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diff --git a/old/23222.txt b/old/23222.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd4ce31 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/23222.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1529 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fete At Coqueville, by Emile Zola + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Fete At Coqueville + 1907 + +Author: Emile Zola + +Translator: L. G. Meyer + +Release Date: October 27, 2007 [EBook #23222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FETE AT COQUEVILLE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +THE FETE AT COQUEVILLE + +By Emile Zola + +Translated by L. G. Meyer. + +Copyright, 1907, by P. F. Collier & Son + + + + +I + +Coqueville is a little village planted in a cleft in the rocks, two +leagues from Grandport. A fine sandy beach stretches in front of the +huts lodged half-way up in the side of the cliff like shells left there +by the tide. As one climbs to the heights of Grandport, on the left the +yellow sheet of sand can be very clearly seen to the west like a river +of gold dust streaming from the gaping cleft in the rock; and with good +eyes one can even distinguish the houses, whose tones of rust spot the +rock and whose chimneys send up their bluish trails to the very crest +of the great slope, streaking the sky. It is a deserted hole. Coqueville +has never been able to attain to the figure of two hundred inhabitants. +The gorge which opens into the sea, and on the threshold of which the +village is planted, burrows into the earth by turns so abrupt and +by descents so steep that it is almost impossible to pass there with +wagons. It cuts off all communication and isolates the country so that +one seems to be a hundred leagues from the neighboring hamlets. + +Moreover, the inhabitants have communication with Grandport only by +water. Nearly all of them fishermen, living by the ocean, they carry +their fish there every day in their barks. A great commission house, the +firm of Dufeu, buys their fish on contract. The father Dufeu has been +dead some years, but the widow Dufeu has continued the business; she +has simply engaged a clerk, M. Mouchel, a big blond devil, charged with +beating up the coast and dealing with the fishermen. This M. Mouchel is +the sole link between Coque-ville and the civilized world. + +Coqueville merits a historian. It seems certain that the village, in +the night of time, was founded by the Mahes; a family which happened to +establish itself there and which grew vigorous at the foot of the cliff. +These Mahes continued to prosper at first, marrying continually among +themselves, for during centuries one finds none but Mahes there. Then +under Louis XIII appeared one Floche. No one knew too much of where +he came from.. He married a Mahe, and from that time a phenomenon +was brought forth; the Floches in their turn prospered and multiplied +exceedingly, so that they ended little by little in absorbing the Mahes, +whose numbers diminished until their fortune passed entirely into the +hands of the newcomers. Without doubt, the Floches brought new blood, +more vigorous physical organs, a temperament which adapted itself better +to that hard condition of high wind and of high sea. At any rate, they +are to-day masters of Coqueville. + +It can easily be understood that this displacement of numbers and of +riches was not accomplished without terrible disturbances. The Mahes and +the Hoches detest each other. Between them is a hatred of centuries. The +Mahes in spite of their decline retain the pride of ancient conquerors. +After all they are the founders, the ancestors. They speak with contempt +of the first Floche, a beggar, a vagabond picked up by them from +feelings of pity, and to have given away one of their daughters to +whom was their eternal regret. This Floche, to hear them speak, had +engendered nothing but a descent of libertines and thieves, who pass +their nights in raising children and their days in coveting legacies. +And there is not an insult they do not heap upon the powerful tribe of +Floche, seized with that bitter rage of nobles, decimated, ruined, who +see the spawn of the bourgeoisie master of their rents and of their +chateau. The Floches, on their side, naturally have the insolence of +those who triumph. They are in full possession, a thing to make them +insolent. Full of contempt for the ancient race of the Mahes, they +threaten to drive them from the village if they do not bow their heads. +To them they are starvelings, who instead of draping themselves in their +rags would do much better to mend them. + +So Coqueville finds itself a prey to two fierce factions--something like +one hundred and thirty inhabitants bent upon devouring the other fifty +for the simple reason that they are the stronger. + +The struggle between two great empires has no other history. + +Among the quarrels which have lately upset Coqueville, they cite the +famous enmity of the brothers, Fouasse and Tupain, and the ringing +battles of the Rouget menage. You must know that every inhabitant in +former days received a surname, which has become to-day the regular name +of the family; for it was difficult to distinguish one's self among the +cross-breedings of the Mahes and the Floches. Rouget assuredly had an +ancestor of fiery blood. As for Fouasse and Tupain, they were called +thus without knowing why, many surnames having lost all rational meaning +in course of time. Well, old Francoise, a wanton of eighty years who +lived forever, had had Fouasse by a Mahe, then becoming a widow, she +remarried with a Floche and brought forth Tupain. Hence the hatred of +the two brothers, made specially lively by the question of inheritance. +At the Rouget's they beat each other to a jelly because Rouget accused +his wife, Marie, of being unfaithful to him for a Floche, the tall +Brisemotte, a strong, dark man, on whom he had already twice thrown +himself with a knife, yelling that he would rip open his belly. Rouget, +a small, nervous man, was a great spitfire. + +But that which interested Coqueville most deeply was neither the +tantrums of Rouget nor the differences between Tupain and Fouasse. A +great rumor circulated: Delphin, a Mahe, a rascal of twenty years, dared +to love the beautiful Margot, the daughter of La Queue, the richest of +the Floches and chief man of the country. This La Queue was, in truth, a +considerable personage. They called him La Queue because his father, in +the days of Louis Philippe, had been the last to tie up his hair, with +the obstinacy of old age that clings to the fashions of its youth. Well, +then, La Queue owned one of the two large fishing smacks of Coqueville, +the "Zephir," by far the best, still quite new and seaworthy. The other +big boat, the "Baleine," a rotten old patache, {1} belonged to Rouget, +whose sailors were Delphin and Fouasse, while La Queue took with +him Tupain and Brisemotte. These last had grown weary of laughing +contemptuously at the "Baleine"; a sabot, they said, which would +disappear some fine day under the billows like a handful of mud. So when +La Queue learned that that ragamuffin of a Delphin, the froth of the +"Baleine," allowed himself to go prowling around his daughter, he +delivered two sound whacks at Margot, a trifle merely to warn her that +she should never be the wife of a Mahe. As a result, Margot, furious, +declared that she would pass that pair of slaps on to Delphin if he ever +ventured to rub against her skirts. It was vexing to be boxed on the +ears for a boy whom she had never looked in the face! + + 1 Naval term signifying a rickety old concern. + +Margot, at sixteen years strong as a man and handsome as a lady, had +the reputation of being a scornful person, very hard on lovers. And from +that, added