his! However, there is a
maypole and a bonfire in the town; a mystery, Pope of the Fools, and
Flemish ambassadors in the city; and, at the university, nothing!"

"Nevertheless, the Place Maubert is sufficiently large!" interposed one
of the clerks established on the window-sill.

"Down with the rector, the electors, and the procurators!" cried
Joannes.

"We must have a bonfire this evening in the Champ-Gaillard," went on the
other, "made of Master Andry's books."

"And the desks of the scribes!" added his neighbor.

"And the beadles' wands!"

"And the spittoons of the deans!"

"And the cupboards of the procurators!"

"And the hutches of the electors!"

"And the stools of the rector!"

"Down with them!" put in little Jehan, as counterpoint; "down with
Master Andry, the beadles and the scribes; the theologians, the doctors
and the decretists; the procurators, the electors and the rector!"

"The end of the world has come!,' muttered Master Andry, stopping up his
ears.

"By the way, there's the rector! see, he is passing through the Place,"
cried one of those in the window.

Each rivalled his neighbor in his haste to turn towards the Place.

"Is it really our venerable rector, Master Thibaut?" demanded Jehan
Frollo du Moulin, who, as he was clinging to one of the inner pillars,
could not see what was going on outside.

"Yes, yes," replied all the others, "it is really he, Master Thibaut,
the rector."

It was, in fact, the rector and all the dignitaries of the university,
who were marching in procession in front of the embassy, and at that
moment traversing the Place. The students crowded into the window,
saluted them as they passed with sarcasms and ironical applause. The
rector, who was walking at the head of his company, had to support the
first broadside; it was severe.

"Good day, monsieur le recteur! Hola he! good day there!"

"How does he manage to be here, the old gambler? Has he abandoned his
dice?"

"How he trots along on his mule! her ears are not so long as his!"

"Hola he! good day, monsieur le recteur Thibaut! _Tybalde aleator_! Old
fool! old gambler!"

"God preserve you! Did you throw double six often last night?"

"Oh! what a decrepit face, livid and haggard and drawn with the love of
gambling and of dice!"

"Where are you bound for in that fashion, Thibaut, _Tybalde ad dados_,
with your back turned to the university, and trotting towards the town?"

"He is on his way, no doubt