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I found this copy in a Little Free Library in Mt. Pleasant. I've never read any other Flaubert.
There is so much pathos in just this short passage (Flaubert 33).
Gradually, out of indifference, he managed to forget all his resolutions. Once he missed his hospital round, the next day his class. Enjoying his idleness, he did not go back. He formed the habit of going to the cafe and acquired a passion for dominoes. To be cooped up each evening in a filthy public room in order to click small sheep bones marked with black dots on the marble tables seemed to him a precious act of liberty that heightened his self-esteem. It was an initiation into the world, an access to forbidden pleasures. When he entered he would place his hand on the doorknob with an almost sensual joy. So many of his repressed feelings expanded; he learned songs by heart and sang them to entertain the women present, developed a taste for Beranger, learned how to make punch, and finally how to make love. Having neglected his studies, he completely failed the test for health officer. And he was expected home that very evening to celebrate his success!
@book{flaubert1964madame,
title={Madame Bovary},
author={Flaubert, G. and Marmur, M.},
isbn={0451523873},
year={1964},
publisher={Signet Classic}
}
Flaubert discusses "mucilage", which has an interesting Webster's definition