to the trifle of the two slaps, of the presumptuousness of +Delphin, and of the wrath of Margot, one ought easily to comprehend the +endless gossip of Coqueville. + +Notwithstanding, certain persons said that Margot, at bottom, was not so +very furious at sight of Delphin circling around her. This Delphin was +a little blonde, with skin bronzed by the sea-glare, and with a mane of +curly hair that fell over his eyes and in his neck. And very powerful +despite his slight figure; quite capable of thrashing any one three +times his size. They said that at times he ran away and passed the night +in Grandport. That gave him the reputation of a werwolf with the girls, +who accused him, among themselves, of "making a life of it"--a vague +expression in which they included all sorts of unknown pleasures. +Margot, when she spoke of Delphin, betrayed too much feeling. He, +smiling with an artful air, looked at her with eyes half shut and +glittering, without troubling himself the least in the world over her +scorn or her transports of passion. He passed before her door, he +glided along by the bushes watching for her hours at a time, full of the +patience and the I cunning of a cat lying in wait for a tomtit; and when +suddenly she discovered him behind her skirts, so close to her at times +that she guessed it by the warmth of his breath, he did not fly, he took +on an air gentle and melancholy which left her abashed, stifled, not +regaining her wrath until he was some distance away. Surely, if her +father saw her he would smite her again. But she boasted in vain that +Delphin would some day get that pair of slaps she had promised him; +she never seized the moment to apply them when he was there; which made +people say that she ought not to talk so much, since in the end she kept +the slaps herself. + +No one, however, supposed she could ever be Delphin's wife. In her case +they saw the weakness of a coquette. As for a marriage between the +most beggardly of the Mahes, a fellow who had not six shirts to set up +housekeeping with, and the daughter of the mayor, the richest heiress of +the Floches, it would seem simply monstrous. + +Evil tongues insinuated that she could perfectly go with him all the +same, but that she would certainly not marry him. A rich girl takes her +pleasure as it suits her; only, if she has a head, she does not commit a +folly. Finally all Coque-ville interested itself in the matter, curious +to know how things would turn out. Would Delphin get his two slaps? or +else Margot, would she let herself be kissed on both cheeks in some hole +in the cliff? They must see! There were some for the slaps and there +were some for the kisses. Coqueville was in revolution. + +In the village two people only, the cure and the _garde champetre?_ +belonged neither to the Mahes nor to the Floches. The _garde champetre_, +{2} a tall, dried-up fellow, whose name no one knew, but who was called +the Emperor, no doubt because he had served under Charles X, as a matter +of fact exercised no burdensome supervision over the commune which was +all bare rocks and waste lands. A sub-prefect who patronized him had +created for him the sinecure where he devoured in peace his very small +living. + + 2 Watchman. + +As for the Abbe Radiguet, he was one of those simple-minded priests whom +the bishop, in his desire to be rid of him, buries in some out of the +way hole. He lived the life of an honest man, once more turned peasant, +hoeing his little garden redeemed from the rock, smoking his pipe and +watching his salads grow. His sole fault was a gluttony which he knew +not how to refine, reduced to adoring mackerel and to drinking, at +times, more cider than he could contain. In other respects, the father +of his parishioners, who came at long intervals to hear a mass to please +him. + +But the cure and the _garde champetre_ were obliged to take sides after +having succeeded for a long time in remaining neutral. Now, the Emperor +held for the Mahes, while the Abbe Radiguet supported the Floches. +Hence complications. As the Emperor, from morning to night, lived like +a bourgeois [citizen], and as he wearied of counting the boats which put +out from Grand-port, he took it upon himself to act as village police. +Having become the partizan of the Mahes, through native instinct for the +preservation of society, he sided with Fouasse against Tupain; he tried +to catch the wife of Rouget in _flagrante delicto_ with Brisemotte, and +above all he closed his eyes when he saw Delphin slipping into Margot's +courtyard. The worst of it was that these tactics brought about heated +quarrels between the Emperor and his natural superior, the mayor La +Queue. Respectful of discipline, the former heard the reproaches of the +latter, then recommenced to act as his head dictated; which disorganized +the public authority of Coqueville. One could not pass before the shed +ornamented with the name of the town hall without being deafened by the +noise of some dispute. On the other hand, the Abbe Radiguet rallied to +the triumphant Floches, who loaded him with superb mackerel, secretly +encouraged the resistance of Rouget's wife and threatened Margot with +the flames of hell if she should ever allow Delphin to touch her with +his finger. It was, to sum up, complete anarchy; the army in revolt +against the civil power, religion making itself complaisant toward +the pleasures of the bourgeoisie; a whole people, a hundred and eighty +inhabitants, devouring each other in a hole, in face of the vast sea, +and of the infinite sky. + +Alone, in the midst of topsy-turvy Coqueville, Delphin preserved the +laughter of a love-sick boy, who scorned the rest, provided Margot +was for him. He followed her zigzags as one follows hares. Very wise, +despite his simple look, he wanted the cure to marry them, so that his +bliss might last forever. + +One evening, in a byway where he was watching for her, Margot at last +raised her hand. But she stopped, all red; for without waiting for +the slap, he had seized the hand that threatened him and kissed it +furiously. As she trembled, he said to her in a low voice: "I love you. +Won't you have me?" + +"Never!" she cried, in rebellion. + +He shrugged his shoulders, then with an air, calm and tender, "Pray do +not say that--we shall be very comfortable together, we two. You will +see how nice it is." + + + + +II + +That Sunday the weather was appalling, one of those sudden calamities +of September that unchain such fearful tempests on the rocky coast of +Grandport. At nightfall Coqueville sighted a ship in distress driven by +the wind. But the shadows deepened, they could not dream of rendering +help. Since the evening before, the "Zephir" and the "Baleine" had been +moored in the little natural harbor situated at the left of the beach, +between two walls of granite. Neither La Queue nor Rouget had dared +to go out, the worst of it was that M. Mouchel, representing the Widow +Dufeu, had taken the trouble to come in person that Saturday to promise +them a reward if they would make a serious effort; fish was scarce, they +were complaining at the markets. So, Sunday evening, going to bed +under squalls of rain, Coqueville growled in a bad humor. It was the +everlasting story: orders kept coming in while the sea guarded its fish. +And all the village talked of the ship which they had seen passing in +the hurricane, and which must assuredly by that time be sleeping at the +bottom of the water. The next day, Monday, the sky was dark as ever. The +sea, still high, raged without being able to calm itself, although the +wind was blowing less strong. It fell completely, but the waves kept up +their furious motion. In spite of everything, the two boats went out in +the afternoon. Toward four o'clock, the "Zephir" came in again, having +caught nothing. While the sailors, Tupain