nding there admiring the table. The
Coupeaus had lunched very late on just a bite or two, because the stoves
were already in use, and because they did not want to dirty any dishes
needed for the evening. By four o'clock the two women were working very
hard. The huge goose was being cooked on a spit. Squint-eyed
Augustine was sitting on a low bench solemnly basting the goose with a
long-handled spoon. Gervaise was busy with the peas with bacon. Mother
Coupeau, kept spinning around, a bit confused, waiting for the right
time to begin reheating the pork and the veal.

Towards five o'clock the guests began to arrive. First of all came the
two workwomen, Clemence and Madame Putois, both in their Sunday best,
the former in blue, the latter in black; Clemence carried a geranium,
Madame Putois a heliotrope, and Gervaise, whose hands were just then
smothered with flour, had to kiss each of them on both cheeks with her
arms behind her back. Then following close upon their heels entered
Virginie dressed like a lady in a printed muslin costume with a sash and
a bonnet though she had only a few steps to come. She brought a pot of
red carnations. She took the laundress in her big arms and squeezed her
tight. At length Boche appeared with a pot of pansies and Madame Boche
with a pot of mignonette; then came Madame Lerat with a balm-mint,
the pot of which had dirtied her violet merino dress. All these people
kissed each other and gathered together in the back-room in the midst of
the three stoves and the roasting apparatus, which gave out a stifling
heat. The noise from the saucepans drowned the voices. A dress catching
in the Dutch oven caused quite an emotion. The smell of roast goose
was so strong that it made their mouths water. And Gervaise was very
pleasant, thanking everyone for their flowers without however letting
that interfere with her preparing the thickening for the stewed veal at
the bottom of a soup plate. She had placed the pots in the shop at one
end of the table without removing the white paper that was round them. A
sweet scent of flowers mingled with the odor of cooking.

"Do you want any assistance?" asked Virginie. "Just fancy, you've been
three days preparing all this feast and it will be gobbled up in no
time."

"Well, you know," replied Gervaise, "it wouldn't prepare itself. No,
don't dirty your hands. You see everything's ready. There's only the
soup to warm."

Then they all made themselves comfortable. Th