TUPIN. I say to you ‘After you, Calvon,’ as you say to me ‘Tupin, stand up.’ If that’s insolence, I didn’t begin it.
PRES. I shall have you turned out of the court. Stand up.
TUPIN [standing] There: I’m very glad to. It’ll take the stiffness out of my legs.
PRES. Your profession?
TUPIN. Electrician.
PRES. You were once. It is a long time since you worked regularly.
TUPIN. I can’t get work.
PRES. Because you look for it in the public house. The police reports about you are most unfavorable.
TUPIN. I never liked the police: I’m not surprised they don’t like me. [Laughter from the audience].
PRES. Silence! or I shall clear the court. [To Tupin] The name of your wife, Eugénie Tupin, has been found in the papers of the woman Thomas. Where is the woman Tupin? Stand up. [To Tupin] That will do, sit down. You attempted to conceal her from the police.