The Miserable World

Chapter 67 Part One (66)
It seems，in fact，as though there existed in certain men a veritable bestial instinct，though pure and upright，like all instincts，which creates antipathies and sympathies，which fatally separates one nature from another nature，which does not hesitate，which feels no disquiet，which does not hold its peace，and which never belies itself，clear in its obscurity，infallible，imperious，intractable，stubborn to all counsels of the intelligence and to all the dissolvents of reason，and which，in whatever manner destinies are arranged，secretly warns the man-dog of the presence of the man-cat，and the man-fox of the presence of the man-lion.
It frequently happened that when M.Madeleine was passing along a street，calm，affectionate，surrounded by the blessings of all，a man of lofty stature，clad in an iron-gray frock-coat，armed with a heavy cane，and wearing a battered hat，turned round abruptly behind him，and followed him with his eyes until he disappeared，with folded arms and a slow shake of the head，and his upper lip raised in company with his lower to his nose，a sort of significant grimace which might be translated by：

'What is that man，after all？I certainly have seen him somewhere.
In any case，I am not his dupe.'
This person，grave with a gravity which was almost menacing，was one of those men who，even when only seen by a rapid glimpse，arrest the spectator's attention.
His name was Javert，and he belonged to the police.
At M.sur M.he exercised the unpleasant but useful functions of an inspector.
He had not seen Madeleine's beginnings.
Javert owed the post which he occupied to the protection of M.Chabouillet，the secretary of the Minister of State，Comte Angeles，then prefect of police at Paris.
When Javert arrived at M.sur M.the fortune of the great manufacturer was already made，and Father Madeleine had become Monsieur Madeleine.
Certain police officers have a peculiar physiognomy，which is complicated with an air of baseness mingled with an air of authority.Javert possessed this physiognomy minus the baseness.
It is our conviction that if souls were visible to the eyes，we should be able to see distinctly that strange thing that each one individual of the human race corresponds to some one of the species of the animal creation；and we could easily recognize this truth，hardly perceived by the thinker，that from the oyster to the eagle，from the pig to the tiger，all animals exist in man，and that each one of them is in a man.
Sometimes even several of them at a time.
Animals are nothing else than the figures of our virtues and our vices，straying before our eyes，the visible phantoms of our souls.God shows them to us in order to induce us to reflect.
Only since animals are mere shadows，God has not made them capable of education in the full sense of the word；what is the use？

On the contrary，our souls being realities and having a goal which is appropriate to them，God has bestowed on them intelligence；that is to say，the possibility of education.
Social education，when well done，can always draw from a soul，of whatever sort it may be，the utility which it contains.
This，be it said，is of course from the restricted point of view of the terrestrial life which is apparent，and without prejudging the profound question of the anterior or ulterior personality of the beings which are not man.
The visible_I_in nowise authorizes the thinker to deny the latent_I_.
Having made this reservation，let us pass on.
Now，if the reader will admit，for a moment，with us，that in every man there is one of the animal species of creation，it will be easy for us to say what there was in Police Officer Javert.
The peasants of Asturias are convinced that in every litter of wolves there is one dog，which is killed by the mother because，otherwise，as he grew up，he would devour the other little ones.
Give to this dog-son of a wolf a human face，and the result will be Javert.
Javert had been born in prison，of a fortune-teller，whose husband was in the galleys.
As he grew up，he thought that he was outside the pale of society，and he despaired of ever re-entering it.He observed that society unpardoningly excludes two classes of men，——those who attack it and those who guard it；he had no choice except between these two classes；at the same time，he was conscious of an indescribable foundation of rigidity，regularity，and probity，complicated with an inexpressible hatred for the race of bohemians whence he was sprung.
He entered the police；he succeeded there.At forty years of age he was an inspector.
During his youth he had been employed in the convict establishments of the South.
Before proceeding further，let us come to an understanding as to the words，'human face，'which we have just applied to Javert.
The human face of Javert consisted of a flat nose，with two deep nostrils，towards which enormous whiskers ascended on his cheeks.One felt ill at ease when he saw these two forests and these two caverns for the first time.
When Javert laughed，——and his laugh was rare and terrible，——his thin lips parted and revealed to view not only his teeth，but his gums，and around his nose there formed a flattened and savage fold，as on the muzzle of a wild beast.Javert，serious，was a watchdog；when he laughed，he was a tiger.As for the rest，he had very little skull and a great deal of jaw；his hair concealed his forehead and fell over his eyebrows；between his eyes there was a permanent，central frown，like an imprint of wrath；his gaze was obscure；his mouth pursed up and terrible；his air that of ferocious command.
This man was composed of two very simple and two very good sentiments，comparatively；but he rendered them almost bad，by dint of exaggerating them，——respect for authority，hatred of rebellion；and in his eyes，murder，robbery，all crimes，are only forms of rebellion.
He enveloped in a blind and profound faith every one who had a function in the state，from the prime minister to the rural policeman.
(End of this chapter)