"he remains up there in his iron cage some days. the village looks at him by stealth, for it is afraid. but it always looks up, from a distance, at the prison on the crag; and in the evening, when the work of the day is achieved and it assembles to gossip at the fountain, all faces are turned towards the prison. formerly, they were turned towards the posting-house; now, they are turned towards the prison. they whisper at the fountain, that although condemned to death he will not be executed; they say that petitions have been presented in paris, showing that he was enraged and made mad by the death of his child; they say that a petition has been presented to the king himself. what do i know?