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So, I'm quite caught up in "Sacre Bleu" and having a hard time getting myself to stop reading for any reason, so I'm going to plague you all with a few excerpts. One short scene is related mostly from the point of view of a donkey named Etienne, who, so far as I can tell, is intended to be an ordinary enough donkey, so I'm just going to give you Etienne's opinions. (All you really need to know about this scene is that the Colorman is apparently immortal and amoral and has gone into a set of catacombs to retrieve a painting he had hidden.)
"We need to follow the wall," he said to Etienne, who didn't particularly like going down steps or through narrow passageways, who thought that the dark was a signal to sleep, not something you should travel around in, and generally that this whole underground expedition was complete bullshit. Etienne was along because the Colorman didn't like being alone in the dark...
(...)
"Not far now," he said to Etienne, who was looking at a strand of cobwebs that was streaming from the brim of his new hat, which he felt was just another indicator of what complete bullshit this mission was.
(...)
"Did you hear footsteps?" asked the Colorman.
Etienne didn't answer, as was his policy. However he thought he might have heard the scrape of a shoe; maybe not.
(...)
"I should hang the lamp from your neck," the Colorman said to Etienne. "I need both hands to carry this."
He wrestled with the lamp, tried to tie it around Etienne's neck, only to find that the smell of burning donkey hair was not something that his equine companion was willing to endure.
"We're going to have to use Goya's trick," said the Colorman. He had packed a half dozen thick candles into his satchel, which he attached to the brim of Etienne's hat, then lit, so that the donkey was the one who led their way out of the underworld, looking like a long-eared birthday cake, while the Colorman stumbled along behind, trying to steer the canvas through the passageways.
"Did you hear something?" asked the Colorman when they were almost back to the entrance of the Catacombs.
Etienne did not answer, because he hadn't been listening, and he wouldn't have said anything if he had, because now his new hat was ruined by melted wax, which proved, the thought that this trip was complete bullshit.
"We need to follow the wall," he said to Etienne, who didn't particularly like going down steps or through narrow passageways, who thought that the dark was a signal to sleep, not something you should travel around in, and generally that this whole underground expedition was complete bullshit. Etienne was along because the Colorman didn't like being alone in the dark...
(...)
"Not far now," he said to Etienne, who was looking at a strand of cobwebs that was streaming from the brim of his new hat, which he felt was just another indicator of what complete bullshit this mission was.
(...)
"Did you hear footsteps?" asked the Colorman.
Etienne didn't answer, as was his policy. However he thought he might have heard the scrape of a shoe; maybe not.
(...)
"I should hang the lamp from your neck," the Colorman said to Etienne. "I need both hands to carry this."
He wrestled with the lamp, tried to tie it around Etienne's neck, only to find that the smell of burning donkey hair was not something that his equine companion was willing to endure.
"We're going to have to use Goya's trick," said the Colorman. He had packed a half dozen thick candles into his satchel, which he attached to the brim of Etienne's hat, then lit, so that the donkey was the one who led their way out of the underworld, looking like a long-eared birthday cake, while the Colorman stumbled along behind, trying to steer the canvas through the passageways.
"Did you hear something?" asked the Colorman when they were almost back to the entrance of the Catacombs.
Etienne did not answer, because he hadn't been listening, and he wouldn't have said anything if he had, because now his new hat was ruined by melted wax, which proved, the thought that this trip was complete bullshit.
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