human
Good-afternoon, Lucien! how are you, my boy? Sapristi! you haven't put on much flesh since I saw you last!
gpt
I can't say the same for you, Philémon, for you are almost the shape of a barrel.
human
Oh! a barrel; that's putting it a little strong; but, after all, I would rather resemble a barrel than the barrel of a gun.
gpt
Well, well, messieurs, how's this? old schoolfellows meeting after five years, and making unkind remarks to each other! is that the way to meet after a lustrum has passed over our heads, and have you become so sensitive that you lose your tempers over a jest?
human
Oh! I am not angry in the least, replied Lucien;
gpt
For my part, said Dubotté,
human
I confess that I can't endure being compared to a barrel; any sobriquet you please, except that. But I don't bear Lucien any ill will. Come, sit down here with us, my dear fellow, and take something.
gpt
Thanks; but we're not all here yet: someone is missing--Dodichet.
human
Oh! we can't count on him. Was Dodichet ever a man of his word? Why, he doesn't know what it is to keep a promise! He's a good fellow enough, but an erratic, rattle-brained creature, who always has a thousand schemes on hand, but never carries out one of them, and never remembers one day what he said the day before.
gpt
The devil! you judge him rather harshly, Philémon!
human
I am simply telling the truth. However, I've seen very little of him for five years; he may have mended his ways.
gpt
No, said Adhémar;
human
Dodichet is just the same; I have happened to meet him several times, and I have been sorry to see that our old friend has not grown any more sensible. He was in a position to succeed, for he's not a fool, and he inherited some money from his parents; but he thinks of nothing but enjoying life, of making _bonnes blagues_, as he expresses it; and they don't always succeed; some of them have cost him dear. I believe that he is almost ruined now; and, unfortunately, he hasn't yet decided upon any profession.
gpt
Poor Dodichet! said Lucien;
human
He, unhappy! oh! he'll never be that. He laughs at everything, everything is _couleur de rose_ with him; and he is convinced that he will have a fine house, horses and carriages, and a hundred thousand francs a year, some day. He has a very happy disposition.
gpt
Why, here he is, on my word! cried Philémon;