Civilization, Western -- Fiction; France -- Civilization -- Fiction; Penguins -- Fiction; Satire
One day, as he went into a tobacco shop, two Penguins who were putting
letters in the box recognized Chatillon and cried at the top of their
voices: “Hurrah for the Emiral! Down with the Republicans.” All those
who were passing stopped in front of the shop. Chatillon lighted his
cigar before the eyes of a dense crowd of frenzied citizens who waved
their hats and cheered. The crowd kept increasing, and the whole town,
singing and marching behind its hero, went back with him to the
Admiralty.
The Emiral had an old comrade in arms, Under-Emiral Vulcanmould, who
had served with great distinction, a man as true as gold and as loyal
as his sword. Vulcanmould plumed himself on his thoroughgoing
independence and he went among the partisans of Crucho and the Minister
of the Republic telling both parties what he thought of them. M.
Bigourd maliciously declared that he told each party what the other
party thought of it. In truth he had on several occasions been guilty
of regrettable indiscretions, which were overlooked as being the
freedoms of a soldier who knew nothing of intrigue. Every morning he
went to see Chatillon, whom he treated with the cordial roughness of a
brother in arms.
“Well, old buffer, so you are popular,” said he to him. “Your phiz is
sold on the heads of pipes and on liqueur bottles and every drunkard in
Alca spits out your name as he rolls in the gutter. . . . Chatillon,
the hero of the Penguins! Chatillon, defender of the Penguin glory! . .
. Who would have said it? Who would have thought it?”
And he laughed with his harsh laugh. Then changing his tone: “But,
joking aside, are you not a bit surprised at what is happening to you?”
“No, indeed,” answered Chatillon.
And out went the honest Vulcanmould, banging the door behind him.
In the mean time Chatillon had taken a little flat at number 18
Johannes-Talpa Street, so that he might receive Viscountess Olive. They
met there every day. He was desperately in love with her. During his
martial and neptunian life he had loved crowds of women, red, black,
yellow, and white, and some of them had been very beautiful. But before
he met the Viscountess he did not know what a woman really was. When
the Viscountess Olive called him her darling, her dear darling, he felt
in heaven and it seemed to him that the stars shone in her hair.
She would come a little late, and, as she put her bag on the table, she
would ask pensively:
“Let me sit on your knee.”
And then she would talk of subjects suggested by the pious Agaric,
interrupting the conversation with sighs and kisses. She would ask him
to dismiss such and such an officer, to give a command to another, to
send the squadron here or there. And at the right moment she would
exclaim:
“How young you are, my dear!”
And he did whatever she wished, for he was simple, he was anxious to
wear the Constable’s sword, and to receive a large grant; he did not
dislike playing a double part, he had a vague idea of saving Penguinia,
and he was in love.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account