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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41681 ***
+
+                            BRETON LEGENDS.
+
+                      Translated from the French.
+
+
+
+                                 London
+
+                Burns, Oates, & Co., 17 Portman Street,
+                         and 63 Paternoster Row
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The various Collections of Household and Legendary Tales of different
+countries which have appeared of late years sufficiently attest the
+popular interest which attaches to these curious and venerable relics
+of bygone days. Even such eminent scholars as the Messrs. Grimm have
+not thought it beneath them to devote their time and research to the
+task of collecting the old fireside Stories and Legends of Germany;
+and the result of their labours is a volume of tales of remarkable
+interest and attractiveness, distinguished no less for variety and
+invention than for pathos, humour, and graceful simplicity.
+
+Similar Collections have been published from time to time in relation
+to other countries (among others, a remarkable one on the Norse
+Legends, recently issued); and it seemed to the Editors of the present
+volume that the time had arrived when Brittany too might venture to
+put forward her claim in this respect to public attention. A selection
+of some of the best of the Breton Legends is therefore presented to
+the reader in this little volume.
+
+It may be remarked, that the Breton Legends, though possessing
+much that is common to the German and other National Tales, have
+yet features peculiar to themselves. They are, we may say, deeply
+coloured by the character of the country in which they have their
+home. The sea-coast of Brittany, with its rugged rocks and deep
+mysterious bays and inlets; the lone country heaths in which stand
+the Menhir and Dolmen, with their dark immemorial traditions; the
+gray antiquated chateaus with their fosses and turrets,--all impart
+a wild and severe character to its legends, and strike the reader
+with a kind of awe which he scarcely feels in reading those of other
+countries. In addition to this, the way in which the religion of the
+Cross, and the doctrines and rites of the Church are interwoven with
+the texture of almost every one of the Breton Tales, seems to mark
+them off with still greater distinctness, lending them at the same
+time a peculiar charm which can hardly fail to commend them to the
+sympathies of the religious reader.
+
+We may add that the moral lessons to be derived from many of these
+Legends are as striking as they are ingeniously wrought out.
+
+The Tales are a translation from the French; and for this the Editors
+are indebted to the skill and good taste of a lady, who has entered
+most fully into the spirit and feeling of these simple but beautiful
+specimens of Legendary Lore.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                         Page
+    The Three Wayfarers                     1
+    The Legend of St. Galonnek             14
+    The Korils of Plauden                  31
+    The Blessed Mao                        47
+    The Fate of Keris                      63
+    The Stones of Plouhinec                74
+    Teuz-à-pouliet; or, the Dwarf          84
+    The Spectre Laundresses                96
+    Robin Redbreast                       104
+    Comorre                               118
+    The Groac'h of the Isle of Lok        132
+    The Four Gifts                        150
+    The Palace of the proud King          167
+    The Piper                             172
+    The White Inn                         177
+    Peronnik the Idiot                    182
+    Appendix                              207
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BRETON LEGENDS.
+
+THE THREE WAYFARERS.
+
+
+There dwelt in the diocese of Léon, in ancient times, two young
+noblemen, rich and comely as heart could desire. Their names were
+Tonyk and Mylio.
+
+Mylio, the elder, was almost sixteen, and Tonyk just fourteen years
+of age. They were both under the instruction of the ablest masters, by
+whose lessons they had so well profited that, but for their age, they
+might well have received holy orders, had such been their vocation.
+
+But in character the brothers were very unlike. Tonyk was pious,
+charitable to the poor, and always ready to forgive those who had
+offended him: he hoarded neither money in his hand nor resentment
+in his heart. Mylio, on the other hand, while he gave but his due to
+each, would drive a hard bargain too, and never failed to revenge an
+injury to the uttermost.
+
+It had pleased God to deprive them of their father whilst yet in their
+infancy, and they had been brought up by their widowed mother, a woman
+of singular virtue; but now that they were growing towards manhood,
+she deemed it time to send them to the care of an uncle, who lived
+at some distance, and from whom they might receive good counsels for
+their walk in life, besides the expectation of an ample heritage.
+
+So one day, after bestowing upon each a new cap, a pair of
+silver-buckled shoes, a violet mantle, [1] a well-filled purse,
+and a horse, she bade them set forth towards the house of their
+father's brother.
+
+The two boys began their journey in the highest spirits, glad that
+they were travelling into a new country. Their horses made such good
+speed, that in the course of a few days they found themselves already
+in another kingdom, where the trees, and even the corn, were quite
+different to their own. There one morning, coming to a cross-road,
+they saw a poor woman seated near a wayside cross, her face buried
+in her apron.
+
+Tonyk drew up his horse to ask her what she ailed; and the beggar
+told him, sobbing, that she had just lost her son, her sole support,
+and that she was now cast upon the charity of Christian strangers.
+
+The youth was touched with compassion; but Mylio, who waited at a
+little distance, cried out mockingly,
+
+"You are not going to believe the first pitiful story told you by
+the roadside! It is just this woman's trade to sit here and cheat
+travellers of their money."
+
+"Hush, hush, my brother," answered Tonyk, "in the name of God; you
+only make her weep the more. Do not you see that she is just the
+age and figure of our own dear mother, whom may God preserve." Then
+stooping towards the beggar-woman, he handed her his purse, saying,
+
+"Here, my good woman, I can help you but a little; but I will pray
+that God Himself may be your consolation."
+
+The beggar took the purse, and pressed it to her lips; then said
+to Tonyk,
+
+"Since my young lord has been so bountiful to a poor woman, let him
+not refuse to accept from her this walnut. It contains a wasp with
+a sting of diamond."
+
+Tonyk took the walnut with thanks, and proceeded on his way with Mylio.
+
+Ere long they came upon the borders of a forest, and saw a little
+child, half naked, seeking somewhat in the hollows of the trees,
+whilst he sung a strange and melancholy air, more mournful than the
+music of a requiem. He often stopped to clap his little frozen hands,
+saying in his song, "I am cold,--oh, so cold!" and the boys could
+hear his teeth chatter in his head.
+
+Tonyk was ready to weep at this spectacle, and said to his brother,
+
+"Mylio, only see how this poor child suffers from the piercing wind."
+
+"Then he must be a chilly subject," returned Mylio; "the wind does
+not strike me as so piercing."
+
+"That may well be, when you have on a plush doublet, a warm cloth coat,
+and over all your violet mantle, whilst he is wrapped round by little
+but the air of heaven."
+
+"Well, and what then?" observed Mylio; "after all, he is but a
+peasant-boy."
+
+"Alas," said Tonyk, "when I think that you, my brother, might have
+been born to the same hard fate, it goes to my very heart; and I
+cannot bear to see him suffering. For Jesus' sake let us relieve him."
+
+So saying he reined in his horse, and calling to him the little boy,
+asked what he was about.
+
+"I am trying," said the child, "if I can find any dragon-flies [2]
+asleep in the hollows of the trees."
+
+"And what do you want with the dragon-flies?" asked Mylio.
+
+"When I have found a great many, I shall sell them in the town,
+and buy myself a garment as warm as sunshine."
+
+"And how many have you found already?" asked the young nobleman.
+
+"One only," said the child, holding up a little rushen cage enclosing
+the blue fly.
+
+"Well, well, I will take it," interposed Tonyk, throwing to the boy
+his violet mantle. "Wrap yourself up in that nice warm cloak, my
+poor little fellow; and when you kneel down to your evening prayers,
+say every night a 'Hail Mary' for us, and another for our mother."
+
+The two brothers went forward on their journey; and Tonyk, having
+parted with his mantle, suffered sorely for a time from the cutting
+north wind; but the forest came to an end, the air grew milder,
+the fog dispersed, and a vein of sunshine kindled in the clouds.
+
+They presently entered a green meadow, where a fountain sprung; and
+there beside it sat an aged man, his clothes in tatters, and on his
+back the wallet which marked him as a beggar.
+
+As soon as he perceived the young riders, he called to them in
+beseeching tones.
+
+Tonyk approached him.
+
+"What is it, father?" said he, lifting his hand to his hat in
+respectful consideration of the beggar's age.
+
+"Alas, my dear young gentlemen," replied the old man, "you see how
+white my hair is, and how wrinkled my cheeks. By reason of my age, I
+have grown very feeble, and my feet can carry me no further. Therefore
+I must certainly sit here and die, unless one of you is willing to
+sell me his horse."
+
+"Sell thee one of our horses, beggar!" exclaimed Mylio, with
+contemptuous voice; "and wherewithal have you to pay for it?"
+
+"You see this hollow acorn," answered the mendicant: "it contains
+a spider capable of spinning a web stronger than steel. Let me have
+one of your horses, and I will give you in exchange the acorn with
+the spider."
+
+The elder of the two boys burst into a loud laugh.
+
+"Do you only hear that, Tonyk?" said he, turning to his brother. "By
+my baptism, there must be two calf's feet in that fellow's shoes." [3]
+
+But the younger answered gently,
+
+"The poor can only offer what he has."
+
+Then dismounting, he went up to the old man, and added,
+
+"I give you my horse, my honest friend, not in consideration of
+the price you offer for him, but in remembrance of Christ, who has
+declared the poor to be His chosen portion. Take and keep him as your
+own, and thank God, in whose name I bestow him."
+
+The old man murmured a thousand benedictions, and mounting with
+Tonyk's aid, went on his way, and was soon lost in the distance.
+
+But at this last alms-deed Mylio could no longer contain himself,
+and broke out into a storm of reproaches.
+
+"Fool!" cried he angrily to Tonyk, "are you not ashamed of the state
+to which you have reduced yourself by your folly? You thought no
+doubt that when you had stripped yourself of every thing, I would go
+shares with you in horse and cloak and purse. But no such thing. I
+hope this lesson at least will do you good, and that, by feeling the
+inconveniences of prodigality, you may learn to be more prudent for
+the future."
+
+"It is indeed a good lesson, my brother," replied Tonyk mildly; "and
+I willingly receive it. I never so much as thought of sharing your
+money, horse, or cloak; go, therefore, on your way without troubling
+yourself about me, and may the Queen of angels guide you."
+
+Mylio answered not a word, but trotted quickly off; whilst his young
+brother followed upon foot, keeping him in sight as long as he was
+able, without a thought of bitterness arising in his heart.
+
+And thus they went on towards the entrance of a narrow defile between
+two mountains, so lofty that their tops were hidden in the clouds. It
+was called the Accursed Strait; for a dreadful being dwelt among
+those heights, and there laid wait for travellers, like a huntsman
+watching for his game. He was a giant, blind, and without feet; but
+had so fine an ear for sound, that he could hear the worm working
+her dark way within the earth. His servants were two eagles, which
+he had tamed (for he was a great magician), and he sent them forth
+to catch his prey so soon as he could hear it coming. So the country
+people of the neighbourhood, when they had to thread the dreaded pass,
+were accustomed to carry their shoes in their hands, like the girls
+of Roscoff going to market at Morlaix, and held their breath lest
+the giant should detect their passage. But Mylio, who knew nothing
+of all this, went on at full trot, until the giant was awakened by
+the sound of horse's hoofs upon the stony way.
+
+"Ho, ho, my harriers, where are you?" cried he.
+
+The white and the red eagle hastened to him.
+
+"Go and fetch me for my supper what is passing by," exclaimed the
+giant.
+
+Like balls from cannon-mouth they shot down the depths of the ravine,
+and seizing Mylio by his violet mantle, bore him upwards to the
+giant's den.
+
+At that moment Tonyk came up to the entrance of the defile. He
+saw his brother in the act of being carried off by the two birds,
+and rushing towards him, uttered a loud cry; but the eagles almost
+instantly vanished with Mylio in the clouds that hung over the loftiest
+mountain. For a few seconds the boy stood rooted to the spot with
+horror, gazing on the sky and the straight rocks that rose above him
+like a wall; then sinking on his knees, with folded hands, he cried,
+
+"O God, the Almighty Maker of the world, save my brother Mylio!"
+
+"Trouble not God the Father for so small a matter," cried three little
+voices close beside him.
+
+Tonyk turned in amazement.
+
+"Who speaks? where are you?" he exclaimed.
+
+"In the pocket of thy doublet," replied the three voices.
+
+Tonyk searched his pocket, and drew forth the walnut, the acorn,
+and the rushen cage, containing the three different insects.
+
+"Is it you who will save Mylio?" said he.
+
+"We, we, we," they answered in their various tones.
+
+"And what can you do, you poor little nobodies?" continued Tonyk.
+
+"Let us out, and thou shalt see."
+
+The boy did as they desired; and immediately the spider crept
+to a tree, from which she began a web as strong and as shining as
+steel. Then mounting on the dragon-fly, which raised her gradually in
+the air, she still wove on her silvery network; the several threads
+of which assumed the form of a ladder constantly stretching upwards.
+
+Tonyk mounted step by step on this miraculous ladder, until it brought
+him to the summit of the mountain. Then the wasp flew before him,
+and led him to the giant's den.
+
+It was a grotto hollowed in the cliff, and lofty as a
+cathedral-nave. The blind and footless ogre, seated in the middle,
+swayed his vast body to and fro like a poplar rocked by winds,
+singing snatches of a strange song; while Mylio lay on the ground,
+his legs and arms tucked behind him, like a fowl trussed for the
+spit. The two eagles were at a little distance, by the fireplace,
+one ready to act as turnspit, whilst the other made up the fire.
+
+The noise which the giant made in singing, and the attention he paid
+to the preparations for his feast, prevented his hearing the approach
+of Tonyk and his three tiny attendants; but the red eagle perceived
+the youth, and, darting forward, would have seized him in its claws,
+had not the wasp at that very moment pierced its eyes with her diamond
+sting. The white eagle, hurrying to its fellow's aid, shared the same
+fate. Then the wasp flew upon the ogre, who had roused himself on
+hearing the cries of his two servants, and set herself to sting him
+without mercy. The giant roared aloud, like a bull in August. But
+in vain he whirled around him his huge arms, like windmill-sails;
+having no eyes, he could not succeed in catching the creature, and
+for want of feet it was equally impossible for him to escape from it.
+
+At length he flung himself, face downwards, on the earth, to find some
+respite from its fiery dart; but the spider then came up, and spun over
+him a net that held him fast imprisoned. In vain he called upon the
+eagles for assistance: savage with pain, and no longer fearing now they
+saw him vanquished, their only impulse was to revenge upon him all the
+bitterness of their past long slavery. Fiercely flapping their wings,
+they flew upon their former master, and tore him in their fury, as he
+lay cowering beneath the web of steel. With every stroke of their beaks
+they carried off a strip of flesh; nor did they stay their vengeance
+until they had laid bare his bones. Then they crouched down upon the
+mangled carcass; and as the flesh of a magician, to say nothing of
+an ogre, is a meat impossible of digestion, they never rose again.
+
+Meanwhile Tonyk had unbound his brother; and, after embracing him with
+tears of joy, led him from the cavern to the edge of the precipice. The
+dragon-fly and the wasp soon appeared there, harnessed to the little
+cage of rushes, now transformed into a coach. They invited the two
+brothers to seat themselves within it, whilst the spider placed
+herself behind like a magnificent lackey, and the equipage rolled
+onwards with the swiftness of the wind. In this way Tonyk and Mylio
+travelled untired over meadows, woods, mountains, and villages (for
+in the air the roads are always in good order), until they came before
+their uncle's castle.
+
+There the carriage came to ground, and rolled onwards towards the
+drawbridge, where the brothers saw both their horses in waiting for
+them. At the saddle-bow of Tonyk hung his purse and mantle; but the
+purse had grown much larger and heavier, and the mantle was now all
+powdered with diamonds.
+
+Astonished, the youth turned him towards the coach to ask what this
+might mean; but, behold, the coach had disappeared; and instead of
+the wasp, the spider, and the dragon-fly, there stood three angels
+all glorious with light. Awe-struck and bewildered, the brothers sank
+upon their knees.
+
+Then one of the angels, more beautiful and radiant than his fellows,
+drew near to Tonyk, and thus spoke:
+
+"Fear not, thou righteous one; for the woman, the child, and the old
+man, whom thou hast succoured were none others than our blessed Lady,
+her divine Son, and the holy saint Joseph. They sent us to guard thee
+on thy way from harm; and, now that our mission is accomplished,
+we return to Paradise. Only remember all that has befallen thee,
+and let it serve as an example for ever."
+
+At these words the angels spread their wings, and soared away like
+three white doves, chanting the Hosanna as it is sung in churches at
+the Holy Mass.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LEGEND OF SAINT GALONNEK.
+
+
+Saint Galonnek was a native of Ireland, as, indeed, were almost all
+the teachers in Brittany of those days, and called himself Galonnus,
+being evidently of Roman origin. But after he had left his native land,
+and the fame of his good deeds had spread far and wide, the Bretons,
+seeing that his heart was like one of those fresh springs of water
+that are ever bubbling beneath unfading verdure, changed his name to
+Galonnek, which signifies in their language the open-hearted.
+
+And, in truth, never had any child of God a soul more tenderly
+awakened to the sufferings of his fellow-men. No sorrow was beneath his
+sympathy; but it was like the sea-breeze, springing with each tide,
+never failing to refresh the traveller weary on his way, or to fill
+the sails of the humble fishing-boat, and bring it safe to land.
+
+His father and mother were people of substance, and though themselves
+buried in the darkness of paganism, spared not the tenderest solicitude
+in the education of their son. He was placed under the instruction
+of the most learned masters Ireland could afford, and above all, had
+the honour of being a pupil of St. Patrick, then found amongst them
+like a nightingale in the midst of wrens, or a beech-tree towering
+above the ferns on a common.
+
+Under his teaching the boy grew up, learning only to regard himself in
+the person of God and his neighbours; and with so fervent a love for
+souls did the holy apostle of Ireland inspire Galonnek, that at the
+age of eighteen he had no higher wish than to cross over to Brittany,
+and preach the kingdom of Heaven to sorrowful sinners.
+
+His father and mother, who had then long since been converted,
+desired to throw no hindrance in the way of his accomplishing this
+pious work; but embracing him with tears, they bade him God speed,
+assured that they should meet again once more before the throne of God.
+
+Galonnek took his passage in a boat manned by evil-disposed sailors,
+whose design was to plunder him; but when they discovered that
+the holy youth was possessed of nothing but an iron crucifix and
+a holly-staff, they turned him out upon the coast of Cornouaille,
+where they abandoned him, helpless and without provisions.
+
+Galonnek walked about a long time, not knowing where he was, but
+perfectly tranquil in his mind, certain that he was in his Master's
+kingdom. The sea that roared behind him, the birds that warbled in
+the bushes, and the wind murmuring in the leaves, all spoke alike to
+him, each with its own peculiar voice, the name of that Master whose
+creatures and subjects they were.
+
+He came at length, towards evening, to a part of the country lying
+between Audierne and Plougastel-des-Montagnes, and there finding
+a village, he seated himself on the doorstep of the first house,
+awaiting an invitation to enter.
+
+But, far from that, the owner of the house bade him rise and go
+away. Galonnek then went to the door of the next house, and received
+the same inhospitable order; and so on from door to door throughout
+the village. And from the expression every where used to him, zevel,
+this village was afterwards called Plouzevel, literally, people who
+said, Get up.
+
+The saint was preparing to stretch his weary limbs by the roadside,
+when he perceived a cabin which he had not yet noticed, and drew near
+the door.
+
+It was the dwelling of a poor widow, possessed only of a few acres
+of barren land, which she had no longer strength to till. But if the
+fruits of her land were little worth, those of her heart were rich and
+plentiful. So tenderly generous was her charity, that if any one asked
+her for a draught of goat's milk, she would give him cream; and if one
+begged for cream, she would have been ready to bestow the goat itself.
+
+She received Galonnek as if he had been her dearly-beloved son, long
+absent, and supposed dead. She ministered to him of the best she had,
+listening with devotion to his holy teaching; and having already
+charity, the very key of true religion, she was ready to embrace with
+all her heart the faith of Christ. So early as the very next morning
+she begged the grace of baptism; and Galonnek, seeing that the love
+of her neighbours had already made her a Christian in intention,
+consented to bestow it. But water was wanted at the moment of the
+ceremony; and St. Galonnek going out, took a spade, and digging for
+a few moments in the old woman's little courtyard, there sprung out
+an abundant fountain; and he said,
+
+"By the aid of this water your barren land will become fertile meadows
+covered with rich grass, and you will be able to feed as many cows
+in your new pastures as you have now goats browsing on your heath."
+
+This miracle began to open the eyes of the villagers; and they gave
+permission to Galonnek to take up his abode in a forest which stretched
+in those days from Plouzevel to the sea-shore. There the holy disciple
+of St. Patrick built himself a hut of turf and boughs.
+
+One day whilst praying in this oratory, he heard the hoofs of a
+runaway horse; and leaving his devotions to see what was the matter,
+he saw a knight thrown from his horse amidst the thicket.
+
+Galonnek ran to his assistance; and having with much difficulty
+carried him to his hermitage, he began to bathe his wounds, to dress
+them with leaves for want of ointment, and to bind them up with strips
+torn from his own gown of serge.
+
+Now it chanced that this knight was the Count of Cornouaille himself;
+and he was found presently by the attendants, whom he had outstripped,
+peacefully sleeping on the saint's bed of fern. But behold, when
+he awakened, that saint's prayers had stood instead of remedies,
+and all his wounds were healed.
+
+And whilst all stood astonished at this miracle, St. Galonnek said
+gently,
+
+"Do not be so much surprised; for if by faith mountains may be moved,
+why should not charity heal death itself?"
+
+The count, filled with wonder and delight, declared that the whole
+forest should become the property of the man who had done so much
+for him; and not that only, but that he should have as much good
+meadow-land as could be enclosed within the strips he had torn from
+his gown to bind the wounds, each strip being reduced to single
+threads. Thus Galonnek became the owner of a whole parish; and a
+proverb arose, which is still current in those parts, That it is
+with the length of a benefit received one must measure the field
+of gratitude.
+
+Yet Galonnek was none the richer, notwithstanding the noble liberality
+of the count. All the income of his estate was given to the poor,
+whilst he still lived on in his leafy hermitage. But as many young men
+were attracted from the neighbourhood by his reputation for holiness
+and learning, he built many other cells beside his own; and thus from
+his school in that solitary glade the light of the Gospel went forth
+in time through all the length and breadth of the country.
+
+It was amidst the perfume of wild-flowers, beside the murmuring brook,
+that Galonnek taught his pupils. He would teach them to understand
+somewhat of the providence of God by making them observe the tender
+care with which the little birds prepare a downy nest for offspring
+yet unborn. He would point out to their attention how the earth yields
+moisture to the roots of trees, how the trees become a dwelling-place
+for thrushes and for finches, and how these again make musical the
+forest with their cheerful strains, to illustrate the advantage and
+necessity of mutual benevolence and brotherly love. And when need was
+to stimulate their efforts or their perseverance, he would lead them
+to behold the ant, unwearied in her toil, or the constant woodpecker
+whose tiny bill achieves the scooping of an oak.
+
+But this teaching did not confine him in one place; and wherever he
+went his presence was as that of a star in the midst of darkness.
+
+Now in those days the inhabitants of Brittany still exercised the
+right of wrecking, or in other words, reserved to themselves the
+privilege of plundering any unfortunate vessels thrown upon their
+coasts. They spoke of the sea as a cow given to their ancestors by
+God, and that brought forth every winter for their benefit; thus they
+looked on shipwrecks as a positive blessing.
+
+One night, during a heavy storm, as Galonnek was returning to his
+forest from the sick-bed of a poor man, he saw the dwellers on the
+coast leading a bull along the rocks. His head was bound down towards
+his fore-legs, and a beacon-light was fastened to his horns. The
+crippled gait of the animal gave an oscillating motion to the light,
+which might be well mistaken at a distance for the lantern of a ship
+pitching out at sea, and thus deceive bewildered vessels, uncertain
+in the tempest of their course, into the notion of yet being far from
+shore. Already one thus treacherously beguiled was on its way to
+ruin, and might be seen close upon the rocks, its full white sails
+gleaming through the night; another moment and it would have been
+aground among the breakers.
+
+Galonnek rushed amidst the peasants, extinguished the false beacon,
+and reproached them for such treachery. But they would not listen to
+him, and prepared to rekindle the light. Then the saint cried,
+
+"By all your hopes in this world and the next, have done! for it is
+your own brethren and children that you are drawing to destruction."
+
+And whilst they stood uncertain, God kindled up the sky with flashing
+lightning; and beholding the vessel as if it had been noonday, they
+saw that it was indeed a Breton ship.
+
+Terrified by the dangers to which they had exposed themselves, they
+all fell down at the saint's feet; the women kissed the hem of his
+garment with floods of tears, as if his hands had rescued their sons
+from the depths of the sea, and all with one voice exclaimed,
+
+"But for him we should have become the murderers of our friends
+and neighbours."
+
+"Alas, those whom you have already lured to death were equally your
+neighbours and your friends," replied St. Galonnek; "for we are
+all descended from Adam, and have been ransomed by the blood of the
+same God."
+
+The peasants, deeply moved, perceived their guilt, and promised to
+renounce this custom of their fathers.
+
+Much about the same time, the country of Pluguffant was ravaged
+by a dragon, which devoured whole flocks with their shepherds and
+dogs. In vain had the most courageous men banded themselves together
+to destroy it. The ferocious monster had put them all to flight; and
+now nobody dared to stir out of doors to lead his cattle to water,
+or go and work in the fields. As soon as Galonnek knew this sad state
+of things, he set out for the court of the Count of Cornouaille,
+and asked there which knight was the most valiant before God and
+man. Every voice declared him to be Messire Tanguy de Carfor, who
+had made a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, and killed more than a
+thousand Saracens with his own hand.
+
+Galonnek desired him to gird on his sword and armour, and to come and
+fight the dragon, which God had given him a mission to destroy. Carfor
+instantly armed himself, and accompanied the saint to the monster's
+den, from which he came out, howling frightfully at their approach.
+
+Carfor hesitated in spite of himself at so unwonted an appearance;
+but Galonnek said to him,
+
+"For your soul's sake, messire, have confidence in God, and you shall
+kill this monster as easily as a gadfly."
+
+Thus encouraged, the knight advanced to the attack, and with scarce an
+effort pierced the dragon three times through with his sword, whilst
+the saint called upon the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity.
+
+Galonnek also freed the country from many other scourges, such as
+wolves, reptiles, and mosquitoes with fiery stings; and being now old
+enough to receive holy orders, he was ordained by St. Pol; and built
+a little chapel beside his oratory, where every day he celebrated Mass.
+
+Meanwhile the leafy cells around him multiplied so fast, that at
+last they were united in a monastery, called by Galonnek Youlmad,
+or the house of good desires.
+
+He was engaged in drawing up a rule for this monastery, when he was
+interrupted by a disturbing rumour which arose in the neighbourhood.
+
+It was said that a woman clothed in red, and with a ghastly
+countenance, had taken passage in a fishing-boat from Crozon. She
+landed near Poullons; and when questioned as to her name on departing,
+she had replied that she was called the Lady of Pestilence. And, in
+fact, it came to pass, that within a very few days both men and animals
+were smitten with a contagious disease, which carried them off after a
+few hours' illness. So great was the mortality, that wood sufficient
+for the coffins could not be found; and for want of grave-diggers,
+the corpses were laid to rest in furrows hollowed by the plough.
+
+Those who were well off gathered all their effects together in wagons,
+and harnessing all the horses they possessed, drove away at full
+speed to the mountains, which the pallid woman had not passed. But the
+poorer people, who had no means of conveyance, and were unwilling to
+leave their little all, awaited their doom at home, like sheep lying
+down to rest around the butcher's door.
+
+In this extremity, however, they were not abandoned by Galonnek. He
+went from hut to hut, carrying aid or consolation. Linen for shrouds
+and wood for coffins might indeed be wanting; but he swathed the
+fever-spotted dead in leafy twigs, and bore them in his own arms
+to consecrated earth, laying them down tenderly as sleeping infants
+in their cradle-bed. Then planting a branch of yew, and another of
+blossoming broom, he entwined them in the form of a cross, and set
+them as an emblem on the grave; the yew symbolising the sorrow which
+underlies the whole course of life, and the blossoming broom the
+transitory joys which gleam across it. And it is said, that when at
+last the pestilence was stayed, these holy crosses covered a space of
+three days' journey. So many generous and pious acts had spread the
+fame of Galonnek both far and wide, and all Cornouaille was inflamed
+with devotion. Persons came from all parts to the convent of Good
+Desires to listen to his teaching, to ask his prayers, and to offer him
+gifts; but these the saint only accepted for the purposes of charity.
+
+"The priest," he used to say, "is only as a canal, which serves to
+carry water from overflowing streams to arid barren plains."
+
+Another of his sayings was, "God has given us two hands; one with
+which to receive His good treasures, and the other to administer the
+same to those who need."
+
+And thus, although the neighbouring nobles had loaded him with
+presents, his monastery and church were radiant only with his good
+actions. He was accustomed to sleep upon an osier hurdle, and wore
+nothing better than a gown of faded serge. But all this external
+poverty threw out with stronger lustre the brightness of his hidden
+worth; and Galonnek was like one of those caskets made of earth or
+bark, in which are treasured rubies and carbuncles.
