THE STORY OF AN UNDERMASTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3243, 28 June 1872, Page 3

THE STORY OF AN UNDERMASTER.

[By MM. Erckmann Chatbian.] (Translated for the Otatjo Daily Times from, the Remit dcs Deux Mundes.) CHAPTER VI.—CONTINUED. She extended her hand in silence, showing me the fifth hut farther on, and immediately went in. The clock struck twelve, so I left. The whole hamlet knew me already; the people looked at me from all the garret windows. As I came near the hovel, the..huge Catherinette; Laroche, a regular she-wolf, was taking her husIxuid back from the tavern. He was a woodman, with ronnd shoulders, black whiskers, and a bald head with large wens on it. They were disputing while walking. His wife culled him a drunkard; he smoked his short pipe and said, blinking with a savage eye—" Hold your tongue, Catherinette ; hold your tongue!" I was at their door. Without showing attention to me ; without showing the least human respect, knowing that I was going to dine with them, these creatures continued to dispute. I Their children looked out from the kitchen, when suddenly the man gave his wife two terrible blows. The cries she uttered may be conceived ; she might have been heard at the bottom of Les Roches. I was going to run off, when the man said to me, laughing, " Come in, schoolmaster. Do not mind it." .

He pushed me by the shoulder into the room at the end, and as two children were at table, he took the biggest by the ear and put him aside, to make room for me. The salad-bowl of clotted milk and the dish of smoking potatoes reminded me of my arrival at Chene-Fendn.

The woman outside continued to utter cries in the midst of the gossips gathered from the neighbourhood. She threatened to bike the hatchet. Jacques Laroche had laid down his pipe, and said to me tranquilly, "Eat then! it is nothing "Xou must-not stand on ceremony Make yourself at home "

Such was the kind of life thr.t one led at Les Roches. It was to this I was forced to accustom myself. During the six -weeks, in which I passed all the hnvels under review, I saw the same thing !ilnu.>- everywhere. They wrangkd and abused one another; they madtterrible threats; the children ran about with hare feet, without troubling themselves about it. Poachers, smugglers, sabot-makers, tub-makers, and weavers knew 110 other mode of life. Every Sunday they got d rank with white wine, and brandy made from potatoes, in a shameful manner; and the women, under the pretext of going to look for their husbands, went into the tavern and, after slight entreaty, seated themselves at their sides. There they remained for hours, emptying goblets of white wine; and when there was card-playing, they made signs to their husbands to cheat the others, which almost always occasioned fights, in which blows from chaira or botties, stabs with knives, bites, and cravats twisted io strangle one another, showed the ferocity of tills sava^o race. All this did not prevent tlie.se people from being very religious, as Sister Jilco;:ore had said to me, nor from believing in <leijio:is, sorcerers, and goblins; from telling their heads, and kneeling before all the crosses on the road, while striking their breasts ; no, they all had faith. I'oaching, smuggling, drunkenness, cheating, ex volo offerings, pilgrimages, public penances, all went well .together. Tlie one did not interfere with tlie other. Were it not for fear of the gendarmes, and the notion of going to cut the water with strokes of the oar, for fifteen or twenty years, and sometimes the whole life — without this salutary fear, there would have been seen at Les Roches a much greater mixture of holy and worldly things. As for the children, they were, neither worse nor more stupid than those of Chenc-Fendu; hut they were more hardy and wilder. Les Roches swarmed with them, like foxes, they came every year ; two out of three died. They did not trouble themselves much about it. There were fewer mouths iv the house! Sometimes the women wept, at seeing the cart leave with the

