Page 174 - madame-bovary

‘Fool!’ he said, ‘really a little fool! A fool in four letters!
A phlebotomy’s a big affair, isn’t it! And a fellow who isn’t
afraid of anything; a kind of squirrel, just as he is who
climbs to vertiginous heights to shake down nuts. Oh, yes!
you just talk to me, boast about yourself! Here’s a fine fitness
for practising pharmacy later on; for under serious circum-
stances you may be called before the tribunals in order to
enlighten the minds of the magistrates, and you would have
to keep your head then, to reason, show yourself a man, or
else pass for an imbecile.’
Justin did not answer. The chemist went on—
‘Who asked you to come? You are always pestering the
doctor and madame. On Wednesday, moreover, your pres-
ence is indispensable to me. There are now twenty people in
the shop. I left everything because of the interest I take in
you. Come, get along! Sharp! Wait for me, and keep an eye
on the jars.’
When Justin, who was rearranging his dress, had gone,
they talked for a little while about fainting-fits. Madame
Bovary had never fainted.
‘That is extraordinary for a lady,’ said Monsieur Bou-
langer; ‘but some people are very susceptible. Thus in a duel,
I have seen a second lose consciousness at the mere sound
of the loading of pistols.’
‘For my part,’ said the chemist, ‘the sight of other peo-
ple’s blood doesn’t affect me at all, but the mere thought of
my own flowing would make me faint if I reflected upon it
too much.’
Monsieur Boulanger, however, dismissed his servant,

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