“He kneaded his back with both hands as though he were making bread! And he was all right in a couple of hours!”
Belhomme thought that Chambrelan must also have used some charm, but he did not dare say so before the priest. Caniveau replied, laughing:
“Are you sure it isn't a rabbit that you have in your ear? He might have taken that hole for his home. Wait, I'll make him run away.”
Whereupon Caniveau, making a megaphone of his hands, began to mimic the barking of hounds. He snapped, howled, growled, barked. And everybody in the carriage began to roar, even the schoolmaster, who, as a rule, never ever smiled.
However, as Belhomme seemed angry at their making fun of him, the priest changed the conversation and turning to Rabot's big wife, said:
“You have a large family, haven't you?”
“Oh, yes, Monsieur le cure—and it's a pretty hard matter to bring them up!”
Rabot agreed, nodding his head as though to say: “Oh, yes, it's a hard thing to bring up!”
“How many children?”
She replied authoritatively in a strong, clear voice: