III.
"Naw, naw, naw!" The general glance
protracted upon the good town.


AFTER the craze for sporting, the lusty Tarascon race cherishes
one love: ballad-singing. There's no believing what a quantity of
ballads is used up in that little region. All the sentimental stuff
turning into sere and yellow leaves in the oldest portfolios, are to be
found in full pristine lustre in Tarascon. Ay, the entire collection.
Every family has its own pet, as is known to the town.

For instance, it is an established fact that this is the chemist
Bezuquet's family's:

"Thou art the fair star that I adore!"

The gunmaker Costecalde's family's:

"Would'st thou come to the land
Where the log-cabins rise?"

The official registrar's family's:

"If I wore a coat of invisible green,
Do you think for a moment I could be seen?"