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diff --git a/old/zofld10.txt b/old/zofld10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d326fa8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/zofld10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1269 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Flood, by Emile Zola +#14 in our series by Emile Zola + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Flood + +Author: Emile Zola + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7011] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 22, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FLOOD *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Michael Castelluccio + + + + + +THE FLOOD + +I. + +My name is Louis Roubien. I am seventy years old. I was born in the +village of Saint-Jory, several miles up the Garonne from Toulouse. + +For fourteen years I battled with the earth for my daily bread. At last, +prosperity smiled on we, and last month I was still the richest farmer +in the parish. + +Our house seemed blessed, happiness reigned there. The sun was our +brother, and I cannot recall a bad crop. We were almost a dozen on the +farm. There was myself, still hale and hearty, leading the children to +work; then my young brother, Pierre, an old bachelor and retired sergeant; +then my sister, Agathe, who came to us after the death of her husband. +She was a commanding woman, enormous and gay, whose laugh could be heard +at the other end of the village. Then came all the brood: my son, Jacques; +his wife, Rosie, and their three daughters, Aimee, Veronique, and Marie. +The first named was married to Cyprica Bouisson, a big jolly fellow, by +whom she had two children, one two years old and the other ten months. +Veronique was just betrothed, and was soon to marry Gaspard Rabuteau. The +third, Marie, was a real young lady, so white, so fair, that she looked as +if born in the city. + +That made ten, counting everybody. I was a grandfather and a great-grandfather. +When we were at table I had my sister, Agathe, at my right, and my brother, +Pierre, at my left. The children formed a circle,seated according to age, +with the heads diminishing down to the baby of ten months, who already ate +his soup like a man. And let me tell you that the spoons in the plates made a +clatter. The brood had hearty appetites. And what gayety between the mouthfuls! +I was filled with pride and joy when the little ones held out their hands +toward me, crying: + +"Grandpa, give us some bread! A big piece, grandpa!" + +Oh! the good days! Our farm sang from every corner. In the evening, Pierre +invented games and related stories of his regiment. On Sunday Agathe made +cakes for the girls. Marie knew some canticles, which she sang like a +chorister. +She looked like a saint, with her blond hair falling on her neck and her +hands folded on her apron. + +I had built another story on the house when Aimee had married Cyprien; and +I said laughingly that I would have to build another after the wedding of +Veronique and Gaspard. We never cared to leave each other. We would sooner +have built a city behind the farm, in our enclosure. When families are united, +it is so good to live and die where one has grown up! + +The month of May had been magnificent that year. It was long since the +crops gave such good promise. That day precisely, I had made a tour of +inspection with my son, Jacques. We started at about three o'clock. +Our meadows on the banks of the Garonne were of a tender green. The +grass was three feet high, and an osier thicket, planted the year before, +had sprouts a yard high. From there we went to visit our wheat and our +vines, fields bought one by one as fortune came to us. The wheat was +growing strong; the vines, in full flower, promised a superb vintage. And +Jacques laughed his good laugh as he slapped me on the shoulder. + +"Well, father, we shall never want for bread nor for wine. You must +be a friend of the Divine Power to have silver showered upon your land +in this way." + +We often joked among ourselves of our past poverty. Jacques was right. +I must have gained the friendship of some saint or of God himself, +for all the luck in the country was for us. When it hailed the hail +ceased on the border of our fields. If the vines of our neighbors fell +sick, ours seemed to have a wall of protection around them. And in the +end I grew to consider it only just. Never doing harm to any one, I +thought that happiness was my due. + +As we approached the house, Rose gesticulated, calling out: + +"Hurry up!" + +One of our cows had just had a calf, and everybody was excited. The +birth of that little beast seemed one more blessing. We had been obliged +recently to enlarge the stables, where we had nearly one hundred head +of animals--cows and sheep, without counting the horses. + +"Well, a good day's work!" I cried. "We will drink to-night a bottle of +ripened wine." + +Meanwhile, Rose took us aside and told us that Gaspard, Veronique's +betrothed, had come to arrange the day for the wedding. She had invited +him to remain for dinner. + +Gaspard, the oldest son of a farmer of Moranges, was a big boy of twenty +years, known throughout the country for his prodigious strength. During +a festival at Toulouse he had vanquished Martial, the "Lion of the Midi." +With that, a nice boy, with a heart of gold. He was even timid, and +he blushed when Veronique looked him squarely in the face. + +I told Rose to call him. He was at the bottom of the yard, helping our +servants to spread out the freshly-washed linen. When he entered the +dining room, where we were, Jacques turned toward me, saying: + +"You speak, father." + +"Well," I said, "you have come, my boy, to have us set the great day?" + +"Yes, that is it, Father Roubien," he answered, very