The Lorilleuxs, being godfather and godmother, had promised to provide it, and took care to let everyone in the house know of their present. Madame Lerat was to give the veil and the cap, Virginie the purse, and Lantier the prayer-book; so that the Coupeaus looked forward to the ceremony without any great anxiety.
Even the Poissons, wishing to give a house-warming, chose this occasion, no doubt on the hatter’s advice.
They invited the Coupeaus and the Boches, whose little girl was also going to be confirmed.
They provided a leg of mutton and trimmings for the evening in question.
It so happened that on the evening before, Coupeau returned home in a most abominable condition, just as Nana was lost in admiration before the presents spread out on the top of the chest of drawers.
The Paris atmosphere was getting the better of him again; and he fell foul of his wife and child with drunken arguments and disgusting language which no one should have uttered at such a time.
Nana herself was beginning to get hold of some very bad expressions in the midst of the filthy conversations she was continually hearing.
On the days when there was a row, she would often call her mother an old camel and a cow.
“Where’s my food?” yelled the zinc-worker.
“I want my soup, you couple of jades!
There’s females for you, always thinking of finery!
I’ll sit on the gee-gaws, you know, if I don’t get my soup!”
“He’s unbearable when he’s drunk,” murmured Gervaise, out of patience; and turning towards him, she exclaimed: “It’s warming up, don’t bother us.”
Nana was being modest, because she thought it nice on such a day.
She continued to look at the presents on the chest of drawers, affectedly lowering her eyelids and pretending not to understand her father’s naughty words.
But the zinc-worker was an awful plague on the nights when he had had too much.
Poking his face right against her neck, he said:
“I’ll give you white dresses!
So the finery tickles your fancy. They excite your imagination. Just you cut away from there, you ugly little brat! Move your hands about, bundle them all into a drawer!”
Nana, with bowed head, did not answer a word.
She had taken up the little tulle cap and was asking her mother how much it cost.
And as Coupeau thrust out his hand to seize hold of the cap, it was Gervaise who pushed him aside exclaiming:
“Do leave the child alone!
She’s very good, she’s doing no harm.”
Then the zinc-worker let out in real earnest.
“Ah! the viragos!
The mother and daughter, they make the pair.
It’s a nice thing to go to church just to leer at the men.
Dare to say it isn’t true, little slattern!
I’ll dress you in a sack, just to disgust you, you and your priests.
I don’t want you to be taught anything worse than you know already.
Mon Dieu!
Just listen to me, both of you!”
At this Nana turned round in a fury, whilst Gervaise had to spread out her arms to protect the things which Coupeau talked of tearing. The child looked her father straight in the face; then, forgetting the modest bearing inculcated by her confessor, she said, clinching her teeth:
“Pig!”
As soon as the zinc-worker had had his soup he went off to sleep.
On the morrow he awoke in a very good humor.
He still felt a little of the booze of the day before but only just sufficient to make him amiable.
He assisted at the dressing of the child, deeply affected by the white dress and finding that a mere nothing gave the little vermin quite the look of a young lady.
The two families started off together for the church.
Nana and Pauline walked first, their prayer-books in their hands and holding down their veils on account of the wind; they did not speak but were bursting with delight at seeing people come to their shop-doors, and they smiled primly and devoutly every time they heard anyone say as they passed that they looked very nice.
Madame Boche and Madame Lorilleux lagged behind, because they were interchanging their ideas about Clump-clump, a gobble-all, whose daughter would never have been confirmed if the relations had not found everything for her; yes, everything, even a new chemise, out of respect for the holy altar.
Madame Lorilleux was rather concerned about the dress, calling Nana a dirty thing every time the child got dust on her skirt by brushing against the store fronts.
At church Coupeau wept all the time.
It was stupid but he could not help it.
It affected him to see the priest holding out his arms and all the little girls, looking like angels, pass before him, clasping their hands; and the music of the organ stirred up his stomach and the pleasant smell of the incense forced him to sniff, the same as though someone had thrust a bouquet of flowers into his face.
In short he saw everything cerulean, his heart was touched.
Anyway, other sensitive souls around him were wetting their handkerchiefs.
This was a beautiful day, the most beautiful of his life.
After leaving the church, Coupeau went for a drink with Lorilleux, who had remained dry-eyed.