Rollo in Paris

"Rollo, how do you pronounce L-o-u-v-o-i-s?"

Mr. George did not speak the word, but spelled it letter by letter.

"I don't know," said Rollo.

"Because," said Mr. George, "that is the name of the hotel where I have gone."

"What made you go away from this hotel, uncle George?" asked Jennie. "Didn't you like it?"

"Yes," replied Mr. George, "I liked it very much. But I wanted to change the scene. I had become very familiar with every thing in this part of the city, and with the modes of life in this hotel. So I thought I would change, and go to some other quarter of the city, where I could see Paris, and Paris life, in new aspects."

"I wish I had gone with you," said Rollo. "I wonder if my father would not let me go now. Is there a room for me at your hotel?" he added, looking up eagerly.

"I don't know," said Mr. George. "You can ask when you go there. But to day I am going to see the Garden of Plants; and you may go with me, if you like."

"Well," said Rollo, "I should like to go very much."

"And may I go, too?" said Jennie.

"Yes," said Mr. George, "if your mother is willing."

"Well," said Jennie, joyfully, "I'll go and ask her. Only I wish it was a garden of flowers instead of a garden of plants."

So Jennie went to ask her mother if she might go with her uncle George. She soon returned with her shawl and bonnet on, and then, Mr. George leading the way, they all went together down stairs, and got into a carriage which was waiting for them at the door. The carriage was an open one, with the top turned back, so that they all had a fine opportunity to see the streets and the persons passing as they rode along.

Mr. George directed the coachman to drive first to his hotel; and the carriage, leaving the Place Vendome on the northern side, entered into a perfect maze of narrow streets, through which it advanced toward the heart of the city.

After a time, they came to a long, straight street, which led across the city, through the centre of it, from the river to the Boulevards; and when they were about in the middle of this street, the attention of the children was attracted by a very long and gloomy-looking building, which formed one side of the street for a considerable distance before them. It had no windows toward the street, but only a range of square recesses in the walls, of the form of windows, but without any glass. Jennie asked Mr. George if it was the prison.

"Not exactly," said Mr. George; "and yet there is one room in it where there are more than a hundred men, and they are not permitted to speak a loud word."

"Let's go and see them," said Rollo.

"Very well," said Mr. George; "we will."

So saying, he called upon the coachman to stop opposite to a great archway which opened through the building near the middle of it. Mr. George and the children descended from the carriage and went in under the archway. Looking through, they saw a large court yard, with grass, and trees, and a fountain. They did not, however, go on into this court yard, but turned to the right to a very broad flight of steps which seemed to lead into the building. There was a man in uniform, with a cocked hat upon his head, who stood in the passage way to guard the entrance. He made no objection, however, to the party's going in; and so they all went on up the stairway.

After passing through a series of magnificent passages and vestibules, with very broad staircases, and massive stone balustrades, and other marks of a very ancient and venerable style of architecture, Mr. George led the way through an open door, where the children saw extended before them, as far as the eye could reach, a long range of rooms, opening into one another, and all filled with bookshelves and books. The rooms had windows only on one side; that is, on the side next the courtyard; and the doors which led from one room to the other were all near that side of the room. Thus three sides of each room were almost wholly unbroken, and they were all filled with bookshelves and books. The doors which led from one room to another were all in a range; so that standing at one end, opposite to one of these doors, the spectator could look through the whole range of rooms to the other end. The distance was, moreover, so great, that, though there was a group of several persons standing at the farther end of the range of rooms at the time that Rollo entered, they looked so small and so indistinct that Rollo could not count them to tell how many there were.

"It is a library," said Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George, "it is the National Library of Paris, one of the largest libraries in the world. The books have been accumulating here for ages."

"I don't see what can be the use of such a large library," said Rollo; "nobody can possibly read all the books."

"No," said Mr. George, "they cannot read them all; but they may wish to consult them. There are often particular reasons for seeing some particular book, which was published so long ago that it is not now to be found in common bookstores; in such cases, people come here, and they are pretty sure to find the book in this collection."

