"I like shade," replied M. de Renal, with the hint of arrogance that is appropriate when one is speaking to a surgeon, member of the Legion of Honor. "I like shade. I have my trees clipped so they will give shade. And I cannot imagine what else a tree was made for if, unlike the useful walnut, it doesn't bring in anything."

There you have the catchword that settles everything in Verrieres: bring in something. It sums up the thinking of three quarters of the population.

Bring in something is the logic that determines every move in this small town, which struck you as being so The stranger who comes here, charmed by the pretty. deep, cool valleys that surround it, imagines at first that the inhabitants must be sensitive to the beautiful. How they go on about the beauty of their province! There's no denying that they think a great deal of it, but only because it attracts a number of tourists whose money enriches the innkeepers, and so, through the machinery of the tax system, brings in something for the town.