"No; for if we fight I should kill you, or you would kill me. I do not despise life; on the contrary, I cling to it, for I am only twenty-three years of age, have a good name and am not poor, and I shall defend myself like a lion."
"Well, I, on the contrary, am thirty, and am disgusted with life; but still I would rather not fight with you."
"Then you will apologize?"
"No, I have said enough. If you are not content, so much the better, for you are not superior to me."
"But, monsieur, one cannot end a quarrel thus, without the risk of being laughed at."—"I know it."
"Then you refuse to fight?"
"With you."
"After having provoked me?"
"I confess it."
"But if my patience fail, and I attack you?"