refrain!"




ACT II


IN THE LATIN QUARTER

CHRISTMAS EVE

A conflux of streets; where they meet, a square, flanked by shops of
all sorts; on one side the Café Momus.

Aloof from the crowd, RUDOLPH and MIMI; COLLINE is near a rag-shop,
SCHAUNARD stands outside a tinker's, buying a pipe and a horn, MARCEL
is being hustled hither and thither.

A vast, motley crowd; soldiers, serving maids, boys, girls, children,
students, work girls, gendarmes, etc. It is evening. The shops are
decked with tiny lamps; a huge lantern lights up the entrance to the
Café Momus. The café is so crowded that some of the customers are
obliged to seat themselves outside.

HAWKERS. (outside their shops)

Come, buy my oranges!
Hot roasted chestnuts!
Trinkets and crosses!