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Flaubert, Gustave, 1821-1880

"Over Strand and Field"

There is this resemblance between these two sons of
Saint-Malo, Lamennais and Broussais: they were always equally extreme in
their systems and employed their latter years in fighting what they had
upheld in the earlier part of their life.
In the city itself are little tortuous streets edged with high houses
and dirty fishmongers' shops. There are no carriages or luxuries of any
description; everything is as black and reeking as the hold of a ship. A
sort of musty smell, reminiscent of Newfoundland, salt meat, and long
sea voyages pervades the air.
"The watch and the round are made every night with big English dogs,
which are let loose outside of the city by the man who is in charge of
them, and it is better not to be in their vicinity at that time. But
when morning comes, they are led back to a place in the city where they
shed all their ferocity which, at night, is so great."[6]
Barring the disappearance of this four-legged police which at one time
devoured M. du Mollet, the existence of which is confirmed by a
contemporaneous text, the exterior of things has changed but little, no
doubt, and even the civilized people living in Saint-Malo admit that it
is very much behind the times.


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