hqstl4

HOW QUASIMODO SAW THE LIGHT
by Sonja

Chapter 4
After Yvette's parents had trespassed in the Court of Miracles, Clopin had started to feel restless. At first, he couldn't understand what was the matter with him, but by and by he realized that the change in his mind was caused by Yvette. Of course, he had liked her from the moment they had met for the first time; he had never before continually used a nickname for anyone, but Yvette was almost always his "girlie." He admired the young woman especially because she was willing to learn the Gypsy way of life, and in his opinion, it was really touching that she was in love with Quasimodo, who had been so lonely and mistreated. For these reasons he was rather
ashamed of his new thoughts. Namely, he had suddenly understood that Yvette was not only "girlie" but an attractive young lady, and he himself was a man. Besides, he had already for many years been interested in much younger women than he was - of course, they all had belonged to the majority, because Gypsy lovers were expected to be about the same age. Clopin was irresolute and ashamed because Yvette wanted to behave like the Gypsies. Sometimes he even thought about what it would be like to embrace Yvette...but then he felt ashamed again. He remembered to have told Yvette about Frollo's passion for Esmeralda...It was impossible to think that he, Clopin, could behave like his worst enemy!
Quasimodo didn't doubt anything, for Clopin was as friendly to him as always. Yvette, instead, noticed the Gypsy leader to have changed somehow; every time she approached him, he looked at her in a way she couldn't explain, but when she was going to ask what he was thinking about, he flushed and turned away.

One afternoon Quasimodo returned to the Court after the hour of prayer and told his sweetheart: "The archdeacon wants to meet us and your parents." Yvette was delighted, for this meant that her parents had finally agreed to her marriage to Quasimodo. True, she was a little restless because of Clopin, but now it wasn't the right moment to talk about that.
So, the lovers left their hideout and returned to Yvette's home. The archdeacon and the bourgeois couple were already waiting for them. The priest started the discussion:
"A few weeks ago, this young woman came to me to ask for advice. The same day I met this young man. I found out that they love each other, and I promised to help them. It seems, however, that they are no longer in trouble."
This was a hard moment for Yvette's parents. They could never forget that their daughter's persistence had led to a man's death. However, they were not going to reveal what they had seen, because they knew Yvette would never leave the Gypsies or abandon her bellringer. Finally her father noted:
"At first we were very disappointed, because this marriage will lower our daughter's status in society."
"I see," replied the archdeacon, "and I also know many young people get married without thinking at all about what a lifetime-lasting relationship means. In any case, in my opinion it's not good for anyone to get married reluctantly. Besides, I have known the bellringer since he was a child, and now that I have discussed with him I have become conviced that he will be a good husband to your daughter."
Yvette was so happy that she unhesitatingly squeezed Quasimodo. Her mother noted, smiling a little: "Young man, you are welcome to our family - although it's true that we are worried about Yvette's uture."
"How soon have you planned to get married?" asked the archdeacon.
"We have talked about it only very little," replied Quasimodo, "but it's important for us that our friends, the vagabonds, may participate in our wedding."

That evening the lover returned to the Court of Miracles and told the glad news. The Gypsies were enthusiastic when Yvette assured that they all would be invited to the wedding.
However, Esmeralda remarked that many of the townspeople would most likely disapprove their presence.
Yvette's eyes began to gleam. "I know a solution!" she exclaimed. "We can choose a VERY SPECIAL day! Then no one will disdain you!" She glanced at Quasi with a dazzling smile. He
squeezed her, exclaiming: "You are incredible!"
Clopin himself put his arm round Yvette's shoulders and said enthusiastically: "What an excellent idea, Yvette! Our Topsy Turvy Day really is the most important day in Quasi's life!"
Suddenly the bellringer remembered something. "But what if the crowd wants me to be the King again? And some of them could mock me, too!"
"Let them only try, so I will give them something to think about!" exclaimed Yvette determinedly. Clopin, in his turn, promised: "I'll arrange so that the King of Fools will be crowned before the actual climax of this year's Feast."
Deep in his mind he felt that the solution between Yvette and him was near. Calm as he seemed to be, he still was dreaming of something he knew to be impossible. But he also knew he wasn't in love, and that was why he felt especially ashamed.

