Classic Audiobook Collection - The Bagpipers by George Sand ~ Full Audiobook [romance]

Starting point is 00:00:00 section one of the bagpipers by georissant first evening i was not born yesterday said perrescien in eighteen twenty eight i came into the world as near as i can make out in the year fifty four or fifty five of the last century but not remembering much of my earlier years i shall only tell you about myself from the time of my first communion which took place in seventy in the parish church of st chartier then in charge of the abbe montperon who is now very deaf and broken down this was not because our own parish of no one was suppressed in those days but our curate having died the two churches were united for a time under the ministry of the priest of st chartier and we went every day to be catechized that is i and my little cousin and a lad named joseph who lived in the same house with my uncle with a dozen other children of the neighborhood i say my uncle for short but he was really my great uncle the brother of my grandmother and was named bruley hence his little granddaughter and only heir was called Brulette, without any mention whatever of her Christian name, which was Catherine. Now, to tell you at once about things as they were, I soon felt that I loved Brulet better than I was obliged to do as a cousin, and I was jealous because Joseph lived in the same house, which stood about as stones throw distant from the last houses in the village, and rather more than

Starting point is 00:01:21 three-quarters of a mile from mine, so that he could see her at all times, while I saw her only now and then, till the time when we met to be catechized. I will tell you how it happened that Broulet's grandfather and Joseph's mother lived under the same roof. The house belonged to the old man, and he led a small part of it to the woman, who was a widow with only one child. Her name was Marie Picot, and she was still marriageable, being little over 30, and bearing traces in her face and figure of having been in her day a very pretty woman. She was still called by some people handsome Mariton, which pleased her very much, for she would have liked to marry again. but possessing nothing except her bright eyes and her honest tongue she thought herself lucky to pay a low price for her lodging and get a worthy and helpful old man for a landlord and neighbour one too who wouldn't worry her but might sometimes help her per brule and the widow picot called mariton had thus lived in each other's good graces for about a dozen years that is ever since the day when brulette's mother died in giving birth to her and mariton had taken charge of the infant with as much love and care as if it had been her own joseph who was through her mother's mother died in giving birth to her and mariton had taken charge of the infant with as much love and care as if it had been her own joseph who was through

Starting point is 00:02:30 three years older than Brulette, remembered being rocked in the same cradle, and the baby was the first burden ever trusted to his little arms. Later, Per Brulet, noticing that his neighbor had her hands full with the care of the two as they grew stronger, took Joseph into his part of the house, and so it came to pass that the little girl slept with the widow, and the little boy with the old man. All four, however, ate together. Mariton cooked the meals, kept the house, made over and darned the clothes, while the old man who was still sturdy enough to work, went out by the day and paid the greater part of the household expenses. He did not do this because he was well off and his living was bound to be good accordingly, but because the widow was kind and amiable, an excellent company,

Starting point is 00:03:14 and Brunette considered her so much like a mother that my uncle grew to treat her as a daughter, or at any rate as a daughter-in-law. Nothing in the world was ever prettier or sweeter than the little girl under Mariton's brigging up. The woman loved cleanliness and kept herself a spick and span as her means allowed, and she had early taught brulette to do the same. At the age, therefore, when children usually roll in the dirt like little animals, the darling was so clean and dainty in all her ways that everybody wanted to kiss her. But she was already very chary of her favours, and would never be familiar unless quite sure of her company. When she was 12 years old, she was really, at times like a little woman. And if, carried away by the liveliness of her years,

Starting point is 00:03:57 she did forget herself so far as to play while being catechised, she soon caught herself up, Even more, it seemed to me, out of self-respect than for the sake of the religion. I don't know if any of us could have told why, but all of us lads, unlike enough when it came to catechising, felt the difference that there was between Broulet and the other little girls. I must own that some in the class were rather big boys. Joseph was fifteen, and I was sixteen, which our parents and the curate declared was a disgrace to us. Such backwardness certainly did prove that Joseph was too lazy to study, and I too lively to give my mind to it. In fact, for three years he and I had been rejected from the class, and if it had not been for the Abbe Montperon, who was less particular than our old curate, I suppose we might have continued so to this day. However, it is only fair to confess that boys are always younger in mind than girls, and you will find in every confirmation class just this difference between the two species, the males being already strong, grown lads, and the females still small, hardly old enough to wear the coiff. As for knowledge, we were all about it. alike. None of us knew how to read, still less to write, and we only learned what we did just as little birds learned to sing.

Starting point is 00:05:09 Without knowing either notes or Latin, they didn't only of using their ears. But all the same, Monsieur Le Cure knew very well which of the flock had the quickest minds, and which of them remembered what he said. The cleverest head among the girls was little brouettes, and the stupidest of all the stupid boys was Joseph. Not that he was really duller than the rest, but he was quite unable to listen and so get a mattering of things he did not understand, and he showed so little liking for instruction that I was surprised at him. I who could take hold of my lessons fast enough when I managed to keep still and quiet down my lively spirits. The brulette scolded him for it sometimes. She never got anything out of him but tears of vexation. I am not worse than others, he would say. I don't

Starting point is 00:05:55 want to offend God, but words don't come right in my memory, and I can't help it. Yes, you can, replied the little one who already took a tone of ordering him about. You can if you choose. You can do whatever you like, but you let your mind run after all sorts of things. It is no wonder Monsieur Labé calls you Joseph the absent-minded. He can call me so if he likes, answered Joseph. I don't understand what it means. But the rest of us understood very well and turned it into our own childish language by calling him José Les Berre Vigé, literally the bewildered, the staring-eyed, a name which stuck to him, to his great disgust. Joseph was a melancholy child, with a puny body and a mind turned in wood.

Starting point is 00:06:39 He never left Brulette, and was very submissive to her. Nevertheless, she said he was as obstinate as a mule, and found fault with him all the time. Though she did not say much to me about my lawless do-nothing ways, I often wished she would take as much notice of me as she did of him. However, in spite of the jealousy he caused me, I cared more for José than for my other comrades, because he was one of the weakest, and I one of the strongest. Besides, if I had not stood up for him, Bruliette would have blamed me. When I told her that she loved him more than she did me, who was her cousin, she would say,

Starting point is 00:07:13 it is not on his account. It is because of his mother, whom I love better than I do either of you. If anything happened to him, I should not dare go home. For as he never thinks of what he is about, she charged me to think for both, and I try not to forget it. I often hear our better say, I went to school with such a one, he was my college companion.

Starting point is 00:07:34 We peasants who never went to school in my young days, we say, I was catechized with such a one. That's my communion, comrade. Then is the time we make our youthful friendships, and sometimes, too, the hatreds that last a lifetime. In the fields, at work, or at the festivals, we talk and laugh together and meet and part, but at the catechism classes,

Starting point is 00:07:55 which lasts a year, and often too, We must put up with each other's company, and even help each other five or six hours a day. We always started off together in a body every morning across the fields and meadows, beside the coverts and fences, and along the footpaths. And we came back in the evening anyhow, as it pleased the good God, for we took advantage of our liberty to run where we chose, like frolicking birds. Those who liked each other's company stayed together. The disagreeable ones went alone, or banded in twos and threes to tease and frighten the rest.

Starting point is 00:08:27 Joseph had his ways. They were neither horrid nor sulky, and yet they were not amiable. I never remember seeing him really enjoying himself, nor really frightened, nor really contented, nor really annoyed with anything that ever happened to us. In our fights he never got out of the way, and he usually received blows which he did not know how to return, but he made no complaint. You might have supposed he did not feel them. When we loitered to play some game, he would sit or lie down at a little distance and say nothing, answering wide of the mark if we spoke to him. He seemed to be listening or looking at something which the others could not perceive.

Starting point is 00:09:02 That's why he was thought to be one of those who see the wind. Sometimes when Brulet, who knew his crotchets, but would not explain them, called him, he did not answer. Then she would begin to sing. That was sure to wake him up, as a whistle is sure to stop people from snoring. To tell you why I attached myself to a fellow who was such poor company as more than I am able to do, for i was just the opposite myself i could not do without companions and i was always listening and observing others i liked to talk and question felt dull when i was alone and went about looking for fun and friendship perhaps that was the reason why pitying the serious reserved boy i imitated brulette who would shake him up sometimes which did him more good than it did her for in fact she indulged his whims much more than she controlled them as far as words went she ordered him about finally but as he never obeyed her it was she and i through her who followed in his wake and had patience with him the day of our first communion came at last and returning from church i made such strong resolutions not to give way to my lawlessness any more

Starting point is 00:10:09 that i followed brulette home to her grandfather's house as the best example i could lay hold of to guide me while she went at mariton's bidding to milk the goat joseph and i stayed talking with his mother in my uncle's room we were looking at the devotional images which the curate had given us in remembrance of the sacrament or rather i was for joseph was thinking of something else and fingered them without seeing what they were so the others paid no attention to us and presently mariton said to her old neighbor alluding to our first communion well it is a good thing done and now i can hire my lad out to work i have decided to do what i told you i should my uncle shook his head sadly and she continued just listen to one thing neighbor my jose has got no mind i know that worse luck he takes after his poor deceased father who hadn't two ideas a week but who was a well-to-do and well-behaved man for all that still it is an infirmity to have so little faculty in your head because if ill luck has it that a man marries a silly wife everything goes to the bad in a hurry that's why i said to myself when i saw my boy growing so long in the legs that his brain would never feed him and that if i could only leave him a little sum of money I should die happy. You know the good a few savings can do. In our poor homes it is everything. Now I have never been able to lay by a penny, and I do suppose I'm not young enough to please a man, for I have not remarried. Well, if that's so, God's will be done. I am still young enough

Starting point is 00:11:39 to work. And so I may as well tell you, neighbour, that the innkeeper at Chartier wants a servant. He pays good wages, 30 crowns a year, besides perquisites, which come to half as much again. with all that strong and lively as i know i am i shall have made my fortune in ten years i can take my ease in my old days and leave a little something to my poor boy what do you say to that berlis thought a little and then replied you are wrong neighbor indeed you are wrong mariton thought too and then understanding what the old man meant she said no doubt no doubt a woman is exposed to blame in a country inn even if she behaves proper people won't believe it. That's what you meant, isn't it? Well, but what am I to do? Of course it deprives me of all chance of remarrying, but we don't regret what we suffer for our children. Indeed, sometimes we rejoice in it. There is something worse than suffering, said my uncle. There is shame, and that recoils upon the children. Mariton sighed. Yes, she said,

Starting point is 00:12:46 a woman is exposed to daily insults in a house of that kind. She must always be on the out to defend herself. If she gets angry, that injures the custom, and her masters don't like it. Some of them, said the old man, try to find handsome and good-humoured women like you to help sell their liquors. A saucy made is often all an innkeeper needs to do a better business than his neighbours. I know that, said Mariton, but a woman can be gay and lively and quick to serve the guests without allowing herself to be insulted. Bad language is always insulting, said Per Broulet, and it ought to cost an honest woman dear to get accustomed to such ways. Think how mortified your son will be when he hears the carters and the bagmen joking with his mother.

Starting point is 00:13:29 Luckily he's simple, said Mariton, looking at Joseph. I looked at him too, and I was surprised that he did not hear a word of what his mother was saying in a voice loud enough for me to catch every word. I gathered from that that he was hearing thick, as we said in those days, meaning one who was hard of hearing. Joseph got up presently and went after Broulet, who was in her little goat pen, which was nothing more than a shed made of plank stuffed with straw,

Starting point is 00:13:55 where she kept about a dozen animals. He flung himself on a pile of brushwood, and having followed him, for fear of being thought inquisitive, if I stayed behind, I saw that he was crying inside of him, although there were no tears in his eyes. Are you asleep, Jose, said Brulet. If not, why are you lying there like a sick sheep? Come, give me those sticks you are lying on.

Starting point is 00:14:15 I want the leaves for my goats. So saying she began to sing, but very softly because it wasn't the thing to make a racket on the day of her first communion. I fancied her song had the usual effect of drawing Joseph from his dreams, for he rose and went away. Then Brulet said to me, What is the matter? He seems worse than usual. I think he must have heard that he is to be hired out and leave his mother, I replied. He expected it, said Brulette. isn't it the custom for all of us to go out to service as soon as we have received the sacrament?

Starting point is 00:14:50 If I were not lucky enough to be my grandfather's only child, I should have to leave home and earn my living as others do. Brulette did not seem much distressed at the thought of parting from Joseph, but when I told her that Mariton was also going to hire herself out and live far away, she began to sob and rushing into the house, she flung herself on Mariton's neck, crying out, Is it true, darling, that you are going to leave me? Who told you that? asked Mariton.

Starting point is 00:15:19 It is not decided. Yes, it is, cried Brulette. You said so, and you want to hide it from me. Some inquisitive boys don't know how to hold their tongue, said Mariton, with a severe glance at me. I must tell you all. Yes, my child, you must bear it like a brave and sensible girl who has given her soul to the good God this very day. Papa, said Brulette, turning to her girl. grandfather. How can you consent to let her go? Who is to take care of you?

Starting point is 00:15:48 You, my child, replied Mariton. You are now old enough to do your duty. Listen to me. And you too, neighbour, for here is something I have not yet told you. Taking the little girl on her knee while I stood between my uncle's legs, for his grieved look drew me to him. Mariton continued to reason, first with one and then with the other. If it had not been for the friendship I owe you, she said, I ought long ago to have left Joseph here and paid his board while I went out to service and laid by a little money. But I felt I was bound to bring you up, my roulette,

Starting point is 00:16:23 till you made your first communion, because you are my youngest, and because a girl wants a mother longer than a boy. I hadn't the heart to leave you as long as you couldn't to do without me. But now you see the time has come, and if anything can reconcile you to losing me, it is that you will soon feel useful to your grandfather. I have taught you how to manage a household

Starting point is 00:16:44 and all that a good girl ought to know for the service of her parents and family. You'll practice it for my sake and to do credit to my teaching. It will be my pride and consolation to hear people tell how my brulette takes good care of her grandfather and manages his money like a little woman.

Starting point is 00:17:01 Come, be brave and don't deprive me of the little courage that I have got. For if you feel badly at my departure, I feel worse than you. Remember that I am leaving Per Brulet, who has been the best of friends to me, and my poor José, who will hear hard things said of his mother and his home.

Starting point is 00:17:18 But my duty bids me to do it, and you wouldn't wish me to go against that. Brulet cried till evening, and it could not help Mariton in anything, but when she saw her hiding her tears as she cooked to the supper, the girl flung her arms round her foster mother's neck, and vowed it to do as she had taught her, and thereupon set to work with a will.

Starting point is 00:17:38 They sent me to find Joseph, who had forgotten, not for the first time nor for the last either, that he ought to come home and get his supper like other people. I found him in a corner all alone, dreaming and gazing at the ground as if his eyes would take root in it. Contrary to his usual custom, he did let me drag a few words out of him, in which, as I thought, there was more annoyance than grief.

Starting point is 00:17:59 He was not surprised at having to go out to service, knowing that he was now old enough and could not do otherwise. But without showing that he had overheard his mother's plans, he complained that nobody loved him, or thought him capable of doing good work. I could not get him to explain himself any farther, and all that evening, for I stayed to say my prayers with him and with Brulette. He seemed to sulk, while Brulette, on the contrary,

Starting point is 00:18:23 was full of kindness and caresses for everybody. Soon after this, Joseph was hired out as a labourer to Per Michel on the estate of Ornier. Mariton went to work at an inn called the Beuf Couronne, kept by Benoit at Saint-Chardier. Brulet remained with her grandfather, and I with my parents, who had a small property and kept me at home to help them cultivate it. The day of my first communion affected my spirits. I had made great efforts to bring myself into thoughts that were suitable to my age, and the catechising with Brulet had also changed me.

Starting point is 00:18:59 Thoughts of her were always mixed up. I don't know how. With those I tried to give to the good God. And all the while that I was growing in grace as to my behaviour, my head was running on follies of love which were beyond. her years, and even for mine they were a little ahead of the proper season. About this time my father took me to the fair at Elralle, near Saint-Armont, to sell a broodmare, and for the first time in my life I was away from home. My mother observed that I did not sleep or eat

Starting point is 00:19:28 enough to support my growth, which was faster than customary in our part of the country, and my father thought a little amusement would do me good. But I did not find as much in seeing the world and new places as I should have done six months earlier. I had a foolish, languishing desire to look at the girls without daring to say a word to them. Then I thought of Brulette, whom I fancied I could marry, for the sole reason that she was the only one I was not afraid of, and I reckoned her age and mine over and over again, which didn't make the time go any faster than the good God had marked it on his clock. As I rode back on the crubber behind my father on another mare which we had bought at the fair, we met in a dip of the road a middle-aged man who was driving a little cart laden with furniture,

Starting point is 00:20:11 the witch, being drawn by nothing better than a donkey, had stuck vast in the mud, and couldn't go on. The man was beginning to lighten the load by taking off part of it, and my father, seeing this, said to me, Let us get down and help a neighbour out of his trouble. The man thanked us, and then, as if speaking to his cart, he said, Come, little one, wake up, I shouldn't like to upset you. When he said that, I saw rising from my mattress a pretty little girl,

Starting point is 00:20:38 apparently about 15 or 16 years old, who rubbed her eyes and asked what had happened. The road is bad, daughter, said the man, taking her up in his arms. Come, I can't let you get your feet wet, for you must know, he added turning to my father. She is ill with fever from having grown so fast. Just see what a rampant vine she is for a girl of eleven and a half. True as God, said my father, she is a fine sprig of a girl, and pretty is the sunshine, though the fever has rather paled her. But that will go off.

Starting point is 00:21:08 feed her up and she won't sell the worse for it when my father said this his head was still full of the talk of the horse-dealers at the fair but seeing that the girl had left her sabos in the cart and that it would be no easy matter to find them he said to me here you are strong enough to hold the little girl for a while then putting her into my arms he harnessed our mare into the place of the useless donkey and pulled the cart out of the mud-hole but there was another quagmire further on as my father knew having gone that road several times. So calling to me to come on, he walked in front with the peasant, who was twisting his ass's ears. I carried the great girl and looked at her with amazement, for though she was a head taller than brulette, I could see by her figure that she was no older. She was white and slender as a wax taper, and her black hair, breaking loose from a little cap made in the fashion of other parts, which had been rumpled as she slept, fell over my breast and almost down to my knees. I had never seen anything so perfect as her pale face,

Starting point is 00:22:09 her clear blue eyes fringed with thick lashes, her gentle, tired air, and even a perfectly black mark at one corner of her mouth, which made her beauty something strange and never to be forgotten. She seemed so young that my heart said nothing to me, though it was close to hers, yet it was not so much her want of years, perhaps, as the languor of her illness which made her appear so childish.

Starting point is 00:22:33 I did not speak to her, and walked along without thinking her heavy. But I took pleasure in looking at her, the same pleasure that one feels at the sight of any fine thing, whether it be a girl or a woman, a flower or a fruit. As we neared the second mud hole, where her father and mine began, the one to urge his horse,

Starting point is 00:22:53 the other to shove the wheel. The little girl spoke to me in a language which made me laugh, for I did not understand a word of it. She was surprised at my surprise, and then she spoke in a language we all speak. Don't strain yourself carrying me, she said. I can walk very well without Sabo's. I am as much used to it as others.

Starting point is 00:23:12 Yes, but you were ill, said I, and I could carry four like you. What country do you belong to? That was a queer language you spoke just now. What country, she said. I don't belong to any country. I come from the woods, that's all. And you, where do you come from?

Starting point is 00:23:30 Ah, my little fairy, if you belong to the woods, I belong to the fields, I answered, laughing. I was going to question her first. when her father came and took her from me well he said shaking hands with my father i thank you my good people and you little one kiss the kind lad who has carried you like a load of game the child did as she was bid she was not old enough to be coy and thinking no harm she made no difficulty she kissed me on both cheeks saying thanks to you my fine carrier then passing into her father's arms she was laid on her mattress and seemed about to go to sleep again without minding the jolts or thinking about the risks of the journey. Goodbye again, said her father, taking me by the knee to mount me on the mare's crupper. A fine lad, he remarked to my father, looking me over.

Starting point is 00:24:19 And as forward for the age you say he is, as my little girl is for hers. He is a little the worse for it in the way of health, answered my father. But God willing, work will soon cure him. Excuse us if we go on before you. We have far to go, and I want to get home before night. Thereupon my father struck his heels into the mare, which trotted off while I, looking back, saw the man turn his cart to the right and go off in another direction. I was soon thinking of something else, but a recollection of Brulet coming into my head,

Starting point is 00:24:50 I remembered that the free kisses the little girl had given me, and wondered why Brulet always slapped me when I tried to get a kiss from her. Then as the ride was long, and I had got up before daylight, I fell asleep behind my father, mixing up in my tired head, I'm sure I don't know how the faces of the two little girls. My father pinched me to wake up, for he felt my weight on his shoulders, and was afraid I should tumble off. I asked him who those people we had met were.

Starting point is 00:25:18 Which of them do you mean, he said, laughing at my sleepy way. We have met more than five hundred since morning. Those with the cart and donkey, I replied. Oh, said he, well, Faith, I don't know. I never thought to ask. probably they come from either La March or Champagne, for they speak with a foreign accent. But I was so busy watching to see if the mare was good at the collar

Starting point is 00:25:41 that I didn't take notice of much else. She does pull very well and didn't hang back at all. I think she will prove serviceable and that I have not paid too dear for her. From that time on, the trip having certainly done me good, I got better and better and took a liking for work. My father gave me first the care of the mare, then that of the garden,

Starting point is 00:26:01 and finally that of the field, and little by little I came to take pleasure in digging, planting and harvesting. By that time my father was a widower, and seemed anxious to let me benefit by the property my mother had left me. So he gave me a share in all our little profits and wished for nothing so much as to see me turn out a good farmer. It was not long before he found I had a relish for the life. For if youth needs courage to deprive itself of pleasure in the service of others,

Starting point is 00:26:28 it needs none at all to work for its own interests. above all when they were in common with those of a worthy family, honest in the division of prophets, and agreeing well as to the work. I still continued rather fond of gossiping and amusing myself on Sundays, but no one blamed me for that at home, because I was a good worker during the week. Such a life brought me health of body and good humour, and a little more sense in my head than I gave promise of at first. I forgot all the vapourings of love, for nothing keeps you so quiet as to sweat with a spade from sunrise to sunset, and when night comes those who have had to do with the heavy rich soil of our parts,

Starting point is 00:27:04 the hardest mistress there is, amuse themselves best by going to sleep to be ready for the morrow. That is how I peacefully reached the age when it is allowable to think, not of little girls, but of grown-up ones. And at the very first stirring of such ideas, I found my cousin Brulet still fixed above all others in my inclinations. Living alone with her grandfather, Brulet had done her best to be older than her years in sense and courage. but some children are born with the gift or the fate of being always petted and cared for mariton's former lodging was led to mer la mouche of yenville who was poor and therefore ready to serve the brulees as though they paid her wages hoping thereby to get a hearing when she declared herself unable to pay the rent it so turned out and brulette finding that the new neighbor helped her forestalled her and made things comfortable for her had time and ease to grow in mind and beauty without much effort of soul or body end of section one section two of the bagpipers by george ston translated by catherine prescott warmly this librivox recording is in the public domain second evening

Starting point is 00:28:18 little brulette was now called handsome brulette and was much talked of in our countryside for within the memory of man no prettier girl or finer eyes or slimmer waist or rosier cheek or hair of brighter gold had ever been seen her hand was like satin and her hand was like satin and her foot as dainty as a young lady's all that tells you plain enough that my cousin did not work very hard she never went out in bad weather took care to shade herself from the sun did not wash the clothes and made no use of her limbs to tire them perhaps you will think she was idle not at all she did everything that she could not help doing fast and well she had too much good sense not to keep order and neatness in the household and take the best care of her grandfather as in duty bound moreover she liked finery too well not to do a good bit of sewing but as to hard work she never so much as heard of it there was no occasion that she should and therefore it can't be said she was to blame there are some families where toil and nothing else comes early to warn young people that life is not so much a question of amusement in this low world as of earning a living among their fellows but in perr brule's home there was little to do to make both ends meet the old man was only in the seventies and being a good workman very clever at cutting stone which you know is quite a science in these parts steady and much in demand by every one he earned a good living and thanks to the fact of being a widow who with no one to support but his granddaughter he had laid by quite a little sum against illness or accident fortunately he kept his health so that without riches he was never in want my father however declared that brulette loved ease and comfort too well meaning by that that she might have to come down to other things when it was time for her to marry he agreed with me that she was as sweet and amiable in her ways as in her person but he would not encourage me to court her in marriage

Starting point is 00:30:15 she was too poor he said to be a lady and he often declared that a wife should be either rich or very full of energy at first sight i like one as well as the other he would say though perhaps on second thoughts i would write to be either rich or very full of energy at first sight i like one as well as the other he would say though perhaps on second thoughts i would write have the energy than the money but brulette has not enough of either to tempt a wise man i knew my father was right but my cousin's sweet eyes and gentle speech had more influence over me than he could have and over other young fellows too for you must know that i was not the only one from the time she was fifteen she was surrounded with striplings like me whom she knew how to restrain and order about as she had done in her childish days you might say she was born proud and knew her value long before had given her an idea of it. She loved praise and submission, and while she never allowed anyone to make free with her, she was very willing they should love her timidly. I, like a good many others, was filled with the strongest desire to please her, and at the same time I was often annoyed to find myself only one of the crowd. Two of us, however, were privileged to talk to her rather more intimately, and to walk home with her when we met at a dance or after church. I mean Joseph

Starting point is 00:31:28 Pico and I, but we gained little or nothing by that, and perhaps without saying so we laid the blame to each other. Joseph was still on the farm at Olignere, about a mile and a half from Broulet's house, and half that distance from mine. He was a mere labourer. Though he was not really handsome, some who did not object to a melancholy face might think him so. His face was lean and yellow, and his brown hair falling straight from his head and down his cheeks, made him even more puny in appearance. Nevertheless, he was not ill-made nor ungraceful in body, and there was something in his closed jaw

Starting point is 00:32:04 which always seemed to me the reverse of weakness. He was thought ill because he moved slowly and had none of the gaiety of youth, but seeing him often as I did, I knew it was his nature to be so, and that he really was not suffering at all. He was, however, a very poor labourer of the soil, not over-careful with cattle,

Starting point is 00:32:24 and far from agreeable in temper. His wages were the lowest that were ever paid to a plough-boy, and people were surprised that his master still kept him for nothing prospered with him either in the stable or the fields and he was so sullen when reproved that no one could do anything with him but per michel declared that he never gave any angry answer and he preferred those who submitted without a word even if they did have sulky looks to those who deceived you with flattery his faithfulness and the contempt he showed at all times for injustice made his master respect him though he often remarked what a pity it was that an honest upright lad had such soft must and a mind so indifferent to his work. But he kept him for what he was worth, from habit, and also out of consideration for Per Broulet,

Starting point is 00:33:09 who was one of Per Michel's earliest friends. In what I have said of Joseph, you will readily see that he could not please the girls. Indeed, they never looked at him, except to wonder why they never caught his eye, which was large and clear as an owl and never seemed to see anything. Yet I was always jealous of him, because Brulette paid him more attention than she gave to anyone else,

Starting point is 00:33:31 and obliged me to do the same. She no longer lectured him and openly accepted his temper as God made it, without getting angry or seeming at all annoyed. She forgave him his want of gallantry, and even politeness, two things which she exacted from the rest of us. He might do all sorts of stupid things,

Starting point is 00:33:49 such as sit down on a chair if she left it for a moment, and oblige her to find another, or neglect to pick up her balls of wool when they rolled away, or break a bodkin or some other sewing utensil. He might do all such things, and she would never say an impatient word to him, whereas she scolded and ridiculed me if I did a tenth part of them. Then she took care of him as if he were a brother.

Starting point is 00:34:13 She kept a bit of meat put by for him when he came to see her, and made him eat it whether he was hungry or not, telling him he ought to strengthen his stomach and make blood. She had an eye to his clothes just like Mariton, and even took upon herself to make him new ones, saying that his mother had not time to cut and so them. sometimes she would lead her cattle to pasture over where he was at work, and talked to him, though he talked very little and very badly when he tried to do so.

Starting point is 00:34:41 Besides all this, she would not allow anyone to treat him with contempt, or to make fun of his melancholy face and his staring eyes. To all such remarks she replied that his health was not good, also that he was not more stupid than other people. If he talked little, it was not that he did not think, and in short that it was better to be silent than to talk a great deal with nothing. to say. Sometimes I was tempted to contradict her, but she quickly cut me short by saying, You must have a very bad heart, Tiennet, to abandon that poor lad to the jeers of others,

Starting point is 00:35:13 instead of defending him when they torment him. I thought better of you than that. Then, of course, I did her will and defended Joseph, though for my part I could not see what illness or affliction he had, unless laziness and distrust were infirmities of nature, which might be possible, though it certainly seemed to me in the power of man to subdue them. On his side, Joseph, without showing an aversion for me, treated me just as coldly as he did the rest, and never appeared to remember the assistance he got from me in his various encounters. Whether he cared for Brulet, like all the others, or whether he cared only for himself, he smiled in a strange manner and with an air of contempt whenever she gave me the most

Starting point is 00:35:52 trifling mark of friendship. One day, when he had pushed the thing so far as to shrug his shoulders, I resolved to have an explanation with him. As quietly as possible, so as not to displease my cousin, but frankly enough to make him feel that if I put up with him in her presence, with great patience, I expected him to treat me in the same way. But as on that occasion, a number of Broulet's other lovers were present. I put off doing this until the first time I should find him alone.

Starting point is 00:36:19 Accordingly, I went the next day to join him in a field where he was at work. I was a good deal surprised to find Brulet with him, sitting on the roots of a big tree by the side of a ditch, where he was supposed to be cutting brush to make pegs. But in fact he was cutting nothing at all, though by way of work he was whittling something which he quickly put in his pocket as soon as he saw me, closing his knife and beginning to talk as if I had been his master,

Starting point is 00:36:45 and had caught him in a fault, or as if he had been saying secret things to my cousin which I had interrupted. I was so troubled and vexed that I was going away without a word when Blu-let called to me and beginning to knit, for she too had laid aside her work while talking to him. She told me to sit down beside her. It struck me it was only a sop to soothe my vexation, so I were refused, saying that the weather was not pleasant enough to sit about in ditches. And truly, though not cold, it was very damp. The thaw had made the brook full and the grass muddy. There was still a little snow in the

Starting point is 00:37:20 furrows, and the wind was disagreeable. According to my notions, Brulet must have thought Joseph very interesting to make her lead her flock out there in such weather. She who so often and so readily turned them over to the care of her neighbour. José, said Brulette, our friend Tiennet is sulky because he sees we have a secret between us. Won't you let me tell it to him? His advice will do no harm, and he will tell you just what he thinks of your idea.

Starting point is 00:37:47 He, said Joseph, beginning to shrug his shoulders just as he had done the night before. Does your back itch whenever you see me, I said to him spitefully. I can scratch you in a way that will cure you once for all. He looked at me from under his lids as if ready to bite me. But Brulette touched him gently on the shoulder with the end of her distaff, and calling him to her, she whispered in his ear. No, no, he answered, without taking the trouble to hide his answer.

Starting point is 00:38:14 Tiennet is no good at all to advise me. He knows no more than your goat. And if you tell him the least thing, I won't tell you anything more. Thereupon he picked up his shears and his chopper and went to work at some distance. There, said Brulet, rising to call in her flock, now he is cross. But never mind, Tiennet, it is nothing serious. I know his fancies. There is nothing to be done, and indeed the best way is to let him alone. He's a lad who has had a bee in his bonnet ever since he came into the world. He doesn't know how to express what he feels, and he really can't. It is better,

Starting point is 00:38:47 therefore, to leave him to himself. For if one worries him with questions, he only cries, and then we have hurt his feelings for nothing. It is my opinion, though, I said to Brulet, that you know how to make him confess himself. I was mistaken, she answered. I thought he had some much worse trouble. It would make you laugh if I could tell you what the trouble really is. But as he chooses to tell no one but me, let us think no more about it. If it is such a little thing, I persisted, you would not take so much interest in it.

Starting point is 00:39:19 Do you think I take too much, she said? Don't I owe it to the woman who brought him into the world and who brought me up with more care and kindness than she gave to her own child? That's a good reason, Brulette, if it is Mariton you love in her son, very good. In that case, I wish Mariton was my mother. It would be better for me than being your cousin. Leave that sort of nonsense to my other sweethearts, answered Brulet, blushing a little. But no compliments ever came amiss to her, though she pretended to laugh at them. As we left the fields just opposite to my house, she came in with me to say good evening to my sister.

Starting point is 00:39:56 But my sister was out, and Brulet could not wait, because her sheep were in the road. in order to keep her a moment I bethought me of taking off her sabos to remove the lumps of snow and drying them and so holding her as it were by the pause for she was obliged to sit down while she waited for me to finish I tried to tell her better than I had ever yet

Starting point is 00:40:16 dared to the trouble my love for her was piling up in my heart but there see the devilish thing I couldn't get out the crowning word of it I managed the second and the third but the first wouldn't come my forehead was sweating the girl could have helped me out if only she would,

Starting point is 00:40:33 for she knew the tune of my song well enough. Others had sung it to her already. But with Brulette, one had to have patience and discretion. And though I was not altogether new at gallant speeches, those I had exchanged with others who were less difficult than Brulet, just by way of getting my hand in, had taught me nothing that was proper to say to a high-priced young girl like my cousin. All that I could manage was to hark back to the subject of her favourite, Joseph.

Starting point is 00:40:59 At first she laughed. Then, little by little, seeing that I was seriously finding fault with him, she became herself serious. "'Let the poor lad alone,' she said. "'He is much to be pitied. "'But why, and wherefore, is he consumptive or crazy that you are so afraid of it's being meddled with?' "'He is worse than that,' answered Broulet. "'He is an egotist.' "'Egetist was one of the curate's words which Brulet had picked up,

Starting point is 00:41:25 "'though it was not used among us in my day. "'Brulet had a wonderful memory, and that was how she sometimes came out with words which I might have recollected too, only I did not, and consequently I could not understand them. I was too shy to ask her for an explanation and admit my ignorance. Besides, I imagined it was a mortal illness, and I felt that such a great affliction convicted me of injustice. I begged Brulet's pardon for having annoyed her, adding, if I had known what you tell me sooner, I shouldn't have felt any bitterness or rancor for the poor fellow. How came you never to notice it?

Starting point is 00:42:01 said, don't you see how he makes everyone give way to him and oblige him, without ever dreaming of thanking them, how the least neglect affronts him, and the slightest joke angers him, how he sulks and suffers about things nobody else would ever notice, and how one must put one's best self into a friendship with him, without his ever comprehending that it is not his due, but an offering made to God of love to our neighbour? Is that the effect of illness, I asked, a little puzzled by Brouillette's explanation? Isn't it the very worst thing he can have in his heart, she replied. Does his mother know he has something the matter with his heart? She guesses at it, but you see, I can't talk to her about it for fear of grieving her.

Starting point is 00:42:43 Has no one tried to cure him? I have done, and I mean to do my best, she answered, continuing a topic on which we didn't understand each other. But I think my way of managing him only makes him worse. It is true, I said after reflecting a while, that the fellow always did have something queer about him. My grandmother, who is dead, and you know how she piqued herself on foretelling the future, said he had misfortune written on his face, that he was doomed to live in misery or to die in the flower of his age, because of a line he has on his forehead. Ever since then, I declare to you that when Joseph is gloomy, I see that line of ill luck, though I never knew where my grandmother saw it. at such times I'm afraid of him, or rather of his fate,

Starting point is 00:43:26 and I feel led to spare him blame and annoyance as if he was not long for this world. "'Pah!' said Brulet, laughing, "'nothing but my great aunt's fancies. "'I remember them very well. "'Didn't she also tell you that light eyes, "'like Joseph's, can see spirits and hidden things?' "'As for me, I don't believe a word of it.

Starting point is 00:43:44 "'Neither do I think he is in danger of dying. "'People live a long time with a mind like his. "'They take their comfort in worrying others, though perhaps while threatening to die they will live to bury all about them. I could not understand what she said and I was going to question her further when she asked for her sabos

Starting point is 00:44:02 and slipped her feet easily into them, though they were so small I couldn't get my hand in. Then calling to her dog and shortening her petticoat, she left me, quite anxious and puzzled by all she said, and as little advanced as ever in my courtship. The following Sunday

Starting point is 00:44:18 as she was starting for mass at Saint-Chartier, where she liked better to go than to our own parish church, because there was dancing in the marketplace between mass and vespers, I asked if I could go with her. No, she said, I am going with my grandfather, and he does not like a crowd of sweethearts after me along the roads. I am not a crowd of sweethearts, I said.

Starting point is 00:44:39 I am your cousin, and my uncle never wanted me out of his way. Well, keep out of mine now, she said, only for today. My father and I want to talk with Jose, who is in the house and is going to mass with us. Then he has come to propose marriage, and you are glad enough to listen to him. Are you crazy, Tiennet? After all I told you about José? You told me he had an illness that would make him live longer than other people,

Starting point is 00:45:05 and I don't see what there is in that to quiet me. Quiet you for what? exclaimed Broulet, astonished. What illness? Where are your wits? Upon my word, I think all the men are crazy. Then, taking her grandfather's arm, who just then came out of the house with José, she started as light as a feather and as gay as a fawn while my good uncle who thought that there was nothing like her smiled at the passers-by as much as to say you have no such girl as that to show i followed them at a distance to see if joseph drew any closer to her on the way and whether she took his arm and whether the old man left them together nothing of the kind joseph walked all the time at my uncle's left and brulet on his right and they seemed to be talking gravely after the service i asked brulette to dance with me oh you were too late she said i have promised at least fifteen dances you must come back about vespers time this annoyance did not include joseph for he never danced and to avoid seeing brulette surrounded by her other swains i followed him into the inn of the berf couronne

Starting point is 00:46:12 where he went to see his mother, and I to kill time with a few friends. I was rather a frequenter of wine-shops, as I have already told you, not because of the bottle which never got the better of my senses, but from a liking for company and talk and songs. I found several lads and glasses whom I knew and with whom I sat down to table, while Joseph sat in a corner, not drinking a drop or saying a word, sitting there to please his mother who liked to look at him and throw him a word now and then as she passed and repassed.

Starting point is 00:46:42 I don't know if it ever occurred to do. Joseph to help her in the hard work of serving so many people. But Benoit wouldn't have allowed such an absent-minded fellow to stumble about among his dishes and bottles. You have heard tell of the late Benoit? He was a fat man with a topping air, rather rough in speech, but a good liver and a fine talker when occasion served. He was upright enough to treat Mariton with the respect she deserved, for she was to tell the truth the Queen of Servants, and Benoit's house had never had so much customers while she reigned over it. The thing Per Broulet warned her of never happened. The danger of the business cured her of coquetry, and she kept her own person as safe as she did the property of her

Starting point is 00:47:23 master. The truth is, it was chiefly for her son's sake that she had brought herself down to harder work and greater discretion than was natural to her. In that she was seen to be so good a mother that instead of losing the respect of others, she had gained more since she served at the inn. And that's a thing which seldom happens in our country villages, nor elsewhere, as I've heard tell. Seeing that Joseph was paler and gloomier than usual, the thought of what my grandmother had said of him, together with the illness, very queer it seemed to me, which Brulet imputed to him, somehow struck my mind and touched my heart. No doubt he was still angry with me for the harsh words I had used to him. I wanted to make him forget them, and to force him to sit at our

Starting point is 00:48:05 table, thinking I could unawares make him a trifle drunk. For like others of my age, I thought the fumes of a little good white wine, a sovereign cure for low spirits. Joseph, who paid little attention to what was going on around him, let us fill his glass and nudge his elbow so often that anyone but he would soon have felt the effects. Those who were inciting him to drink, and thoughtlessly setting him the example, soon had too much. But I, who wanted my legs for the dance, stopped short as soon as I felt that I had had enough. Joseph fell into a deep cogitation, leaned his two elbows on the table,

Starting point is 00:48:39 table and seemed to be neither brighter nor duller than he was before. No one paid any attention to him. Everybody laughed and chatted on their own account. Some began to sing, just as folks sing when they have been drinking, each in his own key and his own time, one fellow trolling his chorus beside another who trolls his, the whole together making a racket fit to split your head, while the whole company laughed and shouted so that nobody could hear anything at all. Joseph sat still without flinching and looked at us in his staring way for quite a time, then he got up and went away without saying anything. I thought he might be ill and I followed him,

Starting point is 00:49:17 but he walked straight and fast like a man who was none the worth for wine, and he went so far up the slope of the hill above the town of Saint-Cartier that I lost sight of time and came back again, for fear I should miss my dance with brulette. She danced so prettily, my dear brulette, that every eye was upon her. She adored dancing and dress and compliments, but she never encouraged anyone to make serious love to her.

Starting point is 00:49:40 her. And when the bell rang for Vespers, she would walk away, dignified and serious, into church, where she certainly prayed a little, though she never forgot that all eyes were on her. As for me, I remembered that I had not paid my score at the Beuf Coronet, and I went back to settle with Mariton, who took occasion to ask me where her son had gone. You made him drink, she said, and that's not his habit. You might at least not have let him wander off alone. Accidents happen so easily. End of Section 2. Section 3 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Warmerly.

Starting point is 00:50:23 This Librevox recording is in the public domain. The third evening. I went back to the slope and followed the road Joseph had taken, inquiring for him as I went along, but could hear nothing except that he had been seen to pass and had not returned. The road led me to the right of the forest, and I went in to question the forester, whose house, a very ancient building,

Starting point is 00:50:44 stands at the top of a large tract of heathland, lying on the hillside. It is a melancholy place, though you can see from there to a great distance, and nothing grows there at the edge of the oak copses but break and furs. The forester of those days was Gervois, a relation of mine, born in Vernouille. As soon as he saw me, and because I did not often walk that way, he was so friendly and hospitable that I could not get away. Your comrade Joseph was here about an hour ago, he said,

Starting point is 00:51:12 and asked if the charcoal burners were in the woods. his master probably told him to inquire. He spoke clear enough and was steady on his legs, and he went on up to the big oak, and you need not be uneasy. And now you are here, you must drink a bottle with me and wait till my wife comes back with the cows, for she will be hurt if you go away without seeing her.

Starting point is 00:51:32 Thinking there was no reason to worry, I stayed with my relations till sunset. It was about the middle of February, and when it got to be nearly dark, I sat a good night, and took the upper road, intended to cross to Vernet, and go home by the straight road,

Starting point is 00:51:45 without returning to Saint-Chartier, where I had nothing further to do. My relative explained the road, as I had never been in the forest more than once or twice in my life. You know that in these parts we seldom go far from home, especially those of us who till the ground

Starting point is 00:52:00 and keep near our dwellings like Jigs Runder Coop. So in spite of a warning, I kept too far to the left, and instead of striking a great avenue of oaks, I got among the birches, at least a mile and a half from where I ought to have been. the night was dark and i could not see a thing for in those days the forest of st chartier was still a fine one not as to size for it was never very large but from the age of the trees which allowed no light from the sky to get through them what it thus gained in grandeur and greenery it made you pay for in other ways below it was all roots and brambles sunken paths and gullies full of spongy black mud out of which you could hardly draw your feet and where you sank knee-deep if you got even a little way off the track

Starting point is 00:52:43 presently getting lost in the forest and scratched and muddied in the opens i began to curse the luckless time and the luckless place after struggling and waiting till i was overheated though the night was chilly i got among some dry break which were up to my chin and looking straight before me i saw in the gray of the night something like a huge black mass in the middle of an open tract i felt sure it was the big oak and that i had reached the end of the forest i had never seen the tree but i had heard tell of it for it was famous as one of the oldest in the country and from the talk of others i knew pretty well how it was shaped you must surely have seen it it is a gnarled tree topped in its youth by some accident so that it grew in breadth and thickness its foliage shrivelled by the winter still clung to it and it stood up there like a rock looking to heaven i was about to go towards it thinking i should find the path which made a straight line through the woods when i heard a sound of music that was something like bagpipes but so loud you might think it thunder don't ask me why i think it thunder don't ask me why i think thing which ought to have comforted me by showing the presence of a human being did actually frighten me like a child. I must honestly tell you that in spite of my 19 years and a good pair of fists, I had not felt easy after I found I had lost my way. It was not because wolves do come down sometimes into that forest from the great woods of Santa Oost that I lost heart, nor yet that I feared

Starting point is 00:54:05 any evil-intentioned Christian. But I was chilled through with the kind of fear that you can't explain to your own self, because you don't really know the cause of it. the dark night the wintry fog a jumble of noises heard in the woods with others coming from the plain a crowd of foolish stories which you have heard and which now start up in your head and finally the idea of being all alone far from your own belongings there's enough in all that to upset your mind when you were young and indeed when you were old you can laugh at me if you like but that music in that lonely place seemed to me devilish it was too loud and strong to be natural and the tune was so sad and strange that it was not like any other known music on this christian earth i quickened my steps then i stopped amazed at another sound while the music clashed on one side a bell chimed on the other and the two sounds came at me as if to prevent me from going forward or back I jumped to one side and hid in the break, and as I did so there was a flash of light about four feet from me, and I saw a large black animal that I couldn't make out distinctly spring up and disappear at a run. Instantly from all parts of the undergrowth a crowd of the same animals sprang out,

Starting point is 00:55:15 stamping and running towards the bell and towards the music, which now seemed to be getting nearer to each other. There might have been two hundred of these animals, but I saw at least thirty thousand. For terror got hold of me, and I began to see sparks and white specks in my eyes, such as fear producers in those who can't defend themselves. I don't know whose legs carried me to the oak. I seemed to have none of my own, but I got there, quite astonished to have crossed that bit of ground like a whirlwind.

Starting point is 00:55:43 And when I recovered breath, I heard nothing, neither far nor near, and could see nothing under the tree nor yet in the break, and was not quite sure that I hadn't dreamed a pandemonium of crazy music and evil beasts. I began to look about me and find out where I was. the oak branches overhung a large piece of grassy ground. It was so dark under them that I could not see my feet, and I stumbled over a big root and fell hands forward upon the body of a man who was lying there as if asleep or dead.

Starting point is 00:56:11 I don't know what fear made me say or shout, but at any rate my voice was recognized, and that of Joseph replied, saying, Is that you Tiené? What are you doing here at this time of night? And you yourself, what are you doing, old fellow? I replied, much pleased and comforted have found him. I have looked everywhere for you. Your mother was worrying, and I hoped you had got

Starting point is 00:56:32 back to her long ago. I had business over here, he replied, and before starting back, I wanted to rest, that's all. Were you not afraid of being here alone at night in this hideous, gloomy place? Afraid of what? Why should I be afraid, Jene? I don't understand you. I was ashamed to confess what a fool I had been. Still, I did venture to ask if he hadn't seen people and animals in the open. yes yes he said i have seen plenty of animals and people too but they are not mischievous and we can go away together without their harming us i fancied from his voice that he was sneering at my fears i left the oak as he did but when we got out of its shadow i fancied that josie's face and figure were not the same as usual he seemed to me taller and carried his head higher walking quickly and speaking with more energy than naturally belonged to him this did not ease my mind for all sorts of queer recollections crossed it it was not from my grandmother only that i had heard tell that folks with white faces and green eyes gloomy tempers and speech that you couldn't understand were apt to consort with evil spirits and in all countries as you know old trees are said to be haunted by sorcerers and other such i hardly dared to breathe as long as we were in the undergrowth i kept expecting to see the same things i had either dreamed in my brain or seen with my senses but all was still there was no sound except the breaking of the dried branches as we went along

Starting point is 00:57:59 or the crunching of the remains of ice under our feet. Joseph, who walked in front, did not follow the main path, but cut across the covert. He would have thought he was a hare, well acquainted with the ins and outs, and he led me so quickly to the ford of the Inuere, without crossing the Potter's village, that it seemed as if I got there by magic. Then he left me without having opened his lips, except to say that he wished to show himself to his mother, as she was worried about him, and he followed the road to Saint-Chartier, while I took a shortcut through the two parishes to my own house.

Starting point is 00:58:32 I no sooner found myself in the places I was familiar with, than my terror left me, and I was very much ashamed not to have conquered it. Joseph would no doubt have told me the things I wanted to know if I had only asked him. For, for once in his life he had lost his sleepy air, and I had even detected for an instant a sort of laugh in his voice, and something in his behaviour like a wish to give assistance.

Starting point is 00:58:56 However, when I had slept upon the adventure and my senses were calmer, I was convinced that I had not dreamed what I had seen in the undergrowth, and I began to think there was something queer about Joseph's tranquility under the oak. The animals that I had seen in such number were certainly not an ordinary sight.

Starting point is 00:59:12 In our part of the country we have no flocks except sheep, and those I had seen were animals of another colour and another shape. They were neither horses nor cattle, nor sheep, nor goats. Besides, no animals were allowed to pasture in the forest. Now, as I tell you all this, I think I was a great fool. And yet there's a deal that's unknown in the affairs of this world into which a man sticks his nose,

Starting point is 00:59:36 and more still in God's affairs, which he chooses to keep secret. Anyhow, I did not venture to question Joseph, for though you may be inquisitive about good things, you ought not to be so about evil ones. And indeed a wise man feels reluctant to poke into matters where he may find a good deal more than he looks for. End of Section 3. Section 4 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint.

Starting point is 01:00:05 translated by Catherine Prescott Warmerly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. The fourth evening. One thing gave me still more to think about in the following days. It was discovered in Olnir that Joseph every now and then stayed out at night. People joked about it, thinking he had a love affair, but it was no use following and watching him. No one ever saw him turn to inhabited parts or speak to a living person.

Starting point is 01:00:34 He went away across the fields into the open, country so quickly and slyly that it was impossible to find out his secret. He returned about dawn and went to work like the rest, but instead of being weary he seemed livelier and more contented than usual. This was noticed three times in the course of the winter, which was very long and very severe that year. But neither the snow nor the north wind was able to keep Joseph from going off at night when the fancy took him. People imagined he was one of those who walk or work in their sleep, but it was nothing of the kind, as you will see. on christmas eve as veret the sabormaker was on his way to keep the midnight feast with his parents at uruwe he saw under the big elm raton not the giant who was said to walk under it with a rake on his shoulder but a tall dark man who did not have a good face

Starting point is 01:01:24 and who was whispering quite low to another man not so tall and who had a more christian kind of look veret was not actually afraid and he passed near enough to listen to what they were saying but as soon as the other two saw him they separated The dark man made off, nobody knows where, and his comrade coming up to Veret, said to him in a strangled sort of voice, Where are you going, Denise Veret? The shoemaker began to be uneasy, and knowing that you must not speak to the things of darkness, especially near an evil tree, he continued his way without looking round, but he was followed by the being he took to be a spirit who walked behind, keeping step with him. When they reached the end of the open ground, the pursuer turned to the left saying good-night denise vera and then for the first time vera recognized joseph and laughed at his own fears but still without being able to imagine for what purpose and in whose company joseph had come to the big elm between one and two o'clock in the morning when this last affair came to my knowledge i felt very sorry and reproached myself for not trying to turn joseph from the evil ways he seemed to be taking but i had let so much time elapse i did not like to take the matter up then i spoke to broulet

Starting point is 01:02:39 who only made fun of it, from which I began to believe they had a secret love for each other, of which I had been the dupe, like other folks who tried to see magic in it and only saw fire. I was more grieved than angry. Joseph, so slack at his work and so cranky, seemed to me a weak stay and a poor companion for Broulette. I could have told her that, putting myself entirely out of the question, she could have played a better game with her cards, but I was afraid to say it, thinking I might make her angry and so lose her friendship, which seemed to me very sweet, even without her other favours.

Starting point is 01:03:16 One night, coming home, I found Joseph sitting on the edge of the fountain which is called the Fond de Fon. My house, then known by the name of God's Crossing, because it was built where two roads, since altered, crossed each other, looked out upon that fine greenswad which you saw not long ago sold and cut up as waste land, a great misfortune for the poor who used it as a common to feed their beasts, but hadn't enough money to buy it. It was a wide bit of pasture land, very green, and watered here and there by the brook, which was not kept within bounds, but ran as it pleased through the grass,

Starting point is 01:03:48 cropped short by the flocks, and always pleasing to the eye as it stretched away in the distance. I contented myself with bidding Joseph good evening, but he rose and walked beside me as if seeking a conversation, and seemed so agitated that I was quite uneasy about him. What's the matter with you, I said at last, seeing that he was talking at random and twisting his body and groaning as though he had stepped on an ant-hill. How can you ask me? he said impatiently. Is it nothing to you? Are you deaf?

Starting point is 01:04:18 Who? Why? What is it? I cried, thinking he must see some vision and not very anxious to share it. Then I listened and heard in the distance the sound of a bagpipe, which seemed to me natural enough. Well, I said, that's only some musician returning from a wedding over at Bertinou. Why should that annoy you? Joseph answered with an air of derision. That is Karna's bagpipe, but he is not playing it. It is someone more clumsy even than he. Clumsy?

Starting point is 01:04:47 Do you call Karna clumsy with the bagpipe? Not clumsy with his hands, but clumsy in his ideas, Deyne. Poor man, he is not worthy of the blessing of a bagpipe. And that fellow who is trying it now deserves that the good God should stop his breath. That's very strange talk, and I don't know where you have picked it up. How do you know that is Karnas bagpipe? It seems to me that bagpipes are all alike and grunt in the same way. I do hear that the one down there is not properly played,

Starting point is 01:05:16 and the tune is rather choked off. But that doesn't trouble me, for I couldn't do as well. Do you think you could do any better? I don't know, but there are certainly some who can play better than that fellow and better than Karnah his master. There are some who have got the truth of the thing. Do you know them? Where are the people that you are talking about?

Starting point is 01:05:38 I don't know, but somewhere truth must be, and when one has neither time nor means to search for it, one's only chances to meet it. So your head is running on music, is it, Jose? I should never have thought it. I have always known you as mute as a fish, never catching nor humming a tune. When you used to practice on the corn stalks like the herd boys,

Starting point is 01:06:00 you made such a jumble of the tunes that nobody recognized them. in the matter of music we all thought you more simple than children who fancy they can play the bagpipes with reeds if you are not satisfied with carnal who keeps such good time for dancing and manages his fingers so skillfully i am more than ever sure your ear can't be good yes yes said joseph you are right to reprove me for i say foolish things and talk of what i know nothing about well good-night yenne forget what i said for it is not what i wanted to say but i will think it over and try to tell you better another time time. And off he went quickly, as if sorry for having spoken. But Brulet, who came out of our house just then with my sister, called to him and brought him back to me, saying, it is time to put an end to these tales. He is my cousin who has heard so much gossip about Joseph that she begins to think he is a werewolf. The thing must be cleared up once for all. Let it be, as you say, said Joseph, for I am tired of being taken for a sorcerer. I would rather

Starting point is 01:07:01 be thought an idiot. You are neither an idiot nor crazy, returned Broulet, but you are very obstinate, my poor José. You must know, Tiennet, that the lad has nothing wrong in his head, except a fancy for music, which is not so unreasonable as it is dangerous. Then, answered I, I understand what he was saying to me just now. But where the devil did he pick up these ideas? Wait a minute, said Brulette. We must not irritate him unjustly. Don't be in a hurry to say he can't make music. Though perhaps you think, like his mother and my grandfather, that his mind is as dense to that as it used to be to the catechism. But I can tell you that Mariton and grandfather and you are the ones who know nothing about it. Joseph can't sing, not that he is short of breath, but because

Starting point is 01:07:48 he can't make his throat do as he wants it. And as he isn't able to satisfy himself, he prefers not to use a voice he doesn't know how to manage. Therefore, naturally enough, he wants to play upon some instrument which has a voice in place of his own, and which can sing for him whatever comes in his head. It is because he has failed to get this borrowed voice that our poor lad is so sad and dreamy and wrapped up in himself. It is exactly as she tells you, remarked Joseph,

Starting point is 01:08:16 who seemed comforted to hear the young girl lift his thoughts out of his heart and make me comprehend them. But she does not tell you that she has a voice for me, so sweet, so clear, which repeats so correctly the music she hears that ever since I was a child my greatest pleasure is to listen to her. Yes, said Brulette, but we always had a crow to pick with each other. I liked to do as all the other little girls who kept their flocks did, that is, sing at the top of my voice so that I could be heard a long distance.

Starting point is 01:08:44 Screaming like that, I outdid my strength and spoiled all, and hurt Jose's ears. Then after I settled it down to singing reasonably, he thought I had a good memory for all the tunes that were singable, those which pleased the lad and those that put him in a rage. And more than once I've known him turn his back on me suddenly and rush off, without a word, though he had asked me to sing. For that matter, he is not always civil or kind. But as it is he, I laugh instead of getting angry.

Starting point is 01:09:11 I know very well he'll come back, for his memory is not sure, and when he has heard an air that pleases him he comes to me for it, and he is pretty sure to find it in my head. I remarked to Brulet that as Joseph had such a poor memory he didn't seem to me born to play the bagpipes. Oh, nonsense, she said. It is just there that you have got to turn your opinion wrong side out. You see, my poor Tiennet, that neither you nor I know the truth of the thing, as Jose

Starting point is 01:09:38 says. But by dint of living with him and his visions, I have come to understand what he either does not know or dares not say. The truth of the thing is that Jose thinks he can invent his own music, and he does invent it for sure. He has succeeded in making a flute out of a reed, and he plays upon it. I don't know how, for he won't let me nor anyone else hear him. When he wants to play, he goes off on Sundays,

Starting point is 01:10:02 and sometimes at night, into lonely places where he can flute as he likes. But when I ask him to play for me, he answers that he does not yet know what he wants to know, and that he can't do as I ask until it is worthwhile. That's why, ever since he invented his instrument, he goes off on Sundays and sometimes during the week at night, when his music grips him hard. So you see, Tieni, that it is all very harmless. But it is time we should have an explanation between us three.

Starting point is 01:10:28 For José has now set his mind on spending his next wages, up to this time he has always given them to his mother, in buying a bagpipe. And as he knows he is a poor hand at farm labour and yet his heart is set on relieving his mother of hard work, he wants to take up the business of playing the bagpipe, because, true enough, it pays well. It would be a good idea, said my sister, who was listening to us,

Starting point is 01:10:51 if Joseph really has a talent for it. But before buying the bagpipe, it is my opinion he ought to know something about using it. That's a matter of time and patience, said Brulet, and there's no hindrance there. Don't you know that for some time past, Carna's son has been learning to play, so as to take his father's place? Yes, I answered, and I see what will come of it. Karna is old and someone might have a chance for his custom,

Starting point is 01:11:16 but his son wants it, and will get it because he is rich and has influence in the neighbourhood. While you, Jose, have neither money to buy your bagpipe nor a master to teach, you, nor friends who like your music to push you on." "'That is true,' replied Joseph sadly. "'I have nothing but my idea, my read. And her.' So saying, he motioned towards Brulet, who took his hand affectionately as she answered, "'Jose, I believe in what you have in your head, but I can't feel certain that you will

Starting point is 01:11:47 ever get it out. To will and to do are not the same thing. To dream music and play the flute differ widely. I know what you have in your ears, in your brain, in your heart, the music of the good God. For I saw it in your eyes when I was a little thing and you took me on your knee and said, in a weird kind of way, listen and don't make a noise and try to remember what you hear. Then I did listen faithfully, and all I heard was the wind talking in the trees, or the brook murmuring along the pebbles.

Starting point is 01:12:16 But you, you heard something else. And you were so certain of it that I was, too, for sympathy. Well, my lad, keep the music that is so sweet and dear in your secret heart, but don't try to make yourself a piper by profession. For if you do, one of two things will happen. Either you will never make your bagpipes save what the wind and the brook whisper in your ear, or you will become such a fine and delicate musician that all the petty pipers in the countryside will pick a quarrel with you

Starting point is 01:12:43 and prevent you from getting custom. They will wish you will and do you harm, for that's their way to prevent others from sharing their profits and their fame. There are a dozen here and in the neighbourhood who can't agree together, but who will join and support each other in keeping out a new hand. Your mother who hears them talk on Sundays,

Starting point is 01:13:02 for they are thirsty folk and accustomed to drink late at night after the dances, is very unhappy to think you want to join such a set of people. They are rough and ill-behaved and always foremost in quarrels and fights. The habit of being at all festivals and idle resorts makes them drunkards and spendthrifts.

Starting point is 01:13:19 In short, they are a tribe unlike any of the people, people belonging to you, among whom she thinks you will go to the bad. As for me, I think they are jealous and revengeful, and would try to crush your spirit and perhaps your body, too. And so, José, I do ask you to at least put off your plan and lay aside your wishes, and even to give them up altogether if it is not asking too much of your friendship for me and for your mother and Tiennet. As I supported Brulet's arguments, which seemed to me sound, Joseph was in despair, but presently he took courage and said, I thank you for your advice, my friends, which I know is given for my good,

Starting point is 01:13:56 but I beg you to leave me my freedom of mind for a short time longer. When I have reached a point I think I shall reach, I will ask you to hear me play the flute, or the bagpipe if it please God to enable me to buy one. Then, if you decide that my music is good for anything, it will be worthwhile for me to make use of my talent, and I will face the struggle for love of it. If not, I will go on digging the earth and amusing myself with my reed pipe on Sundays, without making a living and so offending anybody.

Starting point is 01:14:24 Promise me this, and I will have patience. We made the promise to quiet him, for he seemed more annoyed by our fears than touched by our sympathy. I looked in his face by the light of the stars and saw it even more distinctly because the bright water of the fountain was before us, like a mirror, which reflected on our faces the whiteness of the sky. I noticed that his eyes had the very colour of the water

Starting point is 01:14:46 and seemed as usual to be looking at things which the rest of us did not see. A month later, Joseph came to see me at my own house. The time has come, he said, with a clear look and a confident voice, for the two persons whose judgment I trust to hear me play. I want Brulet to come here tomorrow night, because here we can be quiet by ourselves. I know your relations start on a pilgrimage tomorrow on account of that fever your brother had,

Starting point is 01:15:13 so that you will be alone in the house, which is far enough in the country for no one to overhear us. I have spoken to Brulet, and she is willing to leave the village after nightfall. I shall wait for her on the lower road, and we can get here without anyone seeing us. Brulet relies on you not to tell of it, and her grandfather, who approves of whatever she wishes,

Starting point is 01:15:34 consents too, if you will make that promise which I have given for you. At the appointed hour I waited in front of my house, having closed all the doors and windows, so that the passers by, if any, there were, should think me in bed or absent. It was now spring, and as it had thundered during the day, the sky was still thick with clouds. Gusts of warm wind brought all the sweet smells of the month of May.

Starting point is 01:15:59 I listened to the nightingales answering each other from distance to distance as far as I could hear, and I thought to myself that Joseph would be hard put to it to flute like them. I saw the lights of the houses in the village going out one by one, and about ten minutes after the last disappeared I found the couple I was waiting for close beside me. The head stepped so softly on the young grass, and so close to the big bushes at the side of the road that I had neither seen nor heard them. I took them into the house where the lamp was lit,

Starting point is 01:16:30 and when I looked at them, she with her hair so coquettishly dressed, and he, as usual, cold and thoughtful, I could scarcely suppose them to be ardently tender lovers. While I talked a little with Brulet to do the honours of the house, which was quite a nice one, and I wanted her to take a fancy to it, Joseph, without a word to me, had set about tuning his flute. He found the damp weather had effect,

Starting point is 01:16:53 it, and he threw a handful of flax chips on the hearth to warm it. When the chips blazed up, they cast a strong light upon his face, which was bent towards the fireplace, and I thought his look so strange that I called Bluette's attention to it and a low voice. You may think, I said to her, that he hides by day and wanders off at night solely to surf at himself with that flute, but I know that he has in him or about him some secret that he does not tell us. Bah, she exclaimed laughing, just big.

