I was gaping in the air and listlessly looking round, when a gentleman, splendidly dressed, and three times stouter than I, came up and enquired whether I was a foreigner.

I answered affirmatively, and he politely asked me how I liked Paris.

I praised Paris very warmly.

But at that moment a very stout lady, brilliant with diamonds, entered the box near us.

Her enormous size astonished me, and, like a fool, I said to the gentleman: "Who is that fat sow ?" "She is the wife of this fat pig." "Ah! I beg your pardon a thousand times!" But my stout gentleman cared nothing for my apologies, and very far from being angry he almost choked with laughter.