+
+The see of Cornouaille becoming vacant, Galonnek was summoned with
+one voice to fill it. He was anxious to refuse; but St. Pol himself
+came to find him out, and said to him that God's stars have no right
+to conceal themselves in the grass, but must take their places in
+the firmament. Then St. Galonnek resigned himself; but when the
+moment came for leaving the turfen oratory, where he had spent the
+best part of his life, his heart became so heavy that he burst into
+tears, and cried aloud, "Alas, how shall I become worthy of the new
+office which my brethren impose upon me?" Then, falling on his knees,
+he prayed most fervently until God put strength into his heart. When
+he arose, he took the humble chalice he had been accustomed to use,
+his sole possession, save the memory of his good deeds, and went on
+foot to the capital of Cornouaille, where he was consecrated Bishop.
+
+Here began for St. Galonnek a new life of courage and self-denial. He
+had to fight for the poor against the rich, for the weak against
+the mighty. When his friends and disciples beheld him engage, all
+unprotected, in these dangerous struggles, even the most courageous
+were at times dismayed; but Galonnek would say with a smile, "Fear not,
+my friends, their weapons cannot touch me. God Himself has forged
+for me a breastplate with the tears of the sorrowful, the miseries
+of the poor, and the despair of the oppressed. Behind this armour I
+can feel no hurt. Blows can only do us mischief by glancing across us
+at any of those who have taken up our cause; for from our very heart
+distils a balsam that can heal as they come all the wounds inflicted
+from without."
+
+Moved by the sight of so much virtue, many powerful noblemen, who had
+hitherto persisted in idolatry, came to ask of Galonnek instruction and
+the grace of baptism; but he would only grant this favour in reward for
+some good work. If any one had sinned, and came to seek for absolution,
+Galonnek would give him for a penance some virtuous action to perform,
+some charitable service to his fellow-men. He taught them to regard
+God as the surety for recompenses merited but not received, to invest
+their lives in Paradise, to break every tie which holds the soul in
+bondage, that it may spring forward with unfettered flight in the
+love of God and man.
+
+About this time the Count of Cornouaille died, and was succeeded by
+his son Tugduval. He was a conceited, vain-glorious youth, who could
+not endure the least contradiction, and had not yet lived long enough
+to find that life is an instrument on which the first chords we strike
+are invariably false.
+
+So unjust had he shown himself in many instances to the townspeople
+and gentry, that they banded together and drove him from the city. But
+Tugduval asked assistance from the Count of Vannes, and soon returned
+with an army to which the rebels could offer no resistance. Multitudes
+were slain in battle, and the survivors taking refuge in the city,
+were besieged there by the count.
+
+He rode round the city-walls, like a hungry wolf parading a sheepfold,
+swearing never to forgive one of the rebels, or those who had given
+them shelter.
+
+So battering-rams were brought, and raised against the walls; and
+when once a passage was forced, he mounted his war-horse, and ordering
+every soldier to take a naked sword in one hand, and a lighted torch
+in the other, he rushed at their head into the affrighted city.
+
+But Galonnek had seen the terror of the conquered people, who only
+looked for fire and sword; and coming out of the cathedral, with
+all his priests in procession, bearing crosses and all their sacred
+relics, he came the first to meet Tugduval, his bald head uncovered,
+and his chalice in his hand.
+
+The young count, astonished, checked his horse; but Galonnek went
+straight up to his saddle-bow, there paused, and said in a gentle
+voice, "If any will devour the flock, he must begin by slaying the
+shepherd. I am here at your mercy, and am ready to purchase with my
+blood forgiveness for the rest."
+
+At the sight of this holy old man, whom he had early been taught
+to reverence, and at that voice which had always sounded like a
+benediction, Tugduval felt his rage dissolve away; and letting fall
+his sword, he bent over his horse's neck, and kissed devoutly the
+chalice carried by St. Galonnek. At that instant all the soldiers,
+as if touched by the same emotion, put out their torches, and turned
+their sword-points to the ground, crying as with one voice, "Quarter,
+quarter for all!"
+
+The young count waited not a repetition of this prayer; but dismounting
+hastily, he followed the Bishop to the cathedral, where the conquerors
+and the conquered joined in songs of thanksgiving to God.
+
+This was the last great act of St. Galonnek's life. A very few months
+after, he felt his strength decay, and knew that his end was near. He
+did not, however, on that account relax in his good works. Returning
+one day from a visit to a poor widow bereaved of her last son, he
+suddenly found himself unable to proceed, and sat down to rest upon
+a stone by the wayside. There a pedlar from the mountains found him,
+some time after, sitting motionless; and thinking that he slept,
+the man approached him, when he saw that he was dead. Judging from
+the poverty of his apparel, the pedlar took him for a hermit of the
+neighbourhood, and out of Christian charity wrapped the body in his
+mantle for a funeral shroud. A shoemaker's wife, who lived a few
+steps off, contributed an old chest to serve as a coffin, so that
+Bishop Galonnek came to his grave like a beggar.
+
+But the truth was soon discovered by the miracles which were wrought
+at his tomb; and the body being taken from the earth, was carried with
+great state to the city, and buried at the foot of the high altar in
+the cathedral. St. Pol was requested to write an epitaph upon him;
+but the apostle of Léon replied that none but an archangel could
+compose one; so they merely covered the grave with a plain granite
+slab, on which was carved the name of Galonnek.
+
+Ages have passed away, and yet this stone still remains, and thither
+the Breton mothers come to lay their new-born babes one instant on
+its consecrated bosom, whilst they repeat the usual form of prayer:
+
+"Saint Galonnek, bestow upon my child two hearts. Give him the heart
+of a lion, that he may be strong in well-doing; and give him the
+heart of a turtle-dove, that he may be full of brotherly love."
+
+The feast of St. Galonnek is celebrated on the 1st of April, when
+the buds of the hedgerows are bursting into leaf, and "the time of
+the singing of birds is come."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE KORILS OF PLAUDEN.
+
+
+There dwelt formerly in the land of White-Wheat, as well as in
+Cornouaille, a race of dwarfs, or Korigans, who, being divided into
+four nations or tribes, inhabited the woods, the commons, the valleys,
+and the farms. Those dwelling in the woods were called Kornikaneds,
+because they played on little horns, which hung suspended from
+their girdles; the inhabitants of the commons were called Korils,
+from their spending all their nights in dancing by moonlight; the
+dwellers in the valleys were Poulpikans, from their homes lying so
+low; and the Teuz were wild black men, living near the meadows and
+the wheat-fields; but as the other Korigans accused them of being too
+friendly with Christians, they were forced to take flight into Léon,
+where probably there may still be some of them remaining.
+
+At the time of which I speak, there were only then hereabouts the
+Kornikaneds, the Poulpikans, and the Korils; but they abounded in
+such numbers, that after dark few people cared to venture near their
+stony palaces.
+
+Above all, there lay in Plauden, near the little market-town of
+Loqueltas, a common known as Motenn-Dervenn, or place of oaks, whereon
+there stood an extensive Koril village, that may be seen there to this
+very day. The mischievous dwarfs came out to dance there every night;
+and any one adventurous enough to cross the common at that time was
+sure to be entrapped into their mazy chain, and forced to wheel about
+with them till earliest cockcrow; so that the place was universally
+avoided after nightfall.
+
+One evening, however, Benead Guilcher, returning with his wife from
+a field, where he had been doing a day's work in ploughing for a
+farmer of Cadougal, took his way across the haunted heath because it
+was so much the shortest road. It was still early, and he hoped that
+the Korigans might not have yet begun their dance; but when he came
+half-way over the Motenn-Dervenn, he perceived them scattered round
+about the blocks of stone, like birds on a field of corn. He would
+fain have turned him back; but the horns of the wood-dwarfs, and the
+call-cries of the valley-imps, already rose behind him. Benead felt
+his legs tremble, and said to his wife,
+
+"Saint Anne, we are done for! Here come the Kornikaneds and the
+Poulpikans to join the Korils for their midnight ball. They will make
+us dance with them till daybreak; and it is more than my poor heart
+can endure."
+
+And, in fact, the troops of Korigans assembling from all parts,
+came round about poor Guilcher and his wife like flies in August to
+a drop of honey, but started back on seeing in his hand the little
+fork Benead had been using to clear the ploughshare, and began to
+sing with one accord,
+
+
+   "Let him be, let her be,
+    The plough-fork has he!
+    Let them go on their way,
+    The fork carry they!"
+
+
+Guilcher instantly perceived that the instrument he held in his hand
+acted as a charm against the power of the Korigans; and he and his
+wife passed unmolested through the very midst of them.
+
+This was a hint to every body. From that day forward it became a
+universal custom to take out the little fork of an evening; and
+thus armed, any one might cross the heaths and valleys without fear
+of hindrance.
+
+But Benead was not satisfied with having rendered this service to
+the Bretons; he was an inquisitive as well as an intelligent man,
+and as merry a hunchback as any in the four Breton bishoprics. For
+I have omitted to tell you that Benead carried from his birth a hump
+betwixt his shoulders, with which he would thankfully have parted at
+cost-price. He was looked on also as an honest workman, who laboured
+conscientiously for daily bread, and moreover well deserved the
+character of a good Christian.
+
+One evening, unable to resist the wish, he took his little fork,
+commended himself devoutly to St. Anne, and set off towards the
+Motenn-Dervenn.
+
+The Korils saw him from a distance, and ran to him, crying,
+
+"It is Benead Guilcher!"
+
+"Yes, it is I, my little men," replied the jovial hunchback; "I have
+come to pay you a friendly visit."
+
+"You are welcome," replied the Korils. "Will you have a dance with us?"
+
+"Excuse me, my good folks," replied Guilcher, "but your breath is
+too long for a poor invalid."
+
+"We will stop whenever you like," cried the Korils.
+
+"Will you promise that?" said Benead, who was not unwilling to try
+a round with them, as much for the novelty of the thing as that he
+might have it to talk about.
+
+"We will promise thee," said the dwarfs.
+
+"By the Saviour's cross?"
+
+"By the Saviour's cross."
+
+The hunchback, satisfied that such an oath secured him from all
+dangers, took his place in their chain; and the Korils began their
+round, singing their accustomed song:
+
+
+   "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday;
+    Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday." [4]
+
+
+In a few minutes Guilcher stopped.
+
+"With all due deference to you, good gentlefolks," said he to the
+dwarfs, "your song and dance seem to me very monotonous. You stop
+too early in the week; and without having much claim to be a skilful
+stringer of rhymes, I fancy I can lengthen the chorus."
+
+"Let us see, let us see!" cried the dwarfs.
+
+Then the hunchback replied,
+
+
+   "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
+    Thursday, Friday, Saturday."
+
+
+A great tumult arose amongst the Korils.
+
+"Stard! stard!" [5] cried they, surrounding Guilcher; "you are a bold
+singer and a fine dancer. Repeat it once more."
+
+The hunchback repeated,
+
+
+   "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
+    Thursday, Friday, Saturday,"
+
+
+whilst the Korils wheeled about in mad delight. At last they stopped,
+and pressing round about Guilcher, they cried with one voice,
+
+"What will you have? what do you want? riches or beauty? Speak a wish,
+and we will fulfil it for you."
+
+"Are you in earnest?" asked the labourer.
+
+"May we be doomed to pick up grain by grain all the millet in the
+diocese, if we deceive thee," they replied.
+
+"Well," said Guilcher, "if you want to make me a present, and leave me
+to choose what it shall be, I have one thing only to desire from you,
+and that is, that you take away what I have got here set betwixt my
+shoulders, and make me as straight as the flagstaff of Loqueltas."
+
+"Good, good!" replied the Korils. "Be easy, come here." And seizing
+Guilcher, they threw him in the air, tossing him from one to another
+like a worsted ball, until he had made the round of the entire
+circle. Then he fell upon his feet, giddy, breathless, but--without
+his hump! Benead had grown younger, fatter, beautiful! Except his
+mother, no one could have recognised him.
+
+You may guess the surprise his appearance created on his return to
+Loqueltas. No one could believe it was Guilcher; his wife herself
+was doubtful about receiving him. Before she could recognise in him
+her old humpback, he was compelled to tell her exactly how many
+headdresses she had in her press, and what was the colour of her
+stockings. At last, when every body knew for certain that it was
+he, they became wonderfully anxious to find out what had effected
+so strange a transformation; but Benead thought that if he told
+the truth, he should be looked on as an accomplice of the Korigans;
+and that every time an ox strayed, or a goat was lost, he should be
+applied to for its restoration. So he told all those who asked him
+questions, that it happened unknown to him whilst sleeping on the
+heath. Thenceforth went all the crooked folk who were silly enough
+to believe him, and spent their nights upon the open heath, hoping to
+rise like arrows in the morning; but many people suspected that there
+was a secret in the matter, which Guilcher was unwilling to disclose.
+
+Amongst these latter was a tailor with red hair and squinting eyes,
+called, from his stammering speech, Perr Balibouzik. He was not, as
+is usual with his craft, a rhymester, lively on his board as a robin
+on its twig, and one who scented pancakes from afar as dogs do game;
+Balibouzik never laughed, never sung, and fed upon such coarse black
+barley bread that one could count the straws in it. He was a miser,
+and, worse than that, a bad Christian; lending out his money at such
+heavy interest, that he ruined all the poor day-labourers of the
+country. Guilcher had long owed him five crowns, and had no means of
+paying them. Perr went in quest of him, and demanded them once more.
+
+The ci-devant hunchback excused himself, promising to pay after
+fair-time; but Balibouzik declared that the only condition upon which
+he would agree to any further delay was that of being at once put
+in possession of the secret how to grow young and handsome. Thus
+driven to extremities, Guilcher related his visit to the Korils,
+what words he had added to their song, and how the choice had been
+given him between two wishes.
+
+Perr made him repeat every detail many times over, and then went away,
+warning his debtor that he would give him eight days longer to lay
+hands on the five crowns.
+
+But what he had heard awakened within him all the rage of avarice. He
+resolved that very night to visit the Motenn-Dervenn, to mix in
+the dance of Korigans, and to gain the choice between two wishes,
+as proposed to Guilcher,--namely, riches and beauty.
+
+So soon, therefore, as the moon arose, behold Balibouzik the
+Squinter on his way towards the common, carrying a little fork in
+his hand. The Korils saw him, ran to meet him, and demanded whether
+he would dance. Perr consented, after making the same conditions as
+Benead, and joined the dancing company of little black men, who were
+all engaged in chanting the refrain which Guilcher had increased:
+
+
+   "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
+    Thursday, Friday, Saturday."
+
+
+"Wait!" cried the tailor, seized with sudden inspiration; "I also
+will add something to your song."
+
+"Add, add!" replied the Korils.
+
+And all once more exclaimed,
+
+
+   "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
+    Thursday, Friday, Saturday."
+
+
+They stopped, and Balibouzik stammered out alone,
+
+
+   "And the Sun--Sun--Sunday too."
+
+
+The dwarfs uttered a prolonged murmur.
+
+"Well?" they cried all at once.
+
+
+   "Sun--Sunday too,"
+
+
+repeated the tailor.
+
+"But go on, go on."
+
+
+   "Sun--Sunday."
+
+
+"Well, well, well?"
+
+
+   "Sun--Sunday too!"
+
+
+The Koril chain was broken up; they ran about as if furious at not
+being understood.
+
+The poor stammerer, terrified, stood speechless, with his mouth
+wide open. At length the waves of little black heads grew calmer;
+they surrounded Balibouzik, and a thousand voices cried at once,
+
+"Wish a wish! wish a wish!"
+
+Perr took heart.
+
+"A wi-wi-sh," said he. "Guilcher cho-o-ose between riches and beauty."
+
+"Yes, Guilcher chose beauty, and left riches."
+
+"Well, for my part, I choose what Guilcher left."
+
+"Well done!" cried the Korils. "Come here, tailor."
+
+Perr drew near in transport. They took him up as they had done Benead;
+threw him from hand to hand all round their circle; and when he
+fell upon his feet, he had between his shoulders what Guilcher had
+left--that is to say, a hump.
+
+The tailor was no more Balibouzik simply, he was now Tortik-Balibouzik.
+
+The poor deformed creature came back to Loqueltas shamefaced as a dog
+who has had his tail cut off. As soon as what had happened to him was
+known, there was not a creature but longed to get sight of him. And
+every one beholding his back, grown round as that of a well-digger,
+uttered an exclamation of astonishment. Perr raged beneath his hump,
+and swore to himself that he would be revenged upon Guilcher; for that
+he alone was the cause of this misfortune, being a favourite of the
+Korigans, and having doubtless begged them thus to insult his creditor.
+
+So the eight days once expired, Tortik-Balibouzik said to Benead,
+that if he could not pay him his five crowns, he would go and send
+the officers of justice to sell all he had. Benead entreated in vain;
+the new hunchback would listen to nothing, and announced that the very
+next day he should send to the fair [6] all his furniture, his tools,
+and his pig.
+
+Guilcher's wife uttered loud cries, reiterating that they were
+disgraced before the parish, that nothing now was left for them but to
+take up the wallet and white staff of mendicants, and go begging from
+door to door; that it was well worth Benead's while to have become
+straight and noble in appearance only to take up the straw girdle;
+[7] and thousands of other unreasonable sayings, after the fashion
+of women when they are in tribulation,--and when they are not.
+
+To all these complaints Guilcher replied nothing, unless it were that
+submission to the will of God and His Blessed Mother was above all
+things necessary; but his heart was humbled to the core. He reproached
+himself now with not preferring wealth to beauty, when he had the
+choice; and he would only too willingly have taken back his hump,
+well garnished with gold, or even silver, crowns. After seeking in
+vain for a way out of his trouble, he made up his mind to revisit
+Motenn-Dervenn.
+
+The Korils welcomed him with shouts of joy, as before, and made
+him join them in their dance. Benead had no heart for merriment;
+but he would not damp their mirth, and began to jump with all his
+might. The delighted dwarfs skipped about like dead leaves driven by
+the winter's wind.
+
+As they ran they repeated the first line of their song, their companion
+took up the second; they went on to the third, and, that being the
+last, Guilcher was compelled to finish the tune without words, which
+in a short time grew tiresome to him.
+
+"If I might venture to give you my opinion, my little lords," said he,
+"your song has the same effect upon me as the butcher's dog, it goes
+upon three legs."
+
+"Right, right!" cried all the voices.
+
+"I think," said Benead, "it would be much the best way to add another
+foot."
+
+"Add, add!" replied the dwarfs.
+
+And all sung out with one accord, and in a piercing utterance,
+
+
+   "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
+    Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
+    And the Sunday too!"
+
+
+There was a short silence; the dwarfs waited to see what Guilcher
+would say.
+
+
+   "All the week have you!"
+
+
+finished he gaily.
+
+Thousands of cries which made but one cry rose up from all corners
+of the common. The whole heath was instantly covered with jumping
+Korigans. They sprung out from tufts of grass, from bushes of broom,
+from rocky clefts,--one would have said it was a very hive of little
+black men; whilst all gambolling amongst the heather, they exclaimed,
+
+
+   "Guilcherik, our saviour! he
+    Has fulfill'd the Lord's decree!"
+
+
+"By my soul! what does all this mean?" cried Benead in astonishment.
+
+"It means," replied the Korigans, "that God had sentenced us to dwell
+here amongst men, and every night to dance upon the common, until
+some good Christian should finish our refrain. You first lengthened
+it, and we hoped that the tailor you sent would have completed it;
+but he stopped short on the very point of doing so, and for that we
+punished him. You fortunately have done what he could not; our time
+of trial now is over, and we shall go back to our kingdom, which
+spreads under ground, beneath the very sea and rivers,"
+
+"If this is so," said Guilcher, "and you really are so far indebted
+to me, do not go away and leave a friend in trouble."
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"The means of paying Balibouzik to-day, and the baker for ever."
+
+"Take our bags, take our bags!" exclaimed the Korigans.
+
+And they threw at Benead's feet the little bags of rusty cloth which
+they wore strapped on their shoulders.
+
+He gathered up as many as he possibly could carry, and ran all
+joyous home.
+
+"Light the resin," cried he to his wife, on entering, "and close the
+screen, that nobody may see us; for I bring home wealth enough to
+buy up three whole parishes, their judges, rectors, and all."
+
+At the same time he spread out upon the table the multitude of little
+bags, and set himself to open them. But, alas, he had been reckoning
+the price of his butter before he had bought the cow. [8] The bags
+enclosed nothing more than sand, dead leaves, horsehair, and a pair
+of scissors.
+
+On seeing this he uttered such a dreadful cry that his wife, who
+had gone to shut the door, came back to ask him what could be the
+matter. Then Benead told her of his visit to the Motenn-Dervenn,
+and all that had occurred there.
+
+"St. Anne have pity on us!" cried the frightened woman; "the Korigans
+have been making sport of you."
+
+"Alas, I see it but too well," replied Guilcher.
+
+"And you have dared, unhappy man, to touch these bags, the property
+of the accursed."
+
+"I thought I should find something better in them," exclaimed Benead
+piteously.
+
+"Nothing good can come from good-for-nothings," replied the old
+woman. "What you have got there will bring an evil spell upon our
+house. Heavens! if only I have a drop of holy water left."
+
+She ran to her bed, and taking from the wall a little earthen holy
+water-stoup, she steeped in it a branch of box; but scarcely had the
+dew of God been sprinkled on the bags, when the horsehair changed at
+once to necklaces of pearls, the dead leaves into gold, and the sand
+to diamonds. The enchantment was destroyed, and the wealth that the
+Korigans would fain have hidden from a Christian eye was forced to
+reassume its proper form.
+
+Guilcher repaid Balibouzik his five crowns. He gave to every poor
+person in the parish a bushel of wheat, with six ells of cloth; and
+he paid the rector handsomely for fifty Masses; then he set out with
+his wife for Josselin, where they bought a mansion, and where they
+reared a family who now are gentlefolks.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BLESSED MAO.
+
+
+Those Christians who stand in need of heavenly aid cannot do better
+than apply themselves to our Lady of All-Help near Faou. In that place
+has been built, expressly in her honour, the very richest chapel ever
+yet raised for her by human hands. The whole inside is ornamented
+with golden images, and the belfry-tower, which is made exactly like
+the one at Kreisker, is perforated like a Quimper fritter. There
+stands also near the church a stone fountain, famed for healing the
+infirmities both of body and soul.
+
+It was at this chapel that Mao stopped on his road to pray. Mao came
+from Loperek, which is a pleasant little parish between Kimerc'h and
+Logoma. His friends and relations were all dead, and his guardian had
+sent him off to seek his living where he liked, with a good club-stick
+in his hand and three silver crowns in his purse.
+
+After saying devoutly at the foot of the high-altar all the prayers
+he had ever learned from the curé, or the old woman who had nursed
+him, Mao went out of church to go on his way. But as he passed the
+palisades, he saw a crowd of people gathered around a corpse upon
+the grass, and learnt upon inquiry that it was the body of a poor
+beggar-man, who had yielded up his soul the morning before, and who
+could not be buried for want of the money-payment.
+
+"Was he, then, a heathen, or a wretched reprobate who had been
+unfaithful to his Christian duties, that no one will do him this
+charitable service?" asked Mao.
+
+"He was a sheep of the true fold," replied one who stood by; "and
+however hardly he might be pressed by hunger, he would not pluck the
+three apples, or even ears of corn, which are permitted by old usage
+to be gathered by the passing stranger. But poor Stevan has not left
+the means of paying for his funeral, and so here he is allowed to
+lie. If I were not as poor myself, I would not have allowed him to
+lie here so long."
+
+"Alas," cried Mao, "are the people so cruel in this part of the world,
+that they suffer the poor to enter the church-doors whilst living,
+but not after death? If money is all that is wanted, here are three
+crowns; they are all I have, but I will gladly give them to unlock
+holy ground to one of the faithful departed."
+
+The sexton and the priest were now sent for, and the body of the poor
+beggar was solemnly committed to the grave. As for Mao, he made a
+simple cross of two yew-branches, set it on the grave of the poor
+beggar; and after having devoutly repeated a De profundis, he set
+off once more upon his journey towards Camfront.
+
+After a time, however, Mao grew both hungry and thirsty, and
+remembering that he had nothing left of what his guardian had
+bestowed, he set himself to gather blackberries, wild-sorrel, and
+sloes from the hedges. And whilst thus employed, he watched the birds
+that picked their living from the bushes, and said within himself,
+"After all, these birds are better off than baptised creatures. They
+have no need of inns, of butchers, bakers, or gardeners; God's open
+sky belongs to them, and His earth is stretched before them like
+a table always spread; the little insects are to them as game, the
+grass in seed their fields of corn, the fruit of the wild-rose or
+hawthorn their dessert; they are at liberty to gather all without
+payment or permission asked. No wonder that the birds are joyous,
+and sing from morning till night."
+
+Turning these thoughts in his mind, Mao slackened his pace, and at
+last sat himself down under the shade of an old oak-tree, where he
+fell asleep. But behold, in his sleep, a holy man appeared suddenly
+before him, clad in shining raiment, who thus spoke:
+
+"I am the poor beggar Stevan, for whom you purchased a consecrated
+grave. The Blessed Virgin Mary, whom I endeavoured to serve while
+on earth, now reckons me amongst her court, and has vouchsafed to me
+the privilege of bringing you good news. Think not the birds of the
+air can possibly be happier than baptised creatures; for the Son of
+God has shed His blood for these, and they are the favourites of the
+Holy Trinity. And now hear what the Three Divine Persons will do to
+recompense your piety. There stands hereabouts, beyond the meadows,
+an old manor house: you will know it by its weather-vane, which
+is painted red and green. A man of rank dwells there; his name is
+Trehouar; and he has a granddaughter, lovely as the day, and gentle
+as a new-born child. Go you, and knock this evening at his door,
+saying that 'you are come, he knows for what.' He will receive you,
+and you will of your own self make out the rest. Only remember,
+that if you are in want of help, you must say,
+
+
+   'Dead beggar, make haste, make haste to me;
+    For I am sorely in need of thee.'"
+
+
+With these words the holy man vanished, and Mao awoke. His first
+impulse was to thank God for vouchsafing such protection over him; and
+this done, he set off across the meadows to find the manor-house. As
+night was coming on, he had some doubts of being able to do so; but at
+last he observed a flight of pigeons, which he set himself to follow,
+feeling certain they could only lead him to the house of a noble. And,
+in fact, he soon perceived the red-and-green weather-vane overtopping
+a little orchard of black-cherry trees laden with fruit; for this
+was a part of the country famous for black cherries. It is from the
+mountain parishes that all those cherries are brought which may be
+seen spread out on straw at the Léon festivals, and with which the
+young men fill their great beaver hats for the damsels of their choice.
+
+Mao crossed the lawn, shaded with walnut-trees, and then knocked at
+the most insignificant door he could find, saying, according to the
+directions, that "he was come for--they knew what." The master of the
+house was soon fetched. He came, his head shaking, for he was old and
+feeble, and leaning on the arm of his fresh young granddaughter. To
+have seen them together, you would have thought of an old tottering
+wall supported by a blooming honeysuckle.
+
+The old gentleman and his granddaughter welcomed the young man with
+the greatest politeness; a worked ottoman was drawn for him close
+beside the grandfather's arm-chair, and he was treated with sweet
+cider whilst they waited for supper.
+
+Mao was much surprised to see the way in which he was received, and
+found great delight in watching the young girl, who prepared every
+thing with tripping step, singing the while like a very lark.
+
+At last, when supper was over, and Liçzenn,--for so the old man called
+his grandchild,--had cleared all away, he said to Mao,
+
+"We have treated you to the best of our ability, and according to
+our means, young man, though not according to our wishes; for the
+mansion of the Trehouars has been long afflicted by a most grievous
+plague. Formerly you might have counted twenty horses, and full forty
+cows, here; but the evil spirit has taken possession of the stalls
+and stables; cows and horses have disappeared one after another,
+and that as often as they have been replaced, until the whole of my
+savings have been thus consumed. All religious services to rid us of
+this destructive demon have hitherto failed. There has been nothing
+for us but to submit; and for want of cattle my whole domain now
+lies uncultivated. I had put some confidence in my nephew Matelinn,
+who is gone to the war in France; but as he does not return, I have
+given notice throughout the country, both from the altar and elsewhere,
+that the man who can deliver the manor from this curse shall both marry
+Liçzenn, and inherit my property after me. All those who have hitherto
+made the attempt, by lying in wait in the stables, have disappeared
+like the cows and horses. I pray God that you may be more fortunate."
+
+Mao, whom the remembrance of his vision secured against all fear,
+replied that, by the aid of the Blessed Virgin, he hoped to triumph
+over the hidden foe. So, begging that he might have a fire to keep
+him warm, he took his club-stick, and went forth.
+
+The place to which he was conducted was a very large shed, divided
+in two parts for the use both of the cows and horses; but now all
+was empty from one end to the other, and the cobwebs hung in thick
+festoons from the racks.
+
+Mao kindled a fire of broom upon the broad paving-stones, and began
+to pray.
+
+The first quarter of an hour he heard nothing but the crackling of
+the flame; the second quarter of an hour he heard nothing but the
+wind that whistled mournfully through the broken door; the third
+quarter of an hour he heard nothing but the little death-watch
+tapping in the rafters overhead; but the fourth quarter of an hour,
+a dull sound rumbled beneath the pavement; and at the further end of
+the building, in the darkest corner, he saw the largest stone rise
+slowly up, and the head of a dragon coming from below. It was huge
+as a baker's kneading-trough, flattened like a viper's, and all round
+the forehead shone a row of eyes of different colours.
+
+The beast raised his two great fore-feet armed with scarlet claws
+upon the edge of the pavement, glared upon Mao, and then crept hissing
+from his hole. As he came on, his scaly body could be seen unrolling
+from beneath the stone like a mighty cable from a ship's hold.
