Finally Reymond says that Ubu, like Charensac, was a sort of enormous giant, with a voice of thunder and an insatiable appetite.
After this, Charensac is never called anything but old Ubu, and as the sly rascal sees here a new excuse for the satisfaction of his appetites, he accepts the surname with enthusiasm.
Old Ubu will become popular in the 352nd Regiment, and rightly so. In warfare it is necessary to evoke the shade of Jarry as frequently as that of Homer.
Midnight. A procession of magi moves along the galleries. Reymond, a muffler wrapped turban-wise round his head and majestically draped in the folds of a poncho, carries the myrrh in a gamelle. The tent pickets serve the purpose of sceptres. Some one walks backwards in front of the kings, with an electric lamp raised above his head. This represents the star.
The star guides us back to our crèche, where the candles have just flickered out. Kings and shepherds lie pêle-mêle on the ground, and the loud snoring soon proves them to be sound asleep.
Friday, 25th December.
At half-past six the sergeants shout into the grotto—
"Up, 24th, and fully equipped!"
"What's this?... What's the matter?"
"Get up at once; within a quarter of an hour we must be in the fighting line."