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Friday, 19 December 1879
As I was falling asleep I asked myself whether I would want to kiss Joseph... and I confess that I would rather have had Alexis. So much, then, for Joseph’s beauty... It is curious, he looks so handsome at the Chamber.Vendredi 19 décembre 1879
He had not the faintest idea that it was I; it never even crossed his mind. No, he is not amusing, not even in the way young men of his age are... By the way, how old would one say he is?
Il était à mille lieues de se douter que c’était moi, il ne m’a même pas soupçonnée. Non, il n’est pas amusant, pas même comme le sont les jeunes gens de son âge... Au fait, quel âge lui donner ?
They say he is twenty-two or twenty-three. And the wrinkles and that old look? That means nothing — look at Paul, who is twenty and never looks less than thirty or thirty-five. Big, fat, tall, a double chin...
On dit qu’il a vingt-deux ou vingt-trois ans. Et les rides et cet air vieux ? Ça ne signifie rien, voyez Paul qui a vingt ans et qui n’en paraît jamais moins de trente à trente-cinq. Gros, gras, grand, double menton...
Joseph is very tall. But that is all. No matter, I would take him all the same... thoroughly bourgeois... one feels it in the folds of his clothes, one sees it in the folds of his face... Perhaps he was unwell... tipsy? there was something the matter with him.
Joseph est très grand. Mais voilà tout. Ça ne fait rien je le prendrais tout de même... profondément bourgeois... ça se sent dans les plis des habits, cela se voit dans les plis du visage... Il était peut-être malade... gris? il avait quelque chose.