There were several parties of ladies and gentlemen to be seen, at different distances, walking along the range of rooms, all of whom seemed to be visitors. Mr. George, himself, walked on, and the children followed him. They passed from one apartment to another, amazed at the number of books. They were all neatly arranged on bookshelves, which extended from the floor to the ceiling, and were protected by a wire netting in front; so that, although the visitors could see the books, they could not take them down.

Mr. George and the children walked on, until, at length, they came to the end of the range of rooms, and there they found another range, running at right angles to the first, back from the street. They turned and walked along through these rooms, too. The floors of all the rooms were very smooth and glossy, being formed of narrow boards, of dark-colored wood, curiously inlaid, and highly polished. Rollo told Jennie that he believed he could slide on such floors as well as he could on ice, if he thought they would let him try. He knew very well, however, that it would not be proper to try. Besides, he observed that there were standing at different distances along the range of rooms certain men, in uniform, who seemed to be officers stationed in the library to guard against any thing like irregularity or disorder on the part of the visitors.

Besides the books, there were a great many other things to interest visitors in the rooms of the library, such as models of buildings, statues, collections of coins, medals, and precious gems, and other similar curiosities. These things were arranged on tables and in cases made expressly for them, and placed in the various rooms. The tables and cases occupy, generally, the central parts of the rooms that they were placed in, so as not to interfere with the use of the sides of the rooms for books. In one place was a collection of some of the oldest books that ever were printed, showing the style of typography that prevailed when the art of printing was first discovered. Mr. George took great interest in looking at these. Rollo and Jennie, however, did not think much of them; and so, while their uncle was examining these ancient specimens, they went to the windows and looked out into the court yard. This court formed a green and beautiful garden, shaded with trees and adorned with fountains and walks. The visitors could see that the buildings of the library extended in long ranges all around it.

At length, at the end of the second range of rooms, the party came to a third range, which was parallel to the first, and which extended along the back side of the court yard. The children could not go into these apartments, for the entrance to them was closed by a glass partition. They could, however, look through the partition and see what there was within. They beheld a very long hall, which was several hundred feet in length, apparently, and quite wide, and it was lined on both sides with bookshelves and books. Long tables were extended up and down this hall, with a great number of gentlemen sitting at them, all engaged in silent study. Some were reading; some were writing; some were looking at books of maps or engravings. There were desks at various places up and down the room, with officers belonging to the library sitting at them, and several messengers, dressed in uniform, going to and fro bringing books. Mr. George explained to the children that there was another entrance to this room, leading from the court yard by a separate staircase, and that any person who wished to read or study might go in there and sit at those tables, only he must be still, and not disturb the studies of the rest. If he wished for any book, he could not go and get it from the shelves, but must write the title of it in full on a slip of paper, and carry it to one of the desks. The officer would take the slip and give it to one of the messengers, who would then go and get the book.

After looking through the glass partition at this great company of readers and students until their curiosity was satisfied, the children turned away, and Mr. George conducted them back through the long ranges of rooms by the same way that they came. When, at length, they got back to the staircase where they had come up, Mr. George, instead of going out where he had come in, descended by another way, through new corridors and passages, until he came to a room where a considerable number of people were sitting at tables, looking at books of engravings. The sides of this room, and of several others opening into it, were filled with bound volumes of prints and engravings, some plain and some colored, but very beautiful. Many of the volumes were very large; but however large they might be, it was very easy to turn over the leaves and see the pictures, for the tables, or rather, desks, in the middle of the room, were so contrived that a book, placed upon them, was held at precisely the right slope to be seen to advantage by persons sitting before it. Mr. George told the children, in a whisper, that any one might ask for any book there was there, and the attendants would place it on one of the tables for him, where he might sit and look at the prints in it as long as he pleased.

"Some day," continued Mr. George, "we will come here and look over some of these books; but to-day we must go to the Garden of Plants."

Mr. George then led the children back to the carriage, and ordered the coachman to drive to his hotel.

The hotel was situated on the site of an open square, which, though by no means so grand and magnificent as the Place Vendome, was still a very pleasant place.