From that day on, Quasi and Yvette started to spend time in the city again. Now the bellringer even dared visit Yvette's home, but he was very shy whenever meeting some bourgeois people there. Especially young bourgeois women had strong prejudices towards him, firstly because of his vagabond origin; secondly because they had often heard that he was ugly. In fact, some of the girls were even scared of him.
"Yvette, I'm sorry to say this, but I don't get along well in your friends' company," he admitted one day when one of the young ladies had started to scream when seeing him. "Of course it wasn't my fault that she was frightened, but I feel much more comfortable among the Gypsies who mostly like me. In any case, it's clear that I don't want to invite that kind of stupid people to visit us."
"Nor have I ever seen anyone behave in such a foolish way!" Yvette was even more resented than Quasi. "There really is nothing wrong with your face!"
One day the lovers went to the archdeacon to ask him if they could have their wedding on Topsy Turvy Day. At first, the priest resisted the plan because usually it wasn't allowed to get married during Christmas time - namely, in those days, couples were expected to follow very strict instructions in their marital life.
"Please, Your Eminence," asked Yvette, "it's the only day in the year when our vagabond friends are equal to the other townspeople."
"My child, I appreciate your warm-heartedness," the archdeacon noted, "but have you thought that on that day nothing is taken seriously? Maybe you wouldn't be regarded as a lawfully married couple." He smiled a little.
Quasimodo laughed. "Yes, that's true, Your Eminence. However, the vagabonds already know about our plan, and it's very delightful for them."
Finally the archdeacon agreed, for he understood, like Clopin a few days before, that
Topsy Turvy Day had already been a meaningful turn in the bellringer's life.

