2170 Les Miserables
CHAPTER V
IN THE CASE OF SAND
AS IN THAT OF WOMAN,
THERE IS A FINENESS
WHICH IS TREACHEROUS
He felt that he was entering the water, and that he no lon-
ger had a pavement under his feet, but only mud.
It sometimes happens, that on certain shores of Bretagne
or Scotland a man, either a traveller or a fisherman, while
walking at low tide on the beach far from shore, suddenly
notices that for several minutes past, he has been walking
with some difficulty. The beach under foot is like pitch; his
soles stick fast to it; it is no longer sand, it is bird-lime. The
strand is perfectly dry, but at every step that he takes, as
soon as the foot is raised, the print is filled with water. The
eye, however, has perceived no change; the immense beach
is smooth and tranquil, all the sand has the same aspect,
nothing distinguishes the soil that is solid from that which
is not solid; the joyous little cloud of sand-lice continues to