A school year with a lot of studying has ended. Nicolas received the award for talkativeness—not for chattiness—which suits him perfectly, if not in quality, certainly in quantity, and he said goodbye to his classmates, his dear friends. They are Alceste, Rufus, Eudes, Geoffroy, Maixent, Joachim, Clotaire, Agnan, and the others. Books and notebooks were locked away in the cupboard, and now everyone's mind is on the holidays.

At Nicolas's house, where they will go on vacation is not a problem at all, because...