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A vague jealousy, one particular dormant jealousies which increase up between brothers or sisters and little by little ripen till they burst, on the occasion of a matrimony perhaps, or of the right fortune happening to 1 of them, kept them on the alert in sort of brotherly and non-aggressive animosity. These were fond of one another, it is true, but they viewed one another. Pierre, five years old when Jean was born, had looked with the eyes of just a little petted animal at that other little animal which had suddenly come to lie in his father's and mother's arms and to be loved and fondled by them. Jean, from his labor and birth, had always been a pattern of sweetness, gentleness, and good temper, and Pierre experienced by degrees begun to chafe at everlastingly reading the praises of this great lad, whose sweetness in his eyes was indolence, whose gentleness was stupidity, and whose kindliness was blindness. His parents, whose fantasy because of their sons was some respectable and undistinguished calling, blamed him for frequently changing his mind, for his matches of passion, his abortive origins, and all his ineffectual impulses towards nice ideas and the liberal occupations. Since he had cultivated to manhood they no longer said in so many words: "Look at Jean and follow his example," but each time he noticed them say "Jean do this - Jean does indeed that," he recognized their meaning and the hint the words conveyed.
