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CHAPTER II
BLONDEAU’S FUNERAL
ORATION BY BOSSUET
On a certain afternoon, which had, as will be seen here-
after, some coincidence with the events heretofore related,
Laigle de Meaux was to be seen leaning in a sensual man-
ner against the doorpost of the Cafe Musain. He had the air
of a caryatid on a vacation; he carried nothing but his rev-
ery, however. He was staring at the Place Saint-Michel. To
lean one’s back against a thing is equivalent to lying down
while standing erect, which attitude is not hated by think-
ers. Laigle de Meaux was pondering without melancholy,
over a little misadventure which had befallen him two days
previously at the law-school, and which had modified his
personal plans for the future, plans which were rather in-
distinct in any case.
Revery does not prevent a cab from passing by, nor the
dreamer from taking note of that cab. Laigle de Meaux,
whose eyes were straying about in a sort of diffuse loung-
ing, perceived, athwart his somnambulism, a two-wheeled
vehicle proceeding through the place, at a foot pace and ap-
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