stupid, but you do it on purpose! You pretend that
you do not care for such things, whereas everyone
cares for magnificent presents. Very well, I hope
you will always be poor.' And he quite inexcusably
added: 'Cochon!5
Christophe flushed crimson right up to his scalp,
while his close-cropped red hair seemed about to
bristle: 'Cochon yourself!5 he exclaimed furiously, 1
will not permit you to call me bad names! And I
do not believe you will ever grow rich; and I do want
a pair of Eusebe's sandals!5
At this stage Jan forgot that he might become a
bishop, and he said many things that were far from
polite, and which he most certainly could not have
heard on the lips of the Cure or Madame Roustan —
but Jan had long been familiar with the port, where
the Provencal tongue is very elastic. As for Christophe
his temper was almost as fierce as his cousin5s, when
aroused through a sense of injustice, so that now
they must go at it hammer and tongs, to the great
disquietude of Mireio. Then, just as they were walking
under that arch which had been bequeathed to
Saint Loup by the Romans, Christophe suddenly
hurled away Jan5s gift:
cNothing of yours do I want!5 he said loudly, *no,
neither a palace, nor a ship, nor a horse — and I do
not want your dirty old marble!5
And so, as will frequently happen in this world, the
best of intentions had led to trouble; Jan's impulse of
generosity had but ended in a noisy and groundless
quarrel. Having talked a very great deal too much,
the cousins parted without saying good-bye, and in
consequence neither enjoyed his supper. However,
these storms which would blow up like thunder over
their otherwise cloudless horizon, never lasted for long,
and this one" had quite passed by the time they were
going to school the next morning.
130