"We haven't finished with this yet.

You know the old saying, 'when the wine is drawn--'" and he filled the landlord's glass a third time.
"One must drink it," remarked the other, and he did so.
"Exactly," said the artist, with a wink at his friends, who now understood what he was after.
The landlord's eyes began to twinkle strangely.

He wriggled on his chair, began to talk loosely, in all senses of the word, and promised Marcel fabulous repairs and embellishments.
"Bring up the big guns," said the artist aside to the poet.

Rodolphe passed along a bottle of rum.
After the first glass the landlord sang a ditty, which absolutely made Schaunard blush.
After the second, he lamented his conjugal infelicity.

His wife's name being Helen, he compared himself to Menelaus.
After the third, he had an attack of philosophy, and threw up such aphorisms as these: "Life is a river." "Happiness depends not on wealth." "Man is a transitory creature." "Love is a pleasant feeling." Finally, he made Schaunard his confidant, and related to him how he had "Put into mahogany" a damsel named Euphemia.