The miserable man said to himself that, when his hands should be worn out with fatigue, when his cassock should tear asunder, when the lead should give way, he would be obliged to fall, and terror seized upon his very vitals.
Il se disait, le misérable, que quand ses mains seraient brisées de fatigue, quand sa soutane serait déchirée, quand ce plomb serait ployé, il faudrait tomber, et l’épouvante le prenait aux entrailles.