The Wandering Jew, Book IV.

nny Moulin on her right hand, presided at the repast, called a reveille-mati

six in the morning; and all these couples, joyous as they were amorous and indefatigable, laughed, ate, and drank, with youthful

d sparkling eyes announced a feverish excitement; she wished to drown reflection, cost what it might. He

Bacchanal Queen, their attachment had deeper and stronger roots than generally belong to ephemeral connections founded upon pleasure. Cephyse and Jacques were

ise supplies from his family, under one of those fabulous pretences which tradition carefully preserves in colleges of law and medicine-Rose

proportion as intoxication gained upon him, a sort of zone, as purple as his jovial face, crept by degrees over his brow, till it obscured even the shining whiteness of his crown. Rose

s head he will be drown

ee

tipsy. He held in his hand, in the fashion of an antique goblet, a punch-bowl fi

-Pompon, "Ninny Moulin is

ting; he must

ditating? an i

n Anacreont

ossuet"-Dumoulin had the very bad habit of quoting Bossuet when he was drunk-"of which the immortal Bossuet says (and he was a judge of g

ore your Bossuet!

the wine at the marriage of Cana was red or white. Sometimes I incli

bottom of the questi

e bottom of the bottle

ee

t of reflection and research, I have made a great discovery

n white," said Rose-

n that it was neither white nor red?"

en you had drunk till

pinb

y studies on this question, to which I have devoted my life-I shall await the end of my respectable

tone with which Dumoulin pronounced and accentuate

on. "What sawnee is that? Has he a

horsehair bustles-they serve for filling out-that's all. I like better to drink; so fill the glasses,

ant upon his stupid and sting

eceived with un

a toast to the success of a project which greatly interests me, and has some r

e it, by a

to my marriage!" s

plauded, laughed even louder than the rest, opening wide his enormous mouth, and adding to th

hat subsided, the Baccha

lth of the future M

y touches me so sensibly

y heart the name of my

d Madame Honoree-Modest

Colombe

o! br

ould serve as a tent for this honorable company. I hope to present my future spouse to you on Shrove Tuesday, in the costume of a shepherdess that has just devoured her flock.

her into anyth

ixty!" said Rose-Pompon

overawe th

this lady; your mother will

donic delight. In one hand she held a glass full to the brim. "I hear the Cholera is approaching

y impression; a sort of electric shudder ran through the ass

id Jacques, in a

arlessly. "Let him spare those who wish to li

iced by their joyous companions, and for some time

cried Rose-Pompon, boldly. "To the Cholera!

oth live and live well, I ask you to drink a health most dear to our joyous queen, the health of our Amphitryon. Unfortunately, I do not know his respectable name, having only had the advantage of making his acqua

o forget your name, I should call you 'Have-a-sip

ng the military salute with one hand,

inbuff, cordially, "we ought to know each

red struck by the name, in spite of hi

st sense of the word. D

t family of that name-t

e is!" said the

t are also Dukes of Car

as if I belonged to such a famil

"You give us a Belshazzar's banquet, with accompaniment of carriages and four, and yet are a workman?

am a printer of flimsies, and a s

e! no such

s I run. But I'll make you easy on tha

uncle, no doubt?" said

I don'

now whom you are e

first place, my fath

rupulous in the choice of his bottle-companions: but, after the first surprise, he resumed, w

for my father was a man of very great merit. He spoke Greek and Latin like a scholar, and of

had partly sobered, "you may belong to the f

g, "your father was not a gutter-snipe by

had said to him: 'Much obliged! try the work'us.' Then he wished to make use of his Greek, and Latin, and mathematics. Impossible to do anything-Paris, it seems, being choke-full of learned men-so my father had to look

her," said Dumoulin; "but, unless he found an inheritance

s, a chair, and a table-and, moreover, in an old Eau de Cologne box, some papers (written, it seems, in English), and a bronze medal, worth about ten sous, chain and all. He had never spoken to me of these

ulin. "But somebody must ha

bout it; and, after he had read the papers, he said that the affair was doubtful, but that he would le

osed that these old pap

you see, ten thousand francs in good, bright coin, falling as it were from the clouds, are not to be sn

ou sig

o, and I have heard nothing of it. I have still about a thousand francs in his hands, for I have taken him for my banker. And that's the wa

, no longer under the influence of the painful impression she had felt for a moment, looked une

ay that a good rider makes a good horse; they ought to say that a good master makes a good workman.

g else!" said the Bacchanal Quee

him saying: 'Beggarly workmen! rascally workmen! they grumble that they have no food in their bellies; well, then, we'll give them bayonets to stop their hunger.'[11] And there's the children in his factory-you should see the

s Amphitryon's gloomy and thoughtful air, and, regretting that the conversation had taken this serious

tle one! What good will you get by working so hard?'-still I went on. But, one day, a worthy old man, called Father Arsene, who had worked in the house many years, and was a model of good conduct, was suddenly turned away, because he was getting too feeble. It was a death-blow to him; his wife was infirm, and, at his age, he could not get another place. When the foreman told him he was dismissed, he could not believe it, and he began to cry for grief. At that moment, M. Tripeaud passes; Father Arsene begs him with clasped hands to keep him at half-wages. 'What!' says M. Tripeaud, shrugging his shoulders; 'do you think that I will turn my factory into a house of invalids? You are no longer able to work-so be off!' 'But I have worked forty years of my life; what is to become of me?' cried poor Father Arsene. 'That is not my business,' answered M. Tripea

Bacchanal Queen, had tacitly agreed together; and, on a signal from the Queen, who leaped upon the table, and threw down the bottles and glasses wi

nishment at his guests, he drew his hand across his brow, as if to chase away the painful ideas

ounted upon chairs, benches, and window-ledges, began to sing in chorus the well-known air of les Etudiants, so as to s

east, so that he now appeared in all the splendor of his costume. His cuirass of bright scales ended in a tunic of feathers, not unlike those worn by the savages, who f

vanced to meet Ninny-Moulin; the latter danced, or rather leaped towards her, his left leg bent under him, his right leg stretched forward, with the toe raised, and the heel gliding on

t prelude to the step of the Storm-blown Tulip-when suddenly the door opened, and one of the waiters, aft

ques, laughing;

assumed an expression of uneasiness, as he answered. "Very

ues?" asked the Bacchana

my place. Go on with the dance," said S

down in the bill," said Dum

se. "Now cavalier suel!

ce, and the d

e two, in which figure he showed off his buffoonery to the utmost extent, when the door again opened, and the same waiter, who had

cing scream, and rushed out of the room witho

rds were actually spoke