Chapter 20 Summary

The patron engages the narrator as a kitchen plongeur for the rate of 500 franks a month. His job is to "wash up, keep the kitchen clean, prepare vegetables, make tea, coffee and sandwiches, do the simpler cooking, and run errands." The difference between the Hotel X and the Auberge is that at the Auberge he has no set hours and no free day, so he ends up working 17 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The kitchen is extremely primitive at the Auberge. There are three gas stoves with no ovens and no larder, so the meat and vegetables are laid on bare earth in the yard, raided by rats and cats. There is no hot water unless it is heated on the stove, and the stoves are always too busy preparing food, so dishes must be done in cold water. The fuses won't...