Complete Works of Emile Zola (1896 page)

MEYER, owner of a Viennese bakery in Faubourg Poissonniere. The Coupeaus bought their bread from him in order to please Lantier. L’Assommoir.

MICHELIN (M.), a surveyor of the Municipal Council. “His wife, a pretty woman, occasionally called to apologize to her husband’s chiefs for his absence, when he stayed away through ill-health. He was often ill, but he obtained promotion at each illness.” In order to secure Saccard’s influence, Michelin assisted him in getting exorbitant prices for land sold to the city. La Curee.

MICHELIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. By means of her good looks and a determination to get on at any cost, she secured the influence of her husband’s superiors, and got rapid promotion for him in the office of the Municipal Council. La Curee.

MIETTE, the pet name of Marie Chantegreil. (q.v.).

MIETTE, one of the peasant girls of Les Artaud who assisted to decorate the church for the festival of the Virgin. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

MIGNON, a man who, beginning life as a bricklayer, had amassed a fortune by speculations in building land during the early days of the Second Empire. Along with Charrier, his partner, he had many business dealings with Aristide Saccard. La Curee.

MIGNON, husband of an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. When Rose married him he was leader of the orchestra at a cafe concert where she sang. They were the best of friends, and lived together on the earnings of the wife, who exploited her beauty not less than her talents. Mignon was always on the best of terms with his wife’s lovers, even assisting them occasionally to deceive her, with the view of bringing them back in penitence later on. Nana.

MIGNON (CHARLES), younger son of the preceding. Nana.

MIGNON (HENRI), elder son of Mignon. Along with his brother Charles he was educated at a boarding-school. Nana.

MIGNON (ROSE), wife of Mignon, was a star actress at the Theatre des Varietes, being a fine comedienne and an admirable singer. She was dark and thin with that charming ugliness which is peculiar to the gamins of Paris. It was she who, annoyed by the rivalry of Nana, one day made Comte de Muffat aware of the liaison between his wife and Fauchery. She was, however, a good-hearted woman, and when she learned that Nana had contracted small-pox she arranged for her removal to the Grand Hotel, and nursed her there till she died. Nana.

MIGNOT, one of the salesmen in the glove department at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” He entered into a conspiracy with Albert Lhomme to defraud his employer, and this was successful to a considerable extent before its discovery; his dismissal followed, but there was no prosecution, as the firm preferred not to bring its internal affairs before the public eye. He afterwards got a situation as a traveller, and had even the boldness to call at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” Au Bonheur des Dames.

MIMI-LA-MORT, a pupil at the College of Plassans, who was also nicknamed
Le Squelette-Externe
(The Skeleton Day-Boarder) on account of his extreme thinness. Against the regulations of the College, he used to bring in snuff to the other scholars. L’Oeuvre.

MINOUCHE, a white cat which belonged to the Chanteaus. La Joie de Vivre.

MISARD, signalman on the railway at Croix-de-Maufras, between Malaunay and Barentin. He was a little puny man, with thin, discoloured hair and beard, and a lean, hollow-cheeked face. His work was mechanical, and he seemed to carry it through without thought or intelligence. His wife, a cousin of Jacques Lantier, looked after the level-crossing which adjoined their house until failing health prevented her from leaving the house. For this little man, silently and without anger, was slowly poisoning his wife with a powder which he placed in the salt which she ate. This crime, patient and cunning, had for its cause a legacy of a thousand francs left to Aunt Phasie by her father, a legacy which she had hidden, and refused to hand over to Misard. But the old woman triumphed in the end, for though Misard searched day and night for the treasure, he was never able to find it; she died taking her secret with her. An old woman of the neighbourhood, La Ducloux, whom he had employed to attend to the level-crossing after the death of his wife, induced him to marry her by pretending that she had discovered the secret hoard. La Bete Humaine.

MISARD (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Phasie (Aunt).

MORANGE (CHARLOT), son of Silvine Morange and of Goliath Steinberg. Physically he resembled his father’s race, whom, however, he was brought up to hate. Hidden behind his mother, he was at three years old a witness of the murder of his father by the francs-tireurs. La Debacle.

