第13章

OntheeveningwhentheBovarysweretoarriveatYonville，WidowLefrancois，thelandladyofthisinn，wassoverybusythatshesweatedgreatdropsasshemovedhersaucepans。To-morrowwasmarket-day。Themeathadtobecutbeforehand，thefowlsdrawn，thesoupandcoffeemade。Moreover，shehadtheboarders’mealtoseeto，andthatofthedoctor，hiswife，andtheirservant；thebilliard-roomwasechoingwithburstsoflaughter；threemillersinasmallparlourwerecallingforbrandy；thewoodwasblazing，thebrazenpanwashissing，andonthelongkitchentable，amidthequartersofrawmutton，rosepilesofplatesthatrattledwiththeshakingoftheblockonwhichspinachwasbeingchopped。

>Fromthepoultry-yardwasheardthescreamingofthefowlswhomtheservantwaschasinginordertowringtheirnecks。

Amanslightlymarkedwithsmall-pox，ingreenleatherslippers，andwearingavelvetcapwithagoldtassel，waswarminghisbackatthechimney。Hisfaceexpressednothingbutself-satisfaction，andheappearedtotakelifeascalmlyasthegoldfinchsuspendedoverhisheadinitswickercage：thiswasthechemist。

“Artemise!“shoutedthelandlady，“chopsomewood，fillthewaterbottles，bringsomebrandy，looksharp!IfonlyIknewwhatdesserttooffertheguestsyouareexpecting!Goodheavens!

Thosefurniture-moversarebeginningtheirracketinthebilliard-roomagain；andtheirvanhasbeenleftbeforethefrontdoor!The’Hirondelle’mightrunintoitwhenitdrawsup。CallPolyteandtellhimtoputitup。Onlythink，MonsieurHomais，thatsincemorningtheyhavehadaboutfifteengames，anddrunkeightjarsofcider!Why，they’lltearmyclothforme，“shewenton，lookingatthemfromadistance，herstrainerinherhand。

“Thatwouldn’tbemuchofaloss，“repliedMonsieurHomais。“Youwouldbuyanother。“

“Anotherbilliard-table!“exclaimedthewidow。

“Sincethatoneiscomingtopieces，MadameLefrancois。Itellyouagainyouaredoingyourselfharm，muchharm!Andbesides，playersnowwantnarrowpocketsandheavycues。Hazardsaren’tplayednow；everythingischanged!Onemustkeeppacewiththetimes!JustlookatTellier!“

Thehostessreddenedwithvexation。Thechemistwenton——

“Youmaysaywhatyoulike；histableisbetterthanyours；andifoneweretothink，forexample，ofgettingupapatrioticpoolforPolandorthesufferersfromtheLyonsfloods——“

“Itisn’tbeggarslikehimthat’llfrightenus，“interruptedthelandlady，shruggingherfatshoulders。“Come，come，MonsieurHomais；aslongasthe’Liond’Or’existspeoplewillcometoit。

We’vefeatheredournest；whileoneofthesedaysyou’llfindthe’CafeFrancais’closedwithabigplacardontheshutters。Changemybilliard-table!“shewenton，speakingtoherself，“thetablethatcomesinsohandyforfoldingthewashing，andonwhich，inthehuntingseason，Ihavesleptsixvisitors!Butthatdawdler，Hivert，doesn’tcome!“

“Areyouwaitingforhimforyourgentlemen’sdinner？“

“Waitforhim!AndwhataboutMonsieurBinet？Astheclockstrikessixyou’llseehimcomein，forhehasn’thisequalunderthesunforpunctuality。Hemustalwayshavehisseatinthesmallparlour。He’dratherdiethandineanywhereelse。Andsosqueamishasheis，andsoparticularaboutthecider!NotlikeMonsieurLeon；hesometimescomesatseven，orevenhalf-past，andhedoesn’tsomuchaslookatwhatheeats。Suchaniceyoungman!Neverspeaksaroughword!“

“Well，yousee，there’sagreatdifferencebetweenaneducatedmanandanoldcarabineerwhoisnowatax-collector。“