Now both Yvette's parents and the vagabonds of the Court of Miracles started to make preparations for the great day. The lovers visited their friends every day, and Yvette noticed that Clopin had become even more restless than before. Only a few days before the festival they had stayed in the Court for the night again, and when they were alone in their dwelling, Yvette said to her beloved:
"Quasi, I think that Clopin has some intentions towards me... He looks at me so passionately, and you surely have noticed that he doesn't talk to you any longer! He is my friend, and I wouldn't like to compare him with Frollo, but I can't help remembering what Esmeralda has told me about that man!"
Quasimodo took her in his arms. "You are going to marry me, and everyone here knows it. Besides, you have wanted to learn the Gypsy customs all the time. Above all, I know you haven't given him any reason for aspiring after you! I'm sure he can have other women if he wants. I promise I will make sure that nothing happens to you."
"To be honest, I would like to talk to him to find out what intentions he has and why," Yvette admitted.
"No, darling, I won't let you go anywhere alone with him," assured the bellringer. "I won't let anyone treat you like HE treated Esmeralda!"
Right then someone knocked on the door. Quasimodo opened it and greeted the Gypsy girl in surprise. Esmeralda proposed that Yvette would come to her for the night, because Phoebus couldn't come, and she knew they would have much to talk about.
However, Quasi was restless about his sweetheart. That was why he proposed in turn that Esmeralda would stay with them. The dancer was embarrassed. "Don't be silly, Esme, Quasi is your friend," encouraged Yvette. Despite of that, the Gypsy girl preferred to leave with her. Yvette whispered to the bellringer: "She doesn't know anything!"
After talking for a while, the two friends fell asleep in Esmeralda's bed, but a few hours later Yvette woke up. She was agitated for her marriage being so near and for thinking about the change in Clopin's behavior.
She also missed Quasimodo, who was alone at the moment. She hesitated for a while; of course it was dangerous to walk in the Court of Miracles in the middle of the night, but she was sure that all the people were sleeping in their dwellings. Finally she dressed herself and stepped out as quietly as possible.
When approaching her own dwelling she suddenly saw a tall man in front of her. She stopped and looked hard at him. The light was so weak that she wasn't able to see the man's face, but she had a presentiment of who he could be.
"Yvette!" the man whispered. The girl was startled; indeed, it was Clopin!
"How can you be awake in the middle of the night?" she asked restlessly.
The Gypsy man put his hand on her shoulder. "Hush! Girlie, there is something I must tell you. I know that this is shameful, but...Follow me, so no one will know anything!" He started to walk toward his caravan, but Yvette said determinedly: "No, I won't go anywhere with you at this time of the night! Tell me here what you have to say!"
Clopin turned to her and drew her against himself with a hard detach. "Yvette, I have a desire for you!" he confessed, "I would like to caress you and..."
Yvette quiverred. "I thought as much! But why, for Heaven's sake? I have not given you any reason for that!"
Clopin was more embarrassed than ever, but he knew his feelings were real. His shame made him sound inconsiderate. "Yvette, you are a woman and I am a man, and I am always interested in much younger women than myself," he answered, embracing the girl passionately.
Yvette tried to keep calm. "Clopin, I am not for you, and you know it. I will be married in a week, and my husband-to-be is a good friend of yours. Besides, your people would never allow an affair between people who have the age difference of sixteen years!"
Clopin knew the girl was right. "That's why I don't want anyone to hear about this," he remarked and embraced Yvette another time. Then he started to caress her, but Yvette exclaimed:
"Let me go! Don't you understand that I love Quasi and him only?"
Clopin tried to control himself. "I have been waiting for a chance for this for some time already, and I'm not asking your opinion."
Yvette turned pale. It took long until she was able to speak.
"Clopin, it's despicable to aspire after the wife of another man and to make advances to her against her will! Don't you remember that you expressly have taught me the Gypsy behavior? Now you are almost like..."
Before she had time to say the forbidden name, Quasimodo approached them in the darkness.
He had also woken up at an unusual time, and he had had a foreboding that everything was not all right with his sweetheart. One may guess how shocked he was to see Yvette in Clopin's arms!
"CLOPIN! What do you think you are doing?" he exclaimed, rushing to those two and putting his arms round his sweetheart. "Yvette, tell me everything!"
Ashamed as Yvette was, she repeated the whole discussion. But in the end she burst into tears and exclaimed: "Why did he just do this? I have so liked him!"
When Clopin saw Yvette cry he repented of his behavior and said gently: "Dear friend, I knew all the time that this was wrong, but I simply had to tell you about my new feelings, regrettable as they are. Can you forgive me?"
Quasimodo snapped: "Don't you have enough women here?"
"I thought that Yvette was the most attractive of them all," Clopin confessed, "but I wasn't going to take her away from you."
"Oh, yes, she is, but she is the only one I have," replied the bellringer rather coldly.
Yvette was abated that Clopin, unlike Frollo, had admitted to have done wrong. She said seriously: "I forgive you, but you must promise to forget totally these illicit wishes, and to
prove that, you have to tell everyone that we will get married during the Feast, although it
is against your customs."
Clopin agreed. "Please, believe me," added he, "I am really ashamed of having behaved in such an unsuitable way."
Fortunately, Yvette was reasonable enough to not be offended by having been caressed a little. It was clear that if the vagabond community found out what had happened between her and Clopin, that would be a great shame for them both. Quasimodo knew in turn that if something more serious had happened, he would have had the right to demand satisfaction, but he knew Yvette was faithful to him, and from that night on, he was only bound to take better care of her safety.