Starting point is 01:17:23 because Vire, the Sabo-maker, fancies he saw him with a tall, dark man near the Rato elm. Perhaps Verre dreamed that, I answered. But as for me, I know what I saw and heard in the forest. What did you see, said José suddenly, who had heard every word, though he spoke quite low? What did you hear? You saw him who is my friend, but whom I cannot make known to you. And as for what you heard, you are going now to hear it again if it pleases you to do so. thereupon he blew into his flute, his eye on fire and his face blazing as if with fever. Don't ask me what he played. I don't know if the devil would have understood it. As for me, I didn't, except that it seemed the same air I had heard among the brick on the bagpipes.

Starting point is 01:18:10 At that time I was so frightened that I didn't listen to it all. But now, whether it was that the music was longer or that Joseph had put some of his own into it, he never stopped fluting for a quarter of an hour, setting he was so. his fingers very delicately, never losing his breath, and getting such sounds out of his miserable reed that you would have thought, at times, there were three bagpipes going at once. At other times he played so softly that you could hear the cricket indoors, and the nightingales were out, and when José played low, I confess I liked it. Though the whole together was so little like what we were accustomed to that it seemed to me a

Starting point is 01:18:46 crazy racket. Oh, oh, I exclaimed when he had finished. that's a mad sort of music where the devil did you learn that what is the use of it is there any meaning in it he did not answer and seemed as if he had not heard me he was looking at brulette who was leaning against a chair with her face turned to the wall as she did not say a word josie was seized with a rush of anger either against her or against himself and i saw him make a motion as if to break his flute but just at that moment the girl looked round and i was much surprised to see great tears running down her cheeks. Joseph ran to her and caught her hands. Tell me what you feel, my darling, he cried. Let me know if it is pity for me that makes you cry, or whether it is pleasure.

Starting point is 01:19:33 I don't know how pleasure in a thing like that could make me cry, she said. Don't ask me if I feel pain or pleasure. All that I know is that I can't help crying. But what were you thinking of while I played, said Joseph, looking fixedly at her? So many things that I can't give account. of them, replied Brulette. Well, tell me one, he said, in a tone that was impatient and dictatorial. I did not think of anything, said Brulet, but a thousand recollections of old times came into

Starting point is 01:20:03 my mind. I seemed not to see you playing, though I heard you clearly enough. You appeared to be no older than when we lived together, and I felt as if you and I were driven by a strong wind, sometimes through the ripe wheat, sometimes into the long grass, at other times upon the running streams, and I saw the fields, the woods, the springs, the flowery meadows, and the birds in the sky among the clouds. I saw, too, in my dream, your mother and my grandfather sitting before the fires, and talking of things I could not understand, and all the while you were in the corner on your knees, saying your prayers, and I thought I was asleep in my little bed. Then again I saw the ground covered with snow, and the willows full of larks, and the nights full of

Starting point is 01:20:45 falling stars, and we looked at each other, sitting on a hillock, while the sheep made their little noise of nibbling the grass. In short, I dreamed so many things that they are all jumbled up in my head. And if they made me cry, it was not for grief, but because my mind was shaken in a way I can't at all explain to you. It is all right, said Jose. What I saw and what I dreamed as I played you saw too. Thank you, Brulette. Through you, I know now that I am not crazy, and that there is a truth in what we hear within us, as there is in what we see. Yes, yes, he said, taking long strides up and down the room and holding his fruit above his head. It speaks, that miserable bit of reed, it says what we think, it shows what we see,

Starting point is 01:21:32 it tells a tale as if with words, it loves like the heart, it lives, it has a being. And now, José the madman, Jose the idiot, Jose the stareer, go back to your imbecility. You can afford to do so, for you. were as powerful and as wise and as happy as others. So saying he sat down and paid no further attention to anything about him. End of Section 4. Section 5 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint. Translated by Catherine Prescott Warmly.

Starting point is 01:22:09 This Librevolts recording is in the public domain. Fifth evening. We stared at him, Brulette and I, for he was no longer the Jose we knew. As for me, there was something in all this which reminded me of the tales they tell among us of the wandering bagpipers, who were supposed to tame wild animals and to lead packs of wolves by night along the roads, just as other people lead their flocks in the meadows.

Starting point is 01:22:34 José did not have a natural look as he sat there before me. Instead of being pale and puny, he seemed taller and better in health, as I had seen him in the forest. In short, he looked like a person. His eyes beamed in his head with the glitter of two stars, and anyone who had called him the handsomest fellow in the world wouldn't have been mistaken at that particular moment.

Starting point is 01:22:56 It seemed to me that Brulet also was under some spell or witchery, because she had seen so many things in that fluting when I could only see the excitement of it. I sorely wanted to make her admit that Josie would never get anyone but the devil to dance to such music, but she wouldn't listen to me and asked him to begin again. He was ready enough to do that and began with a tune which was like the first, and yet was not quite the same.

Starting point is 01:23:20 But I saw that his ideas had not changed, and that he was determined not to give in to our country fashions. Seeing that Brulet listened as if she had a taste for the thing, I made an effort in my mind to see if I couldn't like it too, and I seemed to get accustomed to this new kind of music so quickly that something was stirred inside of me. I too had a vision. I thought I saw Brulette dancing alone by the light of the moon

Starting point is 01:23:45 under a hawthorn all in bloom, and shaking her pink apron as if about to fly away. But just then all of a sudden, The sort of ringing of bells was heard not far off, like that I had heard in the forest, and Joseph stopped fluting, cut short in the very middle of a tune. I came out of my vision, quite convinced that the bell was not a dream. Joseph himself was interrupted, and stood stock still, evidently vexed, while Brulet gazed at him, not less astonished than I was.

Starting point is 01:24:14 All my terrors came back to me. "'Jose,' I said reproachfully, "'there is more in this than you choose to confess. you did not learn what you know all by yourself. There's a companion outside who is answering you, whether you will or know. Come, tell him to go away, for I don't want to have him in my house.

Starting point is 01:24:32 I invited you and not him, nor any of his tribe. If he doesn't go, I'll sing him an anthem he won't like. So saying, I took my father's old gun from over the chimney-piece, knowing it was loaded with three consecrated balls, for the evil beast was in the habit of roaming about the font de font, and though I had never seen him, I was always prepared to do so, knowing that my parents feared him very much and that he had frequently molested them.

Starting point is 01:24:59 Joseph began to laugh instead of answering me. Then, calling to his dog, he went to open the door. My own dog had followed my family on their pilgrimage, so that I had no way of ascertaining whether there were real people or evil ones who were ringing the bells, for you must know that animals, particularly dogs, are very wise in such matters, and bark in a way that lets human beings.

Starting point is 01:25:19 beings know the truth. It is a fact that Paul Plush, Joseph's dog, instead of getting angry, ran at once to the door and sprang out gaily enough, as soon as it was opened. But the creature might have been bewitched, and so far as I could see there was nothing good in the matter. Joseph went out. The wind which had grown very high slammed the door after him. Brulette, who had risen, made as if she would open it to see what was going on. But I stopped her quickly, saying there was certainly some wicked secret under it all, so that she too began to be afraid and wished she had never come. Don't be frightened, Brulette, said I.

Starting point is 01:25:57 I believe in evil spirits, but I am not afraid of them. They do no harm except to those who seek them, and all they can ever do to real Christians is to frighten them. But that's a fear we can and ought to conquer. Come, say a prayer, and I'll hold the door, and you may be sure no harmful thing can get in. But that poor lad, said Brulet, if he is in danger, ought we not to get him back?

Starting point is 01:26:20 I made her a sign to be silent, and putting myself close to the door with my loaded gun, I listened with all my ears. The wind blew high, and the bell could only be heard now and then, and seemed to be moving farther off. Brulet was at the farther end of the room, half laughing, half trembling, for she was a brave, intrepid sort of girl, who joked about the devil, though she would not have liked to make acquaintance with him. Presently I heard José coming back and saying,

Starting point is 01:26:46 Not far from the door. Yes, yes, directly after midsummer. Thank you and the good God. I will do just as you say. You have my word for that. As he mentioned the good God, I felt more confidence, so opening the door a trifle I looked out, and there I saw, by the light that streamed from the house,

Starting point is 01:27:05 José, walking beside a villainous-looking man, all black from head to foot, even his face and hands, and behind him two big black dogs who were romping with Joseph's dog. The man answered with such a loud voice that Brulet heard him and trembled. Goodbye, little man. we shall meet again. Here, Clarenne. He had no sooner said that than the bells began to jingle,

Starting point is 01:27:29 and I saw a lean little horse come up to him, half-crouching with eyes like live coals, and a bell which shone bright as gold upon his neck. Call up your comrades, said the tall, dark man. The little horse galloped away, followed by the two dogs, and his master, after shaking hands with Chosea went away too. Joseph came in and shut the door,

Starting point is 01:27:49 saying with a scornful air, What were you doing here, Tiennet? And you, Jose, what have you got there? I retorted, seeing that he had a parcel wrapped in black oilcloth under his arm. That, he said, that is something the good God has sent me at the very hour it was promised. Come, Tien, come, come, Brulette, see the fine present God has made me. The good God doesn't send black angels or make presents to wrongdoers. Hush, said Brulette, let Josie explain himself.

Starting point is 01:28:20 But she had hardly said the words when a loud commotion like the galloping of 200 animals was heard from the broad grass ground around the fountain, some 60 feet from the house, from which it was separated by the garden and hempfield. The bell tinkled, the dogs barked, and the man's rough voice was heard shouting, quick, here, here, to me, Clarin, come, come, I miss three. You, Louvto, you, Satan, off with you, quick. For a moment, Broulette was so frightened that she ran from Joseph to me, which gave me fine courage, and seizing my again, I said to Joseph. I don't choose that your people should come racketing round here at night.

Starting point is 01:29:00 Brulet has had enough of it, and she wants to be taken home. Come now, stop this sorcery, or I'll chase your witches. Joseph stopped me as I was going out. Stay here, he said, and don't meddle with what does not concern you. Or perhaps you'll regret it later. Keep still and see what I brought in. You shall know all about it presently. As the uproar was now dying away in the distance,

Starting point is 01:29:23 I did look, all the more because Brulette was crazy to know what was in the parcel. And Joseph, undoing it, showed us a bagpipe, so large and full and handsome, that it was really a splendid thing, and such as I had never seen before. It had double bellows, one of which measured five feet from end to end. And the wood of the instrument, which was black cherry, dazzled the eyes with the pewter ornaments, made to shine like silver, which were inlaid at all the joints. The windbag was of handsome leather, tied with a lye. knot of calico, striped blue and white. Indeed, the whole workmanship was done in so clever a way

Starting point is 01:29:59 that it only took a very little breath to fill the bag and send out a sound like thunder. The dye is cast, said Broulet, to whom Joseph was not listening, so intent was he in taking apart and replacing the various parts of his bagpipe. You will be a piper, Jose, in spite of the hindrances you will meet with, and the trouble it will be to your mother. I shall be a piper, he said, when I know how to play the bagpipe. Before then the wheat will ripen and the leaves will fall. Don't let us trouble ourselves about what will happen, children. But see things as they are, and don't accuse me of dealings with the devil.

Starting point is 01:30:35 He who brought me that bagpipe is neither a sorcerer nor a demon. He is a man rather rough at times, for his business requires it. And as he is going to spend the night not far from here, I advise you and I beg you, friend Tiennet, not to go where he is. Excuse me for not telling you his name or his business. and also promise me not to say that you have seen him or that he came round this way. It might cause him annoyance as well as the rest of us. Be content to know that he is a man of good sense and good judgment.

Starting point is 01:31:03 It is he whom you saw in the underbrush of the forest of Saint-Chartier playing a bagpipe like this one. For though he is not a piper by trade, he understands it thoroughly, and has played me years that are much more beautiful than ours. He saw that not having enough money I could not buy such an instrument, and so he was satisfied with a small amount and lent to him. me the rest, promising to buy the instrument and bring it to me just about this time, letting me pay for it as I am able. For this thing, you see, costs eight pistoles, nearly one-year's wages. Now, as I hadn't a third of it, he said, trust me, give me what you have, and I will

Starting point is 01:31:37 trust you in the same way. That's how the thing happened. I didn't know him a mite, and we had no witnesses. He could have cheated me if he wished, and if I had asked your advice, you would have dissuaded me from trusting him. But you see now that he is a faithful man, for he said, he said, I will come round your way at Christmas and give you an answer. At Christmas I met him under the Rato elm, and sure enough he came and said, The thing is not yet finished, but it is being made. Between the first and tenth of May I will be here again and bring it. This is the eighth.

Starting point is 01:32:08 He has come, and just as he turned a little out of his way to look for me in the village, he heard the air I was playing, which he was certain no one in these parts knew but me. And as for me, I heard and recognized his bell. That's how it happened, and the devil had. had nothing to do with it. We said good evening to each other and promised to meet at midsummer. If that is so, I remarked, why didn't you bring him in here, where he could have rested and been refreshed with the glass of good one? I would have given him a hearty welcome for keeping his word to you faithfully. Oh, as for that, replied Joseph, he is a man who doesn't always behave like

Starting point is 01:32:43 other people. He has his ways and his own ideas and reasons. Don't ask me more than I ought to tell you. "'Why not? Is it because he is hiding from honest people?' asked Broulet. "'I think that is worse than being a sorcerer. "'He must be someone who has done wrong, or he would not be roaming round at night, "'and you wouldn't be forbidden to speak of him.' "'I will tell you all about it tomorrow,' said Joseph, smiling at our fears. "'Tonight, you can think what you please, for I shall tell you nothing more. "'Come, Brulet, there's the cuckoo striking midnight.

Starting point is 01:33:15 "'I'll take you home and leave my bagpipe hidden away in your charge. for I certainly shall not practice on it in this neighbourhood. The time to make myself known has not yet come. Brulette said good-night to me very prettily, putting her hand into mine. But when I saw that she put her arm into Joseph's to go away, jealousy galloped off with me again, and as they went along the high road I cut across the hemp-field and posted myself beneath the hedge to see them pass.

Starting point is 01:33:40 The weather had cleared a little, but there had been a shower, and Brulet let go of Joséz-arm to pick up her dress, saying, it is not easy to walk two together, go in front. If I had been in Jose's place, I should have offered to carry her over the muddy places, or if I had not dared to take her in my arms, I should have lingered behind her to look at her pretty angles. But Jose did nothing of the kind.

Starting point is 01:34:02 He concerned himself about nothing but his bagpipe, and as I saw him handling it with care and looking lovingly at it, I said to myself that he hadn't any other love just then. I returned home, easy in mind, in more ways than one, and went to bed, somewhat fatigued both in body and mind. But it was not half an hour before Monsieur Pert-Pluche, who had been amusing himself with the stranger's dogs,

Starting point is 01:34:26 came scratching at the door in search of his master. I rose to let him in, and just then I fancied I heard a noise in my oats, which were coming up green and thick at the back of the house. It seemed to me that they were being cropped and trampled by some four-footed beast who had no business there. I caught up the first stick that came to hand and ran out, whistling to Pouche, who did not obey me, but made off, looking for his master after snuffing about the house.

Starting point is 01:34:52 Entering the field, I saw something rolling on its back with its paws in the air, crushing the oats right and left, getting up, jumping about and browsing quiet at its ease. For a moment I was afraid to run after it, not knowing what kind of beast it was. I could see nothing clearly but its ears, which were too long for a horse, but the body was too black and stout for a donkey. I approached it gently. It seemed neither wild nor mischievous, and then I knew it was a mule, though I had seldom seen one, for we don't raise them in our part of the country, and the mule it tears never passed this way.

Starting point is 01:35:25 I was just going to catch him and already had my hand on his mane when he threw up his hindquarters and lashing out a dozen kicks, which I had scarcely time to avoid. He leaped like a hair over the ditch and ran away so quickly that in a moment he was out of sight. Not wishing to have my oats ruined by the return of the beast, I put off going to bed till I could have an easy mind. I returned to the house to get my shoes and waistcoat, and after fastening the doors I went through the fields in the direction the mule had taken. I had little doubt that he belonged to the troop of the dark man, Joseph's friend.

Starting point is 01:35:59 Joseph had certainly advised me to see nothing of him, but now that I had touched a living animal I was afraid of nothing. Nobody likes ghosts, but when you know you were dealing with solid things, it is another affair. And the moment I realized that the dark man was a man, no matter how strong he was or how much he had daubed himself over. I didn't care for him any more than I did for a weasel. You must have heard say that I was one of the strongest fellows of these parts in my young days.

Starting point is 01:36:25 In fact, such as I am now, I am not yet afraid of any man. Moreover, I was as nimble as a roach, and I knew that in dangers where the strength of a man was not enough to save him, it would have needed the wings of a bird to overtake me in running. Accordingly, having provided myself with a rope and my own gun, which didn't have consecrated balls but could carry truer than my father's, I set out on a voyage of discovery.

Starting point is 01:36:50 I had scarcely taken a couple of hundred steps when I saw three more animals of the same kind in my brother-in-law's pasture, where they were behaving themselves just as badly as possible. Like the first brute, they allowed me to approach them, and then immediately galloped off to a farm on the Essay de Volnier, where they met another troop of mules, capering about as lively as mice,

Starting point is 01:37:10 rearing and kicking in the rising moonlight. a regular donkey chase, which you know is what they call the dance of the devil's she-asses, when the fairies and the will of the wisps gallop up there among the clouds. However, there was really no magic here, but only a great robbery of pasture, and abominable mischief unto the grain. The crop was not mine, and I might have said that it was none of my business, but I felt provoked to have run after the troublesome animals for nothing,

Starting point is 01:37:37 and you can't see the fine wheat of the good god trampled and destroyed without answer. I went on into the big wheatfield without meeting a single Christian soul, though the mules seemed to increase in numbers every minute. I meant to catch at least one which would serve as proof when I complained to the authorities of the damage done to the farm. I singled out one which seemed to be more docile than the rest, but when I got near him I saw that he wasn't the same game, but the lean little horse with a bell round his neck,

Starting point is 01:38:05 which bell, as I learned later, is called in the Bourbonnet districts a Claren, and the horse that wears it goes by the same name. not knowing the habits of these animals it was by me a good luck that i chanced upon the right way to manage them which was to get hold of the bell-horse or clerin and lead him away being certain to catch a mule or two afterwards if i succeeded the little animal which seemed good-natured and well trained let me pet him and lead him away without seeming to care but as soon as he began to walk the bell on his neck began to jingle and great was my surprise to see the crowd of mules scattered here and there among the wheat come trooping upon us and tearing after me like bees after their queen. I saw then that they were trained to follow the Clarenne, and that they knew its ring just as well as good monks know the bell for matins. End of Section 5.

Starting point is 01:39:01 Section 6 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott warmly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 6th evening. I did not long debate what I should do with the mischievous hoard. I went straight for the manner of Olnier, thinking that I could easily open the gates of the yard and drive the beast in, after which I would wake the farmers and they, when informed of the damage done, would do as they saw fit. I was just nearing the yard when, as it happened, I fancied I saw a man running on the road behind me. I cocked my gun, thinking that if he was the muleteer, I should have a bone to pick with him.

Starting point is 01:39:40 But it was Joseph, on his way back to Olnier, after escorting Brourette to the village. What are you doing here, Tiennet? he said, to me, coming up as fast as he could run. Didn't I tell you not to leave home tonight? You were in danger of death. Let go that horse, and don't meddle with those mules. What can't be helped must be endured for fear of worse evils. Thank you, comrade, I answered.

Starting point is 01:40:01 Your fine friends pasture their cavalry in my field, and you expect me to say nothing. Very good, very good. Go your ways if you are afraid yourself, but as for me I shall see the thing out, and get justice done by law or might. As I spoke, having stopped a moment to answer him, we heard a dog bark in the distance, and José, seizing the rope by which I was leading the horse, cried out. Quik Tiennet, here come the muleteers' dogs. If you don't want to be torn in pieces, let go the horse. See, he hears them, and you can't do anything with him now. Sure enough, the Clarin pricked his ears to listen.

Starting point is 01:40:35 Then laying them back, which is a great sign of ill-temper, he began to neigh and rear and kick, which brought all the mules capering round us, so that we had scarcely time to get out of the way before the whole of them rushed by at full speed in the direction of the dogs. I was not satisfied to yield, however, and as the dogs, having called in their wild troop, showed signs of making straight for us, I took aim with my gun as if to shoot the first of the two that came at me. But Joseph went up to the dog and made him recognize him. "'Ha, Satan,' he said to him, "'the fault is yours. Why did you chase the hairs into the wheat instead of watching your beasts?

Starting point is 01:41:10 When your master wakes up, you will be whipped if you are not at your post with Louvito and the clarin. Satan, understanding that he was being reproved for his behavior, obeyed Joseph, who called him towards a large tract of waste land where the mules could feed without doing any damage, and where Joseph, as he told me, intended to watch them until their master returned. Nevertheless, José, I said to him, matters won't blow over as quietly as you think for. And if you will not tell me where the owner of these mules hides himself, I shall stay here and wait for him, and say what I think to his face and demand reparation for the harm done.

Starting point is 01:41:46 you don't know muleteers if you think it easy to get the better of them replied joseph i believe it is the first time any of them have ever passed this way it is not their usual road they commonly come down from the bourbonnet forests through those of melland and l'espinas into the sheur woods i happened accidentally to meet them in the forest of st chartier where they were halting on their way to st thro among them is the man who is here now whose name is uriel and who is on his way to the ironworks of ardante for coal and coal and o'er. He has been kind enough to come two hours out of his way to oblige me. And it may be that, having left his companions into the heath country through which the roads frequented by men of his business run, where his mules can pasture without injuring anyone, he fancied he was just as free here in our wheatlands. And though he is altogether wrong, it would be best not to tell him so. He will have to know what I think, I answered, for I see now how the land lays. Oh, ho, muleteers, we know what they are. You are. You are. You will have to know what I think, I answered, for I answer, for I am. I

Starting point is 01:42:46 remind me of things I have heard my godfather, Gervais the forester, tell of. Mouleteers are lawless men, wicked and ignorant, who would kill a man with as little conscience as they would have a rabbit. They think they have a right to feed their beasts at the expense of the peasantry, and if anyone complains who is not strong enough to resist them, they will come back later or send their comrades to kill the poor man's cattle or burn his house, or worse. They live on plunder, like thieves at a fair. As you have heard those things, said Joseph, You must see that we should be very foolish to draw down some great harm to the farmers and my master and your family in revenge for a little one.

Starting point is 01:43:23 I don't defend what has been done, and when Maitre Uriel told me he was going to pasture his mules and camp at Noon, as he does elsewhere at all seasons, I told him about this bit of common and advised him not to let his mules stray into the wheat fields. He promised he would not, for he is not at all ill-disposed. But his temper is quick, and he wouldn't back down if a whole crowd of people fell upon him. please go back to your own property keep clear of these beasts and don't pick a quarrel with anybody if you are questioned to-morrow say you saw nothing for to swear in a court of law against a muleteer is quite as dangerous as to swear against a lord joseph was right so i gave in and took the road towards home but i was not satisfied for backing down before a threat is wisdom to old men and bitter wrath to young ones as i neared the house quite resolved not to go to bed i fancied i saw a light in it I quickened my steps, and finding the door, which I had latched wide open, I rushed in and saw a man in the chimney corner, lighting his pipe by blaze he had made.

Starting point is 01:44:24 He turned round and looked at me as quietly as if the house were his, and I recognised the charcoal-blackened man whom Joseph called Uriel. My wrath returned, and closing the door behind me, I exclaimed as I went up to him. Well done, I am glad you have walked into the lion's den. I have a couple of words to say to you. three if you like he said squatting on his heels and drawing fire through his pipe for the tobacco was damp and did not light readily then he added as if scornfully there's not even a pair of tongs to pick up the embers no i retorted but there's a good cudgel to flatten you out with and pray why he demanded without losing an atom of assurance you are angry because i have entered your house without permission why were you not at home i knocked on the door and asked to light my pipe a thing no one ever refuses silence gives consent so i pulled the latch why did not you lock the door if you were afraid of thieves i looked at the beds and saw the house was empty i lighted my pipe and here i am what have you to say to that

Starting point is 01:45:28 so saying as i tell you he took up his gun as if to examine the lock but it was really as much as to say if you were armed so am i two can play at that game I had an idea of aiming at him to make him respect me, but the longer I looked at his blackened face, the more I was struck with his frank air and his lively, jovial eye, so that I ceased to be angry and felt only piqued. He was a young man of twenty-five, tall and strong, and if washed and shaved, would have been quite a handsome fellow. I put my gun down beside the wall and went up to him without fear.

Starting point is 01:46:01 Let us talk, I said, sitting down by him. As you will, he answered, laying aside his gun. Is it you they call Uriel? And you, Etienne de Pardieu? How do you know my name? Just as you know mine, from our little friend Joseph Pico. Then they are your mules that I have caught? Caught, he exclaimed, half-rising in astonishment.

Starting point is 01:46:26 Then laughing, he added, You are joking. You can't catch my mules. Yes, I can, I said, if I catch and lead the horse. Ah, you have learned the trick, he cried with a defiant air, but how about the dogs? I don't fear dogs when I've a gun in my hand. Have you killed my dogs?

Starting point is 01:46:44 He shouted, jumping up. His face flamed with anger, which let me know that though he might be jovial by nature, he could be terrible at times. I might have killed your dogs, I replied, and I might have led your mules into a farmyard where you would have found a dozen strong fellows to deal with. I did not do it because Joseph told me you were alone,

Starting point is 01:47:03 and that it was not fair for a mere piece of mischief to put you in danger of losing your life. I agreed to that reason, but now we are one to one. Your beasts have injured my field and my sister's field, and what's more, you have entered my house in my absence, which is improper and insolent. You will beg pardon for your behaviour and pay damages for my oats, or what, he said with a sneer.

Starting point is 01:47:26 Or we will settle the matter according to the laws and customs of Berri, which are, I think, the same as those of the Bourbonnet, where fists are lawyers. That is to say the law of the strongest, he replied, to turning up his sleeves. That suits me better than going before the justices, and if you are really alone and don't play traitor. Come outside, I said, and you shall see that I am alone. You are wrong to insult me in that way, for I might have shot you as I came in, but guns are made to kill wolves and mad dogs. I didn't want to treat you like a beast, and though you have a chance

Starting point is 01:47:58 to shoot me at this moment, I think it cowardly for men to pepper each other with balls, when fists were given to human beings to fight with. As to that, I don't think you are a greater fool than I, and if you have got pluck. My lad, he said, pulling me towards the fire to look at me. Perhaps you are making a mistake. You are younger than I am, and though you look pretty wiry and solid, I wouldn't answer for that skin of yours. I would much rather you spoke me fairly about your damages and trusted to my honesty.

Starting point is 01:48:26 Enough, I said, knocking his hat into the ashes to anger him. The best bruised of us, too, will get justice presently. He quietly picked up his hat and laid it on the table, saying, what are the rules in this part of the country among young fellows i replied there is no ill-will or treachery we seize each other round the body or strike where we can except on the face he who takes a stick or a stone is thought a scoundrel that is not exactly our way he said but come on i shan't spare you if i hit harder than i mean to surrender for there's a time you know when one can't answer for oneself once outside on the thick sward we off coats not to spoil them useless and began to wrestle, clasping thighs and lifting one another bodily. I had the advantage of him there, for he was taller than I by a head, and in bending over he gave me a better grip.

Starting point is 01:49:17 Besides, he was not angry, and thinking he would soon get the better of me, he didn't put forth his strength. So being, I was able to floor him at the third round, falling on top of him. But there he recovered himself, and before I had time to strike, he wound himself round me like a snake, and squeezed me so closely that I lost my breath. Nevertheless, I managed to get up first and attack him again. When he saw that he had to do with a free hitter and caught it well in the stomach and on the shoulders,

Starting point is 01:49:43 he gave me as good as I sent, and I must own that his fist was like a sledgehammer. But I would have died sooner than show I felt it, and each time that he cried out, Surrender, I plucked up courage and strength to pay him in his own coin. So for a good quarter of an hour the fight seemed even. Presently, however, I felt I was getting exhausted while he was only warming up to the work.

Starting point is 01:50:04 For if he had less activity than I, his age and temperament were in his favour. The end of it was that I was down beneath him and fairly beaten and unable to release myself. But for all that I wouldn't cry mercy. And when he saw that I would rather be killed, he behaved like a generous fellow. Come, enough, he cried, loosening his grip on my throat. Your will is stronger than your bones, I see that, and I might break them to bits before you would give in. That's right, and as you are a true man, let us be friends.

Starting point is 01:50:34 i beg your pardon for entering your house and now let us talk over the damage my mules have done to you i am as ready to pay you as to fight you and afterwards you shall give me a glass of wine so that we may part good friends the bargain concluded i pocketed three crowns which he paid me for myself and my brother-in-law then i drew the wine and we sat down to table three flagons of two pints each disappeared for we were both thirsty enough after the game we had been playing and mdruhirelle had a carcass which could hold as much as he liked to put into it i found him a good fellow a fine talker and easy to get on with and i not wishing to seem behind hand in words or actions filled his glass every two minutes and swore friendship till the roof rang apparently he felt no effects of the fight i felt them badly enough but not wishing to show it i proposed a song and squeezed one with some difficulty from my throat which was still hot from the grip of his hands he only laughed comrade said he neither you nor yours know anything about singing your tunes are as flat and your wind as stifled as your ideas and your pleasures you are a race of snails always snuffing the same wind and sucking the same bark for you think the world ends at those blue hills we're as flat and your wind as your ideas and your pleasures you are a race of snafing the same snows always snuffing the same bark for you think the world ends at those blue hills which limit your sky and which are the forests of my native land. I tell you, Tiennet, that's where the world begins, and you would have to walk pretty fast for many a night and a day

Starting point is 01:51:55 before you got out of those grand woods, to which yours are but a patch of pea-brush. And when you do get out of them, you will find mountains and more forests, such as you have never seen, of the tall, handsome fir-trees of Auverg, unknown to your rich plains. But what's the good of telling you about these places

Starting point is 01:52:13 that you will never see? You beri folks are like stones Which roll from one rot to another Coming back to the right hand When the cartwheels have shoved them For a time to the left You breathe a heavy atmosphere You love your ease

Starting point is 01:52:25 You have no curiosity You cherish your money and don't spend it But also you don't know how to increase it You have neither nerve nor invention I don't mean you personally Tiennet You know how to fight In defence of your own property But you don't know how to acquire property

Starting point is 01:52:40 By industry as we muleteers do Traveling from place to place and taking by fair means or foul, what isn't given with the good will. Oh, I agree to all that, I answered, but don't you call yours a brigand's trade? Come, friend Iriel, wouldn't it be better to be less rich and more honest?

Starting point is 01:52:57 For when it comes to old age, will you enjoy your ill-gotten property with a clear conscience? Ill-gotten! Look here, friend Tienne, he said, laughing. You who have, I suppose, like all the small proprietors about here, a couple of dozen sheep, two or three goats,

Starting point is 01:53:12 and perhaps an old mare that feed on the common. Do you go and offer reparation if by accident your beasts bark your neighbors' trees and trample his young wheat? Don't you call in your animals as fast as you can without saying a word about it? And if your neighbors take the law of you, don't you curse them and the law too? And if you could, without danger, get them off into a corner. Wouldn't you make amends to yourself by belaboring their shoulders? I tell you, it is either cowardice or force that makes you respect the law, and it is because we avoid both that you blame us, out of jealousy of the free that we have known how to snatch.

Starting point is 01:53:46 I don't like your queer morality, Eureel, but what has all this got to do with music? Why do you laugh at my song? Do you know a better? I don't pretend to, Tiennet. But I tell you that music, liberty, beautiful wild scenery, lively minds, and if you choose the art of making money

Starting point is 01:54:03 without getting stupefied, all belong together like fingers to the hand. I tell you that shouting is not singing. You can bellow like deaf folks in your fields and taverns, but that's not music. Music is on our side of those hills and not on yours. Your friend Joseph felt this, for his senses are more delicate than yours. In fact, my little Tiennet, I should only lose my time in trying to show you the difference.

Starting point is 01:54:27 You are a berichon, as a swallow is a swallow. And what you are today, you will be fifty years hence. Your head will whiten, but your brain will never be a day older. Why, do you think me a fool, I asked, rather mortified? Fool? Not at all, he said. frank as to heart and shrewd as to interest. That's what you are and ever will be. But living in body and lively in soul, you never can be. And this is why, Tiennet, he added, pointing to the furniture of the room,

Starting point is 01:54:56 see these big bellied beds where you sleep in feathers up to your eyes. You are spayed and pickaxe folk, toilers in the sun, but you must have your downy beds to rest in. We forest fellows would soon be ill if we had to bury ourselves alive in sheets and blankets. A log hut, a fern bed, that's our home and our furniture. Even those of us who travel constantly and don't mind paying the in-charges can't stand a roof over our heads. We sleep in the open air in the depth of winter, on the pack saddles of our mules, with the snow for a coverlet. Here you have dresses and tables and chairs and fine china, ground glass, good wine, a roasting jack and soup pots, and heaven knows what. You think you must have all that to make you happy. You work your jaws like cows that chew the cud, and so,

Starting point is 01:55:41 when obliged to get upon your feet and go back to work, you have a pain in your chest two or three times a day. You are heavy and no gayer at heart than your beasts of burden. On Sundays you sit, with your elbows on the table, eating more than your hunger tells you to, and drinking more than your thirst requires. You think you are amusing yourself by storing up indigestion and sighing after girls who are only bored with you,

Starting point is 01:56:04 though they don't know why. Your partners in those dragging dancers in rooms and barns where you suffocate, turning your holidays and festivals into a burden the more upon your spirits and stomachs. Yes, Tieni, that's the life you live. To indulge your ease, you increase your wants, and in order to live well you don't live at all. And how do you live, you muleteers, I said rather shaken by his remarks. I don't speak now of your part of the country, of which I know nothing, but of you, a muleteer, whom I see there before me, drinking hard, with your elbows on the table,

Starting point is 01:56:35 not sorry to find a fire to light your pipe and a Christian to talk with. are you made different from other men when you have led this hard life you boast of for a score of years won't you spend your money which you have amassed by depriving yourself of everything in procuring a wife a house a table a good bed good wine and rest at last what a lot of questions tianne replied my guest you argue fairly well for a berichon i'll try to answer you you see me drink and talk because i am a man and like wine company and the pleasures of the table please me even more than they do you for the very good reason that I don't need them and am not accustomed to them. Always afoot, snatching a mouthful as I can, drinking at the brooks, sleeping under the first oak I come to. Of course it is a feast for me to come across a good table and plenty of good wine. But it is a feast and not a necessity.

Starting point is 01:57:29 To me, living alone for weeks at a time, the society of a friend is a holiday. I say more to him in one hour's talk than you would say in a day at a tavern. I enjoy all and more than you fellows do, because I abuse nothing. If a pretty girl or a forward woman comes after me in the woods to tell me that she loves me,

Starting point is 01:57:47 she knows I have no time to dangle after her like a niny and wait her pleasure. And I admit that in the matter of love I prefer that which is soon found to that which you have to search and wait for. As to the future, Tienet, I don't know if I shall ever have a home and a family, but if I do I shall be more grateful

Starting point is 01:58:03 to the good God than you are, and I shall enjoy its sweetness more too. But I swear that my helpmate shall not be one of your buxom red-faced women let her be ever so rich a man who loves liberty and true happiness never marries for money i shall never love any woman who isn't slender and fair as a young birch one of those dainty lively darlings who grow in the shady woods and sing better than your nightingales a girl like brulette i thought to myself luckily she isn't here for though she despises all of us she might take a fancy to this blacker more if only by way of oddity the muleteer went on talking And so, Tiené, I don't blame you for following the road that lies before you, but mine goes farther and I like it the best. I am glad to know you, and if you ever want me, send for me.

Starting point is 01:58:54 I can't ask the same of you, for I know that a dweller on the plains makes his will and confesses to the priest before he travels a dozen leagues to see a friend. But with us it isn't so. We fly like the swallows, and can be met almost everywhere. Goodbye. Shake hands. If you get tired of a peasant's life, call the black crows. from the bourbonnet to get you out of it he'll remember that he played the bagpipe on your back without anger and surrendered to your bravery end of section six section seven of the bagpipers by george

Starting point is 01:59:33 translated by katherine prescott warmly this librivox recording is in the public domain seventh evening thereupon uriel departed to find joseph and i went to bed for if up to that time i had concealed out of pride and forgot gotten out of curiosity the ache in my bones, I was nonetheless bruised from head to foot. Métre Uriel walked off gaily enough, apparently without feeling anything, but as for me, I was obliged to stay in bed for nearly a week, spitting blood, with my stomach all upset. Joseph came to see me, and did not know what to make of it all, for I was shy of telling him the truth, because it appeared that Uriel, in speaking to him of me, hadn't mentioned how we came to an explanation. Great was the amazement of the neighbourhood

Starting point is 02:00:19 over the injury done to the wheat fields of Olnier, and the mule tracks along the roads were something to wonder at. When I gave my brother-in-law the money I had earned with my sore bones, I told him the whole story secretly, and as he was a good, prudent fellow, no one got wind of it. Joseph had left his bagpipe at Brulettes, and could not make use of it, partly because the haying left him no time,

Starting point is 02:00:41 and also because Brulette, fearing Carnal's spite, did her best to put him out of the notion of playing. Joseph pretended to give in, but we soon saw that he was concocting some other plan and thinking to hire himself out in another parish, where he could slip his collar and do as he pleased. About midsummer he gave warning to his master to get another man in his place, but it was impossible to get him to say where he was going, and as he always replied, I don't know to any question he didn't choose to answer. We began to think he would really let himself be hired in the

Starting point is 02:01:13 marketplace like the rest without caring where he went. As the Christian's fair so called is one of the great festivals of the town, Broulet went there to dance, and so did I. We thought we should meet Joseph and find out before the end of the day what master and what region he had chosen, but he did not appear either morning or evening on the marketplace. No one saw him in the town. He had left his bagpipe, but he had carried off the night before, all the articles he usually left in Per Brulet's house. That evening as we came home, Brulette and I and all her train of lovers with the other young folks of our parish, she took my arm and walking on the grassy side of the road away from the others, she said. Do you know, Tiennet, that I am very anxious about Jose?

Starting point is 02:01:58 His mother, whom I saw just now in town, is full of trouble and can't imagine where he has gone. A long time ago he told her he thought of going away. But now she can't find out where, and the poor woman is miserable. And you, Brulette, I said, It seems to me that you are not very gay, and you haven't danced with the same spirit as usual. That's true, she answered. I have a great regard for the poor lunatic fellow, partly because I ought to have it, on account of his mother,

Starting point is 02:02:25 and then for old acquaintances' sake, and also because I care for his fluting. Fluting, does it really have such an effect upon you? There's nothing wrong in its effect, cousin. Why do you find fault with it? I don't, but come, say what you mean, she exclaimed, laughing, for you are always chanting some sort of dirge about it, and I want to say amen to you once for all, so that I may hear the last of it.

Starting point is 02:02:50 Well, then, Brulet, I replied, we won't say another word about Joseph, but let's talk of ourselves. Won't you see that I have a great love for you? And can't you tell me that you will return it one of these days? Oh, oh, are you talking seriously this time? This time and all times. It has always been serious on my part,

Starting point is 02:03:11 even when shyness made me pretend to joke about it. Then, said Brulette, quickening her step with me that the others might not overhear us, tell me how and why you love me. I'll answer you afterwards. I saw she wanted compliments and flattery, but my tongue was not very ready at that kind of thing. I did my best, however, and told her that ever since I came into the world I had never thought of anyone but her, for she was the prettiest and sweetest of girls, and had captivated me even before she was twelve years old. I told nothing that she did not know already.

Starting point is 02:03:44 Indeed, she said so, and owned she had seen it at the time we were catechised. But she added laughing, Now explain why you have not died of grief, for I have always put you down, and tell me also why you are such a fine-grown, healthy fellow, if love as you declare has withered you. That's not talking seriously as you promised me, I said. Yes, it is, she replied. I am serious, for I shall never choose a.

Starting point is 02:04:08 anyone who can't swear that he has never in his life fancied or loved or desired any girl but me. Then it is all right, Brulette, I cried. If that's so, I fear nobody, not even that José of yours, who, I will allow, never looked at a girl in his life, for his eyes can't even see you, or he wouldn't go away and leave you. Don't talk of Joseph, we agreed to let him alone, replied Brulet rather sharply, and as you boast of such very keen eyes, please confess that in spite of your love for me you have ogled more than one, pretty girl. Now don't tell fibs for I hate lying. What were you saying so gaily to Sylvia only last year? And it isn't more than a couple of months since you danced two Sundays running under my very nose

Starting point is 02:04:51 with that big bonina. Do you think I am blind that nobody comes and tells me things? I was rather mortified at first, but then encouraged by the thought that there was a spice of jealousy in roulette, I answered frankly. What I was saying to such a girl's cousin is not proper to repeat to a person I respect. A fellow may play the fool sometimes to amuse himself, and the regret he feels for it afterwards only proves that his heart and soul had nothing to do with it. Grulette coloured, but she answered immediately.

Starting point is 02:05:23 Then, can you swear to me, Tienet, that my character and my face have never been lowered in your esteem by the prettiness or the amiability of any other girl? Never since you were born? I will swear to it, I said. Swear, then, she said, but give all your mind. and all your religion to what you're going to say. Swear by your father and your mother, by your conscience and the good God

Starting point is 02:05:45 that no girl ever seemed to you as beautiful as I. I was about to swear when I am sure I don't know why, a recollection made by tongue tremble. Perhaps I was very silly to heed it. A shrewd a fellow wouldn't have done so, but I couldn't lie at the moment when a certain image came clearly before my mind. And yet I had totally forgotten it up to that very moment,

Starting point is 02:06:06 and should probably never have remembered it at all, if it had not been for Brulette's questions and adjurations. You are in no hurry to swear, she said. But I like that best. I shall respect you for the truth and despise you for a lie. Well then, Brulet, I answered. As you want me to tell the exact truth, I will do so. In all my life I have seen two girls, two children, I might say,

Starting point is 02:06:31 between whom I might have wavered as to preference if anyone had said to me, for I was a child myself at the time, Here are two little darlings who may listen to you in after days. choose which you will have for a wife. I should doubtless have answered, I choose my cousin, because I knew how amiable you were, and I knew nothing of the other,

Starting point is 02:06:50 having only seen her for ten minutes. And yet when I came to think of it, it is possible I might have felt some regret, not because her beauty was greater than yours, for I don't think that possible, but because she gave me a good kiss on both cheeks, which you never gave me in your life. So I conclude that she is a girl

Starting point is 02:07:06 who will someday give her heart generously, whereas your discretion, holds me and always has held me in fear and trembling. Where is she now? asked Brulette, who seemed struck by what I said. What is her name? She was much surprised to hear that I knew neither her name nor the place she lived in, and that I called her in my memory the girl of the woods. I told her the little story of the cart that stuck in the mud,

Starting point is 02:07:32 and she asked me a variety of questions which I could not answer, my recollections being much confused and the whole affair being of less interest to me than Bluette supposed. She turned over in her head every word she got out of me, and it almost seemed as if she were questioning herself, with some vexation, to know if she were pretty enough to be so exacting, and whether frankness or coyness was the best way of pleasing the lads. Perhaps she was tempted for a moment to try coquetry

Starting point is 02:07:58 and make me forget the little vision that had come into my head, and which, for more reasons than one, had displeased her, but after a few joking words she answered seriously. no, Tiennet, I won't blame you for having eyes to see a pretty girl, when the matter is as innocent and natural as you tell me. But nevertheless it makes me think seriously, I hardly know why, about myself. Cousin, I am a coquette. I feel the fever of it to the very roots of my hair. I don't know that I shall ever be cured of it. But such as I am, I look upon love and marriage as the end of all my comfort and pleasure. I am 18, old enough to reflect. Well, reflection comes to me

Starting point is 02:08:37 like a blow on the stomach, whereas you have been considering how to get yourself a happy home ever since you were fifteen or sixteen, and your simple heart has given you an honest answer. What you need is a wife as simple and honest as yourself, without caprices or pride or folly. I should deceive you shamefully if I told you that I am the right kind of girl for you. Whether from caprice or distrust, I don't know, but I have no inclination for any of those I can choose from, and I can't say that I ever shall have. The longer I live, the more my freedom and my light-heartedness satisfy me. Therefore be my friend, my comrade, my cousin. I will love you just as I love Joseph, and better if you are faithful to our friendship. But don't think any more about marrying me.

Starting point is 02:09:18 I know that your relations would be opposed to it, and so am I, in spite of myself, and with great regret for disappointing you. See, the others are coming after us to break up this long talk. Promise me not to sulk. Choose a course. Be my brother. If you say yes, we'll build the midsummer bonfire when we get back to the village and open the dance together gaily. Well, Brulet, I answered, sighing, it shall be as you say. I do my best not to love you, except as you wish, and in any case I shall still be your cousin and good friend, as in duty-bound. She took my hand and ran with me to the village marketplace, delighted to make her lovers scamper after her. There we found that the old people had already piled up the fagos and straw

Starting point is 02:10:01 of the bonfire. Brulet, being the first to arrive, was called to set fire. to it, and soon the flames darted higher than the church porch. We had no music to dance by until Carnar's son, named Francois, came along with his bagpipe, and he was very willing to play, for he too, like the rest, was putting his best foot foremost to please the roulette. So we opened the ball joyously, but after a minute or two everybody cried out that the music tired their legs. Francois Carnar was new at the business, and though he did his best, we found we couldn't get along.

Starting point is 02:10:34 He let us make fun of him, however, and kept on playing, being, as I suppose, rather glad of the practice, as it was the first time he had played for people to dance. Nobody liked it, however, and when the young men found that dancing, instead of resting their tired legs, only tired them more, they talked of bidding good night or spending the evening in the tavern. Brulet and the other girls exclaimed against that, and told us we were unmanly lads and clodhoppers. This led to an argument in the midst of which all of a sudden a tall, handsome fellow, appeared, before it could be seen where he came from. Hello there, children, he cried in such a loud tone that it drowned our racket and forced us to listen. If you want to go on dancing, you shall. Here's a bagpiper who will pipe for you as long as you like, and won't ask anything for

Starting point is 02:11:20 his trouble. Give me that, he said to Francois Carnard, taking hold of his bagpipe, and listen. It may do you good, for though music is not my business, I know more about it than you. Then without waiting for Francois's consent, he blew out. to the bag and began to play, amid cries of joy from the girls and with many thanks from the lads. At his very first words I had recognised the Bourbonnet accent of the muleteer, but I could hardly believe my eyes, so changed was he for the better in looks. Instead of his cold dusty smock-frock, his old leathern gaiters, his battered hat and his grimy face, he had a new

Starting point is 02:11:56 suit of clothes of fine white woolen stuff, streaked with blue, handsome linen, a straw hat with colored ribbons, his beard trimmed, his face washed and as rosy as a peach. In short he was the handsomest man I ever saw, grand as an oak, well made in every part of him, clean-limbed and vigorous, with teeth that were bits of ivory, eyes like the blades of a knife, and the affable air and manners of a gentleman. He ogled all the girls, smiled at the beauties, laughed with the plain ones, and was merry, good company with everyone, encouraging and inspiriting the dancers with eye and foot and voice, for he did not blow much into his bagpipe, so clever was he in managing his wind, and shouting between the puffs a dozen drolleries and funny sayings which put everybody in good

Starting point is 02:12:39 humour for the evening. Moreover, instead of doling out exact measure like an ordinary piper, and stopping short when he had earned his two sous for every couple, he went on bagpiping a full quarter of an hour, changing his tunes you couldn't tell how, for they ran into one another without showing the join. In short, it was the best real music ever heard, and quite unknown in our paths, but so enlivening and danceable that we all seemed to be flying in the air instead of jiggling about on the grass. I think he would have played and we should have danced all night without getting tired if it had not been that Perl Carnar, hearing the music from the wine-shop of Labrude and wondering much that his son could play so well, came proudly over to listen.

Starting point is 02:13:20 But when he saw his own bagpipe in the hands of a stranger and Francois dancing away without seeing the harm of yielding his place, he was furious. and pushing the muleteer from behind, he made him jump from the stone on which he was perched into the very middle of the dancers. Métri Riel was a good deal surprised, and turning round he saw Carnar, red with anger, ordering him to give up the instrument.

Starting point is 02:13:43 You never knew Carnar the piper? He was getting in years even then, but he was still as sturdy and vicious as an old devil. The muleteer began by showing fight, but noticing Carnar's white hair, he returned to the bagpipe gently, remarking, you might have spoken with more civility old fellow but if you don't like me to take your place i give it up to you all the more willingly that i should like to dance myself if the young people will allow a stranger in their company yes yes come and dance you have earned it cried the whole parish who had turned out to hear the fine music and were charmed with him old and young both then he said taking brulette's hand for he had looked at her more than at all the rest i ask by way of payment to be allowed to dance with this pretty

Starting point is 02:14:28 girl, even though she be engaged to someone else. She is engaged to me, Uriel, said I, but as we are friends, I yield my rights to you for this dance. Thank you, answered he, shaking hands. Then he whispered in my ear, I pretended not to know you, but if you see no harm to yourself so much the better. Don't say you are a muleteer, and it is all right, I replied.

Starting point is 02:14:53 While the folks were questioning about the stranger, another fuss arose at the musician's tone. Per Carnard refused to play or to allow his son to play. He even scolded François openly for letting an unknown man supplant him, and the more people tried to settle the matter by telling him the stranger had not taken any money, the angrier he got. In fact, when Per Maurice Ville told him he was jealous, and that the stranger could out do him and all the other neighbouring players,

Starting point is 02:15:18 he was beside himself with rage. He rushed into the midst of us and demanded of Uriel whether he had a license to play the bagpipes, which made everybody laugh, and the muleteer most of all. At last, being summoned by the old savage to reply, Uriel said, I don't know the customs in your part of the country, old man, but I have travelled enough to know the laws,

Starting point is 02:15:40 and I know that nowhere in France do artists buy licences. Artists, exclaimed Carnar, puzzled by a word which, like the rest of us, he had never heard. What does that mean? Are you talking gibberish? Not at all, replied Uriel. I will call them musicians, if you like, and I assert that I am free to play music wherever I please without paying toll to the King of France. Well, well, I know that, answered Karnar, but what you don't know yourself is that in our part of the country

Starting point is 02:16:09 musicians pay a tax to an association of public players and receive a license after they have been tried and initiated. I know that too, said Uriel, and I also know how much money is paid into your pockets during those trials. I advise you not to try that upon me. However, happily for you I don't practice the profession And want nothing in your parts I play gratis where I please

Starting point is 02:16:32 And no one can prevent that For the reason that I have got my degree as Master Piper Which very likely you have not, big as you talk Karnas quieted down a little at these words And they said something privately to each other That nobody heard By which they discovered that they belonged To the same corporation if not to the same company

Starting point is 02:16:50 The two Karnas having no further right to object as everyone present testified that Uriel had not played for money, departed grumbling and saying spiteful things, which no one answered so as to be sooner rid of them. As soon as they were gone, we called on Marie Guillier, alas with a carrying voice, and made her sing, so that the stranger might have the pleasure of dancing with us. He did not dance in our fashion, though he accommodated himself very well to the time and figures,

Starting point is 02:17:19 but his style was much the best, and gave such free play to his body that he really looked handsomer and taller than ever. Bluillet watched him attentively, and when he kissed her, which is the fashion in our parts when each dance begins, she grew quite red and confused, contrary to her usual indifferent and easy way of taking a kiss. I argued from this that she had rather overdone her contempt for love

Starting point is 02:17:42 when talking with me about mine, but I took no notice, and I own that in spite of it all I felt a good deal set up on my own account by the fine manners and talents of the muleteer. when the dance was over he came up to me with Brulet on his arm saying it is your turn now comrade and i can't thank you better than by returning the pretty dancer you lent me she is a beauty like those of my own land and for her sake I do homage to the berichon girls but why end the evening so early is there no other bagpipe in the village besides that of the old cross-patch yes there is said Brulet quickly letting out the secret she wanted to keep in her eagerness for dancing then catching herself up up she added blushing. That is to say there are shepherd's pipes and herd boys who can play them after a fashion. Pipes indeed, cried the muleteer. If you happen to laugh, they go down your throat and make you cough. My mouth is too big for that kind of instrument. And yet I want to make you

Starting point is 02:18:39 dance, my pretty billet. For that is your name, I have heard it, he said, drawing us both aside, and I know, too, that there's a fine bagpipe in your house which came from Bourbonnet, and belongs to a certain Joseph Pico, your friend from childhood, and your companion at the First Communion. Oh, how did you know that? cried Brulette, much astonished. Do you know our Joseph? Perhaps you can tell us where he has gone. Are you anxious about him, said Iriel, looking narrowly at her? So anxious that I will thank you with all my heart if you can give me news of him. Well, I'll give you some, my pretty one, but not until you bring me his bagpipe,

Starting point is 02:19:17 which he wants me to carry to him at the place where he now is. "'What?' cried Brulette. "'Is he very far away?' "'So far that he has no idea of coming back. "'Is that true? "'Won't he come back? "'Has he gone for good and all? "'That ends my wanting to laugh and dance any more tonight.'

Starting point is 02:19:34 "'Ho, ho, pretty one!' cried Uriel. "'So you are Joseph's sweetheart, are you?' "'He did not tell me that.' "'I am nobody's sweetheart,' answered Brulet, "'drawing herself up. "'Nevertheless,' said the Muleiter, "'here is a token which he told me to show you in case you hesitated to trust me with the bagpipe.

Starting point is 02:19:52 Where is it? What is it? I exclaimed. Look at my ear, said the muleteer, lifting a great lock of his curly black hair and showing us a tiny silver heart hanging to a large earring of fine gold, which pierced his ears after a fashion among the middle classes of those days. I think that earring began to open Bluillet's eyes, for she said to Eriel, you can't be what you seem to be, but I see plainly that you are not a man to deceive poor folks. besides that token is really mine or rather it is joseph's for it is a present his mother made to me on the day of our first communion and i gave it to him the next to-day as a remembrance when he left home to go to service so tiennet she said turning to me go to my house and fetch the bagpipe and bring it over there under the church porch where it is dark so that people can't see where it comes from for per carna is a wicked old man and am i to do my grandfather some harm if he thought we were mixed up in the matter end of section

Starting point is 02:20:48 Section 8 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Warmerly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Eighth evening. I did as I was told, not pleased, however, at leaving Broulet alone with the muleteer in a place already darkened by the coming night. When I returned, bringing the bagpipe, taken apart and folded up under my blouse, I found them still in the same corner arguing over something with a good deal of vehemence.

Starting point is 02:21:23 Seeing me, Brulet said, Tiennet, I take you to witness that I do not consent to give this man that token which is hung on his earring. He declares he cannot give it back because it belongs to Joseph, but he also says that Joseph does not want it. It is a little thing, to be sure, not worth ten sous, but I don't choose to give it to a stranger. I was scarcely 12 years old when I gave it to Jose,

Starting point is 02:21:47 and people must be suspicious to see any meaning in that. But as they will have it so, it is only the more reason why I should refuse to. give it to another. It seemed to me that Brulet was taking unnecessary pains to show the muleteer she was not in love with Joseph, and also that Uriel on his side was very glad to find her heart was free. However that may be, he did not trouble himself to stop courting her before me. My pretty one, he said, you are too suspicious. I would not show your gifts to anyone, even if I had them to boast of. But I admit here before Tiennet that you do not encourage me to love you.

Starting point is 02:22:23 I can't say that that will stop me. At any rate, you cannot hinder me from remembering you, and I shall value this Ten Su's token in my ear above anything I ever coveted. Joseph is my friend, and I know he loves you, but the lad's affection is so quiet he will never think of asking for his token again. So, if it is one year or ten before we meet again, you will see it just where it is. That is, unless the ear is gone.

Starting point is 02:22:47 So saying, he took Brulet's hand and kissed it, and then he set to work to put the bagpipe together and fill it. What are you doing? I told you that I had no heart to amuse myself, now that Joseph has left his mother and friends for such a time, and as for you, you'll be in danger of a fight if the other pipers should come this way and find you playing. Bah, said Yulele, we'll see about that. Don't be troubled for me. You must dance, Bluette, or I shall think you are really in love with an ungrateful fellow who has left you. Whether it was that Brulet was too proud to let him think that, or that the dancing mania was too strong for her, it is certain that the bagpipe was no sooner fitted and filled and beginning to sound,

Starting point is 02:23:28 and she held out no longer and let me carry her off for the first reel. You would hardly believe, friends, what cries of satisfaction and delight filled to the marketplace at the resounding noise of that bagpipe and the return of the muleteer, for everyone thought him gone. The dancing had flagged and the company were about to disperse when he made his appearance once more on the piper's stone. Instantly such a hubbub arose, no longer four to eight couples, were dancing, but sixteen to thirty-two, joining hands, skipping, shouting, laughing,

Starting point is 02:23:59 so that the good God himself couldn't have got a word in edgewise. And presently, everyone in the marketplace, old and young, children who couldn't yet use their legs, grandfathers tottering on theirs, old women jigging in the style of their youth, awkward folk who couldn't get the time or the tune, they all set to spinning. And indeed it is a wonder the clock of the parish church didn't spin too. Fancy, the finest music ever heard in our parts and costing nothing. It seemed as if the devil had a finger in it, for the piper never asked to rest, and tired out everybody except himself. I'm determined to be the last, he cried when they advised him to rest. The whole parish shall give in before me. I intend to

Starting point is 02:24:40 keep it up till sunrise, and you shall all cry me mercy. So on we went, he piping and we twirling like mad. Mourbiod, who kept the tavern, seeing there was profit in it, brought out tables and benches and something to eat and drink. As to the latter article, she couldn't furnish enough for so many stomachs hungry by dancing, so folks living near brought out for their friends and acquaintance the victuals they had laid in for the week. One brought cheese, another a bag of nuts, another the quarter of a kid, or a sucking pig, all of which were roasted and broiled at a fire hastily built in the marketplace.

Starting point is 02:25:15 It was like a wedding to which everyone flocked. The children were not sent to bed, for no one had time to think of them, and they fell asleep, like a heap of lambs on the piles of lumber which always lay about the marketplace to the wild racket of the dance and the bagpipe which never stopped except it was to let the piper drink a jorum of the best wine the more he drank the gayer he was and the better he played at last hunger seized the sturdiest and uriel was forced to stop for lack of dancers so having won his wager to bury us all he consented to go to supper everybody invited him and quarrelled for the honour and pleasure of feasting him but seeing that bluelet was coming to my table he accepted my invitation and sat down beside her boiling over with wit and good humour he ate fast and well but instead of getting torpoured from digestion he was the first to clink his glass for a song and although he had blown his pipe like a whirlwind for six hours at a stretch his voice was as fresh and as true as if he had done nothing. The others tried to hold their own, but even our renounced singers soon gave it up for the pleasure of listening to him. His songs were far beyond theirs, as much for the tunes as the words. Indeed, we had great difficulty in catching the chorus, for there was nothing in his throat

Starting point is 02:26:29 that wasn't new to our ears, and of a quality I must own above our knowledge. People left their tables to listen to him, and just as day was beginning to dawn through the leaves, a crowd of people were standing around him, more bewitched and attentive than at the finest sermon. At that moment he rose, jumped on his bench, and waved his empty glass to the first ray of sunlight that shone above his head, saying in a manner that made us all tremble without knowing why or wherefore. Friends, see the torch of the good God. Put out your little candles and bow to the clearest and brightest light that shines on the world. And now, he said, sitting down again and setting his glass bottom up on the table. We have talked enough and sung enough for one night.

Starting point is 02:27:13 What are you about, Virger? Go and ring the Angelus, that we may see who signs the cross like a Christian. And that will show which of us have enjoyed ourselves decently, and which have degraded our pleasure like fools. After we have rendered thanks to God, I must depart, my friends, thanking you for this fine fate and all your signs of confidence. I hoode you a little reparation for some damage I did a few of you lately without intending it. Guess it if you can. I did not come here to confess it, but I think I have done my best to am amuse you, and as pleasure to my thinking is worth more than profit, I feel that I am quits with you. Hush, he added, as they began to question him. Hear the Angelus. He knelt down, which led everyone

Starting point is 02:27:57 to do likewise, and do it too with soberness of manner, for the man seemed to have some extraordinary power over his fellows. When the prayer ended, we looked about for him. When the prayer ended, we looked about for but he was gone, and so completely that there were people who rubbed their eyes, fancying that they had dreamed this night of gaiety and merriment. End of Section 8. Section 9 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott warmly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Ninth evening.

Starting point is 02:28:36 Brulet was trembling all over, and when I asked her what the matter was and what she was thinking of, she answered, rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand. That man is pleasant, Tierney, but he is very bold. As I was rather more heated than usual, I found courage to say, if the lips of a stranger offend your skin, perhaps those of a friend can remove the stain. But she pushed me away, saying,

Starting point is 02:28:59 He has gone, and it is wisest to forget those who go. Even poor Chosey? Eh, oh, that's different, she answered. Why different? you don't answer me. Oh, Berulet, you care for. For whom? she said quickly. What is his name? Out with it, as you know it. It is, I said, laughing, the black man for whose sake José has given himself over to the devil.

Starting point is 02:29:27 That man who frightened you one night last spring when you were at my house. No, no, nonsense. You are joking. Tell me his name, his business and where he comes from. No, I shall not, Berulet. You say we ought to forget the absence. and I would rather you didn't change your mind. The whole parish was surprised when it was known that the piper had departed before they had thought of discovering who he was. To be sure, a few had questioned him,

Starting point is 02:29:53 but he gave them contradictory answers. To one he said he was a mouchoir and was named thus and so, to another he gave a different name, and no one could make out the truth. I gave them still another name to throw them off the scent. Not that Uriel the wheat spoiler

Starting point is 02:30:08 need fear anyone after Uriel the piper had turned everybody's head, but simply to amuse myself, and to tease Brulette. Then when I was asked where I had known him, I answered, laughing, that I didn't know him at all, that he had taken it into his head on arriving to accost me as a friend, and that I had answered him in kind by way of a joke. Brulette, however, sifted me to the bottom, and I was forced to tell her what I knew,

Starting point is 02:30:33 and though it was not much, she was sorry she had heard it, for like most country folks, she had a great prejudice against strangers and muleteers in particular. I thought this repugnance would soon make her first. forget Uriel, and if she ever thought of him she never showed it, but continued to lead the gay life she liked so well, declaring that she meant to be as faithful a wife as she was thoughtless a girl, and therefore she should take her time and study her suitors, and to me she kept repeating that she wanted my faithful, quiet friendship without any thought of marriage. As my nature never turned to gloominess, I made no complaint. In fact, like Brulette, I had a leaning to liberty, and I used mine like other young

Starting point is 02:31:13 fellows, taking pleasure where I found it without the yoke. But the excitement once over I always came back to my beautiful cousin for gentle, virtuous and lively companionship, which I couldn't afford to lose by sulping. She had more sense and wit than all the women and girls of the neighbourhood put together, and her home was so pleasant, always neat and well managed, never pinched for means, and filled during the winter evenings and on all the holidays of the year, with the nicest young folks of the parish. The girls liked to follow in my cousin's train where there was always a rush of young fellows to choose from and where they could pick up now and then a husband of their own.

