Chapter 5 〇Gojiyet-sama
When Father Morris came home, he saw the neighbor's old mother coming to chat with his woman, and asked for a kindling to start a fire by the way.Madam Guillet lived in a very poor hut, two ranges from the farm.But this is an organized and strong-willed woman.Her humble house is clean and tidy, and her clothes are carefully mended, showing her self-love in poverty.
You have come for the evening fire, Madam Guillette, said my father, do you want anything else?
No, Papa Morris, she answered, not anything just now.I am not a beggar, as you know, I will not abuse the kindness of my friends.
This is true; so your friends are always ready to help you.
I was talking to your woman, and I asked her if Germain made up his mind to marry another.
You are not a talkative man, said old Maurice, don't hesitate to speak in your presence: I will tell my wife and you that Germain has made up his mind; he is going to Fourches tomorrow. farm.
Very good!Madam Guillet cried, poor child!May God bless him to find a woman as good and upright as he is!
ah!Is he going to Fourche?Madam Guillette said with a sense of comprehension, what a coincidence!This is very convenient for me. Didn't you just ask me what I want, and I want to tell you, Father Maurice, you can do me a little favor.
Speak, Speak, we are happy to help you.
I want to trouble Germain with my daughter.
where to takeTo Fourche?
Not to Fourche, but to Olmo, where she will stay until the end of the year.
how!Says Papa Morris, are you going to separate from your daughter?
She should go out to work and earn some money.It makes me sad, and it makes her sad, poor little girl!We couldn't bear to part on St. John's Day[Note 1]; but now St. Martin's Day[Note 2] came, and she got a good job as a shepherd on the farm in Olmo.The farmer came back from the market that day and passed by here.He saw my little Mary herding her three sheep on the common.He said to her: "Little girl, you have a lot of free time; it is too little for a shepherdess to herd three sheep."Do you want to herd a hundred sheep?I can take you away.The shepherdess on our farm got sick and went back to her parents' house.If you will come to our farm in a week, you can earn fifty francs during the year until St. John's Day.The child refused, but when she came home at night, she saw me frowning and worried about how to spend the winter. This winter must be long and cold, because people saw cranes and geese flying across the sky a month earlier than usual, so she couldn't help thinking of that and told me.We both cried, but finally courage came.We knew in our hearts that we could not stay together, because our little land was barely enough to support one, and Mary was old enough (she was sixteen) that she should work like everyone else, earn her bread, and help her poor mother.
【Note 1】St. John's Day is on June 24th, which is a day for recruiting workers in other provinces.
[Note 2] St. Martin's Day is on November 11, which is also a day for recruiting workers.
Madam Guillette, the old farmer said, if it only cost fifty francs, you would not have to suffer, and you would not have to send your children far away. Francs carry a little weight for people like us.But everything must obey both friendship and reason.Even if you escape the bitterness of this winter, you will not escape the bitterness of the future, and the longer your daughter hesitates, the harder it is for her to separate from you.Little Mary has grown tall and strong, and she has nothing to worry about at home, and will develop lazy habits
oh!I don't worry about that, Madam Guillette said, Marie has as much courage as a girl from a rich family, or a girl who is in charge of a lot of business.When she wasn't standing by, when we weren't working, she was sweeping and mopping our poor furniture until it shone like a mirror.This child is as valuable as gold that weighs as much as her. I would rather she go to your house to herd sheep than go to work far away with someone I don't know.If we'd had the foresight to make up our minds, you'd have hired her on St. John's Day; but you're full now, and we can't think of it until St. John's next year.
Well, I wholeheartedly agree, Guillette!This will make me happy.However, during this period of time, she was quite able to learn a skill and got used to working for others.
Yes, that's right; it's settled.The farmer in Olmo sent to ask her this morning, and we said yes, and she's going to go right away.But the poor child doesn't know the way, and I don't want to send her so far alone.Since your son-in-law is going to Furche tomorrow, he can quite well take her with him.From what I heard, it seemed that Foursh was next to where she was going, because I had never been there either.
They are next to each other, and my son-in-law can show her the way.It was a matter of course; he could even let her ride behind him, saving her shoes.Look, he's home for dinner.Germain, Madam Guillet's little Marie is going to be a shepherdess at Olmo, tell me she will ride on your horse, will you?
OK.Germain replied that he was very preoccupied, but he was always willing to help his neighbors.
In our circles a mother would think of entrusting a sixteen-year-old daughter to a man of twenty-eight, and such a thing would never happen; for Germain was indeed only twenty-eight, although according to the local In my opinion, he was too old to marry, but he was still the most handsome man in the area.The work in the field did not leave him with the deep wrinkles and haggard look that most farmers who have plowed the land for ten years reflect on their faces.He still had the strength to plow another ten years without looking old, and a young girl must have a very strong prejudice against age in her head to fail to see that Germain's face was ruddy, and his eyes were as bright and blue as the May sky, Red lips, good teeth, and a body as handsome and nimble as a colt that hasn't left the pasture.
But in certain villages far from the decadence of the big cities, customary chastity is a sacred tradition.Of all the families in Burrell Village, the Morriss were renowned for their integrity.Germain was going on a blind date; Marie was too young and too poor for him to think of her in that way, and he would have no evil thoughts by her side, unless he was a heartless wretch.Father Maurice was not in the least worried at the sight of this pretty girl sitting behind him; Madam Guillette would have thought it an insult to him, if she had enjoined him to treat her daughter with the same respect as his sister.Mary kissed her mother and her young girlfriends no less than twenty times, and rode into the horse with tears in her eyes.Germain, sullen over his own business, sympathized with her sorrow all the more, and went on his way in a serious spirit, while the neighbors waved poor Marie good-bye, thinking no worse of it.