red. + +"You mustn't blush, my boy," I continued. "It will be, if you wish, on Saint- +Felicite day, the 10th of July. This is the 23rd of June, so you +will have only twenty days to wait. My poor dead wife was called Felicite, +and that will bring you happiness. Well? Is it understood?" + +"Yes, that will do--Sainte-Felicite day. Father Roubien." + +And he gave each of us a grip that made us wince. Then he embraced Rose, +calling her mother. This big boy with the terrific fists loved Veronique +to the point of losing his appetite. + +Now," I continued, "you must remain for dinner. Well, everybody to the table. +I have a thundering appetite, I have." + +That evening we were eleven at table. Gaspard was placed next to Veronique, +and he sat looking at her, forgetting his plate, so moved at the thought +of her belonging to him that, at times, the tears sprang to his eyes. Cyprien +and Aimee, married only three years, smiled. Jacques and Rose, who +had had twenty-five years of married life, were more serious, but, +surreptitiously, they exchanged tender glances. As for me, I seemed to relive +in those two sweethearts, whose happiness seemed to bring a corner +of Paradise to our table. What good soup we had that evening! Aunt Agathe, +always ready with a witticism, risked several jokes. Then that honest +Pierre wanted to relate his love affair with a young lady of Lyons. +Fortunately, we were at the dessert, and every one was talking at once. I +had brought two bottles of mellowed wine from the cellar. We drank to the +good fortune of Gaspard and Veronique. Then we had singing. Gaspard knew some +love songs in dialect. We also asked Marie for a canticle. She stood up and +sang in a flute-like voice that tickled one's ears. + +I went to the window, and Gaspard joined me there. + +"Is there no news up your way?" I asked him. + +"No," he answered. "There is considerable talk about the heavy rains of the +last few days. Some seem to think that they will cause trouble." + +In effect, it had rained for sixty hours without stopping. The Garonne was +very much swollen since the preceding day, but we had confidence in it, and, +as long as it did not overflow its banks, we could not look on it as a bad +neighbor. + +"Bah!" I exclaimed, shrugging my shoulders. "Nothing will happen. It is the +same every year. The river puts up her back as if she were furious, and she +calms down in a night. You will see, my boy, that it will amount to nothing +this time. See how beautiful the weather is!" + +And I pointed to the sky. It was seven o'clock; the sun was setting. The sky +was blue, an immense blue sheet of profound purity, in which the rays of the +setting sun were like a golden dust. Never had I seen the village drowsing in +so sweet a peace. Upon the tiled roofs a rosy tint was fading. I heard a +neighbor's laugh, then the voices of children at the turn in the road in front +of our place. Farther away and softened by the distance, rose the sounds of +flocks entering their sheds. The great voice of the Garonne roared continually; +but it was to me as the voice of the silence, so accustomed +to it was I. + +Little by little the sky paled; the village became more drowsy. It was the +evening of a beautiful day; and I thought that all our good fortune--the big +harvests, the happy house, the betrothal of Veronique--came to us from above +in the purity of the dying light. A benediction spread over us with the +farewell of the evening. + +Meanwhile I had returned to the center of the room. The girls were chattering. +We listened to them, smiling. Suddenly, across the serenity of the country, +a terrible cry sounded, a cry of distress and death: + +"The Garonne! The Garonne!" + +II. + +We rushed out into the yard. + +Saint-Jory is situated at the bottom of a +slope at about five hundred yards from the Garonne. Screens of tall poplars +that divide the meadows, hide the river completely. + +We could see nothing. And still the cry rang out: + +"The Garonne! The Garonne!" + +Suddenly, on the wide road before us, appeared two men and three women, +one of them holding a child in her arms. It was they who were crying out, +distracted, running with long strides. They turned at times, looking behind +with terrified faces, as if a band of wolves was pursuing them. + +"What's the matter with them?" demanded Cyprien. "Do you see anything, +grandfather?" + +"No," I answered. "The leaves are not even moving." + +I was still talking when an exclamation burst from us. Behind the fugitives +there appeared, between the trunks of the poplars, amongst the large tufts +of grass, what looked like a pack of gray beasts speckled with yellow. They +sprang up from all directions, waves crowding waves, a helter-skelter of +masses of foaming water, shaking the sod with the rumbling gallop of their +hordes. + +It was our turn to send forth the despairing cry: + +"The Garonne! The Garonne!" + +The two men and the three women were still running on the road. They heard +the terrible gallop gaining on them. Now the waves arrived in a single line, +rolling, tumbling with the thunder of a charging battalion. With their first +shock they had broken three poplars; the tall foliage sank and disappeared. +A wooden cabin was swallowed up, a wall was demolished; heavy carts were +carried away like straws. But the water seemed, above all, to pursue the +fugitives. At the bend in the road, where there was a steep slope, it fell +suddenly in an immense sheet and cut off retreat. They continued to run, +nevertheless, splashing through the water, no longer shouting, mad +with terror. The water swirled about their knees. An enormous wave felled +the woman who was carrying the child. Then all were engulfed. + +"Quick! Quick!" I cried. "We must get into the house. It is solid--we have +nothing to fear." + +We took refuge upstairs. The house was built on a hillock above the road. +The water invaded the yard, softly, with a little rippling noise. We were +not much frightened. + +"Bah!" said Jacques, to reassure every one, "this will not amount to +anything. You remember, father, in '55, the water came up into the yard. +It was a foot deep. Then it receded." + +"It is disastrous for the crops, just the same," murmured Cyprien. + +"No, it will not be anything," I said, seeing the large questioning eyes +of our girls. + +Aimee had put her two children into the bed. She sat beside them, with +Veronique and Marie. Aunt Agathe spoke of heating some wine she had brought +up, to give us courage. + +Jacques and Rose were looking out of a window. I was at the other, with my +brother Pierre, Cyprien and Gaspard. + +"Come up!" I cried to our two servants, who were wading in the yard. "Don't +stay there and get all wet." + +"But the animals?" they asked. "They are afraid. They are killing each other +in the barn." + +"No, no; come up! After a while we'll see to them." + +The rescue of the animals would be impossible, if the disaster was to attain +greater proportions. I thought it unnecessary to frighten the family. So I +forced myself to appear hopeful. Leaning on the windowsill, I indicated the +progress of the flood. The river, after its attack on the village, was in +possession even to the narrowest streets. It was no longer a galloping +charge, but a slow and invincible strangulation. The hollow in the bottom +of which Saint-Jory is built was changed into a lake. In our yard the water +was soon three feet deep. But I asserted that it remained stationary--I even +went so far as to pretend that it was going down. + +"Well, you will be obliged to sleep here to-night, my boy," I said, turning +to Gaspard. "That is, unless the roads are free in a couple of hours--which +is quite possible." + +He looked at me without answering, his face quite pale; and I saw him look +at Veronique with an expression of anguish. + +It was half-past eight o'clock. It was still daylight--a pale, sad light +beneath the blanched sky. The servants had had the forethought to bring up +two lamps with them. I had them lighted, thinking that they would brighten +up the somber room. Aunt Agathe, who had rolled a table to the middle of the +room, wished to organize a card party. The worthy woman, whose eyes sought +mine momentarily, thought above all of diverting the children. Her good humor +kept up a superb bravery; and she laughed to combat the terror that she felt +growing around her. She forcibly placed Aimee, Veronique, and Marie at the +table. She put the cards into their hands, took a hand herself with an air of +intense interest, shuffling, cutting, dealing with such a flow of talk that +she almost drowned the noise of the water. But our girls could not be diverted; +they were pale, with feverish hands, and ears on the alert. Every few moments +there was a pause in the play. One of them would turn to me, asking in a low +voice: + +"Grandpa, is it still rising?" + +"No, no. Go on with the game. There is no danger." + +Never had my heart been gripped by such agony. All the men placed themselves +at the windows to hide the terrifying sight. We tried to smile, turned toward +the peaceful lamps that threw discs of light upon the table. I recalled our +winter evenings, when we gathered around the table. It was the same quiet +interior, filled with the warmth of affection. And while peace was there I +heard behind me the roaring of the escaped river, that was constantly rising. + +"Louis," said my brother Pierre, "the water is within three feet of the window. +We ought to tell them." + +I hushed him up by pressing his arm. But it was no longer possible to hide +the peril. In our barns the animals were killing each other. There were +bleatings and bellowings from the crazed herds; and the horses gave the harsh +cries that can be heard at great distances when they are in danger of death. + +"My God! My God!" cried Aimee, who stood up, pressing her hands to her temples. + +They all ran to the windows. There they remained, mute, their hair rising +with fear. A dim light floated above the yellow sheet of water. The pale sky +looked like a white cloth thrown over the earth. In the distance trailed some +smoke. Everything was misty. It was the terrified end of a day melting into a +night of death. And not a human sound, nothing but the roaring of that sea +stretching to infinity; nothing but the bellowings and the neighings of the +animals. + +"My God! My God!" repeated the women, in low voices, as if they feared to +speak aloud. + +A terrible cracking silenced the exclamations. The maddened animals had +burst open the doors of the stables. They passed in the yellow flood, rolled +about, carried away by the current. The sheep were tossed about like dead +leaves, whirling in bands in the eddies. The cows and the horses struggled, +tried to walk, and lost their footing. Our big gray horse fought long for +life. He stretched his neck, he reared, snorting like a forge. But the enraged +waters took him by the crupper, and we saw him, beaten, abandon himself. + +Then we gave way for the first time. We felt the need of tears. Our hands +stretched out to those dear animals that were being borne away, we lamented, +giving vent to the tears and the sobs that we had suppressed. Ah! what ruin! +The harvests destroyed, the cattle drowned, our fortunes changed in a few +hours! God was not just! We had done nothing against Him, and He was taking +everything from us! I shook my fist at the horizon. I spoke of our walk that +afternoon, of our meadows, our wheat and vines that we had found so full of +promise. It was all a lie, then! The sun lied when he sank, so sweet and +calm, in the midst of the evening's serenity. + +The water was still