onsiderable poverty, until he got employment
from a manufacturer of artistic bronzes. He then began to produce work
which suited the popular taste, and his productions began to be seen on
middle-class chimney-pieces. L'Oeuvre.

MAIGRAT, the principal shop-keeper in Montsou. He was originally an
overseer at the Voreux pit, but, assisted by the company, started a
business which grew to such proportions that he ultimately crushed out
most of the other retail traders. He was a greedy, rapacious man, and
during the strike made the women furious by refusing credit. For other
reasons also they hated him, and his shop was one of the first places
attacked by the maddened strikers. In terror Maigrat took refuge on
the roof, but his foot slipped, and he was dashed to the ground, being
killed on the spot. Even this did not satisfy his assailants, for the
frenzied women, led by La Brule, rushed forward and mutilated the still
quivering body. Germinal.

MAIGRAT (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a pitiful creature who
passed all her days over a ledger without even daring to lift her head.
On the day of the attack by the strikers she was a witness of the death
of her husband and of the terrible events which followed. Up at the
window she stood motionless; but beneath the last gleams of the setting
sun the confused faults of the window-panes deformed her white face,
which looked as though it were laughing. Germinal.

MALGRAS (LE PERE), a picture-dealer with whom Claude Lantier had
frequent dealings. He was a thick-set old man, with close-cropped
white hair, and wore a dirty old coat that made him look like an untidy
cabman. Beneath this disguise was concealed a keen knowledge of art,
combined with a ferocious skill in bargaining. As a superb liar,
moreover, he was without an equal. He was satisfied with a small profit,
but never purchased in the morning without knowing where to dispose
of his purchase at night. He viewed with disdain the modern methods of
picture-dealing introduced by Naudet, and like a cautious man he retired
with a modest fortune to a little house at Bois-Colombes. L'Oeuvre.

MALIGNON (M.), a young stockbroker who was supposed to have a large
fortune and accordingly was received everywhere in society. He posed as
a critic of art, literature, and the drama, and pretended to be bored
with everything. Madame Deberle, being carried away by his attentions,
was foolish enough to promise to meet him at a flat which