little coffin, the man also passed his hand across his eyes, and then it was over; the ulea that their child was in Paradise, consoledTilrem at once ; a fortnight after, they thought no more of it. Those who lived, did well, and with their feet in the snow, and their heads in the sun, they became as hard as flints. They all had what was necessary to support poverty—good lungs, a good stomach, and good teeth. They neither took colds nor inflammations in the open air, nor stomach-ache from eating green apples and raw carrots. In the famous retreat from Russia, all the young men of Les Roches, except two or three carried off by bullets, returned without even chilblains. In the midst of the snow they fancied themselves at home. This was narrated to me more than once, by the old forest-guard, Jerome. The whole of this tribe, from seven to twelve years, was sent to school during the Avinter season, not in order to learn anything, but to get rid of them from the hovels; the room of the widow Hulot swarmed with them, they arranged themselves on the benches early in the morning, a heap of rags moving in the shade. Sister Elconore had only taught them the Lord's prayer, which they recited like parrots, without understanding a word of it. And I, knowing that the biggest amon"them were to be admitted to the holy table this year, the Sunday after Easter, at first did all I could to teach them the catechism, by the method of pere Guillaume. I hit away with all my might, while bawling to them:—'"'Who created you', and brought you forth, youill-conditioned rascals? Will you answer ?"

Pan!...Pan!...Pan! They took this without a frown, and satisfied themselves with blinking the eyes, and'ruhbing the back or the lower part of the loins. The remembrance of all.-I owed to M. le cure Bernard, who had in a manner saved my life, redoubled my zeal, and T exclaimed : "God of Heaven, what will he think when these asses are questioned before the congregation, without being able to answer?" It will he in vain to say that Sister EJeonore had taught them nothing, the fault will always fall back on me.

Every evening in my room I thought over tliis misfortune, asking myself why the method of pere Guillaume did not produce its ordinary effect, and I ended .in comprehending that the poor little ones, from being beaten so much at home, no longer felt anything, that it was in some measure their daily pittance, like those unfortunate cart-horses who get no other oats, and whose skin is as hard as the sole of a boot; but how could this be remedied? In the evening, in going out after supper, I went to walk in the • environs of Les Roches, in spite of the snow, I thinking continually over these things. It is very necessary to breathe the air a little, wheu you are shut up all day. Then the spectacle of the night coming on; that great blue plain, where the shadows lengthen from second to second, and i which ends in disappearing in the midst of fo- • the silence in the distance, and the thousand noises of the hamlet in the solitude ; the small windows which light up one by one; the poacher who go?.s out upon the watch, his cap of skin drawn over the ears, his old flint musket under his arm - quickening his pace towards the pines, and looking on all sides ; the last woodmen coming late, with the thick logs on their shoulders for the kitchen; and, when complete darkness comes on, a corner of a shed which shows a light, the woman who comes out, shading the lamp with her hand, and asking, in a low voice— "Is it you?" " Yes." " Has all gone well ?" "Yes." At last, the smuggler, with his bag of tobacco, or his packets cf powder, in the basket on his back, stealingTjelrind, who, after having well I watched and listened, leaves for his hiding place. . . . All these things pleased me. It was a wolfish^ cold; but nevertheless I did not go in until nine o'clock—the time when the women of the village assembled to work. They spun, and narrated ghost stories to one another, while the men played at cards, or smoked their pipes behind the stove. I then returned, and found the widow Hulot in her place, i-eciting her beads in the dark night. The poor old creature prayed j for her son Jean Hulot, condemned to the galleys for life for having killed a guard. I blew up a last ember in the kitchen, lighted my lamp, and went up to study the single chant, in the thick volume"-; of ;M. Guillaume, or arithmetic or geometry. In the room above, the widow had not neglected to make a fire—for wood cost nothing; she had also swept it. She was a good woman. I seated myself —my elbows on the little table, and my head between my hands— until near eleven o'clock, and sometimes until midnight. Suoh were my days—they were all alike, except Sundays, when we went down to Chene-Fendu, to attend mass and vespers whether it was windy, or rained, or snowed, or hailed, every one went, even the old men and women. One must have been very old or very sick to remain. I was naturally at the head with my pupils ; the whole made a procession of a quarter of a league. Sometimes showers fell, mingled with snow. It made no difference, soaked, chilled to the loins, they went all the same; and the children, to warm themselves, went running down the hill, shouting out aloud. On these occasions, I noticed that several of my pupils had fine clear voices, such as I could have wished to have had myself. At other times also, in my little walks in the neighbourhood of the hamlet, I had heard them singing on the top of a rock, with their legs hanging over it. They sang like nightingales, without troubling themselves about the blows of the stick which they had received in the morning, or those that they would get in the evening. Seeing these things, the idea occurred to me one day, to teach them the single chant, being convinced beforehand that their parents would be very much flattered by it; and thinking besides, that by this means it might he possible to excite a sort of emulation among my pupils. Having, therefore, reflected well over it, I said one morning to them at the school, that those who knew their lessons in the catechism should learn the single chant; that they should come iv the evening, and that I would begin to-morrow. Never, perhaps, had these children had more pleasure than on this day. Their ambition to learn to sing shewed itself at once, for all wished to join but I selected only three, who almost knew their catechism—Jerome ami Philippe Hutin, sons of the forest-guard, and Jean Feirc, the son of our municipal councillor; and I told the others to remain at home, that they had nothing to do with the sol, fa, la, which only concerned those who merited it.