rising. Pierre, who was watching it, cried: + +"Louis, we must look out! The water is up to the window!" + +That warning snatched us from our spell of despair. I was once more myself. +Shrugging my shoulders, I said: + +"Money is nothing. As long as we are all saved, there need be no regrets. +We shall have to work again--that is all!" + +"Yes, yes; you are right, father," said Jacques, feverishly. "And we run +no danger--the walls are good and strong. We must get up on the roof." + +That was the only refuge left us. The water, which had mounted the stairs +step by step, was already coming through the door. We rushed to the attic +in a group, holding close to each other. Cyprien had disappeared. I called +him, and I saw him return from the next room, his face working with emotion. +Then, as I remarked the absence of the servants, for whom I was waiting,he +gave me a strange look, then said, in a suppressed voice: + +"Dead! The corner of the shed under their room caved in." + +The poor girls must have gone to fetch their savings from their trunks. I +told him to say nothing about it. A cold shiver had passed over me. It was +Death entering the house. + +When we went up, in our turn, we did not even think of putting out the lights. +The cards remained spread upon the table. There was already a foot of water in +the room. + +III. + +Fortunately, the roof was vast and sloped gently. We reached it through a lid- +like window, above which was a sort of platform. It was there that we took +refuge. The women seated themselves. The men went over the tiles to +reconnoitre. +From my post against the dormer window through which we had climbed, I +examined the four points of the horizon. + +"Help cannot fail to arrive," I said, bravely. "The people of Saintin have +boats; they will come this way. Look over there! Isn't that a lantern on the +water?" + +But no one answered me. Pierre had lighted his pipe, and he was smoking so +furiously that, at each puff, he spit out pieces of the stem. Jacques and +Cyprien looked into the distance, with drawn faces; while Gaspard, clenching +his fists, continued to walk about, seeking an issue. At our feet the women, +silent and shivering, hid their faces to shut out the sight. Yet Rose raised +her head, glanced about her and demanded: + +"And the servants? Where are they? Why, aren't they here?" + +I avoided answering. She then questioned me, her eyes on mine. + +"Where are the servants?" + +I turned away, unable to lie. I felt that chill that had already brushed me +pass over our women and our dear girls. They had understood. Marie burst into +tears. Aimee wrapped her two children in her skirt, as if to protect them. +Veronique, her face in her hands, did not move. Aunt Agathe, very pale, made +the sign of the cross, and mumbled Paters and Aves. + +Meanwhile the spectacle about us became of sovereign grandeur. The night +retained the clearness of a summer night. There was no moon, but the sky +was sprinkled with stars, and was of so pure a blue that it seemed to fill +space with a blue light. And the immense sheet of water expanded beneath the +softness of the sky. We could no longer see any land. + +"The water is rising; the water is rising!" repeated my brother Pierre, still +crunching the stem of his pipe between his teeth. + +The water was within a yard of the roof. It was losing its tranquility; +currents were being formed. In less than an hour the water became threatening, +dashing against the house, bearing drifting barrels, pieces of wood, clumps +of weeds. In the distance there were attacks upon walls, and we could hear +the resounding shocks. Poplar trees fell, houses crumbled, like a cartload of +stones emptied by the roadside. + +Jacques, unnerved by the sobs of the women, cried: + +"We can't stay here. We must try something. Father, I beg of you, try to +do something." + +I stammered after him: + +"Yes, yes; let us try to do something." + +And we knew of nothing. Gaspard offered to take Veronique on his back and +swim with her to a place of safety. Pierre suggested a raft. Cyprien finally +said: + +"If we could only reach the church!" + +Above the waters the church remained standing, with its little square +steeple. We were separated from it by seven houses. Our farmhouse, the first +of the village, adjoined a higher building, which, in turn, leaned against +the next. Perhaps, by way of the roofs, we would be able to reach the +parsonage. A number of people must have taken refuge there already, for the +neighboring roofs were vacant, and we could hear voices that surely came +from the steeple. But what dangers must be run to reach them! + +"It is impossible," said Pierre. "The house of the Raimbeaus is too high; +we would need ladders." + +"I am going to try it," said Cyprien. "I will return if the way is +impracticable. Otherwise, we will all go and we will have to carry the girls." + +I let him go. He was right. We had to try the impossible. He had succeeded, +by the aid of an iron hook fixed in a chimney, in climbing to the next house, +when his wife, Aimee, raising her head, noticed that he was no longer with us. +She screamed: + +"Where is he? I don't want him to leave me! We are together, we shall die +together!" + +When she saw him on the top of the house she ran over the tiles, still +holding her children. And she called out: + +"Cyprien, wait for me! I am going with you. I am going to die with you." + +She persisted. He leaned over, pleading with her, promising to come back, +telling her that he was going for the rescue of all of us. But, with a wild +air, she shook her head, repeating "I am going with you! I am going with +you!" + +He had to take the children. Then he helped her up. We could follow them +along the crest of the house. They walked slowly. She had taken the children +again, and at every step he turned