+
+Courageous as was the youth, at this spectacle his blood ran cold;
+and just as he began to feel the dragon's breath, he cried aloud,
+
+
+   "Dead beggar, make haste, make haste to me;
+    For I am sorely in need of thee."
+
+
+In an instant the shining form he had invoked was at his side.
+
+"Fear nothing," said the saint; "those who are protected by the Mother
+of God are always victorious over the monsters of the earth. Raise
+your club and lay the dragon dead at your feet;" and with these words
+he raised his hand, pronouncing some words that can only be heard in
+heaven. Mao aimed a fearful blow at the dragon's head, and that very
+moment the huge monster sank dead upon its side.
+
+The next morning, when the sun rose, Mao went to awaken all the people
+at the manor, and led them to the stables; but at sight of the dead
+monster even the most courageous started back at least ten paces.
+
+"Do not be afraid," said the young man; "the Blessed Mother came to
+my assistance, and the beast that fed on cattle and their guardians
+is nothing now but lifeless clay. Only fetch some ropes, and let us
+drag it from this place to some lonely waste."
+
+So they did as he desired; and when the dragon was drawn forth from
+his den, the whole length of his body was so great that it extended
+twice round the black-wheat barn-floor. [9]
+
+The old man, happy in his deliverance from so dangerous an enemy,
+fulfilled the promise he had made to Mao, and gave to him Liçzenn in
+marriage. She was led to church at Camfront, her left arm circled,
+after the custom of the country, by as many rows of silver-lace as
+there were thousands of francs in her dowry; and the story goes that
+she had eighteen.
+
+As soon as he was married, Mao bought cattle, hired servants, and soon
+brought the land about the manor to a more flourishing condition than
+it had ever known before.
+
+Then went the grandfather to seek his recompense from God, and left
+all that he possessed to the young couple.
+
+So happy were they in each other and themselves, that no baptised
+creature ever felt the like,--so happy, that when they knelt in prayer,
+they could think of nothing to request from God that He had not already
+blest them with; so they had nothing to do but to thank Him. But
+one day, as they were sitting down to supper with their servants,
+one of their attendants introduced a soldier, so tall that his head
+reached the rafters; and Liçzenn knew him for her cousin Matelinn. He
+had come back from the French war to marry his cousin; and learning
+what had come to pass during his absence, he had felt the bitterest
+rage. Nevertheless, he betrayed nothing of his thoughts to Mao and
+his wife; for his was a deceitful heart.
+
+Mao, who suspected nothing, received him with affectionate kindness;
+set before him the best of every thing in the house; had the handsomest
+room prepared for his reception; and went out to show him all the
+fields, now ripe for harvest.
+
+But the higher Matelinn saw the flax, and the heavier the ears of corn,
+the more he was enraged at not being the possessor of all this; to
+say nothing of his cousin Liçzenn, who had grown more charming than
+ever. So one day he proposed to Mao that they should hunt together
+on the downs of Logoma, and thus contrived to lead him towards a
+distant heath, where he had an old deserted windmill, against which
+bundles of furze for the baker's oven at Daoulas had been heaped
+up in great piles. When they reached this place, he turned his face
+towards Camfront, and said suddenly to his young companion,
+
+"Ah! I can see the manor all this way off, with its great courtyard."
+
+"Which way?" asked Mao.
+
+"Behind that little beech-wood. Don't you see the great hall-windows?"
+
+"I am too short," said Mao.
+
+"Ah, you are right, so you are; and it is a pity too, for I can see
+my cousin Liçzenn in the little yard beside the garden."
+
+"Is she alone?"
+
+"No; there are some gentlemen with her whispering in her ear."
+
+"And what is Liçzenn doing?"
+
+"Liçzenn is listening to them, whilst she twists her apron-string."
+
+Mao raised himself upon the tips of his toes. "Ah, I wish I could see,"
+said he.
+
+"Oh, it is easy enough," replied Matelinn "you have only to climb up
+to the top of the mill, and you will be higher than I am."
+
+Mao approved of this advice, and climbed up the old ladder. When he
+reached the top, his cousin asked him what he saw?
+
+"I see nothing but the trees, which seem as near the ground as wheat
+of two months' growth," said Mao, "and houses looking in the distance
+small as the sea-shells stranded on the shore."
+
+"Look nearer," returned Matelinn.
+
+"Nearer, I can only see the ocean, with its boats skimming the water
+like seagulls."
+
+"Look nearer yet," said the soldier.
+
+"Still nearer is the common, bright with rose-blossoms and the
+purple heath."
+
+"Look down beneath you."
+
+"Beneath me!" cried Mao, in terror. "Instead of the ladder to descend
+by, I see flames rushing upwards to devour me."
+
+And he saw rightly; for Matelinn had drawn away the ladder, and set
+fire to the surrounding fagots, so that the old mill stood as in
+a furnace.
+
+Mao in vain besought the giant not to leave him there to perish in
+so horrible a manner. He only turned his back, and went off whistling
+down the moor.
+
+Then the young man, feeling himself nearly suffocated, invoked the
+saint once more:
+
+
+   "Dead beggar, make haste, make haste to me;
+    For I am sorely in need of thee."
+
+
+Instantly the saint appeared, holding in his right hand a glittering
+rainbow, one end of which was resting on the sea, and in his left
+Jacob's mysterious ladder, that once led from heaven to earth. With
+the rainbow he put out the fire, and by the ladder's aid poor Mao
+reached the ground, and went safely home.
+
+On beholding him, Matelinn was seized with surprise and consternation,
+sure that his cousin would hasten to denounce him before the
+magistrates; and rushing to fetch his arms and war-horse, was hurrying
+from the courtyard, when Mao came to him, and said,
+
+"Fear nothing, cousin; for no man saw what passed upon Daoulas
+common. Your heart was hurt that God had given me more good things
+than yourself; I wish to heal its wounds. From this day forward, so
+long as I live, you shall share with me half of all that I possess,
+save and except my darling Liçzenn. So come, my cousin, harbour no
+more evil thoughts against me."
+
+The deed of this convention was drawn up by the notary in the usual
+form; and Matelinn received henceforward, every month, the half of
+all the produce of the fields, the courtyard, and the stables.
+
+But this noble generosity of Mao served only to increase the spite
+and venom of his heart; for undeserved benefits are like wine drank
+when one is not thirsty,--they bring us neither joy nor profit. He
+did not wish Mao dead, because then he would have lost his share in
+Mao's wealth; but he hated him, even as a caged wolf hates the hand
+that feeds him.
+
+What made him still more angry was, to see how every thing prospered
+with his cousin. To crown his felicity, he had a son born to him, both
+strong and beautiful, and one that wept not at his birth, the nurses
+said. Mao sent the news out to the first people of the neighbourhood,
+entreating them to come to the baptismal feast. And they came from more
+than six leagues round,--from Braspars, Kimerc'h, Loperek, Logoma,
+Faou, Irvillac, and Saint Eloi,--all mounted on handsomely-equipped
+horses, with their wives or daughters behind them. The baptism of a
+prince of Cornouaille himself could not have brought together a more
+goodly assembly.
+
+When all were drawn up ready in the front of the manor-house, and Mao
+came to Liçzenn's chamber for the new-born babe, with those who were
+to hold it at the font, and his nearest friends, Matelinn presented
+himself also, with a traitor's joy depicted on his countenance. On
+seeing him, the mother uttered a cry; but he, approaching, bent over
+her with specious words, and thanked her for the present she had
+made him.
+
+"What present?" asked the poor woman, in surprise.
+
+"Have you not added a new-born infant to my cousin's wealth?" said
+the soldier.
+
+"Certainly," replied Liçzenn.
+
+"A parchment deed confirms to me," said Matelinn, "half of every thing
+Mao possesses, save and except yourself; and I am consequently come
+to claim my share of the child."
+
+All who were present uttered a great cry; but Matelinn repeated calmly
+that he would have his half of the child; adding that if they refused
+it to him, he would take it himself, showing as he spoke a huge knife,
+which he had brought with him for the purpose.
+
+Mao and Liçzenn in vain, with bended knees and folded hands, besought
+him to renounce his rights; the giant only answered by the whetting of
+his knife against the steel which dangled at his waist; and at last
+he was about to snatch the infant from its poor young mother's arms,
+when Mao all at once recalled the invocation to the dead beggar, and
+repeated it aloud. Scarcely had he finished, when the room was lighted
+with a heavenly radiance, and the saint appeared upon a shining cloud,
+the Virgin Mary at his side.
+
+"Behold me here, my friends," said the Mother of God, "called by my
+faithful servant from celestial glory to come and decide between you."
+
+"If you are the Mother of God, save the child," cried Liçzenn.
+
+"If you are the Queen of Heaven, make them render me my dues," said
+Matelinn audaciously.
+
+"Listen to me," said Mary. "You first, Mao, and you, Liçzenn, come
+near me with your new-born child. Till now I have given you the joys
+of life; I will do more, and give you for the future the delights of
+death. You shall follow me into the Paradise of my Son, where neither
+griefs, nor treachery, nor sicknesses can enter. As for you, Goliath,
+you have a right to share the new benefit conferred on them; and you,
+like them, shall die, but only to go down twelve hundred and fifty
+leagues below the surface of the earth, [10] into the kingdom of the
+wicked one, whose servant you are."
+
+Saying these words, the Holy Mary raised her hand on high, and the
+giant was buried in a gulf of fire; whilst the young husband, with his
+wife and child, sank gently towards each other as in peaceful sleep,
+and disappeared, borne upwards on a cloud.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+KERIS.
+
+
+In the olden times a king named Grallon reigned over the land of
+Cornouaille. He was as good a man as any son of Adam, and gave a
+cordial welcome at his court to all who had in any way distinguished
+themselves, were they plebeian or noble in their birth. Unfortunately
+his daughter was an ill-conducted princess, who, in order to evade
+his parental rule, had taken herself off to live at Keris, some few
+leagues from Quimper.
+
+One day, whilst King Grallon was out hunting in a forest at the foot
+of Menéhom, he and all his followers lost their way, and came at last
+before the cell of the holy hermit Corentin. Grallon had often heard
+tell of this saintly man, and was delighted to find he had discovered
+his retreat; but as for the attendants, who were dying with hunger,
+they looked with any thing but satisfaction upon the humble cell,
+and whispered discontentedly amongst themselves that they should
+certainly have to sup on pious prayers.
+
+Corentin, enlightened by God's grace, perceived their thoughts, and
+asked the king whether he would accept a little refreshment. Now
+Grallon, who had eaten nothing since cockcrow that morning, was
+extremely willing; so the saint, calling the king's cupbearer and
+cook, desired them to prepare his majesty a good repast after his
+long abstinence.
+
+Then, leading them both to a fountain which bubbled near his cell,
+he filled with water the golden pitcher carried by the first, and cut
+a morsel from a little fish swimming in the basin, which he gave to
+the second, desiring them both to spread the board for the king and
+all his train. But the cupbearer and the cook began to laugh, and
+asked the holy man if he could possibly mistake the king's courtiers
+for miserable beggars, that he presumed to offer them his scraps of
+fish-bone and his frog-wine. Corentin quietly besought them not to
+be disturbed, for that God would provide for all.
+
+Consequently they resolved to follow out the saint's directions,
+and found, to their astonishment, his words come true. For while the
+water he had poured into the golden pitcher came out a wine as sweet
+as honey and as hot as fire, the morsel of fish became an ample meal
+for twice as many guests as the king's suite contained.
+
+Grallon was told by his two servants of this miracle; and they moreover
+showed him, as a greater wonder, the very same little fish from which
+Corentin had cut a portion, swimming safe and sound in the fountain,
+as whole as if the saint's knife had never come near him.
+
+At this sight the King of Cornouaille was struck with admiration, and
+exclaimed to the hermit, "Man of God, this place is not for you; for
+He who is my Master as well as yours has forbidden us to hide a light
+beneath a bushel. You must leave this hermitage, and come with me. You
+shall be Bishop of Quimper, my palace shall be your dwelling-place,
+and the whole city your possession. I will build a monastery for your
+disciples at Landevenec, and the abbot shall be chosen by yourself."
+
+The good king kept his promise; and giving up his capital to the new
+Bishop, he went to dwell himself in the town of Is.
+
+This town then stood upon the very spot now covered by the Bay of
+Douarnénèz. It was so large and so beautiful, that when the people of
+old times were seeking for a title worthy of the capital of France,
+they could find nothing better than to call it Par-is, that is to say,
+The like of Is. It was lower than the sea itself, and was defended from
+all fear of inundation by huge dikes, with doors to open occasionally
+and let the tide in or out. Grallon's daughter, the Princess Dahut,
+carried the silver keys which locked these doors suspended round her
+neck, from which fact the people generally called her Alc'huèz, or
+more shortly Ahèz. [11] Now she was a great magician, and had adorned
+the town with numberless works of art far surpassing the skill of any
+human hand. All the Korigans [12] throughout Cornouaille and Vannes
+had assembled at her call to make the dikes and forge the iron doors;
+they had plated the palace all over with a metal resembling gold
+(Korigans being clever workers in metal), and had fenced in the royal
+gardens with balustrades glittering like polished steel.
+
+They it was that kept Dahut's beautiful stables in such perfect
+order,--those stables that were paved with black, red, or white marble,
+according to the different colours of the horses in the stalls. And
+to the Korigans also was intrusted the care of the harbour, where
+the sea-dragons were kept; for by her powerful art had Dahut gained
+a wonderful ascendency over the monsters of the deep, so that she
+had placed one at the disposal of each inhabitant of Keris, that it
+should serve him like a horse, on which he might safely go across
+the waves to fetch rich treasure from another shore, or to attack
+the ships of foreign enemies. So these citizens were rich to that
+degree they actually measured out their corn in silver vessels. But
+wealth had hardened and perverted their hearts; beggars were hunted
+like wild-beasts from the city, for they could not endure the sight
+of any in their streets but merry prosperous folks dressed out in
+smart apparel. Our Lord Himself, had He appeared amongst them clad in
+sackcloth, would have been driven away. The only church remaining in
+the city was so forsaken, that the very beadle had lost the key of
+it; nettles grew upon its steps, and against the door-posts of the
+principal entrance birds had built their nests. The people of the
+place spent their days and nights in public-houses, dancing-rooms,
+or theatres; the one only object of their lives being apparently to
+ruin their immortal souls.
+
+As for Dahut, she set them the example; day and night it was a gala in
+the palace. Gentlemen, nobles, and princes came from the remotest lands
+to visit this far-famed court. Grallon received them with courtesy,
+and Dahut with something more. If they were good-looking, she bestowed
+on them a magic mask, by means of which they were enabled to keep
+private appointments with her in a tower standing near the floodgates.
+
+There they might remain talking with her until the hour when the
+sea-swallows, beginning their flight, passed before the tower-windows;
+when Dahut hastily bade them farewell, and, in order that they might
+go out, as they came, unseen, she once more brought forth her magic
+mask; but, alas, this time it closed upon them of its own accord with
+a strangling embrace. Then a black man took up the dead body, threw
+it across his horse like a sack of wheat, and went to fling it down
+the precipice between Huelgoat and Poulaouën. This is indeed only too
+true; for even to this day can be heard from the depths of the ravine
+the melancholy wailing of these wretched souls at evening hour. May
+all good Christians bear them in remembrance at their prayers! [13]
+
+Corentin, who heard of all the goings-on at Keris, had many a time
+warned Grallon that the forbearance of God was drawing to a close;
+[14] but the king had lost all his power, and dwelt quite solitary
+in one wing of his palace, like a grandfather who has made over all
+his property to his heirs; and as for Dahut, she cared nothing for
+the threats or warnings of the saint.
+
+Well, one evening, when she was keeping festival as usual, she was
+informed that a powerful prince from the very ends of the earth had
+arrived to see her, and he was instantly announced.
+
+He was a man of vast stature, clad from head to foot in scarlet,
+and so bearded that even his two eyes, glittering as stars, could
+scarcely be seen. He began by paying compliments in rhyme to the
+princess--no poet or minstrel could have conceived the like; and then
+he went on talking with such brilliant wit, that the entire assembly
+were struck dumb with astonishment. But what moved the friends of
+Dahut with the greatest wonder was to find how far more skilful than
+themselves this stranger was in sin. He was familiar, not only with
+all that human malice has invented since the creation of the world,
+in every region where mankind has dwelt, but with all that it ever
+shall invent until the moment when the dead shall rise again from
+their cold graves to stand before the judgment-seat of God. Ahèz and
+her court perceived that they had found their master, and one and all
+resolved to put themselves under the teaching of the bearded prince.
+
+By way of beginning, he proposed to them a new dance, danced in hell
+by the Seven Deadly Sins. So he called in for the purpose a musician
+he had brought with him. This was a little dwarf, clad in goat-skin,
+and carrying a sort of bagpipe under his arm.
+
+Scarcely had he begun to play before Dahut and her courtiers were
+seized with a sort of frenzy, and began to whirl about like the waves
+of the sea in a furious storm. The stranger instantly took advantage
+of the confusion to snatch the silver keys of the floodgates from
+the princess's neck, and to vanish from the saloon.
+
+Meanwhile Grallon sat all solitary in the great gloomy hall of his own
+lonely palace. He was near the hearth; but the fire was almost out. His
+heart grew every moment more and more heavy with sad thoughts, when all
+at once the great folding-doors flew open, and St. Corentin appeared
+upon the threshold, with a halo of glory round his brow, his pastoral
+staff in his hand, and a cloud of incense floating all about him.
+
+"Rise, great king," said he to Grallon; "take whatever precious things
+may still be left you, and flee away; for God has given over to the
+power of the demon this accursed city."
+
+Grallon, terrified, started up; and calling to some faithful old
+servants, took what treasure he possessed; and mounting his black
+horse, followed after the saint, who shot like an arrow through
+the air.
+
+As they passed before the dikes, they heard a wild roar of waters, and
+beheld the bearded stranger, now restored to his own demoniac form,
+opening the floodgates with the silver keys he had taken from the
+Princess Dahut. The sea already streamed like a torrent on towards
+the devoted city; and the white waves, rearing their foamy crests
+above the lofty roofs, seemed rushing to its overthrow. The dragons
+chained within the harbour roared with terror, for even the beasts
+could feel their end at hand.
+
+Grallon would fain have uttered a cry of warning, but St. Corentin
+once more entreated him to fly, and he plunged onwards at full gallop
+towards the shore; on, on through streets and squares and high roads,
+ever followed by the raging ocean, with the horse's hind hoofs always
+in the surge. So passed he by the palace of Dahut herself, who darted
+down the marble steps, her wild locks floating on the breeze, and
+sprang behind her father on the saddle. The horse stood still suddenly,
+staggered, and already the water mounted to the old king's knees.
+
+"Help, help, St. Corentin!" he cried in terror.
+
+"Shake off the iniquity you carry at your back," replied the saint,
+"and, by the help of God, you shall be saved."
+
+But Grallon, who was, after all, a father, hesitated what to do. Then
+St. Corentin touched the princess on the shoulders with his pastoral
+staff, and she sank downwards to the sea, disappearing in the depths
+of the gulf, called after her the Gulf of Ahèz.
+
+The horse, thus lightened of his load, made a spring forwards, and so
+gained Garrec Rock, where to this very day may be seen the print-marks
+of his iron shoes. [15]
+
+The first act of the king was to fall upon his knees, and pour forth
+thanks to God; then turning towards Keris, [16] he tried to judge how
+great was the danger from which he had been so miraculously rescued,
+but in vain he sought the ancient Queen of Ocean.
+
+There, where had stood but a few moments before a harbour, palaces,
+treasures of wealth, and thousands of people, was to be seen nothing
+now but a smooth bay, on whose unruffled surface the stars of heaven
+looked calmly down; but beyond, in the horizon, just over the last
+ruins of the submerged dikes, there appeared the great red man,
+holding up with a triumphant air the silver keys.
+
+Many are the forests of oak that have sprung up and withered since
+this awful warning; but through every generation fathers have told
+it to their children until this day. Up to the time of the great
+Revolution, the clergy of the different river-side parishes were wont
+to embark every year in fisher-boats, and go to say Mass over the
+drowned city. Since that time this custom has been lost, with many
+another one; but when the sea is calm, the remains of the great town
+may clearly be seen at the bottom of the bay, and the neighbouring
+downs are full of relics which bear witness to its wealth.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STONES OF PLOUHINEC.
+
+
+Plouhinec is a poor little market-town beyond Hennebon, towards the
+sea. Bare commons or little fir-woods stretch all round it, and enough
+grass to fit an ox for the butcher's knife, or so much bran as would
+fatten one descendant of the Rohans, [17] has never yet been yielded
+by the entire parish.
+
+But if the people of those parts have reason to complain for want of
+corn and cattle, they abound in flints to that degree that they could
+furnish materials for the rebuilding of Lorient; and out beyond the
+town there lies a great wide common, whereon are set by Korigans two
+rows of tall stones that might be taken for an avenue, did they but
+lead to any thing.
+
+Near this place, hard by the banks of the River Intel, there lived
+in former days a man named Marzinne. He was wealthy for those parts,
+that is to say, he could salt down a little pig once a year, eat as
+much black bread as he cared for, and buy himself a pair of wooden
+shoes when Laurel Sunday came round. [18]
+
+And he was looked upon as proud by his neighbours, and had taken upon
+him to refuse the hand of his sister Rozenn to many a young fellow
+who laboured for his daily bread.
+
+Amongst others to Bernèz, a diligent labourer and a worthy Christian;
+but one whose only treasure, coming into life, had been that of a good
+will. Bernèz had known Rozenn as a little girl, when he first came
+to work in the parish from Ponscorff-Bidré; and by degrees, as Rozenn
+grew up, the attachment of Bernèz had grown stronger and stronger.
+
+It may be easily believed that Marzinne's refusal was a terrible
+heartsore for him; nevertheless he kept up his courage, for Rozenn
+always received him kindly.
+
+Well, Christmas-eve came round; and as a raging storm kept every
+one at the farm from going to the midnight Mass, they all sat round
+the fire together, with many young men from the neighbourhood, and
+amongst them Bernèz. The master of the house, willing to show off,
+had caused a supper of black-puddings, and hasty puddings made with
+wheat flour and honey, to be prepared; so that they all sat gazing
+towards the hearth, except Bernèz, whose eyes were fixed upon Rozenn.
+
+But just as all the benches were drawn round the table, and every
+wooden saucer ready to be dipped into the steaming bowl, an old man
+suddenly pushed open the door, and wished the assembled company a good
+appetite. He was a beggar from Pluvigner, one who never set his foot
+on the church-floor, and of whom all good folks stood in dread. It was
+said that he bewitched cattle, turned standing corn black, and sold
+to wrestlers magic herbs. He was even suspected of becoming a goblin
+[19] at his pleasure.
+
+However, wearing as he did the garb of a mendicant, he was welcomed
+by the farmer to the fireside; a three-legged stood was placed at
+his disposal, and he received a portion with the guests.
+
+When the beggar had done eating and drinking, he asked for a night's
+lodging, and Bernèz showed him his way into the stable, where a bald
+old ass and sorry ox were already established. The beggar stretched
+himself down between the two to share their warmth, and rested his
+head upon a pillow of turf.
+
+But just as he was dropping off to sleep the clock struck twelve. Then
+the old ass shook his long ears, and turned towards the ox.
+
+"Well, my cousin," said he, in friendly tones, "and how has it gone
+with you since last Christmas, when we talked together?"
+
+Instead of answering, the horned beast looked sideways at the beggar,
+and muttered,
+
+"It was hardly worth while for the Almighty to vouchsafe us speech
+together on a Christmas-eve, and thus to acknowledge the assistance
+rendered by the presence of our ancestors at the birth of the Saviour,
+if we are compelled to put up with this fellow as our auditor."
+
+"You are very proud, my friend," answered the ass gaily. "It is I
+rather who have reason to complain, I, whose noble ancestor once
+carried the Saviour to Jerusalem, proved by the cross imprinted ever
+since upon the shoulders of our family. But I can be well satisfied
+with whatever Providence has seen fit to grant me. Besides which,
+you see well enough that the sorcerer is asleep."
+
+"All his witchcrafts have been powerless to enrich him," said the ox;
+"and he has thrown his soul away for little enough. The devil has
+not even hinted to him of the lucky chance he might have hereabouts
+in the course of a few days."
+
+"What lucky chance?" asked the ass.
+
+"How!" cried the ox; "don't you know, then, that each hundred years
+the stones on Plouhinec Common go down to drink at the river Intel,
+and that whilst away the treasures they conceal are left exposed?"
+
+"Ah, I remember now," interrupted the ass, "but then the stones
+return so quickly to their places, that it is impossible to avoid
+being crushed to pieces by them if you have not as your safeguard a
+twig of cross-wort surrounded by the five-leaved clover."
+
+"And besides," continued the ox, "the treasures you may carry off all
+fade to dust unless you offer in return a baptised soul. A Christian
+must suffer death before the devil will permit you to enjoy in peace
+the wealth of Plouhinec."
+
+The beggar was not asleep, but had listened breathless to this
+conversation.
+
+"Ah, my good friends," thought he to himself, "you have made me richer
+than the wealthiest in all Vannes or Lorient. Be easy; the sorcerer
+of Pluvigner shall not lose Paradise for nothing."
+
+He slept at last; and rising at the break of day, he wandered through
+the country seeking for the cross-wort and the five-leafed clover."
+
+He was forced to look long and wander far, where skies are milder
+and plants always green, before he was successful. But on the eve of
+New-Year's Day he came again to Plouhinec, with the countenance of
+a weasel that has just found out the entrance to a dovecote.
+
+In crossing the common, he came upon Bernèz busy striking with a
+pointed hammer on the tallest of the stones.
+
+"Heaven preserve me!" cried the sorcerer, laughing, "are you anxious
+to dig yourself a dwelling in this rocky mass?"
+
+"No," answered Bernèz quietly; "but as I am just now out of work, I
+thought that perhaps if I carved a cross upon one of these accursed
+stones, I should perform an act agreeable in the sight of God, and
+one that may stand me in good stead some other day."
+
+"Then you have something to ask of Him?" said the old man.
+
+"All Christians need to beg from Him salvation for their souls,"
+replied the youth.
+
+"And have you nothing too to say to Him about Rozenn?" pursued the
+beggar, in a lower voice.
+
+Bernèz looked full at him.
+
+"Ah, you know that?" said he. "Well, after all, there is no shame
+or sin in it. If I seek for the maiden, it is that I may lead her
+to the presence of the priest. Unhappily Marzinne is waiting for a
+brother-in-law who can count more reals than I have silver coins."
+
+"And if I could put you in the way of having more louis-d'or than
+Marzinne has reals?" said the sorcerer in an under-tone.
+
+"You!" cried Bernèz.
+
+"I!"
+
+"And how much do you ask for this?"
+
+"Only to be remembered in your prayers."
+
+"Then there will be nothing that can compromise my soul?"
+
+"Only courage is required."
+
+"Tell me, then, what must be done," cried Bernèz, letting fall his
+hammer. "If needs be, I am ready to encounter any difficulty."
+
+The beggar, seeing him thus disposed, related how that on that very
+night the treasures of the common would be all exposed; but he said
+nothing at the same time of the way by which the stones were to be
+avoided as they came trooping back. The young fellow thought nothing
+was wanting but boldness and a swift step; so he said,
+
+"As sure as I am a living man I will profit by this opportunity,
+old man; and I shall always be at your service for the notice you
+have given me of this great chance. Only let me finish the cross I
+have begun engraving on this stone; when the time comes, I will join
+you near the little pine-wood."
+
+Bernèz kept his word, and arrived at the appointed place an hour
+before midnight. He found the beggar carrying a wallet in each hand,
+and one suspended round his neck.
+
+"Come," said he to the young man, "sit down there, and think of
+all that you will do when you have silver, gold, and jewels to your
+heart's content."
+
+The young man sat down on the ground and answered, "If I have silver
+to my heart's content, I will give my gentle Rozennik [20] all that
+she wishes for, and all that she can wish for, from linen to silk,
+from bread to oranges."
+
+"And if you have gold?" added the sorcerer.
+
+"If I have gold at will," replied the youth, "I will make wealthy
+all my Rozennik's relations, and all the friends of her relations,
+to the utmost limits of the parish."
+
+"And if at last you should have jewels in plenty?" continued the
+old man.
+
+"Then," cried out Bernèz, "I would make all the people in the world
+happy, and I would tell them it was my Rozennik's desire."
+
+Whilst talking thus, the hour slipped away, and midnight came.
+
+At the same instant a great sound arose upon the heath, and by the
+light of the stars all the huge stones might be seen leaving their
+places, and hurrying towards the river Intel. They rushed down the
+slope, grazing the earth as they went, and jostling each other like
+a troop of drunken giants. So they swept pell-mell past the two men,
+and were lost in darkness.
+
+Then the beggar flew towards the common, followed by Bernèz; and there,
+in the very spots where just before huge stones had reared themselves,
+they now saw large holes piled to the brim with gold, with silver,
+and with precious stones.
+
+Bernèz uttered a cry of admiration, and made the sign of the cross;
+but the sorcerer made haste to cram all his wallets, turning meanwhile
+an attentive ear towards the river's bank.
+
+He had just finished lading the third bag, whilst the young man
+stuffed the pockets of his linen vest, when a dull sound like that
+of an approaching storm was audible in the distance.
+
+The stones had finished drinking, and were coming back once more.
+
+They rushed, stooping forwards like runners in a race, and bore down
+all before them.
+
+When the youth perceived them, he started upright, and exclaimed,
+
+"Ah, Blessed Virgin, we are lost!"
