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Jacques Lantier: I can't go on. I can't go on.
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Jacques Lantier: Pecqueux, I have to tell you something. Don't say a word and don't move. I killed her. That's right, I killed her. It's all over. I'll never see her again. It'll be the death of me, I know it. I couldn't bear to hold her anymore. I loved her, you know? I loved her little hands most of all. But there's one thing I don't get: why haven't they arrested me?
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[first lines]
Jacques Lantier: Did you feel that?
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Roubaud: You've often said how he used to terrify you when you were young.
Séverine Roubaud: Terrify me? Don't exaggerate. All the other kids were scared of him, even his daughter. Whenever he'd show up everyone would run away. But I'd stand my ground. He'd smile and pat me on the cheek. I always got what I wanted and he never scolded me.
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Pecqueux: What's for lunch?
Jacques Lantier: Sardines and cassoulet. Want some?
Pecqueux: No, that canned food rots the gut. Get a wife, my friend.
Jacques Lantier: I'm already married to Lison. She's good enough for me.
Pecqueux: That's right. I forgot. You're married to a locomotive.
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Pecqueux: Philomène is going to be happy.
Jacques Lantier: That's right, your number two girl. Sauvagnat's sister.
Pecqueux: Just don't tell him that. He still thinks she's a nice girl.
Jacques Lantier: And what will your wife do?
Pecqueux: Victoire? Queen of the nice girls.
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Flore: You were watching me.
Boy Admirer #1: So? No law against that.
Boy Admirer #2: We were only watching 'cause you're so pretty.
Flore: I don't want people looking at me or thinking I'm pretty.
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Jacques Lantier: I can't believe how you've changed. You're a big girl now.
Flore: You've changed too. Now you look at me like the others do. I don't like that.
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Flore: What got into you?
Jacques Lantier: Oh, I don't know. I didn't even know what I was doing.
Flore: Is that part of your illness?
Jacques Lantier: Yes. Did your mother tell you about it?
Flore: Yes.
Jacques Lantier: Yes, that's it. It's like this haze fills my head and twists everything out of shape. I start feeling like a mad dog. I never drink, mind you. Even a drop and I go crazy. I feel like I'm paying for all those fathers and grandfathers who drank. All those generations of drunkards who poisoned my blood and saddled me with this madness. It's a terrible thing.
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Séverine Roubaud: Hello, Godfather.
Grandmorin: Hello, Séverine. You've lost weight. It may be in style, but I'm not sure I approve.
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Séverine Roubaud: Look how hot I am!
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Roubaud: You act funny whenever Grandmorin's name comes up. Maybe you're scared people will think you're his daughter.
Séverine Roubaud: His daughter?
Roubaud: Your mother was a maid at the mansion. They all slept with him back then. We'd sure be in good if you were his daughter.
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Séverine Roubaud: Not here. We're not at home here. Let go of me!
Roubaud: What's the matter with you today?
Séverine Roubaud: You men are disgusting. That's all you think of. You're all the same.
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Roubaud: You were his mistress, weren't you?
Séverine Roubaud: No!
Roubaud: Tell me the truth, you slut!
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Roubaud: You've made a real fool of me. An old man's cast-off.
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Jacques Lantier: Cabuche, how are things?
Cabuche: Not bad. Did you see the Misards?
Jacques Lantier: Yes. Where are you going?
Cabuche: Le Havre. After a month in the old burg, it's time to see the city again.
Jacques Lantier: Have a good time.
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Jacques Lantier: Do you know Mrs. Roubaud, the stationmaster's wife?
Pecqueux: Séverine?
Jacques Lantier: Is that her name?
Pecqueux: Her mother and my wife were friends. They worked together at the Grandmorin mansion. Why? Did you see her somewhere?
Jacques Lantier: She was on the train just now.
Pecqueux: An elegant woman. Well-educated. Not my type, but definitely pretty.