and supported her. + +"Get her to a safe place, and return!" I shouted. + +I saw him wave his hand, but the roaring of the water prevented my hearing +his answer. Soon we could not see them. They had descended to the roof of +the next house. At the end of five minutes they appeared upon the third roof, +which must have been very steep, for they went on hands and knees along the +summit. A sudden terror seized me. I put my hands to my mouth and shouted: + +"Come back! Come back!" + +Then all of us shouted together. Our voices stopped them for a moment, but +they continued on their way. They reached the angle formed by the street upon +which faced the Raimbeau house, a high structure, with a roof at least ten +feet above those of the neighboring houses. For a moment they hesitated. Then +Cyprien climbed up a chimney pipe, with the agility of a cat. Aimee, who must +have consented to wait for him, stood on the tiles. We saw her plainly, black +and enlarged against the pale sky, straining her children to her bosom. And +it was then that the horrifying trouble began. + +The Raimbeau house, originally intended for a factory, was very flimsily +built. Besides, the facade was exposed to the current in the street. I thought +I could see it tremble from the attacks of the water; and, with a contraction +of the throat, I watched Cyprien cross the roof. Suddenly a rumbling was +heard. The moon rose, a round moon, whose yellow face lighted up the immense +lake. Not a detail of the catastrophe was lost to us. The Raimbeau house +collapsed. We gave a cry of terror as we saw Cyprien disappear. As the house +crumbled we could distinguish nothing but a tempest, a swirling of waves +beneath +the debris of the roof. Then calm was restored, the surface became smooth; and +out of the black hole of the engulfed house projected the skeleton of its +framework. There was a mass of entangled beams, and, amongst them, I seemed to +see a body moving, something living making superhuman efforts. + +"He lives!" I cried. "Oh, God be praised! He lives!" + +We laughed nervously; we clapped our hands, as if saved ourselves. + +"He is going to raise himself up," said Pierre. + +"Yes, yes," said Gaspard, "he is trying to seize the beam on his left." + +But our laugh ceased. We had just realized the terrible situation in which +Cyprien was placed. During the fall of the house his feet had been caught +between two beams, and he hung head downward within a few inches of the +water. On the roof of the next house Aimee was still standing, holding her +two children. A convulsive tremor shook her. She did not take her eyes from +her husband, a few yards below her. And, mad with horror, she emitted +without cessation a lamentable sound like the howling of a dog. + +"We can't let him die like that," said Jacques, distracted. "We must get down +there." + +"Perhaps we could slide down the beams and save him," remarked Pierre. + +And they started toward the neighboring roof, when the second house collapsed, +leaving a gap in the route. Then a chill seized us. We mechanically grasped +each other's hands, wringing them cruelly as we watched the harrowing sight. + +Cyprien had tried at first to stiffen his body. With extraordinary strength, +he had lifted himself above the water, holding his body in an oblique position. +Rut the strain was too great. Nevertheless, he struggled, tried to reach some +of the beams, felt around him for something to hold to. Then, resigning +himself, +he fell back again, hanging limp. + +Death was slow in coming. The water barely covered his hair, and it rose very +gradually. He must have felt its coolness on his brain. A wave wet his brow; +others closed his eyes. Slowly we saw his head disappear. + +The women, at our feet, had buried their faces in their clasped hands. We, +ourselves, fell to our knees, our arms outstretched, weeping, stammering +supplications. + +On the other roof Aimee, still standing, her children clasped to her bosom, +howled mournfully into the night. + +IV. + +I know not how long we remained in a stupor after that tragedy. When I came +to, the water had risen. It was now on a level with the tiles. The roof was a +narrow island, emerging from the immense sheet. To the right and the left the +houses must have crumbled. + +"We are moving," murmured Rose, who clung to the tiles. + +And we all experienced the effect of rolling, as if the roof had become +detached and turned into a raft. The swift currents seemed to be drifting us +away. Then, when we looked at the church clock, immovable opposite us, the +dizziness ceased; we found ourselves in the same place in the midst of the +waves. + +Then the water began an attack. Until then the stream had followed the street; +but the debris that encumbered it deflected the course. And when a drifting +object, a beam, came within reach of the current, it seized it and directed +it against the house like a battering-ram. Soon ten, a dozen, beams were +attacking us on all sides. The water roared. Our feet were spattered with +foam. We heard the dull moaning of the house full of water. There were moments +when the attacks became frenzied, when the beams battered fiercely; and then +we thought that the end was near, that the walls would open and deliver us to +the river. + +Gaspard had risked himself upon the edge of the roof. He had seized a rafter +and drawn it to him. + +"We must defend ourselves," he cried. + +Jacques, on his side, had stopped a long pole in its passage. Pierre helped +him. I cursed my age that left me without strength, as feeble as a child. +But the defense was organized--a drill between three men and a river. Gaspard, +holding his beam in readiness, awaited the driftwood that the current sent +against us, and be stopped it a short distance from the walls. At times the +shock was so rude that he