as as well as well could be. The sour wine and
the "vitriol" positively fattened him. He ate a great deal, and laughed
at that stick Lorilleux, who accused drink of killing people, and
answered him by slapping himself on the stomach, the skin of which was
so stretched by the fat that it resembled the skin of a drum. He would
play him a tune on it, the glutton's vespers, with rolls and beats loud
enough to have made a quack's fortune. Lorilleux, annoyed at not having
any fat himself, said that it was soft and unhealthy. Coupeau ignored
him and went on drinking more and more, saying it was for his health's
sake.

His hair was beginning to turn grey and his face to take on the
drunkard's hue of purplish wine. He continued to act like a mischievous
child. Well, it wasn't his concern if there was nothing about the
place to eat. When he went for weeks without work he became even more
difficult.

Still, he was always giving Lantier friendly slaps on the back. People
swore he had no suspicion at all. Surely something terrible would happen
if he ever found out. Madame Lerat shook her head at this. His sister
said she had known of husbands who didn't mind at all.

Lantier wasn't wasting away either. He took great care of himself,
measuring his stomach by the waist-board of his trousers, with the
constant dread of having to loosen the buckle or draw it tighter; for
he considered himself just right, and out of coquetry neither desired to
grow fatter nor thinner. That made him hard to please in the matter of
food, for he regarded every dish from the point of view of keeping his
waist as it was. Even when there was not a sou in the house, he required
eggs, cutlets, light and nourishing things. Since he was sharing the
lady of the house, he considered himself to have a half interest in
everything and would pocket any franc pieces he saw lying about. He kept
Gervaise running here and there and seemed more at home than Coupeau.
Nana was his favorite because he adored pretty little girls, but he paid
less and less attention to Etienne, since boys, according to him, ought
to know how to take care of themselves. If anyone came to see Coupeau
while he was out, Lantier, in shirt sleeves and slippers, would come
out of the back room with the bored expression of a husband who has been
disturbed, saying he would answer for Coupeau as it was all the same.

Between these two gentlemen, Gervaise had nothing to laugh about. She
had nothing to c