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Séverine Roubaud: Let go of my hands. And stop looking at me like that. You'll hurt your eyes.
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Cabuche: She was so nice, Your Honor. So we got to be good friends. In the summer we'd pick strawberries together. In the fall we'd go looking for chestnuts. Sometimes we'd walk through the forest hand in hand. It was wonderful, Your Honor. But nothing ever happened. It could have happened, but it never did. I mean, she was growing up and I really liked her. And she liked me too.
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Cabuche: It wasn't me! It wasn't me! It wasn't me! Let me go! Your Honor! It wasn't me! It wasn't me! It wasn't me! It wasn't me! It wasn't me!
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Roubaud: He better not come back or I'll take care of him! These young bucks expect a married woman to be a pushover and her husband to look the other way. It makes my blood boil. If that ever happened, I'd wring her neck.
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Séverine Roubaud: It's not a lover I need, but a good friend who I could talk to about my troubles, my disappointments, my hopes. I need trust and tenderness and I can give them in return. But not love. No.
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Séverine Roubaud: Lison is such a funny name for a train.
Jacques Lantier: You can't call someone you love by a number.
Séverine Roubaud: May I get on?
Jacques Lantier: You'll get all dirty.
Séverine Roubaud: Who cares?
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Séverine Roubaud: So you're in love with a locomotive.
Jacques Lantier: We've been through so much.
Séverine Roubaud: Really?
Jacques Lantier: Yes. On the line we see it all.
Séverine Roubaud: Even when you're flying by.
Jacques Lantier: Of course. You get to watch the changing seasons. The leaves uncurling in the spring and drifting to the ground in autumn. The rabbits in the fields with their little ears sticking up. They watch us go by. They know we'd never harm them.
Séverine Roubaud: That's funny. When I travel, I never notice a thing.
Jacques Lantier: Perhaps you don't know how to look.
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Séverine Roubaud: If you only knew how Roubaud treated me. He knocked me down and dragged me around by my hair, and then he beat me. Beat me. At one point he had his heel right in my face, ready to smash it in. I'll never forget it as long as I live. He's just a jealous monster.
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Jacques Lantier: Your past is your business.
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Séverine Roubaud: Is something wrong? Tell me.
Jacques Lantier: It's all in my head. Waves of grief. I get so miserable I can't even speak.
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Séverine Roubaud: Yesterday he almost got crushed between two train cars. I was so close to being free. One morning you're fine and by the evening you're dead.
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Séverine Roubaud: There he is.
Jacques Lantier: Where? I don't see him.
Séverine Roubaud: He's coming around the shed. He's coming towards us. I see his shadow on the wall.
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Pecqueux: Love is best early on, before you know each other well, when you're both on your best behavior.
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Pecqueux: Her brother caught us in bed the other night. I barely had time to jump out the window in my shirt. Then he slapped her around. Does that make sense to you? Not to me. She's his sister, not his wife. What's it to him anyway?
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Séverine Roubaud: I have nothing left to hope for with you. Tomorrow will be just like yesterday: the same grief and sorrow. It doesn't really matter. What happens, happens. All I can do is go on living my miserable life.
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Séverine Roubaud: Shall we dance?
Jacques Lantier: No.
Séverine Roubaud: Then I'll be going.
Jacques Lantier: Why? There are others to dance. Like Dauvergne.
Séverine Roubaud: No. Tonight I only want to dance with you.
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Séverine Roubaud: There's no way forward for us now. We should have stayed like we were in the beginning, when we loved each other but didn't pursue it. You remember those innocent walks we used to take?
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Jacques Lantier: You'll forget the past and we'll be happy. Every night I dream we're together, far away. I go to work. We have a little home together. Every evening you're waiting for me at the door and I take you in my arms and hold you tight. We love each other like no two people ever have before. They'll leave us alone and we'll put the past behind us.
La Bête Humaine Quotes
Extended Reading
