Les Misérables, Book 3: Mud, but the Soul, Chapter 1 summary

What happens

1. Jean Valjean enters a narrow sewer with Marius, then moves away from the entrance because soldiers might discover it.
2. At a crossing, he chooses the uphill route to avoid emerging beside the Seine where people could summon the police.
3. As he carries Marius through wet passages, warmth from the wounded man’s mouth confirms that he still breathes.
4. Mistaken about his location, Jean Valjean navigates the Montmartre sewer by avoiding branches narrower than his passage.
5. The passage slopes downward toward the belt sewer, though Jean Valjean fears it might lead toward the Seine.
6. After hearing traffic overhead, he sees a light behind him, with eight or ten figures moving beyond it.

In this chapter

What to notice

The narrator separates Jean Valjean’s fear from his actual progress. His route is useful even though he cannot recognize it.

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