poisoned
blood which paled his skin. She tried to joke and get him to bed, the
same as on the days when the wine had made him merry; but he pushed her
aside without opening his lips, and raised his fist in passing as he
went to bed of his own accord. He made Gervaise think of the other--the
drunkard who was snoring upstairs, tired out by the blows he had struck.
A cold shiver passed over her. She thought of the men she knew--of her
husband, of Goujet, of Lantier--her heart breaking, despairing of ever
being happy.

CHAPTER VII.

Gervaise's saint's day fell on the 19th of June. On such occasions, the
Coupeaus always made a grand display; they feasted till they were as
round as balls, and their stomachs were filled for the rest of the week.
There was a complete clear out of all the money they had. The moment
there were a few sous in the house they went in gorging. They invented
saints for those days which the almanac had not provided with any, just
for the sake of giving themselves a pretext for gormandizing. Virginie
highly commended Gervaise for stuffing herself with all sorts of savory
dishes. When one has a husband who turns all he can lay hands on into
drink, it's good to line one's stomach well, and not to let everything
go off in liquids. Since the money would disappear anyway, surely it was
better to pay it to the butcher. Gervaise used that excuse to justify
overeating, saying it was Coupeau's fault if they could no longer save a
sou. She had grown considerably fatter, and she limped more than before
because her leg, now swollen with fat, seemed to be getting gradually
shorter.

That year they talked about her saint's day a good month beforehand.
They thought of dishes and smacked their lips in advance. All the shop
had a confounded longing to junket. They wanted a merry-making of the
right sort--something out of the ordinary and highly successful. One
does not have so many opportunities for enjoyment. What most troubled
the laundress was to decide whom to invite; she wished to have twelve
persons at table, no more, no less. She, her husband, mother Coupeau,
and Madame Lerat, already made four members of the family. She would
also have the Goujets and the Poissons. Originally, she had decided not
to invite her workwomen, Madame Putois and Clemence, so as not to make
them too familiar; but as the projected feast was being constantly
spoken of in their presence, and their mouths watered, she ended by
tellin