Starting point is 02:31:49 In fact, Brulet took advantage of the respect they all felt for her to make the lads think of the lasses who wanted their attentions, for she was generous with her lovers, like people rich in other ways who know it is their duty to give away. Grandfather Brulet loved his young companion and amused her with his old-fashioned songs and the many fine tales, he told her. sometimes Mariton would drop in for a moment just to talk of her boy. She was a great woman for gossip, still fresh in appearance,

Starting point is 02:32:16 and always ready to show the young girls how to make their clothes, being well-dressed herself to please her master Benoit, who thought her handsome face and finery a good advertisement of his house. It was well-nigh a year that these amusements had been going on without other news of Joseph than by two letters, in which he told his mother he was well in health and was earning his living in the Bourbonnet. He did not give the name of the person,

Starting point is 02:32:38 place, and the two letters were postmarked from different towns. Indeed, the second letter was none so easy to make out, though our curate was very clever at reading writing, but it appeared that Joseph was getting himself educated and had tried for the first time to write himself. At last a third letter came, addressed to Brulette, which Monsieur Le Courier read off quite fluently, declaring that the sentences were very well turned. This letter stated that Joseph had been ill, and a friend was writing for him. It was nothing more than a spring fever, and his family were not to be uneasy about him.

Starting point is 02:33:12 The letter went on to say that he was living with friends who were in the habit of travelling about, that he was then starting with them for the district of Chambara, from which they would write again if he grew worse, in spite of the great care they were taking of him. Good gracious, cried Brulette, when the curate had read her all that was in the letter. I'm afraid he is going to make himself a muleteer. I dare not tell his mother about either his illness or the trade he is taking up. poor soul she has troubles enough without that then glancing at the letter she asked what the signature meant monsieur le curé who had paid no attention to it put on his glasses and soon began to laugh declaring that he had never seen anything like it and all he could make out in place of a name was the sketch of an ear and an earring with a sort of heart stuck through it probably said he it is the emblem of some fraternity all guilds have their badges and other people can't understand them but bluet understood well enough she seemed a little worried and carried off the letter to examine it

Starting point is 02:34:11 i don't doubt with a less indifferent eye than she pretended for she took it into her head to learn to read and very secretly she did so by the help of a former lady's maid in a noble family who often came to gossip in a sociable house like my cousins it didn't take long for such a clever head as but but it didn't take long for such a clever head as bluettes to learn all she wanted, and one fine day I was amazed to find she could write songs and hymns as prettily turned as anybody's. I could not help asking her if she had learned these fine things above her station, so as to correspond with Joseph or the handsome muleteer. As if I cared for a common fellow with earrings, she cried, laughing, do you think I am such an ill-behaved girl as to write to a perfect stranger? But if Joseph comes back educated, he will have done a very good thing to get rid of his stupidity. And as for me, I shall not be sorry to be a little less of a goose than I was.

Starting point is 02:35:01 Brulette, brulette, I retorted. You are setting your thoughts outside your own country and your friends. Take care. Harm will come of it. I'm not a bit less uneasy about you here than I am about Joseph down there. You can be easy about me, Tien, my head is cool, no matter what people say of me. As for our poor boy, I am troubled enough. It will soon be six months since we heard from him, and that fine muleteer who promised to send us news has never once thought of it.

Starting point is 02:35:27 mariton is miserable at joseph's neglect of her for she has never known of his illness and perhaps he is dead without us suspecting it i assured her that in that case we should certainly have been informed of the fact and that no news was always good news in such cases you may say what you liked she replied i dreamed two nights ago that the muleteer arrived here bringing his bagpipe and the news that josie was dead ever since i dreamed that i have been sad at heart and i am sorry i have let so much time go by without thinking of the poor lad or trying to write to him. But how could I have sent my letter? For I don't even know where he is. So saying Brulette, who was sitting near a window and chanced to look out, gave a loud cry and turned white with fear. I looked out too and saw Uriel black with charcoal dust on his face and clothes,

Starting point is 02:36:16 just as I saw him the first time. He came towards us while the children ran out of his way, screaming, The devil! The devil! And the dogs yelped at him. Struck with what Brulette had just said, and wishing to spare her the pain of hearing ill news suddenly, I ran to meet the muleteer, and my first words were, Is he dead?

Starting point is 02:36:35 Who, Joseph, he replied. No, thank God, but how did you know he was still ill? Is he in danger? Yes and no, but what I have to say is for Brulette. Is that her house? Take me to her. Yes, yes, come, I cried, and, rushing ahead, I told my cousin to be comforted,

Starting point is 02:36:53 for the news was not nearly so bad as she expected. she called her grandfather who was at work in the next room intending to receive the muleteer in a proper manner but when she saw him so different from the idea she had kept of him so unrecognizable in face and clothes she lost her self-possession and turned away sadly and in much confusion uriel perceived it for he smiled and lifting his black hair as if by accident showed brulet her token which was still in his ear it is really i he said and no one else i have come from my own parts expressly to tell you about a friend who thanks to god is neither dead nor dying but whom i must speak to you at some length have you leisure to hear me now that we have said per brulet sit down my man and to take something to eat i want nothing said uriel seating himself i will wait until your own meal-time but first of all i ought to make myself known to those i am now speaking to end of section nine section ten of the bagpipers by george son translated by katherine prescott warmly this librivox recording is in the public domain tenth evening say on said my uncle we are listening then said the muleteer my name is jean urea mouleteer by trade son of sebastian urea otherwise called bastien the head woodsman a renowned bagpiper, and considered the best worker in the forests of the Bourbonnet. Those are my names and claims to which I can bring honourable proof. I know that to win your confidence I ought to present myself

Starting point is 02:38:37 and the guise in which I have the right to appear, but men of my calling have a custom. I know your custom, my lad, said Per Broulet, who watched him attentively. It is good or bad, according as you yourselves are good or bad. I have not lived till now without knowing what the muleteers are. I have travelled outside our own. borders, and I know your customs and behavior. They say your fraternity are given to evil deeds. They are known to abduct girls, attack Christian people, and even kill them in pretended quarrels so as to get to their money. Well, said you real laughing, I think that is an exaggerated account of us. The things you speak of are long past away. You would not hear of such

Starting point is 02:39:16 deeds nowadays. But the fear your people had of us was so great that for years the muleteers did not dare to leave the woods unless in troops and with great precautions. the proof that they have mended their ways and are no longer to be feared is that they no longer fear for themselves so here i am alone in the midst of you yes said per brulay who was not easy to convince but your face is blackened all the same you have sworn to follow the rule of your fraternity which is to travel thus disguised through the districts where you are still distrusted so that if folks see you do an evil deed they can't say afterwards when they meet your companions that is he or that is not he you consider yourselves all responsible for one another. This has its good side, for it makes you faithful friends, and each man has the help and goodwill of all. But nevertheless it leaves the rest of us in doubt us to the character of your morality, and I shall not deny that if a muleteer, no matter how good a fellow he may be, nor how much money he may have, comes here to ask for my

Starting point is 02:40:16 alliance, I'll cheerfully offer him bite and sup, but I'll not invite him to marry my daughter. And I, said the muleteer, his eyes flashing as he boldly looked at Boulette, who pretended to be thinking of something else. Had no such idea in coming here. You are not called upon to refuse me, Per Broulet, for you don't know whether I am married or single. I have said nothing about it. Brulet dropped her eyes,

Starting point is 02:40:40 and I could not tell whether she was pleased or displeased. Then she recovered spirit and said to the muleteer, This has nothing to do with the matter, which is Jose. You have brought news of him. I am distressed at heart about his health. This is my grandfather who brought him up and takes an interest in him. please talk of joseph instead of other things uriel looked steadily at brulette seeming to struggle with a momentary vexation and to gather himself before he spoke then he said joseph is ill so ill that i resolved to come and say to the woman who is the cause of it do you wish to cure him and are you able to do so what are you talking about said my uncle bricking up his ears which were beginning to be a little hard of hearing how can my daughter cure the lad

Starting point is 02:41:26 "'If I spoke of myself before I spoke of him,' continued Uriel, "'it was because I have delicate things to say of him, "'which you would scarcely allow a total stranger to mention. "'Now, if you think me a decent man, "'allow me to speak my mind freely and tell you all I know.' "'Explain everything,' said Broulet eagerly. "'Don't be afraid. "'I shall not care for any idea people take of me.'

Starting point is 02:41:49 "'I have none but good ideas of you, Brulette,' replied the muleteer. "'It is not your fault if Joseph loves you.' and if you return his love in your secret heart no one can blame you we may envy joseph in that case but not betray him or do anything to trouble you let me tell you how things have gone between him and me since the day we first made friends when i persuaded him to come over to our parts and learn the music he was so crazy about I don't think you did him much good by that advice, observed my uncle. It is my opinion he could have learned it just as well here, without grieving and distressing his family. He told me, replied Uriel, and I have since found it true, that the other bagpipers would not allow it.

Starting point is 02:42:31 Besides, I owed him the truth, because he trusted me at first sight. Music as a wild flower which does not bloom in your parts. It loves our heather, but I can't tell you why. In our woods and dells it lives and thrives and lives again, like the flowers of spring. there it sows and harvests ideas for lands that are barren of them the best things your pipers give you come from there but as your players are lazy and niggardly and you are satisfied to hear the same things over and over again they only come to us once in their lives and live on what they learn then for the rest of their days at this very time they are teaching pupils to strum a corruption of our old music and they never think of consulting at the fountainhead to find how such airs should be played so when a well-intentioned young fellow like your usual Jose, as I said to him, comes to drink at the spring. He is sure to return so fresh and full that the

Starting point is 02:43:23 other players could not stand up against him. That is why Jose agreed to go over into the Bourbonnet the following midsummer, where he would have enough work in the woods to support him, and lessons from our best master. I must tell you that the finest bagpipers are in upper Bourbonnet, among the pine forests, over where the seule comes down from the Dom Mountains, and that my father, born in the village of Uriel from which he takes his name, has spent his life among these players, and keeps his wind in good order, and his art well trained. He is a man who does not like to work two years running in the same place, and the older he gets, the livelier and more fond of change he is. Last year he was in the forest of Tronquet, since then he has been in that of Espinas. Just now he is in

Starting point is 02:44:08 the woods of Allure, where Joseph has followed him faithfully, chopping and felling and bagpiping by his side, for he loves him like a son and boasts that the love is returned. The lad has been as happy as a lover can be when parted from his mistress. But life is not as easy and comfortable with us as with you. And though my father, taught by experience, tried to prevent Joseph, who was in a hurry to succeed, from straining his lungs on our pipes, which are, as you may have noticed, differently made from yours, and very fatiguing to the chest until you know how to use them. The poor fellow took a fever and began to spit blood. My father, who understood the disease and knew how to manage it,

Starting point is 02:44:47 took away his bagpipe and ordered him to rest. But then, though his bodily health improved, he took sick in another way. He ceased to cough and spit blood, but he fell into a state of depression and weakness which made them fear for his life. So that when I got home from a trip eight days ago, I found him so pallid that I scarcely knew him,

Starting point is 02:45:05 and so weak on his legs that he could not stand. When I questioned him, he burst into tears and said, very sadly. Uriel, I know I shall die in the depths of these woods, far from my own country, from my mother and my friends, unloved by her to whom I long to show the art I have learned. This dreadful dullness eats into my mind,

Starting point is 02:45:25 impatience withers my heart. I wish your father would give me back my bagpipe and let me die of it. I could draw my last breath in sending from afar to her I love, the sweetness my lips can never utter to her, dreaming for a moment that I was at her side. No doubt Père Bastien meant kindly. I know I was killing myself with eagerness. But what do I gain by dying more slowly?

Starting point is 02:45:48 I must renounce life anyway. On the one hand I can't chop wood and earn my bread, and must live at your expense. On the other my chest is too weak to pipe. No, it is all over with me. I shall never be anything. I must die without the joy of remembering a single day of love and happiness. Don't cry, Brulette, continued the muleteer,

Starting point is 02:46:09 taking the hand with which she wiped her tears. All is not hopeless. Listen to me. Seeing the poor lad's misery, I went after a good doctor, who examined him, and then told us that it was more depression than illness, and that he would answer for his cure

Starting point is 02:46:23 if Joseph would give up music and wood-cutting for another month. As to that last matter, it was quite convenient, for my father and I, too, thank God, are not badly off, and it is no great merit to us to take care of a friend who can't work. But the doctor was wrong, the same causes remain and Jose is no better. He did not want me to let you know his state,

Starting point is 02:46:43 but I made him agree to it, and I even tried to bring him here with me. I put him carefully on one of my mules, but at the end of a few miles he became so weak I was obliged to take him back to my father, who thereupon said to me, do you go to the lad's people and bring back either his mother or his sweetheart?

Starting point is 02:47:01 He is homesick, that's all, and if he sees one or the other of them, he will recover health and courage, enough to finish his apprenticeship here. Or else he must go home with them. That being said before Joseph, he was much excited. My mother, he cried like a child. My poor mother, make her come quickly.

Starting point is 02:47:18 Then checking himself, he added, No, no, I don't want her to see me die. Her grief would kill me all the faster. How about Brulet, I whispered to him. Oh, Brulet would not come, he answered. Brulet is good. But she must have chosen a lover by this time who would not let her come and comfort me.

Starting point is 02:47:37 Then I made Jose swear he would have patience till I returned, and I came off. Bear Broulet, decide what ought to be done, and you, Brulette, consult your heart. Metre Rueuil, said Brulet, rising. I will go, though I am not Joseph's sweetheart, as you called me, and nothing obliges me to go to him except that his mother fed me with her milk

Starting point is 02:47:58 and carried me in her arms. Why do you think the young man is in love with me? just as true is that my grandfather is sitting there. He never said the first word of it to me. Then he did tell me the truth, cried Uriel, as if delighted with what he heard. But catching himself hastily up, he added, It is nonetheless true that he may die of it, and all the more because he has no hope.

Starting point is 02:48:21 I must therefore plead his cause and explain his feelings. Are you deputed to do so? asked Brulet, haughtily and as if annoyed with the muleteer. Deputed or not, I must talk to you. it, said Uriel. I must clear my conscience of it, for his sake who told me his troubles and asked my help. This is what he said to me. I always longed to give myself up to music, as much because I loved it as for love of my dear Puevillette. She considers me as a brother. She has always shown me the greatest kindness and true pity. But for all that she received everybody's

Starting point is 02:48:54 attentions except mine, and I can't blame her. The girl loves finery and all that sets her off. she has a right to be coquettish and exacting. My heart aches for it, but if she gives her affections to those who are worth more than I, the fault is mine for being worth so little. Such as I am, unable to dig hard, or speak soft, or dance or jest, or even sing,

Starting point is 02:49:16 feeling ashamed of myself and my condition, I deserve that she should think me the lowest of those who aspire to her hand. Well, don't you see that this grief will kill me if it lasts? And I want to find a cure for it. I feel within me something which declares that I can make better music than anyone else in our parts. If I could only succeed, I should be no longer a mere nothing. I should become even more than others.

Starting point is 02:49:41 And as that girl has much taste and a gift for singing, she would understand out of her own self what I was worth. Moreover, her pride would be flattered at the praises I should receive. You speak, said Brulette, smiling, as if I had an understanding with him, whereas he has never said a word of all this to me. his pride has always been up in arms, and I see that it is through pride that he expects to influence me. However, as his illness puts him really in danger of dying, I will, in order to give him courage, do everything that belongs to the sort of friendship I feel for him.

Starting point is 02:50:14 I will go to see him with Mariton, provided my grandfather advises, and is willing I should do so. I don't think it is possible that Mariton can go with you, said Per Broulet, for reasons which I know and you will soon know, my daughter. I can only tell you just now that he is. cannot leave her master because of some trouble in his affairs. Besides, if Joseph's illness can really be cured, it is better not to worry and upset the poor woman. I will go with you because I have great confidence

Starting point is 02:50:42 that you, who have always managed Joseph for the best, will have influence enough over his mind to bring him back to reason and give him courage. I know what you think of him, and it is what I think, too. Well, if we find him in a desperate condition, we can write to his mother at once to come and close his eyes. "'If you will allow me in your company,' said Uriel, "'I will guide you as the swallow flies to where Joseph is.

Starting point is 02:51:06 "'I can even take you in a single day if you are not afraid of bad roads.' "'We will talk about that at table,' replied my uncle. "'As for your company, I wish for it and claim it, "'for you have spoken well, and I know something of the family of honest folks to whom you belong.' "'Do you know my father?' cried Uriel. "'When he heard us speaking of Brulette, he told us, "'Joseph and me, that his father had had an early friend named Brulet. It was I, myself, said my uncle. I cut wood for a long time, 30 years ago,

Starting point is 02:51:38 in the Saint-A-Mont region with your grandfather, and I knew your father when a boy. He worked with us and played the bagpipes wonderfully well even then. He was a fine lad, and years can't trouble him much yet. When you named yourself just now, I did not wish to interrupt you, and if I tweeted you a little about your customs, it was only to draw you out. Now sit down and don't spare the food at your service. During supper, Uriel showed as much good sense in his talk and pleasantness in his gravity as he had wit and liveliness on the night of his first appearance at midsummer. Brulet listened attentively and seemed to get accustomed to his blackened face, but when the journey was talked of and the method of making it was mentioned, she grew uneasy

Starting point is 02:52:19 about her grandfather, fearing the fatigue and the upsetting of his habits. So as Eriol could not deny that the journey would be painful to a man of his years, I offered to a come company brulette in place of my uncle. That's the very thing, said Uriel. If we are only three we can take the cross-cut, and by starting tomorrow morning we can get there tomorrow night. I have a sister, a very steady, good girl, who will take Brulet into her own hut,

Starting point is 02:52:45 for I must not conceal from you that where we are now living you will find neither houses nor places to sleep in such as you are accustomed to here. It is true, replied my uncle, that I am too old to sleep on the heather, and though I am not very indomely. to my body, if I happened to fall ill over there, I should be a great trouble to you, my dear children. So if TN.A. will go, I know him well enough to trust his cousin to him.

Starting point is 02:53:10 I shall rely on his not leaving her a foot's length in any circumstances where there may be danger for a young girl. And I rely on you, too, Eriel, not to expose her to any risks on the way. I was mightily pleased with this plan, which gave me the pleasure of escorting Brulet and the honour of defending her in case of need. We parted early and met again before daylight at the door of the house. Brulet, all ready and holding a little bundle in her hand, Uriel leading his clarin and three mules, one of which was saddled with a very soft, clean pad, on which he seated Brulette. Then he himself mounted the horse and I another mule, which seemed much surprised to find me on his back. The other laden with new hampers followed of her own accord, while Sartin

Starting point is 02:53:52 brought up the rear. Nobody was yet a foot in the village, for which I was sorry, for I would have liked to make Brulette's other lovers jealous in return for the rage they had often put me in. But Uriel seemed anxious to get away without being noticed and criticized under Brulette's nose for his blackened face. We had not gone far before he made me feel that I should not be allowed to manage everything as I liked. We reached the woods of Marite at noon, which was nearly halfway. There was a little enclosure nearby called La Ronde, where I should have liked to go and get a good

Starting point is 02:54:24 breakfast. But Uriel laughed at what he called my love for an knife and fork, and his own. his brulette, who was determined to think everything amusing, agreed with him, he made us dismount in a narrow ravine, through which ran a tiny river called La Port Fouille, so-called because, at that season at least, the water was covered with the green trays of the water-lily, and shaded with the leafage of the woods, which came to the very banks of the river on either side. Uriel let the animals loose among the reeds, selected a pretty spot covered with wildflowers, opened the hampers, uncorked the flask, and served as good a lunch as we could have had at home.

Starting point is 02:54:59 all so neatly done and with such consideration for brulette that she could not help showing pleasure when she saw that before touching the bread to cut it and before removing the white napkin which wrapped the provisions he carefully washed his hands plunging his arms above the elbows in the river she smiled and said to him with her gracious little air of command while you are about it could you not also wash your face so that we might see if you were really the handsome bagpiper of the midsummer dance no my pretty one he replied you must get used to the reverse of the coin. I make no claims upon your heart but those of friendship and esteem, though I am only a heathen of a muleteer. Consequently, I need not try to please you by my face, and it will not be for your sake that I wash it. She was mortified, but she would not give up the point. You ought not to frighten your friends, she said, and the fear of you, looking as you do now, takes away my appetite. In that case, I'll go and eat apart so as not to upset you. He did, as he said, and sat down upon a little rock which dutted into the water behind the place where we were sitting,

Starting point is 02:56:02 and ate his food alone, while I enjoyed the pleasure of serving roulette. At first she laughed, thinking she had provoked him, and taking pleasure in it, like all coquettes. But when she got tired of the game and wanted to recall him, and did her best to excite him by words, he held firm, and every time she turned her head toward him, he turned his back on her, while answering all her nonsense very cleverly and without the least vexation, which to her was perhaps the very worst of the thing. So presently she began to feel sorry, and after a rather sharp speech which he launched about haughty minxes, and which she fancied was meant for her, two tears rolled from her eyes, though she tried hard to keep them back in my presence. Uriel did not see them, and I took very good care not to show

Starting point is 02:56:45 her that I did. When we had eaten all we wanted, Uriel packed up the remainder of the provisions, saying, If you are tired, children, you can take a nap, for the animals want to rest in the heat of the day. that's the time when the flies torment them and in this copse they can rub and shake themselves as much as they please tine i rely on you to keep good guard over our princess as for me i am going a little way into the forest to see how the works of god are going on then with a light step and no more heed to the heat than if we were in the month of april instead of the middle of july he sprang up the slope and was lost to sight among the tall trees end of section ten section eleven of the bagpipe by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Warmelie. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 11th evening.

Starting point is 02:57:45 Brulette did her best not to let me see the annoyance she felt at his departure. But having no heart for talk, she pretended to go to sleep on the fine sand of the riverbank, her head upon the panniers which were taken from the mule to rest him, and her face protected from the flies by a white handkerchief. I don't know whether she slept. I spoke to her two or three times without getting any answer, and as she had let me lay my cheek on a corner of her apron, I kept quiet too, but without sleeping at first, for I felt a little agitated by her close neighbourhood. However, weariness soon overtook me, and I lost consciousness for a short time.

Starting point is 02:58:23 When I woke, I heard voices, and found that the muleteer had returned and was talking with roulette. I did not dare move the apron that I might hear more distinctly, but I held it tightly in my fingers so that the girl could not have got away even. if she had wished to. I certainly have the right, Eriol was saying, to ask you what course you mean to pursue with that poor lad. I am his friend more than I can claim to be yours,

Starting point is 02:58:47 and I should blame myself for bringing you if you mean to deceive him. Who talks of deceiving him? cried Brulet. Why do you criticise my intentions without knowing them? I don't criticise, Brulet. I question you because I like Joseph very much,

Starting point is 02:59:01 and I esteem you enough to believe you will deal frankly with him. "'That is my affair, Métrielle. You are not the judge of my feelings, and I am not obliged to explain them. I don't ask you, for instance, if you were faithful to your wife.' "'My wife exclaimed Uriel, as if astonished. "'Why, yes,' returned Brulette, "'are you not married?'

Starting point is 02:59:22 "'Did I say I was?' "'I thought you said so at our house last night, "'when my grandfather, thinking you came to talk of marriage, "'made haste to refuse you.' "'I said nothing at all, Brulette.' except that I was not seeking marriage. Before obtaining the person one must win the heart, and I have no claim to yours.

Starting point is 02:59:42 At any rate, said Brulette, I see you are more reasonable and less bold than you were last year. Oh, returned Uriel, if I said a few rather warm words to you at the village dance, it was because they popped into my head at the sight of you. But time has passed, and you ought to forget the affront. Who said I recollected it? demanded Brulette. Have I reproached you?

Starting point is 03:00:04 you blame me in your heart or at any rate you bear the thing in mind for you are not willing to speak frankly to me about joseph i thought said brulette whose voice showed signs of impatience that i had fully explained myself on that point night before last But how do the two things affect each other? The more I forget you, the less I should wish to explain to you my feelings for any man, no matter who. But the fact is, pretty one, said the muleteer, who seemed not to give in to any of Brulet's little ways. You spoke about the past last night, and said nothing about the future. And I don't yet know what you mean to say to Joseph to reconcile him with life. Why do you object to tell me frankly? What is it to you, I should like to know?

Starting point is 03:00:48 if you are married or merely pledged you ought not to be looking into a girl's heart. Brulette, you are trying to make me say that I am free to court you, and yet you won't tell me anything about your own position. I am not to know whether you mean some day to favour Joseph, or whether you are pledged to someone else, perhaps that tall fellow who is lying asleep on your apron. You are too inquisitive, exclaimed Brulette, rising and hastily twitching away the apron,

Starting point is 03:01:13 which I was forced to let go, pretending to wake at that moment. Come, let us start, said Uriel, who seemed not to care for Brulet's ill-humour, but continued to smile with his white teeth and his large eyes, the only parts of his face which were not in mourning. We continued our route to the Bourbonnet. The sun was hidden behind a heavy cloud, and thunder was rumbling in the distance. That storm over there is nothing, said the muleteer. It is going off to the left.

Starting point is 03:01:42 If we don't meet another as we get near the confluence of the Joyeus, we shall reach our destination without difficulty. but the atmosphere is so heavy we must be prepared for anything. So saying he unfolded a mantle with a woman's hood, new and handsome, which was fastened on his back, and which Brulet admired greatly. You won't tell me now, she exclaimed, blushing, that you are not married, unless that is a wedding present you have bought on your way. Perhaps it is, said Uriel in the same tone,

Starting point is 03:02:10 but if it comes on to rain you can take possession of it. You won't find it too heavy, and your cape is thin. just as he predicted the sky cleared on one side and clouded on the other and while we were crossing an open heath between Saint-Sartarnin and Cidiye the weather suddenly grew tempestuous and we were blown about by a gale of wind the country itself was wild and I began to feel anxious in spite of myself Brulette too thought the place very dreary and remarked that there was not a tree for shelter Uriel laughed at us oh you folks from the wheatlands he cried as soon as your

Starting point is 03:02:45 feet touched the heather you think you are lost in the wilderness. He was guiding us in a beeline, knowing well all the paths and cross-cuts by which a mule could pass to shorten the distance, leaving CDI on the left, and making straight for the banks of the little river Joyeuse, a poor rivulet that looked harmless enough, but which nevertheless he seemed in a hurry to get over. Just as we had done so, the rain began, and we were forced either to get wet or to stop for shelter at a mill, called the mill of Poulm. Brilette wanted to go on, and so did the muleteer, who thought we had better not wait till the roads grew worse. But I said that the girl was trusted to my care,

Starting point is 03:03:21 and that I could not have her exposed to harm. So Uriel for once gave into my wishes. We stayed there two hours, and when the weather cleared and we were able to start again, the sun was already going down. The Jouaios was now so swollen that the crossing would have been difficult. Happily it was behind us, but the roads had become abominable,

Starting point is 03:03:40 and we still had one stream to cross before we entered the Bourbonnet. We were able to go on as long as daylight lasted, but the night soon grew so dark that Brulet was frightened, without however daring to say so. But Uriel, perceiving it from her silence, got off his horse, which he drove before him, for the animal knew the road as well as he did, and taking the bridle of my cousin's mule, led him carefully for several miles, watching that he did not stumble, plunging himself into water or sand up to his knees, and laughing whenever Brulet pitied him and had treated him not to expose himself for her. She began to discover now that he was a friend in need, more helpful than her usual lovers, and that he knew how to serve her without making a show of it. The country grew more and more dreary. It was nothing but little grassy slopes cut into by rivulets bordered with reeds and flowers, which smelt good but did not better the hay.

Starting point is 03:04:34 The trees were fine, and the muleteer declared the country richer and prettier than ours on account of its pasture and fruit lands. But for my part I did not see any prospect of great harvests, and I wished I were at home again, all the more because I was not assisting roulette, having enough to do in keeping myself out of the ruts and bogs on the way. At last the moon shone out, and we reached the woods of La Roche,

Starting point is 03:04:57 at the confluence of the Arnon and another river, the name of which I have forgotten. Stay there on that bit of high ground, Uriel said to us. You can even dismount and stretch your legs. The place is sandy and the rain has hardly got through the oak leaves. I am going to see if we can ford the stream. he went down to the river and came back at once saying the stepping stones are covered and we shall have to go up as far as saint palais to get across if we had not lost time at the mill we could have crossed before the river rose and been at our destination by this time but what is done is done let us see what to do now the water is going down by staying here we can get across in five or six hours and reach home by daybreak without fatigue or danger for the plane between the two arms of the arnon is sure to be dry

Starting point is 03:05:44 Whereas if we go up to Saint-Palle, we may stumble about half the night and not get there any sooner. Well then, said Brulet, let us stay here. The place is dry and the weather is clear. And though the wood is rather wild, I shall not be afraid with you two by me. That's a brave girl, said Uriel. Come, now let's have supper, as there is nothing better to do. Tienet tie the claren, for there are several woods all round us and I can't be sure about wolves. Unsaddle the mules.

Starting point is 03:06:13 They won't stray far from the horse. and you my pretty one help me make a fire for the air is damp and i want you to sup comfortably and not take cold i felt greatly discouraged and sad at heart i could hardly tell why whether i was mortified at being of no service to brulette in such a difficult journey or whether the muleteer seemed to make light of me certain it is i was already homesick what are you grumbling about said uriel who seemed all the gayer as we got deeper and deeper into trouble are not you as well off as a monk in his refectory these rocks make a fine chimney, and here are seats and sideboards. Isn't this the third meal you have had today? Don't you think the moon gives a better light than your old pewter lamp? The provisions are not hurt by the rain, for my hampers were tightly covered. This blazing hearth is drying the air all round us. The branches overhead and the moist plants underfoot smell better, it seems to me, than your cheeses and rancid butter.

Starting point is 03:07:10 Don't you breathe another breath under these great vaulting branches? Look at them lighted by the flames. They are like hundreds of arms interlaced to shelter us. If now and then a bit of a breeze shakes the damp foliage, see how the diamonds rang down to crown us. What do you find so melancholy in the idea that we are all alone at a place unknown to you? There is everything here that is most comforting. God, in the first place, who is everywhere, next a charming girl and two good friends ready to stand by each other. Besides, do you think a man ought to live in a hive all his days? I think, on the contrary, that it is his duty to roam, that he will be a hundred times.

Starting point is 03:07:47 stronger, gayer, healthier in body and bind if he doesn't look after his own comfort too much, for that makes him languid, timid, and subject to diseases. The more you avoid heat and cold, the more you will suffer when they catch you. You will see my father, who, like me, has never slept in a bed ten times in his life. He has no rheumatism or lumbago, though he works in his shirt-sleeves in the dead of winter. And then, too, is it not glorious to feel you are firmer and more solid than the wind and the thunder? When the storm rages isn't the music splendid? And the mountain torrents which rush down the ravines

Starting point is 03:08:22 and go dancing from route to route, carrying along the pebbles and leaving their white foam clinging to the bracken, don't they sing a song as gay as any you can dream of as you fall asleep on some islet they have scooped out around you? Animals are gloomy and bad weather, I admit that. The birds are silent, the foxes run to earth, even my dog finds shelter under the horse's belly. What distinguishes man from beast is that he keeps his heart gay and peaceful through the battles of the air and the whims of the clouds.

Starting point is 03:08:50 He alone, who knows how by reasoning to save himself from fear and danger, has the instinct to feel what is so beautiful in the uproar of nature. Bluette listened eagerly to the muleteer. She followed his eyes and all his gestures and ended it to everything he said, without explaining to herself how such novel ideas and words excited her mind and stirred her heart. I felt rather touched by them too, though I resisted somewhat, for Euryl had such an open, resolute face, under all the blacking, that he won folks in spite of themselves,

Starting point is 03:09:21 just as when we were beaten at rackets by a fine player we admire him, though we lose the stakes. We were in no great hurry to finish our supper, for certainly the place was dry, and when the fire burned down to a bed of hot ashes, the weather had grown so warm and clear that we felt very comfortable and quite ready to listen to the lively talk and fine ideas of the muleteer. he was silent from time to time listening to the river which still roared a good deal and as the mountain brooks were pouring into it with a thousand murmuring voices there was no likelihood that we could set forth again that night

Starting point is 03:09:53 uriel after going down to examine it advised us to go to sleep he made a bed for brulette with the mule-pads wrapping her well up in all the extra garments he had with him and talking gaily but with no gallant speeches showing her the same interest and tenderness and no more that he would have shown to a little child child. Then he stretched himself without cushion or covering on the bare ground which was well dried by the fire, invited me to do the same, and was soon as fast asleep as a dormouse, or nearly so. I was lying quiet, though not asleep, for I did not like that kind of dormitory, when I heard a bell in the distance, as if the clarenne had got loose and was straying in the forest. I lifted myself a little and saw him still where I had tired him. I knew, therefore, it was some other clarin, which gave notice of the approach or vicinity of other muleteers. Uriel had instantly risen on his elbow, listening.

Starting point is 03:10:48 Then he got on his feet and came to me. I am a sound sleeper, he said, when I have only my mules to watch. But now that I have a precious princess in charge, it is another matter, and I have only been asleep with one eye. Neither have you, Tien, and that's all right. Speak low and don't move. I don't want to meet my comrades, and as I chose this place, for its solitude, I think they won't find us out.

Starting point is 03:11:13 He had hardly said the words when a dark form glided through the trees and passed so close to Brulette that a little more and it would have knocked her. It was that of a muleteer who at once gave a loud cry like a whistle, to which other cries responded from various directions, and in less than a minute half a dozen of these devils, each more hideous to behold than the others were about us. We had been betrayed by Euryel's dog,

Starting point is 03:11:36 who, nosing his friends and companions among the dogs of the muleteers, had gone to find them and acted as guide to their masters in discovering our retreat uriel tried to conceal his uneasiness for though i softly told brulet not to stir and placed myself before her it seemed impossible surrounded as we were to keep her long from their prying eyes i had a confused sense of danger guessing it more than i really saw for uriel had not had time to explain the character of the men who were now with us he spoke to the first comer in the half auverna partois of the upper bourbonnet which he seemed to speak quite as well as the other man though he was born in the low country i could understand only a word here and there but i made out that the talk was friendly and that the other was asking him who i was and what he was doing here i saw that uriel was anxious to draw him away and he even said to me as if to be overheard by the rest for they could all understand the french language come tienn let us say good-night to these friends and start on our way but instead of leaving us alone to make our preparations for departure the others finding the place warm and dry began to unpack their mules and turned them loose to feed until day break. I will give a wolf cry to get them out of sight for a few minutes, whispered Uriel. Don't move from here, and don't let her move till I return. Meantime saddle the mules so that we can start quickly, for to stay here is the worst thing we can do. He did as he said, and the mulety has all

Starting point is 03:13:06 ran to where the cry sounded. Unhappily I lost patience, and thought I could profit by the confusion to save Brulette. I thought I could make her rise without anyone seeing her, for the wrappings made her look like a bale of clothes. She reminded me that Uriel had told us to wait for him. But I was so possessed with anger and fear and jealousy, even suspecting Uriel himself, that I fairly lost my head, and seeing a close copse very near us, I took my cousin firmly by the hand and began to run towards it. But the moon was bright, and the muleteers so near that we were seen, and a cry arose, Hey, hey, a woman! And all the scoundrels ran after us. I saw at once there was nothing to be done but let my mind.

Starting point is 03:13:47 be killed. So lowering my head like a bore and raising my stick in the air, I was just about to deliver a blow on the jaws of the first comer which might have sent his soul to paradise, when Uriel caught my arm as he came swiftly to my side. Then he spoke to the others with great vehemence and yet firmness. A sort of dispute arose, of which Brulet and I could not understand a word, and it seemed far from satisfactory, for Uriel was listened to only now and then, and twice one of the miscreants got near enough to Brulet to lay his devilish pore upon her arm as if to lead her away. Indeed, if it had not been for my driving my nails into his buck's skin to make him let go, he would have dragged her from my arms by the help of the rest, for there were eight of them,

Starting point is 03:14:30 all armed with stout, bore spears, and they seemed used to quarrels and violence. Uriel, who kept cool and stood firmly between us and the enemy, prevented my delivering the first blow, which, as I saw later, would have ruined us. He merely continued to speak, sometimes in a tone of remonstrance sometimes with a menacing air and finally he turned round to me and said in the french language isn't it true etienne that this is your sister an honest girl betrothed to me and now on her way to the bourbonnet to make acquaintance with my family these men here my good friends and comrades in matters of right and justice are trying to pick a quarrel with me because they don't believe this they fancy that you and i were talking here with some woman we had just met and they want to join company but i tell them and i swear to god that before they insult this young woman by so much as a word they will have to kill both you and me and bear our blood on their souls in sight of god and man well what then answered one of the wretches speaking french it was the one who first came in my way and i was thirsting to deliver him a blow in the pit of the stomach with my fist that should fell him to earth if you get yourself killed so much the worse for you there are plenty of ditches hereabouts to bury fools in suppose your friends come to find you we shall be gone and the trees and the stones have no tongues to tell what they have seen happily he was the only real scoundrel in the party the others rebuked him and a tall blond fellow who seemed to have authority took him by the arm and shoved him away from us

Starting point is 03:16:02 swearing and abusing him in a gibberish that made the whole forest resound. After that all real danger was over, the idea of shedding blood having touched the consciences of these rough men. They turned the matter off with a laugh and joked with Uriel, who answered them in the same tone. Nevertheless, they seemed unwilling to let us go. They wanted to see Brulet's face, which she kept hidden under her hood, wishing for once in her life that she was old and ugly. But all of a sudden she changed her mind. having guessed at the meaning of the words said to Uriel and me in the Overeign dialect. Stung with anger and pride, she let go my arm and throwing back her hood, she said,

Starting point is 03:16:40 with an offended air and plenty of courage, Dishonorable men, I have the good fortune not to understand what you say, but I see in your faces that you insult me in your hearts. Well, look at me, and if you have ever seen the face of a woman who deserves respect, you may know that you see one now. Shame on your vile behavior. Let me go my way without hearing more of you. you.

Starting point is 03:17:03 Bluette's action, bold as it was, worked marvels. The tall fellow shrugged his shoulders and whistled a moment, while the others consulted together, seeming rather confused. Then suddenly he turned his back on us, saying in a loud voice, There's been talk enough. Let us go. You elected me, captain of the company, and I will punish anyone who annoys Jean-Huriel any longer, for he is a good comrade and respected by the whole fraternity.

Starting point is 03:17:28 The party filed off, and Uriel without saying, a word, saddled the mules and made us mount. Then going before, but looking round at every step, he led us at a sharp pace to the river. It was still swollen and roaring, but he plunged right in, and when he got to the middle, he cried out, come, don't be afraid. And then, as I hesitated to allow Brulette to get wet, he came angrily back to us and struck her mule to make it go on, swearing that it was better to die than be insulted. I think so, too, answered Brulet in the same tone, and striking the mule herself, she plunged boldly into the current, which foamed higher than the breast of the animal.

Starting point is 03:18:07 End of Section 11. Section 12 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott warmly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 12th evening There was an instant when the animal seemed to lose footing, but Broulette just then was between us too, and showed a great deal of courage. when we reached the other bank Uriel again lashed the beasts and put them to a gallop, and it was not until we reached open ground in full view of the sky,

Starting point is 03:18:40 and were nearing habitations that he allowed us to draw breath. Now, said he, walking his horse between Brulet and me, I must blame both of you. I am not a child to have led you into danger and left you there. Why did you run from the spot where I told you to wait for me? It is you who blame us, is it? said Brulet, rather sharply. I should have thought it was all the other way. "'Say what you have to say,' returned you real gravely.

Starting point is 03:19:06 "'I will speak later. "'What do you blame me for?' "'I blame you,' she answered, "'for not having foreseen the dangerous encounter we were likely to make. "'I blame you, above all, for giving assurances of safety to my grandfather and me, "'in order to induce me to leave my home and country where I am loved and respected, "'and for having brought me through desolate woods "'where you were scarcely able to save me from the insults of your friends.

Starting point is 03:19:28 "'I don't know what coarse language they used about me, but I understood enough to see that you were forced to answer for my being a decent girl. So being in your company was enough to make my character doubted. Ah, what a miserable journey. This is the first time in my life I was ever insulted, and I did not think such a thing could happen to me. Thereupon her heart swelling with mortification and anger, she began to cry. Uriel at first said nothing.

Starting point is 03:19:54 He seemed very sad. Then he plucked up courage and replied, It is true, Broulet, that you were misjudged. you shall be revenged i promise you that but as i could not punish those men at the time without endangering you i suffer within me such pangs of baffled rage as i cannot describe to you and you could never comprehend tears cut short his words i don't want to be avenged said brulet and i beg you won't think of it again i will try to forget it all myself but you will always curse the day when you trusted yourself to me he said clenching his fist as though he would fain knock himself down come come i said to them you must not quarrel now that the harm and the danger are well over i admit it was my fault uriel enticed the muleteers away in one direction and could have got us away in another it was i who threw brulette into the lion's jaws thinking i could save her quicker there would have been no danger but for that said uriel of course among muleteers as among all men who lead a half-wired life there are scoundrels there was one of the kind in that band but you saw that they all blamed him it is also true that many of us are men who were men who were so true that many of us are uneducated and make unseemly jokes. But I don't know what you really accuse our fraternity of

Starting point is 03:21:07 doing. We may be partners in money and pleasure, as we are in losses and dangers, but we all of us respect women quite as much as other Christian folk do. You saw yourself that virtue was respected for its own sake, because one word from you brought those men at once to their duty. Nevertheless, said Brulette still angry, you were in a great hurry to get us away. You made us go fast enough to risk being drowned in the river. You know you were not master of those bad men, and you were afraid they might return to their evil wishes. It all came from there seeing you run away with Tiennet, said Uriel. They thought you were doing wrong. If it had not been for your fear and your distrust of me, you would never have been seen by my comrades. You may as well

Starting point is 03:21:49 confess both of you that you had a very bad idea of me. I never had a bad idea of you, said Brulette. I had, said I, just then for a moment. I confess it, for I don't wish to lie. It is always better not, returned Uriel, and I hope you will soon think differently of me. I do now, I said. I saw how firm you were and how you mastered your anger,

Starting point is 03:22:12 and I agree that it was wiser to speak soft in the beginning than to end soft. Blows come fast enough. If it were not for you, I should be dead now, and so would you for helping me, which would have been a dreadful thing for Brulette. and now here we are well out of it thanks to you and i think we ought all three of us to be the better friends that's good cried uriel pressing my hand that's the berichon's best nature he shows his good sense and his sober judgment you ought to be a bourbonnese brourette you are so hasty and impulsive she allowed him to take her hand in his but she continued thoughtful and as i feared she might take cold after getting so wet in the river we entered the first house we came to to change our clothes and refresh ourselves with a little mulled wine it was now daybreak and the country folk seemed very kind and ready to help us when we resumed our journey the sun was already warm and the country which lay rather high between two rivers was delightful to the eye and reminded me a little of our own plains brulette's vexation was all over

Starting point is 03:23:13 for in talking with her beside the fire of the good bourbonnet i had proved to her that an honest girl was not degraded by the talk of a drunken man and that no woman was safe if such things were to be considered the muleteer had left us for a moment and when he returned to put brulette into her saddle she could not restrain a cry of amazement he had washed and shaved and dressed himself properly not so handsomely as the first time she had seen him but looking well enough in face and well enough clothed to do her honour However, she uttered neither compliment nor jest. She only looked at him intently when his eyes were not upon her, as if to renew her acquaintance with him. She seemed sorry to have been crabbed with him, and as if she did not know how to make it up. But he talked of other things,

Starting point is 03:23:58 explained the Bourbonnet district which we had entered after crossing the river, told me about the manners and customs, and discoursed like a man who was not wanting for sense in any way. At the end of two hours, without fatigue or further adventure, but still riding uphill, we reached Meple, the parish adjoining the forest where we were to find Joseph. We passed straight through the village where Uriel was accosted by many persons who seemed to hold him in much esteem, not to mention some young girls who eyed with surprise the company he had with him.

Starting point is 03:24:29 We had not, however, reached our destination. We were bound for the depths, or rather I should say the highest part of the wood, for the forests of the Allure, which joins that of the Chamberra, covers the plateau from which five or six little rivers or brooks come down, forming a wild tract of country surrounded by barren plains, where the view is extensive on all sides, towards other forests and other heaths stretching endlessly away. We were as yet only in what is called the lower Bourbonnet,

Starting point is 03:24:57 which adjoins the upper part of Beré. Uriel told me that the ground continued to ascend as far as Auverne. The woods were fine, chiefly full-grown trees of white oak, which are the finest species. The brooks, which cut into and ravine these woods in every direction, form in many places moist coverts where alders willows and aspen grow all fine trees which those of our region can't compare with i saw also for the first time a tree with white stems and beautiful foliage called the beach which does not grow with us it is the king of trees after the oak for if it is less handsome than the latter it is certainly quite as lovely there were but few of them in these forests and euryel told me they are bounded only in the centre of the bourbonnet country i gazed at all these things with much interest expecting, however, to see more rare things than there were,

Starting point is 03:25:47 and half believing the trees would have their roots in the air and their heads in the ground, after the manner of those who imagine about distant parts that they have never seen. As for Brulet, whether it was that she had a natural taste for wild scenery, or whether she wanted to console Uriel for the reproaches she had showered on him, it is certain that she admired things out of all reason, and did honour and reverence to the least little wild flower she saw in the path. We advanced for some time without meeting a living soul, when suddenly Uriel said, pointing to an open and some felled trees,

Starting point is 03:26:17 Here we are at the clearing. Now in a minute more you will see our city and my father's castle. He laughed as he said it, and we were still looking about us for something like a village, when he added, pointing to some mud huts which were more like the layers of animals than the abodes of men. These are our summer palaces, our country houses. Stay here and I will call Joseph. He went off at a gallop, looking into the doorways of all the huts, and came back evidently uneasy.

Starting point is 03:26:42 but hiding it as best he could to say, There is no one here, and that is a good sign. Joseph must be better, and he has gone to work with my father. Wait for me here. Sit down and rest in our cabin. It is the first right before you. I'll go and see where the patient is. No, no, said Bluette.

Starting point is 03:27:00 We will go with you. Are you afraid to be alone here? You are quite mistaken. You are now in the domain of the woodsmen, and they are not like the muleteers' imps of Satan. They are honest country folk, like those you have a lot. at home, and where my father rules you have nothing to fear.

Starting point is 03:27:16 I am not afraid of your people, replied Brulette, but it frightens me not to find Jose. Who knows? Perhaps he is dead and buried. The idea has just come into my head and it makes my blood creep. Uriel turned pale, as if the same thought struck him, but he would not give heed to it. The good God would never have allowed it, he said, but get done, leave the mules just here and come with me. He took a little path which led to another clearing, but even there we did. not find Joseph, nor anyone else. You fancy these woods are deserted, said Uriel, and yet I see by fresh marks of the acts

Starting point is 03:27:50 that the woodsmen have been at work here all the morning. This is the hour when they take a little nap, and they are probably all lying among the bracken, where we should not see them unless we stepped upon them. But listen, there's a sound that delights my heart. My father is playing the bagpipe. I recognize his method, and that's a sign that Jose is better,

Starting point is 03:28:08 for it is not a sad tune. And my father would be very sad if any misfortune had happened to the lad. He followed Uriel, and the music was certainly so delightful that Brulet, hurrying as she was to get to Joseph, could not help stopping now and then, as if charmed, to listen. And I myself, without being able to comprehend the thing as she did, felt all five of my natural senses stirred up within me. At every step I fancied I saw differently, heard differently, breathed and walked in a different manner from what I ever did before.

Starting point is 03:28:38 The trees seemed finer, so did the earth and sky, and my heart was full of a satisfaction, action I couldn't give a reason for. Presently standing on some rocks around which a pretty rivulet all full of flowers was murmuring along, we saw Joseph looking very sad, beside a man who was sitting down and playing a bagpipe to please the poor sick fellow. The dog, par plush, was beside them and seemed to be listening too, like an intelligent human being. As the pair paid no heed to us, Brulet held us back, wishing to examine Joseph and judge of his health by his appearance before she spoke to him. he was as white as a sheet and as shrunken as a bit of dead wood by which we knew that the muleteer had not deceived us but what was very consoling was the fact that he was nearly a head taller than when he left us which of course the people about him might not notice but which to us explained his illness as the result of his growth in spite of his sunken cheeks and white lips he had grown to be a handsome man his eyes notwithstanding his languid manner were clear and even bright as running water his hair fine and parted above his pallid face

Starting point is 03:29:41 like that of the blessed Jesus. In short, he was the image of an angel from heaven, which made him as different from other peasants as the almond flower differs from an almond in its husks. His hands were as white as a woman's, for the reason that he had not worked of late, and the Bourbonnet costume which he had taken to wearing, showed off his well-built figure better than the hemp and blouses and big sabos of our parts. Having given our first attention to Joseph, we were next compelled to look at Iriel's father, a man I have seldom seen the like of, one who would, without education had great knowledge and a mind that would not have disgraced the wealthy and famous he was tall and strong of fine carriage like uriel but starter and broader about the shoulders his head was ponderous and set on like that of a bull

Starting point is 03:30:25 his face was not at all handsome for his nose was flat his lips thick and his eyes round but for all that it was one you liked to look at for it satisfied you with its air of command and of strength and of goodness his large black eyes glittered like lightning flashes from his head and his broad-mouth laughed with a glee which would have brought you back from the jaws of death. At the present moment his head was covered with a blue handkerchief knotted behind, and he wore no other garments than his shirt and breeches, with a big leather apron which his hands hardened by toil matched in colour and texture. In fact his fingers scarred and crushed by many an accident, for he never spared himself danger, looked like roots of box twisted into knots, and the wonder was that he was able to do any work beyond breaking stones with a pickaxe.

Starting point is 03:31:10 nevertheless he used them as delicately on the chanter of his bagpipe as if there were slender reeds or tiny birds claws beside him were the trunks of several large oaks lately cut down and sawn apart among them lay his tools his axe shining like a razor his saw as pliable as a reed and his earthen bottle the wine of which kept up his strength presently joseph who was listening breathlessly to the music saw his dog palpulch run towards us he raised his eyes and beheld us with intention feet of him. From pallid he grew red as fire, but did not stir, thinking probably it was a vision called up by the music which had made him dream. Brulet ran to him, her arms extended, then he uttered a cry and fell as if choking on his knees, which frightened me, for I had no conception of that sort of love, and I thought he had a fit which might kill him. But he recovered himself quickly and began to thank Brulet and me, and also Iriel, with such friendly words so readily uttered, that you would never think it was the same José, who in the olden time always answered, I don't know to everything that was said to him.

Starting point is 03:32:16 Per Bastien, or rather the head woodsman, for such he was always called in these parts, laid aside his bagpipe, and while Bulvette and Joseph were talking together, he shook me by the hand and welcomed me as if he had known me from my birth up. So this is your friend Tiennet, he said to his son. Well, his face suits me and his body too, for I warrant I can hardly meet my arms around it, and I have always noticed that the biggest and strongest men are the gentlest. i see it in you my uriel and in myself too for i'm always inclined to love my neighbor rather than crush him so tiennet i give you welcome to our wild woods you won't find your fine wheat and bread nor the variety of salads you get from your garden but we will try to regale you with good talk and hearty goodwill i see you have brought that handsome no'an girl who is half sister half mother to our poor josie that's a good deed done for he had no heart to get well now i shall feel easier about him for i think the medicine is good

Starting point is 03:33:11 as he said this he looked at josie who was sitting on his heels at brulette's feet holding her hand and gazing at her with all his eyes while he asked questions about his mother and per brule and the neighbours and all the parish brulette observing that the headwoodsman was speaking of her came to him and begged pardon for not having saluted him at first but he without more ado took her round the waist and set her on a high rock as if to see her all at once like the figure of a saint or some other precious thing then placing her on the ground again he kissed her on the forehead saying to jose who blushed as much as brulette you told me true she is pretty from top to toe here i think is a bit of nature without a flaw body and soul are of the best quality i can see that in her eye tell me uriel for i am so blind about my own children that i can't judge is she prettier than your sister i think she is not less so and if they were both mine i don't know which i should be proudest of come come brulette don't be ashamed of being handsome and don't be vain of it either the workman who made the creatures of the world beautiful did not consult you and you count for nothing in his work what he has done for us we can spoil by folly or stupidity but i see by your appearance that far from doing that you respect his gifts in yourself yes yes you are a beautiful girl healthy in heart and upright in mind i know you already for you have come here to comfort that poor lad who longed for you as the earth longs for rain many another would not have done as you have done and i respect you for it therefore i ask your friendship for me who will be to you a father and for my two children who will be his brother and sister to you brulette whose heart was still swelling with the insults of the muleteers in the woods of la roche was so gratified by the respect and the compliments of the headwere who were so gratified by the respect and the compliments of the headwomenes woodsman that the tears began to fall, and flinging herself upon his neck, she could answer only by

Starting point is 03:35:03 kissing him, as though he were her own father. The best of all answers, he said, and I am content with it. Now my children, my rest hour is over, and I must go to work. If you are hungry, here is my wallet with some provisions in it. Uriel will go and find his sister, so that she may keep you company. And meantime, my berichens, you must talk with Joseph, for I imagine you have a deal to say to each other. But don't go far away from the sound of my axe, for you don't know the forest and you might get lost. Thereupon he set to work among the trees, after hanging his bagpipe to the branches of one that was still standing. Uriel ate some food with us, and answered Brulette, who questioned him about his sister. My sister Terence, he said, is a pretty girl and a good girl of about your own age.

Starting point is 03:35:49 I shall not say, as my father did, that she compares with you, but such as she is, she lets people look at her, and her spirit is none of the tamest either. She falls. my father to all his stations so that he may not miss his home for the life of a woodsman like that of a muleteer is very hard and dreary if he has no companionship for his heart where is she now asked brulette can't we go and find her i don't know where she is replied uriel and i rather wonder she did not hear us for she is seldom far from the lodges have you seen her to-day joseph yes he answered but not since morning she was feeling ill and complained of headache she is not used to complain of anything said uriel if you will excuse me brulette i will go and fetch her to you as fast as i can end of section twelve section thirteen of the bagpipers by jean translated by Catherine Prescott warmly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Thirteenth evening.

Starting point is 03:36:56 After Uriel left us, we walked about and to talk to Joseph, but thinking that it was enough for him to have seen me, and that he might like to be alone with Brulette, I left them together, without appearing to do so, and went after Per Bastien to watch him at work. It was a more cheering sight than you can possibly imagine. Never in my life have I seen manned. handiwork dispatched in so free and jovial a manner. I believe he could, without tiring himself,

Starting point is 03:37:22 have done the work of four of the strongest men in his employ, and that too, while talking and laughing in company, or singing and whistling when alone. He told me that woodcutters as a general thing lived near the woods where they worked, and that when their houses were within easy distance, they went daily to and from their work. Others living farther off came by the week, starting from home Monday before daybreak and returning the following Saturday night. As for those who came down with him from the uplands, they were hired for three months, and their huts were larger and better built and victualed than those of the men who came by the week. The same plan was followed with the charcoal men, meaning by them not those who buy charcoal to sell,

Starting point is 03:38:03 but those who make it on the spot for the benefit of the owners of the woods and forests. There were other men who bought the right to put it in the market, just as there were muleteers who bought and sold charcold. charcoal on their own account. But as a general thing, the business of the muleteer was solely that of transporting it. At the present time, this business of the muleteers is going down, and it will probably soon be extinct. The forests are better cleared. There are fewer of those impossible places for horses and wagons where mules alone can make their way. The number of manufactories and ironworks, which still use wood coal, is much restricted. In fact, there are but

Starting point is 03:38:38 few muleteers now in our part of the country. Only a few remain in the great forest. of Sher in Berri, together with the woodsmen in the upper Bourbonnet. But at the time of which I am telling you, when the forests covered one half of our provinces, all these trades were flourishing and much sought after. So much so that in a forest which was being cleared, you might find a whole population of these different trades, each having its customs and its fraternities, and living as much as possible on good terms with each other. Per Bastien told me, and later I saw it for myself, that all men who went to work in woods grew so accustomed to the roving and hazardous life, that they suffered a kind of homesickness

Starting point is 03:39:18 if they were obliged to live on the plains. As for him, he loved the woods like a fox or a wolf, though he was the kindest of men and the liveliest companion that you could find anywhere. For all that, he never laughed, as Uriel did, at my preference for my own region. All parts of the country are fine, he said. If they are our own, it is right that everyone should feel a particular liking for the region that brought him up. That's a provision of God. without which the barren and dreary places would be neglected and abandoned. I have heard tell of folks who travelled far into lands covered with snow and ice the greater part of the year, and into others where fire came from the mountains and ravaged the land.

Starting point is 03:39:59 Nevertheless, people build fine houses on these bedeviled mountains and hollow caves to live in under the snow. They love and marry and dance and sing and sleep and bring up children just as we do. Never despise any man's home or lodging or family. the mole loves his dark tomb as much as the bird loves its nest in the foliage and the ant would laugh in your face if you tried to make him believe that there were kings who build better palaces than he the day was getting on and still uriel did not return with his sister terence per bastien seemed surprised but not uneasy i went towards brulette and josie several times for they were not far off but as they were always talking and took no notice of my approach i finally went off by myself not knowing very well how to while away the time i was above all things the true friend of that dear girl ten times a day i felt i was in love with her and ten times a day i knew i was cured of it and now i made no pretence of love and so felt no chagrin i had never been very jealous of joseph before the muleteer told us of the great love that was consuming him and after that time strange to say i was not jealous at all the more compassion brulette showed for him the more i seemed to see that she gave it from a sense of friendly duty and that grieved me instead of pleasing me having no hope for myself i still wanted to keep the presence and companionship of a person who made everything comfortable about her

Starting point is 03:41:24 and i also felt that if any one deserved her it was the young fellow who had always loved her and who no doubt could never make any one else love him i was even surprised that brulet did not feel it so in her heart especially when it appeared how josey in spite of his illness had grown handsome well-informed and agreeable in speech no doubt he owed this change for the better to the companionship of the head woodsman and his son but he had also set his own will to it and she ought to have approved of him for that however brulette seemed to take no notice of the change and i fancied that during the journey she had thought more of the muleteer uriel than i had known her to do of any other man that idea began to distress me more and more for if her fancy turned upon this stranger two terrible disasters faced me one was that our poor josie would die of grief the other that our dear brulette would leave our part of the country and i should no longer see her or have her to talk to i had got about so far in my reasoning when i saw uriel returning bringing with him so beautiful a girl that brulette could not compare with her she was tall slender broad in the shoulders and free like her brother in all her movements her complexion was natural brown, but living always in the shade of the woods she was pale, though not pallid, a sort of whiteness which was charming to the eye, though it surprised you, and all the other features of her face were faultless. I was rather shocked by her little straw hat, turned up behind like the stern of a boat, but from it issued a mass of such marvellous black hair

Starting point is 03:42:53 that I soon reconciled to its oddity. I noticed from the first moment I saw her that, unlike Bluette, she was neither smiling nor gracious. She did not try to make herself pretty than she was, and her whole aspect was of a more decided character, hotter in will and colder in manner. As I was sitting against a pile of cut wood, neither of them saw me, and when they stopped close by where two paths forked, they were speaking to each other as though they were alone. I shall not go, said the beautiful Terence in a firm voice. I am going to the lodgers to prepare their beds and their supper. That is all that I choose to do at the present time. Won't you speak to them? "'Are you going to show ill temper?' said Ulyle, as if surprised.

Starting point is 03:43:36 "'I am not out of temper,' answered the young girl. "'Besides, if I were, I am not forced to show it. "'You do show it, though, if you won't go and welcome that young girl, "'who must be getting very tired of the company of men, "'and who will be glad enough to see another girl like herself.' "'She can't be very tired of them,' replied Terence, "'unless she has a bad heart. "'However, I am not bound to amuse her.

Starting point is 03:43:57 "'I will serve her and help her. "'That is all that I consider my duty.' but she expects you what am i to tell her tell her what you like i am not obliged to render account of myself to her so saying the daughter of the head woodsman turned into a wood-path and euriel stood still a moment thinking like a man who was trying to guess a riddle then he went on his way but i remained just where i was rigid as a stone image a sort of vision came over me when i first beheld terence i said to myself that face is known to me who is that she is like then slowly as i looked at her and heard her speak i knew she reminded me of the little girl in the cart that was stuck in the mire the little girl who had set me dreaming all one evening and who may have been the reason why brulette thinking me too simple in my tastes had turned her love away from me at last when she passed close by me in going away i noticed the black mole at the corner of her mouth and i knew by that that she was indeed the girl of the woods whom i had carried in my arms and who had kissed me then as readily as she now seemed unwilling even to receive me i stayed a long time thinking of many things in connection with this encounter but finally per bastien's bagpipe sounding a sort of fanfare warned me that the sun was going down i had no trouble in finding the path to the lodges as they called the huts of the wood men. That belonging to Uriel was larger and better built than the rest. It consisted of two rooms,

Starting point is 03:45:24 one of them being for Terence. In front of it was a kind of shed roofed with green boughs, which served as a shelter from wind and rain. Two boards placed on trestles made a table, laid for the occasion. Usually the Uriel family lived on bread and cheese, with a little salt meat once a day. This was neither miserliness nor poverty, but simplicity of life and customs. these children of the woods think our need of hot meals and the way we have of keeping our women cooking from morning till night both useless and exacting however expecting the arrival of joseph's mother or that of per brulet terence wishing to give them what they were accustomed to had gone the night before to maple for provisions she now lighted a fire in the glade and called her neighbours to assist her these were the wives of woodsmen one old and one ugly there were no other women in the forest as did is not the custom, nor have these people the means to take their families into the woods. The neighbouring lodges, six in number, held about a dozen men,

Starting point is 03:46:25 who were beginning to assemble on a pile of fagos to sup in each other's company on their frugal bit of lard and dry bread. But the head woodsman, going up to them before he went to his own lodge to put away his tools and his leathern apron, said in his kind and manly way, brothers, I have a party of strangers with me today, whom I shall not condemn to follow our customs. But it shall never be said that roast meat is eaten under the wine of Sanser served in the lodge of the head woodsman when his friends are not there to partake with him. Come, therefore, that I may make you friendly with my guests. Those of you who refuse will give me pain. No one refused, and we were a company of over twenty. Not all round

Starting point is 03:47:02 the table, for these folks don't care for comfort, but seated some on stones, some on the grass, one lying on his back among the shavings, another perched on the twisted limb of a tree, and all, saving the matter of holy baptism, more like a troop of wild boars than a company of Christian people. All this time the beautiful Terence seemed as she came and went about her duties, not a whit more inclined to take notice of us until her father, who had called to her in vain, caught her as she passed, and leading her up to us against her will, presented her. Please excuse her, my friends, he said. She is a little savage, born and reared in the woods. She is shy and bashful, but she will get over it, and I ask you, Brulette, to help her do so,

Starting point is 03:47:43 for she improves on acquaintance. Thereupon Brulette, who was neither shy nor ill-humoured herself, opened both arms and flung them round Terence's neck. And the latter, not daring to forbid her, yet unable to escape, stood stock still and threw up her head, looking out of her eyes, which had hitherto been glued to the ground. In this attitude so near each other eye to eye and almost cheek to cheek, they made me think of a pair of young bulls, one of which butts his head in play, while the other, distrustful and already conscious of horns, awaits the moment when he can strike him. treacherously but all of a sudden terence seemed conquered by brulet's soft eyes and lowering her head she dropped it on the other's shoulder to hide her tears well well said perl bastien teasing and caressing his daughter this is what you call skittish i never would have thought a girl's shyness would bring her to tears try to understand these young things if you can come bluette you seem the more reasonable of the two take her away and don't let go of her till she has talked to you it is only the first thing that you first word that costs. Very good, answered Brulette. I will help her, and the first order she gives me I will obey so well that she will forgive me

Starting point is 03:48:54 for having frightened her. As they went off together, Per Baccian said to me, Just see what women are. The least coquettish of them, and my terrances of that kind, cannot come face to face with a rival in beauty without getting scarlet with anger or frozen with fear. The stars live contentedly side by side in the sky, that when two daughters of Mother Eve come together there is always one who is miserable at the comparison that can be made between them. I think, father, that you are not doing justice to Terence in saying that, observed Uriel.