There was a fountain in the centre, with a large basin of water around it. Outside of this basin the square was paved with asphaltum, and was as hard and smooth as a floor. The pavement was shaded with trees, which were planted at equal distances all over it; and under the trees there were seats, where various persons were sitting. There were many children, too, playing about under the trees, some trundling hoop, some jumping rope, and some playing horses.

The carriage stopped at the door of the hotel, and Mr. George took the children up to his room. It was a front room, and it looked out upon the square. The children went to the window, and, while Mr. George was getting ready to go, they amused themselves by looking at the children that were playing on the square.

Among the other children, there was a boy, apparently about eight years of age, who was sitting apart from the rest of the children, on a bench by himself. His complexion was dark, and his hair very black and glossy. He was very neatly and prettily dressed, though in a very peculiar style, his costume being quite different from any thing that Rollo had ever before seen. He had a ball in his hand, which now and then he tossed into the air.

"He has not any body to play with," said Rollo to Jennie. "I have a great mind to go down and play with him while uncle George is getting ready."

"Very well," said Mr. George; "you can go. I shall not be ready for nearly half an hour. We do not wish to get to the Garden of Plants before twelve o'clock."

Rollo hesitated a little about going down, and while he was hesitating the boy rose from his seat and came toward the hotel. He entered under the archway, and presently Rollo heard him coming up the staircase. He then determined to hesitate no longer; so he went out into the passage way to see him.

The boy had reached the top of the staircase when Rollo went out, and was just then coming along the hall. He looked at Rollo with a smile as he came toward him, and this encouraged Rollo to speak to him.

"Can't you find any one to play with you?" said Rollo.

The boy shook his head, but did not speak.

He meant by this that he did not understand what Rollo said; but Rollo thought he meant that he could not find any one to play with him.

"I will play with you," said Rollo; and as he spoke he held out his hands, with the wrists together and the palms open between them, in a manner customary with boys for catching a ball.

The boy understood the sign, though he did not understand the words. He tossed the ball to Rollo, and Rollo caught it. Rollo then tossed it back again. Presently Rollo made signs to the boy to sit down upon the floor at one end of the hall, while he sat down at the other, explaining his wishes also at the same time in words. The boy talked too, in reply to Rollo, accompanying what he said with signs and gestures. They got along thus together in their play very well, each one imagining that he helped to convey his meaning to the other by what he said, while, in fact, neither understood a word that was spoken by the other, and so took notice of nothing but the signs.

Rollo listened attentively once or twice to short replies that his new friend made to him, in order to see if he could not distinguish some words in it that he could understand; but he could not; and he finally concluded that it must be some other language than French that the boy was speaking. He was sorry for this; for he could understand short sentences in French pretty well, and could speak short sentences himself in reply. When, however, he tried to speak to the boy in French, he observed that he did not appear to understand him any better than when he spoke in English. This confirmed him in the opinion that the boy must belong to some other nation.

After playing together for some time with the ball, the two boys began to feel quite acquainted with each other. Rollo wished very much to find out his new companion's name; so he asked him, in English,—

"What is your name?"

The boy smiled, and throwing the ball across again to Rollo as he spoke, said something in reply; but it was a great deal too much to be his name. What he said was, when interpreted into English, "My father bought this ball for me, and gave two francs for it."

Then Rollo thought he would try French; so he translated his question, and asked it in French.

"And I am going to carry it with me to Switzerland and Italy," said the boy, speaking still in the unknown tongue.

"That can't be your name, either," said Rollo, "I am very sure."

Then, after a moment's pause, he added, in an eager voice and manner, as if a new idea had suddenly struck him,—

"We are going to the Garden of Plants—uncle George, and Jennie, and I; wouldn't you like to go, too?"

The boy smiled, and held out his hands for Rollo to roll the ball to him, saying something at the same time which to Rollo seemed totally unmeaning.

"He does not understand me, I suppose; but I know how I can explain it to him."

