Page:The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter.djvu/114

in my breast than is to be found on the banks of the Rhine or in Alphonse Karr’s romances.”

And he hastened from the gardens humming a sentimental ballad that was for him the Marseillaise of love.

Half an hour later, goodness knows how, he was at the Prado, seated before a glass of punch and talking with a tall fellow celebrated on account of his nose, which had the singular privilege of being aquiline when seen sideways, and a snub when viewed in front. It was a nose that was not devoid of sharpness, and had had a sufficiency of gallant adventures to be able in such a case to give good advice and be useful to its friend.

“So,” said Alexander Schaunard, the man with the nose, “you are in love.”

“Yes, my dear fellow, it seized on me, just now, suddenly, like a bad toothache in the heart.”

“Pass me the tobacco,” said Alexander.

“Fancy,” continued Rodolphe, “ for the last two hours I have met nothing but lovers, men and women in couples. I had the notion of going into the Luxembourg Gardens, where I saw all manner of phantasmagorias, that stirred my heart extraordinarily. Elegies are bursting from me, I bleat and I coo; I am undergoing a metamorphosis, and am half lamb, half turtledove. Look at me a bit, I must have wool and feathers.”

“What have you been drinking?” said Alexander impatiently, “you are chaffing me.”

“I assure you that I am quite cool,” replied Rodolphe. “That is to say, no. But I will announce to you that I must embrace something. You see, Alexander, it is not good for man to live alone; in short, you must help me to find a companion. We will stroll through the ball-room, and the first girl I point out to you, you must go and tell her that I love her.”