Sixo’clockstruck。Binetcamein。

Heworeabluefrock-coatfallinginastraightlineroundhisthinbody，andhisleathercap，withitslappetsknottedoverthetopofhisheadwithstring，showedundertheturned-uppeakabaldforehead，flattenedbytheconstantwearingofahelmet。Heworeablackclothwaistcoat，ahaircollar，greytrousers，and，alltheyearround，well-blackedboots，thathadtwoparallelswellingsduetothestickingoutofhisbig-toes。Notahairstoodoutfromtheregularlineoffairwhiskers，which，encirclinghisjaws，framed，afterthefashionofagardenborder，hislong，wanface，whoseeyesweresmallandthenosehooked。Cleveratallgamesofcards，agoodhunter，andwritingafinehand，hehadathomealathe，andamusedhimselfbyturningnapkinrings，withwhichhefilleduphishouse，withthejealousyofanartistandtheegotismofabourgeois。

Hewenttothesmallparlour，butthethreemillershadtobegotoutfirst，andduringthewholetimenecessaryforlayingthecloth，Binetremainedsilentinhisplacenearthestove。Thenheshutthedoorandtookoffhiscapinhisusualway。

“Itisn’twithsayingcivilthingsthathe’llwearouthistongue，“saidthechemist，assoonashewasalongwiththelandlady。

“Henevertalksmore，“shereplied。“Lastweektwotravelersintheclothlinewerehere——suchcleverchapswhotoldsuchjokesintheevening，thatIfairlycriedwithlaughing；andhestoodtherelikeadabfishandneversaidaword。“

“Yes，“observedthechemist；“noimagination，nosallies，nothingthatmakesthesociety-man。“

“Yettheysayhehasparts，“objectedthelandlady。

“Parts!“repliedMonsieurHomais；“he，parts!Inhisownlineitispossible，“headdedinacalmertone。Andhewenton——

“Ah!Thatamerchant，whohaslargeconnections，ajurisconsult，adoctor，achemist，shouldbethusabsent-minded，thattheshouldbecomewhimsicalorevenpeevish，Icanunderstand；suchcasesarecitedinhistory。Butatleastitisbecausetheyarethinkingofsomething。Myself，forexample，howoftenhasithappenedtometolookonthebureauformypentowritealabel，andtofind，afterall，thatIhadputitbehindmyear!“

MadameLefrancoisjustthenwenttothedoortoseeifthe“Hirondelle“werenotcoming。Shestarted。Amandressedinblacksuddenlycameintothekitchen。Bythelastgleamofthetwilightonecouldseethathisfacewasrubicundandhisformathletic。

“WhatcanIdoforyou，MonsieurleCurie？“askedthelandlady，asshereacheddownfromthechimneyoneofthecoppercandlesticksplacedwiththeircandlesinarow。“Willyoutakesomething？AthimblefulofCassis*？Aglassofwine？“

*Blackcurrantliqueur。

Thepriestdeclinedverypolitely。Hehadcomeforhisumbrella，thathehadforgottentheotherdayattheErnemontconvent，andafteraskingMadameLefrancoistohaveitsenttohimatthepresbyteryintheevening，heleftforthechurch，fromwhichtheAngeluswasringing。

Whenthechemistnolongerheardthenoiseofhisbootsalongthesquare，hethoughtthepriest’sbehaviourjustnowveryunbecoming。Thisrefusaltotakeanyrefreshmentseemedtohimthemostodioushypocrisy；allprieststippledonthesly，andweretryingtobringbackthedaysofthetithe。

Thelandladytookupthedefenceofhercurie。

“Besides，hecoulddoubleupfourmenlikeyouoverhisknee。

Lastyearhehelpedourpeopletobringinthestraw；hecarriedasmanyassixtrussesatonce，heissostrong。“

“Bravo!“saidthechemist。“Nowjustsendyourdaughterstoconfesstofellowswhichsuchatemperament!I，ifIweretheGovernment，I’dhavethepriestsbledonceamonth。Yes，MadameLefrancois，everymonth——agoodphlebotomy，intheinterestsofthepoliceandmorals。“

