BOOK ONE

CHAPTER ONE

A Small Town

The small town of Verrières might be the prettiest in the French province of Franche-Comté. There are white houses on the side of the hill and the river Doubs flows through the town walls.

When you first come to town, you hear an extremely noisy machine with many hammers. This machine makes many nails every minute. If you ask a local person, they will say, "Ah! That belongs to the mayor."

The mayor always looks like he is on important business, but he seems to have no imagination at all. This man appears to only think about money. This is the mayor, Mr de Rênal.

The mayor owns a beautiful house up the street. Next to the house is a nice garden with nice walls. To have nice walls is a way to show your neighbors you should be respected, and Mr de Rênal got some of his walls by buying land. One piece of land belonged to old Sorel. This business was difficult, because Sorel was a tough peasant.

Now Sorel is called Mr Sorel, because this sale made him very rich. Many people in Verrières didn't like this deal, and Public Opinion is very important in a small town like Verrières. This makes life very hard; Public Opinion is almost like despotism in these small towns.

(end of section)