Page 241 - madame-bovary

been expected. At the grocer’s they discussed Hippolyte’s
illness; the shops did no business, and Madame Tuvache,
the mayor’s wife, did not stir from her window, such was her
impatience to see the operator arrive.
He came in his gig, which he drove himself. But the
springs of the right side having at length given way beneath
the weight of his corpulence, it happened that the car-
riage as it rolled along leaned over a little, and on the other
cushion near him could be seen a large box covered in red
sheep-leather, whose three brass clasps shone grandly.
After he had entered like a whirlwind the porch of the
‘Lion d’Or,’ the doctor, shouting very loud, ordered them to
unharness his horse. Then he went into the stable to see that
he was eating his oats all right; for on arriving at a patient’s
he first of all looked after his mare and his gig. People even
said about this—
‘Ah! Monsieur Canivet’s a character!’
And he was the more esteemed for this imperturbable
coolness. The universe to the last man might have died, and
he would not have missed the smallest of his habits.
Homais presented himself.
‘I count on you,’ said the doctor. ‘Are we ready? Come
along!’
But the druggist, turning red, confessed that he was too
sensitive to assist at such an operation.
‘When one is a simple spectator,’ he said, ‘the imagi-
nation, you know, is impressed. And then I have such a
nervous system!’
‘Pshaw!’ interrupted Canivet; ‘on the contrary, you seem

0 Madame Bovary