and Brisemotte, anchored in +the little harbor, La Queue, exasperated, on the shore, shook his fist +at the ocean. And M. Mouchel was waiting! Margot was there, with the +half of Coqueville, watching the last surg-ings of the tempest, sharing +her father's rancor against the sea and the sky. + +"But where is the 'Baleine'?" demanded some one. + +"Out there beyond the point," said La Queue. "If that carcass comes back +whole to-day, it will be by a chance." + +He was full of contempt. Then he informed them that it was good for the +Mahes to risk their skins in that way; when one is not worth a sou, one +may perish. As for him, he preferred to break his word to M. Mouchel. + +In the meantime, Margot was examining the point of rocks behind which +the "Baleine" was hidden. + +"Father," she asked at last, "have they caught something?" + +"They?" he cried. "Nothing at all." + +He calmed himself and added more gently, seeing the Emperor, who was +sneering at him: + +"I do not know whether they have caught anything, but as they never do +catch anything--" + +"Perhaps, to-day, all the same, they have taken something," said the +Emperor ill-naturedly. "Such things have been seen." La Queue was about +to reply angrily. But the Abbe Radiguet, who came up, calmed him. From +the porch of the church the abbe had happened to observe the "Baleine"; +and the bark seemed to be giving chase to some big fish. This news +greatly interested Coqueville. In the groups reunited on the shore there +were Mahes and Floches, the former praying that the boat might come in +with a miraculous catch, the others making vows that it might come in +empty. + +Margot, holding herself very straight, did not take her eyes from the +sea. "There they are!" said she simply. + +And in fact a black dot showed itself beyond the point. All looked at +it. One would have said a cork dancing on the water. The Emperor did not +see even the black dot. One must be of Coqueville to recognize at that +distance the "Baleine" and those who manned her. + +"See!" said Margot, who had the best eyes of the coast, "it is Fouasse +and Rouget who are rowing--The little one is standing up in the bow." + +She called Delphin "the little one" so as not to mention his name. And +from then on they followed the course of the bark, trying to account for +her strange movements. As the cure said, she appeared to be giving +chase to some great fish that might be fleeing before her. That seemed +extraordinary. The Emperor pretended that their net was without doubt +being carried away. But La Queue cried that they were do-nothings, and +that they were just amusing themselves. Quite certain they were not +fishing for seals! All the Floches made merry over that joke; while the +Mahes, vexed, declared that Rouget was a fine fellow all the same, and +that he was risking his skin while others at the least puff of wind +preferred _terra firma_. The Abbe Radiguet was forced to interpose again +for there were slaps in the air. + +"What ails them?" said Margot abruptly. "They are off again!" They +ceased menacing one another, and every eye searched the horizon, The +"Baleine" was once more hidden behind the point. This time La Queue +himself became uneasy. He could not account for such maneuvres. The fear +that Rouget was really in a fair way to catch some fish threw him off +his mental balance. No one left the beach, although there was nothing +strange to be seen. They stayed there nearly two hours, they watched +incessantly for the bark, which appeared from time to time, then +disappeared. It finished by not showing itself at all any more. La +Queue, enraged, breathing in his heart the abominable wish, declared +that she must have sunk; and, as just at that moment Rouget's wife +appeared with Brisemotte, he looked at them both, sneering, while he +patted Tupain on the shoulder to console him already for the death of +his brother, Fouasse. But he stopped laughing when he caught sight of +his daughter Margot, silent and looming, her eyes on the distance; it +was quite possibly for Delphin. + +"What are you up to over there?" he scolded. "Be off home with you! +Mind, Margot!" + +She did not stir. Then all at once: "Ah! there they are!" + +He gave a cry of surprise. Margot, with her good eyes, swore that she no +longer saw a soul in the bark; neither Rouget, nor Fouasse, nor any one! +The "Baleine," as if abandoned, ran before the wind, tacking about every +minute, rocking herself with a lazy air. + +A west wind had fortunately risen and was driving her toward the land, +but with strange caprices which tossed her to right and to left. Then +all Coqueville ran down to the shore. One half shouted to the other +half, there remained not a girl in the houses to look after the soup. +It was a catastrophe; something inexplicable, the strangeness of which +completely turned their heads. Marie, the wife of Rouget, after a +moment's reflection, thought it her duty to burst into tears. Tupain +succeeded in merely carrying an air of affliction. All the Mahes were in +great distress, while the Floches tried to appear conventional. Margot +collapsed as if she had her legs broken. + +"What are you up to again!" cried La Queue, who stumbled upon her. + +"I am tired," she answered simply. + +And she turned her face toward the sea, her cheeks between her hands, +shading her eyes with the ends of her fingers, gazing fixedly at the +bark rocking itself idly on the waves with the air of a good fellow who +has drunk too much. + +In the meanwhile suppositions were rife. Perhaps the three men had +fallen into the water? Only, all three at a time, that seemed absurd. + +La Queue would have liked well to persuade them that the "Baleine" had +gone to pieces like a rotten egg; but the boat still held the sea; +they shrugged their shoulders. Then, as if the three men had actually +perished, he remembered that he was Mayor and spoke of formalities. + +"Leave off!" cried the Emperor, "Does one die in such a silly way?" "If +they had fallen overboard, little Delphin would have been here by this!" + +All Coqueville had to agree, Delphin swam like a herring. But where then +could the three men be? They shouted: "I tell you, yes!"--"I tell you, +no!"--"Too stupid!"--"Stupid yourself!" And matters came to the point +of exchanging blows. The Abbe Radiguet was obliged to make an appeal for +reconciliation, while the Emperor hustled the crowd about to establish +order. Meanwhile, the bark, without haste, continued to dance before the +world. It waltzed, seeming to mock at the people; the sea carried her +in, making her salute the land in long rhythmic reverences. Surely it +was a bark in a crazy fit. Margot, her cheeks between her hands, kept +always gazing. A yawl had just put out of the harbor to go to meet the +"Baleine." It was Brisemotte, who had exhibited that impatience, as +if he had been delayed in giving certainty to Rouget's wife. From that +moment all Coqueville interested itself in the yawl. The voices rose +higher: "Well, does he see anything?" + +The "Baleine" advanced with her mysterious and mocking air. At last they +saw him draw himself up and look into the bark that he had succeeded +in taking in tow. All held their breath. But, abruptly, he burst out +laughing. That was a surprise; what had he to be amused at? "What is it? +What have you got there?" they shouted to him furiously. + +He, without replying, laughed still louder. He made gestures as if to +say that they would see. Then having fastened the "Baleine" to the yawl, +he towed her back. And an unlooked-for spectacle stunned Coqueville. In +the bottom of the bark, the three men--Rouget, Delphin, Fouasse--were +beatifically stretched out on their backs, snoring, with fists clenched, +dead drunk. In their midst was found a little cask stove in, some full +cask they had come across at sea and which they had appreciated. Without +doubt, it was very good, for they had drunk it all save a liter's worth +which had leaked into the bark and which was mixed with the sea water. + +"Ah! the pig!" cried the wife of Rouget, brutally, ceasing to whimper. + +"Well, it's characteristic--their catch!" said La Queue, who affected +great disgust. + +"Forsooth!" replied the Emperor, "they catch what they can! They have at +least caught a cask, while others have not caught anything at all." + +The Mayor shut up, greatly vexed. Coqueville brayed. They understood +now. When barks are intoxicated, they dance as men do; and that one, +in truth, had her belly full of liquor. Ah, the slut! What a minx! +She festooned over the ocean with the air of a sot who could no longer +recognize his home. And Coqueville laughed, and fumed, the Mahes found +it funny, while the Floches found it disgusting. They surrounded the +"Baleine," they craned their necks, they strained their eyes to see +sleeping there the three jolly dogs who were exposing the secret springs +of their jubilation, oblivious of the crowd hanging over them. The abuse +and the laughter troubled them but little. Rouget did not hear his +wife accuse him of drinking up all they had; Fouasse did not feel the +stealthy kicks with which his brother Tupain rammed his sides. As for +Del-phin, he was pretty, after he had drunk, with his blond hair, his +rosy face drowned in bliss. Mar-got had gotten up, and silently, for the +present, she contemplated the little fellow with a hard expression. + +"Must put them to bed!" cried a voice. + +But just then Delphin opened his eyes. He rolled looks of rapture over +the people. They questioned him on all sides with an eagerness that +dazed him somewhat, the more easily since he was still as drunk as a +thrush. + +"Well! What?" he stuttered; "it was a little cask--There is no fish. +Therefore, we have caught a little cask." + +He did not get beyond that. To every sentence he added simply: "It was +very good!" + +"But what was it in the cask?" they asked him hotly. + +"Ah! I don't know--it was very good." + +By this time Coqueville was burning to know. Every one lowered their +noses to the boat, sniffing vigorously. With one opinion, it smelt of +liquor; only no one could guess what liquor. The Emperor, who flattered +himself that he had drunk of everything that a man can drink, said that +he would see. He solemnly took in the palm of his hand a little of the +liquor that was swimming in the bottom of the bark. The crowd became +all at once silent. They waited. But the Emperor, after sucking up a +mouthful, shook his head as if still badly informed. He sucked twice, +more and more embarrassed, with an air of uneasiness and surprise. And +he was bound to confess: + +"I do not know--It's strange--If there was no salt water in it, I would +know, no doubt--My word of honor, it is very strange!" + +They looked at him. They stood struck with awe before that which the +Emperor himself did not venture to pronounce. Coqueville contemplated +with respect the little empty cask. + +"It was very good!" once more said Delphin, who seemed to be making game +of the people. Then, indicating the sea with a comprehensive sweep, +he added: "If you want some, there is more there--I saw them--little +casks--little casks--little casks--" + +And he rocked himself with the refrain which he kept singing, gazing +tenderly at Margot. He had just caught sight of her. Furious, she made a +motion as if to slap him; but he did not even close his eyes; he awaited +the slap with an air of tenderness. + +The Abbe Radiguet, puzzled by that unknown tipple, he, too, dipped his +finger in the bark and sucked it. Like the Emperor, he shook his head: +no, he was not familiar with that, it was very extraordinary. They +agreed on but one point: the cask must have been wreckage from the ship +in distress, signaled Sunday evening. The English ships often carried to +Grandport such cargoes of liquor and fine wines. + +Little by little the day faded and the people were withdrawn into +shadow. But La Queue remained absorbed, tormented by an idea which he no +longer expressed. He stopped, he listened a last time to Delphin, whom +they were carrying along, and who was repeating in his sing-song voice: +"Little casks--little casks--little casks--if you want some, there are +more!" + + + + +III + +That night the weather changed completely. When Coqueville awoke the +following day an unclouded sun was shining; the sea spread out without +a wrinkle, like a great piece of green satin. And it was warm, one of +those pale glows of autumn. + +First of the village, La Queue had risen, still clouded from the dreams +of the night. He kept looking for a long time toward the sea, to the +right, to the left. At last, with a sour look, he said that he must in +any event satisfy M. Mouchel. And he went away at once with Tupain and +Brisemotte, threatening Margot to touch up her sides if she did not walk +straight. As the "Zephir" left the harbor, and as he saw the "Baleine" +swinging heavily at her anchor, he cheered up a little saying: "To-day, +I guess, not a bit of it! Blow out the candle, Jeanetton! those +gentlemen have gone to bed!" + +And as soon as the "Zephir" had reached the open sea, La Queue cast his +nets. After that he went to visit his "jambins." The jambins are a kind +of elongated eel-pot in which they catch more, especially lobsters and +red garnet. But in spite of the calm sea, he did well to visit his +jambins one by one. All were empty; at the bottom of the last one, as +if in mockery, he found a little mackerel, which he threw back angrily +into the sea. It was fate; there were weeks like that when the fish +flouted Coqueville, and always at a time when M. Mouchel had expressed +a particular desire for them. When La Queue drew in his nets, an hour +later, he found nothing but a bunch of seaweed. Straightway he swore, +his fists clenched, raging so much the more for the vast serenity of the +ocean, lazy and sleeping like a sheet of burnished silver under the +blue sky. The "Zephir," without a waver, glided along in gentle ease. La +Queue decided to go in again, after having cast his nets once more. In +the afternoon he came to see them, and he menaced God and the saints, +cursing in abominable words. In the meanwhile, Rouget, Fouasse, and +Del-phin kept on sleeping. They did not succeed in standing up until +the dinner hour. They recollected nothing, they were conscious only of +having been treated to something extraordinary, something which they +did not understand. In the afternoon, as they were all three down at the +harbor, the Emperor tried to question them concerning the liquor, now +that they had recovered their senses. It was like, perhaps, eau-de-vie +with liquorice-juice in it; or rather one might say rum, sugared and +burned. They said "Yes"; they said "No." From their replies, the +Emperor suspected that it was ratafia; but he would not have sworn to +it. That day Rouget and his men had too many pains in their sides to +go a-fishing. Moreover, they knew that La Queue had gone out without +success that morning, and they talked of waiting until the next day +before visiting their jambins. All three of them, seated on blocks +of stone, watched the tide come in, their backs rounded, their mouths +clammy, half-asleep. + +But suddenly Delphin woke up; he jumped on to the stone, his eyes on the +distance, crying: "Look, Boss, off there!" + +"What?" asked Rouget, who stretched his limbs. + +"A cask." + +Rouget and Fouasse were at once on their feet, their eyes gleaming, +sweeping the horizon. + +"Where is it, lad? Where is the cask?" repeated the boss, greatly moved. + +"Off there--to the left--that black spot." + +The others saw nothing. Then Rouget swore an oath. "Nom de Dieu!" + +He had just spotted the cask, big as