spectacle which he perceived on either hand as he
halted opposite the Rue Pirouette.

On his right, the beautiful Norman, or the beautiful Madame Lebigre, as
she was now called, stood at the door of her shop. Her husband had at
length been granted the privilege of adding a State tobacco agency[*] to
his wine shop, a long-cherished dream of his which he had finally
been able to realise through the great services he had rendered to the
authorities. And to Claude the beautiful Madame Lebigre looked superb,
with her silk dress and her frizzed hair, quite ready to take her seat
behind her counter, whither all the gentlemen in the neighbourhood
flocked to buy their cigars and packets of tobacco. She had become
quite distinguished, quite the lady. The shop behind her had been newly
painted, with borders of twining vine-branches showing against a soft
background; the zinc-plated wine-counter gleamed brightly, and in the
tall mirror the flasks of liqueurs set brighter flashes of colour than
ever. And the mistress of all these things stood smiling radiantly at
the bright sunshine.

[*] Most readers will remember that the tobacco trade is a
State monopoly in France. The retail tobacconists are merely
Government agents.--Translator.

Then, on Claude's left, the beautiful Lisa blocked up the doorway of
her shop as she stood on the threshold. Never before had her linen shone
with such dazzling whiteness; never had her serene face and rosy cheeks
appeared in a more lustrous setting of glossy locks. She displayed the
deep calmness of repletion, a massive tranquillity unruffled even by a
smile. She was a picture of absolute quietude, of perfect felicity, not
only cloudless but lifeless, the simple felicity of basking in the warm
atmosphere. Her tightly stretched bodice seemed to be still digesting
the happiness of yesterday; while her dimpled hands, hidden in the folds
of her apron, did not even trouble to grasp at the happiness of to-day,
certain as they were that it would come of itself. And the shop-window
at her side seemed to display the same felicity. It had recovered from
its former blight; the tongues lolled out, red and healthy; the hams
had regained their old chubbiness of form; the festoons of sausages no
longer wore that mournful air which had so greatly distressed Quenu.
Hearty laughter, accompanied by a jubilant clattering of pans, sounded
from the kitchen in the rear. The whole place again reeked with fat