The news of this occun-ence spread the same evening over .Les Roches, and the three 1 had chosen came quite radiant at seven o'clock. I liiul arranged my table of notes. It was with this we began, and it was an astonishing thing, that they immediately understood the two keys of solandoffa; theyatoncesangcorrectly, repeating after me the scale. The others not being taken, were compelled to give the reason, and received a good correction at home. The mothers came in a file the next day to beg me to take their children as well; but I replied to all —" When he knows his catechism; the choir can only be attained after the catechism."

Distress was evident on all sides ; and from that day, in place of being obliged to beat my pupils, I had only to say to them—"You shall not come to sing this evening." On this they wept bitter tears, which had never happened by means of blows.

I then gnve up forever, the method of M. Guillaume. It is not by beating children, and humiliating them, that anything can be done; it is by raising them in their own eyes, by giving them the means of distinguishing themselves, and treating them like men and not like animals. The sol, fa, la, and single chant could alone succeed at Les Roches. With these superstitious people the ceremonies of the Church were necessary ; the chanter at the desk was to them a sort of personage who came after the heaillc and W. le cure: you may imagine, therefore, their satisfaction.

There only remained six weeks to teach the catechism to the big ones; well, that was enough. At each fresh examination that wo went to pass fat Cheue-Fendu, M. le cure Bernard wns surprised at our progress. Sister EMonore had never obtained anything like ifc. He said to me, smiling, that it was God who had raised up the slanderous tongues against me, to send _me to Les Roches, in order to civilise the district! And the last .Sunday before Easter he announced that those of the hamlet of Les Roches, knowing their catechism the best, it would be Jerome, the son of the forest-guard, who should recite the Act of Faith in public at the first communion. It would be impossible to describe the consideration with which 1 was surrounded, from that moment, by the inhabitants of the hamlet; it was to mo they attributed this unique and extraordinary .honour. Every one took their hats off to me, and the women received me with a pleasant smile, when 1 went to their huts to take my meals. The day of the communion having arrived, when the children of Les Roches were to be seen on the first row, when Jerome Hutin was heard raising his voice und-r the arches of the church, to recite his Act of Faith, and- two or three others were seen near mo in the choir, at the side of M. Guillaumo, iv his red cap and white surplice, gravely helping us to sing the Gloria in Excelsis, then the enthusiasm of the people of, the hamlet knew no bounds. After the communion, men and women adjourned io the taverns, and rejoiced in such a manner that a great number were unable to stir from their seats. Happily, I was not with them, as it would have been necessary to have drunk until I fell