+
+"I am not," said the sorcerer, taking in his hand the cross-wort and
+the five-leaved clover, "for I have that here which will secure my
+safety; but a Christian must be sacrificed to make good all these
+treasures, and the bad angel put thee in my way. So give up Rozenn,
+and prepare to die."
+
+While yet he spoke the stony army was at hand; but holding forth
+his magic nosegay, they turned aside to right and left to fall upon
+Bernèz. He, feeling sure that all was over for him, sank down upon
+his knees and closed his eyes; when the great stone that led the
+troop stopped all at once, and barring the way, set itself before
+him as a protecting rampart.
+
+Bernèz, astonished, raised his head, and recognised the stone on which
+his hand had traced a cross. Being thenceforward a baptised stone,
+it could have no power to harm a Christian.
+
+Remaining motionless before the young man until all its fellows had
+regained their places, it then rushed forwards like a sea-bird to
+retake its own, and met upon its way the beggar hampered with his
+three ponderous bags of gold.
+
+Seeing it advance, he would have defied it with his magic plants; but
+the stone, become Christian, was no longer subject to the witchery of
+the demon, and hurrying onwards, crushed the sorcerer like an insect.
+
+Bernèz had not only all his own collection, but the three full wallets
+of the mendicant, and became thus rich enough to wed his Rozenn, to
+bring up a numerous family, and to succour his relations, as well as
+the poor of the whole country around, to the end of his long life.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TEUZ-A-POULIET; [21] OR, THE DWARF.
+
+
+The vale of Pinard is a pleasant slope which lies behind the city of
+Morlaix. There are plenty of gardens, houses, shops, and bakers to
+be found there, besides many farms that boast their ample cowsheds
+and full barns.
+
+Now, in olden times, when there was neither conscription nor general
+taxation, there dwelt in the largest of these farms an honest man,
+called Jalm Riou, who had a comely daughter, Barbaik. Not only was she
+fair and well-fashioned, but she was the best dancer, and also the
+best drest, in all those parts. When she set off on Sunday to hear
+Mass at St. Mathieu's church, she used to wear an embroidered coif,
+a gay neckerchief, five petticoats one over the other, [22] and silver
+buckles in her shoes; so that the very butchers' wives were jealous,
+and tossing their heads as she went by, they asked her whether she
+had been selling the devil her black hen. [23] But Barbaik troubled
+herself  not at all for all they said, so long as she continued to
+be the best-dressed damsel, and the most attractive at the fair of
+the patron saint.
+
+Barbaik had many suitors, and among them was one who really loved
+her more than all the rest; and this was the lad who worked upon her
+father's farm, a good labourer and a worthy Christian, but rough and
+ungainly in appearance. So Barbaik would have nothing to say to him,
+in spite of his good qualities, and always declared, when speaking
+of him, that he was a colt of Pontrieux. [24]
+
+Jégu, who loved her with all his heart, was deeply wounded, and fretted
+sorely at being so ill-used by the only creature that could give him
+either joy or trouble.
+
+One morning, when bringing home the horses from the field, he stopped
+to let them drink at the pond; and as he stood holding the smallest
+one, with his head sunk upon his breast, and uttering every now and
+then the heaviest sighs, for he was thinking of Barbaik, he heard
+suddenly a voice proceeding from the reeds, which said to him,
+
+"Why are you so miserable, Jégu? things are not yet quite so
+desperate."
+
+The farmer's boy raised his head astonished, and asked who was there.
+
+"It is I, the Teuz-à-pouliet," said the same voice.
+
+"I do not see you," replied Jégu.
+
+"Look closely, and you will see me in the midst of the reeds, under
+the form of a beautiful green frog. I take successively whatever form
+I like, unless I prefer making myself invisible."
+
+"But can you not show yourself under the usual appearance of your
+kind?"
+
+"No doubt, if that will please you."
+
+With these words the frog leaped on one of the horses' backs, and
+changed himself suddenly into a little dwarf, with bright green dress
+and smart polished gaiters, like a leather-merchant of Landivisiau.
+
+Jégu, a little scared, drew back a step or two; but the Teuz told him
+not to be afraid, for that, far from wishing him harm, he was ready
+to do him good.
+
+"And what makes you take this interest in me?" inquired the peasant,
+with a suspicious air.
+
+"A service which you rendered to me the last winter," said the
+Teuz-à-pouliet. "You doubtless are aware that the Korigans of the
+White-Wheat country and of Cornouaille declared war against our race,
+because they say we are too favourably disposed to man. [25] We were
+obliged to flee into the bishopric of Léon, where at first we concealed
+ourselves under divers animal forms. Since then, from habit or fancy,
+we have continued to assume them, and I became acquainted with you
+through one of these transformations."
+
+"And how was that?"
+
+"Do you remember, three months ago, whilst working in the alder-park,
+finding a robin caught in a snare?"
+
+"Yes," interrupted Jégu; "and I remember also that I let it fly,
+saying, 'As for thee, thou dost not eat the bread of Christians:
+take thy flight, thou bird of the good God.'"
+
+"Ah, well, that robin was myself. Ever since then I vowed to be your
+faithful friend, and I will prove it too by causing you to marry
+Barbaik, since you love her so well."
+
+"Ah, Teuz-à-pouliet, could you but succeed in that," cried Jégu,
+"there is nothing in this world, except my soul, that I would not
+bestow upon you."
+
+"Let me alone," replied the dwarf; "yet a few months from this time,
+and I will see you are the master of that farm and of the maiden too."
+
+"And how can you undertake that?" asked the youth.
+
+"You shall know all in time; all you have to do just now is to smoke
+your pipe, eat, drink, and take no trouble about any thing."
+
+Jégu declared that nothing could be easier than that, and he would
+conform exactly to the Teuz's orders; then, thanking him, and taking
+off his hat as he would have done to the curé or the magistrate,
+he went homewards to the farm.
+
+The following day happened to be Sunday. Barbaik rose earlier than
+usual, and went to the stables, which were under her sole charge;
+but to her great surprise she found them already freshly littered,
+the racks garnished, the cows milked, and the cream churned. Now,
+as she recollected having said before Jégu, on the preceding night,
+that she wanted to be ready in good time to go to the feast of
+St. Nicholas, she very naturally concluded that it was he who had
+done all this for her, and she told him she was much obliged. Jégu,
+however, replied in a peevish tone, that he did not know what she
+meant; but this only confirmed Barbaik in her belief.
+
+The same good service was rendered to her now every day. Never had
+the stable been so cleanly, nor the cows so fat. Barbaik found her
+earthen pans full of milk at morning and at evening, and a pound of
+fresh-churned butter decked with blackberry-leaves. So in a few weeks'
+time she got into the habit of never rising till broad daylight,
+to prepare breakfast and set about her household duties.
+
+But even this labour was soon spared her; for one morning, on getting
+out of bed, she found the house already swept, the furniture polished,
+the soup on the fire, and the bread cut into the bowls; so that she
+had nothing to do but go to the courtyard, and call the labourers
+from the fields. She still thought it was an attention shown to her
+by Jégu, and she could not help considering what a very convenient
+husband he would be for a woman who liked to have her time to herself.
+
+And it was a fact that Barbaik never uttered a wish before him that
+was not immediately fulfilled. If the wind was cold, or if the sun
+shone hot, and she was afraid of injuring her complexion by going to
+the spring, she had only to say low, "I should like to see my buckets
+filled, and my tub full of washed linen." Then she would go and gossip
+with a neighbour, and on her return she would find tub and buckets just
+as she had desired them to be, standing on the stone. If she found
+the rye-dough too hard to bake, or the oven too long in heating,
+she had only to say, "I should like to see my six fifteen-pound
+loaves all ranged upon the board above the kneading-trough," and
+two hours later the six loaves were there. If she found the market
+too far off, and the road too bad, she had only to say over-night,
+"Why am I not already come back from Morlaix, with my milk-can empty,
+my tub of butter sold out, a pound of black cherries in my wooden
+platter, and six reals [26] at the bottom of my apron-pocket?" and
+the next morning, when she rose, she would discover at the foot of
+her bed the empty milk-can and butter-tub, the pound of cherries in
+her wooden plate, and six reals in her apron-pocket.
+
+But the good offices that were rendered to her did not stop here. Did
+she wish to make an appointment with another damsel at some fair,
+to buy a ribbon in the town, or to find out the hour at which the
+procession at the church was to begin, Jégu was always at hand; all she
+had to do was to mention her wish before him, and the thing was done.
+
+When things were thus advanced, the Teuz advised the youth to ask
+Barbaik now in marriage; and this time she listened to all he had to
+say. She thought Jégu very plain and unmannerly; but yet, as a husband,
+he was just what she wanted. Jégu would wake for her, work for her,
+save for her. Jégu would be the shaft-horse, forced to draw the whole
+weight of the wagon; and she, the farmer's wife, seated on a heap of
+clover, and driving him with the whip.
+
+After having well considered all this, she answered the young man,
+as a well-conducted damsel should, that she would refer the matter
+to her father.
+
+But she knew beforehand that Jalm Riou would consent; for he had
+often said that only Jégu would be fit to manage the farm when he
+should be no more.
+
+So the marriage took place the very next month; and it seemed as if
+the aged father had but waited until then to go and take his rest
+in Paradise; for a very few days after the marriage he died, leaving
+the house and land to the young folks.
+
+It was a great responsibility for Jégu; but the Teuz came to his
+assistance. He became the ploughboy at the farm, and did more work
+alone than four hired labourers. He it was who kept the tools and
+harness in good order, who repaired omissions, who pointed out the
+proper time for sowing or for mowing. If by chance Jégu had occasion
+to expedite some work, the Teuz would go and tell his friends, and
+all the dwarfs would come with hoe, fork, or reaping-hook upon their
+shoulders; if teams were wanted, he would send the farmer to a town
+inhabited by some of his tribe, who would be out upon the common; and
+Jégu had only to say, "Little men, my good friends, lend me a pair of
+oxen, or a couple of horses, with all that is needed for their work,"
+and the team would appear that very instant.
+
+Now all the Teuz-à-pouliet asked in payment of these services was a
+child's portion of broth, served up in a milk-measure, every day. So
+Jégu loved him like his own son. Barbaik, on the contrary, hated
+him, and not without reason; for the very next day after marriage
+she saw with astonishment she was no longer assisted as before; and
+as she was making her complaint to Jégu, who seemed as if he did not
+understand her, the dwarf, bursting out in laughter, confessed that
+he had been the author of all these good offices, in order that the
+damsel might consent to marry Jégu; but that now he had other things
+to do, and she must once more undertake the household management.
+
+Deceived thus in her expectations, the daughter of Jalm Riou treasured
+in her heart a furious rage against the dwarf. Every morning, when
+she had to rise before the break of day and milk the cows or go to
+market, and every evening, when she had to sit up till near midnight
+churning cream, she cursed the Teuz who had encouraged her to look
+forward to a life of ease and pleasure.
+
+However, one day, being invited to a wedding at Plouezorc'h, and not
+being able to take the farm-mare, as it was near foaling, she asked
+the Teuz-à-pouliet for a steed; and he sent her to the dwarf village,
+telling her to explain exactly what she wanted.
+
+So Barbaik went; and thinking she was doing for the best, she said,
+
+"Teuz, my friends, lend me a black horse, with eyes, mouth, ears,
+saddle, and bridle."
+
+The horse that she had asked for instantly appeared, and she set out
+on him towards Plouezorc'h.
+
+But soon she saw that every one was laughing as she went along.
+
+"See, see!" they cried, "the farmer's wife has sold her horse's tail."
+
+Barbaik turned quickly round, and saw indeed that her horse had no
+tail. She had forgotten to ask for one; and the malicious dwarf had
+served her to the letter.
+
+Disconcerted, she would have hastened on, but the horse refused to mend
+his pace; and so she was compelled to endure the jests of passers-by.
+
+The young wife came home at night more furious than ever against the
+Teuz-à-pouliet, accusing him of having played her this ill turn on
+purpose, and fully resolved to be revenged upon him at the earliest
+opportunity.
+
+Well, spring drew near, and as this was the time the dwarfs held
+festival, the Teuz asked leave of Jégu to extend an invitation to all
+his friends to come and spend the night on the barn-floor, where he
+might give them a supper and a dance. Jégu was far too much indebted
+to the dwarf to think of saying no; and ordered Barbaik to spread over
+the barn-floor her finest fringed table-cloths, and to serve up a batch
+of little butter-cakes, all the morning and the evening milk, and as
+many wheaten pancakes as could be turned out in a good day's work.
+
+Barbaik made no reply, to her husband's great surprise.
+
+She made the pancakes, prepared the milk, cooked the buttered cakes,
+and at evening-tide she took them all out to the barn; but at the
+same time she spread down, all round about the extended table-cloths,
+just where the dwarfs were going to place themselves, the ashes she
+had drawn smoking from the oven; so that when the Teuz-à-pouliet and
+his guests came in to seat themselves, they were every one severely
+burned, and fled away, uttering loud cries. They soon came back,
+however, carrying jugs of water, and so put out the fire; and then
+danced round the farm, all singing in an angry tone,
+
+
+   "Barbe Riou, with dire deceit,
+    Has roasted our poor little feet:
+    Adieu! far hence away we go;
+    On this house be grief and woe!"
+
+
+And, in fact, they left the country that very morning. Jégu, having
+lost their help, soon fell into distress and died; whilst the beautiful
+Barbaik became a basket-woman at Morlaix market.
+
+Since then the Teuz have never been seen in these parts. However,
+there are some who say that all good work-people have to this very day
+ten dwarfs who toil for them, and not invisibly; and these are--their
+ten fingers.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SPECTRE LAUNDRESSES.
+
+
+The Bretons are born in sin, even as other men, but never have they
+been wanting in care for the souls of their faithful departed. They
+take tender pity upon those who burn in purgatory, and earnestly
+strive to redeem them from their fiery trial. Every Sunday, after
+Mass, they kneel and plead for their suffering souls upon the very
+earth in which their poor bodies are mouldering away.
+
+It is in the Black Month, [27] as they call November, that they
+especially attach themselves to this pious duty. When the Messenger of
+Winter [28] arrives, each one bethinks himself of those who are gone to
+the judgment-seat of God. Masses are said for them at the altar of the
+Dead; in their behalf are tapers kindled, and vows made to saints in
+highest veneration; little children are taken to offer their innocent
+prayers upon the grave-stones; and after Vespers the priest comes out
+of church to bless the earth to which their dust has been committed.
+
+On this night also is it that our Lord vouchsafes some respite to their
+sufferings, and permits them to return once more and pay a visit to the
+hearth-stones of their former homes. Then are the dead as numerous in
+the homesteads of the living as the yellow leaves that rustle in the
+deep dry lanes; and therefore it is that all good Christians leave
+the board spread and the fire blazing, that the unwonted guests may,
+if they will, refresh themselves.
+
+But if it is so with all who are truly devoted to the service of the
+Blessed Mother and her divine Son, there are also children of the Black
+Angel ("l'ange noir"), who forget those that were once nearest to their
+hearts. Wilherm Postik was one of these. His father had died without
+desiring to receive the last Sacraments; and, as the proverb has it,
+Kadiou is his father's own son. Wilherm gave himself up, body and soul,
+to forbidden pleasures, dancing during Mass-time, whenever he could
+find an opportunity, and drinking with rascally horse-dealers when he
+should have been in church. Nevertheless, God had not left him without
+enough of warnings. Within the same year had his mother, his sisters,
+and his wife been carried off by a contagious disease. Many a time,
+too, had the good curé exposed to him his evil deeds, showing him that
+he was a scandal to the whole parish, and urging him to repentance;
+but all was in vain.
+
+Meanwhile the fine weather went by. The feast of All Souls arrived,
+and all good Christians, clad in decent mourning, repaired to church
+to pray for the faithful departed. But for Wilherm, he dressed himself
+out in his best, and set out for the neighbouring town, where he was
+sure to find plenty of reprobate sailors and reckless women.
+
+All the time devoted by others to the solace of the suffering souls
+he spent there in drinking, gambling, and singing vile songs; nor
+did he think of returning till close upon midnight, when every body
+else had gone home wearied with iniquity. For him, he had a frame of
+iron for sinful pleasures; and he quitted the drinking-house as well
+disposed for a fresh bout as when he entered it.
+
+Heated with drink, he went along, singing at the top of his voice,
+though his songs were such as the boldest are apt to give out in
+an undertone. He passed the wayside crosses without dropping his
+voice or uncovering his head, and struck out right and left with his
+walking-stick amongst the tufts of broom, regardless of the holy dead
+who thronged every path.
+
+At last the road divided, giving him his choice of two ways homeward;
+the one longer about, but safer, under the blessing of God, the other
+more direct, but haunted by spirits. Many a one in passing by that
+way had heard noises and seen sights that could be only told of in a
+cheerful assembly, and within arm's-length of the holy-water stoup. But
+Wilherm feared nothing; so he struck at once into the shorter path,
+at a pace that made his heavy shoes ring against the stones.
+
+Neither moon nor stars cheered the night, the leaves trooped before
+the driving wind, the brooks trickled dismally adown the hill-sides,
+the bushes shivered like a man afraid, and through the midnight
+stillness the steps of Wilherm echoed like a giant's tread. Yet
+nothing daunted him, and on he went.
+
+But as he passed the ruins of the old manor-house, he plainly heard
+the weather-vane call to him as it creaked,
+
+"Go back, go back, go back!"
+
+Still Wilherm went on. He came up to the waterfall, and the water
+murmured,
+
+"Cross me not, cross me not, cross me not!"
+
+Wilherm set his foot upon the well-worn stepping stones, and crossed
+the stream. He came to an old hollow oak-tree, and the wind that
+whistled in its branches cried,
+
+"Stay here, stay here, stay here!"
+
+But he struck his staff against the dead tree in passing, and hurried
+onwards.
+
+At last he came into the haunted vale, and midnight struck from the
+three parish-church towers. Wilherm began to whistle a jovial air;
+but just as he came to the fourth verse, he heard the sound of tireless
+wheels, and saw a cart approaching covered with a funeral pall.
+
+Wilherm knew it for a hearse. It was drawn by six black horses,
+and driven by Ankou [29] himself, with an iron whip in his hand,
+and ever crying as he went,
+
+"Turn aside, or I turn thee back!"
+
+Wilherm gave him way without being disconcerted.
+
+"What are you doing here, Squire White?" [30] he questioned boldly.
+
+"I make prize, and by surprise," replied Ankou.
+
+"That is to say, you're thievish and treacherous," continued Wilherm.
+
+"I am he that strikes without distinction and without regret."
+
+"That is to say, a fool and a brute. Then I wonder no more, my fine
+fellow, that you're a regular inhabitant of the four bishoprics,
+for to you the whole proverb belongs. [31] But what are you in such
+haste about to-day?"
+
+"I am going to fetch Wilherm Postik," replied the phantom as he
+passed on.
+
+The profligate laughed aloud, and went on his way. As he came up to
+the little sloe-hedge leading to the washing-ground, he saw two white
+females hanging linen on the bushes.
+
+"On my life," said he, "here are some damsels not much afraid of the
+night-dews! What are you about here at this time, my little doves?"
+
+"We wash, we dry, we sew!" replied the two women both at once.
+
+"But what?" asked the young man.
+
+"The winding-sheet of one that yet walks and speaks."
+
+"A corpse! Pardieu! Tell me his name."
+
+"Wilherm Postik."
+
+Louder than before laughed Wilherm, and went down the little rugged
+path.
+
+But as he went on he heard more and more distinctly the beetle of
+the spectre laundresses striking on the douez [32] stones, and ere
+long they themselves were to be seen, beating at their death-shrouds,
+and chanting the sorrowful refrain:
+
+
+   "If no good soul our hands will stay,
+    We must toil till judgment-day;
+    In stormy wind, or clear moonlight,
+    We must wash the death-shroud white."
+
+
+As soon as they perceived this boon companion, they all rushed forward
+with loud cries, offering each her winding-sheet, that he might help
+them to wring out the water.
+
+"Amongst friends we must not scruple to do a good turn," replied
+Wilherm gaily; "but one at a time, my pretty laundresses, a man has
+but two hands."
+
+So laying down his walking-stick, he took the end of the shroud offered
+by one of the ghosts, taking care to wring the same way that she did;
+for he had heard of old that this was the only way to escape being
+shivered to atoms.
+
+But whilst they thus wrung the winding-sheet, behold, the other
+spectres surrounded Wilherm, who recognised amongst them his aunt,
+his wife, his mother, and his sisters, who cried aloud,
+
+"A thousand curses upon him who leaves his own flesh and blood to
+suffer torments! A thousand curses!"
+
+And they shook their streaming locks, and whirled aloft their
+snow-white beetles; while from all the douez of the valley, along
+the hedgerows, and floating over the commons far and wide, there came
+the sound of ghostly voices echoing the same cry,
+
+"A thousand curses! a thousand curses!"
+
+Wilherm, beside himself with terror, felt his hair stand up on end,
+and, forgetting in his confusion the precaution hitherto observed, he
+began to wring the contrary way. In the same instant the winding-sheet
+grasped his hands as in a vice, and he fell, brayed by the iron arms
+of the spectre laundress.
+
+A young girl of Henvik, named Fantik-ar-Fur, passing at daybreak near
+the douez, saw Wilherm stretched upon the blue stones. Thinking that
+he had lain down there to sleep whilst tipsy, the child drew near to
+wake him with a sprig of broom; but finding he remained motionless,
+she took fright and ran to the village to tell the news.
+
+A number of the inhabitants came with the curé, the sexton, and the
+notary, who was mayor of the place. The body was taken up, placed on
+a wagon, and drawn home by oxen; but the blessed candles that were
+lighted continually went out, a token of the fearful fate that had
+overtaken Wilherm Postik.
+
+So his body was deposited outside the church-yard walls, in the
+resting-place of dogs and reprobates.
+
+
+
+
+The belief in spectre laundresses is universal in Brittany.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ROBIN REDBREAST.
+
+
+Long, long ago, ere the acorns were sown which have since furnished
+timber for the oldest vessels of the port of Brest, there lived in
+the parish of Guirek a poor widow called Ninorc'h Madek. Her father,
+who was very wealthy and of noble race, had left at his death a
+manor-house, with a farm, a mill, and a forge, twelve horses and
+twice as many oxen, twelve cows and ten times as many sheep, to say
+nothing of corn and flax.
+
+But Ninorc'h was a helpless widow, and her brothers took the whole
+for themselves. Perrik, the eldest, kept the house, the farm, and
+the horses; Fanche, the second, took the mill and the cows; whilst
+the third, whose name was Riwal, had the oxen, the forge, and the
+sheep. Nothing was left for Ninorc'h but a doorless shed on the open
+heath, which had served to shelter the sick cattle.
+
+However, as she was getting together her little matter of furniture,
+in order to take possession of her new abode, Fanche pretended to
+take pity upon her, and said,
+
+"Come, I will deal with you like a brother and a Christian. Here is a
+black cow; she has never come to much good, and, indeed, gives scarce
+milk enough to feed a new-born babe; but you may take her with you,
+if you will, and May-flower can look after her upon the common."
+
+May-flower [33] was the widow's daughter, now in her eleventh year,
+and had been called after the colourless blossom of the thickets from
+her unusually pale complexion.
+
+So Ninorc'h went away with her pallid little girl, who led the
+poor lean cow by an old cord, and she sent them out upon the common
+together.
+
+There May-flower stayed all day, watching her black cow, which with
+much ado contrived to pick a little grass between the stones. She
+spent her time in making little crosses with blossoms of the broom,
+[34] or in repeating aloud her Rosary and her favourite hymns.
+
+One day, as she was singing the "Ave Maris Stella," as she had heard
+it at Vespers in the church of Guirek, all at once she noticed a
+little bird perched upon one of the flower-crosses she had set in the
+earth. He was warbling sweetly, and turned his head from side to side,
+looking at her as if he longed to speak. Not a little surprised, she
+gently drew near and listened, but without being able to distinguish
+any meaning in his song. In vain he sang louder, flapped his wings,
+and fluttered about before May-flower. Not a whit the wiser was she
+for all this; and yet such pleasure did she take in watching and
+listening to him, that night came on without her being able to think
+of any thing else. At last the bird flew away; and when she looked up
+to see what had become of him, she saw the stars twinkling in the sky.
+
+With all speed she started off to look for her cow, but to her dismay
+it was nowhere to be found upon the common. In vain she called aloud,
+in vain she beat the bushes, in vain she went down into each hollow
+where the rainwater had formed a pool. At last she heard her mother's
+voice, calling her, as if some great misfortune had happened. All in
+a fright, she ran up to her, and there, at the edge of the heath,
+on the way homeward, she found the widow beside all that remained
+of the poor cow,--her horns, that is, and her bones, the latter well
+picked by the wolves, which had sallied forth from the neighbouring
+woods and made a meal of her.
+
+At this sight May-flower felt her blood run cold. She burst into tears,
+for she loved the black cow she had tended so long, and falling on
+her knees exclaimed,
+
+"Blessed Virgin, why did you not let me see the wolf? I would have
+scared him away with the sign of the cross; I would have repeated
+the charm that is taught to shepherd-boys who keep their flocks upon
+the mountains,--
+
+
+   'Art thou wolf, St. Hervé shend [35] thee!
+    Art thou Satan, God defend me!'" [36]
+
+
+The widow, who was a very saint for piety and resignation, seeing
+the sorrow of the little girl, sought to comfort her, saying,
+
+"It is not well to weep for the cow as for a fellow-creature, my poor
+child; if the wolves and wicked men conspire against us, the Lord God
+will be on our side. Come, then, help me up with my bundle of heath,
+and let us go home."
+
+May-flower did as she said, but sighed at every step, and the big
+tears trickled down her cheeks.
+
+"My poor cow!" said she to herself, "my poor, good, gentle cow! and
+just, too, as she was beginning to fatten a little."
+
+The little girl had no heart for supper, and many times awakened in the
+night, fancying that she heard the black cow lowing at the door. With
+very restlessness she rose before the dawn, and ran out upon the
+common, barefooted and but half-dressed. There, at the selfsame spot,
+appeared the little bird again, perched as before on her broom-flower
+cross. Again he sang, and seemed to call her. But, alas, she was as
+little able as on the preceding evening to understand him, and was
+turning away in vexation, when she thought she saw a piece of gold
+glittering on the ground. To try what it really was, she moved it with
+her foot; but, lo, it was the gold-herb; and no sooner had she touched
+it than she distinctly understood the language of the little bird,
+[37] saying in his warbling,
+
+"May-flower, I wish thee well. May-flower, listen to me."
+
+"Who are you?" said May-flower, wondering within herself that she
+could understand the language of an unbaptised creature.
+
+"I am Robin Redbreast," returned the bird. "It was I that followed
+the Saviour on His way to Calvary, and broke a thorn from the crown
+that was tearing His brow. [38] To recompense this act, it was granted
+to me by God the Father that I should live until the day of judgment,
+and that every year I might bestow a fortune upon one poor girl. This
+year I have chosen you."
+
+"Can this be true, Robin Redbreast?" cried May-flower, in a transport
+of delight. "And shall I have a silver cross for my neck, and be able
+to wear wooden shoes?"
+
+"A cross of gold shall you have, and silken slippers shall you wear,
+like a noble damsel," replied Robin Redbreast.
+
+"But what must I do, dear kind Robin?" said the little maid.
+
+"Only follow me."
+
+It may well be supposed that May-flower had no objection to make;
+so Robin Redbreast flew before, and she ran after him.
+
+On they went; across the heath, through the copses, and over the
+fields of rye, till at last they came to the open downs over against
+the Seven Isles. There Robin stopped, and said to the little girl,
+
+"Seest thou aught on the sands down there?"
+
+"I see," replied May-flower, "a great pair of beechen shoes that the
+fire has never scorched, and a holly-staff that has not been hacked
+by the sickle."
+
+"Put on the shoes, and take up the staff."
+
+It was done.
+
+"Now walk upon the sea to the first island, and go round it till thou
+shalt come to a rock on which grow sea-green rushes."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"Gather some of the rushes, and twist them into a cord."
+
+"Well, and then?"
+
+"Then strike the rock with the holly-staff, and there will come forth
+from it a cow. Make a halter of the rushen cord, and lead her home
+to console thy mother for the one just lost."
+
+All that Robin Redbreast had told her, May-flower did. She walked upon
+the sea; she made the cord of rushes; she struck the rock, and there
+came out from it a cow, with eyes as soft as a stag-hound's, and a
+skin sleek as that of the mole that burrows in the meadows. May-flower
+led her home to her poor mother, whose joy now was almost greater
+than her former sorrow.
+
+But what were her sensations when she began to milk Mor Vyoc'h! [39]
+(for so had Robin Redbreast named the creature). Behold, the milk
+flowed on and on beneath her fingers like water from a spring!
+
+Ninorc'h had soon filled all the earthen vessels in the house, and
+then all those of wood, but still the milk flowed on.
+
+"Now, holy Mother save us!" cried the widow, "certainly this beast
+has drunk of the waters of Languengar." [40]
+
+In fact, the milk of Mor Vyoc'h was inexhaustible; she had already
+yielded enough to satisfy every babe in Cornouaille.
+
+In a little time nothing was talked of throughout the country but
+the widow's cow, and people crowded from all parts to see it. The
+rector of Peros-Guirek came among the rest, to see whether it were
+not a snare of the evil one; but after he had laid his stole upon
+Mor Vyoc'h's head, he pronounced her clear of all suspicion.
+
+Before long all the richest farmers were persuading Ninorc'h to sell
+her cow, each one bidding against the other for so invaluable a beast;
+her brother Perrik among the rest.