fell. Beside him Jacques and Pierre manipulated the +long pole. During nearly an hour that unending fight continued. And the water +retained its tranquil obstinacy, invincible. + +Then Jacques and Pierre succumbed, prostrated; while Gaspard, in a last +violent thrust, had his beam wrested from him by the current. The combat was +useless. + +Marie and Veronique had thrown themselves into each other's arms. They repeated +incessantly one phrase--a phrase of terror that I still hear ringing in my +ears: + +"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" + +Rose put her arms about them. She tried to console them, to reassure them. +And she herself, trembling, raised her face and cried out, in spite of herself: + +"I don't want to die!" + +Aunt Agathe alone said nothing. She no longer prayed, no longer made the sign +of the cross. Bewildered, her eyes roamed about, and she tried to smile when +her +glance met mine. + +The water was beating against the tiles now. There was no hope of help. We +still heard the voices in the direction of the church; two lanterns had passed +in the distance; and the silence spread over the immense yellow sheet. The +people of Saintin, who owned boats, must have been surprised before us. + +Gaspard continued to wander over the Roof. Suddenly he called us. + +"Look!" he said. "Help me--hold me tight!" + +He had a pole and be was watching an enormous black object that was gently +drifting toward the house. It was the roof of a shed, made of strong boards, +and that was floating like a raft. When it was within reach he stopped it with +the pole, and, as he felt himself being carried off, he called to us. We held +him around the waist. + +Then, as the mass entered the current, it returned against our roof so +violently +that we were afraid of seeing it smashed into splinters. + +Gaspard jumped upon it boldly. He went over it carefully, to assure himself of +its solidity. He laughed, saying joyously: + +"Grandfather, we are saved! Don't cry any more, you women. A real boat! Look, +my feet are dry. And it will easily carry all of us!" + +Still, he thought it well to make it more solid. He caught some floating beams +and bound them to it with a rope that Pierre had brought up for an emergency. +Gaspard even fell into the water, but at our screams he laughed. He knew the +water well; he could swim three miles in the Garonne at a stretch. Getting up +again, he shook himself, crying: + +"Come, get on it! Don't lose any time!" + +The women were on their knees. Gaspard had to carry Veronique and Marie to +the middle of the raft, where he made them sit down. + +Rose and Aunt Agathe slid down the tiles and placed themselves beside the +young girls. At this moment I looked toward the church. Aimee was still in +the same place. She was leaning now against a chimney, holding her children +up at arm's length, for the water was to her waist. + +"Don't grieve, grandfather," said Gaspard. "We will take her off on the way." + +Pierre and Jacques were already on the raft, so I jumped on. Gaspard was the +last one aboard. He gave us poles that he had prepared and that were to serve +us as oars. He had a very long one that he used with great skill. We let him +do all the commanding. At an order from him, we braced our poles against the +tiles to put out into the stream. But it seemed as if the raft was attached to +the roof. In spite of all our efforts, we could not budge it. At each new +effort the current swung us violently against the house. And it was a dangerous +manoeuvre, for the shock threatened to break up the planks composing the raft. + +So once again we were made to feel our helplessness. We had thought ourselves +saved, and we were still at the mercy of the river. I even regretted that the +women were not on the roof; for, every minute, I expected to see them +precipitated into the boiling torrent. But when I suggested regaining our +refuge they all cried: + +"No, no! Let us try again! Better die here!" + +Gaspard no longer laughed. We renewed our efforts, bending to our poles with +redoubled energy. Pierre then had the idea to climb up on the roof and draw +us, by means of a rope, towards the left. He was thus able to draw us out of +the current. Then, when he again jumped upon the raft, a few thrusts of our +poles sent us out into the open. But Gaspard recalled the promise he had made +me to stop for our poor Aimee, whose plaintive moans had never ceased. For that +purpose it was necessary to cross the street, where the terrible current +existed. He consulted me by a glance. I was completely upset. Never had such a +combat raged within me. We would have to expose eight lives. And yet I had not +the strength to resist the mournful appeal. + +"Yes, yes," I said to Gaspard. "We can not possibly go away without her!" + +He lowered his head without a word, and began using his pole against all the +walls left standing. We passed the neighboring house, but as soon as we +emerged into the street a cry escaped us. The current, which had again seized +us, carried us back against our house. We were whirled round like a leaf, so +rapidly that our cry was cut short by the smashing of the raft against the +tiles. There was a rending sound, the planks were loosened and wrenched apart, +and we were all thrown into the water. I do not know what happened then. I +remember that when I sank I saw Aunt Agathe floating, sustained by her +skirts, until she went down backward, head first, without a struggle. + +A sharp pain brought me to. Pierre was dragging me by the hair along the +tiles. I lay still, stupidly watching. Pierre had plunged in again. And, in +my confused state, I was surprised to see Gaspard at the spot where my brother +had disappeared. The young man had Veronique in his arms. When he had placed +her near me he again jumped in, bringing up