andbytheirhappiness；too！thelaughteroftheselittleones；sir；islikeabirdssong；itmakesyougay；andgivesyouhearttolive。〃
asshespokeshecutsomefreshslicesofbreadandcheese；andaddedsomeapplesandahandfulofnutstothem。
〃e；mylittledears；〃shecried；〃puttheseintoyourpocketsagainstto…morrow。〃
then；turningtome：
〃to…dayiamruiningmyself；〃addedshe；〃butwemustallhaveourcarnival。〃
icameawaywithoutsayingaword：iwastoomuchaffected。
atlastihavediscoveredwhattruepleasureis。afterbeholdingtheegotismofsensualityandofintellect；ihavefoundthehappyself…sacrificeofgoodness。pierre；m。antoine；andmotherdenishadallkepttheircarnival；butforthefirsttwo；itwasonlyafeastforthesensesorthemind；whileforthethird；itwasafeastfortheheart。
CHAPTER III
whatwemaylearnbylookingoutofwindow
march3d
apoethassaidthatlifeisthedreamofashadow：hewouldbetterhaveparedittoanightoffever！whatalternatefitsofrestlessnessandsleep！whatdisfort！whatsuddenstarts！whatever…returningthirst！
whatachaosofmournfulandconfusedfancies！wecanneithersleepnorwake；weseekinvainforrepose；andwestopshortonthebrinkofaction。twothirdsofhumanexistencearewastedinhesitation；andthelastthirdinrepenting。
whenisayhumanexistence；imeanmyown！wearesomadethateachofusregardshimselfasthemirrorofthemunity：whatpassesinourmindsinfalliblyseemstousahistoryoftheuniverse。everymanislikethedrunkardwhoreportsanearthquake；becausehefeelshimselfstaggering。
andwhyamiuncertainandrestless鈥斺�攊；apoorday…laborerintheworld鈥斺�攚hofillanobscurestationinacornerofit；andwhoseworkitavailsitselfof；withoutheedingtheworkman？iwilltellyou；myunseenfriend；forwhomtheselinesarewritten；myunknownbrother；onwhomthesolitarycallinsorrow；myimaginaryconfidant；towhomallmonologuesareaddressedandwhoisbuttheshadowofourownconscience。
agreateventhashappenedinmylife！acrossroadhassuddenlyopenedinthemiddleofthemonotonouswayalongwhichiwastravellingquietly；andwithoutthinkingofit。tworoadspresentthemselves；andimustchoosebetweenthem。oneisonlythecontinuationofthatihavefollowedtillnow；theotheriswider；andexhibitswondrousprospects。
onthefirstthereisnothingtofear；butalsolittletohope；ontheotheraregreatdangersandgreatfortune。briefly；thequestionis；whetherishallgiveupthehumbleofficeinwhichithoughttodie；foroneofthoseboldspeculationsinwhichchancealoneisbanker！eversinceyesterdayihaveconsultedwithmyself；ihaveparedthetwoandiremainundecided。
whereshallifindlight鈥斺�攚howilladviseme？
sunday；4th鈥斺�攕eethesuningoutfromthethickfogsofwinter！
springannouncesitsapproach；asoftbreezeskimsovertheroofs；andmywallflowerbeginstoblowagain。
wearenearthatsweetseasonoffreshgreen；ofwhichthepoetsofthesixteenthcenturysangwithsomuchfeeling：
nowthegladsomemonthofmay。
allthingsnewlydotharray；fairestlady；letmetoo。
inthylovemyliferenew。
thechirpingofthesparrowscallsme：theyclaimthecrumbsiscattertothemeverymorning。iopenmywindow；andtheprospectofroofsopensoutbeforemeinallitssplendor。
hewhohaslivedonlyonafirstfloorhasnoideaofthepicturesquevarietyofsuchaview。hehasnevercontemplatedthesetile…coloredheightswhichintersecteachother；hehasnotfollowedwithhiseyesthesegutter…valleys；wherethefreshverdureoftheatticgardenswaves；thedeepshadowswhicheveningspreadsovertheslatedslopes；andthesparklingofwindowswhichthesettingsunhaskindledtoablazeoffire。hehasnotstudiedthefloraofthesealpsofcivilization；carpetedbylichensandmosses；heisnotacquaintedwiththemyriadinhabitantsthatpeoplethem；fromthemicroscopicinsecttothedomesticcat鈥斺�攖hatreynardoftheroofswhoisalwaysontheprowl；orinambush；hehasnotwitnessedthethousandaspectsofaclearoracloudysky；northethousandeffectsoflight；thatmaketheseupperregionsatheatrewithever…changingscenes！howmanytimeshavemydaysofleisurepassedawayincontemplatingthiswonderfulsight；indiscoveringitsdarkerorbrighterepisodes；inseeking；inshort；inthisunknownworldfortheimpressionsoftravelthatwealthytouristslookforlower！
nineoclock鈥斺�攂utwhy；then；havenotmywingedneighborspickedupthecrumbsihavescatteredforthembeforemywindow？iseethemflyaway；eback；perchupontheledgesofthewindows；andchirpatthesightofthefeasttheyareusuallysoreadytodevour！itisnotmypresencethatfrightensthem；ihaveaccustomedthemtoeatoutofmyhand。then；whythisfearfulsuspense？invainilookaround：theroofisclear；thewindowsnearareclosed。icrumblethebreadthatremainsfrommybreakfasttoattractthembyanamplerfeast。theirchirpingsincrease；theybenddowntheirheads；theboldestapproachuponthewing；butwithoutdaringtoalight。
e；e；mysparrowsarethevictimsofoneofthefoolishpanicswhichmakethefundsfallatthebourse！itisplainthatbirdsarenotmorereasonablethanmen！
withthisreflectioniwasabouttoshutmywindow；whensuddenlyiperceived；inaspotofsunshineonmyright；theshadowoftwopricked…upears；thenapawadvanced；thentheheadofatabby…catshoweditselfatthecornerofthegutter。thecunningfellowwaslyingthereinwait；hopingthecrumbswouldbringhimsomegame。
andihadaccusedmyguestsofcowardice！iwassosurethatnodangercouldmenacethem！ithoughtihadlookedwelleverywhere！ihadonlyforgottenthecornerbehindme！
inlife；asontheroofs；howmanymisfortunesefromhavingforgottenasinglecorner！
tenoclock鈥斺�攊cannotleavemywindow；therainandthecoldhavekeptitshutsolongthatimustreconnoitrealltheenvironstobeabletotakepossessionofthemagain。myeyessearchinsuccessionallthepointsofthejumbledandconfusedprospect；passingonorstoppingaccordingtowhattheylightupon。
ah！seethewindowsuponwhichtheyformerlylovedtorest；theyarethoseoftwounknownneighbors；whosedifferenthabitstheyhavelongremarked。
oneisapoorwork…woman；whorisesbeforesunrise；andwhoseprofileisshadoweduponherlittlemuslinwindow…curtainfarintotheevening；theotherisayoungsongstress；whosevocalflouri