Chat at table， the chat of love; it is as impossible to reproduce one as the other; the chat of love is a cloud; the chat at table is smoke.

Fameuil and Dahlia were humming. Tholomyes was drinking. Zephine was laughing， Fantine smiling， Listolier blowing a wooden trumpet which he had purchased at Saint-Cloud.

Favourite gazed tenderly at Blachevelle and said:--

"Blachevelle， I adore you."

This called forth a question from Blachevelle:--

"What would you do， Favourite， if I were to cease to love you?"

"I!" cried Favourite. "Ah! Do not say that even in jest! If you were to cease to love me， I would spring after you， I would scratch you， I should rend you， I would throw you into the water， I would have you arrested."

Blachevelle smiled with the voluptuous self-conceit of a man who is tickled in his self-love. Favourite resumed:--

"Yes， I would scream to the police! Ah! I should not restrain myself， not at all! Rabble!"

Blachevelle threw himself back in his chair， in an ecstasy， and closed both eyes proudly.

Dahlia， as she ate， said in a low voice to Favourite， amid the uproar:--

"So you really idolize him deeply， that Blachevelle of yours?"

"I? I detest him，" replied Favourite in the same tone， seizing her fork again. "He is avaricious. I love the little fellow opposite me in my house. He is very nice， that young man; do you know him? One can see that he is an actor by profession. I love actors. As soon as he comes in， his mother says to him: `Ah! mon Dieu! My peace of mind is gone. There he goes with his shouting. But， my dear， you are splitting my head!' So he goes up to rat-ridden garrets， to black holes， as high as he can mount， and there he sets to singing， declaiming， how do I know what? so that he can be heard down stairs! He earns twenty sous a day at an attorney's by penning quibbles. He is the son of a former precentor of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas. Ah! he is very nice. He idolizes me so， that one day when he saw me making batter for some pancakes， he said to me: `Mamselle， make your gloves into fritters， and I will eat them.' It is only artists who can say such things as that. Ah! he is very nice. I am in a fair way to go out of my head over that little fellow. Never mind; I tell Blachevelle that I adore him--how I lie! Hey! How I do lie!"

Favourite paused， and then went on:--

"I am sad， you see， Dahlia. It has done nothing but rain all summer; the wind irritates me; the wind does not abate. Blachevelle is very stingy; there are hardly any green peas in the market; one does not know what to eat. I have the spleen， as the English say， butter is so dear! and then you see it is horrible， here we are dining in a room with a bed in it， and that disgusts me with life."

餐桌上的谈话和情侣们的谈话同样是不可捉摸的，情侣们的谈话是云霞，餐桌上的谈话是烟雾。

法梅依和大丽哼着歌儿，多罗米埃喝着酒，瑟芬笑着，芳汀微笑着。李士多里吹着在圣克鲁买来的木喇叭。宠儿脉脉含情地望着勃拉什维尔说道：

“勃拉什维尔。我爱你。”

这话引起了勃拉什维尔的一个问题。

“宠儿，假使我不爱你了，你将怎样呢？”

“我吗！”宠儿喊着说，“唉！不要说这种话，哪怕是开玩笑，也不要说这种话！假使你不爱我了，我就跳到你后面，抓你的皮，扯你的头发，把水淋到你的身上，叫你吃官司。”

勃拉什维尔自诩多情地微笑了一下，正如一个自尊心获得极端满足而感到舒服的人一样。宠儿又说：

“是呀！我会叫警察！哼！你以为我有什么事做不出的！

坏种！”

勃拉什维尔，受宠若惊，仰在椅上，沾沾自喜地闭上了眼睛。

大丽吃个不停，从喧杂的语声中对宠儿说：

“看来，你对你的勃拉什维尔不是很痴心吗？”

“我，我厌恶他，”宠儿用了同样的语调回答，重又拿起她的叉子。“他舍不得花钱。我爱着在我对面住的那个小伙子。那小子长得漂亮得很，你认得他吗？他很有做戏子的派头。我喜欢戏子。他一回家，他娘就说：‘呀！我的上帝！我又不得安静了。他要叫起来了。唉，我的朋友，你要叫破我的脑袋吗！’因为他一到家里，便到那些住耗子的阁楼上，那些黑洞里，越高越好，他在那里又唱又朗诵，谁知道他搞些什么！下面的人都听得见。他在一个律师家里写讼词，每天已能赚二十个苏了。他父亲是圣雅克教堂里的唱诗人。呀！他生得非常好。他已经爱我到这种地步，有一天，他看见我在调灰面做薄饼，他对我说：‘小姐，您拿您的手套做些饼，我全会吃下去。’世界上只有艺术家才会说这样的话。听！他生得非常好。我已要为那小白脸发疯了。这不打紧，我对勃拉什维尔还是说我爱他。

我多么会撒谎！你说是吗？我多么会撒谎！”

宠儿喘了口气，又继续说：

“大丽，你知道吗？我心里烦得很。落了一夏季的雨，这风真叫我受不了，风又熄不了我心头的火，勃拉什维尔是个小气鬼，菜场里又不大有豌豆卖，他只知道吃，正好象英国人说的，我害‘忧郁病’了，奶油又那么贵！并且，你瞧，真是笑话，我们竟会在有床铺的房间里吃饭，我还不如死了的好。”