“Bequiet，MonsieurHomais。Youareaninfidel；you’venoreligion。“

Thechemistanswered：“Ihaveareligion，myreligion，andIevenhavemorethanalltheseotherswiththeirmummeriesandtheirjuggling。IadoreGod，onthecontrary。IbelieveintheSupremeBeing，inaCreator，whateverhemaybe。Icarelittlewhohasplacedusherebelowtofulfilourdutiesascitizensandfathersoffamilies；butIdon’tneedtogotochurchtokisssilverplates，andfatten，outofmypocket，alotofgood-for-nothingswholivebetterthanwedo。ForonecanknowHimaswellinawood，inafield，orevencontemplatingtheeternalvaultliketheancients。MyGod!MineistheGodofSocrates，ofFranklin，ofVoltaire，andofBeranger!Iamfortheprofessionoffaithofthe’SavoyardVicar，’andtheimmortalprinciplesof’89!AndI

can’tadmitofanoldboyofaGodwhotakeswalksinhisgardenwithacaneinhishand，wholodgeshisfriendsinthebellyofwhales，diesutteringacry，andrisesagainattheendofthreedays；thingsabsurdinthemselves，andcompletelyopposed，moreover，toallphysicallaws，whichprovetous，bytheway，thatpriestshavealwayswallowedinturpidignorance，inwhichtheywouldfainengulfthepeoplewiththem。“

Heceased，lookingroundforanaudience，forinhisbubblingoverthechemisthadforamomentfanciedhimselfinthemidstofthetowncouncil。Butthelandladynolongerheededhim；shewaslisteningtoadistantrolling。Onecoulddistinguishthenoiseofacarriagemingledwiththeclatteringofloosehorseshoesthatbeatagainsttheground，andatlastthe“Hirondelle“

stoppedatthedoor。

Itwasayellowboxontwolargewheels，that，reachingtothetilt，preventedtravelersfromseeingtheroadanddirtiedtheirshoulders。Thesmallpanesofthenarrowwindowsrattledintheirsasheswhenthecoachwasclosed，andretainedhereandtherepatchesofmudamidtheoldlayersofdust，thatnotevenstormsofrainhadaltogetherwashedaway。Itwasdrawnbythreehorses，thefirstaleader，andwhenitcamedown-hillitsbottomjoltedagainsttheground。

SomeoftheinhabitantsofYonvillecameoutintothesquare；

theyallspokeatonce，askingfornews，forexplanations，forhampers。Hivertdidnotknowwhomtoanswer。Itwashewhodidtheerrandsoftheplaceintown。Hewenttotheshopsandbroughtbackrollsofleatherfortheshoemaker，oldironforthefarrier，abarrelofherringsforhismistress，capsfromthemilliner’s，llocksfromthehair-dresser’sandallalongtheroadonhisreturnjourneyhedistributedhisparcels，whichhethrew，standinguprightonhisseatandshoutingatthetopofhisvoice，overtheenclosuresoftheyards。

Anaccidenthaddelayedhim。MadameBovary’sgreyhoundhadrunacrossthefield。Theyhadwhistledforhimaquarterofanhour；

Hiverthadevengonebackamileandahalfexpectingeverymomenttocatchsightofher；butithadbeennecessarytogoon。

Emmahadwept，grownangry；shehadaccusedCharlesofthismisfortune。MonsieurLheureux，adraper，whohappenedtobeinthecoachwithher，hadtriedtoconsoleherbyanumberofexamplesoflostdogsrecognizingtheirmastersattheendoflongyears。One，hesaidhadbeentoldof，whohadcomebacktoParisfromConstantinople。Anotherhadgoneonehundredandfiftymilesinastraightline，andswumfourrivers；andhisownfatherhadpossessedapoodle，which，aftertwelveyearsofabsence，hadallofasuddenjumpedonhisbackinthestreetashewasgoingtodineintown。

ChapterTwoEmmagotoutfirst，thenFelicite，MonsieurLheureux，andanurse，andtheyhadtowakeupCharlesinhiscorner，wherehehadsleptsoundlysincenightsetin。

Homaisintroducedhimself；heofferedhishomagestomadameandhisrespectstomonsieur；saidhewascharmedtohavebeenabletorenderthemsomeslightservice，andaddedwithacordialairthathehadventuredtoinvitehimself，hiswifebeingaway。