At last, the great day arrived. The Parisians, who had grouped themselves in the streets since the early morning, were amazed to see the vagabonds of the Court of Miracles wander toward Notre Dame, carrying the small, blonde woman who had often been seen in the bellringer's company. And how changed she was now! She was wearing a heavy, pale blue dress that was ornamented by embroided images of bells - namely, Phoebus had brought Yvette some embroidery models usually used by noblegirls - and she had curled her long hair. The vagabonds sang and cheered and made fun of the "honourable" citizens. In front of the Cathedral Yvette met her parents and the archdeacon, who also seemed to be having great fun, although the Gypsies laughed at him. Many of them were wearing masks that made them completely unrecognizable even for Yvette.
Quasimodo, in his turn, had spent the whole night in the tower ringing the bells more enthusiastically than ever. Now Phoebus fetched him, and when the lovers met each other, the friends grouped themselves in a big circle round them.
"Little Quasimodo!" Yvette exclaimed as she rushed to embrace her beloved and pressed her cheek against his mark of identification.Quasi laughed, but he knew he wouldn't have let her do that if it had been another day. Now Esmeralda urged the lovers to stay aside until Clopin would call for them, and only then could the festival really begin.
The festivities made Yvette's parents very embarrassed, for they had never even imagined to be mixed in that kind of chaos. The beggars mocked the holders of power of the city, and some Gypsy girls enticed the soldiers to dance with them - that was something they never had dared do when Frollo had been alive.
A few vagabond youngsters even took some of their clothes off, and the aged Gypsies only laughed at them.
After Esmeralda's dancing performance, Clopin jumped on the stage and announced in a loud voice: "My friends! This year we have one very special event in our Feast, but before that it's time for the coronation!"
The crowd became extremely curious. To avoid questions, Clopin gave a signal to those who were wearing masks, and in a moment, the stage was full of men and women who wanted to compete for the crowd's favor.
Suddenly, Quasimodo whispered to his bride: "Look, that one is grinning exactly like Frollo!" It was true: one of the Gypsy men had masked himself to look just like his people's persecutor, and he was even wearing the black clothes that Clopin sometimes wore during the "lawsuits" of the Court of Miracles.
Yvette shouted enthusiastically: "That man will definitely be the King!" Now the Gypsies also noticed their comrade's disguise and made a great noise. But suddenly someone from the crowd shouted: "Where is the bellringer? We want to see Quasimodo!"
The whole crowd started to shout Quasi's name. Yvette motioned him to keep quiet, and Clopin announced: "My friends, this day is extraordinary for Quasimodo expressly, and that's
why he can't participate in the coronation this time."
It was clear that among the competitors there were also many others wearing very ugly masks,
but it started to seem obvious that "Frollo" would be crowned King of Fools. One disabled little girl shouted to him: "Hey, will you show us how your model behaved?" She knew that people like her had never dared talk to the real Frollo.
The Gypsy man grinned wickedly at a footless woman who sat near him, and everybody cheered. Then he pointed at Esmeralda and ordered: "Bring her to me!" The Gypsies obeyed him, laughing, and he started to paw her. The dancer made her best to keep serious, and Yvette whispered to Quasimodo: "Do you think that feels unpleasant to her?"
"Most likely not," answered the young man, "but I can't help thinking about how furious my guardian would be if he knew about this funmaking!"
Yvette's eyes began to glean. "Will you show the people how HE treated you?" she whispered enthusiastically. Quasimodo hesitated, but Yvette grasped his hand and drew him to the circle so that everyone could see them both.
"QUASIMODO!" exclaimed the Gypsy disguised as Frollo, and the whole crowd stirred. Clopin was the first to recover from his amazement, and he asked, laughing: "Didn't I urge you to hide as yet?"