Starting point is 03:49:26 She is neither shy nor envious. Then lowering his voice, I think I know what grieves her, but it is best to pay no attention. They brought in the broiled meat with some fine yellow mushrooms, which I could not make up my mind to taste, though I saw everyone else eat them fearlessly. Then came eggs friccised with all sorts of strong herbs, buckwheat cakes, and the chomberat cheeses which are famous everywhere. All the labourers junketed to their heart's content, but in a very different way from ours,

Starting point is 03:49:58 instead of taking their time and chewing each morsel, they swallowed the food whole like famished creatures, a thing that is not considered at all proper with us. In fact, they could not wait to be through eating before they began to sing and dance in the very middle of the feast. These men, whose blood is not as cool as ours, seemed to me unable to keep still a moment. They would not wait till the dishes were part,

Starting point is 03:50:20 round but carried up their slices of bread to hold the stew refusing plates and then returned to their perch in the trees or their bed in the sawdust some ate standing others talking and gesticulating each telling his own tale and singing his own song they were like bees buzzing about the hive it made me giddy and i felt i was not enjoying the feast at all although the wine was good and the headwoodsman did not spare it no one took more than was good for him for each man had his work to do and would not let himself be unfitted for the labour of the morrow so the feast was short and although at one time it seemed to me to be getting rather boisterous still it ended early and peacefully the headwoodsman received many compliments for his hospitality and it was quite plain that he had a natural control over the whole band not so much by any method as by the influence of his kind heart and his wise head we received many assurances of friendship and offers of service and i must admit that the people were heartier and readier to oblige than we are in our part of the country i noticed that uriel took them up one after the other to brulet and presented each by name telling them to regard her as neither more nor less than his sister whereupon she received so many salutations and civilities that she had never even in her own village been so courted when night came the headwoodsman offered to share his cabin with me joseph's lodge was next two hours but it was smaller and i should have been much cramped so i followed my host all the more willingly because i was charged to watch over brulette's safety but i soon saw that she ran no risk for she shared the bed of the beautiful terence and the muleteer faithful to his usual habits had already stretched himself on the ground outside the door so that neither wolf nor thief could get an entrance casting a glance into the little room where the two girls were to sleep i saw it contained a bed and a few very decent articles of furniture uriel thanks to his mules was able to transport his sister's household belongings very easily and without expense

Starting point is 03:52:21 those of his father gave little trouble for they consisted solely of a heap of dry fern and a coverlet indeed the head woodsman thought even that too much and would have preferred to sleep under the stars like his son i was tired enough to do without a bed and i slept soundly till daylight i thought brulette did the same for i heard no sound behind the plank partition which separated us when i rose the woodsman and his son were already up and consulting together we were speaking of you said the father and as we must go to our work i should like the matter i was talking of to be settled now i have explained to brulette that joseph needs her company for some time yet and she has promised to stay a week at least but she could not speak for you and has asked us to beg you to stay we hope you will do so as you will do so as you should be so you that it will give us pleasure you will not be a burden on us and we beg you to act with us as freely as we would with you if occasion demanded this was said with such an air of sincerity and friendship that i could not refuse and indeed as it was impossible to abandon brulette to the company of strangers i was obliged to give in to her wishes and joseph's interests though eight days seemed to me rather long thank you my kind tiennet said brulette coming out of terrans's room and I thank these good people who have given me such a kind reception. But if I stay, it must be on condition that no expense is incurred for us, and that we shall be allowed to provide for ourselves as we intended to do.

Starting point is 03:53:49 It shall be just as you like, said Uriel, for if the fear of being a burden on us drives you away, we would rather announce the pleasure of serving you. But remember one thing, my father and I both earn money, and nothing gives either of us so much pleasure as to oblige our friends and show them hospitality. It seemed to me that Uriel was rather fond of jingling his money as if to say, I am a good match. However, he immediately acted like a man who sets himself aside,

Starting point is 03:54:16 for he told us that he was about to start on a journey. When she heard that, Bluilet gave a little quiver, which nobody noticed but me, for she recovered instantly and asked, apparently with indifference, where he was going, and for how long? I am going to work in the woods of La Roche, he replied. I shall be near enough to come back if you send for me. "'Tiennet knows the way.

Starting point is 03:54:37 "'I am going now in the first instance "'to the moor round La Croix to get my mules and their trappings. "'I will stop as I come back and bid you good-bye.' "'Thereupon he departed, and the head woodsman, "'in joining on his daughter to take good care of us, "'went off to his work in another direction. "'So there we were, Broulette and I, "'in company of the beautiful terrace,

Starting point is 03:54:59 "'who, though she waited on us as actively "'as if we were paying her wages, "'did not seem inclined to be friendly, "'and answered shortly, yes, know to all we said to her. This coolness soon annoyed Bluette, who said to me, when we were alone for a moment, I think, Tiennet, that this girl is displeased with us. She took me into her bed last night as if she were forced to receive a porcupine. She flung herself on the farther edge with her nose to the wall, and except when she asked if I wanted more bedclothes, she would not say a word to me. I was so tired,

Starting point is 03:55:30 I would gladly have gone to sleep at once. Indeed, seeing that she pretended to sleep to avoid speaking to me, I pretended too. But I could not close my eyes for a long, long time, for I heard her choking down her sobs. If you will consent, we will not trouble her any longer. We can find plenty of empty huts in the forest, and if not, I could arrange with an old woman I saw here yesterday to send her husband to a neighbour and take us in. If it is only a grass bed, I shall be content. It costs too much to sleep on a mattress if tears are to pay for it. As for our meals, I suppose that you can go to meple and buy all we want, and I'll take charge of the cooking. That's all right, Brulet, I answered, and I'll do as you say.

Starting point is 03:56:12 Look for a lodging for yourself, and don't trouble about me. I'm not sugar nor salt any more than the muleteer who slept at your door last night. I'll do for you as he did, without fearing that the dew will melt me. However, listen to this. If we quit the woodsman's lodge and table in this way, he will think we are angry. And as he has treated us too well to have given any cause for it himself, he will see at once that his daughter has rebuffed us. Perhaps he will scold her, and that might not be just. You say the girl did all she could, and was even submissive to you. Now suppose she has

Starting point is 03:56:45 some hidden trouble, have we the right to complain of her silence and her sobs? Would it not be better to take no notice, and to leave her free all day to go and meet her lover, if she has one, and spend our own time with José, for whose sake alone we came here? Are you not rather afraid that if we look for a place to live apart in, people may fancy we have some evil motive. You are right, Tiennet, said Brulette. Well, I'll have patience with that tall, sulky girl, and let her come and go as she likes.

Starting point is 03:57:16 End of Section 13. Section 14 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott warmly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Fourteenth evening. The beautiful Terence had prepared everything for our breakfast, breakfast and seeing that the sun was getting up she asked brulette if she had thought of waking joseph it is time she said and he does not like it if i let him sleep too late because the next night it keeps him wakeful if you are accustomed to wake him dear answered brulette please do so now i don't know what his habits are no said terence curtly it is your business to take care of him now that is what you have come for i shall give up and take a rest and leave you in charge poor josie brulette could not help exclaiming i see he has been a great care to you and that he had better go back with us to his own country

Starting point is 03:58:15 therons turned her back without replying and i said to brulette let us both go and call him i'll bet he will be glad to hear your voice first jos's lodge joined that of the head woodsman as soon as he heard brulette's voice he came running to the door crying out ah i feared i was dreaming brulette then it is really true that you are here when he was seated beside us on the logs he told us that for the first time in many months he had slept all night in one gulp in fact we could see it on his face which was ten sous better than it was the night before terence brought him some chicken broth in a porenger and he wanted to give it to brulette who refused to take it all the more because the black eyes of the girl of the woods blazed with anger at josie's offer brulette who was too shrewd to give any ground for the girl's vexation declined saying that she did not like broth and it would be a great pity to waste it upon her adding i see my lad that you are cared for like a bourgeois and that these kind people spare nothing for your comfort and recovery yes said josey taking terence's hand and joining it in his with that of brulette i have been a great expense to my master he always called the woodsman by that title because he had taught him music brulet i must tell you that i have found another angel upon earth beside you just as you helped my mind and consoled my heart when i was half an idiot and well-nigh good for nothing so she has cared for my poor suffering body when i fell ill with fever here i can never thank her as i ought for all she has done for me but i can say one thing there is not a third like you two and in the day of recompense the good god will grant his choicest crowns to katrine bruley the rose of beret and to terence iriel the sweet "'Sweet briar of the woods.'

Starting point is 04:00:02 "'It seemed as if Joseph's gentle words "'poured a balm into the girl's blood, "'for Terence no longer refused to sit down and eat with us, "'and Joseph sat between the two beauties, "'while I, profiting by the easy ways "'I had noticed the night before, "'walked about as I ate, "'and sat sometimes near one and sometimes near the other.

Starting point is 04:00:21 "'I did my best to please the woodland last with my attentions, "'and I made it a point of honour to show her "'that we berichens were not bears.' "'She answered my civilities very generous, but I could not make her raise her eyes to mine all the time we were talking. She seemed to me to have an odd temper, quick to take offence and full of distrust. And yet when she was tranquil there was something so good in her expression and in her voice that it was impossible to take a bad idea of her.

Starting point is 04:00:47 But neither in her good moments nor at any other time did I dare ask her if she remembered that I had carried her in my arms and that she had rewarded me with a kiss. I was very sure it was she, for her father, to whom I had already spoken, had not forgotten the circumstance, and declared he had recalled my face without knowing where he had seen it. During breakfast, Broulette, as she told me afterwards, began to have an inkling of a certain matter,

Starting point is 04:01:12 and she at once took it into her head to watch and keep quiet so as to get at the bottom of it. Now, said she, do you suppose I am going to sit all day with my arms folded? Without being a hard worker, I don't say my beads from one meal to another, and I beg of you, Terence, to give me some work by which I can help you.

Starting point is 04:01:31 I don't want any help, replied Terence, and as for you, you don't need any work to occupy you. Why not, my dear? Because you have your friend, and as I should be in the way when you talk with him, I shall go away if you wish to stay here, or I shall stay here if you wish to go away. That won't please either, Jose or me, said Broulet, rather maliciously.

Starting point is 04:01:54 I have no secrets to tell him, all that we had to say to each other, we said yesterday, and now the pleasure we take in each other's company will only be increased if you are with us, and we beg you to stay, unless you have someone you prefer to us. Terence seemed undecided, and the way she looked at Joseph showed Broulet that her pride suffered from the fear of being in the way. Whereupon Brulette said to Joseph, help me to keep her. You want her, don't you? Didn't you say just now that we were your two guardian angels? Don't you want us to work together for your recovery?

Starting point is 04:02:26 you are right brulette said joseph between two such kind hearts i shall get well quickly and if you both love me i think each will love me better just as we do a task better with the good comrade who gives us his strength and doubles ours and you think it is i said terence whom your compatriot needs as a companion well so be it i'll fetch my work and do it here she brought some linen cut out for a shirt and began to sew brulette wanted to help her and when teron refused she said to joseph then bring me your clothes to mend they must be in need of it by this time terence let her look through joseph's whole wardrobe without saying a word but there was neither a hole to mend nor a button to sew on so well had they been cared for and brulette talked of buying linen the next day at meppler to make him some new shirts then it appeared that those terence was making were for joseph and that she wanted to finish them as she had begun them all by herself suspicion grew strong stronger and stronger in Brulette's mind, and she pretended to insist on sharing the work. Even Joseph was obliged to put in a word, for he thought that Brulette would feel dull if she had nothing to do. On that, Terence flung down her work angrily, saying to Brulette, finish them yourself. I won't touch them again. And off she went to sulk in the house.

Starting point is 04:03:48 José, said Brulette, that girl is neither capricious nor crazy, as I first thought she was. she is in love with you Joseph was so overcome that Brulette saw she had said too much she did not understand that a sick man ill in body from the action of his mind fears reflection why do you tell me so he cried what new misfortune is to come upon me why is it a misfortune

Starting point is 04:04:13 do you ask me that Brulette do you think I could ever return her feelings well said Brulette trying to pacify him she will get over it i don't know that people ever get over love he replied but if through ignorance and want of precaution i have done any harm to the daughter of my master and uriel's sister the virgin of the woods who has prayed to god for me and watched over my life i am so guilty that i can never forgive myself did not you ever think that her friendship might change to love no brulette never that's curious josie why so have not i been accustomed from my youth up to be pitied for my stupidity and helped in my weakness? Did the friendship you have shown me, Brulet, ever make me vain enough to believe that you...

Starting point is 04:05:01 Here Joseph became as red as fire, and did not say another word. You are right, said Brulet, who was prudent and judicious, just as Terence was quick and sensitive. We can easily make mistakes about the feelings which we give and receive. I had a silly idea about the girl, but if you don't share it, there can be nothing in it. Terence is, no doubt, just as I am, ignorant of what they call true love. and waits the time when the good God will put it into her head to live for the man he has chosen for her. All the same, said Joseph, I wish to leave this part of the country, and I ought to. We came to take you back, I said, as soon as you feel strong enough to go.

Starting point is 04:05:39 Contrary to my expectation, he rejected the idea vehemently. No, no, he said, I have but one power, and that is my force of will to be a great musician. I want to have my mother with me, and live honoured and courted in my own country. If I quit these parts now, I shall go to the upper Bourbonnet, till I am admitted into the fraternity of bagpipers. We dared not tell him that we feared he would never have sound lungs. Bluette talked to him of other things, while I, much occupied with the revelation she had made about Thelons,

Starting point is 04:06:11 and indeed anxious about the girl, who had just left her lodge and plunged into the woods, started in the same direction, with no apparent object, but feeling curious and very desirous of meeting her. It was not very long before, I heard the sound of choking sighs, which let me know where she was hiding. No longer feeling shy of her when I knew she was in trouble, I went forward and spoke to her resolutely.

Starting point is 04:06:34 Terence, I said, observing that she did not weep, and only quivered and choked with repressed anger. I think my cousin and I are the cause of your annoyance. Our coming displeases you, or rather Brulette does, for I myself can claim no attention. We were speaking of you this morning, she and I, and I prevented her from leaving your lodge, where she thought she was a burden to you. Now please say frankly if we are, and we will go elsewhere. Though you may have a low opinion of us, we are nonetheless right-minded towards you and fearful of causing you annoyance. The proud girl seemed offended by my frankness. She got up from her seat, for I had placed myself near her.

Starting point is 04:07:13 "'Your cousin wants to go, does she?' she said, with a threatening air. "'She wants to shame me. No, she shall not do it, or else, or else what I asked, determined to make her confess her feelings, or else I will leave the woods and by father and family and go and die in the desert. She spoke feverishly with so gloomy an eye and so pale a face that I was frightened. Terence, I said, taking her very kindly by the hand and making her sit down again. Either you were born without a sense of justice, or you have some reason for hating burulet. If so, tell me what it is, for it is possible I could clear her of the blame you put upon her.

Starting point is 04:07:54 No, you can't clear her, for I know her, cried Terence, no longer controlling herself. Don't think that I know nothing about her. I have thought enough and questioned Joseph and my brother enough to be able to judge her conduct and to know what an ungrateful heart and a deceitful nature hers is. She is a flirt, that's what she is, your compatriot, and all honest girls ought to hate her. that's a hard thing to say i replied without seeming troubled what do you base it on doesn't she know cried terence that here are three young men in love with her and she is tricking all of them joseph who is dying of it my brother who is now avoiding her and you who are trying to cure yourself do you mean to tell me that she does not know all this or that she has the slightest preference for any one of you no she has no preference for anyone she pities jean she Joseph, she esteems my brother, and she does not love you. Your pangs amuse her, and as she has fifty other lovers in her own village, she pretends she lives for all and not for one. Well, I don't

Starting point is 04:08:57 care for you, Tiennet, for I don't know you, but as for my brother, who is so often obliged to be away from us, and goes away now to escape her when he might really stay at home, and as for poor Joseph, who is ill and partly crazy for her? Ah, your brulette is a guilty creature towards both, and ought to blush for not being able to say a tender word to either of them. Just then, Brulette, who overheard her, came forward. Though quite unaccustomed to be spoken of in that way, she was doubtless well-pleased to know the motive of Uriel's absence, and she seated herself by Terence and took her hand with a serious air,

Starting point is 04:09:33 which was half pity and half reproach. Terence was a little pacified and said in a gentler tone, "'Excuse me, Brulet, if I have pained you, "'but indeed I shall not blame myself if it brings you to better feelings.' come admit that your conduct is treacherous and your heart hard i don't know if it is the custom in your country to let men wish for you when you intend only to refuse them but i a poor girl of the woods think such lies criminal and i cannot comprehend such behavior open your eyes and see the harm you are doing i don't say that my brother will break down under it because he is too strong and too courageous a man and there are too many girls worth more than you who love him among whom he will make his choice one of these days but have pity upon poor josie brulette you don't know him though you have been brought up with him you thought him half an imbecile on the contrary he has a great genius but his body is feeble and cannot bear up under the grief you persist in causing him give him your heart for he deserves it it is i who entreat you and who will curse you if you kill him do you really mean what you are saying to me my poor terence answered brulette looking her straight in the eye if you want to know what i think

Starting point is 04:10:45 It is that you love Joseph, and that I cause you, in spite of myself, a bitter jealousy, which leads you to impute this wrongdoing to me. Well, look at the matter as it is. I don't want to make José love me. I never thought of doing so, and I am sorry he does. I even long to help you to cure him of it. And if I had known what you have now let me see, I would never have come here, though your brother did tell me it was necessary that I should do so.

Starting point is 04:11:11 "'Broulette,' said Terence, "'you must think I have no pride if you suppose that I love Joseph in the way you mean, "'and that I condescend to be jealous of your charms. "'I have no need to be ashamed before anyone of the sort of love I feel for him. "'If it were as you suppose, I should at least have sufficient pride "'not to let you think I would dispute him with you. "'But my friendship for him is so frank "'that I dare to protect him openly against your wiles.

Starting point is 04:11:38 "'Love him truly, and far from being jealous, I will love and respect you. I recognize your rights, which are older than mine, and I will help you to take him back into your own country, on condition that you will choose him for your sole lover and husband. Otherwise you may expect in me an enemy, who will hold you up to condemnation openly. It shall never be said that I loved to the poor lad

Starting point is 04:11:59 and nursed him in illness, only to see a village flirt kill him before my very eyes. Very good, said Brulet, who had recovered all her native pride. I see more plainly than ever that you are, in love with him and jealous, and I feel all the more satisfied to go away and leave him to your care, that your attachment to him is honest and faithful, I have no doubt, and I have no reasons such as you have, to be angry or unjust. Still, I do wonder why you should want me to remain and to be your friend. Your sincerity gives way there, and I admit that I should like to know the reason why.

Starting point is 04:12:34 The reason, replied Terence, is one you give yourself when you use shameful words to humiliate me. You have just said that I am love-sick and jealous. That's how you explain the strength and the kindness of my feeling for Joseph. You will, no doubt, put it into his head, and the young man who owes me respect and gratitude will think he has the right to despise me, and ridicule me in his heart. There you are right, Terence, said Brulette, whose heart and mind were both too just not to respect the pride of the woodland girl.

Starting point is 04:13:06 I ought to help you to keep your secret, and I will. I don't say that I will help you to the heart. the extent of my power over Joseph. Your pride would take offense if I did, and I fully understand that you do not want to receive his regard as a favor from me. But I beg you to be just, to reflect, and even to give me some good advice, which I, who am weaker and more humble than you, ask of you to guide my conscience. Ask it, I will listen to you, said Terence, pacified by Brulet's good sense and submission. You must first know, said the latter, that I have never had any love for Joseph, and if it will help you, I will tell you why.

Starting point is 04:13:43 Tell me, I want to know, cried Terence. Well, the reason is, continued Broulet, that he does not love me as I should wish to be loved. I have known Joseph from a baby. He was never amiable to others until he came to live here. He was so wrapped up in himself that I considered him selfish. I am now willing to believe that if he was so, it was not in a bad sense. But after the conversation which he and I had together yesterday, I am still convinced that I have a rival in his heart that would soon crush me if I were his. This mistress whom he would surely prefer to his wife, don't deceive yourself, Terence.

Starting point is 04:14:19 His music. I have sometimes thought that very thing, replied Terence, after reflecting a moment, and showing by her soothed manner that she would rather struggle with music for Joseph's heart than with the pretty brulette. Joseph, she added, is often in a state in which I have sometimes seen my father, when the pleasure of making music is so great that they are not conscious of anything about them. But my father is always so loving and lovable that I am never jealous of his pleasure. Well then, Terence, said Brulette, let us hope he will make Joseph like himself and worthy of you.

Starting point is 04:14:54 Of me? Why of me more than of you? God is my witness that I am not thinking of myself when I work and pray for Joseph. My future troubles me very little, Brulette. I don't understand why people should be thinking of themselves in the friendship they give to others. then said brulette you are a sort of saint dear terence and i feel i am not worthy of you for i do think of myself and a great deal too when i dream of love and happiness perhaps you do not love joseph as i fancied you did but however that may be i ask you to tell me how i had better behave toward him i am not at all sure that if i take all hope away from him the blow would kill him otherwise you would not see me so easy but he is ill that's very true and i owe him great consideration. Here is where my friendship for him has been loyal and sincere,

Starting point is 04:15:45 and I have not been as coquettish as you think for. For if it is true that I have, as you say, fifty lovers in my own village, what advantage your amusement would it be to me to follow the humblest of them all into these woods? I think, on the contrary, that I deserve your goodwill for having, as it seemed right to do so, sacrificed without regret my lively friends to bring comfort to a poor fellow who asked for my remembrance. terence understanding at last that he was wrong threw herself into brulette's arms without making any excuses but showing plainly by tears and kisses that she was heartily sorry they were sitting thus together when uriel followed by his mules preceded by his dogs and mounted on his little horse appeared at the end of the path where we were he came to bid us good-bye but nothing in his air or manner showed the grief of a man who seeks by flight to cure a hopeless love he seemed on the contrary cheerful and content and Brulette thought that Terence had put him on the list of her admirers,

Starting point is 04:16:43 only to give one reason more, good or bad, for her vexation. She even tried to make him tell the real reason for his departure, and when he pretended that it was pressing business, which Terence denied, urging him to stay, Brulette, rather piqued at his coolness, reproached him with getting tired of his berichon guests. He let himself be teased without making any change in his plans, and this finally affronted Brulet, and led her to say, as i may never see you again m'ruri el don't you think you had better return me the little token which you wear in your ear though it does not belong to you yes but it does he answered it belongs to me as much as my ear belongs to my head for my sister gave it to me

Starting point is 04:17:26 your sister could not have given to you what is either joseph's or mine my sister made her first communion just as you did brulette and when i returned your jewel to jose she gave me hers ask her if that isn't true true. Terence coloured high, and Uriel laughed in his beard. Broulet thought to herself that the most deceived of the three was Joseph, who was probably wearing Terence's silver heart round his neck as a souvenir, while the muleteer was wearing the one she had given him. She was resolved not to allow the fraud, so she said to Terence, Dearest, I think the token José wears will bring him happiness, and therefore he ought to keep it, but inasmuch as this one belongs to you, I ask you to get it back from your brother, so as to make me a present which will be extremely precious to me as coming from you.

Starting point is 04:18:15 I will give you anything else you ask of me, replied Terence, and with all my heart, too. But this thing does not belong to me. What is given is given, and I don't think that Uriel would be willing to give it back. I will do so, said Uriel quickly, if Brulette requires it. Do you demand it, he added, turning to her? Yes, said Brulet, who could not back down, though she regretted her whim when she saw the hurt look of the muleteer. He had once opened his earring and took off the token, which he gave to Brulette, saying, be it as you please. I should be consoled for the loss of my sister's gift

Starting point is 04:18:49 if I could think you would neither give it away nor exchange it. The proof that I will do neither, said Brulet, fastening it on Terence's necklace, is that I give it to her to keep. And as for you, whose ear is now released of its weight, you do not need any token to enable me to recognize you when you come again into our parts. That is very handsome of you to say, replied the muleteer. But as I only did my duty to Joseph, and as you now know all that you need to know, to make him happy,

Starting point is 04:19:20 I shall not meddle any further in his affairs. I suppose you will take him home with you, and I shall have no further occasion to visit your country. Adieu, therefore, my beautiful brulette. I foretell all the blessings you deserve, and I leave you now with my family, who will serve you while here and conduct you home whenever you may wish to go.

Starting point is 04:19:39 So saying, off he went, singing, One mule, two mules, three mules, On the mountain, don't you see them? Hey, the devil, tis the band. But his voice did not sound as steady as he tried to make it, and Bluette, not feeling happy and wishing to escape the searching eyes of Terence, returned with us both to find Joseph.

Starting point is 04:20:01 End of Section 14. Section 15 of the bagpipers by Georges Sond, translated by Catherine Prescott Wormley. this Librevox recording is in the public domain. Fifteenth evening. I shall not give you the history of all the days that we passed in the forest. They differed little from one another. Joseph grew better and better, and Terence decided that it was wiser not to destroy his hopes,

Starting point is 04:20:33 sharing in Roulette's resolution to prevent him from explaining his feelings. This was not difficult to manage, for Joseph had vowed to himself that he would not declare his sentiments till the moment came when he felt worthy of her notice. Brulet must have made herself very seductive indeed to have dragged a word of love out of him. To make doubly sure she managed to avoid ever being alone with him, and she kept Terence so cleverly at her side that the Woodland Nymph began to understand

Starting point is 04:20:59 that she was really not deceiving her and sincerely wished that she should manage the health and the mind of the patient in all things. These three young people did not weary of each other's company. Terence sewed for Joseph and Brulette, having made me by her a white handkerchief, set about scalloping and embroidering it for Terence, for she was very clever at such work, and it was really marvellous that a country girl could do such exquisitely fine stitches. She even declared before Joseph and me that she was tired of sewing and taking care of linen, so as to show that she did not

Starting point is 04:21:30 work for him, and to force him to thank Terence, who was doing it so assiduously. But just see how ungrateful men can be when their minds are all upset by a woman. joseph hardly looked at terence's fingers employed as they were in his service his eyes were fixed on brulette's pretty hands and you would really have thought that every time she drew her needle he counted each stitch as a moment of happiness i wondered how love could fill his mind and occupy his whole time without his ever dreaming of making any use of his hands as for me i tried peeling osier and making baskets or plaiting rice straw for hats and bonnets but for all that at the end of forty-eight hours i was so eaten up with anui that i was fairly ill sunday is a fine thing for it brings a rest after six days toil but seventh sundays in a week is too much for a man who is accustomed to make use of his limbs i might not have realized this if either of the girls had bestowed any notice on me indeed the beautiful terence with her great eyes somewhat sunken in her head and the black mole at the corner of her mouth could easily have turned my head if she had wanted to but she was in no humour to think of anything but her one idea she talked little and laughed less and if i tried the slightest joking she looked at me with such an astonished air that i lost all courage to make an explanation so after spending three or four days in fluttering with this tranquil trio round the lodgers and sitting with them in various places in the woods and having convinced myself that brulet was quite as safe in this country as in our own i looked about me for something to do and finally asked the head woodsman to allow me to help him He received my request very kindly, and I began to get much amusement out of his company,

Starting point is 04:23:08 when, unfortunately, I told him I did not want to be paid, and was chopping wood only to get rid of the time. On which his kind heart no longer compelled him to excuse my blunders, and he began to let me see that there never was a more exacting man than he in the matter of work. As his trade was not mine, and I did not even know how to use his tools, I provoked him by my awkwardness, and I soon saw that he could scarcely restrain himself from calling me a blockhead and imbecile, for his eyes actually started from his head and the sweat rolled down his face. Not wishing to quarrel with a man who was so kind and agreeable in other ways, I found employment with the Sawyers, and they were satisfied with me.

Starting point is 04:23:46 But dear me, I soon learned what a dull thing work is when it is nothing but an exercise for the body, and is not joined to the idea of profit for oneself or others. Roulette said to me on the fourth day, "'Tiennet, I see you are very dull, and I don't deny that I am too. But tomorrow is Sunday, and we must invent some kind of amusement. I know that the foresters meet in a pretty place, where the headwoodsman plays for them to dance. Well, let us buy some wine and provisions

Starting point is 04:24:12 and give them a better Sunday than usual, and so do honour to our own country among these strangers. I did, as Brulette told me, and the next day we assembled on a pretty bit of grass with all the forest workmen and several girls and women of the neighbourhood, whom Terence invited for a dance. The headwoodsman piped for us. his daughter, superb in her Bourbonnet costume, was much complimented, which made no change in her dignified manner.

Starting point is 04:24:37 José, quite intoxicated by the charms of Brulet, who had not forgotten to bring a little finery from home, and who bewitched all eyes with her pretty face and her dainty ways, sat looking on at the dancing. I busied myself in regaling the company with refreshments, and as I wished to do things in good style, I had not spared the money. The feast cost me three good silver crowns out of my own pocket, but I never regretted it, for the company were pleased with my hospitality. Everything went well, and they all said that within the memory of man the woodland folk had never been so well entertained. There was even a mendicant friar, who happened to come along, and who, under pretext of begging for his convent, stuffed his stomach as full and drank as much

Starting point is 04:25:17 as any wood-chopper of them all. This amused me mightily, though it was at my expense, for it was the first time I had seen a Carmelite drink, and I had always heard to tell that in the matter of crooking their elbows, they were. were the best men in Christendom. I was just refilling his glass, astonished that I didn't intoxicate him, when the dancers fell into confusion and a great uproar arose. I went out of the little arbor which I had made, and where I received the thirsty crowd, to know what had happened, and there I saw a troop of three or perhaps four hundred mules

Starting point is 04:25:48 following a clarin, which had taken it into its head to go through the assembly, and was being pushed and kicked and frightened till it darted right and left among the people. while the mules who were obstinate beasts, very strong-boned and accustomed to follow the clarin, pressed on through the dancers, caring little for blows and kicks, jostling those in their way, and behaving as if they were in a field of thistles. The animals did not go so fast, laden as they were, but what the people had time to get out of their way. No one was hurt, but some of the lads excited by dancing and provoked at being interrupted, stamped and shouted so vociferously that the scene was most amusing to behold, and the headwoodsmen stopped piping to hold his sides with laughter.

Starting point is 04:26:28 presently knowing the musical call which collects the mules and which i knew too having heard it in the forest of st chartierthier, Per Bastien sounded it in the usual manner, and when the Clarenne and his followers trotted up and surrounded the cask on which he was seated, he laughed more than ever to see a troop of black beasts dancing around him instead of the late gala company. Drulette, however, who escaped from the confusion and took refuge with Joseph and me, seemed terrified and did not take it as a joke. What is the matter, I said to her. Perhaps it is friend Uriel who has come back for a dance with you. No, no, she answered. Terence, who knows her brother's mules, says there is not one of his in the troop. Besides, that's not his horse nor his dog.

Starting point is 04:27:11 I am afraid of all muleteers except Uriel, and I wish we could get away from here. As she spoke, we saw some twenty muleteers coming out of the surrounding forest. They presently called off their beasts and stood round to see the dancing. I reassured Brulette, for in full day and in sight of so many people I knew there was nothing to fear. Only I told her not to go away far from me, and then I returned to the Abba, where I saw the muleteers were about to help themselves without ceremony. As they shouted out, to drink, something to drink, like folks in a tavern, I told them

Starting point is 04:27:44 civilly that I did not sell my wine, but that if they asked for it politely I should be happy to give them the loving cup. Then it is a wedding, said the tallest of them, who must be a wedding. I recognized by his fair skin as the leader of those we had met so unluckily in the woods of La Roche. Wedding or not, I replied, it is I who give the feast, and with all my hearts to those I please. But he did not leave me time to finish before he answered. We have no rights here. You are the master.

Starting point is 04:28:12 Thank you for your good intentions, but you don't know us, and you had better keep your wine for your friends. He said a few words to the others in their own dialect and led them to a place apart, where they sat down and ate their own suppers very quietly. The headwoodsmen went to speak with them and showed much regard for their leader named Archigno, who was considered an upright man, as far as a muleteer can be one. Among those present were several who could play the bagpipe,

Starting point is 04:28:38 not like Per Bastien, who hadn't his equal in the world, and could make the stones dance and the old oak's curtsy if he liked, but much better than Carna and his son. So the bagpipe changed hands until it reached those of the muleteer chief Arginia, while the headwoodsman, whose heart and body were still young, went to dance with his daughter, of whom he was just as proud, and with as good right, too, as Per Brulet was of his. But just as he was calling Brulet to come and be his vis-a-vis,

Starting point is 04:29:06 a rascally fellow coming from I don't know where, endeavored to take her hand. Though it was getting dusk, Brulet recognized him as the man who had threatened us in the woods of La Roche, and had even talked of killing her protectors and burying them under a tree that could tell no tales. fear and horror made her refuse him quickly and press back against me who having exhausted all my provisions was just going to dance with her the girl promised me this dance i said to the muleteer seeing he was determined to get her find someone else very good he said but after this set with you my turn will come no said brulet hastily i would rather never dance again that's what we shall see he exclaimed following us to the dance where he remained standing behind us and criticizing us i think in his own language every time brulet passed him he gave vent to language which from the expression of his bad eyes i judged to be insolent wait till i have finished dancing i said punching him as i passed i'll settle your bill for you in language your back shall understand but when the dance was over i could not find him anywhere he had hidden himself so carefully.

Starting point is 04:30:13 Brulette, seeing what a coward he was, got over her fright and danced with the others, who paid her very pretty respect. But just as I ceased for a moment to watch her, the scoundrel came back and took her from the midst of a number of young girls, forcing her into the middle of the dance, and taking advantage of the darkness which hid her resistance, tried to embrace her.

Starting point is 04:30:32 At that moment I ran up, not seeing clearly, but thinking I heard Brulet call me. I had no time to do justice on the man myself, for before his blackened face had touched hers, the fellow received such a blow on the nape of his neck that his eyes must have bulged like those of a rat pinned in a trap. Brulette, thinking the help came from me, threw herself into her defender's arms,

Starting point is 04:30:52 and was much amazed to find herself in those of Uriel. I tried to take advantage of the fact that our friend had his arms full, to seize the scoundrel myself, and I would have paid him all I owed him if the company had not interfered between us. As the man now assailed us with words, calling us cowards because we had attacked him two to one, the music stopped. The crowd gathered about the scene of the quarrel, and the headwoodsman came up with Archignac,

Starting point is 04:31:17 one forbidding the muleteers and the other the woodcutters and soyers, from taking part in the affair until the meaning of it were known. Malzac, that was our enemy's name, and he had a tongue as venomous as an adders, made his statement first, declaring that he had civilly invited the Berichon girl to dance, that in kissing her he had only used his right and followed the custom of the dance, and that two of the girls' lovers, to wit, Euriel and I, had unfairly attacked him together and foully struck him. That is false, I replied. It is a lasting regret to me that I did not belabor the man who has just addressed you. But the truth is I arrived too late to touch him in any way, fair or foul.

Starting point is 04:31:55 For the people round withheld my arm as I was going to strike. I tell you the thing as it happened, but give me a chance and I will make true what he has said. As for me, said Euriel, I took him by the neck as you would a hair, but without striking him, and it is not my fault if his clothes didn't protect his skin. But I owe him a better lesson, and I came here tonight to find an opportunity to give it. Therefore I demand of Maitre Arsignia, my chief, and of Maitre Bastien, my father, to be heard at once, or directly after this fate is over, and to receive justice if my claim is recognized as good. On this, the mendicant friar came forward and began to preach peace, but he had too much of the good bourbon wine in his head,

Starting point is 04:32:38 to manage his tongue, and he couldn't make himself heard in the uproar. Silence, cried the headwoodsman in a voice that would have drowned the thunder of heaven. Stand back all of you, and let us manage our own affairs. You can listen if you like, but you have no voice in this chapter. Stand here, muleteers, from Malzac and I. And here stand I, and the men of the forest are sponsors and judges for this youth of Beri. Speak, Thiennet, and bring your charge. What have you against this muleteer?

Starting point is 04:33:07 if it be true that he kissed your compatriot in the dance, I know that such is the custom in your part of the country as well as in our own. That is not reason enough even to think of striking a man. Tell us the cause of your anger against him. That is where we must begin. I did not need urging. And although such an assemblage of muleteers and foresters

Starting point is 04:33:26 caused me some embarrassment, I managed to oil my tongue sufficiently to tell in a proper manner the story of what happened in the woods of La Roche. And I claimed to the testimony of Chief Archinia himself. to whom I did justice, even more perhaps than he deserved. But I saw very well that I must not throw any blame on him if I wished to have him favorable to me, and in this way I proved to him that Berichens are not greater fools than other people, nor any easier to put in the wrong.

Starting point is 04:33:52 The company, who had already formed a good opinion of Broulet and me, blamed Malzak's conduct. But the headwoodsman again commanded silence, and addressing Métra al-Signor, demanded to know if there were anything false in my statement. The tall red-haired chief was a shrewd and prudent man. His face was as white as a sheet, and no matter what annoyance he felt, he never seemed to have a drop more or a drop less of blood in his body. His parti-coloured eyes were soft and not deceitful in expression, but his mouth, partly hidden by his red beard,

Starting point is 04:34:24 smiled every now and then with a silly air which concealed a fund of intelligent malevolence. He did not like Euryel, though he behaved as if he did, and he was generally considered an honest man. in reality he was the greatest pillager of them all, and his conscience set the interests of his fraternity above every other consideration. They had chosen him chief on account of his cool-bloodedness, which enabled him to act by stratagem and thus save the ban from quarrels and legal proceedings, in which indeed he was considered as clever as a lawyer's clerk.

Starting point is 04:34:55 He made no answer to the headwoodsman's question, whether from caution or stupidity it was impossible to say, for the more his attention was roused, the more he looked like a man who was half asleep and did the question, not hear what was said to him. He merely made a sign to Uriel as if to ask if the testimony he was going to give would agree with his own. But Uriel, who, without being sly, was as cautious as he, answered, Master, you are appealed to as witness by this young man. If it please you to corroborate him, I am not needed to corroborate you. And if you think fit to blame him, the customs of our fraternity

Starting point is 04:35:27 forbid me to contradict you. No one here has anything to do with our affairs. If Malzac has been to blame, I know beforehand that you will blame him. My affair is a totally different matter. In the dispute we had together before you in the woods of La Roche, the cause of which I am not obliged to reveal, Malzac told me three times that I lied, and he threatened me personally. I don't know if you heard him, but I declare it on my oath, and as I was then insulted and dishonored, I now claim the right of battle according to the rules of our order. Archignor consulted the other muleteers in a low voice, and it appeared that they all

Starting point is 04:36:03 sustained Uriel, for they formed a ring, and the chief uttered one word only. Go, on which Malsak and Uriel advanced and faced each other. I tried to put myself forward, declaring it was for me to revenge my cousin, and that my complaint was of more importance than that of Uriel. But Archignyat shoved me aside, saying, if Uriel is beaten, you can come forward, but if Malzak goes down, you must be satisfied with what you have seen done. The women will retire, cried the headwoodsman. they are out of place here he was pale as he said it but he did not flinch from the danger his son was about to meet they can retire if they choose said de rance who was pale to but quite as firm as he i must remain for my brother he may need me to stanch his blood

Starting point is 04:36:48 brulette more dead than alive implored uriel and me not to go on with the quarrel but it was too late to listen to her i gave her to joseph's care and he took her to a distance while i laid aside my jacket to be ready to revenge uriel if he fell I had no idea what sort of fight it would be, and I watched it carefully, so as not to be taken unawares when my turn should come. They had lighted two pine torches, and had measured, by pacing, the space to which the competence should be confined. Each was furnished with a holly stick,

Starting point is 04:37:22 short and knotted, and the head woodsman assisted Arshiny in making these preparations with a calmness which was not in his heart, and which it grieved me to see. Malzac, who was short and thin, was not as strong as Uriel, but he was quick,

Starting point is 04:37:36 in his movements and knew better how to fight. For Uriel, though skillful with the stick, was so kindly in temper that he had seldom had occasion to use it. All this passed through my mind during the few moments in which they were feeling each other's strength, and I confess my heart thumped within me,

Starting point is 04:37:52 as much from fear for Uriel as from anger against his enemy. For two or three minutes which seemed to me hours by the clock, not a blow reached its aim, each being well parried on either side. Presently, however, we began to hear that the sticks no longer struck wood, and the muffled sound they made falling on flesh gave me a cold sweat.

Starting point is 04:38:14 In our part of the country we never fight under rules except with fists, and I own that my feelings were not hardened enough to stand the idea of split heads and broken jaws. I felt disgust, anger and pity for the whole thing, and yet I watched with open mouth and eyes to lose nothing of it, for the wind blew the flame of the torches, and sometimes nothing more than a hazy light surrounded the the competence. Suddenly, however, one of the two gave a moan like that of a tree cut in two by a blast of wind, and rolled in the dust. Which was it? I could not see, for the dazzles were in my eyes, but I heard D'erence exclaim. Thank God my brother has won. I began to see again. Uriel was standing erect, waiting like a fair fighter to see if his adversary rose, but not approaching

Starting point is 04:38:59 him, for fear of some treachery of which he knew the man capable. But Malzac did he. did not rise and al-Sinia forbidding the others to move called him three times no answer being given he advanced towards him saying malzac it is i don't touch me malzak appeared to have no desire to do so he lay as still as a stone and the chief stooping over him touched him looked at him and then called two of the muleteers by name and said to them the game is up with him do what there is to do they immediately took him by the feet and head and disappeared at full speed into the forest followed by the other muleteers who prevented all who did not belong to their fraternity from making any inquiry as to the result of the affair m'r al-chinia was the last to go after saying a word to the head woodsman who replied that's enough adieu tyrantz had fastened on her brother and was wiping the perspiration from his face with a handkerchief asking him if he was wounded and trying to detain him and examine him but he too whispered in her ear and she at once replied yes yes adieu uriel then took archiniar's arm and the pair disappeared in the darkness for as they went they knocked over the torches and i felt for a moment as if i were in the act of waking out of an ugly dream full of lights and noises into the silence and thick darkness of the night end of section fifteen section sixteen of the bagpipers by george ston translated by katherine prescott warmly this is a Librovoc's recording is in the public domain.

Starting point is 04:40:41 Sixteenth evening. However, I began to see clearly, little by little, and my feet, whose souls had seemed pegged to the ground, followed the head woodsman in the direction of the lodgers. I was much surprised to find that there was no one there but his daughter, Brulette, Joseph, and three or four old men who had been at the fight. All the others it appeared had run away when they saw the sticks produced, to avoid giving witness in a court of justice if the matter ended fatally.

Starting point is 04:41:09 these woodland people never betray each other and to escape being summoned and harassed by the law they managed so as to see nothing and have nothing to say the head woodsman spoke to the old men in their own language and i saw them go back to the place where the fight occurred without understanding what they intended to do there meantime i followed joseph and the women and we reached the lodges without saying a word to each other as for me i had been so shaken in mind that i did not want to talk when we entered the lodge and sat down we were all as white as if we were afraid the head woodsman who soon joined us sat down too evidently in deep thought with his eyes fixed to the earth bluet who had compelled herself not to ask questions was crying in a corner joseph as if worn out with fatigue had thrown himself at full length on a pile of dried ferns. Terence alone came and went and prepared the beds for the night. But her teeth was set and when she tried to speak she stammered.

Starting point is 04:42:08 After a while the headwoodsman rose and looking round upon us said, Well, my children, after all, what is it? A lesson has been given and justly given to a bad man, known everywhere for his evil conduct. A man who abandoned his wife and let her die of grief and poverty.

Starting point is 04:42:24 Malzac has long disgraced the fraternity of is, and if he were to die, no one would regret him. Must we make ourselves unhappy because Uriel gave him a few hard blows in honest battle? Why do you cry, Brulet? Have you such a soft heart that you are shedding tears for the beaten man? Do you not think that my son was right to defend your honour in his own? He had told me all that happened in the woods of La Roche, and I knew that out of prudent regard for your safety he refrained from punishing that man at the time.

Starting point is 04:42:52 He even hoped that Tienet would have said nothing about it tonight, so that the cause might never be known. But I, who never approve of concealing the truth, allowed Tienet to say what he liked. I am well pleased that he was prevented from entering a fight which is most dangerous for those who do not understand the passes. I am also well pleased that victory was with my son, for as between an honest man and a bad man,

Starting point is 04:43:16 my heart would have gone with the honest man, even if he were not blood of my blood and flesh of my flesh. And so let us thank God, who judged the right, and ask him to be ever with us in this and in all things. The headwoodsman knelt down and offered the evening prayer, which comforted and tranquilized every one of us. Then we separated in hearty friendship to seek some rest. It was not long before I heard the head woodsman,

Starting point is 04:43:41 whose little chamber I shared, snoring loudly, in spite of the anxiety he had undergone. But in his daughter's room, Brulette was still crying, unable to recover herself, and evidently ill. I heard her talking to Terence, and so not from curiosity but out of pity for her trouble, I put my ear to the partition to hear what I could. Come, come, Terence was saying, in decided tones. Stop crying and you will go to sleep.

Starting point is 04:44:07 Tears won't to do any good, and as I told you, I must go. If you wake my father, who does not know he is wounded, he will want to go too, and that may compromise him in this bad business. Whereas for me, I risk nothing. You terrify me, Terence. can you go alone among those muleteers? They frighten me badly enough, but you must let me go with you. I ought to, for I was the cause of the fight. Let us call Tienet. No, no, neither you nor him. The muleteers won't regret Malsak if he should die. Quite the reverse. But if he had been injured

Starting point is 04:44:39 by anyone not belonging to their own body, especially a stranger, your friend Tienet would be in the greatest danger. Let him sleep. It is enough that he tried to meddle in the affair to make it important that he should keep quiet now. As for you, Brulet, you would be very ill-received. You have not, as I have, a family interest to take you there. No one among them would attempt to injure me. They all know me, and they are not afraid to let me into their secrets. But do you think you will still find them in the forest?

Starting point is 04:45:09 Did not your father say they were going to the uplands, and would not spend the night in this neighbourhood? They must wait long enough to dress the wounds. But if I do not find them, I shall be all the more easy. for it will prove that my brother is not seriously hurt, and that he could start with them at once. Did you see his wound? Tell me, dear Terence, don't hide anything from me.

Starting point is 04:45:32 I did not see it, no one saw it. He said he was not hurt and did not even think of himself. But see, Bluette, only don't cry out. Here is the handkerchief with which, as I thought, I wiped the perspiration from his face. When I got back here, I found it was saturated with blood, and I had to gather all my courage to hide my feeling, from my father, who is very anxious, and from Joseph, who is really ill.

Starting point is 04:45:56 Then came silence, as if Brulette, taking or gazing at the handkerchief, was choking. Presently Terence said, give it back to me, I must wash it in the first brook I come to. Oh, no, said Brulette, let me keep it. I'll hide it safely. No, my dear, replied Terence. If the authorities get wind of the battle, they will come and rummage every place here. They will even search our persons. They have grown very annoying of late. They want us to give up our old customs, which are dying out of themselves without their meddling in the matter.

Starting point is 04:46:29 Alas, said Brulette, isn't it to be wished that the custom of these dangerous fights should be given up? Yes, but that depends on many things which the officers of the law cannot or will not do. For instance, they ought to do justice, and that they never do, except to those who have the means to pay for it. Is it different in your parts? You don't know? well I will bet it is the same thing there Only the berichon blood is sluggish And your people are patient under the wrongs done them

Starting point is 04:46:57 And so they don't expose themselves to worse Here it is not so A man who lives in the forest could not live at all If he did not defend himself against bad men As he would against wolves and other dangerous beasts Surely you don't blame my brother For having demanded justice of his own people For an insult and a threat he was made

Starting point is 04:47:14 To endure before you Perhaps you were slightly to blame me the matter. Think of that, Brulet, before you blame him. If you had not shown such anger and fear at the insults of that muleteer, he might have overlooked those to himself, for there never was a gentler man than Uriel or one more ready to forgive. But you held yourself insulted. Uriel promised due reparation, and he kept his word. I'm not reproaching you, nor him either. I might have been just as sensitive as you, and as for him, he only did his duty. No, no, said Brulet, beginning to cry again. He ought to

Starting point is 04:47:48 not to have exposed himself for me, and I was very wrong to show such pride. I shall never forgive myself if any harm, no matter what, comes to him, and you and your father, who have been so good to me, can never forgive me either. Don't fret about that, replied Terence. Whatever happens is God's will, and you will never be blamed by us. I know you now, Brulette, I know that you deserve respect. Come, dry your eyes and go to sleep. I hope I shall bring you back good news, and I am certain my brother will be.

Starting point is 04:48:18 be consoled and half cured if you will let me tell him how sorry you are for his wound i think said brulette that he will think more of your regard for there is no woman in the world he could ever love like his own good and brave sister and terence that is why i am sorry i made you ask him for that token and if he had a fancy to have it back i dare say you would give it to him that's right brulette cried terence i kiss you for those words sleep in peace i am off i shall not sleep replied Broulet. I shall pray to God to help you till I see you safe back again. I heard Therons softly leave the lodge, and a minute later I also went out. I could not bring my conscience to allow a beautiful girl to expose herself all alone to the dangers of the night, nor could I, out of fear for myself, withhold what power I had to give her assistance. The people she was going to seek it did not seem to me such gentle and good Christians as she made them out to be, and besides, perhaps they were not the only ones in the wood that night. Our dancer detracted beggars,

Starting point is 04:49:20 and we know that folks who ask charity don't always show it to others when occasion offers moreover and i am sure i don't know why the red and shining face of the carmelite friar who had paid such attention to my wine kept coming into my head he struck me as not lowering his eyes very much when he passed near the girls and i hadn't noticed what became of him in the general hullabaloo but terence had declared to brulette that she did not want my company in her search for the muleteers so not wishing to displease her i determined not to let her see me, and to follow her only within hearing, in case she had occasion to cry for help. Accordingly, I let her get about a minute in advance, not more, though I would have liked to stay and tranquilize Brulette by telling her my plan. I was, however, afraid to delay and so lose the trail of the woodland beauty. I saw her cross the open and enter a copse which sloped toward the bed of a brook, not far from the lodges. I entered after her by the same path, and as there were numerous turns I soon lost sight of her, but I heard the sound of her light step, which every now

Starting point is 04:50:25 and then broke a dead branch, or rolled a pebble. She seemed to be walking rapidly, and I did the same, to prevent her getting too far in advance of me. Two or three times I thought I was so near her that I slackened my pace in order that she might not see me. He came thus to one of the roads which led through the woods, but the shadow of the tall trees was so dense that I, looking from right to left, was unable to see anything that indicated which way she had gone. I listened, ear to earth, and I heard in the path, which continued across the road, the same breaking of branches which had already guided me. I hastened forward till I reached another road which led down to the brook.

Starting point is 04:51:04 There I began to fear I had lost trace of her, for the brook was wide and the bank muddy, and I saw no sign of footsteps. There is nothing so deceiving as the paths of a wood. In some places the trees stand so that one fancies there must be a path. or perhaps wild animals going to water have beaten out a track and then all of a sudden we find ourselves tangled in underbrush or sinking in such a bog that it is useless trying to go further however i persisted because i still heard the noise before me and it was so distinct that finally i began to run tearing my clothes in the brambles and plunging deeper and deeper into the thicket when suddenly a savage growl let me know that the creature i was pursuing was a boar which was beginning to be annoyed by my company and wished to show that he had had had a enough of it having no weapon but a stick and not knowing how to deal with that kind of beast i turned round and retraced my steps rather uneasy lest the boar should take it into his head to accompany me fortunately he did not think of it and i returned as far as the first road where by mere chance i took the direction which led to the entrance of the woods of chamberra where we had held the fate

Starting point is 04:52:10 though baffled i did not choose to renounce my search for terence might meet some wild beast as i had and i didn't believe she knew any language that that kind of enemy would listen to i already knew enough of the forest not to get lost for any length of time and i soon reached the place where he had danced it took me a few moments to be certain that it was the same open for i expected to find my arbour with the utensils which i had not had time to carry away but the place where i left it was as smooth as if it had never been there nevertheless searching carefully i found the holes where i had driven in the stakes and the place where the feet of the dancers had worn off the turf i wanted to find the spot where the muleteers had disappeared leading uriel and carrying malzac but try as i would i had been so confused in mind just then that i could not recall it so i was forced to advance haphazard and i marched in that way all night weary enough as you may suppose stopping often to listen and hearing nothing but the owls hooting in the branches or some poor hare who was more afraid of me than i of him though the Chambira wood was really at that time joined to those of Allure, I did not know it, having only entered it once since coming to that part of the country. I soon got lost, which did not trouble me, however, because I knew that neither wood was extensive enough to reach to Rome.

Starting point is 04:53:29 Besides, the headwoodsman had already taught me to take my bearings, not by the stars, which are not always to be seen enough forest, but by the bend of the leading branches, which in our midland provinces are lashed by northwesterly winds and lean permanently toward the east. The night was very clear and so warm that if I had not been goaded by worry of mind and fatigued in body, I should have enjoyed the walk.

Starting point is 04:53:53 It was not moonlight, but the stars shone in a cloudless sky, and I saw my way quite plainly even under the foliage. I was much improved in courage since the time when I was so frightened in the little forest of Saint-Chartier, for although I knew I was going wrong, I felt as easy as if on our own roads, and when I saw that the animals ran away from me, I had no anxiety at all. I began to see how it was that these covered glades, these brooks murmuring in the ravines,

Starting point is 04:54:19 the soft herbage, the sandy paths, and the trees of splendid growth and lofty pride made this region dear to those who belonged to it. There were certain large wildflowers, the name of which I did not know, something like a fox club, white with yellow spots, the perfume of which was so keen and delicious that I could almost have fancied myself in a garden. keeping steadily toward the west, I struck the heath and skirted the edge of it, listening and looking about me. But I saw no signs of human beings, and about daybreak I began to return toward the lodges without finding Terence or anybody else. I had had enough of it, and seeing that I could not make myself useful, I tried a shortcut through the woods,

Starting point is 04:54:59 where in a very wild place, beneath a large oak, I saw something which seemed to me a person. Day was beginning to light up the bushes, and I walked noiselessly. forward till I recognized the brown garment of the Carmelite friar. The poor man whom in my heart I had suspected was virtuously and devoutly on his knees, saying his prayers without thought of evil. I coughed as I approached to let him know I was there and not to frighten him, but there was no need of that, for the monk was a worthy soul who feared none but God, neither devil nor man.

Starting point is 04:55:32 He raised his head and looked at me without surprise. Then burying his face in his cowl he went on muttering his orisons, and I could see nothing but the end of his beard, which jerked up and down as he spoke, like that of a goat munching salt. When he seemed to have finished, I bade him good morning, hoping to get some news out of him,

Starting point is 04:55:51 but he made me a sign to hold my tongue. Then he rose, picked up his wallet, looked carefully at the place where he had been kneeling, and with his bare feet poked up the grass and levelled of the sand he had disturbed, after which he led me to a little distance and said in a muffled voice, "'Inasmuch as you know all about it,

Starting point is 04:56:08 I am not sorry to talk to you before I go, on my way. Finding he was inclined to talk, I took care not to question him, which might have made him mistrustful. But just as he was opening his mouth to speak, Uriel appeared, and seemed so surprised and even annoyed to see me that I was greatly embarrassed, as if I had in some way done wrong. I must also remark that Uriel would probably have frightened me if I had met him alone in the gloom of the morning. He was more daubed with black than I had ever seen him, and a cloth bound round his head, hid his hair and his forehead.

Starting point is 04:56:40 so that all one saw of his face was his big eyes, which seemed sunkened as if they had lost their usual fire. In fact, he looked like his own spirit rather than his own body, and he glided gently upon the heather as if he feared to awaken even the crickets and the gnats which were asleep in it. The monk was the first to speak, not as a man who accosts another, but as one who continues a conversation after a break in it. As he is here, he said pointing to me, it is best to give him some useful instructions, and I was on the point of telling him, as you have told him everything began uriel cutting him short with a reproachful look here i in turn interrupted uriel to tell him i knew nothing as yet and that he was free to conceal what he was just going to say

Starting point is 04:57:26 that's all right in you replied uriel not to seek to know more than you need but if that is the way brother nicholas that you keep a secret of such importance i am sorry i ever trusted you fear nothing said the carmelite i thought the young man was compromised with you. He's not compromised at all, thank God, said Uriel. One is enough. So much the better for him if he only sinned by intention, replied the monk. He is your friend and you have nothing to fear. But as for me, I should be glad if he would tell no one that I passed the night in these woods. What harm could that do you? asked Uriel. A muleteer met with an accident. You suck at him, and thanks to you, he will soon be well. Who can blame you for that charity? True, true, said the monk. Keep the fire. and use the stuff twice a day.

Starting point is 04:58:16 Wash the wound carefully in running water as often as you can do so. Don't let the hair stick in the wound and keep it covered from dust. That is all that is necessary. If you have any fever, get yourself well-bled by the first friar you meet. Thank you, said Uriel,

Starting point is 04:58:31 but I have lost enough blood as it is, and I think we can never have too much. May you be rewarded, my brother, for your kind help, which I did not greatly need, but for which I am nonetheless grateful. And now permit us to say goodbye, for it is daylight and your prayers have detained you here too long. No doubt, answered the monk,

Starting point is 04:58:49 but will you let me depart without a word of confession? I have cured your flesh. That was the first thing to be done. But is your conscience in any better state? Do you think you have no need of absolution, which is to the soul, what that balsam is to the body? I have great need of it, my father, said Uriel, but you would do wrong to give it to me.

Starting point is 04:59:09 I am not worthy to receive it until I have done penance. As to my confession, you do not need to hear it, for you saw me commit a mortal sin. Pray God for me, that is what I ask of you, and see that many masses are said for the soul of those who let anger get the better of them. I thought at first he was joking, but I knew better when I saw the money he gave to the friar, and heard the sad tone of his last words. Be sure you shall receive according to your generosity, said the friar, putting the money in his wallet. Then he added in a tone in which there was nothing hypocritical. Métre Rireel, we are all sinners and there is but one just judge.

Starting point is 04:59:49 He alone, who has never sinned, has the right to condemn or to absolve the faults of men. Commit yourself to him, and be sure that whatever there is to your credit, he will in his mercy place to your account. As for the judges of earth, very foolish and very cowardly would he be, who would send you before them, for they are weak or hardened creatures. Repent, for you have cause to, but do not betray yourself, and when you feel that grace is calling you to a confession of repentance, go to some good priest, though he may only be a poor, barefooted Carmelite like Brother Nicholas.

Starting point is 05:00:21 And you, my son, added the good man, who felt in preaching mode and wanted to sprinkle me too with his holy water. Learn to moderate your appetites and conquer your passions. Avoid occasions for sin. flee from quarrels and bloody encounters. That will do, that will do, Brother Nicholas, interrupted Uriol. You are preaching to a believer. You need not call a man with pure hands to repentance. farewell go i tell you it is high time the monk departed after shaking hands with us kindly and with a great air of frankness when he had got to a distance uriel taking me by the arm led me back to the tree where i had found the monk in prayer tiennet he said i have no distrust of you and if i compelled the good friar to hold his tongue it was only to make him cautious however there is no danger from him he is his own uncle to our chief archinia and he is moreover a safe man, always on good terms with the muleteers, who often help him to carry the provisions

Starting point is 05:01:16 he collects from one place to another. But though I am not afraid of you or of him, it does not follow that I should tell you what you have no need to know unless you make it a test of my friendship. You shall do as you like, I answered. If it is useful for you to know that I should know the results of your fight with Malzac, tell me, even though I may deeply regret to hear them. If not, I would just as soon not know what has become of him. What has become of him, echoed Uriel, whose voice was choked by some great distress. He stopped me when we reached the first branches which the oak stretched toward us, as if he feared to tread upon a spot where I saw no trace of what I was beginning to guess.

Starting point is 05:01:56 Then he added, casting a look black with gloom before him, and speaking as if something were forcing him to betray himself. Tieni, do you remember the threatening words that man said to us in the woods of La Roche? There is no lack of ditches in the forest to bury fools in, and the stones and the trees have no tongues to tell what they see. Yes, I answered, feeling a cold sweat creeping over my whole body. It seems that evil words tempt fate and bring disaster to those who say them. End of Section 16.

Starting point is 05:02:32 Section 17 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott warmly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 17th evening. Uriel crossed himself and sighed. I did as he did, and then turning from the accursed tree we went our way. I wished, as the friar did, to say a few comforting words to him, for I saw that his mind was troubled. But besides being a poor hand at moralising, I felt guilty myself after a fashion.

Starting point is 05:03:05 I knew, for instance, that if I had not related aloud the affair that happened in the woods of La Roche, Uriel might not have remembered his promise to Brulette to avenge her, and that if I had not been in such a hurry to be the first to defend her in presence of the muleteers and the foresters. Uriel would not have been so eager to get that honour before me in her eyes. Worried by these thoughts, I could not help telling them to Uriel and blaming myself to him, just as Broulet had blamed herself to Terence. My dear friend Tienet, replied the muleteer, you are a good fellow with a good heart. Don't trouble your conscience for a thing which God in the day of judgment will not lay at your door,

Starting point is 05:03:42 perhaps not at mine. Brother Nicholas is right. God is the only judge who renders just judgment. for he alone knows things as they are. He needs no witnesses and makes no inquiry into the truth. He reads all hearts. He knows that mine has never sworn nor sought the death of a man, even at the moment when I took that stick to punish the evil-doer. Those weapons are bad,

Starting point is 05:04:05 but they are the only ones which our customs allow us to use in such cases, and I am not responsible for their use. Certainly a fight with fists alone would be far better, such as you and I had that night in your field, all about my mules and your own. But let me tell you that a muleteer is bound to be as brave and jealous for his honour as any of the great lords who bear the sword. If I had swallowed Malzak's insults without demanding reparation, I should deserve to be expelled from our fraternity. It is true that I did not demand it coolly, as I ought to have done.

