Chapter 5

           LOOKEDATobjectively,however,therewasnothingatallabouthimtoinstillterror.Ashegrewolder,hewasnotespeciallybig,norstrong-ugly,true,butnotsoextremelyuglythatpeoplewouldnecessarilyhavetakenfrightathim.Hewasnotaggressive,norunderhanded,norfurtive,hedidnotprovokepeople.Hepreferredtokeepoutoftheirway.Andheappearedtopossessnothingevenapproachingafearfulintelligence.Notuntilagethreedidhefinallybegintostandontwofeet;hespokehisfirstwordatfour,itwastheword“fishes,”whichinamomentofsuddenexcitementburstfromhimlikeanechowhenafishmongercominguptheruedeCharonnecriedouthiswaresinthedistance.Thenextwordshepartedwithwere“pelargonium,”“goatstall,”“savoycabbage,”and“Jacqueslorreur,”thislastbeingthenameofagardener’shelperfromtheneighboringconventoftheFillesdelaCroix,whooccasionallydidrough,indeedveryroughworkforMadameGaillard,andwasmostconspicuousforneveroncehavingwashedinallhislife.Hewaslessconcernedwithverbs,adjectives,andexpletives.Exceptfor“yes”and“no”-which,bytheway,heusedforthefirsttimequitelate-heusedonlynouns,andessentiallyonlynounsforconcreteobjects,plants,animals,humanbeings—andonlytheniftheobjects,plants,animals,orhumanbeingswouldsubduehimwithasuddenattackofodor.OnedayashesatonacordofbeechwoodlogssnappingandcrackingintheMarchsun,hefirstutteredtheword“wood.”Hehadseenwoodahundredtimesbefore,hadheardthewordahundredtimesbefore.