"But it's impossible! Ah! my dear Eugène, anyone can see that you're a bachelor! you know nothing at all about married life; but before long I hope that you will know all the joys of marriage, of which you have no conception now." "No; I agree that I have no conception of them." "Patience, it will come in time. Good-night, dear Eugène; until to-morrow!" My sister left me, and I went to bed reflecting on the manner of life of which Amélie and her husband had just given me a specimen; and yet it was a delightful household, so everybody said. This much was certain--that my sister was virtuous, and true to her husband, and that Déneterre was very fond of his wife and children. Why, then, those frequent disputes?--I saw that my sister was right: I had undertaken to argue about conjugal happiness, and I did not know what it was. I concluded that the best thing I could do was to go to sleep. The journey had tired me, but the sight of my sister and her husband had diverted my thoughts from my grief, for all troubles yield at last to time and to distraction. I fell asleep in a more tranquil frame of mind than I had known for a long while; and I should doubtless have slept well into the forenoon, if my dear nephews had not taken it upon themselves to wake me. At seven o'clock I heard a great noise in my room; I felt somebody pulling my leg and my arm; I opened my eyes and saw my sister's two children, who had climbed on my bed and were amusing themselves by playing tricks and tumbling all over me. While I, still half asleep, gazed vacantly at them, I heard a roar of laughter behind me; I drew the curtain aside and discovered Déneterre seated a few feet from the bed and laughing at my surprise. "Well!" he said; "here they are; what do you think of them?" "Why, they are in excellent condition, so far as I can see." "Aren't they fine boys?" "Yes, indeed." "Ah! I'll make hearty little chaps of them, I tell you! They're such merry, lively rascals!" "So I see; just tell them not to pinch me so hard. Here's one of them who won't let go my calf." "It's only play, my dear fellow. They wake me like this every morning. Tell me, is there any greater pleasure?" "Yes, to a father, it must be perfectly charming; but to an uncle, you see, it hasn't quite the same fascination." "Parbleu! it rests entirely with you to become acquainted with that pleasure; marry, and have children; they'll caress you as these little fellows caress me." "Oh! I shall do it some day, no doubt." "Come, my hearties, kiss your uncle and let him dress." To prove their affection, the "hearties" threw themselves on my stomach, seized my head, and, while kissing me, rubbed their faces clean and wiped their noses on my cheeks and nose; they tried to see which would kiss me the more. I was suffocating, I cried for mercy; their papa was forced to order them to desist, but they listened to him no more than to me, and kept on as before. Luckily, my sister arrived and the scene changed.