Translations:Victor of Aveyron/42/en

If one may judge the past life of this child, by his present dispositions, we may conclude that, like some savages in the warmer climates, he was acquainted with four circumstances only; to sleep, to eat, to do nothing, and to run about in the fields. To make him happy, then, after his own manner, it was necessary to put him to bed at the close of the day, to furnish him abundantly with food adapted to his taste, to bear with his indolence, and to accompany him in his walks, or rather in his races in the open air, and this whenever he pleased. These rural excursions appeared to him even more agreeable when any sudden and violent change in the atmosphere took place; so true it is, that, in every condition, man is delighted with new sensations. As, for example, when he has been observed, within his chamber, he was seen balancing himself with a tiresome uniformity, directing his eyes constantly towards the window, and casting them in a melancholy manner on the external air. If, at any time, a boisterous wind arose; if the sun, concealed behind a cloud, suddenly burst forth, brilliantly illuminating the surrounding atmosphere, he expressed an almost convulsive joy by thundering peals of laughter; during which, all is turnings, backward and forwards, resembled very much a kind of leap which he wished to take, to throw himself out of the window into the garden. Sometimes, instead of joyful emotions, he exhibited a species of madness; he wrung his hands, applied his fists to his eyes, gnashed his teeth, and became formidable to people about him. One morning, after a heavy fall of snow, as soon as he awoke, he uttered a cry of joy, leaped from his bed, ran to the window, afterward to the door, going backward and forwards, from one to the other, with the greatest impatience, and, at length, escaped half-dressed into the garden. There he exhibited the utmost emotions of pleasure; he ran, rolled himself in the snow, and taking it up by handfuls, devoured it with incredible avidity.