"Ah! soon there will be no more posts in France. There are no more horses. A horse worth three hundred francs brings six hundred, and fodder is high." <- So the economics stuff (inflation, etc.) going on in Paris has had an effect out in the provinces, too.
"My sabre and my pistols." <- Haha, nice one-liner. The "horses have a right to be tired" is also sort of funny, in a dramatic way.
"You see, citizen, this is how it is. In the cities and the large towns we are for the Revolution, in the country they are against it; that is to say, in the cities they are French, in the villages they are Breton." <- So the innkeeper includes himself as part of the "we" of the revolution. He knows that the traveller is wearing revolutionary clothing, so maybe he wants to suck up to him? "Oh, no, I’m not like those peasants who will judge you for your cockade…" Make the traveller feel safe? Could be anything.
"Not all," interrupted the cavalier. <- It’s a little amusing which parts of this feel the most relevant today. Not all priests! "And, then, as luck would have it, this Lantenac, on bis arrival, while massacring a lot of prisoners, had caused two women to be shot, one of whom had three children who had been adopted by a battalion from Paris." This is a great "as-you-know-Bob" speech. Hugo doesn’t even care anymore about infodumping (except for one non-dumped piece of info…)
"Tumba Beleni, the tomb of Belus, of Bel, of Belial, of Beelzebub." <- You just get this wall-of-text summary of book one, and your response is an etymological rant?! This is kind of adorably dorky.
"It is evident that to them Saint Michael is the Royalist general, and Beelzebub is the patriot commander; but if there is a devil, it is surely Lantenac, and if there is an angel it is Gauvain. Won’t you take something, citizen?" <- We’ve got Michael, the army-leading angel, namedropped in Les Mis, of course—a good contrast to the forces of evil, but subservient to God’s even greater goodness which will ultimately transcend war. I found the Wikipedia page specifically referencing Michael in Catholic teaching useful: Not only is the angel a war leader, but he’s also seen as being a guardian of the church (and so revered and associated with Lantenac by the peasants, who see their church coming under fire) and responsible for souls at death and judgment day.
"That is just it," replied the cavalier. <- Very subtle, Hugo. Actually, if this was an opportunity for the mysterious cavalier stranger dude to meet up with someone like his own son, perhaps whom he hasn’t seen in many years, I’d have expected a little more positive excitement about the prospect. But, circumstances are grave, etc.
"After all, a priest may have children." <- I’m not sure what the circumstances he’s referring to in 18th-century France are. But I enjoy the innkeeper, this time around. He’s just trying to deal with this weirdo and it’s like, "uh, are you a priest? You can speak, like, Latin and stuff, but, uh…I mean no offense either way, but…ah forget it I’ll just mutter under my breath, this is awkward."
no subject
"My sabre and my pistols." <- Haha, nice one-liner. The "horses have a right to be tired" is also sort of funny, in a dramatic way.
"You see, citizen, this is how it is. In the cities and the large towns we are for the Revolution, in the country they are against it; that is to say, in the cities they are French, in the villages they are Breton." <- So the innkeeper includes himself as part of the "we" of the revolution. He knows that the traveller is wearing revolutionary clothing, so maybe he wants to suck up to him? "Oh, no, I’m not like those peasants who will judge you for your cockade…" Make the traveller feel safe? Could be anything.
"Not all," interrupted the cavalier. <- It’s a little amusing which parts of this feel the most relevant today. Not all priests!
"And, then, as luck would have it, this Lantenac, on bis arrival, while massacring a lot of prisoners, had caused two women to be shot, one of whom had three children who had been adopted by a battalion from Paris." This is a great "as-you-know-Bob" speech. Hugo doesn’t even care anymore about infodumping (except for one non-dumped piece of info…)
"Tumba Beleni, the tomb of Belus, of Bel, of Belial, of Beelzebub." <- You just get this wall-of-text summary of book one, and your response is an etymological rant?! This is kind of adorably dorky.
"It is evident that to them Saint Michael is the Royalist general, and Beelzebub is the patriot commander; but if there is a devil, it is surely Lantenac, and if there is an angel it is Gauvain. Won’t you take something, citizen?" <- We’ve got Michael, the army-leading angel, namedropped in Les Mis, of course—a good contrast to the forces of evil, but subservient to God’s even greater goodness which will ultimately transcend war. I found the Wikipedia page specifically referencing Michael in Catholic teaching useful: Not only is the angel a war leader, but he’s also seen as being a guardian of the church (and so revered and associated with Lantenac by the peasants, who see their church coming under fire) and responsible for souls at death and judgment day.
"That is just it," replied the cavalier. <- Very subtle, Hugo. Actually, if this was an opportunity for the mysterious cavalier stranger dude to meet up with someone like his own son, perhaps whom he hasn’t seen in many years, I’d have expected a little more positive excitement about the prospect. But, circumstances are grave, etc.
"After all, a priest may have children." <- I’m not sure what the circumstances he’s referring to in 18th-century France are. But I enjoy the innkeeper, this time around. He’s just trying to deal with this weirdo and it’s like, "uh, are you a priest? You can speak, like, Latin and stuff, but, uh…I mean no offense either way, but…ah forget it I’ll just mutter under my breath, this is awkward."
"Go to the right!"
He went to the left.
This probably works on a political level too.