" They force a passage, enter the
shop in the rear, and it seems as if the time for distributing the
meat had come; the gendarmes, spurring their horses to a gallop,
scatter the groups that are too dense; "rascals, in pay of the
Commune," range the women in files, two and two, "shivering" in the
cold morning air of December and January, awaiting their turn.
Beforehand, however, the butcher, according to law, sets aside the
portion for the hospitals, for pregnant women and others who are
confined, for nurses, and besides, notwithstanding the law, he sets
aside another portion for the revolutionary committee of the section,
for the assistant commissioner and superintendent, for the pashas and
semi pashas of the quarter, and finally for his rich customers who pay
him extra.[67] To this end, "porters with broad shoulders form an
impenetrable rampart in front of the shop and carry away whole oxen;"
after this is over, the women find the shop stripped, while many,
after wasting their time for four mortal hours," go away empty handed.
- With this prospect before them the daily assemblages get to be
uneasy and the waves rise; nobody, except those at the head of the
row, is sure of his pittance those that are behind regard enviously
and with suppressed anger the person ahead of them.
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