Starting point is 05:04:37 I had met Malzak alone that morning, in that same wood of La Roche, where I was quietly at work without thinking of him. He again annoyed me with foolish language, declaring that Brulet was nothing. better than a dried woodpicker, which means, with us, a ghost that walks by night, a superstition which often helps girls of bad lives to escape recognition, for good people are afraid of these ghosts. So among muleteers who are not as credulous, the term is very insulting. Nevertheless, I bore with him as long as possible, until at last, driven to extremities, I threatened him in order to drive him away. He replied that I was a coward, capable of attacking him in a lonely place, but that I dared not challenge him to,

Starting point is 05:05:18 open fight with sticks before witnesses, that everybody knew that I had never had occasion to show my courage, for when I was in the company of others I always agreed with what they said, so I was not to be obliged to measure swords with them. Then he left me, saying there was a dance in the woods of Chamberra, and that Berulet gave a supper to the company, for which she had ample means, as she was the mistress of a rich tradesman in her own country, and for his part, he should go and amuse himself by courting the girl, in defiance of me if I had courage to go and see him do it. You know, Tiennet, that I intended never to see Brulet again, and that for reasons which I will tell you later. I know them, said I, and I see that your sister met you tonight,

Starting point is 05:06:00 for here, hanging to Uriya below the bandage is a token which proves something I had strongly suspected. If it is that I love Brulet and value her token, replied Uriel, you know all that I know myself, but you cannot know more, for I am not even sure of her friendship, and as for anything else. But that's neither here nor there. I want to tell you the ill luck that brought me back here. I did not wish Broulet to see me. Neither did I mean to speak to her, because I saw the misery Joseph endured on my account. But I knew Joseph had not the strength to protect her, and that Malzak was shrewd and tricky enough to escape you. So I came at the beginning of the dance and kept out of sight under the trees, meaning to depart without being seen if Malzac did not make his

Starting point is 05:06:44 appearance. You know the rest until the moment when we took the sticks. At that moment I was angry, I confess it, but it couldn't have been otherwise unless I were a saint in paradise. And yet my only thought was to give a lesson to my enemy and to stop him from saying, especially while Bluette was here, that because I was gentle and patient, I was timid as a hair. You saw that my father, sick of such talk, did not object to my proving myself a man. But there, ill luck surely pursues me when in my first fight and almost at my first blow. Ah, Tienn, there is no use saying I was driven into it, or that I feel within me kind and humane. That is no consolation for having a fatal hand. A man is a man, no matter how foul-mouthed and ill-behaved he be. There was little or no good

Starting point is 05:07:29 in that one, but he might have mended, and I have sent him to his account before he had come to repentance. Tieni, I am sick of amulity as life. I agree with Brulet that it is not easy for a God-fearing man to be one of them, and maintain his own conscience and the respect of others. I am obliged to stay in the craft for some time longer, owing to engagements which I have made. But you may rely upon it. I shall give up the business as soon as possible, and find another that is quiet and decent. That is what you want me to tell Bluette, isn't it, I said. No, replied Uriel, with much decision, not unless Joseph gets over his love and his illness so entirely as to give her up. I love Joseph as much as you all love him. Besides, he's

Starting point is 05:08:12 told me his secret and asked my advice and support. I will not deceive him nor undermine him. But Brulet does not want him as a lover or a husband, and perhaps he had better know it as soon as possible. I'll take upon myself to reason with him, if the others dare not, for there is somebody in your house who could make Joseph happy, and he never could be happy with Brulette. The longer he waits, and the more he flatters himself, she will love him, the harder the blow will seem, instead of which, if he opens his eyes to the true attachment he might find elsewhere. Never mind that, said Uriel, frowning slightly, which made him look like a man who was suffering from a great hole in his head,

Starting point is 05:08:50 which in fact there was under the bloody handkerchief. All things are in God's hand, and in our family nobody is in a hurry to make his own happiness at the expense of others. As for me, I must go, for I could make no lying answer to those who might ask me where Malzak is and why no one sees him anymore. Listen, however, to another. thing about Joseph and Brulette. It is better not to tell them the evil I have done.

Starting point is 05:09:15 Except the muleteers and my father and sister, the monk and you, no one knows that when that man fell he never rose again. I had only time to say to Terence, he is dead, I must leave these parts. Métrauchinia said the same thing to my father. But the other foresters know nothing and wish not to know anything. The monk himself would have seen only part of it if he had not followed us with remedies for the wound. The muleteers were inclined to send him back at once, but the chief answered for him, and I, though I might be risking my neck, could not endure that the man should be buried like a dog without Christian prayer. The future is in God's hands. You understand, of course, that a man involved as I am in a bad business cannot, at least for a long

Starting point is 05:09:57 time, think of courting a girl as much sought after and respected as Brulette. But I do ask you, for my sake not to tell her the extent of the trouble I am in. I am willing she should forget me, but not that she should hate or fear me. She has no right to do either, I replied, since it was for love of her. Ah, exclaimed Uriel, sighing and passing his hand before his eyes. It is a love that costs me dear. Come, come, I said, courage. She shall know nothing.

Starting point is 05:10:26 You may rely upon my word, and all that I can do if occasion offers to make her see your merits shall be done faithfully. Gently, gently, gently, chene, returned Uriel. I don't ask you to take my side. as I take Joseph's. You don't know me as well. Neither do you owe me the same friendship. I know what it is to push another into the place we would like to occupy. You care for broulet yourself, and among three lovers as we are, two must be just and reasonable when the third is preferred. But whatever happens, I hope we shall all three remain brothers and friends.

Starting point is 05:11:00 Take me out of the list of suitors, I said, smiling without the least vexation. I have always been the least ardent of brouettes lovers, and now I am as calm as if I have. had never dreamed of loving her. I know what is in the secret heart of the girl. She has made a good choice and I am satisfied. Adieu, my Uriel. May the good God help you and give you hope, and so enable you to forget the troubles of this bad night. We clasped each other for goodbye, and I inquired where he was going. To the mountains of the foray, he replied, write to me at the village of Uriel, which is my birthplace and where we have relations. They will send me your letters. But can you travel so much?

Starting point is 05:11:39 far with that wound in your head? Isn't it dangerous? Oh no, he said, it is nothing. I wish the other's head had been as hard as mine. When I was alone, I began to think over with amazement all that must have happened that night in the forest without my hearing or detecting the slightest thing. I was still more surprised when, passing once more in broad daylight, the spot where the dance had taken place. I saw that since midnight persons had returned to mow the grass and dig over the ground to remove all trace of what had happened. In short, from one direction persons had come twice to make things safe at this particular point. From the other, Therons had contrived to communicate with her brother,

Starting point is 05:12:19 and besides all this, a burial had been performed, without the faintest appearance or the lightest sound having warned me of what was taking place, although the night was clear and I had gone from end to end of the silent wood, looking and listening with the utmost attention. It turned my mind to the difference between the habits and indeed the characters of these woodland people and the labourers of the open country. on the plains good and evil are too clearly seen not to make the inhabitants from their youth up submit to the laws and behave with prudence but in the forests where the eyes of their fellows can be escaped men invoke no justice but that of god or the devil according as they are well or ill intentioned when i reached the lodge as the sun was up the headwoodsman had gone to his work joseph was still asleep therons and brulette were talking together under the shed they asked me why i had got up

Starting point is 05:13:09 so early, and I noticed that Therence was uneasy, lest I had seen or heard something. I behaved as if I knew nothing, and had not gone further than the adjoining would. Joseph soon joined us, and I remarked that he looked much better than when we arrived. Yet I have hardly slept all night, he replied. I was restless till nearly daybreak, but I think the reason was that the fever which has weakened me so much left me last evening, for I feel stronger and more vigorous than I have been for a long time. Terence, who understood fevers, felt his pulse, and then her face, which looked very tired and depressed, brightened suddenly. See, she cried, the good God sends us at least one happiness.

Starting point is 05:13:50 Here is our patient on the road to recovery. The fever has gone, and his blood is already recovering strength. If you want to know what I have felt this night, said Joseph, you must promise not to call it a dream. But here it is. In the first place, however, tell me if you're ill got off without a wound, and if the other did not get more than he wanted. Have you had any news from the forest of Chamberra. Yes, yes, replied Terence hastily. They have both gone to the upper country. Say what you were going to say.

Starting point is 05:14:20 I don't know if you will comprehend it you too, resumed Joseph, addressing the girls, but Tiennet will. When I saw Euriel fight so resolutely my knees gave way under me, and feeling weaker than any woman, I came near losing consciousness. But at the very moment when my body was giving way, my heart grew hot within me, and my eyes never ceased to look at the fight. when Uriel struck the fellow down and remained standing himself, I could have shouted victory like a drunken man

Starting point is 05:14:46 if I had not restrained myself. I would have rushed if I could to embrace him. But the impulse was soon gone, and when I got back here I felt as though I had received and given every blow, and as if all the bones in my body were broken. Don't think any more about it, said Terence. It was a horrid thing to see and recollect.

Starting point is 05:15:05 I dare say it gave you bad dreams last night. I did not dream at all, said. said Joseph. I lay thinking, and little by little I felt my mind awakened and my body healed, as if the time had come to take up my bed and walk like the paralytic of the Gospels. I saw Eriel before me, shining with light. He blamed my illness, and declared it was a cowardice of the mind. He seemed to say, I am a man, you are a child, you shake with fever while my blood is fire. You are good for nothing, but I am good in all ways, for others and for myself. Come, listen to this music. And I heard an air muttering like a

Starting point is 05:15:40 storm, which raised me in my bed as the wind lifts the fallen leaves. Ah, Brulet, I think I have done with being ill and cowardly. I can go now to my own country and kiss my mother and make my plans to start. For start I must upon a journey. I must see and learn and make myself what I should be. You wish to travel, said Terence, her face so lately lighted like a star with pleasure, growing white and cloudy as an autumn moon. You think to find a better teacher than my father and better friends than people here? Go and see your mother, that is right, if you are strong enough to go, unless indeed you are deceiving us and longing to die in distant parts. Grief and displeasured choked her voice. Joseph, who watched her, suddenly changed both his language and his manner.

Starting point is 05:16:27 Never mind what I have been dreaming this morning, Terence, he said, I shall never find a better master or better friends. You asked me to tell my dreams, and I did tell them, that is all. When I am cured, I shall ask advice of all three of you, and of your father also. Till then, pay no attention to what comes into my head. Let us be happy for the time that we are together. Terence was pacified, but Broulet and I, who knew how dogged and obstinate Joseph could be under his gentle manner, and remembered how he had left us without allowing us a chance to remonstrate or persuade him, felt sure that his mind was already fully made up, and that no one

Starting point is 05:17:02 could change it. During the next two days I once more felt dreadfully dull, and so did Brulet although she amused herself by finishing the embroidery she wanted to give Terence, and spent some hours in the woods with Per Bastien, partly to leave Joseph to the care of Terence, and partly to talk of Uriel, and comfort the worthy man for the danger and distress the fight had caused him. The head woodsman touched by the friendship which she showed him, told her the truth about Malsak,

Starting point is 05:17:30 and far from her blaming Uriel, as the latter had feared. It only drew her closer to him, through the gratitude which she now felt she owed him. On the sixth day we began to talk of separating. Joseph was getting better hourly. He worked a little and did his best in every way to recover his strength. He had decided to go with us and spend a few days at home, saying that he should return almost immediately to the woods of Aleu,

Starting point is 05:17:54 which Broulette and I doubted, and so did Terence, who was almost as uneasy about his health as she had been about his illness. I don't know if it was she who persuaded her father to accompany us halfway, or whether the notion came into Per Bastien's own mind. At any rate, he made us the office. of which Brulet instantly accepted. Joseph was only half pleased at this, though he tried not to show it.

Starting point is 05:18:16 The little trip naturally diverted the head woodsman's thoughts from his anxieties, and while making his preparations the evening before our departure, he recovered much of his natural fine spirits. The muleteers had left the neighbourhood without hindrance, and nothing had been said about Malzac, who had neither relations nor friends to inquire for him.

Starting point is 05:18:35 A year or two might go by before the authorities troubled themselves to know what had become of him, and indeed they might never do so, for in those days there was no great policing in France, and a man might disappear without any notice being taken of it. Moreover, the headwoodsman and his family would leave those parts at the end of the chopping season, and as father and son never stayed six months in the same place, the law would be very clever indeed to know where to catch them. For these reasons, the headwoodsman who had feared only the first results of the affair, finding that no one got wind of the secret, grew easy in mind

Starting point is 05:19:08 and so restored our courage. On the morning of the eighth day he put us all into a little cart he had borrowed, together with the horse, from a friend of his in the forest, and taking the reins he drove us by the longest but safest road to Saint-Severre, where we were to part from him and his daughter.

Starting point is 05:19:26 Brulet inwardly regretted, returning by a new way, where she could not revisit any of the scenes she had passed through with Uriel. As for me, I was glad to travel and to see Saint-Palle in Bourbonnet, and Prevrange, two little villages on the heights, also Saint-Pregé and Perasset, other villages lower down along the banks of the Andre.

Starting point is 05:19:48 Moreover, as we followed that river from its source, and I remembered that it ran through our village, I no longer felt myself a stranger in a strange land. When we reached Saint-Severre, I felt at home, for it is only six leagues from our place, and I had already been there two or three times. While the rest were bidding each other farewell, I went to hire a conveyance to take us to Noan, but I could only find one for the next day as early as I wanted it. When I returned and reported the fact, Joseph seemed annoyed. What do we want with the conveyance, he said?

Starting point is 05:20:20 Can't we start in the fresh of the morning on foot and get home in the cool of the evening? Brulette has walked to that distance often enough to dance at some assembly, and I feel able to do as much as she. Terence remarked that so long a walk might bring back his fever, and that only made him more obstinate. But Brulette, seeing Terence's vexation, cut the matter short by saying she was too tired, and she would prefer to pass the night at the inn and start in a carriage the next morning. Well then, said the head woodsman, Terence and I will do the same. Our horse shall rest here for the night, and we will part from you at daybreak tomorrow morning. But instead of eating our meal in this inn which is full of flies, I propose that we take the dinner into some shady place or to

Starting point is 05:21:02 the bank of the river, and sit there and talk till it is time to go to bed. So said, so done. I engaged two bedrooms, one for the girls, the other for us men, and wishing to entertain Per Bastien, who I had noticed was a good eater. According to my own ideas, I filled a big basket with the best the inn could afford in patés, white bread, wine and wine brandy, and carried it outside the village. It was lucky that the present fashion of drinking coffee and beer did not exist in those days, for I shouldn't have spared the cost, and my pockets would have been emptied. Saint-Severre is a fine neighbourhood cut into by ravines that are well-watered and refreshing to the eye. We chose a spot of rising ground where the air was so exhilarating that not a crust nor a drop remained out of the feast.

Starting point is 05:21:49 Presently Per Bacien, feeling lively, picked up his bagpipe, which never left him and said to Joseph, My lad, we never know who is to live or who to die. We are parting, you say, for three or four days. In my opinion you were thinking of a much longer absence, and it may be in God's mind that we shall never meet again. This is what all persons who parted the crossways ought to say and feel to each other. I hope that you leave us satisfied with me and with my children. I am satisfied with you and with your friends here, but I do not forget that the prime object of all was to teach you music, and I regret that your two-month illness put a stop to it. I don't say that I could have made you a learned

Starting point is 05:22:25 musician. I know there are such in the cities, both ladies and gentlemen, who play instruments that we know nothing about, and read off written airs, just as others read words in a book. except chanting which i learned in my youth i know very little of such music and i have taught you all i know namely the keys notes and time measures if you desire to know more you must go to the great cities where the violinists will teach you both minuet and quadrille music but i don't know what good that would be to you unless you want to leave your own parts and renounce the position of peasant god forbid replied joseph looking at brulette therefore continued the headwoodsman you will have to look at elsewhere for instruction on the bagpipe or the hurdy-goody. If you choose to come back to me, I will help you. But if you think you can do better in the upper country, you must go there. What I should wish to do would be to guide you slowly till your lungs grew so strong that you could use them without effort, and your fingers no longer failed you. As for the idea within us,

Starting point is 05:23:24 that can't be taught. You have your own, and I know it to be of good quality. I gave you, however, what was in my own head, and whatever you can remember of it you may use as you like. but as your wish seems to be to compose you can't do better than travel about and so compare your ideas and stock of knowledge with that of others you had better go as far up as Overn and the foray and see how grand and beautiful the world is

Starting point is 05:23:48 beyond our valleys and how the heart swells when we stand on the heights of a real mountain and behold the water whose voice is louder than the voice of man rolling downward to nourish the trees the verdure of which never dies don't go into the lowlands of those other regions. You will find there what you have left in your own country, and that isn't what you

Starting point is 05:24:08 want. Now is the time to give you a bit of information which you should never forget. Listen carefully to what I say to you. End of Section 17. Section 18 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Warmerly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Eighteenth evening. Perl Bastien, observing that Joseph listened with great attention, continued as follows. Music has two modes which the learned, as I have heard tell, call major and minor, but which I call the clear mode and the troubled mode,

Starting point is 05:24:50 or if you like it better, the blue sky mode and the grey sky mode, or still otherwise the mode of strength and joy and the mode of dreaminess and gloom. You may search till morning and you will find no end to the contrasts between the two modes, but you will never find a third, for all things on this earth are light or darkness, rest or action. Now listen to me, Joseph.

Starting point is 05:25:11 The plains sing in the major and the mountains in the minor mode. If you had stayed in your own country, your ideas would belong to the clear and tranquil mode. In returning there now, you ought to see the use that a soul like yours could make of that mode, for the one mode is neither less nor more than the other.

Starting point is 05:25:28 But while you lived at home, feeling yourself a thorough musician, you fretted at not hearing the minor sound in your ears. The fiddlers and the singing girls of your parts only acquire it. for song is like the wind which blows everywhere and carries the seeds of plants from one horizon to another but inasmuch as nature has not made your people dreamy and passionate they make a poor use of the miner mode and corrupt it by that use that is why you thought your bagpipes were always false now if you want to understand the miner go and seek it in wild and desolate places and learn that many a tear must be shed before you can duly use a mode which was given to man to utter his griefs or at any rate to sigh his love joseph understood per bastien so well that he asked him to play the last air he had composed so as to give us a specimen of the sad grey mode which he called the miner there there cried the old man so you overheard the air i have been trying for the last week to put to certain words i thought i was singing to myself but as you were listening here it is such as i expected to leave it lifting his bagpipe he removed the chanter on which he softly played an air which though it was not melancholy

Starting point is 05:26:40 brought memories of the past and a sense of longing after many things to the consciousness of those who listened joseph was evidently not at ease and brulette who listened without stirring seemed to waken from a dream when it ended and the words said terence are they sad too father the words said he are like the air rather confused and demand reflection they tell the story of how three lovers quartered a girl whereupon he sang a song now very popular in our parts though the words have been a good deal altered. But this is how Per Bastien sang them. Three woodsmen there were, in springtime on the grass, listen to the nightingale. Three woodsmen there were, speaking each with the lass. The youngest, he said, he who held the flower.

Starting point is 05:27:26 Listen to the nightingale. The youngest then said he, I love thee, but I cower. The oldest cried out, he who held the tool, listen to the nightingale. The oldest cried aloud. When I love, I rule. The third sang to her, bearing the almond spray, Listen to the nightingale.

Starting point is 05:27:44 The third sang in her ear, I love thee, and I pray. Friends shall never be, you who bear the flower. Listen to the nightingale. Friends shall never be a coward, or I cower. Master, will I none, you who hold the tool. Listen to the nightingale. No master thou of mine, lover obeys no rule. Lover thou shalt be who bear the almond spray.

Starting point is 05:28:06 Listen to the nightingale. My lover shall thou be. gifts are for those who pray i liked the air when joined to the words better than the first time i heard it and i was so pleased that i asked to hear it again but per bastien who had no vanity about his compositions declared it was not worth while and went on playing other airs sometimes in the major sometimes in the minor and even employing both modes in the same song teaching joseph as he did so how to pass from one to the other and then back again the stars were casting their light long before we wanted to retire even though even the townspeople assembled in numbers at the foot of the ravine to listen with much satisfaction to their ears some said that's one of the bourbonnet bagpapers and what is more he is a master he knows the art and not one of us can hold a candle to him On our way back to the inn, Per Bastien continued to instruct Joseph, and the latter, never weary of such talk, lagged a little behind us to listen and question him.

Starting point is 05:29:09 So I walked in front with Terence, who, useful and energetic as ever, helped me to carry the baskets. Broulette walked alone between the pairs, dreaming of I don't know what, as she had taken to doing of late, and Terence sometimes turned around as if to look at her, but really to see if Joseph were following. Look at him well, Terence, I said to her, at a moment when she seemed in great anxiety,

Starting point is 05:29:32 for your father said truly, when we part for a day, it may be for life. Yes, she replied, but on the other hand, when we think we are parting for life, it may be for only a day. You remind me, said I,

Starting point is 05:29:44 that when I first saw you, you floated away like a dream and I never expected to see you again. I know what you mean, she exclaimed. My father reminded me of it yesterday in speaking of you. Father really loves you, Tiené, and has great respect for you.

Starting point is 05:29:59 i am glad and honoured terence but i don't know what i have done to deserve it for there is nothing in me that is different from the common run of men my father is never mistaken in his judgment and what he says i believe why should that make you sighed did i sighed terence i didn't mean to no of course you did not she replied but that is no reason why you should hide your feelings from me you love broulette and are afraid i love brulette very much that is true but without any love-sying and without any regrets or worries about what she thinks of me. I have no love in my heart, because it would do me no good to have any. Ah, you are very lucky, Tiennet, she cried, to be able to govern your feelings by your mind in that way. I should be better worth something, Terence, if like you I governed them by my heart. Yes, yes, I know you. I have watched you, and I know the true secret of your conduct. I have seen how, for the last eight days, you have set aside your own feelings to cure

Starting point is 05:30:59 Joseph and how you secretly do everything for his good without letting him see so much as your little finger in it. You want him to be happy, and you said true when you told Brulet and me that if we can do good to those we love, there is no need to be thinking of our own happiness. That's what you do and what you are. And though jealousy may sometimes get the better of you, you recover directly. It is marvelous to see how strong and generous you are. It is saintly. You must allow that if either of us two is to respect to the other, it is I you, and not you, me. I am a rather sensible fellow, and that is all. You are a girl with a great heart and a stone hand upon yourself. Thanks for the good you think of me, replied Terence, but perhaps I don't

Starting point is 05:31:41 deserve it, my lad. You want me to be in love with Joseph, and I am not. As God is my judge, I have never thought of being his wife, and the attachment I feel to him is rather that of a sister or her mother. Oh, as for that, I am not sure that you don't deceive yourself, Terence. Your disposition is impulsive. That is just why I do not deceive myself. I love my father and brother deeply and almost madly. If I had children I should defend them like a wolf and brood over them like a hen. But the thing they call love, such, for instance, as my brother feels for Brulette, the desire to please and a nameless sort of feeling which makes him suffer when alone, and not be able to think of her without pain. All that I do not feel at all, and I cannot imagine it. Joseph may leave us forever

Starting point is 05:32:27 if it will do him good, and I shall thank God, and only grieve if it turns out that he is the worse for it. Terence's way of looking at the matter gave me a good deal to think of. I could not understand it very well, for she now seemed to me above all others and above me. I walked a little way beside her without saying a word, not knowing whither my mind was going, for I was seized with such a feeling of ardent friendship that I longed with all my heart to embrace her, with all respect and thinking no harm, till suddenly a glance at her, so young and beautiful, filled me with shame and fear. When we reached the inn, I asked her,

Starting point is 05:33:01 apropos of what I forget, to tell me exactly what her father had said of me. He said, she replied, that you were a man of the strongest good sense he had ever known. You might as well call me a good-natured fool at once, don't you think so? I said, laughing, but rather mortified.

Starting point is 05:33:17 Not at all, cried Terence. Here are my father's very words. He who sees clearest into the things of this world is he who acts with the highest justice. Now it is true that great good sense leads to great kindness of heart And I do not think that my father is mistaken In that case, Terence, I cried

Starting point is 05:33:36 Rather agitated at the bottom of my heart Have a little regard for me I have a great deal She said shaking the hand which I held out to her But it was said with an air of good fellowship Which killed all vaporing And I slept upon her speech With no more imagination than justly belonged to it

Starting point is 05:33:52 The next day came the path parting. Brulette cried when she kissed Per Bastien and made him promise that he would come and visit us and bring Terence. Then the two dear girls embraced each other with such pledges of affection that they really seemed unable to part. Joseph offered his thanks to his late master for all the benefits he had received from him, and when he came to part with Terence he tried to say the same to her. But she looked at him with a perfect frankness which disconcerted him, and pressing each other's hands, they said only, Goodbye and take care of yourself.

Starting point is 05:34:23 Not feeling at the moment too shy, I asked Therence to allow me to kiss her, thinking to set a good example to Joseph. But he took no notice and got hastily into the carriage to cut short these parting civilities. He seemed dissatisfied with himself and others. Brulette took the last seat in the conveyance, and so long as she could see our Bourbonnet friends, she kept her eyes upon them, while Terence standing at the inn door seemed to be thinking rather than grieving. We did the rest of the journey somewhat sadly. Joseph said not a word. Perhaps he hoped that Broulet might take some notice of him.

Starting point is 05:34:59 But according as Joseph grew stronger, Broulet had recovered her freedom of thinking about other people, and being full of her friendship for Eriel's father and sister, she talked to me about them, regretting to part with them and singing their praises, as if she had really left her heart behind and regretted even the country we were quitting. It is strange, she said to me,

Starting point is 05:35:19 how, as we get nearer home, the trees seem to me so small, the grass so yellow, and the river sluggish. Before I ever left the plains, I fancied I could not endure three days in the woods, and now I believe I could pass my life there like Terence, if I had my old father with me. I can't say as much, cousin, said I, though if I were forced to do so, I don't suppose I should die of it. But the trees may be as tall, the grass is green, and the streams as sparkling as they please. I prefer a nettle in my own land to an oak in foreign parts. My heart jumps with joy at each familiar rock and bush, as if I had been absent for two or three years, and when I catch sight of the church clock, I mean, for sure, to take off my hat to it. And you, José, said Brulette,

Starting point is 05:36:03 noticing the annoyed look of our companion for the first time. You who have been absent more than a year, are not you glad to get home again? Excuse me, Brulet. I don't know what you're talking about. My head is full of that song the head woodsman sang last night, and in the middle of it there is a little refrain which I can't remember. Pah, cried Brulette, it is where the song says, Listen to the Nightingale. So saying, she sang the tune quite correctly, which roused Joseph so much that he jumped with joy in the cart,

Starting point is 05:36:34 clapping his hands. Ah, Brulette, he cried. How lucky you are to remember like that. Again, sing it again. Listen to the nightingale. I would rather sing the whole song, she answered. and thereupon she sang it straight through without missing a word, which delighted Joseph so much that he pressed her hands,

Starting point is 05:36:52 saying, with the courage I didn't think him capable of, that only a musician could be worthy of her. Well, certainly, said Brulet, thinking of Uriel, if I had a lover I should wish him to be both a good singer and a good bagpiper. It is rare to be both, returned Joseph. A bagpipe ruins the voice and accept the headwoodsman. And his son, said Brulet heedlessly. I nudged her elbow, and she bowed.

Starting point is 05:37:15 began to talk of something else. But Joseph, who was eaten up with jealousy, persisted in harking back to the song. I believe, he said, that when Per Bastien composed those words, he was thinking of three fellows of our acquaintance, for I remember a talk we had with him after supper the day of your arrival in the forest. I don't remember it, said Brulette, blushing. But I do, returned Joseph. We were speaking of a girl's love, and Uriel said it couldn't be won by tossing up for it. Tienet declared laughing that softness and submission were of no use, and to be loved we must needs be feared, instead of being too kind and good. Uriel argued against Tiennet, and I listened without saying a word.

Starting point is 05:37:55 I'm not I the one who bears the flower, the youngest of the three, who loves and cowers? Repeat the last verse, Brulet, as you know it so well, about gifts for those who ask. Since you know it as well as I do, said Brulet, rather nettled, keep it to sing to the first girl you make love to. If Per Bastien likes to turn the talk he hears into songs, it is not for me to draw conclusions. Besides, I know nothing about it, but my feet are tingling with cold, and while the horse walks up this hill, I shall take a run to warm them. Not waiting till I could stop the horse, she jumped onto the road and walked off in front of us as light as a little milk made. I wanted to get down, too, but Joseph caught me by the arm, and always pursuing his own

Starting point is 05:38:37 ideas, don't you think, said he, that we despise those who show their desires as much as those who do not show them at all? If you mean me, I mean no one. I was only only to be. I was only thinking of the talk we had over there, which Perl Bastien turned into a song against your speech and my silence. It seems that Uriel will win his suit with the girl. What girl, I said out of patience, for Joseph had never taken me into his confidence before, and I was none too pleased to have him give it out of vexation. What girl, he cried in a tone of angry sarcasm, the girl of the song? Then what suit is Eureel to win? Does the girl live at a distance? Is that where Eriel has gone?

Starting point is 05:39:17 joseph thought a moment and then continued it is true enough what he said that between mastership and silence there is prayer that comes round to your first remark that in order to attract we must not love too well he who loves too well is the timid silent one not a word can he tear from his throat and he is thought a fool because he is dumb with desire and false shame no doubt of that i said i have gone through it myself many a time but it also happened to me sometimes to speak out so badly that i had better have held my tongue i might have fancied myself beloved a little longer poor joseph bit his lips and said no more i was sorry i had vexed him and yet i could not prevent myself from resenting his jealousy of uriel knowing as i did how the latter had done his best for him against his own interests i took at this very time such a disgust for jealousy that since then i have never felt a twinge of it and i don't think i could now without good reason i was however just going to speak kindly to him when we noticed that brulette who was still ahead of us had stopped on the wayside to speak to a monk who looked short and fat like the one of the one of the one of the one of the one of us who was still ahead of us had stopped on the wayside to speak to a monk who looked short and fat like the one of I had seen in the woods of Chamberra. I whipped up the horse and soon convinced myself that it was really Brother Nicholas. He had asked Bruletti Vivo far from our village, and as he was still three miles distant and said he was very tired, she had offered to give him a lift in our conveyance. We made room for him and for a large covered basket which he was carrying, and which he deposited

Starting point is 05:40:44 with much precaution on his knees. None of us dreamed of asking what it contained, except perhaps myself, who am naturally rather curious. But I have to have. feared to be indiscreet, for I knew the mendicant friars gathered up all sorts of things from pious shopkeepers, which they sold again for the benefit of their monastery. Everything came handy for this traffic, even women's trumpery, which, however, some of them did not venture to dispose of openly. I drove it a trot, and presently we caught sight of the church clock and the old elms on the marketplace, then of all the houses of the village, both big and little, which did not afford me as much pleasure as I had expected, for the meeting with Brother Nicholas had brought to mind

Starting point is 05:41:22 certain painful things about which I was still uneasy. I saw, however, that he was on his guard as well as I, for he said not a word before Broulet and Joseph, showing that we had met elsewhere than at the dance, or that he and I knew more of what had happened than the rest. He was a very pleasant man, with a jovial nature that might have amused me under other circumstances, but I was in a hurry to reach home and get him alone by himself, so as to ask if he had any news of the affair. As we entered the village Joseph jumped off, and notwithstanding that Brulet begged him to come and rest at her grandfather's, he took the road to Saint-Chartier, saying that he would pay his respects to Per Broulet after he had seen and embraced his mother. I fancied that the friar rather urged it on him as a duty, as if to get rid of him.

Starting point is 05:42:09 And then instead of accepting my proposal that he should dine and sup at my house, Brother Nicholas declared that he could stop only an hour at Per Brulet's, with whom he had business. you will be very welcome said Broulet but do you know my grandfather i have never seen you at the house i do not know either him or your village answered the monk but i am charged with an errand to him which i can deliver only at his house i returned to my first notion namely that he had ribbons and laces in his basket and that after having heard from the neighbours that Brulette was the smartest girl in these parts he wanted to show her his merchandise without exposing himself to gossip which in those days bed neither good monks nor wicked ones i thought this idea was in brulette's head too for when she got down first at the door she held out her both arms for the basket saying don't be afraid i guess what is in it but the friar refused to give it up saying it was valuable and he feared it might get broken i see brother i said to him in a low voice detaining him a moment that you are very busy i don't want to hinder you but i should like you to tell me quickly if there is any news from over there none that i know of he said in the same tone but no news is good news then shaking me by the hand in a friendly way he entered the house after brulette who was already hanging to her grandfather's neck I thought old Broulet, who was generally polite, owed me a hearty welcome and some thanks for the care I had taken of his granddaughter. But instead of keeping me even a moment, he seemed more interested in the arrival of the friar.

Starting point is 05:43:44 For taking him at once by the hand, he led him into an inner room, begging me to excuse him and saying he had matters of importance to discuss, and wished to be alone with his granddaughter. End of Section 18. Section 19 of the bagpipers by Georges Son, translated by Catherine Prescott Warmerly. Librovoc's recording is in the public domain. Nineteenth evening I am not easily affronted, but I was so now at being thus received, and I went off home to put up the carton to inquire after my family. After that, the day being too far gone to go to work,

Starting point is 05:44:25 I sauntered about to the village to see if everything was in its old place, and found no change, except that one of the trees fell on the common before the cobbler's door had been chopped up into Sabo's, and that Per Godal had trimmed up his poplar and put new flags on his path. I certainly supposed that my journey into the Bourbonnet had made a stir, and I expected to be assailed with the questions which I might find it hard to answer. But the folks in our region are very indifferent, and I seemed for the first time to realize how dull they were,

Starting point is 05:44:55 being obliged to tell a good many that I had just returned from a trip. They did not even know I had been away. Towards evening, as I was loitering home, I met the friar on his way to La Chattre, and he told me that, Per Broulet wanted me to sup with him. What was my astonishment on entering the house to see Per Broulet on one side of the table, and his granddaughter on the other, gazing at the monk's basket which lay open before them,

Starting point is 05:45:20 and in it a big baby about a year old, sitting on a pillow and trying to eat some black-heart cherries, the juice of which had daubed and stained his face? Brulette seemed to me thoughtful and rather sad, but when she saw my amazement she couldn't help laughing, after which she wiped her eyes, for she seemed to me. to me to have been shedding tears of grief or vexation rather than of gaiety. Come, she said at last, shut the door tight and listen to us. Here is grandfather who wants to tell you all about the fine present the monk has brought us.

Starting point is 05:45:52 You must know, nephew, said Per Broulet, who never smiled at pleasant things any more than he frowned at disagreeable ones, that this is an orphan child, and we have agreed with the monk to take care of him for the price of his board. We know nothing about the child, neither his father, his mother, his country, nor anything else. he is called charlou and that is all we do know the pay is good and the friar gave us the preference because he met brulet in the bourbonnet and hearing where she lived and how well behaved she was and moreover that she was not rich and had time at her disposal he thought he could give her a pleasure and do her a service by putting the little fellow under her charge and letting her own the money though the matter was tolerably surprising i was not much astonished at first hearing of it and only asked if the monk was formerly known to perprulet and whether he could trust him as to the future payment i had never seen him replied the old man but i knew that he had been in this neighbourhood several times and he is known to persons in whom i have confidence and who informed me two or three days ago of the matter he was to come about besides a year's board is paid in advance and when the money doesn't come it will be soon enough to worry very good uncle you know your own affairs but i should not have expected to see my cousin who loves her freedom tied down to the care of a little monkey who is nothing to her and who be it said without offence is not at all nice in his appearance

Starting point is 05:47:17 that is just what annoys me said brulette and i was saying so to my grandfather as you came in and she added rubbing the muzzle of the little animal with her handkerchief no wiping will make his mouth any better i wish i could have begun my apprenticeship with a child that was prettier to kid is. This one looks surly and won't even smile. He cares only for things to eat. "'Bah,' said Per Broulet, "'he is not uglier than all children of his age, "'and it is your business to make him nice. He is tired with his journey, "'and doesn't know where he is, nor what we mean to do with him.' "'Per Broulet went out to look for his knife, which he had left at a neighbour's, "'and I began to get more and more surprised when alone with Brulette. "'She seemed annoyed at times and even distressed.

Starting point is 05:48:03 What worries me is that I don't know how to take care of a child, she said. I could not bear to let a poor creature that can't help itself suffer. But I am so unhandy. I am sorry now that I never was inclined to look after the little ones. It is a fact, I said, that you don't seem born for the business, and I can't understand why your grandfather, who I never thought was eager after money, should put such a care upon you for the sake of a few crowns. You talk like a rich man, she said.

Starting point is 05:48:31 Remember that I have no dower, and that a fear of poverty has always deterred me from marrying. That's a very bad reason, Brulet. You have been and still will be sought after by men who are richer than you, and who love your sweet eyes and your pretty chatter. My sweet eyes will fade, and my pretty chatter won't be worth much when the beauty is gone. I don't wish to be reproached at the end of a few years with having lost my dower of charms and brought nothing more solid into the household.

Starting point is 05:48:59 Is it that you are really thinking of marrying, since we left the Bourbonnet, I asked. This is the first time I ever heard you talk of money. I am not thinking of it any more than I have always thought, returned Brulette, but in a less confident tone than usual. I never said I meant to live unmarried. I see how it is, I cried laughing. You are thinking of it, and you needn't try to hide it from me,

Starting point is 05:49:23 for I have given up all hopes of my own. I see plainly enough that in taking care of this little wretch, who has money and no mother, you are laying up a store like the squirrels. If not your grandfather, whom you have always ruled as if he were your grandson, would not have forced you to take such a boy to nurse. Brulet lifted the child from the table,

Starting point is 05:49:43 and as she carried him to her grandfather's bed, she gave him a rather sad look. Poor Chalot, he said, I'll do my best for you. You are much to be pitied for having come into the world, and it is my belief that nobody wanted you. But her gaiety soon returned. she even had some hearty laughs at supper in feeding Charleau,

Starting point is 05:50:02 who had the appetite of a little wolf, and answered all her attentions by trying to scratch her face. Toward eight o'clock Joseph came in and was very well received by Per Broulet, but I observed that Brulette, who had just been putting Charle to bed, closed the curtains quickly as if to hide him, and seemed to disturb all the time that Joseph remained. I observed also that not a word was said to him of this singular event, either by the old man or by Brulette,

Starting point is 05:50:30 and I therefore thought it my duty to hold my tongue. Joseph was cross, and said as little as possible in answer to my uncle's questions. Brulet asked him if he had found his mother in good health, and if she had been surprised and pleased to see him. Then as he said yes to everything, she asked him if he had not tired himself too much by walking to Saint-Chartier and back in one evening. I did not wish to let the day go by without paying my respects to your grandfather, he said.

Starting point is 05:50:57 and now, as I really am tired, I shall go and spend the night with Tienet if I don't inconvenience him. I answered that it would give me pleasure, and took him to my house where, after we were in bed, he said, Tienet, I am really on the point of departure. I came here only to get away from the woods of Allure, for I was sick of them. That's the worst of you, Joseph. You were there with friends who took the place of those you left here in the same way. Well, it is what I choose to do, he said rather shortly. then in a milder tone he added tene tine there are some things one can tell and others which force us to keep silence you hurt me to-day in telling me i could never please brulette joseph i never said anything of the kind for the reason that i don't know if you really care for her you do know it he replied and you blame me for not having opened my heart to you but how could i i am not one of those who tell their secrets willingly it is my misfortune i believe i have really no other illness than one sole idea always stretching toward the same end and always beaten back when it rises to my lips listen to me now while i do feel able to talk for god knows how soon i may fall music

Starting point is 05:52:09 again. I love, and I see plainly I am not loved. So many years have passed in this way, for I loved Broulet when we were little children, that I have grown accustomed to the pain. I have never flattered myself that I could please her. I have lived in the belief that she would never care for me. Lately, however, I saw by her coming to the Bourbonnet that I was something to her, and it gave me strength and the will not to die, but I soon perceived that she met someone over there who suited her better than I. I know nothing about it, I replied, but if it were so, that someone you speak of gave you no ground for complaint or reproach. That is true, said Joseph, and my anger is unjust, all the more because Uriel, knowing Brulet to be an honest girl, and not being able to marry her

Starting point is 05:52:56 so long as he remains in the fraternity of muleteers, has himself done what he could to separate from her. I can still hope to return to Brulet hereafter, more worthy of her than I have been, but I cannot bear to stay here now, for I am still nothing better than I was in the past. There is something in the manner and language of everyone who speaks to me that seems to mean, you are sick, you are thin, you are ugly, you are feeble, you know nothing new and nothing good that can interest us in you. Yes, Tiené, what I tell you is exactly so. My mother seemed frightened by my face when she saw me, and she cried so when she kissed me

Starting point is 05:53:31 that the pain of seeing her was greater than the joy. This evening, too, Brulette looked annoyed when I came in, and her grandfather, good and kind as he always is to me, seemed uneasy lest I should stay too long. Now don't tell me that I imagined all that. Like all those who speak little, I see much. My time has not yet come. I must go, and the sooner the better. I think you ought to take at least a few days' rest, I said, for I fancy you mean to go to a great distance, and I do not think it friendly in you to give us unnecessary anxiety. You need not be anxious, Tiennet. I have all the strength I want, and I shall not be ill again. I have learned one thing, and that is that frail bodies, to which God has given slender physical powers, are provided with a force of will which carries them farther than the vigorous health of others. I was not exaggerating when I told you over there that I became, as it were, a new man on seeing

Starting point is 05:54:25 seeing Uriel fight so boldly, and that I was wide awake in the night when I heard his voice saying to me, come cheer up i am a man and as long as you are not one you will count for nothing i want therefore to shake myself free of my poor nature and return here some day as good to look at and better to hear than all brulettes are the lovers but i said suppose she makes her choice before you return she is going on nineteen and for a girl as much quartered as she is it is time to decide she will decide only between uriel and me answered joseph in a confident tone there is no one but him and myself who are capable of teaching her to love excuse me tiennet i know or at least i believe that you dreamed of it yes i replied but i don't dream of it any longer well for you said joseph for you could never have been happy with her she has tastes and ideas which don't belong to the ground she has grown in she needs another wind to rock her the one that blows here is not pure enough and it might wither her she feels all this though she may not know how to say it and i tell you that unless uriel is treacherous i shall find her still free a year or two hence so saying joseph as if wearied out by letting himself talk so much dropped his head on his pillow and went to sleep for the last hour i had been struggling to keep awake for i was tired out myself i slept soundly and when at daybreak i called him he did not answer i looked about and he was gone without awaking anyone brulette went the next day to see mariton to break the news to her and find out what had passed between her and her son she would not let me accompany her and told me on her return that she could not get mariton to say much because her master benoit was ill and even in some danger from congestion of the brain

Starting point is 05:56:14 i concluded therefore that the woman being obliged to nurse her master had not had time to talk with her son as much as he would have liked and consequently he had become jealous as his nature led him to be at such times that is very likely said brulette for the wiser joseph gets through ambition the more exacting he becomes i think i liked him better when he was simple and submissive as he used to be when i related to brulette all that he had said to me the night before she replied if he really has so high an ambition we should only hamper him by showing an anxiety he does not wish for leave him in god's care if i were the flirt you declared i was in former times i should be proud to be the cause of his endeavouring to improve his mind and his career but I am not, and my feeling is chiefly regret that he does nothing for his mother or himself. But isn't he right when he says that you can only choose between Uriel and him? There is time enough to think about that, she said, laughing with her lips, though her face was not cheerful, especially as the only two lovers Joseph allows me are running away as fast as their legs can go. During the next week the arrival of the child which the monk had brought was the subject of village gossip and the torment of the inquisitive.

Starting point is 05:57:27 so many tales were founded upon it that charlotte came near being the son of a prince and everyone wanted to borrow money of perr brule or sell goods to him convinced that the stipend which induced his granddaughter to take up a duty so contrary to her tastes must at least be a princely revenue the jealousy of some and the discontent of others made the old man enemies which he had never had in his life and he was much astonished by it for simple pious soul that he was it had never occurred to him that the man matter might give occasion for gossip. Broulet, however, only laughed and persuaded him to pay no attention to it. Days and weeks went by, and we heard nothing of Joseph or of Uriel, or of the woodsman and his daughter. Brulette wrote to Terence and I to Uriel, but we got no answers. Brulette was troubled and even annoyed. So much so that she told me she did not mean to think anything more of those foreigners, who did not even remember her, and made no return for the friendship she had offered them.

Starting point is 05:58:27 So she began once more to dress herself smartly and appear at the dancers, for the gallants complained of her gloomy looks and the headaches she talked of ever since her trip to the Bourbonnet. The journey had been rather criticised. People even said she had some secret love over there, either for Joseph or for someone else, and they expected her to be more amiable than ever, before they would forgive her for going off without a word to anyone. Broulette was too proud to give in to gajoling them, but she dearly loved her to

Starting point is 05:58:55 pleasure, and being drawn in that direction, she gave Charlo in charge of her neighbour, Merle La Mouche, and took her amusement as before. One evening as I was coming back with her from the pilgrimage of Vaud Vos, which is a great festival, we heard Charleau howling, far as we were from the house. That dreadful child, said Bluette, is never out of mischief. I'm sure I don't know who can ever manage him. Are you sure, I said, that Mare Lammu takes as good care of him as she promised you? of course she does she has nothing else to do and i pay her enough to satisfy her charlowe continued to yell and the house looked as though it were locked up and there was no one in it brulette ran and knocked loudly on the door but no one answered except charlotte who screamed louder than ever either from fright or loneliness or anger i was obliged to climb to the thatch of the roof and clamber down through the trap-door of the loft i opened the door for brulette and then we saw charlotte all alone rolling in the ashes whereby great good luck there was no fire,

Starting point is 05:59:55 and purple as a beat from screaming. Heavens, cried Brulet, is that the way to care for the poor little wretch? Well, whoso takes a child gets a master. I ought to have known it, and either not taken this one or given up my own enjoyments. So saying, she carried Charleau to her own home,

Starting point is 06:00:12 half in pity and half impatiently, and having washed, fed and consoled him as best she could, she put him to sleep, and sat down to reflect with her head in her hands. I tried to show her that it would be easy enough by sacrificing the money she was gaining to employ some kindly, careful woman to take charge of the boy. No, she exclaimed, I must look after him, because I am responsible for him, and you see what looking after him means.

Starting point is 06:00:38 If I think I can let up for one day, it is just that very day that I ought not to have done so. Yes, that's it, I ought not, she said, crying. It would be wrong, and I should be sorry for it all my life. on the other hand you would do wrong if the child were to be the gainer by it he is not happy with you and he might be elsewhere why isn't he happy with me i hope he is except on the days when i am absent and so i say i will not absent myself again i tell you he is no better off when you are here what do you mean cried brulette striking her hands with vexation where have you heard that did you ever see me ill-treat the child or even threaten him can i help it if he is is an unpleasant child with a sulky disposition? If he were my own, I could not do better for him. Oh, I know you are not unkind to him and never let him want for anything, because you are a dear, sweet Christian.

Starting point is 06:01:32 But you can't love him, for that doesn't depend on yourself. He feels this without knowing it, and that keeps him from loving and caressing others. Animals know when people like them or dislike them. Why shouldn't little human beings do the same? End of Section 19. Section 20 of the bagpipers by Georgeson. translated by Catherine Prescott warmly.

Starting point is 06:02:00 This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 20th evening. Brulette coloured, parted, began to cry, and said nothing. But the next day I met her leading her beasts to pasture, with Charleau in her arms. She sat down in the middle of the field with the child on the skirt of her gown and said to me, You were right, Tiennet. Your approaches made me reflect, and I have made up my mind what to do. I can't promise to love this Charle much.

Starting point is 06:02:29 but I'll behave as if I did, and perhaps God will reward me someday by giving me children of my own more lovable than this one. Ah, my darling, I cried. I don't know what makes you say that. I never blamed you. I have nothing to reproach you with except the obstinacy with which you now resolve to bring up the little wretch yourself. Come, let me write to that friar, or let me go and find him to make him put the child in another family. I know where the convent is, and I would rather make another long journey than see you condemned to this sort of thing. no tine replied brulette we must not even think of changing what was agreed upon my grandfather promised for me and i was bound to consent if i could tell you but i can't one thing i want you to know it is that money counts for nothing in the bargain and that my grandfather and i will never accept a penny for a duty we are bound to perform now you do surprise me whose child is it it must belong to some of your relatives consequently mine possibly she replied some of our family live away from here but consider that i have told you nothing for i cannot and ought not to do so let people believe that the little monkey is a stranger to us and that we are paid for the care of him otherwise evil tongues might accuse those who don't deserve it

Starting point is 06:03:47 the devil said i if you haven't set me on thorns i can't think that's just it she said you are not to think i forbid it though i am quite sure you never could find out very good but do you really mean to wean yourself from all amusements just as that child is weaned of the breast the devil take your grandfather's promise my grandfather did right and if i had gone against him i should have been a heartless girl i repeat i don't choose to do things by halves even if i die of it brulette was resolute from that day such a change came over her that she was scarcely recognizable she never left the house except to pasture her sheep and her goats with charlowe beside her and when she had put him to bed for the night she would take her work and sit near him she went to none of the dances and bought no more finery having no longer any occasion for it this dull life made her serious and even sad for she soon found herself neglected there is no girl so pretty but what she is forced to be amiable with everybody if she wants to have followers. And Bluette, who now showed no desire to please, was called Salon, all the more because she had once been so much the reverse.

Starting point is 06:04:58 In my opinion she had only changed for the better, for, having never played the coquette, only my lady the princess with me, she seemed to my mind more gentle in manner, more sensible and interesting in her behaviour. But others didn't think so. In the past she had allowed her lovers just so much hope as now made each of them feel affronted by her neglect,

Starting point is 06:05:17 as if he considered he had a right to her, and although her coquetry had always been very harmless she was punished for it as if it were a wrong done to others which proves as i think that men have as much if not more vanity than women and consider that no one ever does enough to please or pacify the conceit they have of themselves there is one thing certain at least and that is that many persons are very unjust even young men who seem such good fellows and such willing slaves as long as they are in love many of broulette's old admirers now turned against her and more than once i had words with them in defending my cousin from the blame they put upon her. Unfortunately, they were encouraged by the gossips and the selfish folk, who were jealous of Per Broulet's supposed bit of luck, until finally Brulet was obliged to refuse to see these maliciously inquisitive people, and even the false friends who came and repeated to her what they had heard others say.

Starting point is 06:06:10 This is how it was that in less than one year the queen of the village, the Rose of Noon, was condemned by evil minds and abandoned by fools. They told dark stories about her, and I shuddered less than, she should hear them. Indeed, I myself was often harassed and puzzled how to answer them. The worst lie of all was one pair Broulet ought to have expected, namely that Charleau was neither some poor foundling nor the son of a prince, brought up secretly, but really Brulet's own child. In vain I pointed out that the girl had always lived openly under the eyes of everybody, and having never encouraged any particular lover, she could not have committed a fault so difficult

Starting point is 06:06:45 to hide. They answered that such and such a one had boldly concealed her condition till the very last day, and had reappeared sometimes the day after, as composed and lively as if nothing had happened, and had even hidden the consequences until she was married to the author, or the dupe of her sin. Unfortunately, this had happened more than once in our village. In these little country places where the houses are surrounded by gardens, and separated from each other by hemp and loosen fields, some of them of great extent, it is not easy to see and hear from one to another at all hours of the night, and indeed things are done at any time which the good God alone takes account of her.

Starting point is 06:07:23 One of the worst tongues against Brulet was that of Merle La Mouche, ever since Brulet had found her out and taken the boy away from her. She had so long been the willing servant and slave of the girl, that she knew she could look for no further gain from her, and in revenge she invented and told anything that people wanted her to say. She related to whoever listened how Brulet had sacrificed her honour to that puny fellow José, and that she was so ashamed of it that she had forced him to leave the place. jose had submitted on condition that she would marry no one else and he was now in foreign parts trying to earn enough money to marry her the child said the woman had been taken into the bourbonnet country by men with blackened faces who called themselves muleteers

Starting point is 06:08:04 and whose acquaintance joseph had made under pretence of buying his bagpipe but there had never been any other bagpipe in the case than that squalling charlotte about a year after his birth groulette had gone to see her lover and the baby in company with me and a muleteer who was as ugly as the devil there we made acquaintance with a mendicant friar who offered to bring the baby back for us and with whom we concocted the story of its being a rich foundling which was altogether false for this child had brought not one penny of profit to per brulet when merle la mouche invented this tale in which you see lies were mixed up with facts her word was believed by everybody and joseph's short and almost secret visit assisted the belief so with much laughter and derision brulette was nicknamed joseph in spite of my wrath at these outrageous stories brulette took so little pains to make herself agreeable and showed by her care for the child such contempt for the gossips that i began to get bewildered myself was it absolutely impossible that i had been a dupe once upon a time i had certainly been jealous of joseph however virtuous and discreet a girl might be however shy the lad it had often happened that love and ignorance got the better of them and some young couples had never known the meaning of evil until they had committed it if she had once done wrong brulette a clever girl was none the less capable of hiding her misfortune being too proud to confess it yet too right-minded to deceive others was it not by her orders that joseph wished to make himself a worthy husband and father it was certainly a wise and patient scheme was i deceived in thinking she had a fancy for uriel i might have been but even if she had felt it in spite of herself she had not yielded to her feelings and so had done no wrong to joseph in short was it conscientious duty or strength of friendship which made her go to the relief of the poor sick man in either case she was right to do so if she were a mother she was a good mother though her natural inclinations were not that way all women can have children but all women are not fond of children for all that

Starting point is 06:10:08 and brulet ought therefore to have the more credit for taking back her own in spite of her love for company and the questions she thus raised as to the truth all things considered i did not see even in what i might suppose the worst of my cousin's conduct anything that lowered my friendship for her only i felt she had been so contradictory in her statements that i no longer knew how to rely on them if she loved joseph then she had certainly been artful but if she did not love him she had been too lively in spirits and forgetful of what had happened for a person who was resolved to do her duty if she had not been so ill-treated by the community i might have lessened my visits for these doubts certainly lowered my confidence in her but on the contrary i controlled myself and went to the house every day taking pains not to show her the least distrust for all this i was continually surprised at the difficulty with which she broke herself in as it were to the duties of a mother in spite of the weight of care i believed she had on her mind there were times when all her beauty and youth came back to her she wore neither silk nor laces that is true but her hair was silky her stockings well fitting and her pretty little feet were reaching for a dance wherever she saw a bit of green sward or heard the sound of the bagpipes sometimes at home when the thought of a bourbonnet reel came over her she would put Charleau on her grandfather's knee and make me dance it with her, singing and laughing and carrying herself jauntily, as if all the parish were there to see her.

Starting point is 06:11:36 But a minute later, if Charlo cried or wanted to go to bed, or to be carried, or to be fed when he wasn't hungry, or given drink that he didn't want, she would take him in her arms with tears in her eyes, like a dog who was being chained up, and then with a sigh she would croon him a tune or pamper him with a bit of cake. Seeing how she regretted her gay life, I offered her my sister's services in taking care of the little one, while she went to the fates at Saint-Cartier.

Starting point is 06:12:02 I must tell you that in those days there lived in the old castle, of which nothing is now left but the shell, an old maiden lady, who was very good-natured and gave balls to all the country round. Trades men and noblemen, peasants and artisans, as many as liked, went there. You saw gentlemen and ladies going along the abominable roads in midwinter, mounted on horses and donkeys, and wearing silk stockings, silver shoe-buckles, and powdered wigs as white as the snow on the trees along the road. Nothing deterred the company, rich or poor, for they amused them hugely and were well entertained from midday till six at night. The lady of Saint-Chartier who had noticed brulette dancing in the marketplace the year before, and was always anxious to have pretty girls at her daylight balls,

Starting point is 06:12:46 invited her, and by my advice she went once. I thought it was good advice, for she seemed to be getting depressed and to make no effort to raise her spirits. She was always so sweet to look at and so ready with the right thing to say that I never thought it possible people wouldn't receive her kindly especially when she dressed so well

Starting point is 06:13:03 and looked so handsome. When she entered on my arm whisperings went around but no one dared to do more. She danced first with me and as she had that sort of charm that everybody yields to, others came and asked her, possibly intending to show her some freedom

Starting point is 06:13:17 but not daring to risk it. All went well till a party of rich folks came into the room where we were for the peasantry, I should tell you, had their ballroom apart, and did not mix with the ridge till nearly the end, when the ladies deserted by their partners, would come and mingle with the country girls, who attracted people of all kinds by their lively chatter and their healthy looks.

Starting point is 06:13:39 Brulette was at first stared at as the handsomest article of the show, and the silk stockings paid such attention to the woolen stockings that no one could get near her. Then in the spirit of contradiction, all those who had been tearing her to pieces for the last six months became frantically jealous all at once, and more in love than they had ever been. So then it was a struggle who should invite her first.

Starting point is 06:13:59 In fact, they were almost ready to fight for the kiss that opened the dance. The ladies and the young ladies were provoked, and our class of women complained to the lads for not keeping up their ill will. But they might as well have talked to the winds. One glance of a pretty girl has more sweetness than the tongue of an ugly one has venom. Well, Brulet, I said on our way home, wasn't I right to tell you to shake off your low spirits? You see, the game is never lost if you know how to play it boldly.

Starting point is 06:14:27 Thank you, cousin, she replied. You are my best friend. Indeed, I think you are the only true and faithful friend I have ever had. I am glad I have got the better of my enemies, and now I think I shall never be dull at home again. The devil, how fast you change! Yesterday it was all sulks, and today it is all merriment. You'll take your place as queen of the village.

Starting point is 06:14:48 No, she said, you don't understand me. this is the last ball I mean to go to so long as I keep Charleau. For if you want me to tell you the truth, I haven't enjoyed myself one bit. I put a good face on it to please you, and I am glad now it is over to have done it. But all the while I was thinking of that poor baby. I fancied him crying and howling, no matter how kind your sister might be to him. He is so awkward in making known his wants, and so annoying to others. Brulette's words set my teeth on edge.

Starting point is 06:15:18 I had forgotten the little wretch when I saw her laughing and dancing. the love she no longer concealed for him brought to my mind what seemed to be her past lies and i began to think she must be an utter deceiver who had now grown tired of restraining herself then you love him as your own flesh and blood i cried not thinking much of the words i used my own flesh and blood she repeated as if surprised well yes perhaps we love all children that way when we think of what we owe them i never pretended as some girls do when they are craving to get married that my instincts were those of a bruise hand. Perhaps my head was too giddy to deserve a family in my young days. I know girls who can't sleep for thinking about it before they're 16, but I have got to be 20, without feeling that I am rather late. If it is wrong, it is not my fault. I am as God made me, and I have gone along as he pushed me. To tell the truth, a baby is a hard taskmaster, unreasonable as a crazy husband, and obstinate as a hungry animal. I like justice and good sense, and I should much prefer

Starting point is 06:16:19 quieter and more sensible company. Also I like cleanliness. You have often laughed at me for worrying about a speck of dust on the dresser and letting a fly in the milk turn my stomach. Now a baby is always getting into the dirt, no matter how you may try to prevent it. And then I am fond of thinking and dreaming and recollecting things, but a baby won't let you think of anything but his wants and gets angry if you pay no attention to him. But all that is neither here nor there, Tiennet, when God takes the matter in hand. He invented a sort of miracle which takes place inside of us when need be, and now I know a thing which I never believed until it happened to me. And that is that a child, no matter how ugly and ill-tempered it is, may be bitten by a wolf or trampled by a goat, but never by a woman, and that he will

Starting point is 06:17:03 end by managing her, unless she is made of another wood than the rest of us. As she said this, we were entering my house, where Charleau was playing with my sister's children. "'Well, I'm glad you have come,' said my sister to Brulette. You certainly have the most ill-tempered child that ever lived. He has beaten mine, and bitten them, and provoked them, and one needs forty cartloads of patience and pity to get along with him. Brulette laughed, and going up to Charleau, who never gave her any welcome. She said, as she watched him playing after his fashion,

Starting point is 06:17:34 and as if he could understand what she said, "'I knew very well you could not make these kind people love you. "'There is no one but me, you poor little screechal, who can put up with your claws and your beak? Though Charleau was only 18 months old, it seemed as if he really understood what Brulet was saying, for he got up, after looking at her for a moment with a thoughtful air, and jumped upon her and seized her hand and devoured it with kisses.

Starting point is 06:17:59 Hey, cried my sister, then he really has his good moments after all. My dear, said Brulette, I am just as much astounded as you are. This is the first time I have ever known him behave so, then kissing Charleau on his heavy eyelids she began to cry with joy and tenderness i can't tell why i was overcome by the action as if there was something marvellous in it but in good truth if the child was not hers brulette at that moment was transformed before my eyes this girl so proud-spirited that she wouldn't have shrunk before the king six months ago and who that very morning had had had all the lads of the neighbourhood rich and poor at her knee had gathered such pity and christianity into her heart that she thought herself rewarded for all her trouble by the first kisses of an odious little slobberer who had no pleasant ways and indeed seemed half idiotic the tears were in my eyes thinking of what those kisses cost her and taking charlotte on my shoulder i carried him back with her to her own door twenty times i had it on my tongue to ask her the truth for if she had done wrong as to charlowe i was ready to forgive her the sin but if on the contrary she was bearing the burden of other people's guilt i desired to kiss her feet as the sweetest and most patient winner of paradise but i dared not ask her any questions and when i told my doubts to my sister who was no fool she replied if you dare not question her it is because in the depth of your heart you know her to be innocent besides she added such a fine girl would have manufactured a better-looking boy he is no more like her than a potato is like a rose

Starting point is 06:19:33 end of section twenty section twenty one of the bagpipers by george son translated by katherine prescott warmly this librivox recording is in the public domain twenty first evening the winter passed and the spring came but brulette never went back to her amusements she did not even regret them having seen that she could still be mistress of all hearts if she chose but she said that so many men and women had betrayed her friendship that now she should care for quality only not quantity the poor child did not then know all the wrong that had been done to her everybody had vilified her but no one had yet dared to insult her when they looked at her they saw virtue written on her face but when her back was turned they revenged themselves in words for the respect which they could not help feeling and they yelped at her heels like a cowardly dog that dares not spring at your face. Père Broulet was getting old. He grew deafer and lived so much in himself like all aged people that he paid no attention to the talk of the town. Father and a daughter were therefore less troubled than people hoped to make them,

Starting point is 06:20:47 and my own father, who was of a wise and Christian spirit, as were the rest of my family, advised me, and also set me the example not to worry them about it, saying that the truth would come to light some day and the wicked tongues be punished. which is a grand sweeper began before long to get rid of the vile dust. Roulette, who disdained revenge, would take none but that of receiving very coldly the advances that were made to her. It happened as it usually does, that she found friends among those who had never been her lovers,

Starting point is 06:21:17 and these friends, having no interest of their own, protected her in a way that she was not aware of. I'm not speaking of Mariton, who was like a mother to her, and who, in her in bar-room, came very near flinging the jugs at the heads of the drinkers when they ventured to sing out Josette, but I mean persons whom no one could accuse of blindly supporting her, and who shamed her detractors. Thus it was that Broulette had brought herself down, at first with difficulty, then little by little contentedly, to a quieter life than in the past. She was visited by sensible persons and came often to our house, bringing Charleau, whose swollen face had improved

Starting point is 06:21:53 during the preceding winter, while his temper had grown much more amiable. The child was really not so ugly as he was coarse, and after Brulette had tamed him by the winsome force of her gentleness and affection, we saw that his big black eyes were not without intelligence, and that when his broad mouth was willing to smile, it was really more funny than hideous. He had passed through a drooling illness, during which Brulette, formerly so easily disgusted, had nursed him and wiped him and attended him carefully, till he was now the healthiest little fellow, and the nicest and the cleanest in the village. His jaws were still too heavy and his nose too short for beauty. But inasmuch as health is the chief thing with the little beggars,

Starting point is 06:22:32 everyone took notice of his size, his strength, and his determined air. But the thing that made Broulette proudest of her handiwork was that Charleau became every day prettier in speech and more generous in heart. When she first had him he swore in a way to daunt a regiment, but she had made him forget all that, and had taught him a number of nice little prayers, and all sorts of amusing and quaint sayings, which he employed in his own way to the entertainment of everybody.

