EARLY DAYS 103 



the stream dwelt a gardener named Roqui ; amongst the 

 gardener's daughters one Jeanne-Etiennette attracted 

 the attention of, and was attracted by, this old cam- 

 paigner of twenty-five years. The curious persistence 

 of a family in one place, combined with the careful 

 preservation of parish records, enables M. Vallery- 

 Radot to trace the family Roqui back to the year 1555. 

 We must content ourselves with Jeanne-Etiennette, 

 who in 1815 married Jean-Joseph. Shortly afterwards 

 the young couple moved to Dale and set up house in 

 the Rue des Tanneurs. 



Louis Pasteur's father was a somewhat slow, reflec- 

 tive man ; a little melancholic, not communicative ; a 

 man who lived an inner life, nourished doubtless on 

 the memories of the part he had played on a larger 

 stage than a tannery affords. His mother, on the 

 other hand, was active in business matters, hard- 

 working, a woman of imagination, prompt in 

 enthusiasm. 



Before Louis Pasteur was two years old, his parents 

 moved first to Marnoz and then to a tannery situated 

 at the entrance to the village of Arbois ; and it was 

 Arbois that Pasteur regarded as his home, returning 

 in later life year after year for the scanty absence 

 from his laboratory that he annually allowed himself 

 Trained at the village school, he repeated with his 

 father every evening the task of the day. He showed 

 considerable talent, and his eagerness to learn was 

 fostered by the interest taken in him by M. Romanet, 

 principal of the College of Arbois. At sixteen he had 

 exhausted the educational resources of the village ; 

 and, after much heart-searching and anxious delibera- 

 tion, it was decided to send the young student to 

 Paris to continue his studies at the Lycee Saint-Louis. 

 It was a disastrous experiment. Removed so far from 

 all he knew and loved, Louis suffered from an in- 

 curable home-sickness, which affected his health. His 



