Summary

In Chapter 7, Edmond becomes Ferréol’s gardener, as promised. Ferréol does not teach him how to read or write. A friend of Ferréol’s, named Eugene Volcy-Focard, attests to Edmond knowing almost as much about plants as Ferréol himself. Twenty years after meeting Edmond, he would still recount stories of being shown around Ferréol’s gardens by Edmond. Edmond was always very proud of Volcy-Focard’s pride in him. Edmond spends his days tending to the gardens and is aware of how much better his life is than the other slaves. Edmond sneakily looks at Ferréol’s books and tries to show them to another slave his own age named Isidore, but Isidore has not interest in Edmond’s obsession with plants.

In Chapter 8, Ferréol teaches eight year old Edmond how to pollinate pumpkins by hand...