Captain Buridan.

"It is a historical book," he said to me, with a smile--"a book of
real history."

"In that case," I replied, "it must be very tiresome; for all the
historical books which contain no lies are extremely tedious. I
write some authentic ones myself; and if you were unlucky enough to
carry a copy of any of them from door to door you would run the risk
of keeping it all your life in that green baize of yours, without ever
finding even a cook foolish enough to buy it from you."

"Certainly Monsieur," the little man answered, out of pure good-nature.

And, all smiling again, he offered me the "Amours d'Heloise et d'Abeilard";
but I made him understand that, at my age, I had no use for love-stories.

Still smiling, he proposed me the "Regle des Jeux de la Societe"--
piquet, bezique, ecarte, whist, dice, draughts, and chess.

"Alas!" I said to him, "if you want to make me remember the rules of
bezique, give me back my old friend Bignan, with whom I used to play
cards every evening before the Five Academies solemnly escorted him
to the cemetery; or else bring down to the frivolous level of human
amusements the grave intelligence of Hamilcar, whom you see on that
cushion, for he is the sole companion of my evenings."

The little man's smile became vague and uneasy.

"Here," he said, "is a new collection of society amusements--jokes