The Beast Within - Emile Zola [232]
3 the police were so busy protecting politicians that they didn’t have time to arrest murderers: ‘The elections of May — June 1869 unleashed pent-up political passions ... In Paris the electoral campaign was accompanied by an upsurge in violence and threats to public order. Attendance at electoral meetings averaged 20,000 nightly, and rioting was commonplace’ (McMillan, Napoleon III, p. 126).
4 They were walking past the entrance to a little park: The creation of parks and green space was an important part of Haussmann’s rebuilding of Paris, and one which the Emperor himself took a particular interest in. ‘In 1848 Paris had only 19 hectares of parks; by 1870 the total was 1,800’ (Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris, Macmillan, 2002, p. 270).
5 the pain de gruau was exquisite, and to finish she treated herself to a plate of beignets soufflés: ‘Pain de gruau’ was a speciality white bread made from finely milled flour of wheat. ‘Beignets soufflés’ might be described as small, light-textured doughnuts. They are served hot with confectioner’s sugar and various flavourings. This menu is an indication that French culinary arts (and the culinary language to match) were well advanced in 1869.
6 It was a broad-chested, long-limbed, powerful machine: The analogy between steam locomotives and horses recurs throughout the novel. Zola seeks to ‘animate’ descriptions of locomotive technology by reference to something less technical and still perhaps, even in 1890, more familiar to his readers. The horses referred to are nearly always female (‘fillies’ or ‘mares’).
7 sand boxes: In difficult conditions, sand would be applied to the rails ahead of the driving wheels in order to improve adhesion, especially when a locomotive was moving a heavy train from stationary.
8 warmly dressed in woollen trousers and smock: The design of early steam locomotives took little account of the comfort or safety of the driving crew. The driver’s footplate was usually protected by nothing more than a front weather-shield; the overhead roof and enclosed cab were a later luxury. Jacques and Pecqueux are thus exposed to the full force of the elements and also to sparks and cinders thrown out of the locomotive’s chimney; hence the need for strong protective clothing, made out of heavy wool (or pilot cloth), and goggles.
9 reversing wheel: A hand-operated wheel used by the driver not only to reverse a locomotive but, as here, to control the admission of steam to the cylinders when the locomotive was moving forward. Once sufficient forward momentum was achieved, less tractive effort was needed, and the input of steam could be progressively reduced, a procedure referred to as ‘cut-off’. This helped to economize on fuel consumption and to reduce wear and tear to the cylinders and valve gear.
10 injector: A mechanism invented in 1859 by the French engineer Henry Giffard, which enabled the water in the boiler to be replenished with the aid of steam pressure from the boiler itself. There was a critical point at which the mechanism functioned successfully; hence Jacques’s attention to the pressure gauge.
CHAPTER VI
1 She had put five or six pots of wallflowers and verbena in the valley of the station roof: Séverine’s roof garden is a striking example of the vein of horticultural imagery that runs through the novel. Zola’s wife had an extensive knowledge of horticulture; her mother and sister-in-law were both florists.
2 some strange city, lined with big, square palaces built of black marble: In a novel which lays emphasis on realistic description, this is a striking example of an ‘unreal’, almost futuristic representation of place.
3 In spite of everything, she had remained virgin: This is the third time in this chapter that Zola has referred to Séverine in these terms, insistently drawing the reader’s attention to Séverine’s purity and innocence