Civilization, Western -- Fiction; France -- Civilization -- Fiction; Penguins -- Fiction; Satire
As soon as the monk had departed, carrying with him the joy of having
won over the masses to his cause, Dagobert, Tronc, and Balafille
whistled to their wives, Amelia, Queenie, and Matilda, who were waiting
in the street for the signal, and all six holding each other’s hands,
danced around the bag, singing:
J’ai du bon pognon,
Tu n’l’auras pas Chatillon!
Hou! Hou! la calotte!
And they ordered a salad-bowl full of warm wine.
In the evening all six went through the street from stall to stall
singing their new song. The song became popular, for the detectives
reported that every day showed an increase of the number of workpeople
who sang through the slums:
J’ai du bon pognon;
Tu n’l’auras pas Chatillon!
Hou! Hou! la calotte!
The Dracophil agitation made no progress in the provinces. The pious
Agaric sought to find the cause of this, but was unable to discover it
until old Cornemuse revealed it to him.
“I have proofs,” sighed the monk of Conils, “that the Duke of Ampoule,
the treasurer of the Dracophils, has brought property in Porpoisia with
the funds that he received for the propaganda.”
The party wanted money. Prince des Boscénos had lost his portfolio in a
brawl and he was reduced to painful expedients which were repugnant to
his impetuous character. The Viscountess Olive was expensive. Cornemuse
advised that the monthly allowance of that lady should be diminished.
“She is very useful to us,” objected the pious Agaric.
“Undoubtedly,” answered Cornemuse, “but she does us an injury by
ruining us.”
A schism divided the Dracophils. Misunderstandings reigned in their
councils. Some wished that in accordance with the policy of M. Bigourd
and the pious Agaric, they should carry on the design of reforming the
Republic. Others, wearied by their long constraint, had resolved to
proclaim the Dragon’s crest and swore to conquer beneath that sign.
The latter urged the advantage of a clear situation and the
impossibility of making a pretence much longer, and in truth, the
public began to see whither the agitation was tending and that the
Emiral’s partisans wanted to destroy the very foundations of the
Republic.
A report was spread that the prince was to land at La Cirque and make
his entry into Alca on a green horse.
These rumours excited the fanatical monks, delighted the poor nobles,
satisfied the rich Jewish ladies, and put hope in the hearts of the
small traders. But very few of them were inclined to purchase these
benefits at the price of a social catastrophe and the overthrow of the
public credit; and there were fewer still who would have risked their
money, their peace, their liberty, or a single hour from their
pleasures in the business. On the other hand, the workmen held
themselves ready, as ever, to give a day’s work to the Republic, and a
strong resistance was being formed in the suburbs.
“The people are with us,” the pious Agaric used to say.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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