+
+"Come," said he, "I am your brother; as a good Christian you must
+give me the preference. Let me have Mor Vyoc'h, and I will give you
+in exchange as many cows as it takes tailors to make a man." [41]
+
+"Is that your Christian dealing?" answered the widow. "Nine cows
+for Mor Vyoc'h! She is worth all the cows in the country, far and
+near. With her milk I could supply all the markets in the bishoprics
+of Tréguier and Cornouaille, from Dinan to Carhaix."
+
+"Well, sister, only let me have her," replied Perrik, "and I will
+give up to you our father's farm, on which you were born, with all
+the fields, ploughs, and horses."
+
+This proposal Ninorc'h accepted, and was forthwith put in possession,
+turning up a sod in the meadows, taking a draught of water from the
+well, and kindling a fire on the hearth; besides cutting a tuft of
+hair from the horses' tails in token of ownership. [42] She then
+delivered Mor Vyoc'h to Perrik, who led her away to a house which he
+had at some distance, towards Menez-Brée.
+
+A day of tears and sadness was that for May-flower; and as at night
+she went the round of the stalls to see that all was right, she could
+not help again and again murmuring, as she filled the mangers,
+
+"Alas, Mor Vyoc'h is gone! I shall never see Mor Vyoc'h again."
+
+With this lament still on her lips, she suddenly heard a lowing behind
+her, in which, as by virtue of the gold-herb her ears were now open
+to the language of all animals, she distinctly made out these words,
+
+"Here I am again, my little mistress,"
+
+May-flower turned round in astonishment, and there indeed was Mor
+Vyoc'h.
+
+"Oh, can this indeed be you?" cried the little girl. "And what, then,
+has brought you back?"
+
+"I cannot belong to your uncle Perrik," said Mor Vyoc'h, "for my
+nature forbids me to remain with such as are not in a state of grace;
+so I am come back to be with you again as before."
+
+"But then my mother must give back the farm, the fields, and all that
+she has received for you."
+
+"Not so; for it was already hers by right, and had been unjustly
+taken from her by your uncle."
+
+"But he will come to see if you are here, and will know you again."
+
+"Go and gather three leaves of the cross-wort, [43] and I will tell
+you what to do."
+
+May-flower went, and soon returned with the three leaves.
+
+"Now," said Mor Vyoc'h, "pass those leaves over me, from my horns to
+my tail, and say 'St. Ronan of Ireland!' three times."
+
+May-flower did so; and as she called on the saint for the third
+time, lo, the cow became a beautiful horse. The little girl was lost
+in wonder.
+
+"Now," said the creature to her, "your uncle Perrik cannot possibly
+know me again; for I am no longer Mor Vyoc'h, but Marc'h-Mor." [44]
+
+On hearing what had come to pass, the widow was greatly rejoiced; and
+early on the morrow proceeded to make trial of her horse with a load of
+corn for Tréguier. But guess her astonishment when she found that the
+more sacks were laid on Marc'h-Mor's back the longer it grew; so that
+he alone could carry as much wheat as all the horses in the parish.
+
+The tale of the widow's wonderful horse was soon noised about the
+neighbourhood, and among the rest her brother Fanche heard of it. He
+therefore lost no time in proceeding to the farm; and when he had seen
+Marc'h-Mor, begged his sister to part with him, which, however, she
+would by no means consent to do till Fanche had offered her in exchange
+his cows and his mill, with all the pigs that he was fattening there.
+
+The bargain concluded, Ninorc'h took possession of her new property,
+as she had done at the farm; and Fanche led away Marc'h-Mor.
+
+But in the evening there he was again; and again May-flower gathered
+three leaves of cross-wort, stroked him over with them three times from
+his ears to his tail, repeating each time St. Ronan of Ireland! as she
+had done before to Mor Vyoc'h. And, lo, in a moment the horse changed
+into a sheep covered with wool as long as hemp, as red as scarlet,
+and as fine as dressed flax.
+
+Full of admiration at this new miracle, the widow came to behold it;
+and no sooner was she within sight than she called to May-flower,
+
+"Run and fetch a pair of shears; for the poor creature cannot bear
+this weight of wool."
+
+But when she began to shear Mor-Vawd, she found the wool grow as fast
+as she cut it off; so that he alone far out-valued all the flocks
+of Arhèz.
+
+Riwal, who chanced to come by at that moment, was witness of the
+wonder; and then and there parted with his forge, his sheep-walks,
+and all his sheep, to obtain possession of the wonderful sheep.
+
+But see! As he was leading his new purchase home along the sea-shore,
+the sheep suddenly plunged in the water, swam to the smallest of the
+seven isles, and passed into a chasm of the rocks, which opened to
+receive it, and straight-way closed again.
+
+This time May-flower expected him back at the usual hour in
+vain. Neither that night nor on the morrow did he revisit the farm.
+
+The little girl ran to the common. There she found Robin Redbreast,
+who thus spoke, before he flew away for ever:
+
+"I have been waiting for you, my little lady. The sheep is gone,
+and will return no more. Your uncles have been punished after their
+deserts. For you, you are now a rich heiress, and may wear a cross of
+gold and silken slippers, as I promised you. My work here is done,
+and I am about to fly away far hence. Only, do you remember always,
+that you have been poor, and that it was one of God's little birds
+that made you rich."
+
+To prove her gratitude, May-flower built a chapel on the heath, on
+that very spot where Robin Redbreast first addressed her. And the old
+men, from whom our fathers heard this tale, could remember lighting
+the altar-candles there when they were little boys.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+COMORRE.
+
+
+In the old times, it is said that the city of Vannes was far larger
+and finer than it is in our days, and that instead of a prefect,
+it was ruled by a king, whose will was law. I do not know what his
+name was; but from all I have heard, it seems that he was a man who
+lived in the fear of God, and of whom no one had ever found occasion
+to speak an evil word.
+
+He had been early left a widower; and he lived happily with his
+only daughter, said to be the most beautiful creature in the whole
+world. She was called Tryphyna, and those who knew her have asserted
+that she came of age unsullied by a single mortal sin. So that the
+king her father would have willingly sacrificed his horses, castles,
+and farms, rather than see Tryphyna made unhappy.
+
+However, it came to pass, that one day ambassadors from Cornouaille
+were announced. They came on the part of Comorre, a powerful prince
+of those times, who ruled over the land of Black-Wheat as Tryphyna's
+father ruled that of the White. [45]
+
+After offering presents of honey, flax, and a dozen of little pigs,
+to the king, they informed him that their master had visited the last
+fair at Vannes disguised as a soldier, and there beholding the beauty
+and modesty of the young princess, he had determined at all hazards
+to have her in marriage.
+
+This proposal filled both the king and Tryphyna with great grief;
+for the Count Comorre was a giant, and said to be the wickedest man
+that had ever been on the earth since the days of Cain.
+
+From his earliest youth he had been used to find his only pleasure in
+working mischief; and so malicious was he, that his mother herself had
+been accustomed to run and ring the alarm-bell whenever he left the
+castle, to warn the country people to take care of themselves. When
+older, and his own master, his cruelty was greater still. It was
+said that one morning, on his way out, he tried his gun upon a lad
+tending a colt at pasture, and killed him. And at other times, when
+returning unsuccessful from the chase, he would let loose his dogs
+upon the poor peasants in the fields, and suffer them to be pulled
+down like beasts of prey. But, most horrible of all, he had married
+four wives in succession, each of whom had died off suddenly without
+receiving the last Sacraments; and it was even said that he had made
+away with them by the knife, fire, water, or poison.
+
+So the King of Vannes replied to the ambassadors that his daughter was
+too young and too weak in health to think of marrying. But Comorre's
+people answered roughly, after their manner, that the Count Comorre
+would listen to no such excuses, and that they had received orders,
+if the young princess was not sent back with them, to declare war
+against the King of Vannes. The king replied, that they must do as
+they liked about that. Then the most aged among the envoys lighted a
+handful of straw, which he flung to the winds, declaring that thus
+should the anger of Comorre pass over the country of White-Wheat;
+and so they departed. [46]
+
+Tryphyna's father, being a courageous man, did not allow himself to
+be disheartened by this threat, and called together all the soldiers
+he could muster to defend his territories.
+
+But in a few days he heard that the Count of Cornouaille was advancing
+upon Vannes with a powerful army; and it was not long before he came
+in sight with trumpets and cannons. Then the king put himself at the
+head of his people, and the battle was on the point of beginning; when
+St. Veltas [47] came to find Tryphyna, who was praying in her oratory.
+
+The saint wore the cloak which had served him as a vessel for crossing
+the sea, and carried the walking-staff which he had fastened to
+it as a mast to catch the wind. A halo of glory hovered round his
+brow. He announced to the young princess that the men of Vannes and
+Cornouaille were on the point of shedding each other's blood, and
+asked her whether she would not stay the death of so many Christians
+by consenting to become the wife of Count Comorre.
+
+"Alas, then, God demands from me the death of all my peace and
+happiness," cried the young girl, weeping. "Why am I not a beggar? I
+could then at least be wedded to the beggar of my choice. Ah, if it
+is indeed the will of God that I espouse this giant, whom I dread so
+much, say for me, holy man, the Office for the Dead; for the count
+will kill me, as he has his other wives."
+
+But St. Veltas replied,
+
+"Fear nothing, Tryphyna. See here this ring of silver, white as milk;
+it shall serve you as a warning; for so surely as Comorre is plotting
+any thing against you, it will become as black as the crow's wing. Take
+courage, then, and save the Bretons from death."
+
+The young princess, reassured by this present of the ring, consented
+to St. Veltas's request.
+
+Then the saint hurried without loss of time towards the opposed armies,
+that he might announce the good tidings to their chiefs. The King of
+Vannes, notwithstanding his daughter's resolution, was very unwilling
+to consent to the marriage; but Comorre promised so fairly, that at
+last he accepted him as son-in-law.
+
+The nuptials were celebrated with such festivities as have never
+been seen since within the two dioceses. The first day six thousand
+noble guests sat down to table; and on the second they received as
+many poor, whom the bride and bridegroom, forgetful of their rank,
+waited on at table, with napkins on their arms. [48] Then there was
+dancing, at which all the musicians of Lower Brittany were engaged;
+and wrestling-matches, in which the men of Brévelay contended with
+those of Cornouaille.
+
+At last, when all was over, every one went home to his own country;
+and Comorre carried off with him his young bride, as a sparrow-hawk
+that has pounced upon a poor little yellow-hammer.
+
+However, during the first few months his affection for Tryphyna
+softened him more than might have been expected. The castle-dungeons
+remained empty, and the gibbets held no pasture for foul birds of
+prey. The count's people whispered low,
+
+"What ails our lord, then, that he thirsts no more for tears and
+blood?" But those who knew him better waited and said nothing. Tryphyna
+herself, notwithstanding the count's kindness towards her, could
+never feel easy or happy in her mind. Every day she went down to the
+castle-chapel, and there, praying on the tombs of Comorre's four dead
+wives, she besought God to preserve her from a violent death.
+
+About this time a grand assembly of Breton princes took place at
+Rennes, and Comorre was obliged to join it. He gave into Tryphyna's
+keeping all the castle keys, even those of the cellars; told her to
+amuse herself as she liked best, and set out with a great retinue.
+
+It was five months before he returned, full of anxiety to see Tryphyna,
+of whom he had thought often during his absence. And in his haste,
+unwilling to lose time by announcing his arrival, he rushed up into
+her room, where she was at that moment engaged in making an infant's
+cap, trimmed with silver-lace.
+
+On seeing the cap, Comorre turned pale, and asked for what it was
+designed. The countess, thinking to rejoice his heart, assured him
+that they would shortly have a child; but at this news the Prince of
+Cornouaille drew back in horror, and after looking at Tryphyna with
+a dreadful countenance, went suddenly out, not speaking a word.
+
+The princess might have taken this for one of the count's frequent
+caprices, had she not perceived, on casting down her eyes, that the
+silver ring had turned black. She uttered a cry of terror; for she
+remembered the words of St. Veltas, and knew that she must be in
+imminent peril. But she knew not wherefore, neither could she tell
+how to escape it. Poor woman! all day long, and during part of the
+night, she employed herself in pondering what could be the reason
+of the count's displeasure; and at last, her heart growing heavier,
+she went down into the chapel to pray.
+
+But scarcely had she finished her rosary, and risen to depart,
+when the hour of midnight struck. At that instant she beheld the
+four grave-stones of Comorre's four wives rise slowly up, and they
+themselves come out swathed in their funeral shrouds.
+
+Tryphyna, more dead than alive, would have escaped; but the phantoms
+called to her:
+
+"Take care, poor lost one; Comorre waits to kill thee."
+
+"Me!" cried the countess; "and how have I offended, that he seeks
+my death?"
+
+"You have told him you will shortly be a mother; and he knows, thanks
+to the evil one, that his first child will be his destroyer. Therefore
+it was that he took our lives also."
+
+"My God! and have I fallen into hands so cruel?" cried Tryphyna,
+weeping. "If it is so, what hope remains for me? what can I do?"
+
+"Go back to your father in the land of White-Wheat," said the phantoms.
+
+"How can I fly?" returned the countess; "the giant dog of Comorre
+guards the gate."
+
+"Give to him this poison, which killed me," said the first.
+
+"How can I get down the high wall?" asked the young wife.
+
+"Let yourself down by this cord, which strangled me," replied the
+second.
+
+"But who will direct me through the darkness?" asked the princess.
+
+"This fire, which consumed me," replied the third.
+
+"How can I take so long a journey?" once more asked Tryphyna.
+
+"Make use of this staff, which crushed my temples," said the last.
+
+Comorre's wife took the staff, the torch, the cord, and the poison. She
+silenced the dog, she scaled the lofty wall, she penetrated the
+darkness, and took the road to Vannes, where her father dwelt.
+
+Comorre, not being able to find her the next morning when he rose,
+sent his page to search for her in every chamber; but the page returned
+with the tidings that Tryphyna was no longer in the castle.
+
+Then the count went up the donjon-tower, and looked out to the
+four winds.
+
+To the north he saw a raven that croaked; to the sunrise a swallow on
+the wing; to the south a wailing sea-mew; and to the west a turtle-dove
+that sped away.
+
+He instantly exclaimed that Tryphyna was in that direction; and having
+his horse saddled, set out in pursuit.
+
+His unfortunate wife was still upon the border of the wood which
+surrounded the count's castle; but she was warned of his approach by
+seeing the ring grow black. Then she turned aside over the common,
+and came to the cabin of a poor shepherd, whose sole possession was
+an old magpie hanging in a cage.
+
+The poor lady lay concealed there the whole day, bemoaning herself
+and praying; and when night came on, she once more set forth along
+the paths which skirt the fields of flax and corn.
+
+Comorre, who had kept to the high road, could not find her; and after
+travelling two days, he returned the same way as far as the common. But
+there, as ill-luck would have it, he entered the shepherd's hut,
+and heard the magpie trying to recall the melancholy wailings it had
+listened to, and murmuring, "Poor Tryphyna! poor Tryphyna!" Then
+Comorre knew the countess had passed by that way, and calling his
+hunting-dog, set him on the track, and began to pursue her.
+
+Meanwhile Tryphyna, pressed by terror, had walked on unresting,
+and was already drawing near to Vannes. But at last she felt herself
+unable to proceed; and turning into a wood, lay down upon the grass,
+where she gave birth to a son miraculously lovely, who was afterwards
+called St. Trever.
+
+As she held him in her arms, and wept over him, half sorrowfully
+and half in joy, she perceived a falcon ornamented with a collar of
+gold. He was perched upon a neighbouring tree; and she knew him for
+her father's bird, the king of the land of White-Wheat. Calling him
+quickly by his name, the bird came down upon her knees; and giving him
+the warning-ring she had received from St. Veltas, she said, "Fly,
+falcon, hasten to my father's court, and carry him this ring. When
+he sees it, he will know I am in urgent danger, and will order his
+soldiers to horse. It is for you to lead them hither to save me."
+
+The bird understood, and taking the ring, flew like a flash of
+lightning in the direction of Vannes.
+
+But almost at the same instant Comorre came in sight with his
+stag-hound, who had incessantly tracked Tryphyna; and as she had no
+longer the ring to forewarn her of approaching danger, she remained
+unconscious of it till she heard the tyrant's voice cheering on
+his dog.
+
+Terror froze the marrow in her bones, and she had only just time to
+wrap the infant in her mantle and hide it in the hollow of a tree,
+when Comorre appeared upon his horse at the entrance of the pathway.
+
+Seeing Tryphyna, he uttered a cry like that of a wild-beast, and
+throwing himself upon the unhappy victim, who had sunk upon her
+knees, he severed her head from her shoulders by one stroke of his
+hunting-knife.
+
+Believing himself now at once rid of mother and child, he whistled
+back his dog, and set off on his return to Cornouaille.
+
+Now the falcon arrived at the court of the King of Vannes, who was
+then dining; and hovering over the table, let fall the silver ring into
+his master's cup. He had no sooner recognised it, than he exclaimed:
+
+"Woe is me, some misfortune must have befallen my daughter, since
+the falcon brings me back her ring. Let the horses be made ready,
+and let St. Veltas be our companion; for I fear we shall but too soon
+stand in need of his assistance."
+
+The servants obeyed promptly; and the king set forth with the saint,
+who had come at his prayer, and a numerous retinue. They put their
+horses to their full speed, and followed the course of the flying
+falcon, who led them to the glade where lay the dead Tryphyna and
+her living child.
+
+The king then threw himself from his horse, and uttered cries that
+might have made the very oaks to weep; but St. Veltas silenced him.
+
+"Hush!" said he, "and join with me in prayer to God; He can even yet
+repair all."
+
+With these words, he knelt down with all those who were present, and
+after addressing a fervent prayer to Heaven, he said to the dead body,
+"Arise!"
+
+Tryphyna obeyed.
+
+"Take thine head and thy child," added the saint, "and follow us to
+the castle of Comorre."
+
+It was done as he commanded.
+
+Then the terrified escort took horse once more, and spurred onwards
+towards Cornouaille. But however rapidly they rode, Tryphyna was
+ever in advance; holding her son upon her left arm, and her head on
+her right.
+
+And thus they came before the castle of the murderer. Comorre, who
+saw them coming, caused the drawbridge to be raised. St. Veltas drew
+near the moat, and exclaimed, with a loud voice,
+
+"Count of Cornouaille, I bring thee back thy wife, such as thy
+wickedness has made her; and thy son, as God has bestowed him on
+thee. Wilt thou receive them beneath thy roof?"
+
+Comorre was silent. St. Veltas repeated the same words a second,
+then a third time; but still no voice replied. Taking, therefore,
+the infant from his mother's arms, he placed him on the ground.
+
+Then was beheld a miracle which proved the Omnipotence of God; for
+the child walked alone, and boldly, to the edge of the moat, whence
+gathering a handful of the sand, he flung it towards the castle,
+crying out,
+
+"God is just!"
+
+At that instant the towers shook with a great tumult, the walls gaped
+open, and the whole castle sank down in ruins, burying the Count of
+Cornouaille, and all those who had abetted him in sin.
+
+St. Veltas then replaced the head of Tryphyna on her shoulders, and
+laying his hands upon her, the holy woman came back to life; to the
+great content of the King of Vannes, and of all who were there present.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE.
+
+According to the legend of Albert de Morlaix, Comorre was not buried
+in the castle ruins, but succeeded in making his escape; but, at the
+instance of Guerok, the Breton Bishops met in council "to cut off
+this rotten branch from the body of the Church. They assembled at
+the mountain called Menez-Brée, near Louargat, between Belle Isle
+and Guingamp, not daring to meet in any town, through the terror
+inspired by this tyrant; who, having killed King Johava, and his son
+Jugduval, did what he pleased throughout the whole of the Low Country"
+(Basse Bretagne).
+
+The Bishops thundered from their place of meeting a deadly
+excommunication against Comorre; who shortly after, according to the
+historian Le Bault, suffered the punishment of Arius; or, as others
+say, "vomited forth at the same instant his blood and his soul."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GROAC'H OF THE ISLE OF LOK. [49]
+
+
+Every one who knows the land of the Church (Lanillis), knows also that
+it is one of the loveliest parishes in the diocese of Léon. To say
+nothing of green crops and corn, its orchards are famed from all time
+for apples sweeter than the honey of Sizun, and plum-trees of which
+every blossom ripens into fruit. As for the marriageable maidens,
+they are all models of discretion and housewifery; at least so say
+their nearest relations, who of course know them best.
+
+In olden times, when miracles were as common in these parts as
+christenings and burials now, there dwelt in Lanillis a young man
+called Houarn Pogamm, and a damsel whose name was Bellah Postik.
+
+They grew up together in love, as in age and stature; but every one
+that they had to care for them being dead, one after the other, and
+they left portionless, the two poor orphans were at last obliged to
+go into service. They ought, indeed, to have been happy, for they
+served the same master; but lovers are like the sea, that murmurs ever.
+
+"If we had only enough to buy a little cow and a lean pig," said
+Houarn, "I would take a bit of land of our master; and then the good
+father should marry us, and we would go and live together."
+
+"Yes," replied Bellah, with a deep sigh; "but the times are so
+hard. The cows and pigs were dearer than ever at Ploudalmazeau the
+last fair. Providence must surely have given up caring for the world."
+
+"I am afraid we shall have to wait a long time," said the young man;
+"for I never get the last glass of the bottle when I drink with the
+rest of them."
+
+"Very long," replied the maiden; "for I never can hear the cuckoo."
+
+Day after day it was the same story; till at last Houarn was quite out
+of patience. So one morning he came to Bellah, as she was winnowing
+some corn in the threshing-floor, and told her how he had made up
+his mind that he would set out on his travels to seek his fortune.
+
+Sadly troubled was the poor girl at this resolve, and she said all
+she could to dissuade him from it; but Houarn, who was a determined
+young fellow, would not be withheld.
+
+"The birds," said he, "fly hither and thither till they have found
+a field of corn, and the bees till they meet with flowers that
+may yield them honey; is it for man to be less reasonable than the
+winged creatures? I also will go forth on my quest; what I want is
+but the price of a little cow and a lean pig. If you love me, Bellah,
+you will no longer oppose a project which is to hasten our marriage."
+
+Bellah could not but acknowledge that there was reason in his words;
+so with a sigh and a yearning heart she said,
+
+"Go then, Houarn, with God's blessing, if it must be so; but first
+let me share with you my family relics."
+
+She led him to her cupboard, and took out a little bell, a knife,
+and a staff.
+
+"There," said she, "these are immemorial heirlooms of our family. This
+is the bell of St. Kolédok. Its sound can be heard at any distance,
+however great, and will give immediate notice to the possessor's
+friends should he be in any danger. The knife once belonged to
+St. Corentin, and its touch dissolves all spells, were they of the
+arch-fiend himself. Lastly, here is the staff of St. Vouga, which
+will lead its possessor whithersoever he may desire to go. I will
+give you the knife to defend you from enchantments, and the little
+bell to let me know if you are in peril; the staff I will keep,
+that I may be able to join you, should you need my presence."
+
+Houarn accepted with thanks his Bellah's gifts, wept awhile with her,
+as belongs to a parting, and set out towards the mountains.
+
+But it was then just as it is now, and in all the villages through
+which he passed, the traveller was beset by beggars, to whom any one
+with whole garments was a man of rank and fortune.
+
+"By my faith," thought he, "this part of the country seems fitter
+for spending a fortune than for making one: I must go farther."
+
+He went onwards therefore towards the west, till at last he arrived
+at Pontaven, a pretty town, built upon a river bordered with poplars.
+
+There, as he sat at the inn-door, he overheard two carriers, who,
+as they loaded their mules, were talking together of the Groac'h of
+the Isle of Lok.
+
+Houarn inquired who or what that might be; and was told that it was the
+name of a fairy who inhabited the lake in the largest of the Glénans,
+[50] and who was said to be as rich as all the kings of the earth
+together. Many had been the treasure-seekers that had visited her
+island, but not one of them had ever returned.
+
+The thought came suddenly into Houarn's mind that he too would try
+the adventure. The muleteers did all they could to dissuade him. They
+were so loud in their remonstrances, that they collected quite a
+crowd about him, crying out that it was downright unchristian to
+let him run into destruction in that way; and the people would even
+have kept him back by force. Houarn thanked them for the interest
+they manifested in his welfare, and declared himself ready to give
+up his design, if only they would make a collection amongst them
+which would enable him to buy a little cow and a lean pig; but at
+this proposition the muleteers and all the others drew back, simply
+repeating that he was an obstinate fellow, and that it was of no use
+talking to him. So Houarn repaired to the sea-shore, where he took
+a boat, and was carried to the Isle of Lok.
+
+He had no difficulty in finding the pond, which was in the centre
+of the island, its banks fringed by sea-plants with rose-coloured
+flowers. As he walked round, he saw lying at one end of it, shaded by
+a tuft of broom, a sea-green canoe, which floated on the unruffled
+waters. It was fashioned like a swan asleep, with its head under
+its wing.
+
+Houarn, who had never seen any thing like it before, drew nearer with
+curiosity, and stepped into the boat that he might examine it the
+better; but scarcely had he set foot within it when the swan seemed
+to awake, its head started from amongst the feathers, its wide feet
+spread themselves to the waters, and it swam rapidly from the bank.
+
+The young man gave a cry of alarm, but the swan only made the more
+swiftly for the middle of the lake; and just as Houarn had decided on
+throwing himself from his strange bark, and swimming for the shore,
+the bird plunged downward head foremost, drawing him under the water
+along with it.
+
+The unfortunate Léonard, who could not cry out without gulping down
+the unsavoury water of the pool, was silent by necessity, and soon
+arrived at the Groac'h's dwelling.
+
+It was a palace of shells, far surpassing in beauty all that can be
+imagined. It was entered by a flight of crystal steps, each stair of
+which, as the foot pressed it, gave forth a concert of sweet sounds,
+like the song of many birds. All around stretched gardens of immense
+extent, with forests of marine plants, and plots of green seaweed,
+spangled with diamonds in the place of flowers.
+
+The Groac'h was reclining in the entrance-hall upon a couch of
+gold. Her dress was of sea-green silk, exquisitely fine, and floating
+round her like the waves that wrapped her grotto. Her black locks,
+intertwined with coral, descended to her feet; and the white and red
+of her brilliant complexion blended as in the polished lining of some
+Indian shell.
+
+Dazzled with a sight at once so fair and unexpected, Houarn stood
+still; but with a winning smile the Groac'h rose, and came forward
+to meet him. So easy and flowing were her movements, that she seemed
+like a snowy billow heaving along the sea, as she advanced to greet
+the young Léonard.
+
+"You are welcome," said she, beckoning him with her hand to enter;
+"there is always room here for all comers, especially for handsome
+young men."
+
+At this gracious reception Houarn somewhat recovered himself, and
+entered the hall.
+
+"Who are you? Whence come you? What seek you?" continued the Groac'h.
+
+"My name is Houarn," replied the Léonard; "I come from Lanillis; and
+I am in quest of the wherewithal to buy a little cow and a lean pig."
+
+"Well, come in, Houarn," said the fairy; "and dismiss all anxiety
+from your mind; you shall have every thing to make you happy."
+
+While this was passing she had led him into a second hall, the walls
+of which were covered with pearls; where she set before him eight
+different kinds of wine, in eight goblets of chased silver. Houarn made
+trial of each, and found all so much to his taste, that he repeated
+his draught of each eight times; while ever as the cup left his lips,
+the Groac'h seemed still fairer than before.
+
+She meanwhile encouraged him to drink, telling him he need be in no
+fear of robbing her, for that the lake in the Isle of Lok communicated
+with the sea, and that all the treasures swallowed up by shipwrecks
+were conveyed thither by a magic current.
+
+"I do not wonder," cried Houarn, emboldened at once by the wine and
+the manner of his hostess, "that the people on shore speak so badly
+of you; in fact, it just comes to this, that you are rich, and they
+are envious. For my part, I should be very well content with the half
+of your fortune."
+
+"It shall be yours if you will, Houarn," said the fairy.
+
+"How can that be?" he asked.
+
+"My husband, the Korandon, is dead," she answered, "so that I am now
+a widow; if you like me well enough, I will become your wife."
+
+Houarn quite lost his breath for very wonderment. For him to marry
+that beautiful creature! to dwell in that splendid palace! and to
+drink to his heart's content of the eight sorts of wine! True, he
+was engaged to Bellah; but men easily forget such promises,--indeed,
+for that they are just like women. So he gallantly assured the fairy
+that one so lovely must be irresistible, and that it would be his
+pride and joy to become her husband.
+
+Thereupon the Groac'h exclaimed that she would forthwith make ready
+the wedding-feast. She spread a table, which she covered with all
+the delicacies that the Léonard had ever heard of, besides a great
+many unknown to him even by name; and then proceeding to a little
+fish-pond at the bottom of the garden, she began to call, and at
+each call up swam a fish, which she successively caught in a steel
+net. When the net was full, she carried it into the next room, and
+threw all the fish into a golden frying-pan.
+
+But it seemed to Houarn as though there was a whispering of little
+voices amidst the hissing of the pan.
+
+"What is that whispering in the frying-pan, Groac'h?" he asked.
+
+"It is the crackling of the wood," said she, stirring the fire.
+
+An instant after the little voices again began to murmur.
+
+"What is that murmuring, Groac'h?" asked the bridegroom.
+
+"It is the butter in the frying-pan," she answered, giving the fish
+a toss.
+
+But soon the little voices cried yet louder.
+
+"What is that cry, Groac'h?" said Houarn.
