And whenever she passed beneath the doorway they all affected to sneer at her.
One day, Gervaise went up to see the Lorilleuxs in spite of this.

It was with respect to mother Coupeau who was then sixty-seven years old.
Mother Coupeau's eyesight was almost completely gone.

Her legs too were no longer what they used to be.

She had been obliged to give up her last cleaning job and now threatened to die of hunger if assistance were not forthcoming.

Gervaise thought it shameful that a woman of her age, having three children should be thus abandoned by heaven and earth.