united in a bewitching apartment, decorated rouge, those lights, those effeminate voices, all this must, in the long-run, engender a certain mental libertinage, give rise to immodest thoughts and impure temptations. Such, at any rate, is the opinion of all the Fathers. Finally,” he added, suddenly assuming a mystic tone of voice while he rolled a pinch of snuff between his fingers, “if the Church has condemned the theatre, she must be right; we must submit to her decrees.”
“Why,” asked the druggist, “should she excommunicate actors? For formerly they openly took part in religious ceremonies. Yes, in the middle of the chancel they acted; they performed a kind of farce called Mysteries , which often offended against the laws of decency.”
The ecclesiastic contented himself with uttering a groan, and the chemist went on—
“It’s like it is in the Bible; there there are, you know, more than one piquant detail, matters really libidinous!”
And on a gesture of irritation from Monsieur Bournisien—
“Ah! you’ll admit that it is not a book to place in the hands of a young girl, and I should be sorry if Athalie—”
“But it is the Protestants, and not we,” cried the other impatiently, “who recommend the Bible.”
“No matter,” said Homais. “I am surprised that in our days, in this century of enlightenment, anyone should still persist in proscribing an intellectual relaxation that is inoffensive, moralising, and sometimes even hygienic; is it not, doctor?”
“No doubt,” replied the doctor carelessly, either because, sharing the same ideas, he wished to offend no one, or else because he had not any ideas.