+
+"It is the cricket in the hearth," replied the fairy; and she began to
+sing, so that the Léonard could no longer hear any thing but her voice.
+
+But he could not help thinking on what he had noticed: and thought
+brought fear, and fear, of course, repentance.
+
+"Alas!" he cried, "can it then be possible that I have so soon
+forgotten Bellah for this Groac'h, who is no doubt a child of
+Satan? With her for my wife, I shall not even dare to say my prayers
+at night, and shall be as sure to go to hell as an exciseman."
+
+While he thus communed with himself, the fairy brought in the fried
+fish, and pressed him to eat, while she went to fetch him twelve new
+sorts of wine.
+
+Houarn sighed, took out his knife, and prepared to begin; but scarcely
+had the spell-destroying blade touched the golden dish, when all the
+fish rose up in the form of little men, each one clad in the proper
+costume of his rank and occupation. There was a lawyer with his bands,
+a tailor in blue stockings, a miller all white with flour, and so on;
+all crying out at once, as they swam in the melted butter,--
+
+"Houarn, save us, if thou wouldst thyself be saved."
+
+"Holy Virgin! what are these little men singing out from amongst the
+melted butter?" cried the Léonard, in bewilderment.
+
+"We are Christians like thyself," they answered. "We too came to seek
+our fortunes in the Isle of Lok; we too consented to marry the Groac'h;
+and the day after the wedding she did with us as she had done with
+all our predecessors, of whom the fish-pond in the garden is full."
+
+"What!" cried Houarn, "a creature so young and fair, and yet so
+wicked?"
+
+"And thou wilt soon be in the same condition, subject thyself to be
+fried and eaten by some new-comer."
+
+Houarn gave a jump, as though he felt himself already in the golden
+frying-pan, and ran towards the door, thinking only how he might
+escape before the Groac'h should return. But she was already there,
+and had heard all; her net of steel was soon thrown over the Léonard,
+who found himself instantly transformed into a frog, in which guise
+the fairy carried him to the fish-pond, and threw him in, to keep
+her former husbands company.
+
+At this moment the little bell, which Houarn wore round his neck,
+tinkled of its own accord; and Bellah heard it at Lanillis, where
+she was busy skimming the last night's milk.
+
+The sound struck upon her heart like a funeral knell; and she cried
+aloud, "Houarn is in danger!" And without a moment's delay, without
+asking counsel of any as to what she should do, she ran and put on
+her Sunday clothes, her shoes and silver cross, and set out from the
+farm with her magic staff. Arrived where four roads met, she set the
+stick upright in the ground, murmuring in a low voice,--
+
+
+   "List, thou crab-tree staff of mine!
+      By good St. Vouga, hear me!
+    O'er earth and water, through air, 'tis thine
+      Whither I will to bear me!"
+
+
+And lo, the stick became a bay nag, dressed, saddled, and bridled,
+with a rosette behind each ear, and a blue feather in front.
+
+Bellah mounted, and the horse set forward; first at a walking
+pace, then he trotted, and at last galloped, and that so swiftly,
+that ditches, trees, houses, and steeples passed before the young
+girl's eyes like the arms of a spindle. But she complained not,
+feeling that each step brought her nearer to her dear Houarn; nay,
+she rather urged on her beast, saying,
+
+"Less swift than the swallow is the horse, less swift the swallow
+than the wind, the wind than the lightning; but thou, my good steed,
+if thou lovest me, outstrip them all in speed: for a part of my heart
+is suffering; the better half of my own life is in danger."
+
+The horse understood her, and flew like a straw driven by the whirlwind
+till he arrived in the country of Arhés, at the foot of the rock
+called the Stag's Leap. But there he stood still, for never had horse
+scaled that precipice. Bellah, perceiving the cause of his stopping,
+renewed her prayer:
+
+
+   "Once again, thou courser mine,
+      By good St. Vouga, hear me!
+    O'er earth and water, through air, 'tis thine
+      Whither I will to bear me!"
+
+
+She had hardly finished, when a pair of wings sprang from the sides
+of her horse, which now became a great bird, and in this shape flew
+away with her to the top of the rock.
+
+Strange indeed was the sight that here met her eyes. Upon a nest
+made of potter's clay and dry moss squatted a little korandon, [51]
+all swarthy and wrinkled, who, on beholding Bellah, began to cry aloud,
+
+"Hurrah! here is the pretty maiden come to save me!"
+
+"Save thee!" said Bellah. "Who art thou, then, my little man?"
+
+"I am Jeannik, the husband of the Groac'h of the Isle of Lok. She it
+was that sent me here."
+
+"But what art thou doing in this nest?"
+
+"I am sitting on six stone eggs, and I cannot be free till they
+are hatched."
+
+Bellah could not keep herself from laughing.
+
+"Poor thing!" said she; "and how can I deliver thee?"
+
+"By first saving Houarn, who is in the Groac'h's power."
+
+"Ah, tell me how I may do that!" cried the orphan girl, "and not a
+moment will I lose in setting about my part in the matter, though I
+should have to make the circuit of the four dioceses upon my bare
+knees."
+
+"Well, then, there are two things to be done," said the korandon. "The
+first, to present thyself before the Groac'h as a young man; and the
+next, to take from her the steel net which she carries at her girdle,
+and shut her up in it till the day of judgment."
+
+"And where shall I get a suit of clothes to fit me, korandon?"
+
+"Thou shalt see."
+
+And with these words the little dwarf pulled out four hairs from
+his foxy poll, and blew them to the winds, muttering something in an
+under-tone, and lo, the four hairs became four tailors, of whom the
+first held in his hand a cabbage, the second a pair of scissors, the
+third a needle, and the last a smoothing goose. All the four seated
+themselves cross-legged round the nest, and began to prepare a suit
+of clothes for Bellah.
+
+Out of one cabbage-leaf they made a beautiful coat, laced at every
+seam; of another they made a waistcoat; but it took two leaves for
+the trunk-breeches, such as are worn in the country of Léon; lastly,
+the heart of the cabbage was shaped into a hat, and the stalk was
+converted into shoes.
+
+Thus equipped, Bellah would have passed any where for a handsome
+young gentleman in green velvet lined with white satin.
+
+She thanked the korandon, who added some further instructions;
+and then her great bird flew away with her straight to the Isle of
+Lok. There she commanded him to resume the form of a crab-stick; and
+entering the swan-shaped boat, arrived safely at the Groac'h's palace.
+
+The fairy was quite taken at first sight with the velvet-clad young
+Léonard.
+
+"Well," quoth she to herself, "you are the best-looking young fellow
+that has ever come to see me; and I do think I shall love you for
+three times three days."
+
+And she began to make much of her guest, calling her her darling,
+and heart of hearts. She treated her with a collation; and Bellah
+found upon the table St. Corentin's knife, which had been left there
+by Houarn. She took it up against the time of need, and followed the
+Groac'h into the garden. There the fairy showed her the grass-plots
+flowered with diamonds, the fountains of perfumed waters, and, above
+all, the fish-pond, wherein swam fishes of a thousand colours.
+
+With these last Bellah pretended to be especially taken, so that she
+must needs sit down upon the edge of the pond, the better to enjoy
+the sight of them.
+
+The Groac'h took advantage of her delight to ask her if she would not
+like to spend all her days in this lovely place. Bellah replied that
+she should like it of all things.
+
+"Well, then, so you may, and from this very hour, if you are only
+ready at once to marry me," proceeded the fairy.
+
+"Very well," replied Bellah; "but you must let me fetch up one of
+these beautiful fishes with the steel net that hangs at your girdle."
+
+The Groac'h, nothing suspecting, and taking this request for a mere
+boyish freak, gave her the net, saying with a smile, "Let us see,
+fair fisherman, what you will catch."
+
+"Thee, fiend!" cried Bellah, throwing the net over the Groac'h's
+head. "In the name of the Saviour of men, accursed sorceress, become
+in body even as thou art in soul!"
+
+The cry uttered by the Groac'h died away in a stifled murmur, for
+the exorcism had already taken effect; the beautiful water fay was
+now nothing more than the hideous queen of toadstools.
+
+In an instant Bellah drew the net, and with all speed threw it into a
+well, upon which she laid a stone sealed with the sign of the cross,
+that it might remain closed till the tombs shall be opened at the
+last day.
+
+She then hastened back to the pond; but all the fish were already out
+of it, coming forth to meet her, like a procession of many-coloured
+monks, crying in their little hoarse voices, "Behold our lord and
+master! who has delivered us from the net of steel and the golden
+frying-pan."
+
+"And who will also restore you to your shape of Christians," said
+Bellah, drawing forth the knife of St. Corentin. But as she was
+about to touch the first fish, she perceived close to her a frog,
+with the magic bell hung about his neck, and sobbing bitterly as he
+knelt before her. Bellah felt her bosom swell, and she exclaimed,
+"Is it thou, is it thou, my Houarn, thou lord of my sorrow and my joy?"
+
+"It is I," answered the youth.
+
+At a touch with the potent blade he recovered his proper form, and
+Bellah and he fell into each other's arms, the one eye weeping for
+the past, the other glistening with the present joy.
+
+She then did the like to all the fishes, who were restored each of
+them to his pristine shape and condition.
+
+The work of disenchantment was hardly at an end, when up came the
+little korandon from the Stag's-Leap rock.
+
+"Here I am, my pretty maiden," cried he to Bellah: "the spell which
+held me where you saw me is broken, and I am come to thank you for
+my deliverance."
+
+He then conducted the lovers to the Groac'h's coffers, which were
+filled with precious stones, of which he told them to take as many
+as they pleased.
+
+They both loaded their pockets, their girdles, and their hats; and
+when they had as much as they could carry, they departed, with all
+whom she had delivered from the enchantment.
+
+The banns were soon published, and Houarn and Bellah were married. But
+instead of a little cow and a lean pig, he bought all the land in the
+parish, and put in as farmers the people he had brought with him from
+the Isle of Lok.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FOUR GIFTS.
+
+
+If I had an income of three hundred crowns, I would go and dwell
+at Quimper; the finest church in Cornouaille is to be found there,
+and all the houses have weather-vanes upon their roofs. If I had two
+hundred crowns a year, I would live at Carhaix, for the sake of its
+heath-fed sheep and its game. But if I had only one hundred, I would
+set up housekeeping at Pontaven, for there is the greatest abundance
+of every thing. At Pontaven they sell butter at the price of milk,
+chickens for that of eggs, and linen at the same rate as you can buy
+green flax. So that there are plenty of good farms there, where they
+dish up salt pork at least three times a week, and where the very
+shepherds eat as much rye-bread as they desire.
+
+In such a farm lived Barbaik Bourhis, a spirited woman, who had
+maintained her household like a man, and who had fields and stacks
+enough to have kept two sons at college.
+
+But Barbaik had only a niece, whose earnings far outweighed her keep,
+so that every day she laid by as much as she could save.
+
+But savings too easily acquired have always their bad side. If you
+hoard up wheat, you attract rats into your barns; and if you lay by
+crowns, you will engender avarice in your heart.
+
+Old Mother Bourhis had come at last to care for nothing but the
+increase of her hoards, and think nothing of any one who did not
+happen to pay heavy sums each month to the tax-gatherers. So she
+was angry when she saw Dénès, the labourer of Plover, chatting with
+her niece behind the gable. One morning, after thus surprising them,
+she cried to Tephany in step-mother tones,
+
+"Are not you ashamed to be always chattering thus with a young man
+who has nothing, when there are so many others who would gladly buy
+for you the silver ring?"
+
+"Dénès is a good workman and a thorough Christian," replied the
+damsel. "Some day he will be able to rent a farm where he may rear
+a family."
+
+"And so you would like to marry him?" interrupted the old woman. "God
+save us! I would sooner see you drowned in the well than married to
+that vagabond. No, no, it shall never be said that I brought up my
+own sister's child to be the wife of a man who can carry his whole
+fortune in his tobacco-pouch."
+
+"What matters fortune when we have good health, and can ask the
+Blessed Virgin to look down on our intentions?" replied Tephany gently.
+
+"What matters fortune!" replied the fermière, scandalised. "What! have
+you come to such a length as to despise the wealth that God has given
+us? May all the saints take pity on us! Since this is the case, you
+bold-faced thing, I forbid you ever to speak again to Dénès; and if
+I catch him at this farm again, it will be the worse for you both;
+and meanwhile go you down to the washing-place, and wash the linen,
+and spread it out to dry upon the hawthorn; for since you've had one
+ear turned towards the wind from Plover, every thing stands still at
+home, and your two arms are worth no more than the five fingers of
+a one-armed man."
+
+Tephany would have answered, but in vain. Mother Bourhis imperiously
+pointed out to her the bucket, the soap, and the beetle, and ordered
+her to set off that very instant.
+
+The girl obeyed, but her heart swelled with grief and resentment.
+
+"Old age is harder than the farm-door steps," thought she to herself;
+"yes, one hundred times harder, for the rain by frequent falling
+wears away the stones; but tears have no power to soften the will of
+old people. God knows that talking with Dénès was the only pleasure I
+had. If I am to see him no more, I might as well leave the world at
+once; and our good angel was always with us. Dénès has done nothing
+but teach me pretty songs, and talk about what we shall do when we
+are married, in a farm, he looking after the fields, and I managing
+the cattle."
+
+Thus talking to herself, Tephany had reached the douez. Whilst setting
+down her tub of linen upon one of the white lavatory stones, she
+became aware of an old woman, a stranger, sitting there, leaning her
+head upon a little scorched thorn-stick. Notwithstanding her vexation,
+Tephany saluted her.
+
+"Is my aunt [52] taking the air under the alders?" said she, moving
+her load farther off.
+
+"One must rest where one can, when one has the roof of heaven for a
+shelter," answered the old woman, in a trembling voice.
+
+"Are you, then, so desolate?" asked Tephany compassionately; "is
+there no relation left who can offer you a refuge at his fireside?"
+
+"Every one is long since dead," replied the stranger; "and I have no
+other family than all kind hearts."
+
+The maiden took the piece of rye-bread rubbed with dripping which
+Barbaik had given her in a bit of linen with her beetle.
+
+"Take this, poor aunt," said she, offering it to the beggar. "To-day,
+at least, you shall dine like a Christian on our good God's bread;
+only remember in your prayers my parents, who are dead."
+
+The old woman took the bread, then looked at Tephany.
+
+"Those who help others deserve help themselves," said she. "Your
+eyes are red, because Barbaik has forbidden you to speak to the lad
+from Plover; but he is a worthy youth, whose intentions are good,
+and I will give you the means of seeing him once every day."
+
+"You!" cried the girl, astonished that the beggar was so well informed.
+
+"Take this long copper-pin," replied the crone; "and every time you
+stick it in your dress, Mother Bourhis will be forced to leave the
+farm, and go to count her cabbages. All the time this pin remains
+where you stick it, you will be at liberty; and your aunt will not
+return until the pin is put back into this étui."
+
+With these words the beggar rose, nodded a farewell, and disappeared.
+
+Tephany was lost in astonishment. Evidently the old woman was no
+beggar, but a saint, or a singer of truth. [53]
+
+At any rate, the young girl treasured the pin carefully, well
+determined to try its power the next day. Towards the time, then,
+at which Dénès was accustomed to make his appearance, she set it in
+her collar. Barbaik instantly put on her wooden shoes, and walked
+off into the garden, where she set herself to count her cabbages;
+from the garden she went to the orchard, and from the orchard to the
+field, so that Tephany could talk with Dénès at her ease.
+
+It was the same the next day, and the next, through many weeks. As
+soon as the pin made its appearance from the étui, the good woman
+was off amongst her cabbages, always beginning to count once more
+how many little or big, embossed or curly cabbages [54] she had.
+
+Dénès at first appeared enchanted at this freedom, but by degrees he
+grew less eager to avail himself of it. He had taught Tephany all his
+songs; he had told her all his plans; now he was forced to consider
+what he could talk to her about, and make it up beforehand, like a
+preacher preparing his sermon. And more than that, he came later,
+and went earlier away; sometimes even, pretending cartage, weeding,
+or errands to the town detained him, he came not to the farm at all;
+and Tephany had to console herself with her pin.
+
+She understood that the love of her betrothed was cooling, and became
+more sorrowful than before.
+
+One day, after vainly waiting for the youth, she took her pitcher, and
+went all solitary to the fountain, her heart swelling with displeasure.
+
+When she reached it, she perceived the same old woman who had given
+her the magic pin. There she sat, near the spring; and watching
+Tephany as she advanced, she began with a little chuckling laugh,
+
+"Ah, ah! then the pretty girl is no longer satisfied to chatter with
+her humble servant any hour of the day."
+
+"Alas, to chat, I must be with him," replied Tephany mournfully;
+"and custom has made my company less agreeable to him. Oh, aunt,
+since you have given me the means of seeing him every day, you might
+give me at the same time wit enough to keep my hold upon him."
+
+"Is that what my daughter wants?" said the old woman. "In that case,
+here is a feather; let her but put it in her hair, and no one can
+resist her, for she will be as clever and as cunning as Master John
+[55] himself."
+
+Tephany, reddening with delight, carried off the feather; and just
+before Dénès' visit on the following day, she stuck it under her
+blue rozarès. [56] That very instant it appeared to her as if the
+sun rose in her mind; she found herself acquainted with what students
+spend ten years in learning, and much that even the very wisest know
+nothing of; for with the science of a man, she still preserved the
+malice of a woman. Dénès was of course astonished at her words; she
+talked in rhyme like the bazvalanes [57] of Cornouaille, she knew
+more songs than the mendicants from Scaër, and could tell all the
+stories current at the forges and the mills throughout the country.
+
+The young man came day after day, and Tephany found always something
+new to tell him. Dénès had never met man or woman with so much wit;
+but after enjoying it for a time, he began to be scared by it. Tephany
+had not been able to resist putting in her feather for others than him;
+her songs, her sayings, were repeated every where, and people said,
+
+"She is a mischievous creature; he who marries her is sure to be led
+like a bridled horse."
+
+The Plover lad repeated in his own mind the same predictions; and as
+he had always thought that he would rather hold than wear the bridle,
+he began to laugh with more constraint at Tephany's jests.
+
+One day, when he wanted to be off to a dance in a new threshing-floor,
+the maiden used her utmost efforts to retain him; but Dénès, who did
+not choose to be led, would not listen to her reasons, and repulsed
+her entreaties.
+
+"Ah, I see why you are so anxious to go to the new barn," said Tephany,
+with irritation; "you are going to see Aziliçz of Penenru there."
+
+Aziliçz was the handsomest girl in the whole canton; and, if her good
+friends told truth, she was the greatest flirt.
+
+"To tell the truth, Aziliçz will be there," said Dénès, who delighted
+in piquing the jealousy of his dearly-beloved; "and to see her any
+one would go a long round."
+
+"Go, then, where your heart draws you," said the wounded damsel.
+
+And she returned to the farm without hearing a word more he had to say.
+
+But seating herself, overwhelmed with sadness, on the broad
+hearth-stone, she gave herself up to earnest thought; and then flinging
+the wondrous feather from her, she exclaimed,
+
+"Of what use is wit and cleverness for maidens, since men rush towards
+beauty as the flies to sunshine! Ah, what I want, old aunt, is not
+to be the wisest, but the fairest on the earth."
+
+"Be thou also, then, the fairest," uttered an unexpected voice.
+
+Tephany turned round astonished, and saw at the door the old woman
+with her thorn-stick, who thus spoke:
+
+"Take this necklace, and so long as you shall wear it round your neck,
+you shall appear amongst all other women as the queen of the meadow
+amidst wild flowers."
+
+Tephany could not repress a cry of joy. She hastened to put on the
+necklace, rushed to her little mirror, and there stood dumb with
+admiration. Never had any girl been at once so fair and so rosy,
+so lovely to look upon.
+
+Anxious to judge instantly of the effect which her appearance would
+produce on Dénès, she decked herself out in her finest dress, her
+worsted stockings, and her buckled shoes, and took her way towards
+the new barn.
+
+But just as she reached the cross-road, she met a young lord in his
+coach, who, the instant he caught sight of her, desired the coachman
+to stop.
+
+"By my life," cried he, in admiration, "I had no idea there was such
+a beautiful creature as this in the country; and if it were to cost
+me my life, she must bear my name."
+
+But Tephany replied, "Go on, good sir, go on your way; I am but a
+poor peasant-girl, accustomed to winnow, milk, and mow."
+
+"But I will make a noble lady of you," cried the young lord; and
+taking her hand, he tried to lead her to his coach.
+
+The maiden drew back.
+
+"I will only be the bride of Dénès, the Plover labourer," said she,
+with resolution.
+
+The lord still insisted; but when he found that she went towards
+the ditch to fly away across the meadows, he desired his footmen to
+seize her, and put her by force into the coach, which then set off
+at full gallop.
+
+In about an hour's time they reached the castle, which was built of
+carved stone, and was covered with slate, like all noble mansions. The
+young lord ordered them to go and fetch a priest to perform the
+marriage ceremony; and as meanwhile Tephany would not hear a word he
+had to say, and kept trying to run away, he made them shut her up
+in a great hall closed by three doors well bolted, and desired his
+servants to guard her well. But by means of her pin Tephany sent them
+all into the garden to count cabbages; by her feather she discovered
+a fourth door concealed in the panneling, whereby she escaped; and
+then fervently committing herself to Providence, she scampered away
+through the woods like a hare who hears the dogs behind her.
+
+As long as she had any strength left, on she went, until the night
+began to close around her. Then, perceiving the turret of a convent,
+she went up to the little grated door, and ringing the bell, begged
+for a night's shelter; but on seeing her the portress shook her head.
+
+"Go away, go away," said she; "there is no place here for young girls
+so beautiful as you, who wander all alone at this hour of night along
+the roads."
+
+And closing the wicket, she went away without listening to another
+word.
+
+Forced to go further on, Tephany stopped at a farm-door, where there
+were several young men and women talking together, and made the same
+request as at the convent.
+
+The mistress of the house hesitated what answer to make; but all the
+young men, dazzled by Tephany's beauty, cried out each one that he
+would take her to his father's house, and every one endeavoured to
+outbid his neighbour in their offers. One said that he would take her
+in a wagon and three horses, lest she should be tired; another promised
+her the best bed; and a third declared that she should sit down at
+table with the family. At last, from promises they came to quarrelling,
+and from quarrelling to blows; until the women, frightened, began to
+abuse Tephany, telling her it was an infamous shame to come with her
+charms to put dissensions amongst men in that way. The poor girl,
+quite beside herself, tried to run away; but all the young men set
+off after her. Just then she all at once remembered her necklace,
+and taking it from her neck slipped it round that of a sow who was
+cropping the buttercups. In an instant the charm that drew the youths
+towards her died away, and they began to pursue the beast instead,
+which fled away in terror.
+
+Tephany still went on in spite of her fatigue, and came at last to her
+aunt's farm, worn out with weariness, but still more with grief. Her
+wishes had brought her so little satisfaction, that she passed many
+days without making another. However, Dénès' visits grew more and
+more uncertain; he had undertaken to clear a warren, and there he
+toiled from morning until night.
+
+When the young girl regretted seeing so little of him, he had always
+to reply that his labour was their sole resource; and that if people
+want to spend their time in talking together, they must needs have
+legacies or dowries.
+
+Then Tephany began to complain and to desire.
+
+"God pardon me," said she, in a low voice; "but what I ought to ask
+for is not liberty to see Dénès every day, for he soon gets tired
+of it; nor wit, for it scares him; nor beauty, for it brings upon me
+trouble and mistrust; but rather wealth, for then one can be master
+of oneself and others. Ah, if I dared to make yet one petition more
+of the old aunt, I would be wiser than I was before."
+
+"Be satisfied," said the voice of the old beggar, though Tephany
+perceived her not. "Feel in your right pocket, and you will find a
+little box; rub your eyes with the ointment it contains, and you will
+have a treasure in yourself."
+
+The young girl hastily felt in her pocket, found the box, opened
+it, and began to rub her eyes as she had been desired, when Barbaik
+Bourhis entered.
+
+She who, in spite of herself, had now for some time past consumed
+whole days in cabbage-counting, and who saw all the farm-work fallen
+into arrears, was only waiting an occasion for visiting her wrath upon
+somebody. Seeing her niece sitting down doing nothing, she clasped
+her hands and cried,
+
+"That's the way, then, that the work goes on whilst I am in the
+fields. Ah, I am surprised no longer that we are all going to ruin. Are
+you not ashamed, you wretch, to plunder food in this way from your
+kith and kin?"
+
+Tephany would have excused herself; but Barbaik's rage was like
+milk heating on a turf-fire--let but the first bubble rise, and all
+mounts upwards and boils over; from reproaches she came to threats,
+and from threats to a box on the ear.
+
+Tephany, who had borne every thing patiently till then, could no
+longer restrain her tears; but guess her astonishment when she
+perceived that every tear was a beautiful and shining fair round pearl.
+
+Mother Bourhis, who made the same discovery, uttered loud cries of
+admiration, and set herself to pick them up.
+
+Dénès, who came in at that instant, was no less surprised.
+
+"Pearls! real pearls!" he exclaimed, catching them.
+
+"It will make our fortune," said Barbaik, continuing to pick them
+up. "Ah, what fairy has bestowed this gift upon her? We must take
+good care lest it gets noised abroad, Dénès; I will give you a share,
+but only you. Go on, my girl, go on; you also shall be benefited by
+this opportunity."
+
+She held her apron, and Dénès his hat; the pearls were all he thought
+of, forgetful they were tears.
+
+Tephany, choking with emotion, would have escaped; but the old
+woman stopped her, reproaching her with wishing to defraud them,
+and saying all she could to make her cry the more. The young girl
+compelled herself with violent effort to control her sorrow, and to
+wipe her eyes.
+
+"It's all over already," cried Barbaik. "Ah, Blessed Virgin, can
+one be so weak-minded! If I had such a gift as that, I would no more
+think of stopping than the great fountain on the Green Road. Hadn't
+we better beat her a little, and try again?"
+
+"No," interrupted Dénès, "for fear we should exhaust her the first
+time. I will set forth this moment for the town, and there find out
+how much each pearl is worth."
+
+Barbaik and he went out together, reckoning the value as nearly
+as they could, and deciding beforehand how they should divide it,
+forgetting Tephany completely in the matter.
+
+As for her, she clasped her two hands upon her heart, and raised her
+eyes towards heaven; but her look was intercepted by the aged beggar,
+who, leaning on her staff in the duskiest corner of the hearth, was
+watching her with mocking eye. The maiden trembled; and seizing the
+pin, the feather, and the box of ointment given her by the crone,
+
+"Take back, take back," she cried, "your fatal gifts. Woe to all
+those who cannot be content with what they have received from God! He
+had gifted me according to His own wise appointment, and I madly
+was dissatisfied with my portion. Give others liberty, wit, beauty,
+and wealth. For me, I neither am, nor will be, other than the simple
+girl of former days, loving and serving her neighbours to the utmost
+of her power."
+
+"Well said, Tephany," cried the old woman. "Thou hast come out from
+the trial; but let it do thee good. The Almighty has sent me to
+bestow this lesson on thee; I am thy guardian angel. Now that thou
+hast learned this truth, thou wilt live more happily; for God has
+promised peace to hearts of good will."
+
+With these words the beggar changed into an angel glittering with
+light; and shedding through the farm a scent of violets and of incense,
+vanished like a flash of lightning.
+
+Tephany forgave Dénès his willingness to make merchandise of her
+tears. Become now more reasonable, she accepted happiness as we find
+it on this earth; and she was married to the lad of Plover, who proved
+through all his life a good husband and a first-rate workman.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PALACE OF THE PROUD KING.
+
+
+The children slumber sweetly in their curtained beds; the brown dog
+snores upon the broad hearth-stone; the cows chew the cud behind their
+screen of broom; and the fading fire-light quivers on the grandsire's
+old arm-chair.
+
+This is the time, dear friends, when we should make the sign of
+the cross, and murmur a prayer in secret for the souls of those
+that we have loved. Hark! midnight is striking from St. Michael's
+church,--midnight of Holy Pentecost.
+
+This is the hour when all true Christians lay down their heads upon
+their quiet pillows, content with that which God has given them,
+and sleep, lulled by the gentle breathing of their slumbering children.
+
+But as for Perik Skoarn, no little children had he. He was a daring
+young fellow, but as yet quite solitary. When he saw the gentry from
+the neighbourhood coming to Mass on Sundays, he envied them their
+handsome horses with the silver-plated bridles, their velvet mantles,
+and their embroidered silken hose. He longed to be as rich as they
+were, that he also might have a seat covered with red leather in the
+church, and be able to carry the fair farmers' daughters to the fair
+seated on his horse's crupper.
+
+This is the reason Perik walked upon Lew-Dréz, at the foot of
+St. Efflam's down, whilst all good Christians slept upon their beds,
+watched over by the Holy Virgin. Perik is a man hungering after
+greatness and luxury. The longings of his heart are countless, like
+the nests of the sea-swallows in the sandy cliffs.
+
+The waves sighed sadly in the dark horizon; the crabs fed silently
+upon the bodies of the drowned; the wind that whistled in the rocks
+of Roch-Ellas mimicked the call-cry of the smugglers of Lew-Dréz;
+but Skoarn still paced the shore.
+
+He looked upon the mountain, and recalled the words of the old beggar
+at Yar Cross. That old man knew all that had happened in these parts,
+when these our ancient oaks hung yet as acorns on their parent trees,
+and our oldest ravens still slumbered in the egg.
