Page:The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter.djvu/100

is only myself unable to stand anything. It is humiliating.”

“Meanwhile,” said Rodolphe, “I maintain my offer of a dinner.”

“So do I,” said Colline.

“Very well,” said Rodolphe, “we will toss up which shall settle the bill.”

“No,” said Schaunard, “‘I have something far better than that to offer you as a way of getting over the difficulty.”

“Let us have it.”

“Rodolphe shall pay for the dinner, and Colline shall stand a supper.”

“That is what I call Solomonic jurisprudence,” exclaimed the philosopher.

“It is worse than Camacho’s wedding,” added Marcel.

The dinner took place at a Provencal restaurant in the Rue Dauphine, celebrated for its literary waiters and its “Ayoli.” As it was necessary to leave room for the supper, they ate and drank in moderation. The acquaintance begun the evening before between Colline and Schaunard, and later on with Marcel, became more intimate; each of the young fellows hoisted the flag of his artistic opinions, and all four recognized that they had like courage and similar hopes. Talking and arguing they perceived that their sympathies were akin, that they had all the same knack in that chaff which amuses without hurting, and that the virtues of youth had not left a vacant spot in their heart, easily stirred by the sight or the narration of anything noble. All four starting from the same mark to reach the same goal, they thought that there was something more than chance in their meeting, and that it might after all be Providence who thus joined their hands and whispered