In front of them a stream of people was crowding and crushing against the ticket office, and there was a din of voices, in the midst of which the name of Nana sounded with all the melodious vivacity of its two syllables.

The men who stood planted in front of the notices kept spelling it out loudly; others, in an interrogative tone, uttered it as they passed; while the women, at once restless and smiling, repeated it softly with an air of surprise.

Nobody knew Nana.

Whence had Nana fallen?
And stories and jokes, whispered from ear to ear, went the round of the crowd.

The name was a caress in itself; it was a pet name, the very familiarity of which suited every lip.