His high,
hairy cheek-bones, all the more prominent because his cheeks were so
thin, his enormous mouth and hollow jaws, were accentuated by lines of
tawny shadows. This almost terrible countenance seemed illuminated by
two lamps--two eyes, black indeed, but infinitely sweet, calm and
deep, full of thought. If I may say so, those eyes had a humiliated
expression.
Marcas was afraid of looking directly at others, not for himself, but
for those on whom his fascinating gaze might rest; he had a power, and
he shunned using it; he would spare those he met, and he feared
notice. This was not from modesty, but from resignation founded on
reason, which had demonstrated the immediate inutility of his gifts,
the impossibility of entering and living in the sphere for which he
was fitted. Those eyes could at times flash lightnings. From those
lips a voice of thunder must surely proceed; it was a mouth like
Mirabeau's.
"I have seen such a grand fellow in the street," said I to Juste on
coming in.
"It must be our neighbor," replied Juste, who described, in fact, the
man I had just met. "A man who lives like a wood-louse would be sure
to look like that," he added.
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