"Don't you interfere with this!" grimaced Yvette as she pulled the bellringer in front of the imitative Frollo. Everybody except Yvette was surprised when the Gypsy man put his other hand on Quasi's back and lifted his face up with the other. In fact, Quasimodo didn't like this fun at all, but because it was Topsy Turvy Day he put his soul into the jest and lowered his head trying to look ashamed.
The Gypsy man said to him, so that everyone could hear it: "Dear boy, how could you come here so that people see your deformity?" The crowd stirred again. Esmeralda laughed and shouted: "There, we have a real fool!" Everybody burst into laughter, for those words made the people remember how the Gypsy girl had once defied the real Frollo. The whole crowd was unanimous that the most typical Frollolike behaviour had confirmed his imitator's victory. Clopin declared his comrade the winner of the competition, and everybody hailed the new King of Fools. Even Yvette admitted: "Well played!" But then she took the bellringer aside and whispered: "It was horrible!"
Now it was time for the climax of the Feast. The King of Fools stepped aside, and Clopin asked a question: "How many of you remember what happened exactly a year ago? It was something quite extraordinary!"
A little girl shouted the reply: "Quasimodo was seen in the city for the very first time!"
"That's right, little one," smiled Clopin. "But today it's still another great day for him, for he has found...LOVE!"
The crowd stirred, and Quasimodo climbed on the stage where the archdeacon already stood. Yvette, in turn, followed her beloved together with her father. As soon as she was near enough, she plunged into the bellringer's arms.
"My Quasi, my bellringer!" she babbled, and all the Gypsies burst into laughter.
When the priest started the wedding ritual, the whole crowd became completely quiet. Anything like this had never before happened on Topsy Turvy Day; everybody understood that this had nothing to do with jesting. It was hard for many to realize how a bourgeois woman like Yvette could really marry Quasimodo, who, in any case, was the hunchback of Notre Dame. On the other hand, now he looked so happy that not even the most prejudiced townspeople could claim him to be ugly, and it was touching to see how tenderly he treated his sweetheart.
During the whole ritual, Quasimodo's dear bells were ringing as if they would have liked to congratulate their friend. Quasimodo had particularly asked one young priest to ring them for the couple's happiness.
When it was time for the archdeacon to bless the marriage, Phoebus and Esmeralda climbed on the stage in turn. In a solemn way, they united the lovers' hands, and Yvette whispered, giving Quasi a dazzling smile: "Do you remember?"
At the moment when the ritual was over, the vagabonds milled around the young couple. Yvette squeezed Esmeralda, exclaiming: "You knew what was to come!" Clopin congratulated the newly-weds so tactfully and politely that they almost forgot his unsuitable behaviour.
The celebrants sang, danced and played question games. At first, the King of Fools was the one who asked questions to guess the word that had been chosen for him.
"Is it familiar to me?" he asked.
"Yes, it is," answered Esmeralda.
"Does it have some particular quality?" the King asked, smiling mischievously.
"Yes...it has," Yvette replied, hesitantly.
"Can it talk?" the Gypsy man asked in as Frollolike a voice as he could, looking straight at Quasimodo, who grimaced in turn and replied: "Yes, it can!"
"Do people fear him?" the King asked, thinking about his model.
"Mostly not," smiled Yvette, trying to avoid looking at the bellringer.
"Is it someone who shouldn't be seen?" grimaced the imitative Frollo.
"You have known someone who thought so," answered Clopin.
"Then it must be Quasimodo!" exclaimed the King of Fools.
"Exactly!" replied Yvette, and the whole crowd burst into laughter.
Next, it was the bellringer's turn to ask questions.
"Do I like it?" was his first question.
"Yes, you do," answered Esmeralda.
"Does it like me?" asked Quasi.
"I suppose it would, if it had feelings," answered Yvette.
"Hmmm...Does it ring?" the young man asked.
"No, it doesn't," answered Phoebus.
"Is it made of stone?" was the next question.
"Oh, yes, it is," grimaced the King of Fools.
"Have I talked to it?" It was a brave question.
"No, not expressly to it," Yvette replied.
"Well...Can I be inside it?"
"Yes, you can!" exclaimed the King of Fools significantly.
"Is it the bell tower?"
"Yes, exactly!" And the crowd laughed again.

Go to Chapter 5

Back to Fanfic

Back to Index