human
Here you are! How glad I am! Tell me all about your début and your triumph. I am sure you had wreaths thrown to you, and made plenty of conquests! You were so handsome as Joconde! How many recalls did you have?
gpt
They recalled me, that's true enough, Dodichet replied, dropping into a chair,
human
What sort of a tale is this? What new practical joke have you been playing?
gpt
Well, it was a very poor one; the audience at Quimper-Corentin had the cheek to hiss, to send me to the devil; and I turned round and showed them my other face. At that, there were shouts and yelling and a great hullabaloo; and, as I have just told you, I had hardly time to get away.
human
Is it possible? And what's become of your pretty costume?
gpt
I sold it, on my way back, to get a pair of trousers and a coat.
human
So your début--you've got to begin again, eh?
gpt
Thanks, no! I have no desire to try it again in the same line. My voice won't come back.
human
Oh! you smoke too much! I told you so! Luckily, your aunt's dead; a friend of yours told me.
gpt
Yes, my aunt's dead, that's true; but she disinherited me!
human
Oh! my poor boy! what a grind! But, thank heaven! you still have your gold mine--the man who can't refuse you when you ask him for money--the man with the mystery!
gpt
My dear girl, the man with the mystery has followed my aunt's example; that is, he hasn't disinherited me, but he's dead.
human
Oh! mon Dieu! Did someone mention Pontoise to him?
gpt
Better than that: someone sang him a song that was written about him at Pontoise, in which they poked fun at him about his accident; for I can tell you now what it was that that jackass was so afraid people would find out. Sieur Seringat had a very pretty wife, whom he believed to be a regular Lucretia. The fellow had the bad habit of making sport of deceived husbands, of laughing at their expense, and saying that no such misfortune would ever happen to him. But, lo and behold! one day, at an outdoor fête, our Seringat saw a veiled lady in the distance, just at dusk, slip into an isolated summer house, where, not long after, she was joined by a young officer. Feeling sure that the lady he had seen was the wife of one of the leading men of the town, Seringat got together several young men, confided his discovery to them, and guided them to the pavilion, which was not lighted, but which they entered, carrying torches, on the pretext of illuminating it. Whom did they find there? Whom but Madame Seringat, in criminal conversation with the young officer! Who was sheepish and shamefaced then? Who but Seringat; for all the husbands in Pontoise revenged themselves on him, and that same evening his misadventure was known all over the town. Seringat, in his rage and vexation at becoming one of that class at which he had always laughed, left Pontoise the next day, swearing never to return. He took the name of Miflorès, and anybody who knew him could get anything out of him by threatening to disclose his name and his adventure. In fact, he was drowned not long ago, because a man from Pontoise chased him, calling him by his real name, and singing a couplet in which he was ridiculed about his accident. In his haste to escape, Seringat, who was trying to get aboard a boat, made a misstep, fell into the river, and was drowned.--Now you know, my dear girl, how I made him lend me money. He had so much self-esteem, and was so vexed at wearing a pair of horns, that you had only to threaten to tell about it, to obtain all you wanted.
human
Well, he was a Gribouille, on my word! to throw himself into the water for fear someone would know he had taken a fancy to _the yellow_! If all the husbands that happens to should run into the river, the fish would get a good fright!--And what are you going to do now, my poor Dodichet?
gpt
I am going to make a cigarette.
human
That won't keep you alive.
gpt
True; but to-morrow I shall go to see the theatrical agent. I'll tell him that I've changed my line, that I play the legitimate drama now, the leading rôles, Frédérick Lemaître's and Mélingue's and Dumaine's. He'll soon find me an engagement in some large town; for I don't propose to play in holes in the ground any more. I want a chance now to display my talents on a vast stage!
human
You're sure you have talents, are you?
gpt
Pardieu! everyone has; the only thing is to find them. A famous thinker has said: 'How many people have come into the world and left it without unpacking all their merchandise!'
human
What does that mean?
gpt
Don't you understand? You grieve me! That means that many people are born with talents and faculties which events, fatality or poverty, do not permit them to develop, to make manifest. Now, do you see, something tells me that I have dramatic genius in my stomach!
human
Dear me! And do you mean to force it out?
gpt
I mean to find my real vocation. Meanwhile, would you like me to treat you to snails? I know a place where they cook them in a way to make you lick your fingers.
human
Thanks, I prefer something else!
gpt
After all, I still have a little money in my pocket, and I'll take you to Bonvalet's. Come, O Boulotte! On the way, I will purchase a number of dramas, and this evening I will learn the leading rôles by heart.
human
I think I see you! said Boulotte, putting on her jaunty little hat;