Marie, her face so waxy white that +I thought her dead. Then he plunged again. But this time he searched in vain. +Pierre had joined him. They talked and gave each other indications that I could +not hear. As they drew themselves up on the roof, I cried: + +"And Aunt Agathe? And Jacques? And Rose?" + +They shook their heads. Large tears coursed down their cheeks. They explained +to me that Jacques had struck his head against a beam and that Rose had been +carried down with her husband's body, to which she clung. Aunt Agathe had not +reappeared. + +Raising myself, I looked toward the roof, where Aimee stood. The water was +rising constantly. Aimee was now silent. I could see her upstretched arms +holding her children out of the water. Then they all sank, the water closed +over them beneath the drowsy light of the moon. + +V. + +There were only five of us on the roof now. The water left us but a narrow +band along the ridge. One of the chimneys had just been carried away. We had +to raise Marie and Veronique, who were still unconscious, and support them +almost in a standing position to prevent the waves washing over their legs. +At last, their senses returned, and our anguish increased upon seeing them +wet, shivering and crying miserably that they did not wish to die. + +The end had come. The destroyed village was marked by a few vestiges of +walls. Alone, the church reared its steeple intact, from whence came the +voices--a murmur of human beings in a refuge. There were no longer any sounds +of falling houses, like a cart of stones suddenly discharged. It was as if we +were abandoned, shipwrecked, a thousand miles from land. + +One moment we thought we heard the dip of oars. Ah! what hopeful music! How +we all strained our eyes into space! We held our breath. But we could see +nothing. The yellow sheet stretched away, spotted with black shadows. But +none of those shadows--tops of trees, remnants of walls--moved. Driftwood, +weeds, empty barrels caused us false joy. We waved our handkerchiefs until, +realizing our error, we again succumbed to our anxiety. + +"Ah, I see it!" cried Gaspard, suddenly. "Look over there. A large boat!" + +And he pointed out a distant speck. I could see nothing, neither could +Pierre. But Gaspard insisted it was a boat. The sound of oars became distinct. +At last, we saw it. It was proceeding slowly and seemed to be circling about +us without approaching. I remember that we were like mad. We raised our arms +in our fury; we shouted with all our might. And we insulted the boat, called +it cowardly. But, dark and silent, it glided away slowly. Was it really a boat? +I do not know to this day. When it disappeared it carried our last hope. + +We were expecting every second to be engulfed with the house. It was +undermined and was probably supported by one solid wall, which, in giving +way, would pull everything with it. But what terrified me most was to feel +the roof sway under our feet. The house would perhaps hold out overnight, but +the tiles were sinking in, beaten and pierced by beams. We had taken +refuge on the left side on some solid rafters. Then these rafters seemed to +weaken. Certainly they would sink if all five of us remained in so small a +space. + +For some minutes my brother Pierre had been twisting his soldierly mustache, +frowning and muttering to himself. The growing danger that surrounded him +and against which his courage availed nothing, was wearing out his endurance. +He spat two or three times into the water, with an expression of contemptuous +anger. Then, as we sank lower, he made up his mind; he started down the roof. + +"Pierre! Pierre!" I cried, fearing to comprehend. + +He turned and said quietly: + +"Adieu, Louis! You see, it is too long for me. And it will leave more room +for you." + +And, first throwing in his pipe, he plunged, adding: + +"Good night! I have had enough!" + +He did not come up. He was not a strong swimmer, and he probably abandoned +himself, heart-broken at the death of our dear ones and at our ruin. + +Two o'clock sounded from the steeple of the church. The night would soon end-- +that horrible night already so filled with agony and tears. Little by little, +beneath our feet, the small dry space grew smaller. The current had changed +again. The drift, passed to the right of the village, floating slowly, as if +the water, nearing its highest level, was reposing, tired and lazy. + +Gaspard suddenly took off his shoes and his shirt. I watched him for a moment +as he wrung his hands. When I questioned him he said: + +"Listen, grandfather; it is killing me to wait. I cannot stay here. Let me do +as I wish. I will save her." + +He was speaking of Veronique. I opposed him. He would never have the strength +to carry the young girl to the church. But he was obstinate. + +"Yes, I can! My arms are strong. I feel myself able. You will see. I love +her--I +will save her!" + +I was silent. I drew Marie to my breast. Then he thought I was reproaching the +selfishness of his love. He stammered: + +"I will return and get Marie. I swear it. I will find a boat and organize a +rescue party. Have confidence in me, grandfather!" + +Rapidly, he explained to Veronique that she must not struggle, that she +must submit without a movement, and that she must not be afraid. The young +girl answered "yes" to everything, with a distracted look. Then, after making +the sign of the cross, he slid down the roof, holding Veronique by a rope that +he had looped under her arms. She gave a scream, beat the water with arms and +legs, and, suffocated, she fainted. + +"I like this better!" Gaspard called to me. "Now, I can answer for her!" + +It can be imagined with what agony I followed them with my eyes. On the +white surface, I could see Gaspard's slightest movement. He held the young +girl by means of the rope that he