a lentil on the white water in a +slanting ray of the setting sun. And he ran to the "Baleine," followed +by Delphin and Fouasse, who darted forward tapping their backs with +their heels and making the pebbles roll. + +The "Baleine" was just putting out from the harbor when the news that +they saw a cask out at sea was circulated in Coqueville. The children, +the women, began to run. They shouted: "A cask! a cask!" + +"Do you see it? The current is driving it toward Grandport." + +"Ah, yes! on the left--a cask! Come, quick!" + +And Coqueville came; tumbled down from its rock; the children arrived +head over heels, while the women picked up their skirts with both hands +to descend quickly. Soon the entire village was on the beach as on the +night before. + +Margot showed herself for an instant, then she ran back at full speed to +the house, where she wished to forestall her father, who was discussing +an official process with the Emperor. At last La Queue appeared. He was +livid; he said to the _garde champetre_: "Hold your peace! It's Rouget +who has sent you here to beguile me. Well, then, he shall not get it. +You'll see!" + +When he saw the "Baleine," three hundred metres out, making with all her +oars toward the black dot, rocking in the distance, his fury redoubled. +And he shoved Tupain and Brisemotte into the "Zephir," and he pulled out +in turn, repeating: "No, they shall not have it; I'll die sooner!" + +Then Coqueville had a fine spectacle; a mad race between the "Zephir" +and the "Baleine." When the latter saw the first leave the harbor, she +understood the danger, and shot off with all her speed. She may have +been four hundred metres ahead; but the chances remained even, for the +"Zephir" was otherwise light and swift; so excitement was at its height +on the beach. The Mahes and the Floches had instinctively formed into +two groups, following eagerly the vicissitudes of the struggle, each +upholding its own boat. At first the "Baleine" kept her advantage, but +as soon as the "Zephir" spread herself, they saw that she was gaining +little by little. The "Baleine" made a supreme effort and succeeded +for a few minutes in holding her distance. Then the "Zephir" once more +gained upon the "Baleine," came up with her at extraordinary speed. +From that moment on, it was evident that the two barks would meet in +the neighborhood of the cask. Victory hung on a circumstance, on the +slightest mishap. + +"The 'Baleine'! The 'baleine'!" cried the Mahes. + +But they soon ceased shouting. When the "Baleine" was almost touching +the cask, the "Zephir," by a bold maneuvre, managed to pass in front of +her and throw the cask to the left, where La Queue harpooned it with a +thrust of the boat-hook. + +"The 'Zephir'! the 'Zephir!" screamed the Floches. + +And the Emperor, having spoken of foul play, big words were exchanged. +Margot clapped her hands. The Abbe Radiguet came down with his breviary, +made a profound remark which abruptly calmed the people, and then threw +them into consternation. + +"They will, perhaps, drink it all, these, too," he murmured with a +melancholy air. + +At sea, between the "Baleine" and the "Zephir," a violent quarrel broke +out. Rouget called La Queue a thief, while the latter called Rouget a +good-for-nothing. The men even took up their oars to beat each other +down, and the adventure lacked little of turning into a naval combat. +More than this, they engaged to meet on land, showing their fists and +threatening to disembowel each other as soon as they found each other +again. + +"The rascal!" grumbled Rouget. "You know, that cask is bigger than the +one of yesterday. It's yellow, this one--it ought to be great." Then +in accents of despair: "Let's go and see the jambins; there may very +possibly be lobsters in them." + +And the "Baleine" went on heavily to the left, steering toward the +point. + +In the "Zephir," La Queue had to get in a passion in order to hold +Tupain and Brisemotte from the cask. The boat-hook, in smashing a hoop, +had made a leaking for the red liquid, which the two men tasted from the +ends of their fingers and which they found exquisite. One might easily +drink a glass without its producing much effect. But La Queue would not +have it. He caulked the cask and declared that the first who sucked it +should have a talk with him. On land, they would see. + +"Then," asked Tupain, sullenly, "are we going to draw out the jambins?" + +"Yes, right away; there is no hurry!" replied La Queue. + +He also gazed lovingly at the barrel. He felt his limbs melt with +longing to go in at once and taste it. The fish bored him. + +"Bah!" said he at the end of a silence. "Let's go back, for it's late. +We will return to-morrow." And he was relaxing his fishing when he +noticed another cask at his right, this one very small, and which stood +on end, turning on itself like a top. That was the last straw for the +nets and the jambins. No one even spoke of them any longer. The "Zephir" +gave chase to the little barrel, which was caught very easily. + +During this time a similar adventure overtook the "Baleine." After +Rouget had already visited five jambins completely empty, Delphin, +always on the watch, cried out that he saw something. But it did not +have the appearance of a cask, it was too long. + +"It's a beam," said Fouasse. + +Rouget let fall his sixth jambin without drawing it out of the water. +"Let's go and see, all the same," said he. + +As they advanced, they thought they recognized at first a beam, a chest, +the trunk of a tree. Then they gave a cry of joy. + +It was a real cask, but a very queer cask, such as they had never seen +before. One would have said a tube, bulging in the middle and closed at +the two ends by a layer of plaster. + +"Ah, that's comical!" cried Rouget, in rapture. "This one I want the +Emperor to taste. Come, children, let's go in." + +They all agreed not to touch it, and the "Baleine" returned to +Coqueville at the same moment as the "Zephir," in its turn, anchored in +the little harbor. Not one inquisitive had left the beach. Cries of joy +greeted that unexpected catch of three casks. The _gamins_ hurled their +caps into the air, while the women had at once gone on the run to +look for glasses. It was decided to taste the liquid on the spot. The +wreckage belonged to the village. Not one protest arose. Only they +formed into two groups, the Mahes surrounded Rouget, the Floches would +not let go of La Queue. + +"Emperor, the first glass for you!" cried Rouget. "Tell us what it is." + +The liquor was of a beautiful golden yellow. The _garde champetre_ +raised his glass, looked at it, smelt it, then decided to drink. + +"That comes from Holland," said he, after a long silence. + +He did not give any other information. All the Mahes drank with +deference. It was rather thick, and they stood surprised, for it tasted +of flowers. The women found it very good. As for the men, they would +have preferred less sugar. Nevertheless, at the bottom it ended by being +strong at the third or fourth glass. The more they drank, the better +they liked it. The men became jolly, the women grew funny. + +But the Emperor, in spite of his recent quarrels with the Mayor, had +gone to hang about the group of Floches. + +The biggest cask gave out a dark-red liquor, while they drew from the +smallest a liquid white as water from the rock; and it was this latter +that was the stiff est, a regular pepper, something that skinned the +tongue. + +Not one of the Floches recognized it, neither the red nor the white. + +There were, however, some wags there. It annoyed them to be regaling +themselves without knowing over what. + +"I say, Emperor, taste that for me!" said La Queue, thus taking the +first step. + +The Emperor, who had been waiting for the invitation, posed once more as +connoisseur. + +"As for the red," he