Book One: An Upright Man (Part One: Fantine)
(1976, trans. Norman Denny)
Chapter 1: Monseigneur Myriel, pp. 19-21
1815. 75 y/o Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel has been Bishop of Digne since 1806. Was married, went to Italy after/during the Revolution, wife died, came back a priest. Lives with 65 year old sister, Mademoiselle Baptistine, and asthmatic servant of about same age, Madame Magloire.
Chapter 2: Monseigneur Myriel becomes Monseigneur Bienvenu, pp. 21-5
Shortly after he arrived in Digne he visited the hospital and saw that it was pretty overcrowded, so he decided that the fancy bishop’s palace should be used instead, and he moved into the hospital. He gave away 14/15ths of his salary, so his household got by on 1,500 francs a year. His sister accepted this perfectly happily, because she “loved and venerated him”, though Madame Magloire wasn’t that thrilled. He claimed money for carriage upkeep too, in order to give all that to charity as well. And he encouraged the rich to give money to him to pass on to the poor. So people were very grateful and stuff, and called him Monseigneur Bienvenu.
Chapter 3: A hard office for a good bishop, pp. 26-7
He spent a lot of time travelling all over all over his diocese. He was good at preaching and stuff, using examples from nearby towns to tell people how they could be better.
Chapter 4: Works matching words, pp. 27-33
Mostly just the bishop and Hugo making sort-of jokes, while recounting more examples of the bishop being a good guy. He was shocked when he saw someone get executed.
Chapter 5: How Monseigneur Bienvenu made his cassocks last too long, pp. 33-5
His daily routine. He wore his cassocks until they were all threadbare, and so always wore his coat or w/e over the top, which made him too hot in winter. He wrote a couple of things, e.g. an essay about a line in Genesis. He sometimes had thoughts and wrote them in the margins of his books.
Chapter 6: The guardian of his house, pp. 35-40
House: 2 stories, 3 rooms in each, plus attic. 1/4 acre garden. Women lived upstairs, bishop down. Ground floor: dining room, bedroom/study, oratory w/ guest bed. Have to go through each to reach next. Kitchen and store room in another wee building attached to house. Furnished part of cowshed too, sat there when it was cold. All very plainly and sparsely furnished. His only luxuries were his silver cutlery and two big silver candlesticks he’d inherited from a great-aunt. These were put in a cupboard in the bishop’s room every night. None of the doors had locks, which worried the two women a bit.
Chapter 7: Cravatte, pp. 40-3
The bishop was once going somewhere but there were dangerous robbers (led by a guy called Cravatte) about so everyone told him it was too dangerous. But he went anyway, and the robbers gave him a chest full of fancy stuff they’d stolen (which he gave to the poor rather than returning, tut tut). Said you should never be afraid of other people, only our own vices. But he didn’t have adventures like this very often.
Chapter 8: A philosopher in his cups, pp. 43-6
The bishop once had dinner with this senator, who explained that he was an atheist, but that religion was good for “the masses” because it gave them hope or whatever. The bishop...said st that i don’t really understand.
Chapter 9: A sister’s account of her brother, pp.46-8
Mlle Baptistine wrote a letter to her friend, saying that she sometimes worries about her brother or whatever, but just keeps quiet and lets him do what he wants.
Chapter 10: The bishop confronted by a strange light, pp. 49-59
There was a guy living near Digne who had been a member of the Revolutionary Council, and so the people of Digne “referred to him with a kind of horror.” and avoided him. The bishop kinda felt like he should visit him, but on the other hand he more or less agreed with the townspeople... But then he heard that the guy was gonna die soon, so he went. But “To him the revolutionary as little better than an outlaw and even beyond the law of charity.” Tsk tsk. They had a wee chat about politics and stuff. Bishop: the revolution was violent and bad you killed people. Revolutionary Guy: dude the revolution was the best thing ever and we had every right to be angry ok. Bishop thinks: yeah i guess he has a point actually. Guy says: btw you suck because you’re rich. Bishop doesn’t correct him. Guy makes some kind of argument but i don’t understand it cuz he makes it by naming a ton of people i don’t know. Bishop pretty much won over but says: ah but you revolutionaries don’t believe in god and that’s bad. But the guy’s like “i do believe in god though” and the bishop is “inexpressibly moved.” Then the guy dies.
Chapter 11: A reservation, pp. 59-62
He wasn’t much interested in politics, but he was a monarchist. Tolerant though, and the people of Digne, who supported Napoleon, were tolerant of his views too.
Chapter 12: The loneliness of Monseigneur Bienvenu, pp. 62-4
Most bishops have plenty of hangers-on, hoping to be given a leg up. Not the Bishop of Digne though. Then a bit on success and how people care about it too much.
Chapter 13: What he believed, pp. 65-68
He loved everyone and everything a lot, including animals. He once said to a spider “The poor creature, it’s not its fault.”, and he strained a muscle to avoid stepping on an ant. He was just a really great guy. He liked to spend a couple of hours in the garden every night, thinking.
Chapter 14: What he thought, pp. 68-70
Don’t go thinking that he ever strayed away from “accepted religion”. And he wasn’t some genius philosopher who thought about the meaning of life or anything. He just loved a lot, was very compassionate.