"What could Violette have had to say to you about me, monsieur?" faltered Georget, walking toward his master; but he simply pointed to the door and said: "Leave me," in a tone which permitted no reply. Poor Georget left the room, disconcerted, and saying to himself: "It is strange! I thought I should make him very happy by giving him that gentleman's address; but it seems to have produced a contrary effect." XXVIII THE EDUCATION OF A PARROT Let us return to Monsieur de Roncherolle, whom we left in his little lodging house in the Marais. When the gout left him at rest, that gentleman usually left his room about noon, and did not return until midnight, sometimes later; always cursing the dimly-lighted staircase, his wretchedly-kept apartment, and the servants who performed their duties inefficiently; and he ordinarily finished his complaints by saying: "But, after all, as I can't hire any better lodgings, I must make the best of it, I must be a philosopher. I can no longer attract women, I have squandered my money, and with what little I have left I still manage to lose at cards. Such infernal luck! Louis XIV was right when he said to the Marechal de Villeroi: 'At our age, a man has no luck!'--Ah! ten thousand devils! what would he have said if he had had the gout?" But one morning, Monsieur de Roncherolle, finding that he was unable to put his left foot to the floor, was compelled to remain in his room, reading a great deal to pass the time away, and sleeping when the gout would allow. Stretched out in the so-called armchair _a la Voltaire,_ with his diseased foot on a cushion and wrapped in flannel, Monsieur de Roncherolle had been sleeping a few moments when a shrill, piercing shriek and a number of words uttered in a voice like Mr. Punch's, woke him abruptly. Then an ordinary human voice, much too loud for that of a neighbor, however, uttered these words: "Very good, Coco, very good; you have plenty of voice, my friend; I know perfectly well that you can talk, for I heard you at your owner's cafe, and that is why I bought you. Now the question is to learn what I want you to say, and you will learn it, won't you, Coco?" "Good-day, Monsieur Brillant!" "Good-day, my friend, good-day! you say that very well; but I am not Monsieur Brillant, I am Saint-Arthur, De Saint-Arthur." "Good-day, Monsieur Brillant!" "Come, come, Coco, that isn't it; now listen: Dutaillis is lovely! applaud, clap Zizi!--There, that's what you must say; it's a little long perhaps, but you can learn it half at a time. Attention: Dutaillis is lovely!" "Good-day, Monsieur Brillant!" "_Sapristi!_ you will make me angry, Coco." "Cre coquin! you make me sick! oh! what a fool!" "Aha! he swears; you swear! all right; that is quite amusing, but it isn't enough for me. Dutaillis is lovely." "Oh! what a fool!" "Applaud, clap Zizi!" "Good-day, Monsieur Brillant!" "Corbleu! morbleu! I will swear, too, if you make me angry."