MORANGE (SILVINE), servant with Fouchard at Remilly. Her mother, who was a worker in a factory at Raucourt, died when she was quite young, and her godfather, Dr. Dalichamp, got her a situation with Fouchard. Honore Fouchard fell in love with her, and they became engaged, but the opposition of the old man was so great that Honore went away from home and enlisted in the army. During his absence Silvine fell a victim to the wiles of Goliath Steinberg, and a child, Charlot, was born, Steinberg having previously disappeared. She had all along loved Honore, and when he passed through Remilly on his way to fight the Prussians he forgave her, and promised to marry her on his return. When she heard that he had been killed in the battle of Sedan, she became nearly mad, and with Prosper Sambuc made a wild search of the battlefield for her lover’s body. They found it eventually, and brought it back in a cart for burial. Goliath Steinberg, who was a German spy, again made advances to her, and, to save herself and her friends, she betrayed him to the francs-tireurs, who killed him in her presence. La Debacle.

MORIZOT, a friend of Malignon, who took him to the children’s party at Deberle’s house. Une Page d’Amour.

MOSER, a speculator on the Paris Bourse. He was a short, yellow-skinned man, who suffered from liver complaint and was continually lamenting, in constant dread of some imminent catastrophe. In consequence of his views, he was known on the Bourse as “bear” Moser. Speculating heavily against the rise in the shares of the Universal Bank, he was at one time on the verge of ruin, but the collapse of that institution left him with an enormous fortune. L’Argent.

MOUCHE (LE PERE), the sobriquet of Michel Fouan, the third son of Joseph Casimir Fouan, and brother of La Grande, Pere Fouan, and Laure Badeuil. When his father’s estate was divided, he received the family dwelling-house and some land, but was dissatisfied with his share and continued to accuse his brother and sister, though forty years had elapsed, of having robbed him when the lots were drawn. He had been long a widower, and, a soured unlucky man, he lived alone with his two daughters, Lise and Francoise. At sixty years of age he died of an attack of apoplexy. La Terre.

MOUCHE (FRANCOISE), younger daughter of Michel Fouan, alias Mouche. Her mother died early, and she was brought up by her sister Lise, to whom she was devotedly attached. She had a passion for justice, and when she had said “that is mine and that is yours,” she would have been prepared to go to the stake in support of her rights. This execration of injustice gradually led to a change of feeling between the two sisters, for after the marriage of Lise to Buteau a division of the land should have been made. Buteau and his wife on various pretexts put off this division, and it was only on the marriage of Francoise to Jean Macquart that it was carried out. An entire estrangement between the two families followed, and constant quarrels took place. After a shameful assault by Buteau upon Francoise, his wife threw her upon a scythe which lay upon the ground near by, and the unfortunate girl received injuries from which she died a few hours later. A sense of loyalty to her family induced her to conceal the cause of these injuries, which were attributed to accident. La Terre.

MOUCHE (LISE), elder daughter of Pere Mouche, and sister of the preceding. She had a son to her cousin Buteau, who, however, did not marry her for three years afterwards, when the death of her father made her heiress to some land. She was at first an amiable woman, but grew hardened under the influence of her husband, and ultimately her whole desire was to avoid the necessity of a division of her father’s estate between her sister and herself. Moved by these feelings, her love for Francoise became transformed into a hatred so intense that she did not hesitate to assist her husband in attempting to bring about the girl’s ruin. In the end, having assisted Buteau in a shameful assault on Francoise, she afterwards threw her upon a scythe which was lying on the ground near by, inflicting injuries which proved fatal. Pere Fouan, having been a witness of the assault, was subsequently murdered by Lise and her husband, to ensure his silence and their own safety. La Terre.

MOULIN, an assistant station-master at Havre along with Roubaud. La Bete Humaine.

MOULIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a little woman, timid and weak, who was seldom seen. She had a large family of young children. La Bete Humaine.

MOUNIER, a tenor singer at the Opera, who gave the cue to Madame Daigremont at a performance in her house. L’Argent.

MOUQUE, father of Mouquet and of Mouquette. He had charge of the horses in the Voreux pit, and also acted as caretaker at a ruined mine known as the Requillart, where the company had given him two rooms to live in. Almost every evening he received a visit from his old comrade Bonnemort. Germinal.

MOUQUET, son of the preceding, was an inseparable companion of Zacharie Maheu, along with whom he worked at the Voreux pit. During the strike he went out of curiosity to see the attack by the strikers on the soldiers who were guarding the mines, and was killed by a stray ball which struck him in the mouth.

MOUQUETTE, daughter of Mouque. She was a putter in the Voreux pit, and lived with her father at the ruined mine of Requillart, where he was caretaker. She was present at the attack by the strikers on the soldiers guarding the Voreux, and when the fatal volley was fired she was killed, in an instinctive attempt to save Catherine Maheu, before whom she placed herself. Germinal.

