_Mon Dieu!_ she was gone now, his poor mother, whom he loved so much! Ah! what a headache he had; it would settle him! It was like a wig of fire! And now they were tearing out his heart! No, it was not just of fate thus to set itself against one man! "Come, cheer up, old fellow," said Lantier, raising him from the ground; "you must pull yourself together." He poured him out a glass of wine, but Coupeau refused to drink.
"What's the matter with me?
I've got copper in my throat.

It's mamma.
When I saw her I got a taste of copper in my mouth.

Mamma! _Mon Dieu!_ mamma, mamma!" And he recommenced crying like a child.

Then he drank the glass of wine, hoping to put out the flame searing his breast.

Lantier soon left, using the excuse of informing the family and filing the necessary declaration at the town hall.