"
Pique-Vinaigre continued: "When one reflects that Gringalet had had all the
trouble in the world to become accustomed to his turtle, and that the most
courageous of his comrades trembled at the name alone of Gargousse, let him
imagine his terror when he saw himself carried by his master near to this
fiend of an ape. 'Pardon, master,' he cried, his teeth chattering as if he
had an ague,--'pardon, master! I'll never do it again, I promise you.'
"The poor little fellow cried, 'I will never do it again,' without knowing
why he said so, for he had nothing to reproach himself with; but
Cut-in-half laughed at that. In spite of the cries of the child, who
struggled hard, he placed him within reach of Gargousse, and the beast
sprung upon him and clutched him!"
A shudder passed through the audience, who were more and more attentive.
"How stupid I should have been to go away," said the keeper, approaching
still nearer.
"And this is nothing yet; the finest has to come," answered Pique-Vinaigre.
"As soon as Gringalet felt the cold and hairy paws of the great ape, which
seized him by the throat and by the head, he thought himself devoured,
became, as it were, off his nut, and began to cry with groans which would
have softened a tiger.
"' The spider of my dream, good Lord! the spider of my dream--little golden
gnat, help, help!'
"'Will you hush? will you hush?' said Cut-in-half, giving him heavy kicks,
for he was afraid that his cries would be heard; but at the end of a moment
there was no more danger: poor Gringalet cried no more, struggled no more;
on his knees, as white as a sheet, he shut his eyes and shivered as if it
had been January.
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