Starting point is 06:22:57 He was not born affectionate and would never kiss anyone willingly, but for his darling, as he called Brulette, he showed such a violent attachment that if he had done anything naughty, such as cutting up his pinafore to make cravats, or sticking his sabos into the soup pot, he would forestall all reproaches and cling to her neck with such strength that she hadn't the heart to scold him. In May of that year we were invited to the wedding of a cousin at Chassin,

Starting point is 06:23:21 who sent over a cart the night before to fetch us, with the message to Brulette that if she did not come and bring Charleau, it would throw a gloom over the marriage day. Chassin is a pretty place on the River Gourdon, about six miles distant from our village. The country reminded me slightly of the Bourbonnet. Bluette, who was a small eater, soon left the noise of the feast,

Starting point is 06:23:43 and went to walk outside and amuse Charleau. Indeed, she said to me, I should like to take him into some quiet, shady place, for this is his sleeping time, and the noise of the party keeps him awake, and I am afraid he will be very cross this evening. as it was very hot i offered to take her into a little wood formerly kept as a warren which adjoins the old castle and being choked of briars and ditches is a very sheltered and retired spot very good she said the little one can sleep on my petticoat and you can go back and enjoy yourself when we got there i begged her to let me stay i am not so devoted to weddings as i once was i said to her i shall amuse myself as well if not better talking with you a party is very tiresome if you

Starting point is 06:24:27 you are not among your own people and don't know what to do. Very well, she replied, but I see plainly, my poor cousin, that I am a weight upon your hands, and yet you take it with such patience and goodwill that I don't know how I shall ever do without it. However, that time must come, for you are now of an age to settle, and the wife you choose may cast an evil eye upon me, as so many do, and might never be brought to believe that I deserve your friendship and hers. It is too soon to worry yourself about that, I replied, setting the fat charlotte on my blouse. which I laid on the grass while she sat down beside him to keep off the flies.

Starting point is 06:25:02 I'm not thinking of marriage, and if I were, I swear my wife should keep on good terms with you, or I would be on bad terms with her. She would have a crooked heart indeed if she could not see that my regard for you is the most honourable of all friendships, and if she couldn't comprehend that having followed you through all your joys and all your troubles, I am so accustomed to your companionship that you and I are one. But how about you, cousin? Are you thinking of marriage, or have you sworn off on that subject? oh as for me yes i think so tienne if it suits the will of god i am all but of age and i think i have waited so long for the wish to marry that now i have let the time go by

Starting point is 06:25:39 perhaps it is only just beginning dear the love of amusement has gone and the love of children has come and i see how you are settling down to a quiet home life but nevertheless you are still in your springtime like the earth whose flowers are just blooming you know i don't flatter you and so you may believe me when i tell you that you have never been so pretty though you have grown rather pale, like Terence, the girl of the woods. You have even caught a sad little look like hers, which goes very well with your plain caps and that grey gown. The fact is, I believe your inside being has changed, and you are going to be a sister of charity, if you are not in love.

Starting point is 06:26:15 Don't talk about that, my dear friend, cried Brulette. I might have turned either to love or piety a year ago. I felt, as you say, changed within. But now here I am tied to the cares of life without finding either the sweetness of love or the strength of faith. It seems to me that I am tied to a yoke and can only push forward by my head without knowing what sort of cart I am dragging behind me.

Starting point is 06:26:38 You see that I am not very sad under it and that I don't mean to die of it, and yet I own that I regret something in my life, not what has been, but what might have been. Come, Brulette, I said, sitting down by her and taking her hand. Perhaps the time has come for confidence. You can tell me everything without fear of my feeling grief or jealousy,

Starting point is 06:26:57 I am cured of wishing for anything that you can't give me. But give me one thing, for it is my due. Give me your confidence about your troubles. Brulette became scarlet and made an effort to speak, but could not say a word. It almost seemed as if I were forcing her to confess to her own soul, and she had forborne so long that now she did not know how to do it. She raised her beautiful eyes and looked at the country before us,

Starting point is 06:27:23 for we were sitting at the edge of the wood, on a grassy terrace overlooking a pretty valley broken up into rolling, ground green with cultivation. At our feet flowed the little river, and beyond the ground rose rapidly under a fine wood of full-grown oaks, as extensive, but boasting as large trees as any we had seen in the forest of Aleu. I saw in Broulet's eyes the thoughts she was thinking, and taking her hand, which she had withdrawn from mine to press her heart as if it pained her, I said in a tone that was neither jest nor mischief. Tell me, is it Uriel or Joseph? It is not Joseph.

Starting point is 06:27:58 she replied hastily. Then it is Israel, but you are free to follow your inclinations. How can I have any inclinations? she answered, blushing more and more, for a person who has doubtless never thought of me. That is no reason. Yes, it is, I tell you. No, I swear it isn't. I had plenty of inclination for you.

Starting point is 06:28:19 But you got over it. And you were trying hard to get over yours. That shows you are still ill of it. But Joseph? Well, what of Joseph? You were never bound to him? You know that well enough? But Charleau?

Starting point is 06:28:36 Charleau? As my eyes turned to the child, hers turned too. Then they fell back on me, so puzzled, so clear with innocence, that I was ashamed of my suspicions as though I had offered her an insult. Oh, nothing, I replied hastily. I said Charleau because I thought he was waking up. At that moment the sound of bagpipes reached us from the other side of the river among the oaks, and Broulet trembled like.

Starting point is 06:29:00 a leaf in the wind. There, said I, the bride's dance is beginning, and I do believe they are sending the music to fetch you. No, no, said Bluette, who had grown very pale. Neither the air nor the instrument belonged to this region. Tien, Tien, either I am crazy, or he who is down there. Do you see him? I cried, running to the edge of the terrace and looking with all my eyes. Can it be Per Bastien? I see no one, she said, having followed me, but it was not.

Starting point is 06:29:30 not Per Bastien, neither was a Joseph. It was, Uriel, perhaps. That seems to me less certain than the river that parts us. But let us go at any rate. We may find a ford, and if he is there, we shall certainly catch him, the gay muleteer, and find out what he is thinking about. No, Tiennet, I can't leave Charleau. The devil take that child. Then wait for me here. I am going alone. No, no, no, Tienet, cried Brulette, holding me with you. both hands. It is dangerous to go down that steep place. Whether I break my neck or not, I am going

Starting point is 06:30:06 to put you out of your misery. What misery, she exclaimed, still holding me, but recovering from her first agitation by an effort of pride. What does it matter to me whether Iriel or someone else is in the wood? Do you suppose I want you to run after a man who, knowing I was close by, wanted to pass on? If that is what you think, said a soft voice behind us, I think we had better go away. we turned round at the first word and there was terence the beautiful terence before our eyes at the sight brulette who had fretted so much at being forgotten by her lost all her nerve and fell into terence's arms with a great burst of tears well well said terence kissing her with the energy of a daughter of the woods did you think i had forgotten our friendship why do you judge hardly of people who have never passed a day without thinking of you tell her quickly if your brother is here terence i cried for brulette turning quickly put her hand on my lips and i caught myself up adding with a laugh for i am dying to see him my brother is over there said terence but he does not know you are so near listen he is going farther off you can hardly hear his music now she looked at brulette who had grown pale again and added laughing he is too far off to call him but he will soon turn and come round by the ruined castle then if you don't disdain him brulette and will not prevent me i shall give him a surprise he does not expect

Starting point is 06:31:31 for he did not think of seeing you till to-night. We were on our way to your village to pay you a visit, and it is a great happiness to me to have met you here and saved a delay in our meeting. Let us go under the trees, for if he sees you from where he is, he is capable of drowning himself in that river in trying to get to you, not knowing the fords.

Starting point is 06:31:51 We turned back and sat down near Charlot, Terence's asking, with that grand, simple manner of hers, whether he was mine. Not unless I have been married a long time, I answered, which is not so. True, she said, looking closely at the child, he is already a little man, but you might have been married before you came to us.

Starting point is 06:32:12 Then she added, laughing that she knew little about the growth of babies, never seeing any in the woods where she always lived, and where a few parents ever reared their children. You will find me as much of a savage as ever, she continued, but a good deal less irritable, and I hope my dear brulette will have no cause to complain of my ill temper.

Starting point is 06:32:30 I do think, said Brulette that you seem gayer and better in health, and so much handsomer that it dazzles my eyes to look at you. The same thought had struck my mind on seeing Terence. She had laid in a stock of health and fresh clear colour in her cheeks, which made her another woman. If her eyes were still too deep sunken, the black brows no longer lowered over them and hid their fire. And though her smile was still proud, there was a charming gaiety in it at times, which made her teeth gleam like dewdrops on a flower. The pallor of fever had left her face, which the May sun had rather burned during her journey, though it had made the roses bloom. And there was something I scarcely know what, so youthful,

Starting point is 06:33:10 so strong, so valiant in her face, that my heart jumped with an idea that came to me, heaven knows how, as I looked to see if the velvety black mark at the corner of her mouth was still in the same place. Friends, she said, wiping her beautiful hair, which curled naturally and which the heat had glued to her forehead. As we have a little time to talk before my brother joins us, I want to tell you my story without any false shame or pretenses, for several other stories hang on it. Only before I begin, tell me, Brulet, if Tienet, whom you used to think so much of is as I think he is still the same, so that I can take up the conversation where we left it, a year ago come next harvest.

Starting point is 06:33:50 Yes, dear Terence, that you may, answered my cousin, pleased at her friend's tone. well then tine continued terence with a valiant sincerity all her own which made the difference between her and the reserved and timid roulette i reveal nothing you did not know in telling you that before your visit to us last year i attached myself to a poor fellow sick and sad in mind and body very much as a mother is attached to her child i did not then know he loved another girl and he seeing my regard for him which i did not hide had not the courage to tell me it was not returned why joseph for I can name him, and you see, dear friends, that I don't change colour in doing so. Why Joseph, whom I had so often entreated to tell me the causes of his grief, should have sworn to me that it was nothing more than a longing for his mother and his own country, I do not know. He must have thought me base, and he did me great injustice,

Starting point is 06:34:44 for had he told me the truth I myself would have gone to fetch Brulet without a murmur, and without making the great mistake of forming a low opinion of her which I did, and which I now confess, and ask her to pardon. you did that long ago terence and there is nothing to pardon where friendship is yes dear replied terence but the wrong which you forget i remember and i would have given the world to repair it by taking good care of joseph and showing him friendship and good nature after you left us remember friends that i had never said or done a false thing so that in my childhood my father who is a good judge used to call me terence the sincere when i last saw you on the banks of your own andre half way to your village i spoke privately with joseph for a moment begging him to return to us and promising there should be no change in my interest and care for his health and well-being why then did he disbelieve me in his heart and why promising with his lips to return a lie of which i was not the dupe why did he contemptuously leave me forever as though i were a shameless girl who would torment him with a love-sick folly do you mean to say i interrupted that joseph who stayed only twenty-four hours with us did not return to your woods if only to tell you his plans and say good-bye since he left us that day we have heard nothing of him if you have had no news of him replied terence i have some to give you he did return by night like a thief who fears the sunshine he went to his own lodge and took his clothes and his bagpipe and went away without crossing the threshold of my father's hut or so much as glancing our way

Starting point is 06:36:19 i was awake and saw it all i watched every action and when he disappeared in the woods i felt i was as rigid as death my father warmed me in the rays of the good god and his own great heart he took me away to the open moor and talked to me all one day and all the next night till i was able to pray and sleep you know my father a little dear friends but you cannot know how he loves his children how he comforts them how he finds just the right thing to say to make them like himself who is an angel from heaven hidden under the bark of an old oak my father cured me if it were not for him i should despise joseph as it is i have only ceased to love him ending thus terence again wiped her fine forehead wet with perspiration drew a long breath kissed brulette and held out to me laughing her large and well-shaped white hand and shook mine with the frankness of a young man End of Section 21. Section 22 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Warmerly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 22nd evening.

Starting point is 06:37:32 I saw that Brulet was inclined to blame Joseph very severely, and I thought I ought to defend him a little. I don't approve of his conduct so far as it shows in gratitude to you, Terence, I said. But inasmuch as you are now able to judge him quite fairly, won't you admit that at the bottom of his heart there was a sense of respect for you and a fear of deceiving you? All the world is not like you, my beautiful girl of the woods, and I think that very few persons have a pure enough heart and courage enough to go straight to the point and tell things just as they are. You have an amount of strength and virtue in you of which Joseph and many others in his place would be wholly incapable.

Starting point is 06:38:08 I don't understand you, said Terence. I do, said Brulette. Joseph feared perhaps to put himself in the way of being. charmed by your beauty and loving you for that, without giving you his whole heart as you deserved. Oh, cried Terence, scarlet with wounded pride, that is just what I complain of. Say it boldly. Joseph feared to entice me into wrongdoing. He took no account of my good sense or my honour. Well, his respect would have consoled me. His fear is humiliating. Never mind, Brulet, I forgive him, because I no longer suffer, and I feel myself above him. But nothing can ever take out of my heart the sense that Joseph

Starting point is 06:38:46 was ungrateful to me and took a low view of his duty. I would ask you to let us say no more about it, if I were not obliged to tell you the rest. But I must speak, otherwise you will not know what to think of my brother's conduct. Ah, Terence, said Brulette, I longed to know what were the consequences of that misfortune which troubled us all so much over there. My brother did not do as we expected, replied Terence. Instead of hiding his unfortunate secret in distant places, he retraced his steps at the end of a week and went to find the Carmelite friar in his convent, which is over by Mont Luson. Brother Nicholas, he said to him,

Starting point is 06:39:24 I can't live with such a weight on my heart. You told me to confess myself to God, but there is such a thing as justice on this earth. It may not be practiced, but it is nonetheless a law from heaven. I must confess before men, and bear the blame and the penalty I deserve. One moment, my son, answered the friar. Men invented the penalty of death, which God disapproves.

Starting point is 06:39:45 and they might kill you deliberately for having killed another unintentionally. That is not possible, said my brother. I never intended to kill him, and I can prove it. To prove it, you must call witnesses, said the monk, and that will compromise your comrades and your chief, who is my nephew, and no more a murderer than you in his heart. You will expose them all to be harassed by the law, and you will see them forced to betray the oaths of your fraternity.

Starting point is 06:40:11 Come, stay here in my convent and wait for me. I will undertake to settle the matter provided you won't ask me too closely how I have done it. Thereupon the friar went to consult his abb who sent him to the bishop, whom we call in our parts the chief priest, as they did in the olden time, and who is the bishop of Mouloussaint. The chief priest who has a right to be heard by the chief judges

Starting point is 06:40:34 said and did things we know nothing about. Then he sent for my brother and said to him, My son, confess yourself to me as you would to God, when Uriel had told him the whole truth, from end to end the bishop said repent and do penance my son the matter is settled before men you have nothing to dread in future but you must appease the wrath of god and in order to do that i desire you to leave the company and brotherhood of the muleteers who are men without religion and whose secret practices are contrary to the laws of heaven and earth my brother having humbly remarked to him that there were honest folk among them the chief priest replied so much the worse if those honest folk refused to take the oaths they require choir, the society would cease to do evil, and would become a corporation of working men as respectable as any other. My brother thought over these words of the chief priest, and would have

Starting point is 06:41:25 wished to reform the practices of his fraternity rather than do away with them altogether. He went to meet an assembly of muleteers and talked to them very sensibly, so they told me, but after listening to him quietly, they answered that they neither could nor would change any of their customs. Whereupon he paid his forfeit and sold his mules. keeping only the Clarin for our use. So, Brulette, you are not going to see a muleteer, but a good, steady woodcutter who works for his father. And who may find it very hard to get accustomed to such work,

Starting point is 06:41:58 said Brulet, hiding the pleasure this news gave her. If he did find it harder to change his ways of life, answered Terence, he is well consoled when he remembers how afraid you were of the muleteers, and that in your country they are looked upon as an abomination. But now that I have satisfied your impatience to know how my brother got out of his troubles, i must tell you something more about joseph which may make you angry brulette though it will also astonish you as terence said that with a spice of malice and a laugh brulette showed no uneasiness and told her to explain you must know continued terence that we have spent the last three months in the forest of montagu where we met joseph in good health but serious as usual and still wrapped up in himself if you want to know where he now is i will tell you that we have left him there with my father who will tell you that we have left him there with my father who

Starting point is 06:42:49 who is helping him to get admitted to the association of bagpipers. For you know, or you don't know, that they too are a fraternity and have secret practices which others know nothing about. At first Joseph was rather embarrassed at Ciennes. He seemed ashamed to speak to me and might have avoided us altogether if my father, after approaching him for his want of confidence and friendship, had not pressed him to remain, for he knew he could still be useful to him. When Joseph perceived that I was quite at my ease and had no uncouth,

Starting point is 06:43:19 kind recollections. He made bold to ask for the return of our friendship, and he even tried to excuse his conduct. But my father, who would not let him lay a finger on my wound, turned the matter into a joke, and made him go to work, both in the woods and at his music, so as to bring the matter to an end as soon as possible. I was a good deal astonished that he never mentioned any of you, and I questioned him without getting a word out of him. Neither my brother nor I had heard anything of you, until last week when we came through the village of Uriel. We were much worried, worried about you, and my father told Joseph rather sharply that if he had letters from his own people, he ought at least to tell us whether you were dead or alive.

Starting point is 06:43:58 Joseph answered shortly, in a voice that sounded very hollow. Everybody is well, and so am I. My father, who never beats about the bush, told him to speak out, but he answered stiffly. I tell you, Master, that our friends over there are well and quite contented, and if you will give me your daughter in marriage, I shall be contented too. At first we thought he was crazy and tried to make a joke of it, though his manner made us rather uneasy. But he returned to the subject two days later and asked me if I had any regard for him. I took no other revenge for his tardy offer than to say,

Starting point is 06:44:33 Yes, Joseph, I have as much regard for you as Brulet has. He drew in his lips, lowered his head, and did not say another word. But my brother, having questioned him later, received this reply. Uriel, I no longer think of Brulette, and I beg you never to mention her to me again. We could get nothing more out of him except that he was resolved, as soon as he should be received into the fraternity of bagpipers, to begin his service for a time in his own country, and prove to his mother that he was able to support her,

Starting point is 06:45:03 after which he intended to take her to live with him in La Mauch, or the Bourbonnet, provided I would become his wife. This brought about a grand explanation between my father, my brother and myself. both tried to make me own that I might be induced to consent. But Joseph had come back too late for me, and I had made too many reflections about him. I quietly refused, feeling no longer any regard for him, and conscious also that he had none for me.

Starting point is 06:45:29 I am too proud a girl to be taken as a remedy for disappointment. I suppose you had written to him to put an end to his hopes. No, said Brulet, I did not, and it is only by the mercy of God that he has forgotten me. perhaps it was that he began to know you better my terence no no cried the girl of the woods resolutely if it was not disappointment at your refusal it was pique at my cure he only cared for me because i had ceased to care for him if that is his love it is not mine brulette all or nothing yes for life in all frankness or no for life with all freedom there's that child waking up she continued interrupting herself and i want to take you to my new abode for a moment It is in the old castle of Chassin.' "'But won't you tell us,' said Broulette,

Starting point is 06:46:17 who was very much puzzled by all she heard, "'how and why you were in this part of the country?' "'You were in too much of a hurry to know,' replied Terence. "'I want you to see first.' Taking Brulet round the neck with her beautiful bare arm, well browned by the sun, she led her away without giving her time to take Charleau, whom she herself caught up like a bundle under her other arm,

Starting point is 06:46:39 although he was now as heavy as a little calf. The fief of Chassin was once a castle, as I have heard say, with seignorial rights and laws. But at the time of which I am telling, nothing remained of the building but the porch, which was a structure of some importance, heavily built, and so arranged that there were lodging rooms on both sides of it.

Starting point is 06:46:59 It seemed that the part of the building which I have called a porch, the use of which is difficult to explain at the present time, on account of its peculiar construction, was really a vaulted chamber leading to other buildings. For as to those that still remain around the courtyard, which are only miserable stables and dilapidated barns. I don't know what uses they could have been put to, or what comfort could have been found in them.

Starting point is 06:47:23 There was still at the time of which I am speaking three or four unfurnished rooms which seemed quite ancient, but if any great lord ever took his pleasure in them, he must have wanted very little of that article. And yet it was among these ruins that happiness was awaiting some of those whose history I am telling you, and as if there were something within each human being which tells him in advance of the coming blessings,

Starting point is 06:47:43 neither brulet nor i saw anything sad or ugly in this old place the grassy courtyard surrounded on two sides by the ruins and on the other two by the moat and the little wood through which we passed the great hedge where i saw with surprise shrubs which are seen only in the gardens of the wealthy showing that the place had once known care and beauty the clumsy gateway choked up with rubbish where stone benches could still be seen as if in former days some warder had had charge of this barrack then considered precious the long bruce the long bruce rambles which ran from end to end of this squalid enclosure. All these things which made the whole place resemble a prison, closed, deserted and forgotten, seemed as cheerful to our eyes as the spring-tide sun which was forcing its way in through the crevices and drying up the dampness. Perhaps, too, the sight of our old acquaintance, the Clarin, who was feeding on the turf, gave us warning of the coming of a true friend. I think he recognised us, for he came up to be stroked, and Brulette could not refrain from kissing the white star on his forehead.

Starting point is 06:48:45 "'This is my chateau,' said Terence, taking us into a room where her bed and other bits of furniture were already installed. And there you see Eirelle's room, and my father's on the other side. "'Your father! Then he is coming,' I cried, jumping for joy. "'I am so glad, for there is no man under the sun I like better.' "'And right you are,' said Terence, tapping my ear and sign a friendship, and he likes you. well you will see him if you come back next week and even but it is too soon to speak of that here is the master brulette blushed thinking it was uriel that terence meant but it was only the foreign dealer who had bought the timber of the forest of chassein i say forest because no doubt there were forests there once which joined the small but beautiful growth of lofty trees that we saw beyond the river as the name remains it is to be supposed it was not bestowed for nothing the conversation which ensued which ensued between Terence and the wood merchant, explained to us very quickly the whole thing.

Starting point is 06:49:44 He came from the Bourbonnet and had long known the headwoodsmen and his family as hard-working people who kept their word. Being in quest through his business of some tall masts for the King's Navy, he had discovered these remains of a virgin forest, very rare indeed in our country,

Starting point is 06:49:59 and had given the work of felling and trimming the trees to Per Bastien, and the latter had taken it all the more willingly because his son and daughter, knowing the place to be in our neighbourhood, were delighted with the idea of spending the whole summer and perhaps part of the winter near us. The head woodsman was allowed the selection and management of his workmen under a contract with forfeiture between himself and the purchaser of the timber,

Starting point is 06:50:22 and the latter had induced the owner of the estate to seat him the use, gratis of the old castle, where he, a well-to-do tradesman, would have thought himself very ill lodged, but where a family of woodcutters might be far better off as the season grew late than in their usual lodges of logs and heather. Uriel and his sister had arrived that morning. The one had immediately begun to install herself, the other had been making acquaintance with the wood, the land, and the people of the neighbourhood.

Starting point is 06:50:50 We overheard the purchaser reminding Terence, who talked business as well as any man, of a condition in his agreement with Per Bastien, namely that he would employ none but Bourbonnet workmen to prepare the trunks, inasmuch as they alone understood the work and would not spoil the finest pieces. like the labourers of our part of the country. Very good, replied the woodland girl,

Starting point is 06:51:11 but for the branches and lightwood we shall employ whom we please. We do not think it wise to take all the work away from the people of the neighbourhood, who might be annoyed and molest us in consequence. They are already ill-inclined to all who are not of their parish. Now listen, my dear Brulette, she said when the dealer had departed. It is my opinion that, if nothing detained you in your village, you might persuade your grandfather to employ his time very pleasantly here this summer. you have told me that he is still a good workman and he would have to do with a good master.

Starting point is 06:51:40 I mean my father, who would let him work at his ease. You could lodge here at no expense and we would share the housekeeping together. Then, while Brulet was burning with the desire to say yes, but not daring to betray herself, Terence added, If you hesitate, I shall think your heart is given in your own village, and that my brother has come too late. Too late! cried a ringing voice which came from the ivy-covered window. God grant that those words be false.

Starting point is 06:52:09 And Eureel, handsome and fresh looking as he always was when the charcoal no longer concealed him, sprang into the room and caught roulette in his arms to kiss her on the cheeks. For he wouldn't stand on ceremony, and he had no notion of the rather icy behaviour of the people in our parts. He seemed so glad and talked so loud and laughed so heartily that he could not be angry with him. He needed me like a bit of dough and jumped about the room

Starting point is 06:52:32 as if joy and friendship had the effect of new wine. all of a sudden he spied charlowe and stopped short tried to look away forced himself to say a few words which had no connection with the child then sat down on his sister's bed and turned so pale that i thought he was going to faint away what's the matter with him cried terence amazed then touching his head she said good heavens it is a cold sweat do you feel ill no no said uriel rising and shaking himself it is joy the sudden excitement it is nothing just then the mother of the bride came to ask why we had left the wedding and where the brulette or the child were ill seeing that we were detained by the company of strangers she very politely invited uriel and terence to come with us to the feast and to the dance this woman who was my aunt being the sister of my father and brulette's deceased father seemed to me to know the secret of charlowe's birth for she had asked no questions and had taken great care of him when brought to her house i had even heard of her saying that he was a relative and the people of chassin had no suspicion about the child as uriel who was still troubled in mind merely thanked my aunt without giving any decided answer terence roused him with the remark that brulette was obliged to go back to the wedding and that if he did not go he might lose his opportunity of bringing about what they both desired. Uriel, however, was still uneasy and hesitating, when Brulette said to him,

Starting point is 06:54:00 Do you really not wish to dance with me today? Do you speak true, Brulette, he said, looking her in the eye. Do you wish me for a partner? Yes, she said, for I remember how well you dance. Is that the only reason why you wish for me? Brulette was embarrassed, thinking that the fellow was too much in a hurry, yet not daring to play off her former coquettish little heirs, so fearful was she of seeing him hurt or disappointed again. But Terence tried to help her out by reproaching Uriel for asking too much the first day. You are right, sister, he answered, and yet I cannot behave differently.

Starting point is 06:54:39 Hear me, Brulet, and forgive me. You must promise to have no other partner but me at this wedding, or I cannot go at all. what a funny fellow cried my aunt who was a lively little woman and took all things for the best a lover of yours my brulette i see that plainly and no half-hearted one either but my lad she added to turning to uriel i would have you know that it is not the custom in these paths to show all you feel and no one dances several times running with a girl unless there has been promise of heart and hand it is here as it is with us my good dame replied uriel nevertheless with or without promise of her heart but Brulette must now promise me her hand for the whole dance. If she wishes it I shall not prevent her, said my aunt. She is a sensible girl, who knows very well how to behave. I have done my duty in warning her that she will be talked about. Brother, said Terence, I think you are crazy.

Starting point is 06:55:37 Is that the way to do with Brulette, whom you know to be so reserved, and who has never yet given you the rights you claim? Yes, I may be mad and she may be shy, said Uriel. But all the same, my madness must be. must gain the day and her shyness lose it and at once i ask nothing more of her than to allow me to dance with her to the end of this wedding if after that she does not wish to hear of me again she is mistress of her actions that is all very well said my aunt but the harm will then have been done and if you withdraw from her then who will repair it she knows that i shall not withdraw said uriel if you know that said my aunt to brulette why don't you explain yourself i really can't understand this matter at all. Did you engage yourself to this lad in the Bourbonnet? No, said Uriel, without giving Brulette time to answer. I have never asked her, never.

Starting point is 06:56:28 What I now ask of her, she and she alone, without consulting anyone, must decide to grant or not, as she chooses. Brulette, trembling like a leaf, had turned to the wall and was hiding her face in her hands. If she was glad to find Uriel so resolute about her, she was also annoyed that he had no compassion for her natural hesitation and timidity. She was not a lot of her. She was not made like Terence to speak out a noble yes before all the world. So being and not knowing how else to get out of the matter, she took refuge in her eyes and began to cry. End of Section 22.

Starting point is 06:57:06 Section 23 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Wormley. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 23rd evening. You are a downright bashore, my friend, said my aunt to Uriel, giving him a push away from Brulieu. who he had approached in much excitement then taking her niece's hands she soothed her and asked her very gently to tell her the real meaning of it all if your grandfather were here she said he would explain what there is between you and this stranger lad and we could then leave the matter to his judgment but since i am here now as father and mother both you must confide in me do you wish me to put an end to this pursuit shall i instead of inviting this brute or this rogue for i don't know which to call him tell him that he must let you alone

Starting point is 06:57:56 exactly said uriel that's what i want i want her to say what she wishes and i will obey her without anger and she shall still retain my friendship and respect if she thinks me a brute or a rogue let her pack me off speak brulette i shall always be your friend and servant you know that very well be what you will said brulet at last rising and giving him her hand you protected me in danger and you have suffered such troubles on my account that i neither can nor will refuse so little a thing as to dance with you as much as you like but think what your aunt has said replied uriel holding her hand you will be talked of and if nothing good comes of it between us which on your side may still be any plan you may have for another marriage would be destined or delayed well that is a less danger than the one you threw yourself into on my account, said Brulette. Aunt, please excuse me, she added, if I cannot explain matters just now, but believe that your niece loves and respects you, and will never give you reason to blush for her. I am certain of that, said my aunt, but what answer am I to give to the questions they will be sure to ask? None at all, aunt, said Brulette, resolutely. I can afford to put up with all their talk.

Starting point is 06:59:10 You know I am in the habit of doing so. Thank you, darling of my heart, cried Uriel. her hand six or seven times. You shall never repent what you have granted to me. Are you coming, you obstinate fellow, said my aunt. I can't stay away any longer, and if I don't carry Brulette down there at once, the bride is capable of leaving the wedding and coming after her. Go down, Brulette, cried Terence, and leave the baby with me. I promise I will take care of him. Won't you come, too, my handsome Bourbonnet's? said my aunt, who could not keep her eyes off, Terence. I count upon you.

Starting point is 06:59:44 I will go later, my good woman, replied Terence, but just now I want to give my brother suitable clothes in which to do honour to your invitation, for as you see, we are still in our travelling things. My aunt carried off Brulette, who wanted to take Charleau, but Terence insisted on keeping him, wishing to leave her brother free with his darling without the trouble and annoyance of a small child. This was not at all satisfactory to Charleau, who set up a yell when he saw that Brulette was leaving him, and fought with all his strength in Terence's arms. but she, looking at him with a grave and determined manner, said quietly, You must be quiet, my boy. You must, you know. Charleau, who had never been ordered in his life, was so astonished at her tone that he gave in immediately. But as I saw that Brulet was distressed at leaving him with a girl

Starting point is 07:00:30 who had never in her life touched a baby, I promised to bring him to her myself if there should be the least trouble, and persuaded her to go with our good little aunt who was getting impatient. Uriel, urged by his sister, went off to his room to shave and dress, and I, left alone with Terence, helped her to unpack her boxes and shake out the clothes, while Charleau, quite subdued, stood with open mouth looking on. When I had carried Uriel the clothes which Terence piled on my arms, I returned to ask if she didn't mean to dress herself too, and to offer to take the child to walk while she did so. as for me she said laying out her finery on her bed i will go if brulet worries after me but i will admit that if she would only forget me for a time i would prefer to say quietly here in any case i can be ready in a minute and i need no one to escort me i am accustomed to hunt up and get ready our lodgings in travelling like a regular quartermaster on a campaign and nothing disturbs me wherever i am then you don't like dancing i said or is it shyness at making new acquaintances that makes you wish to stay at home no i don't like dancing she replied nor the racket nor the suppers and particularly not the waste of time which brings weariness but one doesn't love dancing for dancing's sake only do you fear or dislike the attentions the young men pay to the girls no i have neither fear nor repugnance she said simply it does not amuse me that is all i am not witty like brulette i don't know how to answer patly nor how to make other people talk and i can't be amusing i am still

Starting point is 07:02:05 stupid and dreamy, and I am as much out of place in a lively company as a wolf or a fox at a dance. You don't look like a wolf or any other villainous beast, and you dance as gracefully as the willow branches when the breeze caresses them. I don't know what more I was going to say when Iriel came out of his room, handsome as the sun, and more in a hurry to get off than I was, for I should have been just as satisfied to stay with his sister. She kept him a moment to straighten his cravat and to tie his garters at the knee, apparently not thinking him jaunty enough to dance through the wedding with roulette, and as she did so she said, "'Tell me, why were you so jealous of her dancing with anyone but you?

Starting point is 07:02:44 Were you not afraid of frightening her with such masterful orders?' "'Tiennet!' exclaimed Uriel, stopping short in what he was doing and taking Charleau, whom he placed on the table and gazed at with all his eyes. "'Whose child is this?' Terence, astonished, first asked him what he meant by the question, and then asked me why I did not answer it. we looked each other in the eyes like three dolls and i would have given all i had to know how to answer for i saw that a sword was hanging over our heads at last recollecting the virtue and truth i had seen that very afternoon in my cousin's eyes when i had pretty nigh asked her the same question

Starting point is 07:03:22 I plucked up courage and going straight to the point, I said to Iriel. Comrade, if you ask that question in our village, many persons will tell you he is Brulet's child. He did not let me say more, but picking up the boy, he felt him and turned him over as a hunter examines a head of game. Fearing his anger, I tried to take the child from him, but he held him firmly, saying, No fear for the poor innocent thing. My heart is not bad, and if I saw any resemblance to her, I might not be able to refrain from kissing him, though I should hate the fate that brought me to it. But there is no such resemblance.

Starting point is 07:03:57 My blood runs neither the hot on or the colder with this child in my arms. Tiennet, Tiennet, answer him, cried Terons, as if waking from a dream. Answer me, too, for I don't know what all this means, and it makes me wild to think of it. There is no stain on our family, and if my father believed. Uriel cut her short, wait, sister, he said. A word too much is soon said. it is for Tiené to speak. Come, Tiené, you who are an honest man, tell me.

Starting point is 07:04:25 One, two, whose child is that? I swear to God I don't know, I answered. If it were hers, you would know? I think she could not have hidden it from me. Did she ever hide anything else? Never. Does she know the parents of the child? Yes, but she will not even let me question her about them.

Starting point is 07:04:47 Does she deny the child is hers? no one has ever dared to ask her not even you thereupon i related in a few words what i knew and what i believed and finished by saying i can find no proof for or against brulette but for the life of me i cannot doubt her nor i either said uriel and kissing charlotte he set him on the floor nor i either exclaimed terence but why should this idea have come into people's heads why into yours brother as soon as you looked at the child I did not even think of asking whether it were broulet's nephew or cousin. I thought it must belong to the family, and seeing it in her arms made me wish to take it in mine. I see, I must explain, said Uriel, though the words will scorch my mouth. But no, he added, I would rather tell it. It will be the first and the last time, for my mind is made up, whatever the truth may be and whatever happens.

Starting point is 07:05:42 You must know, Terence, that three days ago, when we were parting with Joseph at Montague, and you know with what a light heart I left him. He was cured, he gave her up, he asked you in marriage, and Brulette was still free. He knew she was, and said so. And when I spoke of her, he answered, Do what you like, I no longer love her. You can love her without hurting me. Well, sister, at the very moment we were parting,

Starting point is 07:06:06 Joseph caught me by the arm as you were getting into the cart and said, Is it true, Eriel, that you are going into our parts, and that you mean to court to the girl I loved so well? yes i answered since you ask me that is my intention and you have no right to change your mind or i shall think you were tricking us when you asked for my sister in marriage i was not replied joseph but i should feel i was deceiving you now if i allowed you to leave without telling you a miserable thing god is my witness that these words should never have left my lips against a person whose father brought me up if you were not on the point of taking a false step but your father has also brought me up educating my mind just as the other fed and clothed of my body, and I am forced to tell you the truth. Uriel, at the time when I left Brulette with my heart full of love, she had already, without my knowledge, loved another man,

Starting point is 07:06:56 and today there is a living proof of it which she does not even take the trouble to hide. Now then, do as you please, I shall think no more about her. So saying, Joseph turned his back on me and went into the woods. He looked so wild that I, with my heart full of faith and love, accused him in my thoughts of madness and wicked anger. you remember sister that you thought me ill as we drove that day to the village of uriel when we got there you found two letters from brulette and i found three from tiennet which our friends there had neglected to send on in spite of their promises those letters were so simple so affectionate and showed such truth in every word that i said to myself i will go and joseph's words went out of my mind like a bad dream i was ashamed for him and would not remember them and then just now when i saw brulette with that look of hers so generally so modest, that charmed me so in the old days. I swear to God I had forgotten all as though it had never

Starting point is 07:07:52 happened. The sight of the child killed me. And that was why I was resolved to know if Broulet were free to love me. She is, because she has promised to expose herself for my sake to the criticisms and neglect of others. Well, as she is now tied to no one, even if there be a fault in her, whether I believe it a little or not at all, whether she confesses or explains it, "'It is all one. I love her.' "'Would you love a degraded girl?' cried Terence. "'No, no, think of your father, of your sister. "'Don't go to this wedding.

Starting point is 07:08:26 "'Wait till we know the truth. "'I don't distrust, Brulette. "'I don't believe in Joseph. "'I am sure that Brulet is spotless, but she must say so. "'She must do more. "'She must prove it. "'Go and fetch her, Tiennet. "'Let her explain this thing at once,

Starting point is 07:08:39 "'before my brother takes one of those steps "'from which an honest man cannot back down. "'You shall not go, Tiennet. said Uriel. I forbid you. If, as I believe, Brulet is as innocent as my sister Terence, she shall not be subjected to the insult of that question

Starting point is 07:08:55 before I have openly pledged my word to her. Think it over, brother, said Terence, again urging him. Sister, said Uriel, you forget one thing. If Brulette has done a wrong thing, I have committed a crime. If love betrayed her into bringing a child into the world, anger betrayed me into sending a man out of it. Then as Terence still reminels

Starting point is 07:09:16 still remonstrated, he added, kissing her and pushing her aside. Enough! Enough! I need pardon before I judge of others. Did I not kill a man? So saying he rushed off without waiting for me, and I saw him running towards the bride's house, where the smoke of the chimney and the uproar within bespoke the wedding feast. Ah, said Terence, following him with her eyes. My poor brother cannot forget his misfortune, and perhaps he will never be comforted. He will be comforted, Terence, I replied. when he sees how the girl he loves loves him. I'll answer for her loving him, and in times past, too.

Starting point is 07:09:55 I think so too, Tiennet, but suppose she were unworthy of him. My beautiful Terence, are you so stern that you would think it a mortal sin if a misfortune happened to a mere child? And who knows, perhaps ignorantly or by force? It is not the misfortune or the fault I should blame so much as the lies told and acted, and the behaviour that followed. If at the first your cousin had said openly to my brother, Do not caught me, for I have been betrayed.

Starting point is 07:10:23 I could understand that he might have forgiven all to such an honest confession, but to let him court her and admire her so much without saying a word. Come, Tiennet, tell me, do you really know nothing about it? Can't you at least guess or imagine something to set my mind at ease? I do so love Brulet that I haven't the courage to condemn her. And yet what will my father say if he thinks I might have saved Uriel from such a danger? Terence, I know nothing and can tell you nothing, except that now, less than ever, do I doubt Brulette.

Starting point is 07:10:51 for if you wish me to tell you the only person whom i could possibly suspect of abusing her and upon whom public suspicion fell with some slight appearance of reason i must honestly say it was joseph who now seems to me after what your brother told us to be as white as the driven snow now there is but one other person who to my knowledge was i will not say capable but in a position to use his friendship of brulette to lead her wrong and that is i do you believe i did terence look me in the eyes before you answer no one has accused me of it that i know of but i might be the sinner all the same and you don't know me well enough yet to be sure of my honesty and good faith that is why i say to you look in my face and see if falsehood and cowardice are at home there Terence did as I told her and looked at me, without showing the least embarrassment. Then she said, No, Tiennet, it is not in you to lie like that. If you are satisfied about Brulet, I will be too. Come, my lad.

Starting point is 07:11:52 Now go off to the dance. I don't want you here any longer. Yes, you do, I said. That child is going to plague you. He is not amiable with persons he does not know, and I would like either to carry him off or help you to take care of him. Not amiable, isn't he? said Terence, taking him on her knee.

Starting point is 07:12:11 Bah, what difficulty is there in managing a little monkey like that? I never tried, but I don't believe there is much art in it. Come, my young man, what do you want? Don't you want something to eat? No, said Charleau, who was sulky without daring to show it. Well, just as you like, when you want your broth, you can ask for it. I'll give you all you want, and even play with you if you get tired. Say, do you want me to play with you?

Starting point is 07:12:36 No, said Charleau, frowning fiercely. Very good, then play alone, said Terence quietly, setting him on the floor. I am going into the courtyard to see the pretty little black horse. She moved to go. Charleau wept. Terence pretended not to hear him till he came to her. Dear me, what's the matter, she said as if surprised. Make haste and tell me, for I am going.

Starting point is 07:12:59 I can't wait. I want to see the pretty little black horse, sobbed Charleau. Then come along, but stop crying, for he runs away when he hears children cry. charlotte choked down his sobs and went off to stroke and admire the clarin should you like to get on him asked terence no i'm afraid i'll hold you no i'm afraid very good then don't get on in a minute more he wanted to no said terence you'll be afraid no yes you will no said charlowe she put him on the horse and led to he said charlotte she put him on the horse and led along, holding the child very carefully. After watching them a little while, I saw that Charles' whims could not hold out against so quiet a will as Terrances. She had discovered the way to manage a troublesome child at her first attempt,

Starting point is 07:13:52 though it had taken Brulette a year of patience and weariness, but it really seemed as if the good God had made Terence a mother without an apprenticeship. She had guessed the astuteness and decision needed, and practiced them without worrying herself, or feeling surprised or impatient at anything. charlotte who had thought himself master of everybody was much astonished to find that with her he was only master of the power to sulk and as she did not trouble herself about that he soon saw it was trouble wasted at the end of half an hour he became quite pleasant asking for what he wanted and making haste to accept whatever was offered to him terence gave him something to eat and i admired how out of her own judgment she knew just what quantity to give him not too much nor yet too little and how to keep him occupied beside her while she was occupied in her own affairs, talking with him as if he were a reasonable being, and treating the imp with such confidence that, without seeming to question him, he soon ran over

Starting point is 07:14:48 all his little tales, which he usually required much begging to do when others tried to make him. He even took such pleasure in her, and was so proud of knowing how to converse, that he got impatient at not knowing the words he wanted, and so invented some to express his meaning. And they were not at all silly or meaningless either. What are you doing here, Tiennet? she said to me suddenly, as if to to let me know she thought I had been there long enough. As I had already invented about fifty little reasons for staying on, her question took me short,

Starting point is 07:15:19 and I could think of nothing to say except that I was occupied in looking at her. Does that amuse you, she exclaimed. I don't know, I answered. You might as well ask the wheat if it likes to grow in the sunshine. Oh, oh, so you were getting mischievous and turning compliments, are you? But please remember it is lost time with me, for I know nothing about them and can't make any reply. I don't know anything about them either, Terence.

Starting point is 07:15:45 All that I meant to say was that to my mind there is nothing so beautiful and saintly as a young girl taking pleasure in a child's prattle. Is not that natural, said Terence. It seems to me that I get to the truth of the things of the good God when I look at that little fellow and talk with him. I feel that I do not live usually as a woman ought to like to live, but I did not choose my own lot

Starting point is 07:16:07 and the wandering life I lead is my duty, because I am the support and happiness of my dear father. Therefore I never complain and never wish for a life which would not be his. Only I can understand the happiness of others. For instance, that of Broulette with her Charleau, whether he be her own or just the good gods, would be very sweet to me. I have not often had a chance to enjoy such amusement,

Starting point is 07:16:30 so I take it when I find it. Yes, I like the company of this little man, and I had no idea he was so clever and knew so much. And yet, dear, Charleau is only tolerable because Broulette has taken such pains with him. He will have to improve very much before he is as amiable as the children God sends good into the world. You surprise me, said Terence. If there are nicer children than he, it must be very pleasant to live with them. But now that's enough, Tienet.

Starting point is 07:16:58 Go away, or they will send after you, and then they will ask me to go too. And that would I confess annoy me, for I am tired, and would much rather stay quietly here with the little one. I had to obey, and I departed with my heart full, and topsy-turvy with ideas that suddenly came into my head about that girl. End of Section 23 Section 24 of the bagpipers by Georges Son. Translated by Catherine Prescott Warmly.

Starting point is 07:17:32 This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 24th evening. It was not only Therons's extreme beauty which filled my thoughts, but as something, I don't know what, which made her seem to be above all others. I was surprised that I had loved Broulette, who was so unlike her, and I kept asking myself if the one were too frank

Starting point is 07:17:53 or the other two coy. I thought Brulette the most amiable, for she had always something kind to say to her friends, and she knew how to keep them about her with all sorts of little orders, which flatter young fellows, where they like to fancy themselves of use. On the other hand, Terence showed you frankly

Starting point is 07:18:11 that she did not want you, and even seemed surprised and annoyed, if you paid her any attention. Both knew their own value, however. But whereas Brulette took the trouble to make you feel it, the other seemed only to wish for the same sort of regard as that she gave you. I don't know how it was that the spice of pride hidden under all this seemed to me an allurement which brought temptation as well as fear.

Starting point is 07:18:35 I found the dance at its height and Brulette was skimming like a butterfly in Uriel's arms. Such ardour was in their faces. She was so intoxicated within and he without, that it really seemed as if neither could hear or see anything about them. The music carried them away, and I do believe that their feet did not touch the earth, and that their souls were dancing in paradise. Now among those who lead a reel, there are seldom many who have neither love nor some other wild fancy in their heads, and therefore no attention was paid to this pair,

Starting point is 07:19:04 and there was so much wine, noise, dust, music, and lively talk in the heated air of the wedding feast, that night came on before anyone took much notice of the actions of others. Broulette merely asked me about Charleau and why Terence did not come and dance. My answer satisfied her, and Uriel did not give her time to say much about the boy. I did not feel inclined to dance, for I could not see any pretty girls. I believe there were plenty, but not one that compared with Terence, and I could not get Terence out of my head. I stood in a corner to watch her brother, so as to have something to tell her if she questioned me.

Starting point is 07:19:41 Uriel had so completely forgotten his troubles that he was all youth and happiness He was well-maided with Brulette For he loved pleasure and racket As much as she did when he was in it And he carried the day against the other lads For he never got tired of dancing All the world knows

Starting point is 07:19:58 For it is so in all lands That women can flaw the men at a reel And can keep themselves going While we poor fellows are dying of heat and thirst Uriel never cared for eating or drinking And you would really have thought he had sworn To surf at Brulette with her choice amusement.

Starting point is 07:20:13 But I could see beneath the surface that he was doing it for his own pleasure, and that he would gladly have gone round the world on one foot, could he have kept his airy partner in his arms. At last, however, some of the youths, beginning to get annoyed that Brulet refused them, took notice that a stranger had cut them out, and talk began about it around the tables. I must tell you that Brulet, not expecting much amusement, and rather inclined to despise the young men of that neighbourhood

Starting point is 07:20:38 on account of their ill-natured speeches, was not dressed with her usual daintiness. She looked more like a little nun than the queen of our parts, and as others had come to the wedding in gala costumes, she did not produce the great effect of former days. Still, she was so animated in dancing that the company were forced to admit that no one compared with her, and as those who did not know her questioned those who did,

Starting point is 07:21:01 a great deal of evil as well as good was talked around me. I listened, wishing to make sure of what was being said and not revealing that she was my relation. I heard the whole story of the monk and the child, and of Joseph and the Bourbonnet. It was also told that Joseph was probably not the father of the child, but more likely that tall fellow, who seemed so sure of his rights that no one else was allowed to approach her.

Starting point is 07:21:26 Well, said one, if it was he and he comes to make reparation, better late than never. Faith, cried another, she didn't choose badly, he is a splendid fellow and seems good company. After all, said a third, they make a fine couple, and when the priestess had his say, their home will be as good as any. All of which let me know that a woman is never lost if she has good protection. But it must be the honest and lasting protection of one man, not the support of hundreds.

Starting point is 07:21:53 For the more who meddle in the matter, the more there are to pull her down. Just then my aunt took Uriel apart, and bringing him close into my neighbourhood sent to him. I want you to drink a glass of wine to my health, for it does my heart good to see your fine dancing, which stirred up the company and made the wedding go off so well. well. Uriel seemed not to like to leave Brulet even for a moment, but the mistress of the house was very peremptory, and he could not help showing her civility. They sat down at an empty table, with a candle between them face to face. My aunt Margiton was, as I told you, a very small woman who had never been a fool. She had the drollest little face you ever saw, very fair and very

Starting point is 07:22:33 rosy, though she was in the 50s and had brought 14 children into the world. I have never seen such such a long nose as hers, with very small eyes sunk in each side of it, sharp as gimlets, and so bright and mischievous that one couldn't look into them without wishing to laugh and chatter. I saw, however, that Uriel was on his guard and was cautious about the wine she poured out for him. He seemed to feel there was something quizzical and inquisitive about her, and without knowing why he put himself on the defence. My aunt, who since early morning had not stopped talking and moving about, had a very pretty taste for good wine, and had scarcely drunk a glass or two when the end of her long nose grew as red as a whore, and her broad mouth, with its rows of narrow

Starting point is 07:23:15 white teeth, enough to furnish three ordinary mouths, began to smile from ear to ear. However, she was not at all upset as to judgment, for no woman could be gay without freedom and mischievous without spite better than she. Well now, my lad, she said after some general talk which served only to lead up to her object. Here you are, for good and all, pledged to our brulette. You can't go back now, for what you wished has happened. Everybody is talking, and if you could hear, as I do, what is being said on all sides, you would find that they have saddled you with the past as well as the future of my pretty niece. I saw that the words drove a knife into Uriel's heart, and knocked him from the stars into the brambles. But he put a good face upon the matter, and answered, laughing, I might wish, my good lady,

Starting point is 07:24:02 to have had her past, for everything. about her is beautiful and good, but as I can have her future only, I expect to share it with the good God. And right you are, returned my aunt, laughing still and looking closely at him with her little green eyes, which were very near-sighted, so that she seemed about to prick his forehead with the sharp end of her nose. When people love, they should love right through, and not be repelled by anything. That is my intention, said Eurel in a curt tone, which did not disconcert my aunt. And that's all the more to your credit, she continued, because poor Brulet has more virtue than

Starting point is 07:24:37 property. You know, I suppose, that you could put her diary into that class, and there are no Louis-Dol to her account. Well, so much the better, said Uriel, the reckoning is the sooner made. I don't like to spend my time doing sums. And besides, said my aunt, a child already weaned is less trouble in a household, especially if the father does his duty, as I'll warrant he will in this case. Poor Uriel went hot and cold, but thinking it was meant as a test, he stood it well and answered, I'll warrant too, that the father will do his duty, for there will be no other father than I for all the children born or to be born. Oh, as for that, she returned, you won't be the master, I give you my word. I hope I shall, he said, clenching his glass as though he would crush it

Starting point is 07:25:22 in his hand. He who abandons his property has no right to filch it back, and I am too faithful a guardian to allow marauders about. My aunt stretched out her skinny little hand and passed it over Uriel's forehead. She felt the sweat, though he was very pale, and then, suddenly changing her look of elfish mischief to one that expressed the goodness and kindness of her heart, she said, My lad, put your elbows on the table and bring your face quite close to my mouth. I want to give you a good kiss upon your cheek. Uriel surprised at her softened manner, abate her fancy.

Starting point is 07:25:56 She raised his thick hair and saw a brulette's token, which he still wore and which she probably recognized. Then bringing her big mouth close to his ear as if she meant to bite him, she whispered three or four words into its orifice, but so low that I couldn't catch a sound. Then she added out loud, pinching his ear, here's a faithful ear, but you must admit it is well rewarded. Uriel made but one bound right over the table, knocking over the glasses and candle before I had time to catch them. in a second he was sitting by my little aunt and kissing her as if she had been the mother that bore him in short he behaved like a crazy man shouting and singing and waving his glass while my aunt laughing like a jackdaw cried as she clinked her glass to his to the health of the father of your child all of which proves she said turning to me that the cleverest folk are often those who are thought of the greatest fools just as the greatest fools are those who have thought themselves so clever you can say that too my tainee and You with your honest heart and your faithful cousinship. I know that you behaved to Brulet as if you had been her brother. You deserve to be rewarded, and I rely on the good God to see that you get your Jews.

Starting point is 07:27:06 Someday or other he will give you, too, your perfect contentment. Thereupon she went off, and Uriel, clasping me in his arms, cried out, Your aunt is right, she is the best of women. You are not in the secret, but that's no matter. You are only the better friend for it. Give me your word, Tienet, that you will come and work here all summer with us. for I have got an idea about you, and please God to help me, you shall thank me for it, fine and good.

Starting point is 07:27:33 If I understand what you mean, I replied, you have just been drinking your wine pure, and my aunt has taken the fly out of your cup. But any idea of yours about me seems more difficult to carry out. Friend, yene, happiness can be earned, and if you have no ideas contrary to mine. I'm afraid they're only too like, but ideas won't suffice.

Starting point is 07:27:55 Of course not, but nothing very very much. venture nothing have. Are you such a berichon that you dare not tempt fate? You sets me too good an example to let me be a coward, I answered. But do you think Brulette here came up and interrupted us, and we saw by her manner that she had no suspicion of what had occurred? Sit here, said Uriel, drawing her to his knee, as we do in our parts without any thought of harm, and tell me, my dear love, if you have no wish to dance with someone besides me? You gave me a word, and you have kept it. That was all I needed to take a bit of out of my heart. But if you think people will talk in a way to hurt your feelings, I will submit to your

Starting point is 07:28:32 pleasure and not dance with you again till you command me. Is it because you were tired of my company, Métro Uriel? replied Brulette, and that you want me to make acquaintance with the other girls at the wedding? Oh, if you take it that way, cried Uriel, beside himself with joy, so much the better. I don't even know if there are other girls here besides you, and I don't want to know. Then he offered her his glass, begging her to touch it with her lips and then drinking its contents with a full heart, after which he dashed it to pieces, so that no one should use it again, and carried off his betrothed, leaving me to think over the matter he had suggested, about which I felt I'm sure I don't know how.

Starting point is 07:29:12 I had not yet felt myself all over about it, and it had never seemed to me that my nature was ardent enough to fall in love lightly, especially with so grave a girl as Terence. I had escaped all annoyance at not being able to please Broulet, thanks to my lively nature. which was always willing to be diverted. But somehow I could not think of Terence without a sort of trembling in the marrow of my bones, as if I had been asked to make a sea voyage, I who had never set foot on a riverboat. Can it be, thought I, that I have fallen in love today without knowing it?

Starting point is 07:29:44 Perhaps I ought to believe it, for here is Uriel urging me on, and his eye must have seen it in my face. Still I am not certain because I feel half-suffocated, and love certainly ought to be a livelier thing than that. thinking over all this i reached i couldn't tell you how the ruined castle that old heap of stones was sleeping in the moonlight as mute as those who built it but a tiny light coming from the room which terence occupied on the courtyard showed that the dead were not the only guardians of the building i went softly to the window which had neither glass nor woodwork and looking through the leaves that shaded it i saw the girl of the woods on her knees saying her prayers beside the bed where charlotte was sleeping soundly with his eyes tightly closed i might live a thousand years and i should never forget her face as it was at that moment it was that of a saint as peaceful as those they carve in stone for the churches i had just seen bluette radiant as the summer sun in the joy of her love and the whirl of the dance and he was terence alone content and white as the moonlight of the spring-tide sky afar i heard the wedding music but that said nothing to the ear of the woodland girl

Starting point is 07:30:55 i think she was listening to the nightingale as it sang its tender canticle in the neighboring covert i don't know what took place within me but all of a sudden i thought of god a thought that did not often come to me in those days of youth and carelessness but now it bent my knees as by some secret order and filled my eyes with tears which fell like rain as though a great cloud had burst within my head do not ask me what prayer i made to the good angels of the sky i know it not myself certainly i did not dare to ask of god to give me terence but i think i prayed him to make me worthier of so great an honor when i rose from the ground i saw that terence had finished her prayer and was preparing for the night she had taken off her cap and i noticed that her black hair fell in coils to her feet but before she had taken the first pin from her garments believe me if you will i had fled as though i feared to be guilty of sacrilege and yet i was no fool either and not at all in the habit of making faces at the devil but terence filled my soul with respect as though she were cousin of the holy virgin as i left the old castle a man whom i had not seen in the shadow of the great portal surprised me by saying hey friend tell me if this is as i think it is the old castle of chassein the head wood'sman i cried recognizing the voice and i kissed him with such ardour that he was quite astonished for naturally he did not remember me as i did him but when he did recollect me he was very friendly and said-iq he said tell me quick my boy if you have seen my children or if you know whether they are here they came this morning i said and so did i and my cousin brulette your daughter terence is in there very quiet and tranquil and my cousin is close by at a wedding with your dear good son thank god i am not too late said perl bastien joseph has gone on to noan expecting to find them there together joseph did he come with you they did not expect you for five or six days and uriel to

Starting point is 07:32:59 told us. Just see how matters turn out in this world, said Per Bastien, drawing me out on the road so as not to be overheard. Of all the things that are blown about by the wind, the brains of lovers are the lightest. Did Uriel tell you all that relates to Joseph? Yes, everything. When Joseph saw Terence and Uriel starting for these parts, he whispered something in Uriel's ear. Do you know what he told him? Yes, I know Per Bastian, but hush, for I know too. Seeing that my son changed color and that Joseph rushed into the woods in a singular way. I followed him and ordered him to tell me what secret he had just told Uriel. Master, he replied, I don't know if I have done well or ill, but I felt myself obliged to do it.

Starting point is 07:33:43 This is what it is, for I am also bound to tell you. Thereupon he told me how he had received a letter from friends, telling him that Brulet was bringing up a child that could only be her own. After telling me all this with much suffering and anger, he begged me to follow Uriel and prevent him from committing a great folly and swallowing a bitter shame. When I questioned him as to the age of the child, and he had read me the letter he carried with him, as though it were a remedy for his wounded love, I did not feel at all sure that it was not written to plague him, more especially as the carnal lad, who wrote the letter, in answer to a proposal of Joseph's

Starting point is 07:34:18 to be properly admitted as a bagpiper in your parts, seemed to have an ill-natured desire to prevent his return. besides remembering the modesty and proper behaviour of that little brulette i felt more and more persuaded that injustice was being done her and i could not help blaming and ridiculing joseph for so readily believing such a wicked story doubtless i should have done better my good tienet to have left him in the belief that brulette was unworthy of his love but i can't help that a sense of justice guided my tongue and prevented me from seeing the consequences i was so displeased to hear an innocent young girl defame that I spoke as I felt. It had a greater effect upon Joseph than I expected. He went instantly from one extreme to the other. Bursting into tears like a child, he let himself drop on the ground, tearing his clothes and pulling out his hair, with such anger and self-reproach that I had great trouble in pacifying him. Luckily his health has grown nearly as strong as yours, for a year sooner such despair, seizing him in this manner, would have killed him. I spent the rest of the day and all that night in trying to compose his mind. It was not a little bit of the day. It was not a

Starting point is 07:35:23 an easy thing for me to do. On the one hand I knew that my son had fallen in love with Brulet in a very earnest way from the day he first saw her, and that he was only reconciled to life after Joseph had given up a suit which thwarted his hopes. On the other hand, I have always felt a great regard for Joseph, and I know that Brulet has been in his thoughts since childhood. I had to sacrifice one or the other, and I asked myself if I should not do a selfish deed in deciding for the happiness of my own son against that of my pupil. "'Tiennet, you don't know Joseph, and perhaps you have never known him. "'My daughter Terence may have spoken of him rather severely.

Starting point is 07:35:59 "'She does not judge him in the same way that I do. "'She thinks him selfish, hard, and ungrateful. "'There is some truth in that, "'but what excuses him in my eyes "'cannot excuse him in those of a young girl like Terence. "'Women, my lad, only want us to love them. "'They take into their hearts alone the food they live on. "'God made them so, and we men are fortunate

Starting point is 07:36:20 "'if we are worthy to understand this. i think i remarked to the head woodsman that i do now understand it and that women are very right to want nothing else of us but our hearts for that is the best thing in us no doubt no doubt my son returned to the fine old man i have always thought so i loved the mother of my children more than money more than talent more than pleasure or livery talk more indeed than anything in the world i see that uriel is tarred with the same brush for he has changed without regret all his habits and tastes so as to fit himself to be worthy of roulette. I believe that you feel in the same way, for you show it plainly enough. But nevertheless, talent is a thing which God likewise values, for he does not restore it on everybody, and we are bound to respect and help those whom he has thus marked as the sheep of his fold. But don't you think that your son Uriel has as much mind and more talent for music than Jose? My son Uriel has both mind and talent. He was received into the fraternity of the bagpipers

Starting point is 07:37:22 when he was only 18 years old, and though he has never practiced the profession, he has great knowledge and aptitude for it. But there is a wide difference, friend Tiennet, between those who acquire and those who originate. There are some with ready fingers and accurate memory who can play agreeably anything they learn, but there are others who are not content with being taught,

Starting point is 07:37:40 who go beyond all teaching, seeking ideas, and bestowing on all future musicians the gift of their discoveries. Now I tell you that Joseph is one of them. In him are two very remarkable nature. the nature of the plain as i may say where he was born which gives him his tranquil calm and solid ideas and the nature of our hills and woods which have enlarged his understanding and brought him tender and vivid and intelligent thoughts he will one day be for those who have ears to hear something more than a mere country minstrel he will become a true master of the bagpipe as in the olden time one of those to whom the great musicians listened with attention and who changed at times the customs of their art do you really think per bastien that jose will become a second headwoodsman of your craft ah my poor tiennet replied the old minstrel sighing you don't know what you are talking about and it should have hard work to make you understand it try to do so at any rate i replied you are good to listen to and it isn't good that i should continue the simpleton that i am end of section twenty four section twenty five of the bagpipers by george

Starting point is 07:38:56 translated by Catherine Prescott warmly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 25th evening. You must know, began Per Bastien, very readily, for he was fond of talking when he was listened to willingly, that I might have been something if I had given myself wholly up to music. I could have done so had I made myself a fiddler, as I thought of doing in my youth.

Starting point is 07:39:20 I don't mean that one improves a talent by fiddling three days and nights at a wedding, like that fellow I can hear from here, murdering the tune of our mountain jig. When a man has no object before his mind but money, he gets tired and rusty, but there's a way for an artist to live by his body without killing the soul within him. As every festival brings him in at least 20 or 30 francs,

Starting point is 07:39:41 that's enough for him to take his ease, to live frugally, and to travel about for pleasure and instruction. That's what Joseph wants to do, and I have always advised him to do it. But here's what happened to me. I fell in love, and the mother of my dear children would not hear of marrying a fiddler without hearth of home, always a going, spending his nights in a racket

Starting point is 07:40:01 and his days in sleeping, and ending his life with a debauch, for unhappily it is seldom that a man can keep himself straight at that business. She kept me tied to the woodsman's craft, and that's the whole story. I never regretted my talent as long as she lived. To me, as I told you, love is the divinest music. When I was left a widower with two young children, I gave myself wholly to them. But my music got very rusty and my fingers very stiff by dint of handling axe and shears. And I confess to you, Tiennet, that if my two children were happily married, I should quit this burdensome business of slinging iron and chopping wood, and I would be off, happy and young again, to live as I liked, seeking converse with angels, until old age brought me back, feeble but satisfied, to my children's

Starting point is 07:40:45 hearth. And then, too, I am sick of felling trees. Do you know, Tiennet, I love them, those noble old companions of my life, who have told me so many things by the murmur of their leaves and the crackling of their branches. And I, more malignant than the fire from heaven, have thanked them by driving an axe into their hearts, and laying them low at my feet like so many dismembered corpses. Don't laugh at me, but I have never seen an old oak fall, nor even a young willow, without trembling with pity or with fear, as an assassin of the works of God. i longed to walk beneath their shady branches repulsed no longer as an ingrate and listening at last to the secrets i was once unworthy to hear the head woodsman whose voice had grown in passion stopped short and thought a moment and so did i amazed not to think him the madman i should have thought another in his place perhaps because he had managed to put his ideas into me or possibly because i myself had some such ideas in my own head no doubt you are thinking he resumed that we have got a long way from joseph

Starting point is 07:41:45 but you are mistaken we are all the nearer and now you shall understand how it was that i decided after some hesitation to treat the poor fellow's troubles sternly i have often said to myself and i have seen in the way his grief affected him that he could never make a woman happy and also that he could never be happy himself with any woman, unless she could make him the pride of her life. For it must be admitted that Joseph has more need of praise and encouragement than of love and friendship. What made him in love with Brulet in the first instance was that she listened to his music and urged him on. What kept him from loving my daughter,

Starting point is 07:42:20 for his return to her was only pique, was that Terence requires affection more than knowledge, and treated him like a son rather than a man of great talent. I venture to say that I have read the lad's heart, and that his one idea has been to dazzle Brulette someday with his success. So long as Brulet was held to be the queen of beauty and dignity in her own country, he would, thanks to her, enjoy a double royalty. But Brulet smirched by a fault, or merely degraded by the suspicion of one,

Starting point is 07:42:47 was no longer his cherished dream. I, who knew the heart of my son Uriel, I knew he would never condemn Brulet without a hearing, and that if she had not done anything wrong, he would love her and protect her all the more because she was misjudged. So that decided me finally to oppose Joseph's love, and to advise him to think no longer of marriage. Indeed, I tried to make him understand that Broulet prefers my son, which is what I believe myself. He seemed to give in to my arguments, but it was only, I think, to get rid of them.

