Old age goes towards the end.
They do not lose sight of each other, but there is no longer a close connection.
Young people feel the cooling off of life; old people, that of the tomb.
Let us not blame these poor children.
BOOK NINTH.--SUPREME SHADOW, SUPREME DAWN
CHAPTER II
LAST FLICKERINGS OF A LAMP WITHOUT OIL
One day, Jean Valjean descended his staircase, took three steps in the street, seated himself on a post, on that same stone post where Gavroche had found him meditating on the night between the 5th and the 6th of June; he remained there a few moments, then went up stairs again.
This was the last oscillation of the pendulum.
On the following day he did not leave his apartment.
On the day after that, he did not leave his bed.
His portress, who prepared his scanty repasts, a few cabbages or potatoes with bacon, glanced at the brown earthenware plate and exclaimed:
"But you ate nothing yesterday, poor, dear man!"
"Certainly I did," replied Jean Valjean.
"The plate is quite full."
"Look at the water jug.
It is empty."
"That proves that you have drunk; it does not prove that you have eaten."
"Well," said Jean Valjean, "what if I felt hungry only for water?"
"That is called thirst, and, when one does not eat at the same time, it is called fever."
"I will eat to-morrow."