human
Are you the man called Sans-Cravate?
gpt
Yes, monsieur.
human
This is the first time that you have been summoned to my office?
gpt
That is true, monsieur le commissaire.
human
But you have the reputation, in the quarter, of being a noisy, quarrelsome fellow, and of drinking rather hard, too.
gpt
Faith! monsieur le commissaire, it's possible that I like to enjoy myself, that I'm a little hot-headed, that I fight sometimes! It's in my blood, and I can't make myself over. But all that don't prevent a man from being honest, and I defy anyone to say that Sans-Cravate ever did him an injury.
human
I know that you are an honest man, that your head alone is a little unruly; and because I am convinced of that, I wanted to speak to you privately, to give you some good advice. This is the first time you have been to my office, and I like to think that, if you follow my advice, it will be the last.
gpt
On my word! a moral lecture! I should think we was at _Quart-d'Œil's_ school!
human
The quickest, the most impulsive people are usually the easiest to lead. Beware of evil associates, Sans-Cravate, that's all; the man who obeys the first suggestions of his anger generally has a weak will; and there are rascals, who, by flattering your passions, sometimes lead you into bad ways. --As he said this, the magistrate glanced at Jean Ficelle, who affected to whistle through his teeth.--
gpt
Sans-Cravate, you were at the same table, last night, in a wine shop, with one Laboussole; where did you make that man's acquaintance?
human
Faith! monsieur le commissaire, I know him only by having met him at the Petit Bacchus, and, as Jean Ficelle called him his friend, I invited him to have a drink with us.
gpt
I! cried Jean Ficelle;
human
I didn't know him any more'n you did; just from meeting him at the wine shop. I called him _old fellow;_ that's a term men often use to each other when they're drinking together; but I don't know him.
gpt
You lie! said the magistrate, gazing sternly at the messenger;
human
I, monsieur le commissaire! on my word! what a slander!
gpt
If I were certain of it, you would have ceased to be a messenger before this; for you would be likely to betray the confidence of the public.--As for you, Sans-Cravate, you see how dangerous it is to form intimacies with people you don't know. This Laboussole, in addition to the punishment he has earned for conducting games of chance, is also involved in a serious case of larceny; if you were often seen with such men, your reputation for honesty would suffer. That is what I wanted to say to you. We have too many rascals in Paris now, and it is almost always by frequenting their society that others are ruined. As you know nothing more about Laboussole, you may go.
human
But, monsieur le commissaire, said Jean Ficelle, in a fawning tone,
gpt
If we do not summon that young man before us, it is presumably because we do not deem it necessary. Our purpose in summoning Sans-Cravate was principally to give him some good advice, and to urge him to distrust evil acquaintances. As for your young comrade, such advice to him is unnecessary. He is neither a drinking man, nor a quarrelsome man, nor a frequenter of wine shops; the best thing you could do would be to take him for a model. You may go now.