It was the day of the festival of fools. The people of Paris were excited. There was to be a display of fire works, a may- tree planted and a play. Then the Pope of Fools was to be elected.The play wasn’t interesting and soon most of the people left. The hall was empty except for Gringoire, the author of the play. The Pope of Fools was elected. He was ugly, short and stocky with a huge head. There was a large hump between his shoulders. His legs were bow-shaped and he had only one eye. It was the hunchback, Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of Notre-Dame.The crowd following Quasimodo stopped to watch a slim and beautiful girl La Esmerlda dancing and her goat Djali performing some tricks. Everyone, especially the Archdeacon were mesmerized. When she stopped dancing everyone left, including Esmerlda. Gringorie, also left and walked behind her. Suddenly, he heard her scream and
saw Quasimodo carrying her with the Archdeacon behind him. When he tried to rescue her he was hit and lost consciousness. While Esmerlda struggled with Quasimodo, Captain Phoebus came riding and carried her
away. The Arch-Deacon disappeared but Quasimodo was caught. When Gringoire regained consciousness he
went to a place surrounded by vagabonds. When they saw Gringoire amidst them they decided to hang him. Before this, they announced that anyone could marry him and
save his life. Esmerlda announced that she would marry him as he had saved her from Quasimodo Quasimodo was tied kneeling to a wheel whipped. It was only then that he realized what had happened to him. The crowd threw stones at him. Through half closed eyes he saw the
priest come towards him and smiled. When the priest saw the hunchback he quickly went away. When he cried out for water, Esmerlda gave him some which moved him deeply.Captain Phoebus liked Esmerlda and planned to meet her. The Archdeacon heard this and befriended him. He went along with Phoebus and hid in a dark corner. When Phoebus got too close to Esmerlda, he came out and stabbed him. The girl fainted, the priest vanished and Esmerlda was accused of Phoebus’ murder.In prison the priest visited her and confessed his love. He offered to save her only if she would have him. She refused. She was to be hanged. Suddenly, Quasimodo came down swiftly on a rope, and carried her away into the
cathedral shouting “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!” Entering Notre-Dame meant safety for any criminal. The Archdeacon went away from the cathedral. He didn’t know of Esmerlda’s escape. He was sure he was in hell when he saw a girl and a goat on the roof of the cathedral. One evening, Esmerlda saw Phoebus and told Quasimodo. He spoke to Phoebus but couldn’t bring him to her. Meanwhile, the Archdeacon came to know about Esmerlda’s escape. He watched the girl and the hunchback together and felt jealous. One day he saw Gringorie and stopped him. He told him to save Esmerlda and approved of his plan. That night all the vagabonds crept towards Notre-Dame to save Esmerlda. Quasimodo saw them and prepared to attack. He thought they were her enemies. The vagabonds marched towards the cathedral and made a brave attempt, but Quasimodo was prepared and attacked them. The troops surprised them and the vagabonds fled in all directions. When Quasimodo went to see Esmerlda he found the cell empty.Esmerlda was asleep when she was awakened by the noise. She realized what had happened and prayed. As she prayed, two men entered her cell. One was Gringorie and the other was a tall dark figure. They took her in a boat. When they got off the boat Esmerlda found herself alone with the dark figure. Gringorie decided to save the goat and left her with the priest. The priest then revealed his identity. He again proclaimed his love her and said he was ready to save her if she would speak a kind word to him. She preferred to die than look at him. He then left her to die and walked away towards the cathedral as the soldiers approached.Quasimodo cried with rage when he found Esmerlda gone. He began to think of the priest. He saw the Archdeacon pass by and followed him. The priest tried to see something and Quasimodo followed his gaze. A soldier carried a girl dressed in white and hanged her. It was Esmerlda. He rather saw than heard the priest laugh. This enraged him and he rushed forward and pushed the priest down whose fall was broken by the gutter. He tried to raise himself. Soon the gutter gave way and the Archdeacon fell to his death. Quasimodo saw him fall and then looked at the dead Esmerlda and wept, for these were the only two people whom he had loved.When the Bishop’s men came to remove the corpse they could not find Quasimodo. No one knew what had happened to him. Esmerlda’s body was taken down to the vault were the bodies of executed criminals were thrown. A year and a half later, two skeletons were found entwined. One still had a piece of white and the other’s back was crooked and legs were bowed. They knew that this man was not hanged but had come there and died. When they tried to disengage the skeletons they crumbled to dust.
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