“Oh, I forget to tell you . . . Jeanne and I decided to have a Réveillon on Christmas Eve . . . Well, not a real one, but a supper . . . on the early side, so Sébastien can come . . . The family doesn’t know him yet, it’s about time we all met . . . We’ve been feeling you’re afraid to introduce us . . . “

Sébastien

Sébastien

Eric Boucher had already punched Sébastien twice that morning. On account of a Transformer Sébastien wouldn’t lend him. The first time Sébastien had cried, the second time he’d shot back with an insult—a little too ­energetically as it happens, because Eric, though he was the terror of the nursery school, had complained to the monitor, the gentle Mario who couldn’t believe his ears. Mario had felt like ­congratulating Sébastien for putting the little monster in his place, but instead he’d just tried to make peace between them. A reconciliation between Eric and Sébastien was impossible; their mutual dislike went back to the beginning of September and they’d been squabbling ever since. The monitors had tried to analyze it; they had supervised both children closely, studying their behaviour, their personalities and tastes, and they’d discovered that Eric was a leader but vindictive, never forgiving anyone for anything, and he was often all alone, whereas Sébastien, though he was a leader too, was more flexible, more conciliatory—and much more popular. With jealousy added to their natural antipathy, the two children were constantly at war. Sébastien had a few of the boys and all the girls on his side, while Eric had to be content with the rest of the boys—the most aggressive ones, needless to say.

This social microcosm fascinated Mario. He’d have liked to know the backgrounds of these small creatures he adored, who were his responsibility for several hours a day, study their parents to see whether heredity played an important part in their behaviour: was Eric Boucher the offspring of some minor local dictator and Sébastien the child of a pacifist? Or was it the opposite, were the children ­reacting against their parents by developing a personality the very opposite of theirs? No, at four and five you’re still subject to outside influences; Mario would have been happy to meet Sébastien’s father, but not Eric’s.