"This festal board, this royal cheer,
They clearly tell
(They clearly tell)
Our host is glad to have us here,
And feast us well
(And feast us well);
For even he permits that we
Make Charivari! Charivari! Charivari!
"Now pour me out a glass, kind host,
Of this good wine (repeat),
I would drink a loving toast—
This wife of thine (repeat),
smilingly permits that we
Make Charivari! Charivari! Charivari!"
To this Madame D'Haberville added the following impromptu stanza:
"If our endeavor to make your cheer
Be not in vain (repeat),
Consider you're the masters here,
And come again (repeat),
And it shall be your care that we
Make Charivari! Charivari! Charivari!"
Then Jules added a verse:
"Without a spice of rivalry
Dan Cupid nods (repeat),
challenge him to cups, and he
'Ll accept the odds (repeat).
Bacchus and he, as well as we,
Make Charivari! Charivari! Charivari!"
At the end of each stanza every one pounded on the table with their hands or rapped on the plates with their forks and spoons, till the din became something indescribable.
Blanche, being asked to sing her favorite song of Blaise and Babette, endeavored to excuse herself and substitute another; but the young ladies insisted, crying: "Let us have Blaise and Babette by all means; the minor is so touching."
"Yes," said Jules, "that is a minor, with its 'My love it is my life'; a minor to touch the tenderest chord in the feminine heart. Quick, let us have the sweet minor, to touch the hearts of these charming young ladies!"