said, "there is orange in that! And for the white," +he declared, "that--that is excellent!" + +They had to content themselves with these replies, for he shook his +head with a knowing air, with the happy look of a man who has given +satisfaction to the world. + +The Abbe Radiguet, alone, did not seem convinced. As for him, he had the +names on the tip of his tongue; and to thoroughly reassure himself, he +drank small glasses, one after the other, repeating: "Wait, wait, I know +what it is. In a moment I will tell you." + +In the mean while, little by little, merriment grew in the group of the +Mahes and the group of the Floches. The latter, particularly, laughed +very loud because they had mixed the liquors, a thing that excited them +the more. For the rest, the one and the other of the groups kept +apart. They did not offer each other of their casks, they simply cast +sympathetic glances, seized with the unavowed desire to taste their +neighbor's liquor, which might possibly be better. The inimical +brothers, Tupain and Fouasse, were in close proximity all the evening +without showing their fists. It was remarked, also, that Rouget and +his wife drank from the same glass. As for Margot, she distributed the +liquor among the Floches, and as she filled the glasses too full, and +the liquor ran over her fingers, she kept sucking them continually, +so well that, though obeying her father who forbade her to drink, she +became as fuddled as a girl in vintage time. It was not unbecoming to +her; on the contrary, she got rosy all over, her eyes were like candles. + +The sun set, the evening was like the softness of springtime. Coqueville +had finished the casks and did not dream of going home to dine. They +found themselves too comfortable on the beach. When it was pitch +night, Margot, sitting apart, felt some one blowing on her neck. It was +Del-phin, very gay, walking on all fours, prowling behind her like a +wolf. She repressed a cry so as not to awaken her father, who would have +sent Delphin a kick in the back. + +"Go away, imbecile!" she murmured, half angry, half laughing; "you will +get yourself caught!" + + + + +IV + +The following day Coqueville, in rising, found the sun already high +above the horizon. The air was softer still, a drowsy sea under a clear +sky, one of those times of laziness when it is so good to do nothing. It +was a Wednesday. Until breakfast time, Coqueville rested from the fete +of the previous evening. Then they went down to the beach to see. + +That Wednesday the fish, the Widow Dufeu, M. Mouchel, all were +forgotten. La Queue and Rouget did not even speak of visiting their +jam-bins. Toward three o'clock they sighted some casks. Four of them +were dancing before the village. The "Zephir" and the "Baleine" went in +chase; but as there was enough for all, they disputed no longer. Each +boat had its share. At six o'clock, after having swept all over the +little gulf, Rouget and La Queue came in, each with three casks. And +the fete began again. The women had brought down tables for convenience. +They had brought benches as well; they set up two cafes in the open air, +such as they had at Grandport. The Mahes were on the left; the Floches +on the right, still separated by a bar of sand. Nevertheless, that +evening the Emperor, who went from one group to the other, carried his +glasses full, so at to give every one a taste of the six casks. At about +nine o'clock they were much gayer than the night before. + +The next day Coqueville could never remember how it had gone to bed. + +Thursday the "Zephir" and the "Baleine" caught but four casks, two each, +but they were enormous. Friday the fishing was superb, undreamed +of; there were seven casks, three for Rouget and four for La Queue. +Coqueville was entering upon a golden age. They never did anything +any more. The fishermen, working off the alcohol of the night before, +slept till noon. Then they strolled down to the beach and interrogated +the sea. Their sole anxiety was to know what liquor the sea was going +to bring them. They waited there for hours, their eyes strained; they +raised shouts of joy when wreckage appeared. + +The women and the children, from the tops of the rocks, pointed with +sweeping gestures even to the least bunch of seaweed rolled in by the +waves. And, at all hours, the "Zephir" and the "Baleine" stood ready to +leave. They put out, they beat the gulf, they fished for casks, as they +had fished for tun; disdaining now the tame mackerel who capered +about in the sun, and the lazy sole rocked on the foam of the water. +Coqueville watched the fishing, dying of laughter on the sands. Then in +the evening they drank the catch. + +That which enraptured Coqueville was that the casks did not cease. When +there were no more, there were still more! The ship that had been lost +must truly have had a pretty cargo aboard; and Coqueville became egoist +and merry, joked over the wrecked ship, a regular wine-cellar, enough +to intoxicate all the fish of the ocean. Added to that, never did they +catch two casks alike; they were of all shapes, of all sizes, of all +colors. Then, in every cask there was a different liquor. So the Emperor +was plunged into profound reveries; he who had drunk everything, he +could identify nothing any more. La Queue declared that never had he +seen such a cargo. The Abbe Radiguet guessed it was an order from some +savage king, wishing to set up his wine-cellar. Coqueville, rocked in +mysterious intoxication, no longer tried to understand. + +The ladies preferred the "creams"; they had cream of moka, of cacao, of +mint, of vanilla. Marie Rouget drank one night so much anisette that she +was sick. + +Margot and the other young ladies tapped the curacao, the benedictine, +the trappistine, the chartreuse. As to the cassis, it was reserved for +the little children. Naturally the men rejoiced more when they caught +cognacs, rums, gins, everything that burned the mouth. Then surprises +produced themselves. A cask of _raki_ of Chio, flavored with mastic, +stupefied Coqueville, which thought that it had fallen on a cask of +essence of turpentine. All the same they drank it, for they must lose +nothing; but they talked about it for a long time. Arrack from Batavia, +Swedish eau-de-vie with cumin, tuica calugaresca from Rumania, slivowitz +from Servia, all equally overturned every idea that Coqueville had of +what one should endure. At heart they had a weakness for kuemmel and +kirschwasser, for liqueurs as pale as water and stiff enough to kill a +man. + +Heavens! was it possible so many good things had been invented! At +Coqueville they had known nothing but eau-de-vie; and, moreover, not +every one at that. So their imaginations finished in exultation; they +arrived at a state of veritable worship, in face of that inexhaustible +variety, for that which intoxicates. Oh! to get drunk every night on +something new, on something one does not even know the name of! +It seemed like a fairy-tale, a rain, a fountain, that would spout +extraordinary liquids, all the distilled alcohols, perfumed with all the +flowers and all the fruits of creation. + +So then, Friday evening, there were seven casks on the beach! Coqueville +did not leave the beach. They lived there, thanks to the mildness of the +season. Never in September had they enjoyed so fine a week. The fete +had lasted since Monday, and there was no reason why it should not last +forever if Providence should continue to send them casks; for the Abbe +Radiguet saw therein the hand of Providence. All business was suspended; +what use drudging when pleasure came to them in their sleep? They were +all bourgeois, bourgeois who were drinking expensive liquors without +having to pay anything at the cafe. With hands in pocket, Coqueville +basked in the sunshine waiting for the evening's spree. Moreover, it +did not sober up; it enjoyed side by side the gaieties of kuemmel, of +kirsch-wasser, of ratafia; in seven days they knew the wraths of gin, +the tendernesses of curacao, the laughter of cognac. And Coqueville +remained as innocent as a new-born child, knowing nothing about +anything, drinking with conviction that which the good Lord sent them. + +It was on Friday that the Mahes and the Floches fraternized. They were +very jolly that evening. Already, the evening before, distances had +drawn nearer, the most intoxicated had trodden down the bar of sand +which separated the two groups. There remained but one step to take. On +the side of the Floches the four casks were emptying, while the Mahes +were equally finishing their three little barrels; just three liqueurs +which made the French flag; one blue, one white, and one red. The blue +filled the Floches with jealousy, because a blue liqueur seemed to them +something really supernatural. La Queue, grown good-natured since he had +been drunk, advanced, a glass in his hand, feeling that he ought to take +the first step as magistrate. + +"See here, Rouget," he stuttered, "will you drink with me?" + +"Willingly," replied Rouget, who was staggering under a feeling of +tenderness. + +And they fell upon each other's necks. Then they all wept, so great was +their emotion. The Mahes and the Floches embraced, they who had been +devouring one another for three centuries. The Abbe Radiguet, greatly +touched, again spoke of the finger of God. They drank to each other in +the three liqueurs, the blue, the white, and the red. + +"_Vive la France!_" cried the Emperor. + +The blue was worthless, the white of not much account, but the red was +really a success. Then they tapped the casks of the Floches. Then they +danced. As there was no band, some good-natured boys clapped their +hands, whistling, which excited the girls. The fete became superb. The +seven casks were placed in a row; each could choose that which he liked +best. Those who had had enough stretched themselves out on the sands, +where they slept for a while; and when they awoke they began again. +Little by little the others spread the fun until they took up the whole +beach. Right up to midnight they skipped in the open air. The sea had a +soft sound, the stars shone in a deep sky, a sky of vast peace. It +was the serenity of the infant ages enveloping the joy of a tribe of +savages, intoxicated by their first cask of eau-de-vie. + +Nevertheless, Coqueville went home to bed again. When there was nothing +more left to drink, the Floches and the Mahes helped one another, +carried one another, and ended by finding their beds again one way or +another. On Saturday the fete lasted until nearly two o'clock in the +morning. They had caught six casks, two of them enormous. Fouasse and +Tupain almost fought. Tupain, who was wicked when drunk, talked of +finishing his brother. But that quarrel disgusted every one, the Floches +as well as the Mahes. Was it reasonable to keep on quarreling when the +whole village was embracing? They forced the two brothers to drink +together. They were sulky. The Emperor promised to watch them. Neither +did the Rouget household get on well. When Marie had taken anisette she +was prodigal in her attentions to Brisemotte, which Rouget could not +behold with a calm eye, especially since having become sensitive, he +also wished to be loved. The Abbe Radiguet, full of forbearance, did +well in preaching forgiveness; they feared an accident. "Bah!" said La +Queue; "all will arrange itself. If the fishing is good to-morrow, you +will see--Your health!" + +However, La Queue himself was not yet perfect. He still kept his eye on +Delphin and leveled kicks at him whenever he saw him approach Margot. +The Emperor was indignant, for there was no common sense in preventing +two young people from laughing. But La Queue always swore to kill his +daughter sooner than give her to "the little one." Moreover, Margot +would not be willing. + +"Isn't it so? You are too proud," he cried. "Never would you marry a +ragamuffin!" + +"Never, papa!" answered Margot. + +Saturday, Margot drank a great deal of sugary liqueur. No one had any +idea of such sugar. As she was no longer on her guard, she soon found +herself sitting close to the cask. She laughed, happy, in paradise; she +saw stars, and it seemed to her that there was music within her, playing +dance tunes. Then it was that Delphin slipped into the shadow of the +casks. He took her hand; he asked: "Say, Margot, will you?" + +She kept on smiling. Then she replied: "It is papa who will not." + +"Oh! that's nothing," said the little one; "you know the old ones never +will--provided you are willing, you." And he grew bold, he planted a +kiss on her neck. She bridled; shivers ran along her shoulders. "Stop! +You tickle me." + +But she talked no more of giving him a slap. In the first place, she was +not able to, for her hands were too weak. Then it seemed nice to her, +those little kisses on the neck. It was like the liqueur that enervated +her so deliciously. She ended by turning her head and extending her +chin, just like a cat. + +"There!" she stammered, "there under the ear--that tickles me. Oh! that +is nice!" + +They had both forgotten La Queue. Fortunately the Emperor was on guard. +He pointed them out to the Abbe. + +"Look there, Cure--it would be better to marry them." + +"Morals would gain thereby," declared the priest sententiously. + +And he charged himself with the matter for the morrow. 'Twas he himself +that would speak to La Queue. Meanwhile La Queue had drunk so much that +the Emperor and the Cure were forced to carry him home. On the way they +tried to reason with him on the subject of his daughter; but they could +draw from him nothing but growls. Behind them, in the untroubled night, +Delphin led Margot home. + +The next day by four o'clock the "Zephir" and the "Baleine" had already +caught seven casks. At six o'clock the "Zephir" caught two more. That +made nine. + +Then Coqueville feted Sunday. It was the seventh day that it had been +drunk. And the fete was complete--a fete such as no one had ever seen, +and which no one will ever see again. Speak of it in Lower Normandy, and +they will tell you with laughter, "Ah! yes, the fete at Coqueville!" + + + + +V + +In the mean while, since the Tuesday, M. Mouchel had been surprised at +not seeing either Rouget or La Queue arrive at Grandport. What the devil +could those fellows be doing? The sea was fine, the fishing ought to be +splendid. Very possibly they wished to bring a whole load of soles and +lobsters in all at once. And he was patient until the Wednesday. + +Wednesday, M. Mouchel was angry. You must know that the Widow Dufeu was +not a commodious person. She was a woman who in a flash came to high +words. Although he was a handsome fellow, blond and powerful, he +trembled before her, especially since he had dreams of marrying her, +always with little attentions, free to subdue her with a slap if he ever +became her master. Well, that Wednesday morning the Widow Dufeu stormed, +complaining that the bundles were no longer forwarded, that the sea +failed; and she accused him of running after the girls of the coast +instead of busying himself with the whiting and the mackerel which +ought to be yielding in abundance. M. Mouchel, vexed, fell back on +Coqueville's singular breach of honor. For a moment surprise calmed +the Widow Dufeu. What was Coqueville dreaming about? Never had it so +conducted itself before. But she declared immediately that she had +nothing to do with Coqueville; that it was M. Mouchel's business to look +into matters, that she should take a partner if he allowed himself to be +played with again by the fishermen. In a word, much disquieted, he sent +Rouget and La Queue to the devil. Perhaps, after all, they would