MOURET, a hatter of Plassans who married Ursule Macquart in 1810 and went to live at Marseilles. He was devoted to his wife, and a year after her death in 1839, he hanged himself in a cupboard where her dresses were still suspended. He left three children, Helene, Francois, and Silvere. La Fortune des Rougon.

MOURET (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Ursule Macquart. La Fortune des Rougon.

MOURET (DESIREE), born 1844, daughter of Francois Mouret, and sister of Octave and Serge. La Fortune des Rougon.

She was of feeble intellect, and when a girl of sixteen was still mentally like a child of eight. When her mother fell under the influence of Abbe Faujas, and began entirely to neglect her family, Francois Mouret removed Desiree to the home of her old nurse, in whose custody she remained. La Conquete de Plassans.

When her brother Serge was appointed priest of Les Artaud, she accompanied him there. By that time she had grown to be a tall, handsome girl, but her mind had never developed, and she was still like a young child. Her love of animals had become a passion, and at her brother’s home she was able to indulge it to the fullest extent, and to her complete happiness. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

She accompanied her brother to Saint Eutrope, where he became cure, and she continued innocent and healthy, like a happy young animal. Le Docteur Pascal.

MOURET (FRANCOIS), born in 1817, son of Mouret and Ursule Macquart, his wife. He got a situation in the business of his uncle, Pierre Rougon, whose daughter Marthe he married in 1840. They had three children, Octave, Serge, and Desiree. On the retirement of his uncle, Mouret returned to Marseilles and established himself in business there. La Fortune de Rougon.

During fifteen years of close application on the part of Mouret and his wife, he made a fortune out of wines, oil, and almonds, and then retired to Plassans, where he lived on his means, making an occasional deal in wine or oil when a chance occurred. He was not on good terms with his wife’s relations, and placed himself politically in opposition to them by supporting the Legitimist candidate, the Marquis de Lagrifoul. In 1858, having two vacant rooms in his house, he was induced by the Abbe Bourrette to let them to Abbe Faujas, a priest who had been sent to Plassans by the Government to undermine the existing clerical influence there, which had been exercised in support of the Marquis de Lagrifoul. Mouret was a man of narrow and restricted intellect, and his peculiarities became more and more marked as the Abbe Faujas gradually came to dominate the household and induce Madame Mouret to neglect her husband and family for the service of the Church. By degrees Mouret came to be regarded as insane, and his wife having had several epileptic attacks, he was accused of having caused the injuries she had really inflicted on herself. His wrongful removal to the asylum at Les Tulettes followed, and confinement soon confirmed the insanity which before had only threatened. In 1864, his uncle, Antoine Macquart, in order to annoy the Rougons contrived his escape from the asylum, and he returned by night to his home at Plassans. Finding it in the occupancy of Abbe Faujas and his relatives, he was overcome by the fury of madness, and set fire to the house in several places. So thoroughly did he do his work that all the inmates, including himself, perished in the flames. La Conquete de Plassans.

MOURET (MADAME MARTHE), wife of the preceding. See Marthe Rougon.

MOURET (HELENE), born 1824, daughter of Mouret and Ursule Macquart, his wife. La Fortune des Rougon.

When seventeen years old she married M. Grandjean, the son of a sugar-refiner of Marseilles, whose family were bitterly opposed to the match on account of her poverty. The wedding was a secret one, and the young couple had difficulty making ends meet until an uncle died, leaving them ten thousand francs a year. “It was then that Grandjean, within whom an intense hatred of Marseilles was growing, had decided on coming to Paris, to live there for good.” The day after their arrival Grandjean was seized with illness, and after eight days he died, leaving his wife with one daughter, a young girl of ten. Helene, who was a woman of singular beauty, had no friends in Paris except Abbe Jouve and his half-brother M. Rambaud, but from them she received much kindness. Her daughter Jeanne was far from strong, having inherited much of the hereditary neurosis of her mother’s family, along with a consumptive tendency from that of her father. A sudden illness of the girl led to an acquaintance with Doctor Deberle, and this ripened into love between him and Helene, though considerations of duty kept them apart. Meantime, Helene had discovered the beginnings of an intrigue between Madame Deberle and M. Malignon, and in order to break it off was herself placed in such a compromising position towards Doctor Deberle that he became her lover. The discovery of the fact by Jeanne, whose jealous love of her mother amounted to a mania, led to the child’s illness and death, and to her mother’s bitter repentance. Two years later Helene married M. Rambaud, and went to live at Marseilles. Une Page d’Amour.