Chapter summary
The novel opens with the town, not the hero: Verrières, in the Franche-Comté, with its white houses with red roofs, the Doubs, the sawmills, and the nail factory that deafens anyone climbing the main street, owned by the mayor, Monsieur de Rênal, a man whose talent amounts to collecting what he is owed on time and paying as late as possible. To complete the garden of terraced walls (the more walls, the more respect from the neighbors), Rênal bought at a premium the land where old Sorel's sawmill stood, which Sorel moved elsewhere, and from which he still extracted six thousand francs (see Father Sorel). The deal was criticized in town, and the mayor has since come to think he could have paid less, ever since the Sunday he saw Sorel smile at him from afar, surrounded by his sons.
Analysis
Rênal buys Sorel's land at a premium because the terraced garden is worth, to him, a proof of standing: the more walls, the more respect from the neighbors. His regret comes from the same place as the purchase, not from a miscalculation: he only thinks he paid too much when he sees Sorel smiling from afar, as if the town judged him cheated.
Ch. I. The narrator, on opinion in the provinces: tyranny of opinion, and what an opinion!, is as stupid in the small towns of France as in the United States of America.
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