come +tomorrow. + +The next day, Thursday, neither the one nor the other appeared. +Toward evening, M. Mouchel, desperate, climbed the rock to the left of +Grandport, from which one could see in the distance Coqueville, with +its yellow spot of beach. He gazed at it a long time. The village had a +tranquil look in the sun, light smoke was rising from the chimneys; no +doubt the women were preparing the soup. M. Mouchel was satisfied that +Coqueville was still in its place, that a rock from the cliff had not +crushed it, and he understood less and less. As he was about to descend +again, he thought he could make out two black points on the gulf; the +"Baleine" and the "Zephir." After that he went back to calm the Widow +Dufeu. Coqueville was fishing. The night passed. Friday was here. Still +nothing of Coqueville. M. Mouchel climbed to his rock more than ten +times. He was beginning to lose his head; the Widow Dufeu behaved +abominably to him, without his finding anything to reply. Coqueville was +always there, in the sun, warming itself like a lazy lizard. Only, M. +Mouchel saw no more smoke. The village seemed dead. Had they all died in +their holes? On the beach, there was quite a movement, but that might +be seaweed rocked by the tide. Saturday, still no one. The Widow Dufeu +scolded no more; her eyes were fixed, her lips white. M. Mouchel passed +two hours on the rock. A curiosity grew in him, a purely personal need +of accounting to himself for the strange immobility of the village. The +old walls sleeping beatifically in the sun ended by worrying him. His +resolution was taken; he would set out that Monday very early in the +morning and try to get down there near nine o'clock. + +It was not a promenade to go to Coqueville. M. Mouchel preferred to +follow the route by land, in that way he would come upon the village +without their expecting him. A wagon carried him as far as Robineux, +where he left it under a shed, for it would not have been prudent to +risk it in the middle of the gorge. And he set off bravely, having to +make nearly seven kilometers over the most abominable of roads. The +route was otherwise of a wild beauty; it descended by continual turns +between two enormous ledges of rock, so narrow in places that three men +could not walk abreast. Farther on it skirted the precipices; the gorge +opened abruptly; and one caught glimpses of the sea, of immense blue +horizons. But M. Mouchel was not in a state of mind to admire the +landscape. He swore as the pebbles rolled under his feet. It was the +fault of Coqueville, he promised to shake up those do-nothings well. +But, in the meantime, he was approaching. All at once, in the turning +at the last rock, he saw the twenty houses of the village hanging to the +flank of the cliff. + +Nine o'clock struck. One would have believed it June, so blue and warm +was the sky; a superb season, limpid air, gilded by the dust of the +sun, refreshed by the good smell of the sea. M. Mouchel entered the only +street of the village, where he came very often; and as he passed before +Rouget's house, he went in. The house was empty. Then he cast his eye +toward Fouasse's--Tupain's--Brisemotte's. Not a soul; all the doors +open, and no one in the rooms. What did it mean? A light chill began to +creep over his flesh. Then he thought of the authorities. Certainly, the +Emperor would reassure him. But the Emperor's house was empty like the +others. Even to the _garde champetre_, there was failure! That village, +silent and deserted, terrified him now. He ran to the Mayor's. There +another surprise awaited him: the house was found in an abominable mess; +they had not made the beds in three days; dirty dishes littered the +place; chairs seemed to indicate a fight. His mind upset, dreaming of +cataclysms, M. Mouchel determined to go on to the end, and he entered +the church. No more cure than mayor. All the authorities, even religion +itself had vanished. Coqueville abandoned, slept without a breath, +without a dog, without a cat. Not even a fowl; the hens had taken +themselves off. Nothing, a void, silence, a leaden sleep under the great +blue sky. + +Parbleu! It was no wonder that Coqueville brought no more fish! +Coqueville had moved away. Coqueville was dead. He must notify the +police. The mysterious catastrophe exalted M. Mouchel, when, with the +idea of descending to the beach, he uttered a cry. In the midst of +the sands, the whole population lay stretched. He thought of a general +massacre. But the sonorous snores came to undeceive him. During the +night of Sunday, Coqueville had feasted so late that it had found itself +in absolute inability to go home to bed. So it had slept on the sand, +just where it had fallen, around the nine casks, completely empty. + +Yes, all Coqueville was snoring there; I hear the children, the women, +the old people, and the men. Not one was on his feet. There were some on +their stomachs, there were some on their backs; others held themselves +_en chien de fusils_ {3} As one makes his bed so must one lie on it. +And the fellows found themselves, happen what may, scattered in their +drunkenness like a handful of leaves driven by the wind. The men +had rolled over, heads lower than heels. It was a scene full of +good-fellowship; a dormitory in the open air; honest family folk taking +their ease; for where there is care, there is no pleasure. + + 3 Primed for the event + +It was just at the new moon. Coqueville, thinking it had blown out its +candle, had abandoned itself to the darkness. Then the day dawned; +and now the sun was flaming, a sun which fell perpendicularly on the +sleepers, powerless to make them open their eyelids. They slept rudely, +all their faces beaming with the fine innocence of drunkards. The hens +at early morning must have strayed down to peck at the casks, for they +were drunk; they, too, sleeping on the sands. There were also five cats +and five dogs, their paws in the air, drunk from licking the glasses +glistening with sugar. + +For a moment M. Mouchel walked about among the sleepers, taking care not +to step on any of them. He understood, for at Grandport they, too, had +received casks from the wreck of the English ship. All his wrath left +him. What a touching and moral spectacle! Coqueville reconciled, +the Mahes and the Floches sleeping together! With the last glass the +deadliest enemies had embraced. Tupain and Fouasse lay there snoring, +hand in hand, like brothers, incapable of coming to dispute a legacy. As +to the Rouget household, it offered a still more amiable picture, Marie +slept between Rouget and Brisemotte, as much as to say that henceforth +they were to live thus, happy, all the three. + +But one group especially exhibited a scene of family tenderness. It was +Delphin and Margot; one on the neck of the other, they slept cheek to +cheek, their lips still opened for a kiss. At their feet the Emperor, +sleeping crosswise, guarded them. Above them La Queue snored like +a father satisfied at having settled his daughter, while the Abbe +Radiguet, fallen there like the others, with arms outspread, seemed to +bless them. In her sleep Margot still extended her rosy muzzle like an +amorous cat who loves to have one scratch her under the chin. + +The fete ended with a marriage. And M. Mouchel himself later married the +Widow Dufeu, whom he beat to a jelly. Speak of that in Lower Normandy, +they will tell you with a laugh, "Ah! yes, the fete at Coqueville!" + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fete At Coqueville, by Emile Zola + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FETE AT COQUEVILLE *** + +***** This file should be named 23222.txt or 23222.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/2/2/23222/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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