+
+Now the old beggar of Yar had told him, that here, where now stretch
+the downs of St. Efflam, a famous city formerly extended; its ships
+covered the wide ocean, and it was governed by a king, whose sceptre
+was a hazel-wand that fashioned every thing according to his wish.
+
+But the king and all his people were punished for their pride and
+iniquity; for one day, by God's command, the strand rose upwards
+like the bubbling of a boiling flood, and so engulfed the guilty
+city. But every year, upon the night of Pentecost, a passage opens
+through the mountain with the first stroke of twelve o'clock, and
+shows an entrance to the monarch's palace.
+
+The all-powerful hazel-wand may be discovered hanging in the furthest
+hall of this magnificent abode; but those who seek it must make haste,
+for as the final stroke of midnight sounds upon the ear, the passage
+closes once again, to open no more until the following Pentecost.
+
+Skoarn had well remembered all the tale of the old beggar at the
+Cross of Yar, and for this reason he treads at such unwonted hour
+the sands of the Lew-Dréz.
+
+At length a sharp stroke came dashing from the belfrey of
+St. Michael. Skoarn trembled; he looked eagerly, by the pale starlight,
+at the granite mass which heads the mountain, and beheld it slowly
+open, like the jaws of an awakening dragon.
+
+Skoarn rushed into the passage, which at first seemed dark, but
+gradually gleamed with a blue light, like that which hovers nightly
+over church-yard graves; and thus he found his way into a mighty
+palace, the marble front of which was sculptured like the church of
+Folgoat or of Quimper-on-the-Odet.
+
+The first hall he entered was all full of chests heaped, like the
+corn-bins after harvest, with the purest silver; but Perik Skoarn
+wanted more than silver, and he passed it through. The clock sounded
+the sixth stroke of midnight.
+
+He found a second hall, set round with coffers crammed with gold, as
+stable-racks are crammed with blossoming grass in the sweet month of
+June. But Skoarn wanted something better still, and he went on. The
+seventh stroke sounded.
+
+The third hall to which he came had baskets flowing over with white
+pearls, like milk in the broad dairy-pans of Cornouaille in the early
+spring. Skoarn would gladly have had some of these; but he heard the
+eighth stroke sounding, and he hurried on.
+
+The fourth hall was all glittering with diamond caskets, shedding
+brighter light than all the furzy piles upon the hillocks of Douron
+on St. John's eve. Skoarn was dazzled, and hesitated for a moment;
+then rushed into the last hall as he heard the church-clock for the
+ninth time.
+
+But there he stood still suddenly with wondering admiration. In
+front of the hazel-wand, which hung in full sight at the further end,
+were ranged a hundred maidens most fair to look upon; they held in
+one hand wreaths of the green oak, and in the other cups of glowing
+wine. Skoarn had resisted silver, gold, pearls, and diamonds; but he
+was overpowered by the vision of these beauteous maidens, and he stood
+still to gaze at them, and at the sparkling cups they presented to him.
+
+The tenth stroke sounded, and he heard it not; the eleventh, and he
+still stood motionless. At last, just as he was about to hold out
+his hand to receive the cup from the maiden next to him, the twelfth
+was heard, as mournful as the great gun of a ship at wreck among
+the breakers.
+
+Then Perik, terrified, would fain have turned, but time for him was
+over. The doors all closed, the hundred fair young girls were now so
+many granite statues, and all was once more folded up in darkness.
+
+This is the way our fathers tell the tale of Skoarn. You see now what
+will happen to a youth who suffers his heart too readily to open at
+seduction's voice. May all the young take warning by his fate. It
+is well to walk sometimes with eyes cast downwards to the earth,
+for fear we should be led into the paths of evil and sin.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PIPER.
+
+
+The sea-breeze blew from the shore of the Black Water, and the stars
+were rising. The young maidens had gone homewards to the little farms,
+carrying on their fingers the metal rings their friends had bought
+them at the fair. The youths went across the common, singing their
+songs. At last their sonorous voices could no more be heard; the
+light dresses of the damsels were no longer to be seen; it was night.
+
+Nevertheless, here was Lao, with a merry company, at the entrance of
+the lonely heath,--Lao, the celebrated piper, come expressly from the
+mountains to lead the dance at the fair of Armor. His face was as red
+as a March moon, his black locks floated as they would upon the wind,
+and he held under his arm the pipe whose magic sounds had even set
+in motion a number of old women in their sabots. When they came to
+the cross-road of the Warning, where there rises the granite cross
+all overgrown with moss, the women stopped, and said,
+
+"Let us take the pathway leading towards the sea."
+
+Master Lao pointed out the belfry-tower of Plougean over the hill,
+and said,
+
+"That is the point we are making for; why not go across the heath?"
+
+The women answered,
+
+"Because there rises a city of Korigans, Lao, in the middle of that
+heath; and one must be pure from sin to pass it without danger."
+
+But Lao laughed aloud.
+
+"By heaven!" said he, "I have travelled by night-time all these roads,
+yet I have never seen your little black men counting their money by
+moonlight, as they tell us at the chimney-corner. Show me the road
+leading to the Korigan city, and I will go and sing to them the days
+of the week." [58]
+
+But the women all exclaimed,
+
+"Don't tempt God, Lao. God has put some things in this world of which
+it is better to be ignorant, and others which we ought to fear. Leave
+the Korigans alone to dance about their granite dwellings."
+
+"To dance!" cried Lao. "Then the Korigans have pipers too?"
+
+"They have the whistling of the wind across the heath, and the singing
+of the night-bird."
+
+"Well, then," said the mountaineer, "I am determined that to-day at
+least they shall have Christian music. I will go across the common
+playing some of my best Cornouaille airs."
+
+So saying, he put his pipe to his lips, and striking up a cheerful
+strain, he set off boldly on the little footway that stretched like
+a white line across the gloomy heath.
+
+The women, terrified, made the sign of the cross, and hurried down
+the hill.
+
+But Lao walked straight on without fear, and played meanwhile upon
+his pipes. As he advanced, his heart grew bolder, his breath more
+powerful, and the music louder. Already had he crossed just half the
+common, when he saw the Menhir rising like a phantom in the night,
+and further on, the dwellings of the Korigans.
+
+Then he seemed to hear an ever-rising murmur. At first it was like
+the trickling of a rill, then like the rushing of a river, and then
+the roaring of the sea; and different sounds were mingled in this
+roar,--sometimes like stifled laughs, then furious hissing, the
+mutterings of low voices, and the rush of steps upon the withered
+grass.
+
+Lao began to breathe less freely, and his restless eyes glanced right
+and left over the common. It was as if the tufts of heath were moving,
+all seemed alive and whirling in the gloom, all took the form of
+hideous dwarfs, and voices were distinctly heard. Suddenly the moon
+rose, and Lao cried aloud.
+
+To left, to right, behind, before, every where, far as the eye could
+reach, the common was alive with running Korigans. Lao, bewildered,
+drew back to the Menhir, against which he leant; but the Korigans
+saw him, and came round with cries like those of grasshoppers.
+
+"It is the famous piper of Cornouaille come hither to play for the
+Korigans."
+
+Lao made the sign of the cross; but all the little men surrounded him,
+and shrieked,
+
+"Thou belongest to us, Lao. Pipe then, thou famous piper, and lead
+the dance of the Korigans."
+
+Lao in vain resisted, some magic power mastered him; he felt the pipe
+approach his lips; he played, he danced, in spite of himself. The
+Korigans surrounded him with circling bands, and every time he would
+have paused they cried in chorus,
+
+"Pipe, famous piper, pipe, and lead the dance of the Korigans."
+
+Lao went on thus the whole night; but as the stars grew paler in
+the sky, the music of his pipes waxed fainter, his feet had greater
+difficulty in moving from the ground. At last the dawn of day spread
+palely in the east, the cocks were heard crowing in the distant farms,
+and the Korigans disappeared.
+
+Then the mountain piper sunk down breathless at the foot of the
+Menhir. The mouth-piece of his pipes fell from his shrivelled lips,
+his arms dropped upon his knees, his head upon his breast, to rise
+no more; and voices murmured in the air,
+
+"Sleep, famous piper! thou hast led the dance of the Korigans; thou
+shalt never lead the dance for Christians more."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WHITE INN.
+
+
+Once upon a time there was an inn at Ponthou, known, from its
+appearance, as the White Inn. The people who kept it were both good and
+honest. They were known to be punctual at their Easter duties, and no
+one ever thought of counting money after them. It was at the White Inn
+that travellers would stop to sleep; and horses knew the place so well,
+that they would draw up of their own accord before the stable-door.
+
+The headsman of the harvest [59] had brought in short gloomy days;
+and one evening, as Floc'h the landlord was standing at the White-Inn
+door, a traveller, evidently of importance, and mounted on a splendid
+foreign steed, reined up his horse, and lifting his hand to his hat,
+said courteously,
+
+"I want a supper and a bed-chamber."
+
+Floc'h drew first his pipe from his mouth, and then his hat from his
+head, and answered,
+
+"God bless you, sir, a supper you shall have; but as to a room, we
+cannot give it you; for we have now above, six muleteers on their
+way home to Redon, who have taken all the beds of the White Inn."
+
+The traveller then said,
+
+"For God's sake, my good man, contrive for me to sleep somewhere. The
+very dogs have a kennel, and it is not fitting that Christians be
+without a bed in such weather as this."
+
+"Sir stranger," said the host remorsefully, "I can only tell you that
+the inn is full, and we have no place for you but the red room."
+
+"Well, give me that," replied the stranger.
+
+But the landlord rubbed his forehead and looked grieved; for he could
+not let the traveller sleep in the red chamber.
+
+"Since I have been at the White Inn," said he at last, "only two men
+have ever occupied that room; and on the morrow, black as had been
+their hair the night before, they rose with it snow-white."
+
+The traveller looked full at the landlord.
+
+"Then your house is haunted by the spirits from another world?" asked
+he.
+
+"It is," faltered the landlord.
+
+"Then God and the Blessed Virgin be merciful to me. I will sleep there;
+but make me a fire, and warm my bed; for I am cold."
+
+The landlord did as he was ordered.
+
+When the traveller had finished supper, he bade good night to all
+at table, and went up to the red chamber. The landlord and his wife
+trembled, and began to pray.
+
+The stranger having reached his room began to look about him.
+
+It was a large flame-coloured chamber, with great shining stains
+upon the walls, that might well have been taken for the marks of
+fresh-spilt blood. At the further end there stood a four-post bed,
+surrounded by heavy curtains. The rest of the room was empty; and the
+mournful whistling of the wind came down the chimney and the corridors,
+and sounded like the cries of souls beseeching prayers.
+
+The traveller, kneeling down, prayed silently to God, then fearlessly
+got into bed, and soon slept soundly.
+
+But, lo, at the very moment when the hour of midnight sounded from
+a distant church-tower, he suddenly awoke, heard the curtain-rings
+sliding on their iron poles, and beheld them open at his right hand.
+
+He was going to get out of bed; but his feet striking against something
+cold, he recoiled in terror.
+
+There stood before him a coffin, with four lighted candles at the
+corners, and covered with a great black pall that glittered as
+with tears.
+
+The stranger turned to try the other side of his bed; but the coffin
+instantly changed places, and barred his way out as before.
+
+Five times he made an effort to escape, and every time the bier was
+there beneath his feet, with the candles and the funeral pall.
+
+The traveller then knew it was a ghost, who had some boon to ask;
+and kneeling up in bed, he made the holy sign, and spoke:
+
+"Who art thou, departed one? Speak. A Christian listens to thee."
+
+A voice answered from the coffin,
+
+"I am a traveller murdered here by those who kept this inn before
+its present owner. I died unprepared, and now I suffer in Purgatory."
+
+"What needs there, suffering soul, to give thee rest?"
+
+"I want six Masses said at the church of our Lady of Folgoat, and
+also a pilgrimage made for my intention by some Christian to our Lady
+of Rumengol."
+
+No sooner had these words been uttered than the lights went out,
+the curtains closed, and all was silence.
+
+The stranger spent the night in prayer.
+
+The next morning he told the landlord every thing, and said,
+
+"My good friend, I am M. de Rohan, of family as noble as the noblest
+now in Brittany. I will go and make the pilgrimage to Rumengol, and I
+will see that the six Masses shall be said. Trouble yourself no more;
+for this suffering soul shall rest in peace."
+
+Within the short space of one month the red room had lost its crimson
+hue, and become white and cheerful as the others. No sound was heard
+there but the swallows twittering in the chimney, and nothing could
+be seen but a fair white bed, a crucifix, and a vessel of holy water.
+
+The traveller had kept his word.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PERONNIK THE IDIOT. [60]
+
+
+You cannot surely have failed, some time or other, to meet by chance
+some of those poor idiots, or innocents, whose utmost wisdom scarcely
+serves to lead them as beggars from door to door in quest of daily
+bread. One might almost fancy they were straying calves who have lost
+their way home. They stare all round with open eyes and mouth, as if in
+search of somewhat; but, alas, that they seek is not plentiful enough
+in these parts to be found upon the highways--for it is common sense.
+
+Peronnik was one of these poor idiots, to whom the charity of strangers
+had been in place of father or of mother. He wandered ever onwards
+unconscious whither; when he was thirsty, he drank from wayside
+springs; when hungry, he begged stale crusts from the women he saw
+standing at their doors; and when in need of sleep, he looked out for
+a heap of straw, and hollowed himself out a nest in it like a lizard.
+
+As to any knowledge of a trade, Peronnik had, indeed, never learnt one;
+but for all that he was skilful enough in many matters: he could go
+on eating as long as you desired him to do so; he could outsleep any
+one for any length of time; and he could imitate with his tongue the
+song of larks. There is many a one now in these parts who cannot do
+so much as this.
+
+At the time of which I am telling you (that is, many a hundred years
+ago and more), the land of White-Wheat was not altogether what you see
+it nowadays. Since then many a gentleman has devoured his inheritance,
+and cut up his forests into wooden shoes. Thus the forest of Paimpont
+extended over more than twenty parishes; some say it even crossed the
+river, and went as far as Elven. However that may be, Peronnik came one
+day to a farm built upon the border of the wood; and as the Benedicite
+bell had long since rung in his stomach, he drew near to ask for food.
+
+The farmer's wife happened at that moment to be kneeling down on
+the door-sill to scrape the soup-bowl with her flint-stone; [61] but
+when she heard the idiot's voice asking for food in the name of God,
+she stopped and held the kettle towards him.
+
+"Here," she cried, "poor fellow, eat these scrapings, and say an
+'Our Father' for our pigs, that nothing on earth will fatten."
+
+Peronnik seated himself on the ground, put the kettle between his
+knees, and began to scrape it with his nails; but it was little
+enough he could succeed in finding, for all the spoons in the house
+had already done their duty upon it. However, he licked his fingers,
+and made an audible grunt of satisfaction, as if he had never tasted
+any thing better.
+
+"It is millet-flour," said he, in a low voice,--"millet-flour moistened
+with the black cow's milk, [62] and by the best cook in the whole
+Low Country."
+
+The farmer's wife, who was going by, turned round delighted.
+
+"Poor innocent," said she, "there is little enough of it left; but
+I will add a scrap of rye-bread."
+
+And she brought the lad the first cutting of a round loaf just out
+of the oven. Peronnik bit into it like a wolf into a lamb's leg, and
+declared that it must have been kneaded by the baker to his lordship
+the Bishop of Vannes.
+
+The flattered peasant replied, that was nothing to the taste of
+it when spread with fresh-churned butter; and to prove her words,
+she brought him some in a little covered saucer. After taking this,
+the idiot declared that this was living butter, not to be excelled by
+butter of the White Week itself; [63] and to give greater force to his
+words, he poured over his crust all that the saucer contained. But the
+satisfaction of the farmer's wife prevented her from noticing this;
+and she added to what she had already given him a lump of dripping
+left from the Sunday soup.
+
+Peronnik praised every mouthful more and more, and swallowed every
+thing as if it had been water from a spring; for it was very long
+since he had made so good a meal.
+
+The farmer's wife went and came, watching him as he ate, and adding
+from time to time sundry scraps, which he took, making each time the
+sign of the cross.
+
+Whilst thus employed in recruiting himself, behold a knight appeared
+at the house-door, and addressing himself to the woman, asked her
+which was the road to Kerglas castle.
+
+"Heavens! good gentleman," exclaimed the farmer's wife, "are you
+going there?"
+
+"Yes," replied the warrior; "and I have come from a land so distant
+for this purpose, that I have been travelling night and day these
+three months to get so far on my way."
+
+"And what are you come to seek at Kerglas?" asked the Breton woman.
+
+"I am come in quest of the golden basin and the diamond lance."
+
+"These two are, then, very valuable things?" asked Peronnik.
+
+"They are of more value than all the crowns on earth," replied the
+stranger; "for not only will the golden basin produce instantaneously
+all the dainties and the wealth one can desire, but it suffices to
+drink therefrom to be healed of every malady; and the dead themselves
+are raised to life by touching it with their lips. As to the diamond
+lance, it kills and overthrows all that it touches."
+
+"And to whom do this diamond lance and golden basin belong?" asked
+Peronnik, bewildered.
+
+"To a magician called Rogéar, who lives in the castle of Kerglas,"
+answered the farmer's wife. "He is to be seen any day near the forest
+pathway, riding along upon his black mare followed by a colt of three
+months' old; but no one dares to attack him, for he holds the fearful
+lance in his hand."
+
+"Yes," replied the stranger; "but the command of God forbids him to
+make use of it within the castle of Kerglas. So soon as he arrives
+there, the lance and the basin are deposited at the bottom of a dark
+cave, which no key will open; therefore, it is in that place I propose
+to attack the magician."
+
+"Alas, you will never succeed, my good sir," replied the peasant
+woman. "More than a hundred gentlemen have already attempted it;
+but not one amongst them has returned."
+
+"I know that, my good woman," answered the knight; "but they had not
+been instructed as I have by the Hermit of Blavet."
+
+"And what did the Hermit tell you?" asked Peronnik.
+
+"He warned me of all that I shall have to do," replied the
+stranger. "First of all, I shall have to cross an enchanted wood,
+wherein every kind of magic will be put in force to terrify and
+bewilder me from my way. The greater number of my predecessors have
+lost themselves, and there died of cold, hunger, or fatigue."
+
+"And if you succeed in crossing it?" said the idiot.
+
+"If I get safely through it," continued the gentleman, "I shall
+meet a Korigan armed with a fiery sword, which lays all it touches
+in ashes. This Korigan keeps watch beside an apple-tree, from which
+it is necessary that I should gather one apple."
+
+"And then?" said Peronnik.
+
+"Then I shall discover the laughing flower, and this is guarded by
+a lion whose mane is made of vipers. This flower I must also gather;
+after which I must cross the lake of dragons to fight the black man,
+who flings an iron bowl that ever hits its mark and returns to its
+master of its own accord. Then I shall enter on the valley of delights,
+where every thing that can tempt and stay the feet of a Christian
+will be arrayed before me, and shall reach a river with one single
+ford. There I shall meet a lady clad in sable whom I shall take upon
+my horse's crupper, and she will tell me all that remains to be done."
+
+The farmer's wife did her best to persuade the stranger that it
+would be impossible for him to go through so many trials; but he
+replied that women were incapable of judging in so weighty a matter;
+and after ascertaining correctly the forest entrance, he set off at
+full gallop, and was soon lost among the trees.
+
+The farmer's wife heaved a deep sigh, declaring that here was another
+soul going before our Lord for judgment; then giving some more crusts
+to Peronnik, she bade him go on his way.
+
+He was about to follow her advice, when the farmer came in from the
+fields. He had just been turning off the lad who looked after his
+cows at the wood-side, and was revolving in his mind how his place
+should be supplied.
+
+The sight of the idiot was to him as a ray of light; he thought he
+had happened on the very thing he sought, and after putting a few
+questions to Peronnik, he asked him bluntly if he would stay at the
+farm to look after the cattle. Peronnik would have preferred having
+no one but himself to look after, for no one had a greater aptitude
+than he for doing nothing; but the taste of the lard, the fresh butter,
+the rye-bread, and the millet-flour hung still sweet upon his lips; so
+he suffered himself to be tempted, and accepted the farmer's proposal.
+
+The good man forthwith conducted him to the edge of the forest, counted
+aloud all the cows, not forgetting the heifers, cut him a hazel-switch
+to drive them with, and bade him bring them safely home at set of sun.
+
+Behold Peronnik now established as a keeper of cattle, watching over
+them to see they did no mischief, and running from the black to the
+red, and from the red to the white, to keep them from straying out
+of the appointed boundary.
+
+Now whilst he was thus running from side to side, he heard suddenly the
+sound of horse's hoofs, and saw in one of the forest-paths the giant
+Rogéar seated on his mare, followed by her three-months' colt. He
+carried from his neck the golden basin, and in his hand the diamond
+lance, which glittered like flame. Peronnik, terrified, hid himself
+behind a bush; the giant passed close by him and went on his way. As
+soon as he was gone by, the idiot came out of his hiding-place, and
+looked down in the direction he had taken, but without being able to
+see which path he had followed.
+
+Well, armed knights came on unceasingly in quest of the castle of
+Kerglas, and not one was ever seen to return. The giant, on the
+contrary, took his airing every day as usual. The idiot, who had at
+length grown bolder, no longer thought of concealing himself when he
+passed, but looked after him as long as he was in sight with envious
+eyes; for the desire of possessing the golden basin and the diamond
+lance grew stronger every day within his heart. But these things,
+alas, were more easily desired than obtained.
+
+One day, when Peronnik was all alone in the pasture-land as usual,
+he saw a man with a white beard pausing at the entrance of the
+forest-path. The idiot took him for some fresh adventurer, and inquired
+if he did not seek the road to Kerglas.
+
+"I seek it not, since I already know it," replied the stranger.
+
+"You have been there, and the magician has not killed you?" exclaimed
+the idiot.
+
+"Because he has nothing to fear from me," replied the white-bearded
+old man. "I am called the sorcerer Bryak, and am Rogéar's elder
+brother. When I wish to pay him a visit I come here, and as, in spite
+of all my power, I cannot cross the enchanted wood without losing my
+way, I call the black colt to carry me."
+
+With these words, he traced three circles with his finger in the
+dust, repeated in a low tone such words as demons teach to sorcerers,
+and then cried,
+
+
+   "Colt, wild, unbroken, and with footstep free,--
+    Colt, I am here; come quick, I wait for thee."
+
+
+The little horse speedily made his appearance. Bryak put him on a
+halter, shackled his feet, and then mounting on his back, allowed
+him to return into the forest.
+
+Peronnik said nothing of this adventure to any one; but he now
+understood that the first step towards visiting Kerglas was to secure
+the colt that knew the way. Unfortunately he knew neither how to trace
+the three circles, nor to pronounce the magic words necessary for the
+colt to hear the summons. Some other method, therefore, must be hit
+upon for making himself master of it, and, when once it was captured,
+of gathering the apple, plucking the laughing flower, escaping the
+black man's bowl, and of crossing the valley of delights.
+
+Peronnik thought it all over for a long time, and at last he fancied
+himself able to succeed. Those who are strong go forth clad in their
+strength to meet danger, and too often perish in it; but the weak
+compass their ends sideways. Having no hope of braving the giant,
+the idiot resolved to try craft and cunning. As to difficulties,
+he suffered them not to scare him: he knew that medlars are hard as
+flint-stones when first gathered, and that a little straw and much
+patience softens them at length.
+
+So he made all his preparations against the time when the giant usually
+appeared in the forest-path. First he made a halter and a horse-shackle
+of black hemp; a springe for taking woodcocks, moistening the hairs of
+it in holy water; a cloth-bag full of birdlime and lark's feathers;
+a rosary, an elder-whistle, and a bit of crust rubbed with rancid
+lard. This done, he crumbled the bread given him for breakfast along
+the pathway in which Rogéar, his mare, and three months' colt would
+shortly pass.
+
+They all three appeared at the usual hour, and crossed the pasture
+as on other days; but the colt, which was walking with hanging head,
+snuffing the ground, smelt out the crumbs of bread, and stopped to eat
+them, so that it was soon left alone out of the giant's sight. Then
+Peronnik drew gently near, threw his halter over it, fastened the
+shackle on two of its feet, jumped upon its back, and left it free
+to follow its own course, certain that the colt, which knew its way,
+would carry him to the castle of Kerglas.
+
+And so it came to pass; for the young horse took unhesitatingly one of
+the wildest paths, and went on as rapidly as the shackle would permit.
+
+Peronnik trembled like a leaf; for all the witchery of the forest
+was at work to scare him. One moment it seemed as if a bottomless pit
+yawned suddenly before his steed; the next all the trees appeared on
+fire, and he found himself surrounded by flames; often whilst in the
+act of crossing a brook, it became as a torrent, and threatened to
+carry him away; at other times, whilst following a little footway
+beneath a gentle slope, he saw huge rocks on the point of rolling
+down and crushing him to pieces.
+
+In vain he assured himself these were but magical delusions, he felt
+his very marrow grow cold with dread. At last he resolutely pulled
+his hat down over his eyes, and let the colt carry him blindly onwards.
+
+Thus they both came safely to a plain where all enchantment ceased,
+and Peronnik pushed up his cap and looked about him.
+
+It was a barren spot, and gloomier than a cemetery. Here and there
+might be seen the skeletons of gentlemen who had come in quest of
+Kerglas Castle. There they lay, stretched beside their horses, and
+the gray wolves still gnawing at their bones.
+
+At length the idiot entered a meadow entirely overshadowed by one
+single apple-tree; and this was so heavily laden with fruit, that the
+branches hung to the ground. Before this tree the Korigan kept watch,
+grasping in his hand the fiery sword which would lay all it touched
+in ashes.
+
+At sight of Peronnik, he uttered a cry like that of a wild bird,
+and raised his weapon; but, without betraying any emotion, the lad
+simply touched his hat politely, and said,
+
+"Don't disturb yourself, my little prince; I am only passing by on
+my way to Kerglas, according to an appointment the Lord Rogéar has
+made with me."
+
+"With you?" replied the dwarf; "and who, then, may you be?"
+
+"I am our master's new servant," said the idiot; "you know, the one
+he is expecting."
+
+"I know nothing of it," replied the dwarf; "and you look to me
+uncommonly like a cheat."
+
+"Excuse me," returned Peronnik, "such is by no means my profession;
+I am only a catcher and trainer of birds. But, for God's sake, don't
+keep me now; for his lordship, the magician, is expecting me this
+very moment; and has even lent me his own colt, as you see, that I
+may the sooner reach the castle."
+
+The Korigan saw, in fact, that Peronnik rode the magician's young
+horse, and began to consider whether he might not really be speaking
+truth. Besides, the idiot had so simple an air, that it was not
+possible to suspect him of inventing such a story. However, he still
+felt mistrust; and asked what need the magician had of a bird-catcher?
+
+"The greatest need, it seems," said Peronnik; "for, according to his
+account, all that ripens, whether seed or fruit, in the garden at
+Kerglas, is just now eaten up by birds."
+
+"And what can you do to hinder them?" asked the dwarf.
+
+Peronnik showed the little snare which he had manufactured, and
+declared that no bird would be able to escape it.
+
+"That is just what I will make sure of," said the Korigan. "My
+apple-tree is ravaged just as much by the blackbirds and thrushes. Set
+your snare; and if you can catch them, I will let you pass."
+
+To this Peronnik agreed; he fastened his colt to a bush, and going up
+to the apple-tree, fixed therein one end of the snare, calling to the
+Korigan to hold the other whilst he got the skewers ready. He did as
+the idiot requested; and Peronnik hastily drawing the running noose,
+the dwarf found himself caught like a bird.
+
+He uttered a cry of rage, and struggled to get free; but the springe,
+having been well steeped in holy water, bade defiance to all his
+efforts.
+
+The idiot had time enough to run to the tree, pluck an apple from it,
+and remount his colt, which continued its onward course.
+
+And so they came out of the plain; and behold, there lay a thicket
+before them, formed of the very loveliest plants. There were to be seen
+roses of every hue, Spanish brooms, rose-coloured honeysuckles, and,
+towering above all, the mysterious laughing flower; but round about
+the thicket stalked a lion, with a mane of vipers, rolling his eyes,
+and with his teeth grinding like a couple of new mill-stones.
+
+Peronnik stopped, and bowed over and over again; for he knew that in
+the presence of the powerful a hat is more serviceable in the hand
+than on the head. He wished all sorts of prosperities to the lion and
+his family; and requested to know if he was without mistake upon the
+road to Kerglas.
+
+"And what are you going to do at Kerglas?" cried the ferocious beast
+with a terrible air.
+
+"May it please your worship," replied the idiot timidly, "I am in
+the service of a lady who is a great friend of Lord Rogéar, and she
+has sent him something as a present to make a lark-pasty of."
+
+"Larks!" repeated the lion, licking his moustache; "it is an age
+since I have tasted them. How many have you got?"
+
+"This bagful, your lordship," replied Peronnik, showing the cloth-bag
+which he had stuffed with feathers and birdlime.
+
+And in order to verify his words, he began to counterfeit the warbling
+of larks.
+
+This song aggravated the lion's appetite.
+
+"Let me see," said he, drawing near; "show me your birds; I should
+like to know if they are large enough to be served up at our master's
+table."
+
+"I desire nothing so much," replied the idiot; "but if I open the bag,
+I am afraid they will fly away."
+
+"Half open it, just to let me peep in," said the greedy monster.