Starting point is 07:43:17 For yesterday morning before it was light, I saw him making his preparations for departure. Though he thought himself cleverer than I, and expected to get off without being seen, I kept with him until, losing patience, he let out the whole truth. I saw then that his anger was great, and that he meant to follow Uriel and quarrel with him about Brulette if he found that Brulette was worth it. As he was still uncertain on the latter point, I thought best to blame him and even to ridicule a love like his which was only jealousy without respect, gluttony, as one might say, without appetite. He confessed I was right, but he went off all the same, and by that you can judge of his obstinacy.

Starting point is 07:43:54 just as he was about to be received into the guild of his art, for an appointment was made for the competition near Rosence. He abandoned everything, though certain to lose the opportunity, saying he could get himself admitted willingly or unwillingly in his own country. Finding him so determined that he even came near getting angry with me, I decided to come with him, fearing some bad action on his part and some fresh misfortune for Uriel. We parted only a couple of miles from here at the village of Sarzé,

Starting point is 07:44:21 where he took the road to Noan, while I came on here, hoping to find Uriel and reason with him, thinking that if necessary, my legs could still take me to Noant tonight. Luckily, you can rest them tonight, I said. Tomorrow will be time enough to discuss matters. But are you really anxious for what may happen if the two gallants meet? Joseph was never quarrelsome, to my knowledge. In fact, I have always seen him hold his tongue when people showed him their teeth. Yes, yes, answered Per Bastien, but that was in the days when he was a sickly child and darted his strength.

Starting point is 07:44:54 There is no more dangerous water than still water. It is not always healthy to stir the depths. Don't you want to come into your new abode and see your daughter? No, you said she was resting. I am not anxious about her. I am much more desirous to know the truth about roulette. For though my heart defends her, still my reason tells me that there may have been some little thing in her conduct

Starting point is 07:45:14 which lays her open to blame. And I feel I ought to know more before going too far. I was about to tell him what had happened an hour before, under my very eyes, between Uriel and my aunt. When Uriel himself appeared, sent by Brulet, who was afraid Terence might be unable to get Chalot to sleep, father and son had an explanation in which Uriel, begging his father not to ask for a secret he was bound not to tell, and which Brulet herself was not aware that he knew, swore on his baptism that Brulet was worthy of his father's blessing.

Starting point is 07:45:48 Come and see, her dear father, he added. You can do it very easily because we are now dancing out of doors, and you need no invitation. to be present. By the very way she kisses you, you will know that no girl so sweet and amiable was ever more pure in heart. I do not doubt it, my son, and I will go to please you, and also for the pleasure of seeing her. But wait a moment, for I want to speak to you of Joseph. I thought I had better leave them alone, so I went off to tell my aunt of Per Bastien's arrival, knowing she would welcome him heartily and did not let him stay outside. But I found no one in the house but Brulette. The whole wedding party with the music at their head had gone to carry the roast

Starting point is 07:46:26 to the newly married couple who had retired to a neighbouring house, for it was past eleven o'clock at night. It is an ancient custom which I have never thought very nice to shame a young bride by a visit and joking songs. Though the other girls had all gone, with or without malicious intention, Brulette had had the decency to stay in the chimney corner where I found her sitting as if keeping watch in the kitchen,

Starting point is 07:46:48 but really taking the sleep she so much needed. I did not care to disturb her nor to deprive her of the fine surprise she would feel on waking at the sight of the head woodsman. Very tired myself, I sat down at a table, laid my arms on it and my head on my arms, as you do when you mean to take a five minutes nap. But I thought of Terence and did not sleep.

Starting point is 07:47:08 For a moment only my thoughts were hazy, and just then a trifling noise made me open my eyes without lifting my head, and I saw a man enter and walk up to the chimney. Though the candles had all been carried off for the visit to the bride, the fire of Fagos which flamed on the hearth gave light enough to enable me to recognise at once

Starting point is 07:47:25 who it was. It was Joseph, who no doubt had met some of the wedding guests on his way to Noan, and finding where we were had retraced his steps. He was dusty with his journey and carried a bundle on the end of his stick, which he threw into a corner and then stood stock-still like a milestone, looking at Brouletta sleep, and taking no notice of me. The year during which I had not seen him had made as greater change in him as it had in Terence. His health being better than it ever was, it was safe to call him a handsome man, whose square shoulders and wiry figure were more muscular than thin. His face was sallow, partly from a bilious constitution and partly from the heat of the sun, and this swarthy tint went singularly well with his large light eyes, and his long straight hair.

Starting point is 07:48:09 It was still the same sad and dreamy face, but something bold and decided, showing the harsh will so long concealed, was mingled in it. I did not move, wishing to observe the manner in which he approached Brulet and so judge of his coming meeting with Uriel. no doubt he did study the girl's face seeking for truth and perhaps beneath the eyelids closed in quiet slumber he perceived her piece of heart for the girl was sweetly pretty seen at that moment in the blaze from the hearth her complexion was still bright with pleasure her mouth smiled with contentment and the silken lashes of her closed eyes cast a soft shadow on her cheeks which seemed to quiver beneath them like the sly glances that girls cast on their lovers but brulette was sound asleep dreaming no doubt of uriel and thinking as little of alluring Joseph as of rappelling him. I saw that he felt her beauty so much that his wrath hung by a thread, for he leaned over her and, with the courage I did not give him credit for,

Starting point is 07:49:06 he put his lips quite close to hers and would have touched them if I, in a sudden rage, had not coughed violently and stopped the kiss on its way. Brulette woke up with a start. I pretended to do the same, and Joseph felt a good deal of a fool between the pair of us, who both asked what he was doing, without any appearance of confusion on Brulette's part or of malice on mine. End of Section 25. Section 26 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Wormley. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 26th evening. Joseph recovered himself quickly and showing plainly that he did not mean to be

Starting point is 07:49:52 put in the wrong. He said to Brulette, I am glad to find you here. After a year's absence, don't you mean to kiss an old friend? He approached her again, but she drew back. surprised at his singular manner and said, No, José, it is not my way to kiss any lad, no matter how old a friend he is or how glad I am to see him. You have grown very coy, he said in an angry and scoffing tone. I don't think I have ever been coy with you, Joseph. You never gave me any reason to be.

Starting point is 07:50:21 And as you never asked me to be familiar, I never had occasion to forbid you're kissing me. Nothing is changed between us, and I do not know why you should now lay claim to what has never entered into our friendship. What an amount of talk and wry faces all about a kiss, said Joseph, his anger rising. If I never asked for what you were ready enough to give others, it was because I was a young fool. I thought you would receive me better now that I am neither a ninny nor a coward.

Starting point is 07:50:48 What is the matter with him? asked Broulet, surprised and even frightened, and coming close up to me. Is it really he or someone who looks like him? I thought I saw our Jose, but this is not his speech, nor his face nor his friendship. How have I changed, Broulet, began José, a little disconcerted and already repentant. Is it that I now have the courage I once lacked to tell you that you are to me the loveliest in the world, and that I have always longed for your good graces? There's no offence in that, I hope, and perhaps I am not more unworthy of them than others whom you allow to hang around you.

Starting point is 07:51:24 So saying, with a return of his vexation, he looked me in the face, and I saw he was trying to pick a quarrel with whoever would take him up. I asked nothing better than to draw his first fire. Joseph, I said, Broulet is right in thinking you changed. There is nothing surprising in that. We know how we part, but not how we meet again. You need not be surprised either if you find a little change in me. I have always been quiet and patient, standing by you in all your difficulties and consoling your vexations. But if you have grown more unjust than you used to be, I have grown more touchy, and I take it ill that you should say to my cousin before me,

Starting point is 07:52:00 me that she is prodigal of her kisses and allows too many young men about her. Josefied me contemptuously, and put on a really devilish look of malice as he laughed in my face. Then he said, crossing his arms and looking at me as though he were taking my measure. Well, is it possible, Tiennet? Can this be you? However, I always did doubt you, and the friendship you professed, to deceive me. What do you mean by that, Jose, said Brulette, much affronted and fancying he had lost his mind. Where did you get the right to blame me, and why are you trying to see something wrong or ridiculous between my cousin and me? Are you ill, or drunken, that you forget the respect you owe me

Starting point is 07:52:40 and the affection that you know I deserve? Joseph drew in his horns, and taking Brulet's hand in his, he said to her with his eyes full of tears. I am to blame Brulet. Yes, I'm irritable from fatigue and the desire to get here, but I feel nothing but devotion for you, and you ought not to take it in bad part. I know very well that your manners are dignified and that you exact the respect of everybody. It is due to your beauty which I see is greater, not less than ever. But you surely will allow that you love pleasure and that people often kiss each other when dancing. It is the custom and I shall think it a very good one when I profit by it, which will be now, for I have learned how to dance like others, and for the first time in my life I am going to dance with you. I hear the bagpipes returning.

Starting point is 07:53:26 come you shall see that all my ill-humour will clear off under the happiness of being your sweetheart josie replied brulette not more than half pleased at this speech you are very much mistaken if you think i still have sweethearts i may have been coquettish that's my way and i am not bound to give account of my actions but i have also the right and the will to change my ways i no longer dance with everybody and to-night i shall not dance again i should have thought said joseph piqued that i was not everybody is not everybody as you say, to an old friend with whom I made my first communion, and under whose roof I lived. The music and the wedding guests, returning with a great racket, cut short their words, and Uriel, also entering, full of eagerness and taking no notice of Joseph, caught brulet on his arm and carried her like a feather to his father, who was waiting outside, and who kissed her joyously, to the great annoyance of Joseph, who clenched his fists as he watched her paying the old man the filial attentions of a daughter. Creeping up to the headwoodsman, I whispered that Joseph was there in a bad temper, and I proposed

Starting point is 07:54:31 that he should draw Uriel aside, while I persuaded Brulette to go to bed. Joseph, who was not invited to the wedding, would thus be obliged to go off and sleep at Noon, or at some other house in Chassin. The headwoodsman thought the suggestion good, and pretending not to see Joseph, who kept in the background, he talked apart with Uriel, while Brulette went away to see in what part of the she could stow herself for the night. But my aunt, who had counted on lodging us, did not expect that Brulette would take it into her head to go to bed before three or four in the morning. The young men never go to bed at all on the first night of a wedding, and do their best to keep up

Starting point is 07:55:06 the dance for three days and three nights running. If one of them gets tired, he goes into the hayloft and takes a nap. As to the girls and women, they all retire into one room, but generally it is only the old women and the ugly ones who abandon the dance. So when Brulet went up to the where she expected to find a place next to some of her relatives. She came upon a crowd of snorers, among whom not a corner as big as the palm of her hand was vacant. And the few who woke up told her to come again towards morning, when they would be ready to go down and serve the tables. She came back to us and told her a difficulty.

Starting point is 07:55:41 Well then, said Per Bastien, you must go and sleep with Terence. My son and I will spend the night here so that no talk can be made about it. I declared that in order to avoid giving a pretext for Joseph's jealousy, Brulette could easily slip out with me without saying a word, and Per Bastien, going up to him and plying him with questions, I took my cousin to the old castle by a backway through my aunt's garden. When I returned, I found the headwoodsman, Joseph and Uriel at table together. They called me and I sat down to supper with them,

Starting point is 07:56:12 eating, drinking, talking, and singing, to avoid an explosion of anger which might follow on any talk about Brulet. Joseph, seeing us determined to keep the peace, controlled himself at first, and even seemed gay. But he could not help biting as he caressed, and every joke he made had a sting at the end of it. The headwoodsman tried to keep down his bile with a measure of wine, and I think Joseph might willingly have yielded in order to forget himself, if it were not that wine never affected him. He drank four times as much as the rest of us, who had no reason to wish to drown our intelligence, and yet his ideas were all the clearer and his speech too. at last after some particularly spiteful remarks on the slyness of women and the treachery of friends uriel striking his fist on the table and grasping his father's elbow which for some time past had been nudging him to keep quiet said in a decided tone no father excuse me but i cannot stand any more of this and it is much better to say so openly i know very well that joseph's teeth will be as sharp a year hence as they are now and though i have closed my ears to his sayings up to this time

Starting point is 07:57:20 It is right that they should open now to his unjust remarks and reproaches. Come, Joseph, for the last hour I have seen what you mean. You have wasted a great deal of wit. Talk plain, I'm listening. Say what you have on your mind with the wise and wherefores. I will answer you frankly. Well, so be it. Come to an explanation, said the head woodsman, reversing his glass and deciding the situation,

Starting point is 07:57:45 as he well knew how to do when it became necessary. We will have no more drinking if it is not to be in friendship, for it is ill mixing the devil's venom with the good God's wine. You surprised me both of you, said Joseph, who had grown yellow to the whites of his eyes, though he still continued to laugh vindictively. What the devil are you angry about, and why do you scratch yourselves when nothing is biting you?

Starting point is 07:58:09 I have nothing against anybody. Only I happen to be in the humour to jeer at everything, and I don't think you are likely to rid me of it. Perhaps I could, said Uriel, provoked. Try, said Joseph, sneering. "'That's enough,' said the headwoodsman, striking the table with his heavy hand. "'Hold your tongues, both of you, and as there is no frankness in you, Joseph, I shall have enough for the two. You misjudged in your heart the woman you wished to love. That is a wrong that God can pardon,

Starting point is 07:58:38 for it is not always easy for a man to be trustful or distrustful in his friendships. But it is, unfortunately, a wrong that cannot be repaired. You fell into that blunder. You must accept the consequences and submit to them. Why so, Master, said Joseph, setting up his back like an angry cat. Who will tell the wrong to Brulette? She has not known or suffered from it. No one, said Uriel. I am not a blackguard.

Starting point is 07:59:03 Then who will tell it? demanded Joseph. Yourself, said Per Bastien. What can make me? The consciousness of your love for her. Doubt never comes singly. You may get over the first twinge, but there comes a second, which will issue from your lips at the first words you say to her.

Starting point is 07:59:22 In fact, I think it has happened already, Joseph, said I, for this very evening you offended the person we are speaking of. Perhaps I did, he said haughtily, but that is between her and me. If I choose that she shall return to me, what makes you think she will not return? I remember my master's song, the music is beautiful and the words are true. Gifts are for those who pray. Well, Uriel, go ahead. Ask in words and I will ask in music, and we will see whether or no I can't win her back again. Come, play fair, you who blame what you call my crooked ways. The game is between us, and we'll have no shuffling. A fine house has more than one door, and will each knock at the one that suits us. I am willing, said Euryl, but you

Starting point is 08:00:04 will please to remember one thing. I will stand no more fault-finding, whether in jest or earnest. If I overlook the past, my good nature does not go so far as to allow any more of it. What do you mean by that? demanded Joseph, whose bile interfered with his memory. I forbid you to ask, said the headwoodsman, and I command you to bethink yourself. If you fight my son, you will be none the more innocent for that, and it will not add to your credit if I withdraw the forgiveness, which, without a word of explanation, my heart has already granted you. Master, cried Joseph, hot with excitement.

Starting point is 08:00:39 If you think you have anything to forgive, I thank you for your forgiveness. But in my opinion I have done you no wrong. I never dreamed of deceiving you, and if your daughter had said yes, I should not have backed down from my offer. She is a girl without an equal for sense and uprightness. I should have loved her ill or well, but at any rate sincerely and without betraying her. She might perhaps have saved me from much evil and much suffering,

Starting point is 08:01:04 but she did not think me worthy of her. Therefore I am at liberty to court whom I will, and I consider that the man I trusted and who promised me his help has made haste to take advantage of my momentary peak to supplant me. Your momentary peak lasted a month, Joseph, said, Eriel, be fair about it. One month, during which you asked my sister in marriage three times. I am forced to believe that you held her in derision. If you wish to clear yourself of that insult, you must admit that I was not to blame in the matter. I believed your word. That is the only wrong

Starting point is 08:01:36 I have done. Don't give me reason to think it is one I must repent of. Joseph kept silence. Then rising, he said, Yes, you are good at argument. You are both cleverer than I at that. I have spoken and acted like a man who does not know what he wants. But you are greater fools than I if you don't know that, without being mad, we may wish for two opposite things. Leave me to be what I am, and I will leave you to be what you wish to be. If your heart is honest, Eriel, I shall soon know it, and if you win the game fairly, I will do you justice and withdraw without resentment. How can you tell if my heart is honest when you have been unable to judge it rightly hitherto? I can tell by what you now say

Starting point is 08:02:18 of me to Broulet, replied Joseph. You are in a position to prejudice her against me, and I cannot do the same by you. Stop, I said to Joseph. Don't blame anyone unjustly. Terence has already told Brulet that you asked her in marriage not a fortnight ago. But nothing further has been or will be told, added Uriel. Joseph, we are better than you think us. We do not want to deprive you of Brulette's friendship. The words touched Joseph, and he put out his hand as if to take Uriel's. But the good intent attention stopped halfway, and he went off without another word to anyone. A hard heart, cried Eriel, who was too kind himself not to suffer from this ingratitude.

Starting point is 08:02:59 No, an unhappy one, said his father. Struck by the words, I followed Joseph to either scold him or console him, for he looked as if death were in his eyes. I was quite as much displeased with him as Eriel was, but the old habit of pitying and protecting him was so strong that it carried me after him, whether I would or no. He walked so rapidly along the road to Noan that I soon lost sight of him, but he stopped at the edge of the Lajon, a little pond on a barren heath. The place is very dreary and without shade, except for that of a few stunted trees ill-fed in the poor soil.

Starting point is 08:03:32 But the swampy land around the pond abounded with wildflowers, and as the white water-lily and other marsh plants were now in bloom, the place smelt as sweet as a garden. Joseph had flung himself down among the reeds, and not knowing that he was followed, but believing himself all alone, he was groaning and growling at the same time like a wounded wolf. I called him merely to let him know I was there,

Starting point is 08:03:54 for I knew he would not answer me, and I went straight up to him. This is not the right thing at all, I said to him. You ought to take counsel with yourself. Tears are not reasons. I am not weeping, Tienet, he answered in a steady voice. I am neither so weak nor so happy that I can find comfort that way. It is seldom in my worst moments that a tear gets out of my eyes, and it is fire, not water that is forcing,

Starting point is 08:04:18 its way now, for it burns like live coal. But don't ask me why. I can't tell why, and I don't want to seek for the cause of it. The day of trusting in others is over with me. I know my strength, and I no longer need their help. It was only given out of pity, and I want no more of it. I can rely in future on myself. Thank you for your good intentions. Thank you, and please leave me. But where are you going to spend the night? I'm going to my mother's. It is very very, very late, and it is so far from here to Saint-Chartier. No matter, he said, rising, I can't stay here. We shall meet tomorrow at Yené.

Starting point is 08:04:56 Yes, at home, we go back tomorrow. I don't care where, he said. Wherever she is, your blu-let, I shall find her, and perhaps it will be seen that she has not made her final choice. He went off with a determined air, and seeing that his pride supported him, I offered no further consolation. Fatigue and the pleasure of seeing his mother, and a day or two for reflection might, I hoped, bring him to.

Starting point is 08:05:18 to reason. I planned, therefore, to advise Brulet to stay at Chassin over the next day, and making my way back to the village with this idea in my head, I came upon the headwoodsman and his son, in a corner of the field through which I was making a shortcut. They were preparing what they called their bedclothes, in other words, making ready to sleep on the ground, not wishing to disturb the two girls in the castle, and really preferring to lie under the stars at this sweet season of the year. I liked the idea, too, for the fresh grass seemed much nicer than the hay of a barn heated by the bodies of a score of other fellows. So I stretched myself beside Uriel, looked at the little white clouds in the clear sky,

Starting point is 08:05:56 smelt the hawthorn odors, and fell asleep, thinking of Terence in the sweetest slumber I ever had in my life. I have always been a good sleeper, and in my youth I seldom wakened of myself. My two companions who had walked a long distance the day before let the sun rise without their knowing it, and woke up laughing to find him ahead of them, which didn't happen very often. They laughed still more to see how cautious I was not to tumble out of bed when I opened my eyes and looked about to see where I was. Come, up my boy, said Yeril. We are late enough already. Do you know something? It is the last day of May, and it is the fashion in our parts to tie a nosegay to our sweetheart's door when there was no chance to do it on the first of the month. There is no fear that anyone has got ahead of us, because, for one thing, no one knows where my sister and your cousin are lodging, and for another it isn't the custom in this part of the country to leave, as we say, the call again by. but we are so late i fear the girls are up and if they leave their rooms before the may bunch is hung to the door they will cry out upon us for laziness as cousin i answer laughing i permit you to hang your bunch and as brother i ask your permission to hang mine but perhaps the father won't hear of it with your ears

Starting point is 08:07:08 yes he will said per bastien uriel said something to me about it there's no difficulty in trying succeeding is another thing if you know how to manage it so much the better my lad it is your affair encouraged by his friendliness i rushed into the adjoining copse with a light heart and cut off the whole branch of a wild cherry tree in full bloom while uriel who had already provided himself with one of those beautiful silk and gold ribbons which the women of his country wear beneath their lace quaffs gathered a bunch of white hawthorn and a bunch of pink and tied them in a nosegay that was worthy of a queen we made but three strides from the fields to the castle where the silence assured us that the beauties still slept no doubt from having talked half the night but imagine our amazement when on entering the courtyard our eyes lighted on a superb nosegay decked with silver and white ribbons hanging to the door we intended to garland the devil cried you leal preparing to tear away the offending bunch and looking askance at his dog whom he had stationed in the courtyard is this the way you guard the housemaster satin have you made acquaintances already why didn't you bite the legs of this may-day prowler stop said the headwoodsman preventing his son from taking down the nosegay. There is but one person in these parts whom Satan knows, and who also knows our custom of the call-again bunch, for he has seen it practised among us. Now you pledged your word to that person not to interfere with him. You must be satisfied to make yourself acceptable and not undermine him.

Starting point is 08:08:39 Respect his offering, just as he no doubt would have respected yours. Yes, father, replied Uriel, if I were sure it was he, but it may be someone else and the bunch may be intended for Terence. I remarked that no one knew Terence who had ever seen her, and looking closer at the flowers, I saw that a mass of white pond lilies had been freshly gathered and tied in bunches, and I remembered that these plants were not common in the neighbourhood, and grew only in the Lajon, on the banks of which I had found Joseph lying. No doubt, instead of going to Saint-Cartier, he had returned upon his steps, and he must even have waded into the water on the shifting sand of the pond, which is dangerous, before he

Starting point is 08:09:18 could gather such an armful. well the battle has begun said uriel sighing as he fastened his may bunch to the door with an anxious look that seemed to me very modest for he might well have felt sure of success and feared no one i wished i could feel as certain of his sister and i hung up my cherry bar with a beating heart as if she were just behind the door all ready to fling it in my face and pale i was when the door opened but it was brulette who came first and gave a kiss for good-morning to ber bastien a handshake to me and a rosy blush of pleasure to Uriel, though she did not venture to speak to him. Oh, father, cried Terence, following her and clasping the headwoodsman in her arms. Have you been playing the young man all night? Come, come in, and let me give you some breakfast. But first let me look at those nosegays.

Starting point is 08:10:08 Three brulette, or what a girl you are, is the procession to last all day? Only two for brulette, said Ulliel. The third is for you, sister. And he gave her my cherry-bow, so full of bloom that it had drained a white shower all round the door. For me, said Terence surprised. Then you did it, brother, to prevent my being jealous of Brulette. Brothers are not so gallant, said Per Bastien. Have you no suspicion of a timid and discreet lover who keeps his mouth shut instead of declaring himself? Terence looked all round her as if she were trying to see someone beside me, and when at last her black eyes rested on my

Starting point is 08:10:44 discomforted and idiotic face, I thought she was going to laugh, which would have stabbed me to the heart. but she did nothing of the kind and even blushed a little. Then holding out her hand, she said, Thank you, Tiené. You have shown that you remember me, and I accept the gift without giving it other meaning than belongs to a nosegay. Well, said Pelle Bastian, if you accept it to my daughter, you must follow the usual custom,

Starting point is 08:11:07 and fasten a spray of it to your coiff. No, said Térons, that might displease some of the girls hereabouts, and I don't want my good Tienet to repent of having done me a kindness. "'Oh, that won't displease anybody,' I cried. "'If it does not annoy you, it would hugely please me.' "'So be it,' she said, breaking off a little twig of my flowers, "'which she fastened with a pin to her head. "'We are here in the chassein, Tiennet.

Starting point is 08:11:32 "'If we were in your part of the country, "'I should be more careful, for fear of getting you into trouble with some compatriot.' "'You can get me into trouble with all of them, Terence,' I said. "'Ask nothing better.' "'As for that,' she replied, "'you go too fast. I don't know you well enough, Tiennet, to say if it would be well for either of us. Then changing the subject with that forgetfulness of herself,

Starting point is 08:11:54 which came so naturally to her, she said to Brulette, "'It is your turn, darling. What return are you going to make for your two May bunches? Which of them is to deck your cap?' "'Neither till I know where they came from,' replied my prudent cousin. "'Tell me, Uriel, and keep me from making a mistake.' "'I can't tell you,' said Uriel, except that this is mine.' "'Then I shall carry it a whole,' she said, taking it down, "'and as to that bunch of water-flowers,

Starting point is 08:12:21 "'they must feel very much out of place on a door. "'I think there will be happier in the moat.' "'So saying, she adorned her cap and the front of her dress with Uriel's flowers, "'and took the rest into her room. "'Then returning she was about to throw the lilies into the old moat "'which separated the courtyard from the park, "'when Uriel, unwilling that such an insult should be offered to his rival, "'stopped her hand.

Starting point is 08:12:42 "'At this moment the sound of a bagpipe came from the shrubbery which closed the little court in front of us, and someone who had been near enough to hear every word that had passed played Per Bastien's air of the three woodsmen. He played it first as we knew it, next a little differently in a softer and sad a way, then changing it throughout, varying the keys, adding music of his own which was not less beautiful,

Starting point is 08:13:04 and even seemed to sigh and to entreat in so tender a manner that we who heard it could hardly help being touched with compassion. At last the player took a stronger and louder tone, as though it were a song of reproach and authority, and Brulette, who had gone to the edge of the moat intending to ding away the lilies, drew back as if terrified by the anger which was expressed in the Psalms. Then Joseph, shoving aside the bushes with his feet and shoulders, appeared on the other side of the moat, still piping, his eyes blazing,

Starting point is 08:13:33 and seeming both by his looks and by his music, to threaten Brulet with some great disaster if she did not desist from the insult she was about to offer him. End of Section 26. Section 27 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Wormley. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 27th evening. Noble music and a fine player, cried Per Bastien,

Starting point is 08:14:06 clapping his hands when the sounds ceased. That is both good and beautiful, Joseph. It is easy to console yourself for everything when you have the ball at your feet in that way. Come over here and let us compliment you. Nothing consoles for an insult, master. replied Joseph, and for the rest of my days there will be a ditch full of thorns between Brulette and me if she throws my offering into that moat.

Starting point is 08:14:29 Heaven forbid, cried Brulette, that I should make such an ill return for the beautiful nosegay. Come over here, Jose. There need be no thorns between us but those you plant yourself. Joseph sprang into the courtyard, bursting like a wild boar through the line of thick-set brambles which divided him from the moat, and darting across the green slime which filled at the bottom of it. Then, snatching the flowers from Brulette's hand, he pulled out several, which he tried to fasten on her head beside Iriel's pink and white hawthorn blossoms.

Starting point is 08:14:59 He did it with an air of authority, as though he had a right to exercise his will. But Brulette stopped him, saying, One moment, Joseph, I have an idea of my own, and you must submit to it. You will soon be received into the Bagpiper's Guild. Now, God has given me a sense of music, enough to let me understand something of it without ever having learned. I have a fancy, to have a competition here, and to reward the one who plays best. Give your bagpipe to Eurel, and let him make his trial just as you have now made yours. Yes, yes, I agree to that entirely, cried Joseph, whose face shone with defiance. It is your turn, Eureole. Make the buckskin warble

Starting point is 08:15:36 like the throat of a nightingale if you can. That was not in our agreement, Joseph, answered Uriel. You agreed that I should speak, and I have spoken. I agree to leave music in which you excel me to you. take back your bagpipe and speak again in your own language no one here will weary of hearing you as you own yourself vanquished returned joseph i shall play no more unless brulette requests it play she said and while he played in a marvellous way she wove a garland of white lilies and tied it with the silver ribbon that bound the bunch when the music ended she went up to joseph and twisted the wreath about the pipe of his instrument saying jose joseph noblest piper i receive thee into the guild and give thee the prize may this wreath bring thee happiness and glory and prove to thee the high esteem in which i hold thy great talents yes that's all very well said joseph thank you my brulette now complete my happiness and make me proudest still by wearing one of the flowers you give me select the finest and put it next to your heart if you will not wear it on your head brulette smiled and blushed beautiful as an angel then she looked at iriel who turned pale thinking it was all over with him joseph she answered i have granted you the first of all triumphs that of music you must be satisfied and cease to ask for that of love which is not one by strength or knowledge but by the will of the good god

Starting point is 08:17:02 Iriel's face lighted Joseph's darkened. Brulette, he cried, God's will must be as my will. Gently, she said, he alone is master, and here is one of his little angels who must not hear words against our holy religion. As she spoke, she took Charleau,

Starting point is 08:17:22 who came bounding after her like a lamb to its mother, into her arms. Terence, who returned to her room while Joseph was playing, had just taken him up, and the child, without letting himself be dressed, had run out half-naked to kiss his darling, as he called Brulette, with a jealous and masterful air which contrasted amusingly with that of the lovers. Joseph, who had forgotten his suspicions,

Starting point is 08:17:43 concluding he was duped by young Carnar's letter, drew back on seeing Charleau as though the child were a snake. And as he watched him kissing Brulette eagerly and calling her Mama and Charleau's darling, a mist came over his eyes and he well-nigh swooned away. But almost immediately he sprang in a burst of anger toward the child, and clutching him brutally, cried out of his. in a choking voice, Here's the truth at last.

Starting point is 08:18:05 This is the trick that has been played upon me and the mastery of love that has defeated me. Brulette, frightened by Joseph's violence and Charles' cries, tried to rescue the child. But Joseph, quite beside himself, pulled him away, laughing savagely and saying he wanted to look at him with all his eyes and see the resemblance. So doing he nearly choked to the child,

Starting point is 08:18:26 without meaning it, to Brulet's horror, and she, not daring to add to the boy's danger by attempting to rescue him, turned back to Uriel, crying. My child, my child, he is killing my poor child. Uriel made but one stride, catching Joseph by the nape of the neck, he held him so tightly and firmly that his arms relaxed and I caught Charleau from him

Starting point is 08:18:47 and gave the half-unconscious child back to Brulet. Joseph nearly fainted too, as much from the violence of his anger as from the way in which Uriel had handled him. A fight would certainly have followed, and the headwoodsman had already flung himself between them if Joseph had understood what was happening, but he was unable to consider anything except that Brulette was a mother, and that both she and we had deceived him.

Starting point is 08:19:11 You no longer hide it, he said to her in a choking voice. What are you saying to me? asked Brulette, who was sitting on the grass, all in tears, and trying to ease the bruises on Charleau's arms. You are a wicked madman, I know that. Don't come near me and never harm this child again, or God will curse you. One word, Brulet, said Joseph. If you are a wicked. or his mother, confess it. I will pity and forgive you. In fact, I will even defend you if necessary. But if you can only deny it by a lie, I shall despise you and forget you. His mother? I, his mother, cried Brulet, springing up as if to cast off Charle.

Starting point is 08:19:48 You think I am his mother, she said again, taking back the poor child, the cause of all the trouble and pressing him to her heart. Then she looked about her with a bewildered air and her eyes sought Uriel. Can it be possible, she cried, that anyone could think such a thing of me? The proof that no one thinks it, cried Uriel, going up to her and kissing Chalore, is that we love the child whom you love. Say something better than that, brother, cried Terence eagerly. Say what you said to me yesterday.

Starting point is 08:20:18 Whether the child is hers or not, he shall be mine, if she will be mine. Brulette flung both arms round Uriel's neck and hung there like a vine to an oak. be my master then she said i never had and i never will have another than you joseph watched this sudden understanding of which he was the cause with an anguish and regret that were terrible to see the cry of truth in brulette's words had convinced him and he fancied he had dreamed the wrong he had just done her he felt that all was over between them and without a word he picked up his bagpipe and fled away per bastien ran after him and brought him back saying no no that is not the way to part after a lifelong friendship bring down your pride joseph and ask pardon of this honest girl she is my daughter their word is now pledged and i am glad of it but she must remain your sister a woman forgives a brother for what she could never pardon in a lover she may pardon me if she can and if she will said joseph but if i am guilty i can receive no absolution but my own hate me brulette that may be best for me i see i have done the one thing that was needed to lose your regard i can never get it back but if you pity me don't tell me so i ask nothing further of you all this would not have happened said brulette if you had done your duty which was to go and see your mother go now joseph but above all don't tell her what you have accused me of she would die of grief.

Starting point is 08:21:50 My dear daughter, said the headwoodsman, still detaining Joseph, I think we do better not to scold children until their minds are quiet. Otherwise, they take things crookedly and do not profit by rebuke. To my thinking, Joseph has times of aberration, and if he does not make honourable amends as readily as others do, it is perhaps because he feels his wrongdoing and suffers more from his own self-blame than from the blame of others. Set him an example of good sense and kindness.

Starting point is 08:22:16 It is not difficult to forgive when, we are happy, and you ought to be content to be loved as you are here. More love you could not have, for I now know things of you that make me hold you in such esteem that here are a pair of hands that will wring the neck of whoever insults you deliberately. But that was not the nature of Joseph's insult, which came from excitement, not reflection, and shame followed so quickly that his heart is now making you full reparation. Come, Joseph, add your word to mine. I ask no more than that of you, and Bluette too will be satisfied, will you not my daughter? You don't know him, father, if you think he will say that word,

Starting point is 08:22:54 replied Brulet, but I won't exact it because I want, above all things, to satisfy you. And so, Joseph, I forgive you, though you don't care much about that. Stay and breakfast with us, and talk about something else. What has happened is forgotten. Joseph said not a word, but he took off his hat and laid down his stick as if meaning to stay. The two girls re-entered the house to prepare the meal, and Euriel, who took great care of his horse, began to groom and curry-comb him. I looked after Charleau, whom roulette handed over to my keeping, and the headwoodsman, wishing to divert Joseph's mind, talked music, and praised the variations he had given to his song. Never speak to me of that song again, said Joseph. It can only remind me of painful things,

Starting point is 08:23:39 and I wish to forget it. Well then, said Per Bastian, play me something of your own composition here and now, just as the thought comes to you. Joseph led the way into the park, and we heard him in the distance playing such sad and plaintive airs that his soul seemed really prostrate with contrition and repentance. Do you hear him, I said to Brulette. That is certainly his way of confessing, and if sorrow is a reparation, he gives you of his best. I don't think there is a very tender heart beneath that rough pride of his, replied Brulette.

Starting point is 08:24:11 I feel just now like Terence. A little tenderness is more at a little tenderness is more at to me than much talent. But I forgive him, and if my pity is not as great as Joseph wants to make it by his music, it is because I know he has a consolation of which my indifference cannot deprive him. I mean the admiration of which he and others feel for his talents. If Joseph did not care for that more than for love or friendship, his tongue would not now be dumb and his eye dry to the reproof of friendship. He is quite capable of asking for what he wants. well said the head woodsman returning alone from the park did you hear him my children he said all he could and would say and satisfied to have drawn tears from my old eyes he has gone away tranquillized but you could not keep him to breakfast said terence smiling no answered her father he played too well not to be three parts comforted and he prefers to go away in that mood rather than after some folly he might be led into saying or doing at table end of section twenty Section 28 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Warmerly. This Librevox recording is in the public domain.

Starting point is 08:25:27 28th evening We ate our meal in peace, feeling relieved of the apprehensions of the night before as to the quarrel between Joseph and Uriel, and as Therons plainly showed, both in Joseph's presence and in his absence, that she had no feeling good or real about the past, I indulged as did Uriel and Per Bastien in tranquil and joyous thoughts Charleau, finding that everybody petted him,

Starting point is 08:25:52 began to forget the man who had frightened and bruised him. Every now and then he would start and look behind him at some trifling noise, but Terence laughingly assured him the man was safely gone and would not return. We seemed like a family party, and I thought to myself while courting Terence with the utmost deference that I would make my love less imperious

Starting point is 08:26:11 and more patient than Joseph's. brulette seemed anxious and overcome as though cut to the heart by a foul blow. Uriel was uneasy about her, but the headwoodsman, who knew the human soul in all its windings, and who was so good that his face and his words poured balm into every wound, took her little hands in his and drew her pretty head to his breast, saying at the end of the meal, Brulette, we have one thing to ask of you, and though you look so sad and distressed, my son and I will venture to make our request now. Won't you give us a smile of encouragement?

Starting point is 08:26:44 tell me what it is father and i will obey you answered brulette well my daughter it is that you will present us to-morrow to your grandfather so that he may be asked to accept uriel as a grandson oh it is too soon father cried brulette shedding a few more tears or rather it is too late if you had told me to do so an hour ago before joseph uttered those words i would gladly have consented but now i confess i should be ashamed to accept so readily the love of an honest man when i find i am no longer supposed to be an honest girl i knew i had been blamed for coquetry your son himself treated me about it a year ago terence blamed me though for all that she gave me her friendship so So seeing that Euryel had the courage to leave me without asking for anything, I made a great many reflections in my own mind. The good God helps me by sending me this child, whom I did not like at first and might possibly have rejected, if my sense of duty had not been mixed with a sort of idea that I should be better worthy of being loved through a little suffering and self-denial than for my chatter

Starting point is 08:27:47 and my pretty clothes. I thought I could atone for my thoughtless years and trample my love for my own little person underfoot. I knew that I was criticised and neglected, but I thought I was. I consoled myself with a thought. If he comes back to me, he will know that I do not deserve to be blamed for getting serious and sensible. But now I have heard something very different, partly through Joseph's conduct, partly by Terence's remark.

Starting point is 08:28:10 It was not Joseph only who thought I had gone astray, but Uriel also, or his great heart and his strong love would have had no need to say to his sister yesterday. Guilty or not guilty, I love her, and will take her as she is. Ah, Uriel, I thank you, but I will not let you marry me till you know me. I should suffer too much to see you blamed as you doubtless would be on my account. I respect you too much to let it be said that you take upon yourself the paternity of a foundling. I must indeed have been light in my behaviour, or such an accusation could never have been made against me. Well, I wish you to judge me now by my everyday conduct.

Starting point is 08:28:45 I want you to be sure that I am not only a gay dancer at a wedding, but the good guardian of my duty in my home. We will come and live here as you desire it, and in a year from now, If I am not able to prove to you that my care of Cheryl or need not cause me to blush, I shall at least have given you by my actions a proof that I am reasonable in mind and sound in conscience. Uriel snatched Broulet from his father's arms and reverently kissed the tears that were flowing from her beautiful eyes. Then he gave her back to Per Bastien, saying, Bless her, my father, for you can now judge if I told you false when I said she was worthy of your blessing. The dear golden tongue has spoken well, and there is no answer to make to it, unless it

Starting point is 08:29:26 be that we want neither year nor day of trial, but desire to go this very evening and ask her of her grandfather, for to pass another night still doubtful of his consent is more than I can bear, and to get it is all I need to make me sovereign of the world. See what has happened to you by asking for a respite, said Per Bastien to Brulet. Instead of asking your grandfather tomorrow, it seems it must be tonight. Come, my child, you must submit. It is the punishment of your naughty conduct in times gone by. contentment overspread her sweet face and the hurt she had received from Joseph was forgotten. However, just as we left the table, another hesitation seized her.

Starting point is 08:30:04 Charleau, hearing Uriel address the head, woodsman as father, called him so himself, and was kissed and fondled for it, but Brulette was a trifle vexed. Wouldn't it be best, she said, to take the trouble to invent parents for the poor child? Every time he calls me mother, it seems like a stab to those I love. We were beginning to reassure her on this point when Terence said, Speak low, someone is listening to us. And following her glance toward the porch, we saw the end of a stick resting on the ground

Starting point is 08:30:33 and the bulging side of a full sack, showing that a beggar was there, waiting till someone took notice of him and hearing things that he ought not to hear. I went up to the intruder and recognised brother Nicholas, who came forward at once and admitted without hesitation that he had been listening for the last quarter of an hour, and had been very well pleased with what he had heard.

Starting point is 08:30:55 I thought I knew Eriel's voice, he said, but I so little expected to find him on my rounds that I should not have been certain, my dear friends, that it was he, but for some things which you have been saying, in which, as Brulet knows, I have a right to intrude. We know it, too, said Eureel. Do you, exclaimed the monk? Well, that's as it should be.

Starting point is 08:31:15 And the reason is, said Euriel to Brulet, that your aunt told me everything last night. "'So you see, dearest, I don't deserve all the credit you give me.' "'Yes,' said Brulet, much comforted, but yesterday morning. "'Well, since everything is known,' she added, turning to the monk, "'what do you advise me to do, brother Nicholas? "'You have been employed on Charle's account. "'Can't you find some story to spread about

Starting point is 08:31:38 "'to cover the secret of his parentage and repair the harm done to my reputation?' "'Story,' said the friar. "'I advise and a better lie. "'I'm not one of those who damn their souls for the love of the young girls, my little one. I should gain nothing by it. You must be helped some other way, and I have already been working at it more than you think. Have patience. All will come out right, as it did in another matter where, as mental Uriel knows, I have not been a bad friend to him. I know that I owe you the peace and safety of my life, said Uriel. People may say what they like of

Starting point is 08:32:12 monks. I know one, at least, for whom I would be drawn and quartered. Sit down, brother, and spend the day with us. What is ours is yours, and the house we are in. is yours too. Terence and the headwoodsmen were showing their hospitality to the good friar when my aunt Margoton came hurrying up and would not let us stay anywhere but with her. She said the wedding party were going to perform the cabbage ceremony, which is an old-fashioned foolery practiced the day after the marriage. The procession, she said, was already forming and was coming round our way. The company drank and sang and danced at each stopping place. It was impossible for Terence now to keep aloof, and she accepted my arm to go and meet me

Starting point is 08:32:51 the crowd, while Uriel escorted Brulette. My aunt took charge of the little one, and the headwoodsman marched off with the monk, who was easily persuaded into joining a jovial company. The fellow who played the part of Gardner, or as we still say among us, the pagan, seated on a handbarrow, was decorated in a style that astonished everybody. He had picked up near the park a beautiful garland of water-lilies tied with a silver ribbon, which he had bound about his flaxen pole. It didn't take us much time to recognize Joseph's bunch, which he had. had dropped or thrown away on leaving us. The ribbons were the envy of all the girls of the party, who deliberated how to get possession of them unspoiled. At last, flinging themselves on the pagan,

Starting point is 08:33:32 they snatched them away from him and divided the booty, though in defending himself he managed to kiss more than one with a mouth that was covered with foam. So scraps of Josas ribbon glittered all day in the caps of the prettiest girls in the neighbourhood, and came to a much better end than their owner thought for when he left his bunch in the dust of the road. This farce played from door to door through the village was as crazy as usual, ending with a fine repast and dancing till twilight. After which, we all took leave, roulette and I, the head woodsman, Terence and Uriel, and started for Noon, with the monk at our head, leading the Clarenne, on which Charleau was perched, tipsy with excitement at what he had seen, laughing like a monkey, and trying to sing as he had heard

Starting point is 08:34:14 others do all that day. Though the young people of the present age have degenerated woefully, you must often have seen girls in their teens tramping 15 miles in the morning, and as much more in the evening in the hottest weather for a day's dancing, and so you can easily believe that we arrived at home without fatigue. Indeed, we danced part of the way along the road, we four. The headwoodsman playing his bagpipe, and the friar declaring we were crazy, but clapping his hands to excite us on. We reached Broulet's door about ten at night,

Starting point is 08:34:46 and found Pell Broulet sound asleep in his bed, as he was quite deaf and slept hard Brulet put the baby to bed served as a little collation and consulted with us whether to wake him before he had finished his first nap however turning over on his side he saw the light

Starting point is 08:35:01 recognised his granddaughter and me seemed surprised at the others and sitting up in bed as sober as a judge listened to a statement the headwoodsman made to him in a few words spoken rather loud but very civilly the monk in whom Per Broulet had the utmost confidence followed in praise of the Uriel family

Starting point is 08:35:18 and Uriel himself declared his wishes and all his good intentions both present and to come. Perl Broulet listened without saying a word, and I began to fear he had not understood. But no such thing, though he seemed to be dreaming his mind was really quite clear, and he presently answered discreetly that he recognised in the headwoodsman the son of a former friend, that he held the family in much esteem and considered brother Nicholas as worthy of all confidence, and above all he trusted in the sense and good judgment of his granddaughter. then he went on to say that she had not delayed her choice and refused the best offers of the neighbourhood

Starting point is 08:35:53 to commit a folly in the end and that if she wished to marry Eriel Uriel would certainly be a good husband he spoke in a collected manner yet his memory failed him on one point which he recalled soon after as we were about to take leave namely that Euriel was a muleteer

Starting point is 08:36:09 that is the only thing that troubles me he said my girl will be so lonely at home by herself for three quarters of the year We satisfied him at once with the news that Uriel had left the craft and become a woodsman, and thereupon he readily agreed to the plan of working in the woods of Chassin during the summer months. We parted all well pleased with one another. Terence stayed with Brulette, and I took the others to my own house. We learned the next evening, through the monk, who had been begging about all day,

Starting point is 08:36:39 that Joseph had not gone near the village of Noan, but had spent an hour with his mother at Saint-Chartier, after which he started to go round the neighbourhood and collect all the bagpipers for a meeting, at which he would demand a competition for admission to the craft and the right to practice the calling. Mariton was much troubled by this determination, believing that the Carnas, father and son, and all the bagpipers of the country round, who were already more in number than were needed, would oppose it and cause him both trouble and injury. But Joseph would not listen to her, still saying that he was resolved to get her out of service and take her to some distant place to live with him.

Starting point is 08:37:13 though she seemed not as much inclined to that idea as he had hoped. On the third day all our preparations having been made, and Uriel and Brulette's first bans published in the parish church, we started to return to Chassin. It was like departing on a pilgrimage to the ends of the earth. We were obliged to carry furniture, for Brulette was determined that her grandfather should lack for nothing. So a cart was hired, and the whole village opened its eyes very wide

Starting point is 08:37:38 to see the entire contents of the house going off, even to the baskets. The goats and the hens went too, for Terence was delighted at the idea of taking care of them, never having known how to manage animals, she wanted to learn, as she said, when the opportunity offered. This gave me the chance to propose myself in jest for her management, as the most docile and faithful animal of the flock. She was not annoyed, but gave me no encouragement to pass from jest to earnest. Only it did seem to me that she was not displeased to find me cheerfully leaving home and family to follow her, and that if she did little to attract me, she certainly did,

Starting point is 08:38:12 certainly did still less to repulse me. Just as old Broulet and the women with Charleau were getting into the cart, Brulette very proud of going off with such a handsome lover in the teeth of all the lovers who had misjudged her. The friar came up to say goodbye, adding for the benefit of the inquisitive ears, As I am going over to your parts, I'll ride a bit of the way with you. He got up beside Per Brulet, and at the end of the third mile in a shady road, he asked to be set down.

Starting point is 08:38:40 Eureel was leading the Clarein, which was a good draft horse as well as a pack horse, and the headwoodsman and I walked in front. Seeing that the cart lagged behind, returned back, thinking there might have been an accident, and found Bluette in tears, kissing Charleau, who clung to her screaming because the friar was endeavouring to carry him off. Uriel interceded against it, for he was so troubled at Bluette's tears that he came near crying himself.

Starting point is 08:39:05 What is the matter, said Per Bastian? Why do you wish to send away the child, my daughter? Is it because of the notion you expressed the other day? "'No father,' replied Brulette. "'His real parents have sent for him, and it is for his good to go. "'The poor little fellow can't understand that. "'And even I, though I do understand it, my heart fails me. "'But as there are good reasons why the thing should be done without delay,

Starting point is 08:39:29 "'give me courage instead of taking it away from me.' "'The talking of courage she had none at all against Charles' tears and kisses, "'for she had really come to love him with much tenderness. "'So Terence was called in to help her. Every look and tone of the woodland girl conveyed such a sense of her loving-kindness that the stones themselves would have been persuaded and the child felt it, though he did not know why.

Starting point is 08:39:53 She succeeded in pacifying him, making him understand that Brulet was leaving him for a short time only so that Brother Nicholas was able to carry him off without using force, and the pair disappeared to the tune of a sort of rondo which the monk sang to divert his charge, though it was more like a church chant than a song. But Charleau was pleased, and when their voices were lost in the distance,

Starting point is 08:40:13 that of the monk had drowned his expiring moans. "'Come brulette, start on,' said Per Bastien. "'We love you so well we can soon console you.' Uriel jumped on the shaft to be near her, and talked to her so gently all the way that she said to him just before we arrived, "'Don't think me inconsolable, my true friend. My heart failed me for a second,

Starting point is 08:40:36 but I know where to turn the love I felt for that child and where I shall find the happiness he gave me.' It did not take as long to settle down. down in the old castle and even to feel at home in it. There were several habitable chambers, though they hardly looked so, and at first we thought them likely to fall about our heads. But the ruins had so long been shaken by the wind without collapsing that we felt they might outlast our time.

Starting point is 08:40:59 Aunt Margoton, delighted to have us near her, furnished the household with the various little comforts to which we were accustomed, and which the Uriel family were coaxed with some difficulty into sharing with us, for they were not used to such things and cared very little for them. The Bourbonnet woodcutters, whom the headwoodsman had engaged, arrived duly, and he hired others in the neighbourhood. So that we made quite a colony, quartered partly in the village and partly in the ruins, working cheerfully under the rule of a just man, who knew what it was to spare over work and to reward the willing workmen, and assembling every night in the courtyard for the evening meal, relating stories and listening to them,

Starting point is 08:41:36 singing and frolicking in the open air and dancing on Sundays with all the lads and lasses of the neighbourhood, who were glad enough to get our Bourbonnet music, and who brought us little gifts from all parts, showing us a deal of attention. The work was hard on account of the steep slopes on which the forest grew, which rose straight from the river, and made the felling a very dangerous matter.

Starting point is 08:41:57 I had had the experience of the quick temper of the headwoodsmen in the woods of Aleur, as he was employing none but choice workmen for the felling, and the choppers understood the cutting up. Nothing happened to irritate him. But I was ambitious to become a first-class chopper in order to please him, and I dreaded lest my want of practice should once more make him call me unhandy and imprudent,

Starting point is 08:42:17 which would have mortified me cruelly in presence of Terence. So I begged Uriel to take me apart and show me how to work and to let me watch him at the business. He was quite willing to oblige me, and I went at it with such a will that before long I surprised the master himself by my ability. He praised me and even asked me before his daughter, why I took hold so valiantly of a business I had no occasion for in my own country. because I replied I am not sorry to know how to earn my living wherever I am who knows what may happen

Starting point is 08:42:46 if I loved a woman who wanted me to live in the depths of the woods I could follow her and support her there as elsewhere to prove to Terence that I was not so self-indulgent as perhaps she thought I practiced sleeping on the bare ground and living frugally

Starting point is 08:43:00 trying to become as hardier forester as the rest of them I did not find myself any of the worse for it in fact I felt that my mind grew more active and my thoughts clearer. Many things that I did not at first understand without long explanations unravelled themselves little by little of their own accord,

Starting point is 08:43:17 so that Terence had no longer any occasion to smile at my stupid questions. She talked to me without getting weary and appeared to feel confidence in my judgment. Still, a full fortnight went by before I felt the slightest hope of success, though when I bemoaned myself to Uriel that I dared not say a word to a girl

Starting point is 08:43:35 who seemed so far above me that she could never so much as look at me, he replied. Don't worry, Tiennet. My sister has the truest heart in existence. And if, like all young girls, she has her fanciful moments, there is no fancy in her head which will not yield to the love of a noble truth and an honest devotion. His father said the same, and together they lent me courage.

Starting point is 08:43:56 And Térons found me so good in attendant, I watched so closely that no pain, fatigue or annoyance should touch her from any cause within my power to control. And I was so careful never to look at another girl. Indeed, I had little desire to. in short i behaved myself with such honest respect showing her plainly on what a pinnacle i set her that her eyes began to open and several times i saw her watch how i went beforehand of her wishes with a softened reflective look and then reward me with thanks of which i can tell you i was proud enough she was not accustomed like brulette to have her wishes anticipated and would never have known like her how to encourage it prettily she seemed surprised that any one thought of her and when it did happen she showed such a sense of obligation that i never felt at my ease when she said to me with her serious air and guileless frankness really tienet you are too kind or perhaps tienn you take too much trouble for me i wish i could take as much for you some day one morning she was speaking to me in this way before a number of woodcutters and one morning she was speaking to me in this way before a number of woodcutters and one of them, a handsome Bourbonnet lad, remarked in a low tone that she showed a deal of interest

Starting point is 08:45:00 in me. Certainly I do, Leonel, she replied, looking at him with a confident air. I feel the interest that is due to him for all his kindness and friendship to me and mine. Don't you know that everyone would do as he does, remarked Leonel, if they thought they would be paid in the same coin? I would try to be just to everybody, she replied, if I felt a liking or a need for everybody's attention. But I don't. And I don't. to one of my disposition the friendship of one person suffices. I was sitting on the turf beside her as she said this,

Starting point is 08:45:35 and I took her hand in mine without daring to retain it more than a second. She drew it away, but as she did so, she let it rest a moment on my shoulder, in sign of confidence and relationship of soul. However, things still went on in this way, and I began to suffer greatly from the reserve between us, all the more because the love of Zireel and Brulette were so tender and happy, and the contrast grieved my heart and troubled my spirit. their day of joy was coming but mine was not within sight end of section twenty eight section twenty nine of the bagpipers by george son translated by katherine prescott warmly this librovoc's recording is in the public domain

Starting point is 08:46:22 twenty ninth evening one sunday it was that of the last publication of brulette's bands the headwoodsman and his son who had seemed all day to be consulting privately went off together saying that a matter connected with the marriage called them to Noan. Brulette, who knew all about the arrangements for her wedding, was a good deal surprised at their sudden activity, and still more that they told her nothing about it. She was even inclined to part at Uriel, who said he should be absent for 24 hours, but he would not yield,

Starting point is 08:46:53 and managed to pacify her by letting her think he was only going on her business, and planning to give her some pleasant surprise. But Therence, whom I watched narrowly, seemed to me to make an effort to hide her uneasiness, and as soon as her father and Uriel had starved, had started, she carried me off into the little park and said, Tiené, I am worried to death, and I don't know what can be done to remedy matters.

Starting point is 08:47:15 Listen to what has happened, and tell me if we can do anything to prevent harm. Last night, as I lay awake, I heard my father and brother agreeing to go on to protect Joseph, and from what they said I made out that Joseph, though very ill received by the bagpipers of your parts, to whom he applied for admission to the guild, is determined to insist on admittance, a thing that they dare not refuse him openly without having put his talents to the test. It appears that the younger Karnah has also applied for admittance in place of his father, who retires, and his trial was to take place before the corporation this very day, so that Joseph has put himself forward to interfere with a claim that was not to be contested,

Starting point is 08:47:51 and which was promised and half-granted in advance. Now some of our woodcutters who frequent the wine-chops have overheard certain wicked plans which the bagpipers of your neighbourhood are making, for they are resolved to reject Joseph, if they can, by sneering at his music, if there was no greater risk than his having to bear injustice and defeat i should not be so uneasy as you see me but my father and brother who belong to the guild and have a voice in all proceedings feel it their duty to be present at this competition solely to protect joseph and more than that there was something i could not make out because the guild have certain secret terms among themselves which my father and brother used and which i did not understand but however one looks at it i am sure they are going into danger for they carried under their blouses those little single sticks the arm of which you have already seen, and they even sharpened their pruning hooks and hid them under their clothes,

Starting point is 08:48:42 saying to each other early this morning, the devil is in that lad, he can neither be happy himself nor let others be. We must protect him, however, though he is obstinately rushing among the wolves without thinking of his own skin or that of others. My brother complained, saying he did not want to break anybody's head or have his own broken just as he was going to be married,

Starting point is 08:49:02 to which my father replied that there was no use in anticipating evil. What one had to do was, was to go where humanity required us to help our neighbour. As they named Leonor among those who had overheard the malicious talk, I questioned him hastily just now, and he told me that Joseph, and consequently those who support him, have been threatened for a week or more, and that your bagpipers talk of not only refusing him admittance at this competition,

Starting point is 08:49:24 but also of depriving him of the wish and the power to try again. I know from having heard it spoken of as a child when my brother was admitted, that the candidates must behave boldly and endure all sorts of trials of their strength and courage, with us the bagpipers lead a wandering life and do not make their music so much of a business as yours do. Therefore they don't stand in each other's way and never persecute the candidates. It seems from what Linout told me and from my father's preparations that here it is different and that such matters end in fights which last till one or the other side gives up. Help me, Tieni, for I am half dead with fear and anxiety.

Starting point is 08:50:01 I dare not rouse our woodcutters. If my father thought I had overheard and betrayed the secrets of the guild, he would deny me all trust and confidence in future. He expects me to be as brave as any woman can be in danger. But ever since that dreadful Malzac affair, I own to you I have no courage at all, and that I am tempted to fling myself into the middle of the fight, so much do I dread the results for those I love.

Starting point is 08:50:24 And you call that want of courage, my brave girl, I replied. Now don't be troubled and leave me to act. The devil will be very cunning if I can't discover for myself without suspicion falling on you what those bagpipers are about. and if your father blames me, if he even drives me away and refuses the happiness I have been hoping to win. I shall not care, Terence, so long as I bring him or send him safe back to you, and Uriel also, I shall have my reward, even if I never see you again. Goodbye, don't give way to anxiety, say nothing to Brulette, for she would lose her head.

Starting point is 08:50:56 I know what should be done. Look as if you knew nothing. I take it all on my shoulders. Terence flung herself on my breast and kissed me on both cheeks, with the innocence of a pure girl. So, filled to the brim with courage and confidence, I went to work. I began by finding Leonard, whom I knew to be a good fellow, very bold and strong, and much attached to Per Bastien. Though he was rather jealous of me on the score of Terence, he entered into my scheme, and I questioned him as to the number of bagpipers who were to meet for the competition, and the place

Starting point is 08:51:28 where he could watch the assembly. He could not tell me anything under the first head, as to the second he knew that the trial was not to be in secret, and the place appointed was Saint-Chartier in Beno's tavern, an hour after Vespers. The deliberation on the merits of the candidates was all that was to be held in secret, and even that was to be in the same house, and the decision was to be rendered in public. I thought of half a dozen resolute lads fully able to keep the peace if, as Terence feared, the matter should end in a quarrel, and I felt that justice being on our side, plenty of other fellows would come forward to support us. So I chose four who consented to follow me, making with Leonora and myself six in all. They hesitated only on one point, the fear of displeasing their

Starting point is 08:52:13 master, the headwoodsman, by giving him help he had never asked for. But I swore to them that he should never know that they gave it deliberately, for we could easily pretend we were there by accident, and then, if anyone were blamed, they could throw it all on me, who had asked them there to drink without their knowing what was going on. So it was all agreed, and I went to tell they announced that we were fully prepared against every danger, after which we started, each carrying a stout cudgel, and reached Saint-Cartier at the hour named. Benoit's wine shop was so full there was no turning round in it, and we were obliged to take a table outside. Indeed, I was not sorry to leave my contingent there, exhorting them not to get drunk, and to slip myself into the shop,

Starting point is 08:52:55 where I counted sixteen professional bagpipers without reckoning Uriel and his father, who was sitting at table in a dark corner with their hats over their eyes, and all the less likely to be recognized because few of those present had met them in our parts. I pretended not to see them, and speaking so they could hear me, I asked Benoit what this meeting of bagpipers was for, as if I had not heard a word about it, and did not understand its object. Why, don't you know, said the host, who was getting over his illness but was pallid and much reduced, that your old friend Joseph, the son of my housekeeper, is going to compete

Starting point is 08:53:28 with Carnar's son? I must say it is great folly on his part, added Benoit, lowering his voice. His mother is much distressed, and fears the ill will that grows out of these competitions. Indeed, she is so troubled that she has lost her head, and the customers are complaining for the first time that she does not serve them properly. Can I help you, I said, glad to get a reason for staying inside and going about among the tables. Faith, my boy, he replied, if you really mean it, you can do me good service, for I don't deny that I am still pretty weak, and I can't stoop to draw the wine without getting giddy.

Starting point is 08:54:00 Here is the key of the cellar. Take charge of filling and bringing in the jug. I hope that Mariton and her scullions can do the rest. I didn't need telling twice. I ran out for an instant to tell my companions of the employment I had taken for the good of the cause, and then I went to work as a tapster, which enabled me to see and hear everything. Joseph and the younger Carnar were at either end of a long table feasting the guild, each taking the guests halfway down.

