CHAPTER II.
A GOOD ANGEL Schaunard and Marcel, who had been grinding away valiantly a whole morning, suddenly struck work.
"Thunder and lightning! I'm hungry!" cried Schaunard.

And he added carelessly, "Do we breakfast today ?" Marcel appeared much astonished at this very inopportune question.
"How long has it been the fashion to breakfast two days running ?" he asked.

"And yesterday was Thursday." He finished his reply by tracing with his mahl-stick the ecclesiastic ordinance: "On Friday eat no meat, Nor aught resembling it." Schaunard, finding no answer, returned to his picture, which represented a plain inhabited by a red tree and a blue tree shaking branches; an evident allusion to the sweets of friendship, which had a very philosophical effect.
At this moment the porter knocked; he had brought a letter for Marcel.
"Three sous," said he.
"You are sure ?" replied the artist.

"Very well, you can owe it to us." He shut the door in the man's face, and opened the letter.

At the first line, he began to vault around the room like a rope-dancer and thundered out, at the top of his voice, this romantic ditty, which indicated with him the highest pitch of ecstasy: "There were four juveniles in our street; They fell so sick they could not eat; They carried them to the hospital!-- Tal! Tal! Tal! Tal!" "Oh yes!" said Schaunard, taking him up: "They put all four into one big bed, Two at the feet and two at the head." "Think I don't know it ?" Marcel continued: "There came a sister of Charity-- Ty! Ty! tee! tee!" "If you don't stop," said Schaunard, who suspected signs of mental alienation, "I'll play the allegro of my symphony on 'The Influence of Blue in the Arts.'" So saying, he approached the piano.
This menace had the effect of a drop of cold water in a boiling fluid.
Marcel grew calm as if by magic.