under the table. I was invited by M. le curd Bernard, who presented me as a model schoolmaster to his brethren, whohadcomofor tho ceremony. He bestowed so much praise on me that I blushed with modesty, and these gentlemen also gave me a good reception ; they were gay, smiling, and florid. We drank good wine at dinner, and we had a trout of two pounds weight, among other delicate dishes, such as water-hens and a haunch of venison, notwithstanding the spring season, when all shooting and fishing is close; but on these occasions such details are overlooked, and choice things come to you from all parts; fishermen and poachers dfsire to testify their gratitude ■- one cannot refuse what they bring, and M. Bernard said, smiling: "These water-hens are fowls ! this hauncli of venison is a leg of mutton!" which made the honourable company laugh until the tears came. It was then, I saw how useful it is to frequent people better instructed tlian oneself, living amidst other ideas. What could I learn in my corner of the affaire of the world, of new laws and regulations? I lived like the moss on its rock, and nothing from without came to me; but this day I was to learu many tilings, for, as Mile. Justine came to servo the coffee, on a large tray painted with brilliant flowers, MM. les euros began to speak of the new Ordinances relating to public instruction, and the propagation of sound doctrines. In the first pkes, M. le cuie of Voyer, with a full face, his ears red, and his double chin shaking on his bands, glorified the good intentions of our excellent king Louis XVIII., and of his respected brother, the Count d'Artois, saying that they had been established by God himself, to revive the faith in this kingdom ; he cited, as a proof, the Ordinance of the sth December, which authorised the association called "the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine," of the diocese of Strasburg, to furnish masters for_ the primary schools of the Hunt and BasRhin. Other cures then becoming enthusiastic replied, that this first Ordinance was in some measure only a sign of the times, that already, the happy efforts of the administration making themselves felt, it had extended itself to all the departments of the former proviuce of Brittany, that the society formed under the name of the "Congregation for Christian Instruction" had just obtained, not only the right to receive legacies and donations, made in favour of the said association, but also to give a certificate of capacity to each brother, on the sight of the special letter of obedience, which would be delivered him by the general superior of the society. The satisfaction of these gentlemen, in speaking of these, things could not be pictured. All this, besides, seemed natural to them, and one of them said to me, smiling, " Monsieur the schoolmaster, you hear. ... Be on your guard. You aie going to have a severe competition, the liberty of instruction extends more and more, be on a level with progress." He called this liberty, when the ones received legacies and donations, when they were supported by collections, when their schools were built for them and they were regarded as saints, •whilst the lay instructors only received the contributions of the pupils, and even then lived in misery. «lod of Heaven! What things I could have said in reply. But I was very careful to refrain from doing so, and M. le eiu 6 Bernard answered for me—"My dear confrere, do not trouble yourself about M.Renaud; he is in the good path, he knows his duties, and places worldly instruction far below holy things. The progress he has effected in two months at the liamlet of Les Roches in the instruction of the catechism and the single cliaut merits for him my entire esteem. Do not trouble yourself about my friend Jean-Baptiste, I will answer for him."

The whole table laughed, and I laughed as well, as you may think. I was proud of these compliments, and I was delighted at being in the world, before a good cup of Mocha smoking hot, and a salver garnished with liqueurs, such as 1 had never seen or tasted from the day of my birth. This made me happy. It was necessary, nevertheless, to assemble my pupils to attend vespers. I left after coffee, thanking M. Bernard for all his goodness, and promising him to remain worthy of it. " Very good, very good, my dear Renaud," he said ; " you have only to continue, and all will go well."

Having then profoundly saluted the company, I passed up the village, amidst acclamations of joy, and appeals from the taverns; on all sides they tapped at the wiudows, from all-tile doors they called to me : "He! monsieur Renaud

...monsieur Jean-B-iptisfce J Come in then and empty a glass; come in fer a minute."

But I had to assemble my pupils, of wliotu a large number, fortunately, had already collected before tlie Church. All the invitations in the world would not have diverted me from my duty. About two o'clock MSI. les cures having risen from the ta.ble, vespers took place ; then at four o'clock, after having drunk a few more good glasses, they ascended towards Les Roches, supporting one another, three or four goiug arm in arm, and calling to each other from station to station, with cries and signs which require to have been seen to form an idea of them. All along the path, in the woods and the pine plantations, acquaintances were encountered whom it was necessary to support, to help them to walk, and to encourage, and who wished to embrace you without knowing why. Others, being quarrelsome in their cups, got angry. These, stumbling and swearing, ended by stretching themselves out in the brushwood. As for us—my pupils, the widow Hulot, the old guard Jerome, and myself -we returned to the hamlet at six o'clock, happy to be at homo, and above all to get to bed after this magnificent triumph.