+
+This desire fulfilled Peronnik's highest hopes; he offered the bag to
+the lion, who poked in his head to seize the larks, and found himself
+smothered in feathers and birdlime. The idiot hastily drew the strings
+of the bag tight round his neck, making the sign of the cross over
+the knot, to keep it inviolable; then, rushing to the laughing flower,
+he gathered it, and set off as fast as the colt could go.
+
+But it was not long before he came to the dragons' lake, which he
+must needs cross by swimming; and scarcely had he plunged in, when
+they came towards him from every side to devour him.
+
+This time Peronnik troubled not himself to pull off his hat, but
+he began to throw out to them the beads of his rosary, as one would
+scatter black wheat to ducks; and at every bead swallowed one of the
+dragons turned over on its back and expired; so that he at length
+reached the opposite shore unharmed.
+
+The valley guarded by the black man had now to be crossed. Peronnik
+soon perceived him, chained by one foot to the rock, and holding
+in his hand an iron bowl, which ever returned, of its own accord,
+so soon as it had struck the appointed mark. He had six eyes, ranged
+round his head, which generally took turns in keeping watch; but at
+this moment it so chanced that they were every one open. Peronnik,
+knowing that if seen he should be struck by the iron bowl before he
+had the opportunity of speaking a word, resolved to creep along the
+brushwood. And by this means, hiding himself carefully behind the
+bushes, he soon found himself within a few steps of the black man,
+who had just sat down, and closed two of his eyes in repose. Peronnik,
+guessing that he was sleepy, began to chant in a drowsy voice the
+beginning of the High Mass. The black man at first, taken by surprise,
+started, and raised his head; but, as the murmur took effect upon him,
+a third eye closed. Peronnik then went on to intone the Kyrie eleison,
+in the tone of one possessed by the sleepy demon. [64] The black man
+closed a fourth eye, and half the fifth. Peronnik then began Vespers;
+but before he had reached the Magnificat, the black man slept soundly.
+
+Then the youth, taking the colt by the bridle, led it softly over
+mossy places; and so, passing close by the slumbering guardian,
+he came into the valley of delights.
+
+This was the most-to-be-dreaded place of all; for it was no
+longer a question of avoiding positive danger, but of fleeing from
+temptation. Peronnik called all the saints of Brittany to his aid.
+
+The valley through which he was now passing bore every appearance of
+a garden richly filled with fruits, with flowers, and with fountains;
+but the fountains were of wines and delicious drinks, the flowers
+sang with voices as sweet as those of cherubim in Paradise, and
+the fruits came of their own accord and offered themselves to the
+hand. Then at every turning of the path Peronnik beheld huge tables,
+spread as for a king, could scent the tempting odour of pastry drawn
+fresh from the oven, and see the valets apparently expecting him;
+whilst further off were beautiful maidens coming to dance upon the
+turf, who called him by his name to come and lead the ball.
+
+In vain the idiot made the sign of the cross, insensibly he slackened
+the pace of his colt, involuntarily he raised his face to snuff up
+the delicious odour of the smoking dishes, and to gaze more fixedly
+upon the lovely maidens; he would possibly have stopped altogether,
+and there would have been an end of him, if the recollection of the
+golden basin and the diamond lance had not all at once crossed his
+mind. Then he instantly began to blow his elder-whistle, that he
+might hear no more those soft appeals; to eat his bread well rubbed
+with rancid dripping, to deaden the odour of the dainty meats; and
+to stare fixedly on his horse's ears, that the lovely dancers might
+no more attract his eyes.
+
+And so he came to the end of the garden quite safely, and caught sight
+at last of Kerglas Castle. But the river of which he had been told
+still lay between it and him, and he knew that this river could only
+be forded in one place. Happily the colt was familiar with this ford,
+and prepared to enter at the right spot.
+
+Then Peronnik looked around him in quest of the lady who was to be
+his guide to the castle; and soon perceived her seated on a rock,
+clad in black satin, and her countenance as yellow as a Moor's.
+
+The idiot pulled off his hat, and asked if it was her pleasure to
+cross the river.
+
+"I expected thee for that very purpose," replied the lady; "draw near,
+that I may seat myself behind thee."
+
+Peronnik approached, took her on his horse's crupper, and began to
+cross the ford. He had almost reached the middle of it, when the lady
+said to him,
+
+"Knowest thou who I am, poor innocent?"
+
+"I beg your pardon," replied Peronnik, "but from your dress I clearly
+see that you are a noble and powerful lady."
+
+"As to noble, I ought to be," replied the lady, "for I can trace
+back my origin to the first sin; and powerful I certainly am, for
+all nations give way before me."
+
+"Then what is your name, may it please you, madam?" asked Peronnik.
+
+"I am called the Plague," replied the yellow woman.
+
+The idiot made a spring as if he would have thrown himself from his
+horse into the water; but the Plague said to him,
+
+"Rest easy, poor innocent, thou hast nothing to fear from me; on the
+contrary, I can be of service to thee."
+
+"Is it possible that you will be so benevolent, Madam Plague?" said
+Peronnik, taking his hat off, this time for good; "by the by, I now
+remember that it is you who are to teach me how to rid myself of the
+magician Rogéar."
+
+"The magician must die," said the yellow lady.
+
+"I should like nothing better," replied Peronnik; "but he is immortal."
+
+"Listen, and try to understand," said the Plague. "The apple-tree
+guarded by the Korigan is a slip from the tree of good and evil, set
+in the earthly Paradise by God Himself. Its fruit, like that which was
+eaten by Adam and Eve, renders immortals susceptible of death. Try,
+then, to induce the magician to taste the apple, and from that moment
+he need only be touched by me to sink in death."
+
+"I will try," said Peronnik; "but even if I succeed, how can I obtain
+the golden basin and the diamond lance, since they lie hidden in a
+gloomy cave, which cannot be opened by any key yet forged?"
+
+"The laughing flower will open every door," replied the Plague,
+"and can illuminate the darkest night."
+
+As she spoke these words they reached the further bank of the river,
+and the idiot went onwards to the castle.
+
+Now there was before the entrance-hall a huge canopy, like that which
+is carried over his lordship the Bishop of Vannes at the processions
+of the Fête Dieu. Beneath this sat the giant, sheltered from the heat
+of the sun, his legs crossed, like a proprietor who has gathered in
+his harvest, and smoking a tobacco-pipe of virgin gold. On perceiving
+the colt, on which sat Peronnik and the lady clad in black satin,
+he lifted up his head, and cried in a voice which roared like thunder,
+
+"Why this idiot is mounted on my three-months' colt!"
+
+"The very same, O greatest of all magicians," replied Peronnik.
+
+"And how did you get possession of him?" asked Rogéar.
+
+"I repeated what your brother Bryak taught me," replied the idiot. "On
+reaching the forest border I said,
+
+
+   'Colt, wild, unbroken, and with footstep free,--
+    Colt, I am here; come quick, I wait for thee.'
+
+
+and the little horse came at once."
+
+"Then you know my brother?" said the giant.
+
+"As one knows his master," replied the youth.
+
+"And what has he sent you here for?"
+
+"To bring you a present of two curiosities he has just received from
+the country of the Moors,--this apple of delight, and the female
+slave whom you see there. If you eat the first, you will always have a
+heart as much at rest as that of a poor man who has found a purse of
+a hundred crowns in his wooden shoe; and if you take the second into
+your service, you will have nothing left you to desire in the world."
+
+"Give me then the apple, and make the Moorish woman dismount,"
+replied Rogéar.
+
+The idiot obeyed; but the instant the giant had set his teeth into
+the fruit, the yellow lady laid her hand upon him, and he fell to
+the ground like a bullock in the slaughter-house.
+
+Then Peronnik entered the palace, holding the laughing flower in his
+hand. He traversed more than fifty halls, one after the other, and
+came at length before the cavern with the silver door. This opened of
+its own accord before the flower, which also gave the idiot sufficient
+light to find the golden basin and the diamond lance.
+
+But scarcely had he seized them when the earth shook under his feet;
+a terrible clap of thunder was heard; the palace disappeared; and
+Peronnik found himself once more in the midst of the forest, holding
+his two talismans, with which he set forward instantly to the court
+of the King of Brittany.
+
+He only delayed long enough at Vannes to buy the richest costume
+he could find there, and the finest horse that was for sale in the
+diocese of White-Wheat.
+
+Now when he came to Nantes, this town was besieged by the Franks, who
+had so mercilessly ravaged the surrounding country, that there were
+scarcely more trees left than would serve a single goat for forage;
+and more than that, famine was in the city; and those soldiers died
+of hunger whose wounds had spared their lives. And on the very day
+of Peronnik's arrival, a trumpeter proclaimed aloud in every street
+that the King of Brittany would adopt that man as his heir who could
+deliver the city, and drive the enemy out of the country.
+
+Hearing this promise, Peronnik said to the trumpeter,
+
+"Proclaim no more, but lead me to the king; for I am able to do all
+he asks."
+
+"Thou!" said the herald, seeing him so young and small; "go on thy
+way, fine goldfinch; [65] the king has now no time for taking little
+birds from cottage-roofs." [66]
+
+By way of reply, Peronnik touched the soldier with his lance; and
+that very instant he fell dead, to the infinite terror of the crowd
+who looked on, and would have fled away; but the idiot cried,
+
+"You have just seen what I can do against my enemies; know now what
+is in my power for my friends."
+
+And having touched with his golden basin the dead man's lips, he rose
+up instantly, restored to life.
+
+The king being informed of this wonder, gave Peronnik command of all
+the soldiers he had left; and as with his diamond lance the idiot
+killed thousands of the Franks, and with his golden basin restored
+to life the Bretons who were slain, a very few days sufficed him
+for putting an end to the enemy's army, and taking possession of all
+their camp contained.
+
+He then proposed to conquer all the neighbouring countries, such as
+Anjou, Poitou, and Normandy, which cost him but very little trouble;
+and finally, when all were in obedience to the king, he declared his
+intention of setting out to deliver the Holy Land, and embarked from
+Nantes in a magnificent fleet, with the first nobility of the land.
+
+On reaching Palestine, he performed great deeds of valour, compelled
+many Saracens to be baptised, and married a fair maiden, by whom
+he had many sons and daughters, to each of whom he gave wealth and
+lands. Some even say that, thanks to the golden basin, he and his
+sons are living still, and reign in this land; but others maintain
+that Rogéar's brother, the magician Bryak, has succeeded in regaining
+possession of the two talismans, and that those who wish for them
+have only--to seek them out.
+
+
+
+NOTE ON THE TALE OF "PERONNIK THE IDIOT."
+
+It seems almost impossible not to recognise in the story of Peronnik
+the Idiot traces of that tradition which has given birth to one of
+the epic romances of the Round Table. Disfigured and overlaid with
+modern details as is the Breton version, the primitive idea of the
+Quest of the Holy Graal may still be found there pure and entire.
+
+Some explanation must be given of this. So early as the sixth century,
+the Gallic bards speak of a magic vase which bestows a knowledge of
+the future, and universal science, on its owner; in later times a
+popular fable tells of a golden vase possessed by Bran the Blessed,
+which healed all wounds, and even restored the dead to life. Other
+tales are told of a basin in which every desired delicacy instantly
+appeared. In time all these fictions become fused, and the several
+properties of these different vases are found united in one; the
+possession of which is of course naturally sought after by all great
+adventurers.
+
+There is still extant a Gallic poem, composed in the beginning of the
+twelfth century, of which the whole burden is this quest. The hero,
+named Perédur, goes to war with giants, lions, serpents, sea-monsters,
+sorcerers, and finally becomes conqueror of the basin and the lance,
+which is here added to the primitive tradition.
+
+Now there can be no doubt that this Gallic legend, which found its
+way throughout Europe, as is proved by the attempts at imitation
+which have been made in every language, must have been known in
+Brittany above all, united as it is to Gaul by a common origin and
+language. It must have become popular in the very form it wore when
+taught by the bards to the Armoricans.
+
+But besides the successive alterations which are the speedy result
+of oral transmission, French imitations by degrees incorporated
+themselves with all the primitive versions. M. de la Villemarqué
+has in fact observed, in his learned work on the Popular Tales of
+the Ancient Bretons, that when the Gallic legends were developed by
+the French poets, they appeared so beautified in their new costume,
+that the Gauls themselves abandoned the originals in favour of the
+imitations. Now that which is true of them is equally so of the
+Armoricans; and it seems to us beyond a doubt that the tradition of
+Perédur, which they had originally received, must have been seriously
+modified by the later poem of Christian of Troyes.
+
+In order to elucidate our idea, we will give a hasty analysis of this
+poem, which is little known, being only extant in manuscript. [67]
+
+Perceval, the last remaining son of a poor widow, whom the miseries
+of war had left destitute, is simple, ignorant, and boorish. His
+mother carefully conceals from his sight every thing that might
+turn his attention to the idea of war; but one day the lad meets
+King Arthur's knights, learns the secret so long hidden from him,
+and, his mind filled with nothing now but tournaments and battles,
+abandons his maternal roof and sets off for Arthur's court. On the
+way he sees a pavilion, which, taking in his simplicity for a church,
+he enters. There he eats two roebuck pasties, and drinks a large
+flagon of wine; after which he goes once more upon his way, and soon
+arrives at Cardeuil, ill-clad, ill-armed, and ill-mounted. He finds
+Arthur buried in profound meditation, a treacherous knight having just
+carried off his golden cup, defying any warrior to take it from him
+again. Perceval accepts the challenge, pursues the thief, kills him,
+recovers the cup, and seizes on the slain knight's armour. He is at
+length admitted into the order of chivalry.
+
+But the recollection of his mother haunts him every where. What is he
+in quest of? He himself knows not; he wanders at random and without
+a purpose wherever his wild courser carries him. Thus one day he
+reaches a castle, and enters. A sick old man reposes there upon a bed;
+a servant appears with a lance from which flows one drop of blood, and
+then a damsel bearing a graal, or basin, of pure gold. Perceval longs
+to know the meaning of what he sees, but dares not ask. The following
+day, on leaving the castle, he is informed that the sick old man is
+called the fisher-king, and that he has been wounded in the thigh;
+Perceval is at the same time reproached for not having questioned him.
+
+He continues onwards, meeting by chance Arthur, whom he follows to
+court; but the day after his arrival a lady clad in black appears to
+him, and warmly blames him for being the cause of the fisher-king's
+sufferings.
+
+"His wound," said she, "has become incurable, because thou didst not
+question him."
+
+The knight, wishing to repair his fault, seeks in vain to find once
+more the king's palace; he is repulsed as by an invisible hand,
+until the moment when he resolves to go and find a saintly hermit,
+to whom he makes his confession. The priest shows him that all his
+errors are owing to his ingratitude towards his mother, and that
+sin held his tongue in bondage when he ought to have inquired the
+meaning of the graal; he imposes a penance on him, gives him advice,
+reveals to him a mysterious prayer containing certain terrible words,
+which he forbids him from making known; and then Perceval, absolved
+from his sins, fasts, adores the Cross, hears Mass, receives Holy
+Communion, and returns to a new life.
+
+He now sets forth in quest of the graal, and meets with a thousand
+obstacles. A woman, whom he has loved, White-Flower, appears, and
+endeavours to detain him; but he escapes from her. He fastens his
+horse to the golden ring of a pillar rising on a mountain called the
+Mount of Misery, arrives at length at the castle for which he sought,
+and this time fails not to inquire into the history of the lance
+and the graal. He is told that the lance is that with which Longus
+pierced the side of Christ, and that the graal is the basin in which
+Joseph of Arimathea received His divine blood. This has come down
+by inheritance to the fisher-king, who is descended from Joseph, and
+is Perceval's uncle. It procures all good things, both spiritual and
+temporal, heals all wounds, and even restores life to the dead, besides
+becoming filled with the most delicious dainties at its owner's desire.
+
+After the lance and the graal, they bring out a broken sword;
+the fisher-king presents it to his nephew, begging him to reunite
+the fragments; in which he succeeds. The king then tells him that,
+according to prophecies, the bravest and most pious knight in the
+whole world was to perform this act; that he himself had attempted
+to weld the pieces together, but had been chastised for his rashness
+by receiving a wound in the thigh. "I shall be healed," he added, "on
+the same day that sees the knight Pertiniax perish,--that treacherous
+knight who broke this wonderful sword in slaying my brother."
+
+Perceval kills Pertiniax, thanks to the aid of the holy graal, cuts
+off his head, and brings it to the fisher-king, who gets well, and
+abdicates in favour of his nephew.
+
+
+
+The points of accordance between this poem and the Breton story are
+not very difficult to trace. In the two recitals we hear of the
+conquest of a basin and a lance, the possession of which ensures
+corresponding advantages; the heroes both of the French and Armorican
+version are subjected to dangers and temptations, and success assures
+to them alike--a crown. Some points of resemblance may even perhaps
+be discovered between the idiot Peronnik, going ever onwards he knows
+not whither, and extracting from the farmer's wife his rye-bread,
+his fresh-churned butter, and his Sunday dripping; and this Perceval,
+simple, ignorant, boorish, who begins by eating two roebuck pasties,
+and drinking a great flagon of wine.
+
+Certainly the different details, and the trials imposed on Peronnik,
+are not in general much like the probation to which Perceval was
+subjected; but, on the other hand, they closely resemble those to which
+Perédur, the hero of the Gallic tradition, was exposed. It would seem,
+therefore, that this Armorican story has drunk successively from the
+two fountains of French and Breton legendary lore. Born of the Gallic
+tradition, modified by the French version, and finally accommodated
+to the popular genius of our province, it has become such as we have
+it at this day.
+
+Peronnik the idiot seems, moreover, to us worthy of being studied
+by those who seek, above all else in tradition, for traces of the
+popular genius. Idiotism, amongst all tribes of Celtic race, was never
+looked on as a degradation, but rather as a peculiar condition wherein
+individuals could attain to certain perceptions unknown to the vulgar;
+and the Celts were led to imagine that they had an acquaintance with
+the invisible world not permitted to other men. Thus the words of the
+idiot were looked on as prophetic; a hidden meaning was sought for in
+his acts; he was, in fact, considered, in the energetic language of an
+old poet, as having his feet in this world, and his eyes in the other.
+
+Brittany has preserved in part this ancient reverence for persons of
+weak mind. It is by no means unusual in the farms of Léon to see some
+of these unfortunates, clad, whatever may be their age, in a long dress
+with bone buttons, and holding a white wand in their hands. They are
+tenderly cared for, and only spoken of under the endearing title of
+dear innocents, unless in their absence, when they are called diskyant,
+that is to say, without knowledge. They stay at home with the women
+and little children; they are never called upon to perform any labour;
+and when they die, they are wept over by their relations.
+
+I remember meeting with one of these idiots one day, in the
+neighbourhood of Morlaix; he was seated before a farm-house door,
+and his sister, a young girl, was feeding him. Her caressing kindness
+struck me.
+
+"Then you are very fond of this poor innocent?" I asked, in Breton.
+
+"It is God who gave him to us," she replied.
+
+Words full of meaning, which hold the key to all this pious tenderness
+for creatures useless in themselves, but precious for His sake by
+whom they were confided to our care.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+[1] Limestra, mantle of some special material, which is highly valued
+by the Bretons.
+
+[2] Aiguilles ailées. The fly commonly called demoiselle in French,
+in Brittany is nadoz-aër; literally, "needle of the air."
+
+[3] A proverbial expression in Brittany to designate folly and
+impertinence.
+
+[4] The song of the Korigans runs thus: Di-lun, di-meurs,
+di-merc'her. The conclusion of this tale will explain the reason of
+their keeping only to these first three days.
+
+[5] Cry of encouragement amongst the Bretons. In the same sense they
+use also the word hardi! but the Celtic origin of this last word
+seems rather doubtful.
+
+[6] Mettre en foire. Breton expression, signifying a sale at the
+house of a debtor.
+
+[7] Breton expression, derived from an old custom of parading all
+insolvents about the parish with a girdle of straw.
+
+[8] Equivalent to the French proverb, "One must not sell the bear-skin
+till the bear is killed."
+
+[9] In many farms there is a small threshing-floor reserved especially
+for black wheat.
+
+[10] This is the exact distance at which the Bretons define Hell
+to lie.
+
+[11] Good or bad, these etymologies of Ahèz and Par-is are accepted
+by the Bretons. The last word is even treasured in a proverb,
+
+
+   "Since the town of Is was drowned,
+    The like of Paris is not found."
+
+
+[12] See the Korigans of Plauden, p. 31.
+
+[13] This legend still finds credence. The spot is shown, not far
+from Carhaix, whence Grallon's daughter caused her lovers' bodies to
+be thrown; and some antiquaries are also of opinion that Dahut often
+visited this town, which has received from her its name of Ker-Ahèz
+(town of Ahèz); at any rate, the old paved road which leads from the
+Bay of Douarnénèz to Carhaix proves beyond a doubt that there was
+frequent intercourse between Keris and this city.
+
+[14] All that follows is more properly ascribed to St. Corentin's
+disciple Gwenolé.
+
+[15] The peasantry still show the marks.
+
+[16] There appears to exist incontestable evidence of a city named
+Is lying buried beneath the Bay of Douarnénèz; and the relics which
+have been discovered from time to time prove beyond all doubt that
+art had been brought to very high perfection in those early times. It
+was supposed to date about the fourth century.
+
+[17] The pigs in Brittany are called, no one knows why, mab-rohan,
+sons of Rohan.
+
+[18] Easter Sunday. So called because blessed laurel is distributed
+at church upon this day.
+
+[19] Gobelinn. None other than the loup-garou, or were-wolf.
+
+[20] 'Rozennik' is the diminutive of Rosenn; so 'Guilcherik,'
+"Korils of Plauden," p. 43.
+
+[21] Literally 'will-o'-the-wisp.'
+
+[22] A number of petticoats is considered a mark of great elegance
+amongst the Breton peasant-girls around Morlaix.
+
+[23] A proverbial expression, denoting some suspicion that people have
+been acquiring wealth somewhat unfairly. There is an old tradition
+among the country people, that if you take a black hen to some
+cross-road, and there use certain incantations, you can summon the
+devil, who will pay you handsomely for your hen.
+
+[24] Heubeul-Pontréau, a Breton form of reproach to young rustics of
+ill address.
+
+[25] All European nations have admitted two races of dwarfs, the one
+mischievous and impious, the other benevolent to man. The first is
+represented in Brittany by the Korigans, the second by the Teuz. The
+Teuz is just the same as the elf or fairy of the Scotch and Irish,
+aiding the labourers in their toil, and resembles the mountain spirit
+of Germany.
+
+[26] In Brittany they reckon by reals; the Breton real is not worth
+one franc eight centimes, as in Spain, but only twenty-five centimes.
+
+[27] Miz-du, Breton name of November.
+
+[28] A name given to All Saints.
+
+[29] L'Ankou, literally, "the agony;" a name generally given to the
+spectre of death.
+
+[30] M. de Ker-Gwen. A joke on the paleness of death; gwen signifying
+white.
+
+[31] The allusion is to a proverbial Breton verse, in which the
+inhabitants of the four dioceses are facetiously characterised as
+thievish, false, stupid, and brutal.
+
+[32] Douez signifies in Breton the moat of a fortified town; but as
+these moats were formerly full of water, and served the purposes of
+the washerwomen, the name douez has gradually been appropriated to
+the washing-places.
+
+[33] Spern-gwenn ("l'épine blanche"), to this day a family name
+in Brittany.
+
+[34] All the Breton shepherds make these crosses with twigs of furze,
+on the thorns of which they stick daisies and broom-blossoms; whole
+rows of these flowery crosses may often be seen along the ditches.
+
+[35] Shend, 'subdue.'
+
+[36] This form of exorcism is supposed to originate in a story related
+of St. Hervé. A wolf having devoured an ass belonging to his uncle,
+the saint compelled the savage beast to dwell peaceably thenceforward
+in the same shed with the sheep, and to perform all the duties of the
+defunct ass. A similar story is told of St. Malo, another Breton saint.
+
+[37] The legend of the gold-herb (which must be gathered, according
+to common credence, barefooted, en chemise, without the aid of any
+iron tool, and whilst one is in a state of grace) comes evidently
+from the Druids. It is the selage of the ancients, spoken of by Pliny
+(lib. xiv.), and is said by the Bretons to glitter like gold before
+the eyes of those who at the moment may fulfil the conditions for
+perceiving it, and who, by touching it with the foot, are instantly
+enabled to understand the language of all animals, and to converse
+with them.
+
+[38] The tradition of the redbreast, who broke a thorn from the crown
+of our Lord, is current throughout Brittany.
+
+[39] Mor Vyoc'h signifies Sea-cow.
+
+[40] The Breton peasants believe that the fountain of Languengar has
+the property of promoting the flow of milk in those nurses who drink
+of it.
+
+[41] In Brittany, as in England, it takes nine tailors to make a man.
+
+[42] This form of taking possession is extremely ancient. In all the
+legislative systems of "the ancient world" transfer of landed property
+was effected by symbolical tradition; that is, by the handing over
+to the new owner of some visible and palpable portion or symbol of
+the land itself. At Rome, the sale of a field takes place standing
+on a turf cut from the field itself, which is handed over to the
+purchaser as a symbol of his new possession. In an old deed of 828
+occurs the following: "I make over the underwritten goods and lands to
+the Church of St. Mary. And I make legal cession by straw and knife,
+glove and turf, and branch of tree; and so I put myself out, expel,
+and make myself absent."--D. Calmet, Histoire de Lorraine, Preuves,
+p. 524. And as Brittany is the very chosen home of old customs, it
+has happened that even quite lately, at a farm near Léon, all these
+forms of taking possession were gone through, not as having any legal
+efficacy, but in compliance with ancient usage.
+
+[43] The vervain.
+
+[44] Marc'h-Mor, literally, Sea-horse.
+
+[45] The Breton name for Vannes, Gwen-ed, signifies literally White
+Wheat.
+
+[46] This form of declaring war, preserved by tradition, is curious,
+and, as far as we know, peculiar to Brittany. Amongst the ancient
+Romans they cast upon the enemy's territory a javelin scorched
+at the fire; in the middle ages the iron gauntlet was thrown, or
+the finger was gnawed; the savages of North America sent, like the
+Scythians, bundles of arrows, the number of which indicated that of
+the combatants; but burning straw flung upon the enemy's land is a
+peculiar symbol, which we have never noticed elsewhere.
+
+[47] The Breton name of St. Gildas.
+
+[48] This custom still exists in Brittany.
+
+[49] The name Groac'h, or Grac'h, means literally old woman; and
+was given to the Druidesses, who had established themselves in an
+island off the south-west coast of Brittany, called thence the isle
+of Groac'h; by corruption Groais, or Groix. But the word gradually
+lost its original meaning of old woman, and came to signify a woman
+endowed with power over the elements, and dwelling amongst the
+waves, as did the island Druidesses; in fact, a sort of water-fay,
+but of a malevolent nature, like all the Breton fairies. Such of
+our readers as are not acquainted with La Motte Fouqué's beautiful
+tale of Undine, may require to be reminded that the sprites, sylphs,
+gnomes, and fairies of the popular mythologies are not necessarily,
+perhaps not even generally, exempt from mortality.
+
+[50] A cluster of islets off the southern coast of Brittany, near the
+headland of Penmarc'h. The name signifies literally summer-land. One
+of them is called the isle of Lok, or Lock, and contains a fish-pool,
+from which it seems to derive its name.
+
+[51] A dwarfish sprite.
+
+[52] Young Breton girls thus address old women from a motive of
+respect.
+
+[53] Chanteuse de vérité (Dion ganérez), literally qui chante droit,
+a name given in Brittany to fairies who foretell the future.
+
+[54] These are different kinds of cabbages cultivated in Brittany.
+
+[55] A name given by the Bretons to the tricksy sprite Maistr Yan.
+
+[56] The ribbon covered with lace worn by Breton peasant-girls in
+their hair.
+
+[57] Negotiators for a wedding, who improvise disputations in verse,
+like Virgil's shepherds.
+
+[58] See tale at p. 31.
+
+[59] Dibenn-eost, a name given to autumn in Brittany.
+
+[60] This word idiot must not lead to misconception; the idiot of
+popular tales is the personification of cunning weakness triumphing
+over strength. Idiotism, in the traditions of Christian nations,
+plays the same part as physical ugliness in those of the ancients. The
+latter take the hunchback Æsop to accomplish extraordinary actions;
+the former Peronnik, or some other lad of weak mind, in order that
+the contrast between the hero and the action may be more striking,
+and the result more unexpected.
+
+We refer the reader to the note which follows this story for the more
+particular examination which it seems to deserve.
+
+[61] On the sea-coast they scrape away the burnt part left in the
+porridge-kettles with a mussel-shell; in the interior they use for
+the same purpose a sharp stone, commonly a gun-flint.
+
+[62] The milk of the black cow is considered in Brittany to be at
+once the daintiest and the most wholesome.
+
+[63] The Bretons attribute to the butter of the White Week and of
+the Rogation weeks a special delicacy, and even medicinal properties,
+on account of the excellence of the pastures at this season.
+
+[64] The Bretons believe in a special demon for sending one to sleep
+in church, and call him ar c'houskezik, from the verb kouska, which
+signifies to sleep.
+
+[65] Koanta pabaour, a common form of mockery in Brittany.
+
+[66] A proverbial expression, meaning that one has no time to lose.
+
+[67] The Searcher for the Basin,--Myvyrian, t. i. p. 8. The poem
+of Perceval, or the Quest for the Holy Graal, is to be found in the
+Royal Library of Paris, Mss. No. 7523, et supp. franc. 450. We give
+M. de la Villemarqué's analysis, contenting ourselves with abridging
+his labours.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Breton Legends, by Anonymous
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41681 ***