We French are always ready to
laugh, it is our treasure and our ruin. It is a fine thing, but what
a hold it gives to our oppressors. 'Let them sing as long as they are
willing to pay,' as the Italian said. 'Let us laugh, so long as we
are ready to die.' ... we might say. And then this terrible force of
habit, that Gillot was talking about. A man will get used to no matter
what ridiculous or painful conditions, provided they last long enough,
and that he has company. He becomes habituated to cold, to heat,
to death, and to crime. His whole force for resistance is used in
adapting himself; and then he curls up in his corner and does not dare
to stir, for fear that any change will bring back the pain. We are all
so terribly tired! When the soldiers come back, they will have only
one thought--to sleep and forget."
"How about the excitable Lagneau, who talks about blowing everything
to pieces?"
"I have known Lagneau since the beginning of the war, and he has
been in succession, royalist, "revanchard," annexationist,
internationalist, socialist, anarchist, bolshevist, and I-don't-give-a
damnist. He will finish as a reactionary, and will be sent to make
food for cannon against the enemy that our government will pick out
among our adversaries or our friends of today.
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