Starting point is 08:54:27 There was more noise than pleasure going on. The company was shouting and at singing to avoid talking, for they were all on the defensive, and it was easy to be. to feel the jealousies and self-interest heaving below. I soon observed that all the bagpipers were not, as I had feared, in favour of the Carnais against Joseph. For no matter how well a guild is managed, there are always old grudges which set members by the ears. But I also saw little by little that there was no comfort to Joseph in this, because those who did not want his rival wanted him still less, and hoped to

Starting point is 08:54:58 get the number of professional bagpipers lessened by the retirement of old Carnaar. I even fancied that the greater number thought in this way, and I concluded that both candidates would be rejected. After feasting for about two hours, the competition began. Silence was not demanded, for bagpipes in a room are instruments that don't trouble themselves about other noises, and the shatters and talkers soon gave up the contest. The crowd of people pressed in from outside. My five comrades climbed on the open windowsill, and I went and stood near them. Uriel and his father did not stir from their corner. Carnar, who drew the lot to begin, mounted the bread-box and encouraged by his father, who could not restrain himself from beating time with his sabos, played for half an hour on the

Starting point is 08:55:42 old-fashioned bagpipe of the country with its narrow windbag. He played very badly, being much agitated, and I saw that this pleased the greater part of the bagpipers. They kept silence, as they always did, so as to seem solemn and important, but others present kept silence too. This hurts the poor fellow who had hoped for a little encouragement, and his father began to growl and to show his revengeful and malicious nature. When Joseph's turn came, he tore himself away from his mother, who was still entreating him in a low voice not to compete. He too mounted the box, holding his great Bourbonnet's bagpipe with great ease, the which quite dazzled the eyes of all present with its silver ornaments, its bits of looking-glass, and the great length of its pipes. Joseph carried

Starting point is 08:56:27 himself proudly, looking round contemptuously on those who were to hear him. everyone noticed his good looks and the young fellows about asked if he could really be José the Dallard whom they had once thought so stupid and seen so puny but his haughty air disgusted everybody and as soon as the sound of his instrument filled the room there was more fear than pleasure in the curiosity he excited nevertheless there were present persons who knew good music

Starting point is 08:56:52 particularly the choir of the parish church and the hemp-spinners who are great judges and even elderly women guardians of the good things of the past and among such as these Joseph's music was quickly accepted as much for the easy manner in which he used his instrument as for the good taste he displayed and the correct rendering which he gave to the new and very beautiful airs he played

Starting point is 08:57:11 a remark being made by the Carnas that his bagpipe having a fuller sound gave him an advantage he unscrewed it and used only the chanter which he played so well that the music was even more delightful than before finally he took Carnar's old-fashioned bagpipe and played it so cleverly

Starting point is 08:57:28 that anyone would have said it was another instrument than the one first used. The judges said nothing, but all others present trembled with pleasure and applauded vehemently, declaring that nothing so fine had ever been heard in our parts. And old mother Blin de la Béry, who was 87 years old and neither deaf nor dumb, walked up to the table and wrapping it with her distaff, said to the bagpapers with the freedom her age warranted. You may make faces as much as you like and shake your heads, but there's not one of you can play against that lad. He'll be talked off two hundred years hence, but all your names will be forgotten before your carcasses are rotten in the earth.

Starting point is 08:58:05 Then she left the room, saying, as did all present, that if the bagpipers rejected Joseph, it would be the worst injustice that was ever done, and the wickedest jealousy that could be confessed. The conclave of bagpipers now ascended to an upper room, and I hurried to open the door, hoping to gather something by overhearing what they said to each other in going up the stairs. The last to enter were the headwoodsman and his son, as they did so Per Carnau, who recognized Uriel from having seen him with us at the midsummer bonfire, asked what they wanted and by what right they came to the council. The right of membership in your guild, answered Perl Bastian,

Starting point is 08:58:41 and if you doubt it, ask us the usual questions, or try us with any music you like. On this they were allowed to enter and the door was shut. I tried to listen, but everyone spoke in a low voice, and I could not be sure of anything, except that they recognised the right of the two strangers to be present, and that they were deliberating about the competition without either noise or dispute. Through a crack in the door I could see that they divided into parties of five or six, exchanging opinions in a low voice before they began to vote. But when the time for voting came, one of the bagpipers looked out to see if anyone were listening, and I was forced to disappear in a hurry lest I should be caught in a position which would put me to shame without an excuse,

Starting point is 08:59:20 for I certainly could not say that my friends were in danger in such a peaceful conclave. I found my young fellows below sitting at table with others of our acquaintance, who were toasting and complimenting Joseph. Carnar the younger was alone and gloomy in a corner, forgotten and mortified. The monk was there, too, in the chimney corner, inquiring of Mariton and Benoit what was going on. When told all about it, he came up to the long table

Starting point is 08:59:45 where they were drinking with Joseph, and asked him where and from whom he had got his teaching. Friend Joseph, said he, we know each other, you and I, and I wish to add my voice to the applause you are now of good right receiving. But permit me to point out that it is generous as well as wise to console the vanquished, and that in your place I should make friendly advances to young Carna, whom I see over there all alone and very sad. The monk spoke so as to be heard only by Joseph and a few others who were near him, and I thought

Starting point is 09:00:15 he did so as much out of kind-heartedness as by instigation of Joseph's mother, who wanted the Kal-Naz to get over their aversion to her son. This appealed to Joseph's generosity, flattered his vanity. You were right, Brother Nicholas, he said. Then in a loud voice he called to young Carnas, he said. come francois don't sulk at your friends you did not play as well as you know how to i am quite sure but you shall have your revenge another time besides judgment is not given yet so instead of turning your back on us come and drink and let us be as quiet together as a pair of oxen yoged to a cart everybody approved of this speech and carna fearing to seem jealous accepted the offer and sat down near him so far so good but joseph could not keep from showing his opinion that his art was far above that of others, and in offering civilities to his rival he put on such a patronizing manner that

Starting point is 09:01:06 Carnar was more hurt than ever. You talk as if you were already elected, he said, and it is no such thing. It is not always for the skill of the fingers and the cleverest compositions that those who know what they are about select a man. Sometimes they choose him for being the best known and the most respected player in the country, for that makes him a good comrade to the rest of the guild. Oh, I expect that, returned Joseph. I have been long absent, and though I pique myself, on deserving as much respect as any man, yet I know they will try to fall back on the foolish reason that I am little known. Well, I don't care for that, Francois. I did not expect to find a company of good musicians among you, capable of judging me or my merits, and lovers enough of true

Starting point is 09:01:48 knowledge to prefer my talent to their own interests and that of their acquaintances. All that I wanted was to be heard and judged by my mother and friends, by intelligent ears and reasonable beings. For the rest, I laugh at your screaming and bellowing bagpipes, and I must say, God forgive me, that I shall be prouder of being rejected than accepted. The monk remarked gently that he was not speaking judiciously. You should not challenge the judges you demanded of your own free will, he said. Pride spoils the highest merit. Leave him his pride, said Carnar.

Starting point is 09:02:20 I am not jealous of what he can show. He ought to have some talent to cover his other misfortunes. Remember the old saying, good player, good dupe. What do you mean by that? said Joseph, setting down his glass and looking the other in the eye. I am not obliged to tell you, said Carnar. All the others understand it. But I don't understand it, and as you were speaking to me, I'll call you a coward if you dare not explain yourself.

Starting point is 09:02:45 Oh, I can tell you to your face, returned Carnar. It is something that need not offend you at all, for perhaps it is no more your fault to be unlucky in love than it is mine to be unlucky tonight in music. Come, come, said one of the young men who were present. Let Josette alone. She has found someone to marry her, and that's enough. It is nobody's business.

Starting point is 09:03:06 It is my opinion, said another, that it was not Joseph who was tricked in that affair, but the other who was going to shoulder his work. Whom are you speaking of, cried Joseph, as if his head were reeling. Who is it you call Josette? What wicked nonsense are you trying on me? Hold your tongues, cried Mariton, turning scarlet with anger and grief, as she always did when Brulet was attacked. I wish your wicked tongues were torn out and nailed to the church door.

Starting point is 09:03:31 speak lower said one of the young men you know that mariton won't allow a word against her jos's fair friend all beauties uphold each other and mariton is not yet so old but what she has a voice in the chapter joseph was puzzling his brains to know whether they were blaming or ridiculing him explain it to me he said pulling me by the arm don't leave me without a word to say i was just going to meddle though i had vowed i wouldn't get into any dispute in which per bastien and his son were not concerned when francois carna cut me short nonsense he said to joseph with a sneer tine can't tell you any more than what i wrote you that is what you were talking of is it said joseph well i swear you lie and that you have written and signed false witness never "'Brave!' cried Karnah. "'You knew how to make your profit out of my letter. "'And if as people think you are the author of that child, "'you have not been such a fool after all "'in getting rid of your property to a friend.

Starting point is 09:04:31 "'A faithful friend, too, "'for there he is upstairs, "'looking after your interests in the council. "'But if, as I now think, "'you came into these parts to assert your right to the child, "'which was refused, "'that accounts for a queer scene "'which I saw from a distance at the castle of Chassain.'

Starting point is 09:04:45 "'What scene?' said the monk. "'Let me tell you, young man, that I too may have witnessed it, and I want to know how truly you relate the things that you see. As you please, returned Carnar, I will tell you what I saw with my own eyes without hearing a word that was said, and you may explain it as you can.

Starting point is 09:05:04 You are to know the rest of you that on the last day of last month Joseph got up early in the morning to hang his May bunch on Bluette's door, and seeing a baby about two years old, which of course was his, he wanted no doubt to get possession of it, for he seized it, as if to go off with it,

Starting point is 09:05:19 and then began a sharp dispute in which his friend the bourbonnet woodcutter the same that is upstairs now with his father and who is to marry brulette next sunday struck him violently and then embraced the mother and child after which joseph was gently shoved out of the door and did not show his face there again i call that one of the queerest histories i ever knew twist it as you will it still remains the tale of a child claimed by two fathers and of a girl who instead of giving herself to the first seducer kicks him away as unworthy or incapable of bringing up the child of their loves instead of answering as he had proposed to do brother nicholas returned to the chimney and talked in a low voice but very eagerly with bernois joseph was so taken aback at the interpretation put upon a matter of which after all he did not know the real meaning that he looked all round him for assistance. And as Mariton had rushed from the room like a crazy woman, there was no one but me to put down Carnar. The latter's speech had created some astonishment, but no one thought of defending Broulette,

Starting point is 09:06:18 against whom they still felt piqued. I began to take her part, but Carnar interrupted me at the first word. Oh, as for you, he said, no one accuses you. I dare say you played your part in good faith, though it is known that you were used to deceive people by bringing the child from the Bourbonnet. But you are so safe,

Starting point is 09:06:35 simple Tiené that you may never have suspected anything. The devil take me, he continued addressing the company, if that fellow isn't as stupid as a basket. He is capable of being godfather to a child, believing all the while they were christening a clock. He probably went into the Bourbonnet to fetch this godson of his, who, they told him, was found in a cabbage, and he brought it back in a pilgrim's sack. In fact, he is such a slave and good cousin to the girl that if she had tried to make him believe the boy was like him, he would have thought so too. End of Section 29. Section 30 of the bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott warmly.

Starting point is 09:07:18 This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 30th evening. There was no use in protesting and getting angry. The company were more inclined to laugh than to listen, for it is always a great delight to misbehaving fellows to speak ill of a poor girl. They make haste to plunge her in the mire, reserving the right to deny it if they find she is innocent. In the midst of their slanderous speeches, however,

Starting point is 09:07:41 a loud voice, slightly weakened by illness but still capable of drowning every other in the room, made itself heard. It was that of the master of the tavern, long accustomed to quell the dissensions of wine and the hubbub of junketing. "'Hold your tongues,' he said, and listen to me, or I'll turn you out this moment, if I never open the house again. Be silent about an honest girl whom you decry because you have all found her too virtuous. As to the real parents of the child who has given rise to these tales, tell them to their face what fault you find with them, for here they are before you. Yes, he continued to drawing Mariton, who was holding Charleau in her arms and weeping up to him.

Starting point is 09:08:20 Here is the mother of my heir, and this is my son whom I recognize by my marriage to this good woman. If you ask me for exact dates, I shall tell you to mind your own business. Nevertheless, to any who have the right to question me, I will show deeds which prove that I have always recognized the child as mine, and that his mother was my legitimate wife before his birth, though the man. was kept secret. The silence of astonishment fell on everybody, and Joseph, who had risen at the first words, stood stock still like a stone image. The monk, who noticed the dart, shame and anger in his eyes, thought best to add further explanations. He told us that Benoit had been unable to make his marriage public because of the opposition of a rich relative,

Starting point is 09:09:00 who had lent him money for his business, and who might have ruined him by demanding it back. as mariton feared for her reputation especially on account of her son joseph they had concealed charlotte's birth and had put him to nurse at st sever but at the end of a year mariton had found him so ill-used that she begged brulette to take charge of him thinking that no one else would give him as much care she had not foreseen the harm this would do to the young girl and when she did find it out she wished to remove the child but benois's illness had prevented her doing so and moreover broulette had become so attached to charlotte that she would not pay her to charlowe that she would not pay her to her child but benoit's illness had prevented her doing so and moreover broulet had become so attached to charl that she would not part with him. Yes, cried Mariton, poor dear soul that she is, she proved her courage for me. You will have trouble enough, she said to me, if you lose your husband, and perhaps your marriage will be questioned by the family. He is too ill to trouble him now about declaring it. Have patience. Don't kill him by talking of your affairs. Everything will come right if God grant that he recovers. And if I have recovered, added Benoit, it is by the care of this good woman, my wife,

Starting point is 09:10:01 and the kind-heartedness of the young girl in question, who patiently is, endured both blame and insult rather than cause me injury at the time by exposing our secrets. And here is another faithful friend, he added, pointing to the monk, a man of sense, of action, and of honest speech, an old school friend of mine in the days when I was educating at Montlux. He it was who went after my old devil of an uncle, and who at last, no later than this morning, persuaded him to consent to my marriage with my good housekeeper. And when my uncle had given his word to make me heir to his old property, brother Nicholas told him the priest had already joined Mariton and me, and showed him that fat Charleau, whom he thought a fine

Starting point is 09:10:39 boy and very like the author of his existence. Benoit's satisfaction revived the lost gaiety of the party. Everyone was struck with the resemblance, which, however, no one had yet noticed. I as little as any. So, Joseph, continued the innkeeper, you can and ought to love and respect your mother, just as I love and respect her. I take my oath here and now that she is the bravest and most helpful Christian woman that ever a sick man had about him, and I have never had a moment's hesitation in my resolve to declare sooner or later what I have declared today. We are now very well off in our worldly affairs, thank God, and as I swore to her and to God that I would replace the father you lost, I will agree, if you will live here with us, to take you into partnership and to give you a good

Starting point is 09:11:22 share of the prophets. So you needn't fling yourself into bagpiping, in which your mother sees all sorts of ills for you and anxieties for her. Your notion was to get her a home. that's my affair now and i even offer to make hers yours come you'll listen to us won't you and give up that damned music why can't you live in your own country and stay at home you needn't blush at having an honest innkeeper for a stepfather you are my stepfather that's very certain replied joseph not showing either pleasure or displeasure but remaining coldly on the defensive you are an honest man i know and rich i see and if my mother is happy with you yes yes joseph as happy as possible above all to-day cried marie "'for I hope you will never leave me again.' "'You are mistaken, mother,' answered Joseph. "'You no longer have any need of me, and you are contented. "'All is well.

Starting point is 09:12:13 "'You were the only thing that brought me back into this part of the country. "'You were all I had to love, for Broulet, "'and it is well that all present should hear this from my own mouth. "'For Brulette never had any feeling but that of a sister for me. "'Now I am free to follow my destiny, "'which is not a very kindly one, "'but it is so plainly mine that I prefer it to all the money of in-keeping and the comfort of family life.

Starting point is 09:12:36 Farewell, Mother, God bless those who make you happy. As for me, I want nothing in these parts, not even admission to the guild which evil-intentioned fools are trying to deny me. My inward thoughts and my bagpipe go with me wherever I am, and I know I can always earn my living, for wherever my music is heard I shall be welcome. As he spoke, the door to the staircase opened and the whole company of bagpipe has entered in silence. Per Carnaar requested the attention of those present.

Starting point is 09:13:04 and in a firm and cheerful manner which surprised everybody he said francois carna my son after careful examination of your merits and full discussion of your rights you were declared too much of a novice for present admission you were advised to study a while longer without discouragement so as to present yourself for competition later when circumstances may be more favourable and you joseph picot of the village of noor the decision of the masters of this part of the country is that you be by reason of your unparalleled talents received into the first class of the guild, and this decision is unanimous. Well, replied Joseph, who seemed wholly indifferent to his victory and to the applause with which it was received. As the matter has turned out this way, I accept the decision, although not expecting it, I hardly care for it. Joseph's haughty manner displeased everybody, and Per Carnar hastened to say, with an air which I thought showed disguised malignity. Does that mean, Joseph, that you wish for the honour and the title, and do not intend to take your place among the professional bagpipers in these parts?'

Starting point is 09:14:08 "'I don't know yet,' said Joseph evidently by way of bravado, and not wishing to satisfy his judges. I'll think about it.' "'I believe,' said young Carnar to his father, "'that he has thought about it already, and his decision is made, for he hasn't the courage to go on with the matter.' "'Courage?' cried Joseph. "'Courage for what, if you please?' "'Then the dean of the bagpipers old Paiou of Vernouy said to Joseph, you are surely not ignorant young man that something more than playing an instrument is required to be received into our guild there is such a thing as a musical catechism which you must know and on which you will be questioned if you feel you have the knowledge and also the boldness to answer

Starting point is 09:14:49 moreover there are certain oaths to be taken if you feel no repugnance to these things you must decide at once to submit to them so that the matter may be settled to-morrow morning i understand you said joseph the guild has secret oaths and tests and trials they are all great folly as far as i know and music has no part in them for i defy you to reply to any musical question which i might put to you consequently the questions you address to me on a subject you know less about than the frogs in the pond are no better than old women's if you take it that way said ren the mer-bag piper we are willing that you should think yourself a great genius and the rest of us jackasses so be it keep your secrets and we will keep ours we are not anxious to tell them to those who despise us but remember number one thing. Here is your certificate as a master bagpiper which we now hand to you, signed and sealed by all, including your friends the Bourbonnet bagpipers, who agree that all is done in good order. You are free to exercise your talents where you please and where you can, except in the parishes where we play and which number 150, according to the distribution we make among ourselves, the list of which will be handed to you. In those parishes you are forbidden

Starting point is 09:16:02 to play. We give notice that if you break this rule it will be at your own risk and peril, for we shall put a stop to it, if need be, by main force. Here Mariton spoke up. You needn't threaten him, she said. It is safe to leave him to his own fancy, which is to play his music and look for no profit. He has no need to do that, thank God, and besides, his lungs are not strong enough for your business.

Starting point is 09:16:26 Come, Joseph, thank them for the honour have done you, and don't keep them anxious about their interests. Let the matter be settled now, and here's my man who will pay the pipers with a good quaterne of Sans Céphé, or his Sudan wine, at the choice of the company. That's all right, said old Carnar. We are quite willing the matter should end thus. It is best, no doubt, for your son,

Starting point is 09:16:48 for one need and to be either a fool or a coward to shrink from the tests, and I do think the poor fellow is not cut out to endure them. We will see about that, cried Joseph, falling into the trap that was set for him, in spite of the warnings Per Bastien was giving him in a low voice. I demand the tests, and as you have no right to refuse them after deluge, to me the certificate, I intend to practice your calling if I choose, or at any rate to prove

Starting point is 09:17:13 that I am not prevented from doing so by any of you. Agreed, said the dean, showing plainly as did Karnar and several others, the malignant pleasure Joseph's words afforded them. We will now prepare for your initiation, friend Joseph. Remember there is no going back, and that you will be considered a milk-sop or a braggart if you change your mind. Go on, go on, cried Joseph. I'll await you on a firm foot. It is for us to a await you, said old Karnah in his ear, at the stroke of midnight. Where, said Joseph Cooley? At the gate of the cemetery, replied the dean in the low voice.

Starting point is 09:17:50 Then, without accepting the wine which Benoit offered them, or giving heed to the remonstrances of his wife, they went off in a body, threatening evil to all who followed them or spied upon their mysteries. The head woodsman and Iriel went with them without a word to Joseph, by which I plainly saw that, although the pair were opposed to the spirit of the other bagpipers, they thought it none the less their duty not to warn Joseph, nor to betray in the slightest degree the secrets of the guild. In spite of the threats which were made, I was not deterred from following them at a distance, without other precaution than carelessly sauntering down the

Starting point is 09:18:24 same road, with my hands in my pockets, and whistling as if I were paying no attention to them or their affairs. I knew they would not let me get near enough to overhear their plots, but I wanted to make sure in what direction they meant to lie in wait, so as to get there later, if possible, unobserved. With that notion in my head, I signed to Learn out to keep the others at the tavern until I returned to call them. But my pursuit was soon ended. The inn stood on a street which ran downhill to the river, and is now the mail route to Isoudan. In those days it was a breakneck little place, narrow and ill-paved, lined with old houses with pointed gables and stone mullions. The last of these houses was pulled down a year ago. From the river, which ran along the wall below the inn

Starting point is 09:19:07 of the berf cournay, a steep ascent led to the marketplace, which was then, as it is now, that long unevenly paved space, planted with trees, bordered on the left by old houses, on the right by the broad moat, full of water, and the great wall, then unbroken of the castle. The church closes the marketplace at the further end, and two alleys lead down from it, one to the parsonage, the other passed the cemetery. The bagpipe has turned down the latter path. They were about a gunshot in advance of me, that is to say, just a time in our to pass along the path by the cemetery and out into the open country by the poston of the english tower unless they chose to stop at this particular spot which was not very convenient for the path which ran between the moat of the castle on one side and the bank of the cemetery on the other was only wide enough for one person at a time when i judged that the bagpipers must have reached the poston i turned the corner of the castle under an arcade which in those days was used as a footpath by the gentry on their way to the parish church i found i was all alone when i entered the

Starting point is 09:20:07 path by the churchyard, a place few Christian men would set foot in alone after nightfall, not only because it led past the cemetery, but because the north flank of the castle had a bad name. There was talk of, I don't know, how many persons drowned in the moat in the days of the English war, and some folks swore they had heard the cockadurilius whistle on that particular path when epidemics were about. You know, of course, that the cockadrillo is a sort of lizard, which sometimes seems no bigger than your little finger, and sometimes swells to the size of an and grows five or six yards long. This beast which I have never seen and whose existence I couldn't warrant is supposed to vomit a venom which poisons the air and brings the plague.

Starting point is 09:20:48 Now though I did not believe much of this I was not over fond of going along this path, where the high wall of the castle and the tall trees of the cemetery shut out every speck of light. On this occasion I walked fast without looking to the right or left, and passed through the poston of the English gate, of which by the by, not one stone upon another remains to the present day. Once there, and notwithstanding that the night was fine and the moon clear, I could not see, either far or near, the slightest trace of the eighteen persons I was after. I looked in every direction.

Starting point is 09:21:20 I even went as far as Per Bénieu's cottage, the only house they could have entered. The occupants were all asleep, and nowhere about was there any noise, or trace or sign of a living person. I therefore concluded that the missing bagpipers had entered the cemetery to perform some wicked conjuring, and though far from liking to do so, but determined to risk all for Terence's relations, I returned through the post and along the accursed path, stepping softly, skirting the bank so close that I touched the tombstones, and keeping my ears open to the slightest sound. I heard the screech-owl hooting in the casemates, and the adders hissing in the black water of the

Starting point is 09:21:55 moat, but that was all. The dead slept in the ground as tranquilly as the living in their beds. I plucked up courage to climb over the cemetery bank and to give a glance of around the field of death. All was quiet, no science whatever of the bagpipers. Then I walked all round the castle, it was locked up, and as it was after ten o'clock, masters and servants slept like stones. Then I returned to the inn, not being able to imagine what had become of the guild, but determined to station my comrades in the path leading to the English gate,

Starting point is 09:22:27 from which we could see what happened to Joseph when he reached the rendezvous at midnight at the gate of the cemetery. I found them on the bridge debating whether or not they should start for home and declaring they could see no danger to the irials because it was evident they had agreed amicably with the other bagpipers in the matter of the competition. As for what concerned Joseph, they cared little or nothing and tried to prevent me from interfering.

Starting point is 09:22:51 I told them that to my thinking the danger for all three would be when the tests were applied, for the evil intentions of the bagpipers had been plainly shown, and the Uriels I knew were there to protect Joseph. are you already sick of the enterprise i said is it because we are only eight to sixteen and you haven't a heart for two inside of you how do you count eight asked leonel do you think the headwoodsman and his son would go with us against their fellow-members i did count wrong i answered for we are really nine joseph won't let himself be fleeced if they make it too hot for him and as both the iriel's carry arms i feel quite sure they mean to defend him if they can't be heard otherwise that's not the point returned leonel we are only six and they are twenty but there's another thing which pleases us even less than a fight people have been talking in the inn and each had a story to relate of these tests the monk denounced them as impious and abominable and though joseph laughed at what was said, we don't feel certain there is nothing in it. They told of candidates nailed on a

Starting point is 09:23:53 beer, and furnaces into which they were tripped, and red-hot iron crosses which they were made to clasp. Such things seem hard to believe, and if I were certain that that was all, I'd like to punish the fellows who are bad enough to we'll treat a neighbour in that way. Unfortunately, there, there, said I, I see you have let yourself be scared. What is behind it all? Tell the whole, and let's either laugh at it or take warning. "'This is it,' said one of the lads, "'seeing that Leonel was ashamed to own his fears. "'None of us have ever seen the devil,

Starting point is 09:24:25 "'and we don't want to make his acquaintance.' "'Ho, ho!' I cried, "'seeing that they were all relieved, "'and other words were out. "'So it is Lucifer himself that frightens you. "'Well, I'm too good a Christian to be afraid of him. "'I give my soul to God, "'and I'll be bound, I'll take him by the horns.

Starting point is 09:24:42 "'Yes, I myself, alone against the enemy of mankind, "'as fearlessly as I would take a goat by the beard. he has been allowed to do evil to those who fear him long enough, and it is my opinion that an honest fellow who dared to wrench off his horns could deprive him of half his power, and that would be something gained at any rate. Faith, said Leonor, ashamed of his fears. If you look at it that way, I won't back down,

Starting point is 09:25:05 and if you'll smash his horns, I'll try to pull out his tail. They say it is fine, and we'll find out if it is gold or hemp. There is no such remedy against fear as fun, but I don't deny that, though I took the matter on that tone, I was not at all anxious to pit myself against Georgeson, as we call the devil in our parts. I wasn't a bit more easy in mind than the rest, but for Terence's sake I felt ready to march into the jaws of hell. I had promised her, and the good God himself couldn't have turned me back now. But that's an ill way to talk. The good God, on the contrary, gave me strength and confidence,

Starting point is 09:25:39 and the more anxiety I felt all that night, the more I thought on him and asked his aid. when our other comrades saw that our minds, Leonels and mine, were made up, they followed us. To make the affair safer, I went back to the inn to see if I could find other friends who, without knowing what we were after, would follow us for fun, and if occasion came, would fight with us. But it was late, and there was no one at the Berf Coronet, but Benoit, who was sopping with the monk, Mariton, who was saying her prayers, and Joseph, who had thrown himself on a bed and was sound asleep with, I must own, a tranquility that put us to shame.

Starting point is 09:26:13 I have only one hope, said Mariton as she got off her knees, and that is that he will sleep over the time and not wake up till morning. That's just like all women, cried Benoit, laughing. They want life at the price of shame. But I gave my word to her lad to wake him before midnight, and I shall not fail to do so. Ah, you don't love him, cried the mother. We'll see if you push our charlou into danger when his turn comes.

Starting point is 09:26:40 You don't know what you are talking about, wife, replied the innkeeper. Go to bed and sleep with my boy. I promise you I'll not fail to wake yours. You would not wish him to blame me for his dishonour. Besides, said the monk, what danger do you suppose there is in the nonsense they are going to perform? I tell you, you're dreaming, my good woman. The devil doesn't get hold of anybody. God doesn't allow it, and you have not brought your boy up so ill that you need fear that he will get himself damned for his music.

Starting point is 09:27:07 I tell you that the villainous tests of the bagpipers are really nothing worse than impious jokes, from which sensible people can easily protect themselves, and Joseph need only laugh at the demons they will set upon him, to put them all to flight. The monk's words heartened up my comrades wonderfully. If it is only a farce, they said to me, we will tumble into the middle of it and thrash the devil well. But hadn't we better take Benoit into our confidence?

Starting point is 09:27:31 He might help us. To tell you the truth, I said, I'm not sure that he would. He is thought a worthy man, but you never know the secrets of a family, especially when they're children via a first marriage. Stepfathers don't always like them, and Joseph has been none too amiable this evening with his. Let's get off without a word to anyone.

Starting point is 09:27:49 That's best, and it is nearly time we were there. Taking the road past the church, walking softly and in single file, we posted ourselves in the little path near the English gate. The moon was so low we could creep in the shadow of the cemetery bank and not be seen, even if anyone passed quite close to us. My comrades, being strangers, had no such repugnance to the place as the villages, and I let them go in front while I hid within the cemetery, near enough to the gate to see who entered, and also near enough to call to them when wanted.

Starting point is 09:28:21 End of Section 30. Section 31 of the Bagpipers by Georges Saint, translated by Catherine Prescott Womily. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 31st evening. I waited a good long time, all the longer because the hours go so slow in company with dead folks. At last midnight struck in the church steeple, and I saw the head of a man rising beyond the low wall of the cemetery, near the gate. Another quarter of an hour dragged along without my seeing or hearing anything

Starting point is 09:28:56 but that man, who getting tired of waiting, began to whistle a bourbonnet tune, whereby I knew it was Joseph, who no doubt betrayed the hopes of his enemies by seeming so cool in presence of the dead. At last another man who was stuck close to the wall inside the gate, and whom I hadn't seen on account of the big box trees which hid him, popped his head quickly over the wall as if to take Joseph by surprise. But the latter did not stir and said, laughing, Well, Per, Carnar, you are rather late. I came near going to sleep while waiting.

Starting point is 09:29:28 Will you open the gate, or must I enter that nettle field by the breach? No, said Carnar, the curate would not like it. We mustn't openly offend the church people. I will go to you. He climbed over the wall and told Joseph he must let his head and arms be covered with a very thick canvas sack, and then walk wherever he was led. very good said joseph in a contemptuous tone go on i watched them from over the wall and saw them enter the little path to the english gate then i made a short cut to the place where i had left my comrades and found only four of them the youngest had slipped off without a word and i was rather afraid the others would do the same for they found the time long and told me they had heard very queer noises which seemed to come from under the earth presently joseph came along with his head covered and led by karnah

Starting point is 09:30:18 the pair got close upon us but turned from the path about twenty feet off carna made joseph clamber down to the edge of the moat and we thought he meant to drown him at once we were on our legs to stop such treachery but in a minute more we saw they were both walking into the water which was shallow at that place until they reached a low archway in the wall of the castle which was partly in the water of the moat they passed through it and this explained to me what had become of the others whom i had hunted for it was necessary to do as they did which didn't seem to me very difficult but my comrades were hard to persuade they had heard that the vaults of the castle ran nine miles out into the country as far as deor and that persons who did not know their windings had been lost in them i was forced to declare that i knew them very well though i had never set foot there in my life and had no idea whether there were common wine-sellers or a subterraneous town as my friends declared i walked first without seeing where i set my feet feeling the walls which enclosed a narrow passage where one's head very nearly touched the roof we advanced in this way for a short time when a hullabaloo sounded beneath us like forty thunder-claps rolling round the devil's cave it was so strange and alarming that i stopped short to try and find out what it meant then i went quickly forward not to let myself get chilled with the idea of some devil's caper telling my companions to follow me but the noise was so loud they did not hear me and i thinking they were at my heels went on and on Till hearing nothing more, I turned to speak to them and got no answer. Not wishing to call aloud, I went back four or five steps.

Starting point is 09:31:54 It was all dark. I stretched out my hands and called cautiously. Goodbye to my valiant contingent. They had deserted me. I thought I must be pretty near the entrance and could surely catch up with them within or without. I returned through the arch by which we had entered and searched carefully along the little path beside the cemetery. But no, my comrades had disappeared. just like the bagpipers. It seemed as if the earth had opened and swallowed them up.

Starting point is 09:32:22 I had a moment of horrid worry, thinking I must either give up the whole thing, or return to those devilish caverns and take myself all alone, into the traps and terrors they were preparing for Joseph. But I asked myself whether, even if the matter concerned only him, I could quietly leave him in danger. My soul answered no, and then I asked my heart, if love for Terence wasn't quite as real a thing as one's duty to one's neighbour, and the answer I received sent me back through the dark and slimy archway and along the subterranean passages. I won't say as gaily, but at any rate as quickly as if I were going to my own wedding. While I was feeling my way forward, I found, on my right, an opening to another passage,

Starting point is 09:33:03 which I had not found before because I then felt it to my left. And I thought to myself that my comrades in going out had probably found it and turned that way. I followed the passage, for there was no sign that the other way would bring me any nearer to the bagpipers. I did not find my comrades, but as for the bagpipers, I had not taken twenty steps before I heard their din much nearer than it sounded the first time.

Starting point is 09:33:25 And presently a quivering kind of light let me see that I was entering a large round cave which had three or four exits, black as the jaws of hell. I was surprised to see so clearly in a vault where there wasn't any light, but I presently noticed that gleams were coming from below through the ground I trod upon.

Starting point is 09:33:43 I noticed that this ground seemed to swell up in the middle, and fearing it was not solid, I kept close to the wall, and getting near to a crevice, I lay down with my eye close to it, and saw very plainly what was going on in another cavern just below the one I was in. It was, as I afterwards learned, a former dungeon, adjoining an obliette or black hole, the mouth of which could still be seen thirty years ago in the upper hall of the castle. I thought as much when I saw the remains of human bones at the lower end of the cave, which the bagpipers had set up in rows to terrify the candidate,

Starting point is 09:34:14 with pine torches inside their skulls. joseph was there all alone his eyes unbound his arms crossed just as cool as i was not listening contemptuously to the uproar of eighteen bagpipes which all braids together prolonging a single note into a roar this crazy music came from an adjoining cave where the bagpipers were hidden and where as they doubtless knew a curious echo multiplied the sound i who knew nothing about it then fancied at first that all the bagpipes of beri auverne and the bourbonnet were collected together in that cave when they had had had had it then fancied at first that all the bagpipes of bevi eauverne and the bourbonnet were collected together in that cave when they had had had had had it enough of growling with their instruments, they began to squeal and squall themselves, and the walls echoed them, till you would have fancied there were a great troop of furious animals of all kinds. A Joseph, who was really an unusual kind of man among our peasantry, indeed I hardly ever knew his like, merely shrugged his shoulders and yawned as if tired with such fools' play. His courage passed into me, and I began to think of laughing at the farce, when a little noise

Starting point is 09:35:12 at my back made me turn my head. There I saw at the entrance of the passage by which I had come, a figure which froze my senses. It was that of a lord of the olden time, carrying a lance and wearing an iron breastplate and leathern garments of a style no longer seen. But the most awful part of him was his face, which was actually like a death's head. I partly recovered myself,

Starting point is 09:35:37 thinking it was only a disguise some of the enemy had put on to frighten Joseph, but on reflection I saw the danger was really mine, because finding me on the watch, he would surely do me some damage. However, though he saw me as plain as I could see him, he did not stir, but remained stock still like a ghost, half in shadow, and half in the light that came up from below. And as this light flickered according as it was moved about, there were moments when, not seeing him, I thought he was a notion of my own brain, until suddenly he would reappear all but his legs, which remained in darkness behind a sort of step or barrier, which made me fancy he was as it were floating on a cloud. I don't know how long I was tortured with this vision, which made me forget to watch Joseph, and scared me lest I was. was going mad in trying to do more than it was in me to perform. I recollected that I had seen

Starting point is 09:36:26 in the hall of the castle an old picture which they said was the portrait of a wicked warrior, whom a lord of the castle in the olden time, who was the warrior's brother, had flung into the dungeon. The garments of leather and iron which I saw before me on that skeleton figure was certainly like those in the picture, and the notion came into my head that here was a ghost in pain, watching the desecration of his sepulchre and waiting to show his displeasure in some way or other. what made this idea the more probable was that the ghost said nothing to me and evidently took no notice of my presence apparently aware that i had no evil intentions against his poor carcass at last a noise different from all others attracted my eyes away from him i looked back into the cave below me where stood joseph and something near him very ugly and very strange joseph stood boldly in front of an abominable creature dressed in the skin of a dog with horns sticking out of his tangled hair and a red face and a red face and a red face and a claws and tail. The witch beast was jumping about and making faces like one possessed of the devil.

Starting point is 09:37:28 It was vile to see, and yet I wasn't the dupe of it very long. For though the creature tried to disguise his voice, I thought I recognized that of Dore Frattin, the bagpiper of Poulini, one of the strongest and most quarrelsome men in our neighborhood. You may sneer as you please, he was saying to Joseph, at me and at hell, but I am the king of all musicians, and you shall not play your instrument without my permission unless you sell me your soul. Joseph answered, What can such a fool of a devil as you do with the soul of a musician? You have no use for it.

Starting point is 09:38:02 Mind what you say, returned the other. Don't you know that down here you must either give yourself to the devil or prove that you are stronger than he? Yes, yes, I know the proverb, said Joseph. Kill the devil or the devil will kill you. As he spoke, I saw Uriel and his father come from a dark opening into the vault and go up to the devil as if to speak to him. But they were pulled back by the other bagpapers

Starting point is 09:38:24 who now showed themselves. And Carnar the elder addressed Joseph. You have proved, he said, that you don't fear witchcraft, and we will let you go free if you will now conform to the usual custom, which is to fight the devil, in proof that you a Christian man refused to submit to him.

Starting point is 09:38:42 If the devil wants to be well thrashed, replied Joseph, let me go at him at once, and we'll see if his skin is any tougher than mine. What weapons? None but your fists, replied Karnar. It is fair play, I hope, said the headwoodsman. Joseph took no time to inquire.

Starting point is 09:38:58 His temper was up. Enraged by the tricks that were played on him, he sprang on the devil, tore off his horns and headdress, and caught him so resolutely round the body that he brought him to earth and fell on top of him. But he instantly got up,

Starting point is 09:39:11 and I fancied he gave a cry of surprise and pain, but the bagpipers all began to play, except Uriel and his father, who stood watching the encounter with an expression of doubt and uneasiness. Joseph, meantime, was tumbling the devil about and seeming to get the better of him, but his rage seemed to be unnatural, and I feared he might put himself in the wrong through too much violence.

Starting point is 09:39:32 The bagpiper seemed to help him, for instead of rescuing their comrade, who was knocked down three times, they marched round and round the fight, piping loudly and beating with their feet to excite him. Suddenly the headwoodsmen separated the combatants by leveling a blow with his stick on the devil's pause, and threatening to strike harder the second time if he was not listened to. Uriel ran to his father's side, raising his stick also, while all the others stopped walking round and round and piping, and a moment's silence and stillness fell on all. Then I saw that Joseph, overcome with pain, was wiping his torn hands and his face, which was

Starting point is 09:40:09 covered with blood, and that he would have fainted if Uriel had not caught him in his arms, while Dore Frattain merely threw aside his trappings, panting with heat, and wiping the sweat from his forehead with a grin. What does this mean? cried Karnak, coming up to the head woodsman with a threatening air. Are you a traitor to the guild? By what right do you interfere with the tests? I interfere at my own risk and to your shame, replied the headwoodsman. I am not a traitor and you are evil-doers, both treacherous and cruel. I suspected that you were tricking us to lead this young man here and wound him, perhaps dangerously. You hate him because you know that

Starting point is 09:40:45 everyone will prefer him to you, and that wherever he has heard, no one will listen to your music. You have not dared to refuse from admission to the guild because the whole country would blame you for such a crying injustice, but you are trying to frighten him from playing in the parishes

Starting point is 09:40:58 you have taken possession of, and you have put him through hard and dangerous tests which none of you could have borne as long as he. I don't know what you mean, said the old dean, Paiute de Verneux. And the blame you cast upon us here in presence of a candidate

Starting point is 09:41:12 is unheard of insolence. We don't know how you practice initiation in your part of the country, but here we are following our customs and shall not allow you to interfere. I shall interfere, said Uriel, who was sopping Joseph's blood with his handkerchief, and had brought him back to consciousness as he held him on his knee.

Starting point is 09:41:30 I neither can nor will tell of your conduct away from here, because I belong to the brotherhood, but at least I will tell you to your faces that you are brutes. In our country we fight with the devil in jest, taking care to do no one any harm. Here you choose the strongest among you and furnish him with hidden weapons, with which he endeavors to put out the eyes and stand.

Starting point is 09:41:48 the veins of your victims. See this young man is exhausted, and in the rage which your wickedness excited in him, he would have let you kill him if we had not stopped the fight. And then what would you have done? You would have flung his body into that vault, where so many other unfortunates have perished, whose bones ought to rise and condemn you for being as cruel as your former lords. These words reminded me of the apparition I had forgotten,

Starting point is 09:42:13 and I turned round to see if it was still there. I could not see it, and then I bethought me of finding my way to the lower cave, where, as I began to think, I might be useful to my friends. I found the stairway at once and went down to the entrance of the vault, not trying to conceal myself, for such disputing and confusion were going on that no one paid any attention to me. The headwoodsman had picked up the devil's skin coat and showed that it was covered with spikes like a comb for currying oxen,

Starting point is 09:42:42 and also the mittens which the sham devil wore on his hands, in which strong nails were fastened with the points outside. The bagpipers were furious. "'He is a pretty fuss about a few scratches,' cried Karnan. "'Isn't it in the order of things that a devil should have claws? "'And this young fool who attacked him so imprudently, "'why didn't he know how far he could play at that game "'without getting his snout scraped?

Starting point is 09:43:05 "'Come, come, don't pity him so much. "'It's a mere nothing, and since he has had enough of it, "'let him confess he can't play at our games "'and is not fit to belong to our guild in any way.' "'I shall belong to it,' cried Joseph, "'wrenching himself from Uriel's arms, and showing as he did so his torn shirt and bleeding breast. I shall belong to it in spite of you.

Starting point is 09:43:26 I insist that the fight shall go on, and one of us shall be left in this cavern. I forbid it, said the headwoodsman, and I insist that this young man shall be proclaimed victor, or I swear to bring into this place a company of bagpipers who shall teach you how to behave, and who will see justice done. You, said Doré Frattin,

Starting point is 09:43:46 drawing a sort of board knife from his belt. You can do so if you choose, but you shall carry with you some marks on your body so that people may believe your reports. The head woodsman and Uriel put themselves in an attitude of defence. Joseph flung himself upon Frattain to get away his knife, and I made one bound in amongst them. But before any of us could strike a blow,

Starting point is 09:44:06 the figure that startled me so in the upper cavern appeared at the opening of the lower one, stretched forth his lance, and slowly advanced in a way to strike terror to the minds of the evil-doers. Then as they all paused, dumbfounded with fear and amazement, a piteous voice was heard from the depths of the dungeon, reciting the prayers for the dead. This routed the whole brotherhood.

Starting point is 09:44:28 One of the pipers cried out, The dead! The dead arising! And they all fled, pell-mell, yelling and pushing through the various openings, except that to the dungeon, where stood another figure wrapped in a winding-sheet, chanting the most dismal sing-song that anybody ever heard. A minute later all our enemies had disappeared, and the warrior flinging off his helmet and mask.

Starting point is 09:44:47 We beheld the jovial face of Benoit, while the monk getting out of his winding sheet was holding his sides in convulsions of laughter. May God forgive me for masquerading, he said. I did it with the best intentions. Those rascals deserve a good lesson if it is only to teach them not to laugh at the devil, of whom they are really more afraid than those whom they threaten with him. For my part I felt quite certain, said Benoit, that our comedy would put an end to theirs. Then noticing Joseph's wounds, he grew very uneasy,

Starting point is 09:45:17 and showed such feeling for him that all this, together with the sucker he had brought in so timely a manner, proved to my mind his regard for his stepson and his good heart which i had hitherto doubted while we examined joseph and convinced ourselves he was not very seriously hurt the monk told us how the butler at the castle had once said to him that he allowed the bagpipers and other societies to hold their secret meetings in the cellars of the castle those in which we found ourselves were too far from the inhabited parts of the castle to disturb the lady mistress of st chartier and indeed if it had she would only have laughed not imagining that any mischief could come of it but Benoit, who suspected some evil intent, had got the same butler to give him a key to the cellars and a disguise, and that was how it was that he got these in time to avert all danger. Well, said the headwoodsman, addressing him, thank you for your assistance, but I rather regret you came, for those fellows are capable of declaring that I asked you to do so, and consequently that I betrayed the secrets of the guild. If you will take my advice, we had better get away noiselessly, at once, and leave them to think you were really ghosts. all the more added Benoit that their wrath may deprive me of their custom which is no slight matter I hope they did not recognize Tiennet but how the devil was it that Tienet got here in the nick of time

Starting point is 09:46:35 didn't you bring him asked Uriel that he didn't said I I came on my own account because of the stories they tell of your devil-trees I was curious to see them but I swear to you that those fellows were too scared and the sight of their eyes was too wide of the mark ever to have recognized me we were about to leave when the sound of angry voices and an uproar like that of a fight was heard. "'Dear, dear!' cried the monk. "'What's that now? I think they are coming back, and we have not yet done with them.

Starting point is 09:47:05 Quick, let's get back into our disguises.' "'No,' said Benoit, listening. "'I know what it is. I met as I came along through the castle cellars, four or five young fellows, one of whom is known to me, and that is Leonar, your Bourbonnet woodchopper, Per Bastien.' Those lads were there from curiosity, no doubt, but they had got bewildered in the caverns, and I lent them my lantern, telling them to wait for me. The bagpipers must have met them, and they are giving chase.

Starting point is 09:47:33 It is more likely that they are being chased themselves if there are not more than five of them, said Uriel. Let us go and see. We were just starting when the noise and the footsteps approached, and Karnat, Dore Frattin, and eight others returned to the cave, having, in fact exchanged a few blows with our comrades, and finding that they had to do with real flesh and blood instead of spectres, they were ashamed of their cowardice and so came back again. They reproached the Uriel's for having betrayed them and driven them into an ambush.

Starting point is 09:48:02 The headwoodsman defended himself, and the monk tried to secure peace by taking it all upon himself, telling the bagpipers to repent of their sins. But they felt themselves in good force, for others kept coming back to their support, and when they found their numbers nearly complete, they raised their voices to a roar, and went from reproaches to threats and from threats to blows. seeing there was no way to avoid an encounter, all the more because they had drunk a good deal of brandy while the tests were going on

Starting point is 09:48:27 and were more or less intoxicated. We put ourselves in an attitude of defence, pressing one against the other and showing front to the enemy on all sides, like oxen when a troop of wolves attack them at pasture. The monk, having already lost his morality and his latin, now lost his patience also, and seizing the pipe of an instrument

Starting point is 09:48:45 which had got broken in the scrimmage, he laid about him as hard as a man well could in defense of his own skin. Unluckily, Joseph was weakened by the loss of blood, and Uriel, who bore upon his heart at the recollection of Malsak's death, was more fearful of giving blows than of receiving them. Anxious to protect his father, who sprang into the fray like an old lion, he put himself in great danger.

Starting point is 09:49:08 Benoit fought very well for a man who was just out of an illness, but the truth is we were only six against fifteen or sixteen, and as the blood rose anger came, and I saw our enemies opening their knives. I had only time to fling my own. myself before the head woodsman who still unwilling to draw his blade was the object of their bitterest anger i received a wound in the arm which i hardly felt at the moment but which hindered my fighting on and i thought the day was lost when by great good luck my four comrades decided to come and see what the noise was about the reinforcement was sufficient and together we put to flight for the second time and the last our exhausted enemies taken in the rear and ignorant how many were upon them i saw that victory was ours and that none of my friends were much hurt hurt. Then suddenly perceiving that I had got more than I wanted, I fell like a log and neither

Starting point is 09:49:56 knew nor felt another thing. End of Section 31. Section 32 of the bagpipers by Georges Son, translated by Catherine Prescott Wormley. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. 32nd evening When I came to my senses I found myself in the same bed with Joseph and it took me some time to recover full consciousness. When I did, I did, I found myself in the same bed with Joseph. And it took me some time to recover a full consciousness. When I did, I saw I was in Benmo's own room, that the bed was good, the sheets very white, and my arm bound up after a bleeding. The sun was shining through the yellow bed curtains, and except for a sense of weakness, I felt no ill. I turned to Joseph,

Starting point is 09:50:43 who was a good deal cut about the head, but in no way to disfigure him, and who said, as he kissed me, well, my Tiennet, here we are, as in the old days when we fought the boys of Vernouille on our way back from Catechism, and were left lying together at the bottom of a ditch. You have protected me to your hurt, just as you did then, and I can never thank you as I ought. But you know, and I think you always knew, that my heart is not as churlish as my tongue. I have always known it, I replied, returning his kiss, and if I have again protected you, I am very glad of it. But you mustn't take too much for yourself. I had another motive. Here I stopped, fearing I might give way and let out Terence's name, but just then a white

Starting point is 09:51:25 hand drew back the curtain, and there I saw a vision of Terence herself, leaning towards me, while Mariton went round between the bed and the wall to kiss and question her son. Terence bent over me, as I said, and I, quite overcome and thinking I was dreaming, tried to rise and thank her for her visit and assure her I was out of danger. And there, like a sick fool and blushing like a girl, I received from her lips the finest kiss that ever recalled the dead. What are you doing, Terence, I cried, grasping her. hands, which I could almost have eaten up. Do you want to make me crazy?

Starting point is 09:51:59 I want to thank you and love you all my life, she answered, for you have kept your word to me. You have brought my father and my brother back to me safe and sound, and I know that all you have done, all that has happened to you, is because you loved them and loved me. Therefore I am here to nurse you and not to leave you as long as you are ill. Oh, that's good, Terence, I said, sighing. It is more than I deserve. Please God not to let me get well, for I don't know what would become of me afterwards. Afterwards, said Per Bastian, coming into the room with Uriel and Brulette, come, daughter, what shall we do with him afterwards?

Starting point is 09:52:37 Afterwards, said Terence, blushing Scarlet for the first time. Yes, Terence the sincere, returned her father, speak as becomes a girl who never lies. Well, father, then afterwards, I will never leave him either, she said. Go away, all of you. I cried. Close the curtains. I want to get up and dress and dance and sing. I'm not ill. I have paradise inside of me. And so saying I fell back in a faint, and saw and knew nothing more except that I felt in a kind of a dream, that Terence was holding me in her arms and giving me remedies.

Starting point is 09:53:12 In the evening I felt better. Joseph was already about, and I might have been too, only they wouldn't let me. And I was made to spend the evening in bed while the rest sat and talked in the room, and my terrace sitting by my pillow listened tenderly to what I said, letting me pour out in words all the balm that was in my heart. The monk talked with Benoit, the pair washing down their conversation with several jorums of white wine, which they swallowed under the guise of a restorative medicine. Uriel and Brulette were together in a corner,

Starting point is 09:53:42 Joseph with his mother and the headwoodsman in another. Uriel was saying to Brulette, I told you the very first day I saw you when I showed you your token in my earring, that it should stay there forever unless the ear itself came off. Well, the ear, though slit in the fight, is still there, and the token, though rather bent, is in the ear. See? The wound will heal, the token could be mended, and everything will come all right by the grace of God.

Starting point is 09:54:09 Mariton was saying to Per Bastien, what is going to be the result of this fight? Those men are capable of murdering my poor boy if he attempts to play his bagpipe in this region. No, replied Per Bastien, all has happened for the best. they have had a good lesson and there were witnesses enough outside of the brotherhood to keep them from venturing to attack Joseph or any of us again.

Starting point is 09:54:30 They are capable of doing harm when, by force or persuasion, they have brought the candidate to take an oath. But Joseph took none. He will, however, be silent because he is generous. Tiennet will do the same, and so will our young woodsmen by my advice and order. But your bagpipers know very well that if they touch a hair of our heads, all tongues will be loosened

Starting point is 09:54:49 and the affair brought to justice. And the monk was saying to Benoit, I can't laugh as you do about the adventure, for I got into a passion which compels me to confess and do penance. I can forgive them the blows they tried to give me, but not those they forced me to give them. Ah, the prior of my convent is right enough to taunt me with my temper, and tell me I ought to combat not only the old Adam in me,

Starting point is 09:55:13 but the old peasant too. That is the man within me who loves wine and fighting. Wine continued the monk sighing and filling his glass to the brim, is conquered, thank God. But I discovered this night that my blood is as quarrelsome as ever, and that a mere tap could make me furious. But weren't you in a position of legitimate defence, said Benoit? Come, come.

Starting point is 09:55:35 You spoke to those fellows in a proper manner, and you didn't strike until you were obliged to. That's all very true, replied the friar, but my evil genius the prior will ask me questions. He'll pump the truth out of me, and I shall be forced to confess that instead of doing it regretfully, I was carried away with the pleasure of striking like a sledgehammer, forgetting I had a cassock on my back and thinking of the days when, keeping my flocks in the Bourbonnet pastures.

Starting point is 09:56:00 I went about quarrelling with the other shepherds, for the mere earthly vanity of proving I was the strongest and most obstinate of them all. Joseph was silent, no doubt he felt badly at seeing two such happy couples without the right to sulk at them, after receiving such good support from Uriel and me. The headwoodsman, who had a tender spot in his heart for the fellow on account of his music, kept talking to him of glory. Joseph made great efforts to witness the happiness of others without showing jealousy, and we had to admit that, proud and cold as he was,

Starting point is 09:56:32 there was in him an uncommon force of will for self-conquest. He remained hidden as I did for some time in his mother's house till the marks of the fray were effaced, for the secret of the whole affair was very well kept by my comrades, though Leonardo, who behaved very boldly and yet judiciously, threatened the bagpipers to reveal all to the authorities of Canton if they did not conduct themselves peacefully. When we all got about again it was found that no one was seriously damaged,

Starting point is 09:56:59 except Per Carnar, whose wrist, as it proved, I had dislocated, and a Paliant settlement ensued. It was agreed that Joseph should have certain parishes, and he had them assigned to him, though with no intention of using his privilege. I was rather more ill than I thought for, not so much on account of my wound, which was not severe, nor yet of the blows that had been rained on my body, but because of the bleeding the monk had done to me with the best intentions.

Starting point is 09:57:26 Uriel and Brulette had the charming amiability to put off their marriage till ours could take place, and a month later the two weddings were celebrated. In fact, there were three, for Benoit wished to acknowledge his publicly, and to celebrate the occasion with us. The worthy man, delighted to have had his air so well taken care of by Brulet, tried to get her to accept a gift of some consequence, but she steadily refused, and throwing herself into Mariton's arm, she said. Remember that this dear woman was a mother to me for more than a dozen years. Do you think I can

Starting point is 09:57:57 take money when I am not yet out of her debt? That may be, said Mariton, but your bringing up was nothing but an honour and profit to me, whereas that of my Charleau brought you trouble and insult. My dear friend, replied Brulette, that very fact is all that evens our account. I would gladly have made your Jose happy in return for all your goodness to me, but that did not depend on my poor heart, and so to compensate you for the grief I caused him, I was bound to suffer all I did for your other child. There's a girl for you, cried Benoit, wiping his big round eyes, which were not used to shed tears. Yes, yes, indeed, there's a girl.

Starting point is 09:58:36 And he couldn't say any more. To get even with Brulet, he was determined to pay all the costs of her wedding and mine into the bargain. As he spared nothing and invited at least two hundred guests, it cost him a pretty sum, which he paid without a murmur. the monk promised faithfully to be present all the more because the prior had kept him on bread and water for a month and the embargo on his gullet was raised the very day of the wedding he did not abuse his liberty however and behaved in such a pleasant way that we all became as fast friends with him as iriel and benois had previously been joseph kept up his courage till the day of the wedding in the morning he was pale and apparently deep in thought but as we left the church he took the bagpipe from my father-in-law's hand and played a wedding march which he had composed of the morning he was pale and apparently deep in thought but as we left the church he took the bagpipe from my father-in-law's hand and played a wedding march which he had composed that very night in our honour. It was such a beautiful piece of music and was so applauded

Starting point is 09:59:26 that his gloom disappeared, and he played triumphantly his best dance airs all the evening, and quite forgot himself in his troubles the whole time the festivities lasted. He followed us back to Chassin, and there the headwoodsman, having settled his affairs, addressed us one at all as follows. My children, you are now happy and rich for country, folks. I leave you the business of this forest, which is a good one, and all I possess elsewhere is yours. You can spend the rest of the season here and during that time you can decide on your plans for the future. You belong to different parts of the country. Your tastes and habits are not alike. Try, my sons, both of you, to find what kind of life will make your wives happy

Starting point is 10:00:06 and keep them from regretting their marriages now so well begun. I shall return within a year. Let me have two fine grandchildren to welcome me. You can then tell me what you have decided to do. take your time. A thing that seems good today may seem worse or better tomorrow. Where are you going, father? said Terence, clasping him in her arms in fear. I am going to travel about with Joseph and play our music as we go, answered Per Bastien. He needs it, and as for me I have hungered for it these 30 years. Neither tears nor entreaties could keep him, and that evening we escorted them halfway to Saint-Savere. There, as we embraced Per Bastien with many tears,

Starting point is 10:00:49 have said to us, don't be unhappy. I know very well he is sacrificing the sight of your happiness to my good, for he has a father's heart for me, and knows I am the most to be pitied of his children. But perhaps I shall not need him long, and I have an idea you will see him sooner than he thinks for. Then he added, kneeling before my wife and Uriel's. Dear sisters, I have offended both of you, and I have been punished enough by my own thoughts. Will you not forgive me so that I may forgive myself and go away more peacefully? they both kissed him with the utmost affection and then he came to each of us and said with surprising warmth of heart the kindest and most affectionate words he had ever said in his life begging us to forgive his faults and to hold him in remembrance we stood on a hill to watch them as long as possible per bastien played vigorously on his bagpipe turning round from time to time to wave his cap and blow kisses with his hand joseph did not turn round he walked in silence with his head down as if in thought or in grief

Starting point is 10:01:49 I could not help saying to Uriel that I saw on his face as he left us that strange look I had seen in his childhood, which in our parts is thought the sign of a man doomed to evil. Our tears were dried little by little in the sunshine of happiness and hope. My beautiful dear wife made a greater effort than the rest of us, for never before being parted from her father, she seemed to have lost a portion of her soul in losing him. And I saw that in spite of her courage, her love for me, and the happiness she felt in the prospect of becoming a mother, there was always something lacking for which she sighed in secret.

Starting point is 10:02:25 So my mind was constantly turning on how to arrange our lives to live in future with Per Bastien, were it even necessary to sell my property, give up my family, and follow my wife wherever she wished to live. It was just the same with Brulette, who was determined to consult only her husband's tastes, especially when her old grandfather, after a brief illness, died quietly as he had lived, protected by the care and love of his dear daughter. Tiennet, she often said to me, I see plainly that Berri must give way to the Bourbonnet in you and me. Uriel is too fond of this free, strong life and change of air to endure our sleepy planes.

Starting point is 10:03:03 He makes me so happy I will never let him feel a secret pain. I have no family now in our paths, all my friends there except you have hurt me. I live only for Uriel. Where he is happy, there I am happiest. The winter found us still in the forest of Shepard. Chasin. We had stripped that beautiful region of its beauty, for the old oak wood was its finest feature. The snow covered the prostrate bodies of the noble trees, flung head foremost into the river,

Starting point is 10:03:30 which held them, cold and dead, in its ice. One morning, Uriel and I were lunching beside a fire of brushwood which our wives had lighted to warm our soup, and we were looking at them with delight, for both were in a fair way to keep the promise they had made to Per Bastien to give him descendants, when suddenly they both cried out, and Terence, forgetting she was not so light as she once was, sprang almost across the fire to kiss a man whom the smoke of damp leaves had hidden from our sight. It was her good father, who soon had neither arms and lips enough to reply to our welcome. After the first joy was over, we asked him about Joseph, and then his face darkened in his eyes filled with tears. He told you that you would see me sooner than I expected, said Per Bastien sadly.

Starting point is 10:04:13 He may have had a presentiment of his fate, and God. God who softened the hard shell of his heart at that moment, no doubt, counseled him to reflect upon himself. We dared not inquire further. Per Bastien sat down, opened his sack, and drew forth the pieces of a broken bagpipe. This is all that remains of that poor lad, he said. He could not escape his star. I thought I had softened his pride, but alas, in everything connected with music, he grew daily, more haughty and morose. Perhaps it was my fault. I tried to console him for his love troubles by proving to him the happiness of his art. From me at least he got the sweets of praise, but the more he sucked them, the greater his thirst.

Starting point is 10:04:54 We went far, as far even as the mountains of the Morvon, where there are many bagpipers as jealous as those in these parts, not so much for their selfish interests as for their conceit in their talents. Joseph was imprudent. He used language that offended them at a supper to which they hospitably invited him with the kindest intentions. Unhappily I was not there, not feeling very well and having no reason. to fear a misunderstanding, I stayed away. He was absent all night, but that often happened,

Starting point is 10:05:22 and as I had noticed he was rather jealous of the applause people were pleased to give my old ditties, I was apt not to go with him. In the morning I went out, still not feeling well, and I heard in the village that a broken bagpipe had been picked up at the edge of a pond. I ran to see it and knew it at a glance. Then I went to the place where it was found, and breaking the ice of the pond, I found his poor body quite frozen. There were no marks of violence on it, and the bagpipers swore that they had parted from him, so burly and without a quarrel, about a league from the spot. I searched in vain for the cause of his death. The place was in a very wild region where the law fears the peasant and the peasant fears naught but the devil.

Starting point is 10:06:01 I was forced to content myself with their foolish remarks and reasons. In those parts they firmly believe a great deal that we should laugh at here. For instance, they think you can't be a musician without selling a soul to hell, and that Satan tears the bagpipe from the player's hands and breaks it upon his back, which drives him wild and maddens him, and then he kills himself. That is how they explain the revenge which bagpipers often take upon each other, and the latter never contradict, for it suits them to be feared and to escape all consequences. Indeed, all musicians are held in such fear and disrepute that I could get no attention to my complaints, and if I had remained in the neighbourhood I might even have been accused of summoning the

Starting point is 10:06:38 devil to rid me of my companion. Alas, said Brulette weeping, my poor Josie, my poor dear companion, good God, what are we to say to his mother? We must tell her, said Per Bastien, sadly, not to let Charleau take a fancy to music. It is too harsh a mistress for folks like us. We have not had enough to stand on the heights to which it leads without turning giddy. Oh, father, cried Terence, if you would only give it up, God knows what misfortunes it may yet bring upon you. Be comforted, my darling, said Per Bastien, I have given it up.

Starting point is 10:07:15 I returned to live with my family, to be happy with my grandchildren, whom I dream of already as they dance at my knee. Where shall we settle ourselves, my dear children? Where you wish, said Terence. Where our husband's wish, said Brulette. Where my wife wishes, I cried. Where you all wish, said Uriel.

Starting point is 10:07:34 Well, said Per Bastien, as I know your likings and your means, and as moreover, I bring you back. a bit of money, I've been thinking, as I trudged along, that we could all be satisfied. When you wish the peach to ripen you mustn't pull out the stone, the peach zone is the property which Tiennet owns at Noon. We will buy other lands that adjoins it, and build a good house for all of us. I shall be content to watch the wheat fields, glad not to fell God's noble trees, but to make my little songs in the olden fashion at evening by my door, among mine own,

Starting point is 10:08:04 instead of drinking the wine of others and making jealousies. Uriel likes to roam and his wife just now is of the same turn of mind. They can undertake such enterprises as we have now finished in this forest, where I see you have worked well, and they can spend the fine season in the woods. If their young family is in the way, Derence has strengthened heart enough to manage a double nest, and you will all meet together in the autumn with increased pleasure,

Starting point is 10:08:28 until my son, long after he has closed my eyes, will feel the need of resting all the year round as I feel it now. all that my father-in-law said came to pass just as he advised and prophesied the good god blessed our obedience and as life is a past he mixed of sadness and content poor mariton often came to us to weep and the worthy monk as often came to laugh end of section thirty two end of the bagpipers by george

Classic Audiobook Collection - The Bagpipers by George Sand ~ Full Audiobook [romance]

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