War of the Buttons Page #3

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so I wouldn't ruin my clothes.

- That's funny.

- Not really, but what's funny...

is the idea it gave me.

Do you see anything?

Only Camus in the tree.

They chickened out.

Exactly what I wanted.

Let's go.

Everybody on him!

Surrender, Camus!

Let's climb the tree.

Here come the Velrans.

Let's go!

I wanna go too.

Hey, guys! Lebraque!

Lebraque. Where are you?

I knew I shouldn't have went!

- I knew I shouldn't have went.

- Well, you shouldn't have.

- My pants don't fit me anymore.

- God, you guys sound like we lost.

We shouldn't have chased them

so far. It was cold out there.

Camus's right. Stop whining.

Did we kick their butt or not?

Yes, but by now,

they're warm and toasty.

There's a slug in my shorts.

That'll give you an extra one.

Are we gonna sing or not?

We sing on our way to Victory

as she awaits us with open arms

Freedom guides our steps

from the north to the south

I'm gonna be sick.

- I'm never doing this again.

- Me neither.

I knew I shouldn't have went.

"I went through--" Past tense.

"The village to continue--"

Infinitive. "My journey."

- Gambette, give me that note.

- What note, sir?

You mean, you don't know that

you have a note in your left hand?

See, I told you. Bring it to me.

Lebraque. Did you write this?

I didn't mean it, sir.

I'll mean it when I correct your

mistakes. Come to the blackboard.

- Write this.

- This? On the blackboard?

Yes, but first, read it out loud.

- You want me to read this?

- Are you deaf or what?

- "I figured it out.

- Past tense.

- To mend out clothes, let's find--

- Imperative.

- some money in order to buy--

- Infinitive.

buttons, shoelaces,

suspenders, belts...

needles, thread, the whole thing.

- Everybody must--

- Present tense.

- contribute 20 francs per week."

- Oh, no!

I knew I shouldn't have went!

- What's wrong with you?

- I've got diarrhea.

Go then.

- Come on, little Gibus.

- Hurry up.

- I'm not coming out.

- What's with you?

Lebraque is a scumbag. Let him

come to piss, I'll show him.

- Don't you think it's a good idea?

- Yeah, we'll always have buttons.

We could even start a war chest.

- Where would we put it?

- In the forest.

- We'd have a cache.

- Depends how big our war chest is.

- And we'll have to guard it.

- Then it's a doghouse we need.

Or a fort. That's it!

We could build one with branches.

- And with planks and nails.

- A fort just for us, no one else.

Hey, Lebraque!

Come over here if you dare.

What's with you?

How can I afford

Like everyone else. We decided to be

a republic, so we're all equal.

I only know one thing:

Equality, Fraternity.

You don't know anything. Some

of use have money and some don't.

- That's right. I can't pay.

- Me neither.

Then we can't have Equality,

Fraternity anymore.

If some pay and others don't,

it's back to royalty.

And I guillotine kings.

So do we, but it's easy

to speak of equality--

- Equality is when nobody pays.

- No, it's when we all pay the same.

How about the poor?

You're shaming us, Lebraque.

That's not worthy

of a good citizen.

So, Lacrique, what's equality?

Equality means that you have

as much as your neighbor.

- See, I told you.

- So we're not practicing equality?

Well, since some of us

don't have money--

Those who can pay stay here, those

who can't, stand by little Gibus.

I don't want the poor in the john,

since it's not a shame.

The poor over here

and the rich over there.

Okay, here's what I suggest.

Let's leave our own money

out of it.

That money is not for our army.

It's for our personal use.

The money we'll hide in our fort.

- What fort?

- I'll tell you later.

We must raise our own money

and it must belong to everybody.

Lacrique, is that equality?

Yes.

I knew it!

How are we gonna make money?

- Let's pick mushrooms.

- That's it.

- And watercress.

- And catch frogs.

- And vipers.

- They sell for 10 francs in town.

- Foxes too. But we'll need luck.

- How much do they go for?

Lacrique, you're in charge

of finding out all the prices.

What do I do?

We're a republic!

There'll be jobs for everyone!

Vive l'equality!

Inspection.

- How many have you caught?

- 14.

at 60 francs per dozen.

That makes 100 francs and--

Make it an even count, okay?

Let's go.

Watch out, the Velrans.

He's in the tree.

Go faster!

What are you two doing here?

I told you to keep watch.

- We found a vipers' nest.

- That's not your job.

- Go back to your station.

- What do we do with these?

Wow! 3 live vipers. 30 francs.

- You drained their venom, right?

- Yes.

Give them to me

and go back to your station.

- How many pounds?

- We can't find anything.

- I can smell mushrooms from here.

- Yes, but not the right kind.

Do what you gotta do,

but I need 4 pounds by tonight.

- Is that the Velrans?

- No way. Take this. I'll go check.

Lacrique, do you see the fox?

- Is it a male or a female?

- I couldn't tell.

Because they pay

twice as much for females.

I see it!

There! There! There!

- Hurry, Lebraque! It's in there.

- Make sure it doesn't get away!

Get some dry branches, Camus.

We'll smoke him out.

Follow me, guys!

Let's get some rocks!

- You'll be the dog, little Gibus.

- What?

- Be the dog. Bark in there.

- All right.

Get me some wire, Lacrique.

Some wire?

There you go.

We're gonna poke him with this.

Get out of the way. It's burning!

Get out!

Between this and the smoke,

it'll have to come out.

And bam!

Hit it on the coccyx.

Not the coccyx, the occiput.

I can feel it move.

The reward, plus the extra bonus

if it's a female...

- plus the fur price--

- It's coming out.

Darn. A male.

A male?

I'll show you if it's a male.

- What are you gonna do to him?

- What we didn't do to Migue.

Look! A female.

Here, Lacrique. We've got

at least 4 pounds.

- It's not all ceps.

- Well, we got a bit of everything.

- Who are you gonna sell those to?

- I know some pretty dumb people.

We'll put the good ones on top.

They're all good ones.

- You're the best sister ever.

- I've got everything.

Wow! Luckily,

our fort will be big.

- They didn't find it peculiar?

- I made several trips.

I went to Terrin, then Montabot.

I said it was for Mrs. Champopourt.

It's full. Do you want me

to help you close it?

No need. You've helped us

a lot already. Thanks, goodbye.

The four corner posts are already

up and we've started this wall.

- Will there be room for a table?

- No problem.

The fireplace will be here

and the door there.

We'll have to decorate

so we can feel at home.

We've got an old clock that doesn't

work anymore in our attic.

Bring it.

I'll bring my parents'

wedding picture.

I'll bring the picture of my dad

as a soldier posing with a chick.

- It's mom, you dummy.

- Mommy, my eye!

- I'm telling you.

- Mommy, my eye!

- Guys, I swear it was my mom.

- We don't care.

We'll have to find a spot

for our war chest.

Here's our war chest!

Move out of the way.

Don't touch it.

You're not allowed to look.

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