"Ah! the hussy! the rascal! where has she been these three hours, since
she left me on the pretext of going to feed the brat? She's playing some
game on me. If it wasn't a show day, how quickly I'd drop the whole
business!--Never mind, Madame Trousquin, I'll find a way to solve my
doubts; and if I see anything crooked, there'll be a sharp and effective
reckoning!"
The poor man was evidently jealous; he swore and stamped and glared from
side to side, but Madame Trousquin did not appear. By way of
compensation, the gleam of the magic lantern attracted a girl and a
young soldier, the latter of whom took his seat close beside the former,
bidding the showman to close the curtain around them. He enveloped them
in an old blue or gray sheet,--it was impossible to distinguish the
color,--and I could not help thinking that a magic lantern may be at
times a very great convenience.
Père Trousquin began his performance, interrupting himself frequently to
swear at his wife, who did not return; and I listened attentively,
although I could see nothing, not being under the curtain; but I had an
idea that the spectators for whom the pictures were being explained were
not looking at them.
"First of all, messieurs and mesdames, you see the sun, the moon, the
stars, and the little fishes. Farther on, the products of the soil, such
as trees, vegetables, animals, caves, waterfalls, rattlesnakes. Pray
examine Monsieur Sun, whom you can't look at because he's so bright; and
Madame Moon, who is full because she's in her first quarter. See those
stars, how fast they travel, as if the devil was carrying 'em
off!--Three hours to put Fifi to bed! Ah! the slut! how I'll make her
dance to-night!--See Venus, glistening like a pinchbeck pin! See the
shepherd's star! The shepherd Tircis, I suppose, seeing what his
reputation is. And there's the Three Kings, who are always together. And
the Chariot, that travels like those you see in the mountains of Russia.
And Mercury and Jupiter. And the Virgin and the Twins. And the Bull and
the Goat. Anybody can understand about them. Do you see the Scales? Do
you see the Scorpion?--a wicked beast he is! All these, messieurs and
mesdames, are planets that determine the nervous _infections_ of the
people born under their _affluence_. The planet Venus is for wanton
women, the Shepherd for good-looking youths, the Three Kings for heroes,
the Chariot for coachmen, Jupiter for roistering blades, Mercury for
apothecaries, the Virgin for little girls, and the Goat for many worthy
gentlemen whom you know. Observe, messieurs and mesdames, in the middle
of that great black cloud, full of stars, between the Bear and the Ram,
you'll see a big, hairy comet, with a tail longer than a fox's. That
brilliant meteor has in all ages announced the end of the world; with
its tail or its head it is capable of overturning our globe, which is
held in place only by a thread, and broiling us all like chestnuts."
At this point, a movement under the curtain led me to surmise that the
comet had aroused great curiosity.
"One moment, messieurs and mesdames, and you'll see what you will see."
Père Trousquin pulled a cord to change the picture, and, after several
very emphatic oaths, resumed his explanation, not changing his voice a
quarter of a tone.
"This, messieurs and mesdames, shows you the interior of the palace of
the great Kin-Kin-Li-King, Emperor of China and King of all the Pekins.
You perceive him seated in his beautiful gilt armchair of state, in full
ceremonial costume, surrounded by learned mandarins and national
guardsmen. He is giving a public audience and receiving petitions from
all the Chinese of the suburbs. Observe, in a corner, that father
leaning on his daughter and a bamboo stick; he has come to demand
justice upon a seducer who has made that poor innocent creature the
mother of five little children, and who feeds them on blows alone. See,
messieurs, how the ill-fated father's features gleam with wrath and
indignation; read the sorrow, pain, and repentance in the girl's eyes.
That man just to the left, wrapped in a brown cloak, with only his nose
visible, is the seducer, awaiting his condemnation. See how pale and
cadaverous his face is, how hollow his eyes, and how tremulous his gait;
well he knows that he will not be let off cheap. Farther on, in the
background----"
A stout female appeared at this juncture, panting for breath, and
interrupted the explanation of the picture. I presumed that it was
Madame Trousquin, and the dialogue that ensued between her and the owner
of the lantern proved to me that my conjecture was well founded.