ere were obstacles to step
over, holes to avoid, passing carts to move back from. She couldn't
distinguish anything clearly or hear what Goujet was saying.

Gervaise looked up and stopped to stare at the leather belts hanging
from the roof in a gigantic spider web, each strip ceaselessly
revolving. The steam engine that drove them was hidden behind a low
brick wall so that the belts seemed to be moving by themselves. She
stumbled and almost fell while looking up.

Goujet raised his voice with explanations. There were the tapping
machines operated by women, which put threads on bolts and nuts. Their
steel gears were shining with oil. She could follow the entire process.
She nodded her head and smiled.

She was still a little tense, however, feeling uneasy at being so small
among these rough metalworkers. She jumped back more than once, her
blood suddenly chilled by the dull thud of a machine.

Goujet had stopped before one of the rivet machines. He stood there
brooding, his head lowered, his gaze fixed. This machine forged forty
millimetre rivets with the calm ease of a giant. Nothing could be
simpler. The stoker took the iron shank from the furnace; the striker
put it into the socket, where a continuous stream of water cooled it to
prevent softening of the steel. The press descended and the bolt flew
out onto the ground, its head as round as though cast in a mold. Every
twelve hours this machine made hundreds of kilograms of bolts!

Goujet was not a mean person, but there were moments when he wanted to
take Fifine and smash this machine to bits because he was angry to see
that its arms were stronger than his own. He reasoned with himself,
telling himself that human flesh cannot compete with steel. But he was
still deeply hurt. The day would come when machinery would destroy the
skilled worker. Their day's pay had already fallen from twelve francs
to nine francs. There was talk of cutting it again. He stared at it,
frowning, for three minutes without saying a word. His yellow
beard seemed to bristle defiantly. Then, gradually an expression of
resignation came over his face and he turned toward Gervaise who was
clinging tightly to him and said with a sad smile:

"Well! That machine would certainly win a contest. But perhaps it will
be for the good of mankind in the long run."

Gervaise didn't care a bit about the welfare of mankind. Smiling, she
said to Goujet:

"I like yours better, because they show the hand of