Madame?"

The midwife declined; but she was willing to accept a glass of wine,
because it had upset her, said she to find the poor woman with the
baby on the mat. Coupeau at length went off to tell the news to his
relations. Half an hour later he returned with all of them, mother
Coupeau, the Lorilleuxs, and Madame Lerat, whom he had met at the
latter's.

"I've brought you the whole gang!" cried Coupeau. "It can't be helped!
They wanted to see you. Don't open your mouth, it's forbidden. They'll
stop here and look at you without ceremony, you know. As for me, I'm
going to make them some coffee, and of the right sort!"

He disappeared into the kitchen. Mother Coupeau after kissing Gervaise,
became amazed at the child's size. The two other women also kissed the
invalid on her cheeks. And all three, standing before the bed, commented
with divers exclamations on the details of the confinement--a most
remarkable confinement, just like having a tooth pulled, nothing more.

Madame Lerat examined the baby all over, declared she was well formed,
even added that she could grow up into an attractive woman. Noticing
that the head had been squeezed into a point on top, she kneaded it
gently despite the infant's cries, trying to round it a bit. Madame
Lorilleux grabbed the baby from her; that could be enough to give the
poor little thing all sorts of vicious tendencies, meddling with it like
that while her skull was still soft. She then tried to figure out who
the baby resembled. This almost led to a quarrel. Lorilleux, peering
over the women's shoulders, insisted that the little girl didn't look
the least bit like Coupeau. Well, maybe a little around the nose,