coiled around his neck; and he carried her +thus, half thrown over his right shoulder. The crushing weight bore him under +at times. But he advanced, swimming with superhuman strength. I was no +longer in doubt. He had traversed a third of the distance when he struck +against something submerged. The shock was terrible. Both disappeared. Then +I saw him reappear alone. The rope must have snapped. He plunged twice. At +last, he came up with Veronique, whom he again took on his back. But without +the rope to hold her, she weighed him down more than ever. Still, he advanced. +A tremor shook me as I saw them approaching the church. Suddenly, I saw some +beams bearing down upon them. A second shock separated them and the waters +closed over them. + +From this moment, I was stupefied. I had but the instinct of the animal +looking out for its own safety. When the water advanced, I retreated. In +that stupor, I heard someone laughing, without explaining to myself who it +was. The dawn appeared, a great white daybreak. It was very fresh and very +calm, as on the bank of a pond, the surface of which awakens before sunrise. +But the laughter sounded continually. + +Turning, I saw Marie, standing in her wet clothes. It was she who was laughing. + +Ah! the poor, dear child! How sweet and pretty she was at that early hour! I +saw her stoop, take up some water in the hollow of her hand, and wash her +face. Then she coiled her beautiful blonde hair. Doubtless, she imagined she +was in her little room, dressing while the church bell rang merrily. And she +continued to laugh her childish laugh, her eyes bright and her face happy. + +I, too, began to laugh, infected with her madness. Terror had destroyed her +mind; and it was a mercy, so charmed did she appear with the beauty of the +morning. + +I let her hasten, not understanding, shaking my head tenderly. When she +considered herself ready to go, she sang one of her canticles in her clear +crystalline voice. But, interrupting herself, she cried, as if responding +to someone who had called her: + +"I am coming, I am coming!" + +She took up the canticle again, went down the roof, and entered the water. +It covered her softly, without a ripple. I had not ceased smiling. I looked +with happiness upon the spot where she had just disappeared. + +Then, I remembered nothing more. I was alone on the roof. The water had risen. +A chimney was standing, and I must have clung to it with all my strength, like +an animal that dreads death. Then, nothing, nothing, a black pit, oblivion. + +VI. + +Why am I still here? They tell me that people from Saintin came toward six +o'clock, with boats, and that they found me lying on a chimney, unconscious. +The water was cruel not to have carried me away to be with those who were dear +to me. + +All the others are gone! The babes in swaddling clothes, the girls to be +married, the young married couples, the old married couples. And I, I live +like a useless weed, coarse and dried, rooted in the rock. If I had the +courage, +I would say like Pierre: + +"I have had enough! Good night!" And I would throw myself into the Garonne. + +I have no child, my house is destroyed, my fields are devastated. Oh! the +evenings when we were all at table, and the gaiety surrounded me and kept +me young. Oh! the great days of harvest and vintage when we all worked, and +when we returned to the house proud of our wealth! Oh! the handsome children +and the fruitful vines, the beautiful girls and the golden grain, the joy +of my old age, the living recompense of my entire life! Since all that is +gone, why should I live? + +There is no consolation. I do not want help. I will give my fields to the +village people who still have their children. They will find the courage to +clear the land of the flotsam and cultivate it anew. When one has no children, +a corner is large enough to die in. + +I had one desire, one only desire. I wished to recover the bodies of my family, +to bury them beneath a slab, where I should soon rejoin them. It was said that, +at Toulouse, a large number of bodies carried down the stream, had been taken +from the water. I decided to make the trip. + +What a terrible disaster! Nearly two thousand houses in ruins; seven hundred +deaths; all the bridges carried away; a whole district razed, buried in the +mud; atrocious tragedies; twenty thousand half-clad wretches starving to +death; the city in a pestilential condition; mourning everywhere; the +streets filled with funeral processions; financial aid powerless to heal +the wounds! But I walked through it all without seeing anything. I had my +ruins, I had my dead, to crush me. + +I was told that many of the bodies had been buried in trenches in a corner +of the cemetery. Only, they had had the forethought to photograph the +unidentified. And it was among these lamentable photographs that I found +Gaspard and Veronique. They had been clasped passionately in each other's +arms, exchanging in death their bridal kiss. It had been necessary to break +their arms in order to separate them. But, first, they had been photographed +together; and they sleep together beneath the sod. + +I have nothing but them, the image of those two handsome children; bloated +by the water, disfigured, retaining upon their livid faces the heroism of +their love. I look at them, and I weep. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Flood, by Emile Zola + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FLOOD *** + +This file should be named zofld10.txt or zofld10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, zofld11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, zofld10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by Michael Castelluccio + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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