The Enormous Room E. E. Cummings (snow like ashes TXT) đ
- Author: E. E. Cummings
Book online «The Enormous Room E. E. Cummings (snow like ashes TXT) đ». Author E. E. Cummings
Butâ âagain like an inconsolable child who weeps his heart out when no human comfort avails and wakes the next day without an apparent trace of the recent griefâ âJean le NĂšgre, in the course of the next twenty-four hours, had completely recovered his normal buoyancy of spirit. The sees-tee franc were gone. A wrong had been done. But that was yesterday. Todayâ â
And he wandered up and down, joking, laughing, singing:
âaprĂšs la guerre finit.ââ ââ âŠ
In the cour Jean was the target of all female eyes. Handkerchiefs were waved to him; phrases of the most amorous nature greeted his every appearance. To all these demonstrations he by no means turned a deaf ear; on the contrary. Jean was irrevocably vain. He boasted of having been enormously popular with the girls wherever he went and of having never disdained their admiration. In Paris one dayâ â(and thus it happened that we discovered why le gouvernement français had arrested Jean)â â
One afternoon, having rien Ă faire, and being flush (owing to his success as a thief, of which vocation he made a great deal, adding as many ciphers to the amounts as fancy dictated) Jean happened to cast his eyes in a store window where were displayed all possible appurtenances for the militaire. Vanity was rooted deeply in Jeanâs soul. The uniform of an English captain met his eyes. Without a momentâs hesitation he entered the store, bought the entire uniform, including leather puttees and belt (of the latter purchase he was especially proud), and departed. The next store contained a display of medals of all descriptions. It struck Jean at once that a uniform would be incomplete without medals. He entered this store, bought one of every decorationâ ânot forgetting the Colonial, nor yet the Belgian Cross (which on account of its size and colour particularly appealed to him)â âand went to his room. There he adjusted the decorations on the chest of his blouse, donned the uniform, and sallied importantly forth to capture Paris.
Everywhere he met with success. He was frantically pursued by women of all stations from les putains to les princesses. The police salaamed to him. His arm was wearied with the returning of innumerable salutes. So far did his medals carry him that, although on one occasion a gendarme dared to arrest him for beating-in the head of a fellow English officer (who being a mere lieutenant, should not have objected to Captain Jeanâs stealing the affections of his lady), the sergeant of police before whom Jean was arraigned on a charge of attempting to kill refused to even hear the evidence, and dismissed the case with profuse apologies to the heroic Captain. ââLe gouvernement français, Monsieur, extends to you, through me, its profound apology for the insult which your honour has received.â Ils sont des cochons, les français,â said Jean, and laughed throughout his entire body.
Having had the most blue-blooded ladies of the capital cooing upon his heroic chest, having completely beaten up, with the full support of the law, whosoever of lesser rank attempted to cross his path or refused him the saluteâ âhaving had âgreat funâ saluting generals on les grands boulevards and being in turn saluted (âtous les gĂ©nĂ©rals, tous, salute me, Jean have more medalsâ), and this state of affairs having lasted for about three monthsâ âJean began to be very bored (me trĂšs ennuyĂ©). A fit of temper (âme trĂšs fachĂ©â) arising from this ennui led to a rixe with the police, in consequence of which (Jean, though outnumbered three to one, having almost killed one of his assailants), our hero was a second time arrested. This time the authorities went so far as to ask the heroic captain to what branch of the English army he was at present attached; to which Jean first replied âparle pas français, moi,â and immediately after announced that he was a Lord of the Admiralty, that he had committed robberies in Paris to the tune
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