Read Online A Life by Guy de Maupassant - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Guy de Maupassant
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afforded a distant view of the sea, over the copse and the screen of elms gnawed away the wind.
Arm in arm, Jeanne and the Baron inspected everything, each little nook and cranny; and then they strolled along the long avenues of poplars which formed the boundary of what was called the park. The grass had grown long beneath the trees, spreading out in a carpet of green. The copse, at the far end, was an enchanting spot with its muddle of tiny, twisting paths separated by leafy partitions. A hare started up suddenly, alarming Jeanne, and then leapt over the bank and made off through the gorse towards the cliff
After lunch Madame Adélaïde, who was still exhausted, announced that she was retiring to rest, and the Baron suggested that they went down to Yport.
Off they went, passing first through the hamlet of Étouvent, in which Les Peuples was located. * Three farmhands greeted them as if they had know them all their lives.
They entered the woodland that slopes down a twisting valley towards the sea.
Presently the village of Yport came into sight. Women, sitting on their front steps mending clothes, watched them as they passed by. The main street ran downhill, with a gutter in the middle and piles of rubbish standing by the doorways, and it gave off a strong smell of pickling brine. Brown fishing-nets, with gleaming scales sticking to them here and there like tiny silver coins, were hanging out to dry against the cottage-doors, while from inside came the various aromas generated by these large families, each one crowded together into a single room.
One or two pigeons were walking along the edge of the gutter in search of sustenance.
Jeanne took in the scene, which for her had the interest and novelty of a stage set.
But suddenly, rounding the end of a wall, she caught sight of the sea, a smooth, dark expanse of blue stretching away as far as the eye could see.
They stopped, opposite the beach, and gazed. Out at sea sails were passing, white as bird's wings. To right and left loomed the towering cliff. A headland of sorts interrupted the view in one direction, while in the other the coastline extended indefinitely until it was no more than a faint smudge.
A harbour and some houses could be seen in one of its nearer indentations; and tiny little waves, edging the sea with a frill of foam, plashed gently onto the shingle.
The local fishing-boats had been hauled up the sloping beach over the smooth pebbles and lay on their sides, proffering their shiny, plumb, pitch-coated cheeks to the sun. A few fishermen were getting them ready for the evening tide.
A sailor came up selling fish, and Jeanne bought a brill, which she insisted on carrying back to Les Peuples herself.
Then the man offered his services for boat-trips, repeating his name in emphatic sequence to impress it on the memory: 'Lastique, Joséphin Lastique.'
The Baron promised not to forget it.
They turned and headed back towards the chateau.
As Jeanne found the fish tiring to carry, she poked her father's walking-stick through its gills, and each took one end; and merrily they climbed back up the hill again, chatting away like two children, faces to the wind and eyes shining, while the brill, which felt heavier and heavier, swept the grass with its oily tail.
II
For Jeanne a charming life of freedom now began. She read, she daydreamed, she wandered about by herself in the surrounding countryside. She ambled aimlessly along the roads, her thoughts far away; or else she scampered down the little winding valleys where, like golden copes, a shock of flowering gorse topped the ridges on either side. Its sweet, pungent smell, intensified by the heat, turned her head like fragrant wine; and the distant sound of waves breaking on a beach bore her spirits up on a swell of peace.
Sometimes she would have to lie down on a bank of thick grass, overcome by lassitude; while at other moments she would suddenly, at a bend in the valley or through a gap in the grass,
Arm in arm, Jeanne and the Baron inspected everything, each little nook and cranny; and then they strolled along the long avenues of poplars which formed the boundary of what was called the park. The grass had grown long beneath the trees, spreading out in a carpet of green. The copse, at the far end, was an enchanting spot with its muddle of tiny, twisting paths separated by leafy partitions. A hare started up suddenly, alarming Jeanne, and then leapt over the bank and made off through the gorse towards the cliff
After lunch Madame Adélaïde, who was still exhausted, announced that she was retiring to rest, and the Baron suggested that they went down to Yport.
Off they went, passing first through the hamlet of Étouvent, in which Les Peuples was located. * Three farmhands greeted them as if they had know them all their lives.
They entered the woodland that slopes down a twisting valley towards the sea.
Presently the village of Yport came into sight. Women, sitting on their front steps mending clothes, watched them as they passed by. The main street ran downhill, with a gutter in the middle and piles of rubbish standing by the doorways, and it gave off a strong smell of pickling brine. Brown fishing-nets, with gleaming scales sticking to them here and there like tiny silver coins, were hanging out to dry against the cottage-doors, while from inside came the various aromas generated by these large families, each one crowded together into a single room.
One or two pigeons were walking along the edge of the gutter in search of sustenance.
Jeanne took in the scene, which for her had the interest and novelty of a stage set.
But suddenly, rounding the end of a wall, she caught sight of the sea, a smooth, dark expanse of blue stretching away as far as the eye could see.
They stopped, opposite the beach, and gazed. Out at sea sails were passing, white as bird's wings. To right and left loomed the towering cliff. A headland of sorts interrupted the view in one direction, while in the other the coastline extended indefinitely until it was no more than a faint smudge.
A harbour and some houses could be seen in one of its nearer indentations; and tiny little waves, edging the sea with a frill of foam, plashed gently onto the shingle.
The local fishing-boats had been hauled up the sloping beach over the smooth pebbles and lay on their sides, proffering their shiny, plumb, pitch-coated cheeks to the sun. A few fishermen were getting them ready for the evening tide.
A sailor came up selling fish, and Jeanne bought a brill, which she insisted on carrying back to Les Peuples herself.
Then the man offered his services for boat-trips, repeating his name in emphatic sequence to impress it on the memory: 'Lastique, Joséphin Lastique.'
The Baron promised not to forget it.
They turned and headed back towards the chateau.
As Jeanne found the fish tiring to carry, she poked her father's walking-stick through its gills, and each took one end; and merrily they climbed back up the hill again, chatting away like two children, faces to the wind and eyes shining, while the brill, which felt heavier and heavier, swept the grass with its oily tail.
II
For Jeanne a charming life of freedom now began. She read, she daydreamed, she wandered about by herself in the surrounding countryside. She ambled aimlessly along the roads, her thoughts far away; or else she scampered down the little winding valleys where, like golden copes, a shock of flowering gorse topped the ridges on either side. Its sweet, pungent smell, intensified by the heat, turned her head like fragrant wine; and the distant sound of waves breaking on a beach bore her spirits up on a swell of peace.
Sometimes she would have to lie down on a bank of thick grass, overcome by lassitude; while at other moments she would suddenly, at a bend in the valley or through a gap in the grass,
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