▁b our ge ois ▁man ▁to ▁ge ese ▁in ▁a ▁f ount ain ▁at ▁the ▁Luxemb ourg ▁Garden . ▁ ▁Z é ph ine ▁– ▁A ▁young ▁gr is ette ▁in ▁Paris ▁and ▁member ▁of ▁Fant ine ' s ▁group ▁of ▁se am str ess ▁friends ▁along ▁with ▁F av our ite ▁and ▁D ah lia . ▁She ▁becomes ▁rom ant ically ▁involved ▁with ▁F éli x ▁Th ol omy ès ' ▁friend ▁Fame uil . ▁ ▁The ▁narr ator ▁Hugo ▁does ▁not ▁give ▁the ▁narr ator ▁a ▁name ▁and ▁allows ▁the ▁reader ▁to ▁identify ▁the ▁narr ator ▁with ▁the ▁novel ' s ▁author . ▁The ▁narr ator ▁occasionally ▁inject s ▁himself ▁into ▁the ▁narr ative ▁or ▁reports ▁facts ▁outside ▁the ▁time ▁of ▁the ▁narr ative ▁to ▁emphas ize ▁that ▁he ▁is ▁rec ount ing ▁historical ▁events , ▁not ▁entirely ▁fiction . ▁He ▁introdu ces ▁his ▁rec ount ing ▁of ▁Water lo o ▁with ▁several ▁paragraph s ▁describing ▁the ▁narr ator ' s ▁recent ▁approach ▁to ▁the ▁battle field : ▁" Last ▁year ▁( 1 8 6 1 ), ▁on ▁a ▁beautiful ▁May ▁morning , ▁a ▁trav eller , ▁the ▁person ▁who ▁is ▁telling ▁this ▁story , ▁was ▁coming ▁from ▁N iv elles   ..." ▁The ▁narr ator ▁describes ▁how ▁"[ a ] n ▁observer , ▁a ▁dream er , ▁the ▁author ▁of ▁this ▁book " ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 8 3 2 ▁street ▁fighting ▁was ▁caught ▁in ▁cross fire : ▁" All ▁that ▁he ▁had ▁to ▁protect ▁him ▁from ▁the ▁bul lets