Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 144

This is an excerpt from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, serialized in Beadle & Adams' dime novel periodical (July 27, 1881). The passage opens with detailed historical description of medieval Paris and the Great Hall of the Palace of Justice on January 6, 1482. Hugo narrates the city's preparations for a double festival—the Epiphany and the Festival of Fools—which will feature fireworks, a mystery play, and the election of the Pope of Fools. The text provides elaborate architectural detail of the grand hall, its vaulted ceiling, pillars, royal statues, and stained glass, while digressing into the hall's destruction by fire in 1618 and lamenting lost historical treasures. A large crowd has gathered since morning, growing impatient as they await the performance's noon start and the arrival of Flemish ambassadors. The passage ends with mounting discord among the spectators as discomfort and irritation accumulate.