.

LOVE BY PROXY.
Jealousy is a maleficent deity of the harpy tribe; she embitters everything she touches.
Ever since the evening that Julien had witnessed the crossing of the brook by Reine and Claudet, a secret poison had run through his veins, and embittered every moment of his life.

Neither the glowing sun of June, nor the glorious development of the woods had any charm for him.
In vain did the fields display their golden treasures of ripening corn; in vain did the pale barley and the silvery oats wave their luxuriant growth against the dark background of the woods; all these fairylike effects of summer suggested only prosaic and misanthropic reflections in Julien's mind.

He thought of the tricks, the envy and hatred that the possession of these little squares of ground brought forth among their rapacious owners.

The prolific exuberance of forest vegetation was an exemplification of the fierce and destructive activity of the blind forces of Nature.