He had never yet seen the body of a drowned person presenting such a dreadful aspect.

The corpse, moreover, looked pinched.

It had a thin, poor appearance.

It had shrunk up in its decay, and the heap it formed was quite small.

Anyone might have guessed that it belonged to a clerk at 1,200 francs a year, who was stupid and sickly, and who had been brought up by his mother on infusions.