so badly.
The winter was almost over, and the trifle of money received for the
furniture sold to Virginie helped to make things comfortable. Then with
the fine weather came a piece of luck, Coupeau was engaged to work in
the country at Etampes; and he was there for nearly three months without
once getting drunk, cured for a time by the fresh air. One has no idea
what a quench it is to the tippler's thirst to leave Paris where the
very streets are full of the fumes of wine and brandy. On his return he
was as fresh as a rose, and he brought back in his pocket four hundred
francs with which they paid the two overdue quarters' rent at the shop
that the Poissons had become answerable for, and also the most pressing
of their little debts in the neighborhood. Gervaise thus opened two or
three streets through which she had not passed for a long time.

She had naturally become an ironer again. Madame Fauconnier was quite
good-hearted if you flattered her a bit, and she was happy to take
Gervaise back, even paying her the same three francs a day as her best
worker. This was out of respect for her former status as an employer.
The household seemed to be getting on well and Gervaise looked forward
to the day when all the debts would be paid. Hard work and economy would
solve all their money troubles. Unfortunately, she dreamed of this in
the warm satisfaction of the large sum earned by her husband. Soon, she
said that the good things never lasted and took things as they came.

What the Coupeaus most suffered from at that time was seeing the
Poissons installing themselves at their former shop. They were not
naturally of a particularly jealous disposition, but people aggravated
them by purposely expressing amazement in their presence at the
embellishments of their successors. The Boches and the Lorilleuxs
especially, never tired. According to them, no one had ever seen so
beautiful a shop. They were also continually mentioning the filthy state
in which the Poissons had found the premises, saying that it had cost
thirty francs for the cleaning alone.

After much deliberation, Virginie had decided to open a shop
specializing in candies, chocolate, coffee and tea. Lantier had advised
this, saying there was much money to be made from such delicacies. The
shop was stylishly painted black with yellow stripes. Three carpenters
worked for eight days on the interior, putting up shelves, display
cases and counters. Poisson's small inheritan