Malgré des raisonnements si clairs, l’âme italienne de Fabrice eût été désormais hors d’état de goûter aucun plaisir, s’il n’eût interposé entre lui et les gendarmes un lambeau de vieille toile qu’il cloua contre la fenêtre et auquel il fit deux trous pour les yeux.
Despite all these clear and obvious reasons, Fabrizio's Italian nature would not have been in a state, from that moment, to enjoy any pleasure in the spectacle, had he not interposed between himself and the policemen a strip of old cloth which he nailed to the frame of the window, piercing a couple of holes in it for his eyes.