Volume I Part 49 (1/2)

”My little ly, I must say”

At last, however, he renounced even that lamentable pleasure, when he heard the still more la when he went hory!”

Alas! He was hungry, unhappythat should reseed not to live like a pariah any liness And the ugliest, the nant woman would have appeared beautiful to hily, or, at any rate, not to tell him so, and not to let him see that she felt horror at him on that account

The consequence was, that, when he one day met a poor, blear-eyed creature, with her face covered with scabs, and bearing evident signs of alcoholised and filthy petticoats, to whoave liberal alms, for which she kissed his hand, he took her home with him, had her clean dressed and taken care of, made her his servant, and then his housekeeper Next he raised her to the rank of his mistress, and, finally, of course, he ly as he was! She really was; but only, almost

Almost, but certainly not quite; for she was hideous, and her hideousness had its char by which a wo hi another lier than he was

He was certainly uglier, that collection of every physical and ars whorant associates, that jailbird, that dealer in little girls, that vagabond covered with filth, with legs like a toad's, with a mouth like a lamprey, and a death's head, in which the nose had been replaced by two holes

”And you have wronged me with a wretch like that,” the poor cuckold said ”And in ht catch you in the very act! And hy, you wretch? Why, seeing that he is uglier than I am?”

”Oh! no,” she exclailier than you are”

And the unhappy man stood there, vanquished and overco all the horror which he would feel at theliness, while you are ly like everybody else is”

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Literally, ”The bird flies”--a pun on the verb voler, which means both ”to fly” and ”to steal”

[2] Nickname for Napoleon III

[3] _Jevodre voir vo comment vo faites le painture? Vele vo? Je ete tres curieux_

[4] _J'ete joujours avec vo la meme qu-autre fois_

[5] Munich beer--often brewed in France!--which is much affected by the Parisians in summer