Chat at table, the chat of love; it is as impossible to reproduce one as the other; the chat of love is a cloud; the chat at table is smoke.
Fameuil and Dahlia were humming. Tholomyes was drinking. Zephine was laughing, Fantine smiling, Listolier blowing a wooden trumpet which he had purchased at Saint-Cloud.
Favourite gazed tenderly at Blachevelle and said:--
"Blachevelle, I adore you."
This called forth a question from Blachevelle:--
"What would you do, Favourite, if I were to cease to love you?"
"I!" cried Favourite. "Ah! Do not say that even in jest! If you were to cease to love me, I would spring after you, I would scratch you, I should rend you, I would throw you into the water, I would have you arrested."
Blachevelle smiled with the voluptuous self-conceit of a man who is tickled in his self-love. Favourite resumed:--
"Yes, I would scream to the police! Ah! I should not restrain myself, not at all! Rabble!"
Blachevelle threw himself back in his chair, in an ecstasy, and closed both eyes proudly.
Dahlia, as she ate, said in a low voice to Favourite, amid the uproar:--
"So you really idolize him deeply, that Blachevelle of yours?"
"I? I detest him," replied Favourite in the same tone, seizing her fork again. "He is avaricious. I love the little fellow opposite me in my house. He is very nice, that young man; do you know him? One can see that he is an actor by profession. I love actors. As soon as he comes in, his mother says to him: `Ah! mon Dieu! My peace of mind is gone. There he goes with his shouting. But, my dear, you are splitting my head!' So he goes up to rat-ridden garrets, to black holes, as high as he can mount, and there he sets to singing, declaiming, how do I know what? so that he can be heard down stairs! He earns twenty sous a day at an attorney's by penning quibbles. He is the son of a former precentor of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas. Ah! he is very nice. He idolizes me so, that one day when he saw me making batter for some pancakes, he said to me: `Mamselle, make your gloves into fritters, and I will eat them.' It is only artists who can say such things as that. Ah! he is very nice. I am in a fair way to go out of my head over that little fellow. Never mind; I tell Blachevelle that I adore him--how I lie! Hey! How I do lie!"
Favourite paused, and then went on:--
"I am sad, you see, Dahlia. It has done nothing but rain all summer; the wind irritates me; the wind does not abate. Blachevelle is very stingy; there are hardly any green peas in the market; one does not know what to eat. I have the spleen, as the English say, butter is so dear! and then you see it is horrible, here we are dining in a room with a bed in it, and that disgusts me with life."
ϵ̸ǵ̸ͬDzģǵ̸ϼϵ̸
÷ʹŸװžƣɪЦţ͡Цšʿﴵʥ³ľȡŲʲά˵
ʲάҰ㡣
⻰˲ʲάһ⡣
ʹҲˣ㽫أ
𣡡˵Ҫ˵ֻǿЦҲҪ˵ֻʹ㲻ˣҾ棬ץƤͷˮܵϣԹ˾
ʲάڼЦһ£һĻüеһ˵
ѽһо죡ߣΪʲôģ
֣
ʲάܳϣմմϲر۾
ԸͣӵжԳ˵
IJʲάǺܳ𣿡
ңͬشIJӡûǮҰҶסǸСӡСӳƯúܣϵϷӵͷϲϷӡһؼң˵ѽҵϵֲۣðˡҪˡҵѣҪҵԴ𣡡Ϊһ㵽Щסӵĸ¥ϣЩڶԽԽãֳУ˭֪Щʲô˶üһʦдϴʣÿʮˡʥſ˽ijʫˡѽ÷dzáѾҵֵزһ죬ڵ˵С㣬ЩȫȥֻҲŻ˵Ļ÷dzáҪΪСˡⲻҶԲʲά˵Ұ
Ҷôѣ˵Ҷôѣ
˿ּ˵
֪ﷳúܡһļ꣬ܲˣϨͷĻ𣬲ʲάǸС˳ֲ㶹ֻ֪ԣӢ˵ģҺˣôңƣЦǾд̵ķԷһ˵ĺá