So he rose from the floor, and, by means of a great deal of earnest gesticulation and beckoning, he induced the boy to get up too, and follow him. Rollo led the way into his uncle's chamber. The boy seemed pleased, though a little timid, in going in.

"Uncle George," said Rollo, "here is a boy that cannot talk. Are you willing that I should invite him to go with us to the Garden of Plants?"

"Yes," said Mr. George; "though I don't see how you are going to do it."

Rollo led the boy to the window, and pointed to the carriage, which stood down before the door below. Then he opened a map of Paris which lay upon the table, and found the Garden of Plants laid down upon it, and showed it to the boy. Then he pointed to his uncle George, to Jennie, and to himself, and then to the carriage. Then he made a motion with his hand to denote going. By these gesticulations he conveyed the idea quite distinctly to his new acquaintance that they were all going to the Garden of Plants. He then finally pointed to the boy himself, and also to the carriage, and looked at him with an inquiring look, which he meant as an invitation to the boy to accompany them. The boy paid close attention to all these signs; and when Rollo had finished, instead of either nodding or shaking his head, in token of his accepting or declining the invitation, as Rollo expected he would have done, he took up the map, and, making certain mysterious gestures, which Rollo could not comprehend, he walked off rapidly out of the room.

Rollo looked at his uncle George with an expression of great astonishment on his countenance.

"What does that mean?" said he.

"Perhaps he has gone to ask his father or his mother," suggested Mr. George.

"He has," exclaimed Rollo, "he has; that's it, I'm sure."

So Rollo went out immediately into the hall to wait till the boy came back.

In a few minutes a door opened, which led into a suite of apartments in the rear of the hotel, and the boy, with the map in his hand, came into the hall, nodding his head, and looking very much pleased; talking all the time, moreover, in a very voluble but perfectly unintelligible manner. A moment after he came the door opened again, and a very respectably dressed man, of middle age, came into the hall. The boy pointed to Rollo, and said something to this man.

"Are you going to the Garden of Plants?" said the man to Rollo, speaking in English, though with a very decidedly foreign accent.

"Yes, sir," said Rollo.

"And did you invite Carlos to go with you?"

"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "only I did not know that his name was Carlos. He told me something very different from that. What language is it that he talks? Is it French?"

"No," replied the man, "it is Spanish. He is a Spanish boy. He cannot understand a word of French or English. But he may go with you to the Garden of Plants."

"Are you his father, sir?" asked Rollo.

"No," replied the man, "I am his father's courier."5

So saying, the man passed on, leaving Rollo and Carlos together.

"Come, Carlos," said Rollo, "let us go into uncle George's room, and see if he is not ready to go."

Rollo beckoned as he spoke, and Carlos, understanding his action, though not his words, immediately followed him. In fact, during all his subsequent intercourse with Carlos, Rollo continued to talk to him just as if he could understand, and Carlos talked also in reply.

It is true, that, if Rollo had been asked whether he supposed that Carlos understood what he said, he would have answered no; and yet he continually forgot to act upon this belief, but talked on, under the influence of a sort of instinctive feeling that good plain English, such as he took care to speak, could not fail to convey ideas to any boy that heard it. Under the influence of a similar feeling, Carlos talked Spanish to Rollo, each imagining that the other understood him, at least in some degree, while, in fact, neither understood any thing but the signs and gestures which accompanied the language.

Just as they were about to set out, one of Mr. George's friends called to see him; and when he found that the party were going to the Garden of Plants, he wished to go too. There was scarcely room for so many in the carriage, and so Rollo proposed that he and Carlos should go in an omnibus.

"There is an omnibus," said he, "that goes there through the Boulevards, close by here; and Carlos and I will go in that, and then we can find you in the garden."

"Very well," said Mr. George.

"Come, Carlos, come with me," said Rollo; "we are going to find an omnibus."

Carlos perceived that Rollo was proposing that they should go somewhere together, but he did not know where, or for what; nor did he care. He was ready to assent to any thing. So he and Rollo, leaving the rest of the party in the act of getting into the carriage, walked along up the street which led to the Boulevards.