Part 25 (1/2)
”Why not?”
”Because if I were even to put eons, I should fancy I was buried there forever”
”No, no; the cells are very good places to live in”
”I really do not, and cannot believe it, and that is a fact”
”Pray do not speak ill of second Bertaudiere It is really a good roo fellow has by nothe Bastile affords has been his There is a chance for you”
”Nay, nay,” said Araood rooms in the Bastile; and, as for your carpets, they exist only in your i but spiders, rats, and perhaps toads, too”
”Toads?” cried Baiseeons”
”Ah! I don't say there are not toads in the dungeons,” replied Baisemeaux ”But-will you be convinced by your own eyes?” he continued, with a sudden impulse
”No, certainly not”
”Not even to satisfy yourself of the resemblance which you deny, as you do the carpets?”
”Sofellow as ever lived”
”Melancholy and ill-teay and lively”
”Nonsense; you are joking”
”Will you follow o the round of the Bastile”
”Why?”
”You will then see for yourself-see with your own eyes”
”But the regulations?”
”Never mind them To-daythe post on the bastions; we are sole overnor; why, the very idea of the sound of the bolts et me in second or fourth Bertaudiere, and then-”
”You are refusing an opportunity that ain Do you know that, to obtain the favor I propose to you gratis, some of the princes of the blood have offered me as much as fifty thousand francs”
”Really! he , then?”
”Forbidden fruit, ht to know that”
”Well, if had any curiosity, it would be to see the poor author of the distich”
”Very well, ill see him, too; but if I were at all curious, it would be about the beautiful carpeted rooer”
”Furniture is very commonplace; and a face with no expression in it offers little or no interest”
”But a boarder at fifteen francs is always interesting”
”By the by, I forgot to ask you about that Why fifteen francs for him, and only three francs for poor Seldon?”
”The distinction made in that instance was a truly noble act, and one which displayed the king's goodness of heart to great advantage”
”The king's, you say”
”The cardinal's, I mean 'This unhappy man,' said M Mazarin, 'is destined to remain in prison forever'”
”Why so?”
”Why, it see one; and, consequently, his punish?”
”No doubt of it, unless he is fortunate enough to catch the set any ienious than your train of reasoning, my dear M Baisemeaux Do you, however, mean to say that this unfortunate man must suffer without interruption or termination?”
”I did not say he was to suffer, my lord; a fifteen-franc boarder does not suffer”
”He suffers imprisonment, at all events”
”No doubt; there is no help for that, but this suffering is sweetened for hi felloas not born to eat all the good things he does eat; for instance, such things as we have on the table now; this pasty that has not been touched, these crawfish from the River Marne, of which we have hardly taken any, and which are als will at once be taken to second Bertaudiere, with a bottle of that Volnay which you think so excellent After you have seen it you will believe it, I hope”
”Yes, overnor, certainly; but all this ti only of your very happy fifteen-franc prisoner, and you forget poor Seldon, e”
”Well, out of consideration for you, it shall be a gala day for him; he shall have some biscuits and preserves with this sood-hearted fellow; I have said so already, and I repeat it, my dear Baiseovernor, a little bewildered, partly from the wine he had drunk, and partly froo to oblige you,” said the prelate