.jpeg)
by Corry Shores
[Search Blog Here. Index-tags are found on the bottom of the left column.]
[Literature, Poetry, Drama, entry directory]
[Alexandre Dumas, entry directory]
[Dumas. The Wolf-Leader (Le meneur de loups), entry directory]
[The following is summary. Boldface, underlining, bracketed commentary, and section subdivisions are my own. Proofreading is incomplete, so please forgive my mistakes. Text is copied from online sources (see bibliography below).]
Summary of
Alexandre Dumas
Le meneur de loups
The Wolf-Leader
22
“Le dernier souhait de Thibault”
“Thibault’s Last Wish”
Brief summary (collecting those below):
__(22.1)__ (Recall from section 21 that Thibault the sorcerer encountered his love Agnelette. When she refused to leave her husband Engoulevent for him, he pledges to do him harm. Agnelette runs off to protect him.) Agnelette is running fast to the village where she left her husband Engoulevent. When she draws near, Engoulevent surprises her by jumping out from a bush he was hiding behind. She is relieved to find him alive (and she calls him “Etienne”), and she tells him all about her encounter with Thibault (again, see section 21). Engoulevent will take Agnelette to her grandmother’s, and he will ride to Vez to tell the Baron where Thibault is now located so that they can move their battue to that area, but he will take a route that avoids the forest and thus the danger that Thibault presents to his life. On the way home, Agnelette tries to convince Engoulevent not to tell Vez of Thibault’s whereabouts, because Thibault saved her, withheld his power from her, and also, when he learns about such a treachery, Thibault “would never under similar circumstances show mercy to any one again.” Out of his jealousy about Thibault’s love for Agnelette and also on account of the grudge between him and Thibault from when he “had spied out Thibault in his tree, and his boar-spear in a neighbouring bush” (see section 2.3), Engoulevent refuses to restrain himself on the matter. When they reach Préciamont, there are guards who are protecting the town from Thibault and are guarding the entrance. A sentinel calls to Engoulevent and Agnelette “Who goes there?”, but they do not hear it, because they are still discussing the matter. The sentinel aims his gun to shoot. Seeing this, Engoulevent protects Agnelette with his body and is shot in the heart and dies. Agnelette faints. Then “They carried her to her grandmother’s, but she only came to her senses to fall into a state of despair which bordered on delirium, and which at last became almost madness. She accused herself of her husband’s death, called him by name, begged the invisible spirits, which seemed to haunt her, even in the short intervals of slumber which her excited state of brain made possible, to have mercy upon him. She called Thibault’s name, and addressed such heartbroken supplications to him that those about her were moved to tears. By degrees, in spite of the incoherence of her words, the real facts became evident, and it grew to be generally understood that the Wolf-leader was in some way accountable for the unhappy accident which had caused poor Etienne’s death. The common enemy was therefore accused of having cast a spell [jeté un sort] over the two unfortunate young creatures, and the animosity felt towards the former shoe-maker became intensified.” Gradually Agnelette’s health declines until she nears death. __(22.2)__ There are two women attending to Agnelette in her room while she is ill. They witness Thibault paying a dramatic visit: “All at once, the sick woman, who for some minutes past had been shivering at intervals, seemed to be fighting against some horrible dream, and gave a piercing cry of anguish. At that moment the door burst open, a man seemingly encircled by flames, rushed into the room, leapt to Agnelette’s bed, clasped the dying woman in his arms, pressed his lips upon her forehead, uttering cries of sorrow, then, rushing to another door which gave on to the open country, opened it and disappeared. The apparition had come and gone so quickly that it seemed almost like an hallucination, and as if Agnelette were endeavouring to repulse some invisible object as she cried out, ‘Take him away! take him away!’ But the two watchers had seen the man and had recognised Thibault, and there was a clamouring outside, in the midst of which the name of Thibault could be distinguished.” A group of villagers arrive to Agnelette’s hut; they are close to catching Thibault, who was seen already in the area. “Thibault, hearing of the hopeless condition in which Agnelette was, had not been able to resist his longing to see her once again, and at the risk of what might happen to him, he had passed through the village, trusting to the rapidity of his movements, had opened the door of the hut and rushed in to see the dying woman.” The woman “showed the peasants the door by which Thibault had escaped, and like a pack that has recovered the scent they started afresh on his track with renewed cries and threats. Thibault, it need hardly be said, escaped from them and disappeared in the forest.” Then “Agnelette’s condition, after the terrible shock given her by Thibault’s presence and embrace, became so alarming that before the night was over the priest was sent for; she had evidently now but a few hours longer to live and suffer.” But Agnelette seems to gain a little strength and a priest hears her praying for someone. “And who was that other? God, the priest, and Agnelette alone knew.”]
[Agnelette’s and Engoulevent’s Unfortunate Accident]
[Thibault’s Visit to Agnelette]
Summary
[Agnelette’s and Engoulevent’s Unfortunate Accident]
[(Recall from section 21 that Thibault the sorcerer encountered his love Agnelette. When she refused to leave her husband Engoulevent for him, he pledges to do him harm. Agnelette runs off to protect him.) Agnelette is running fast to the village where she left her husband Engoulevent. When she draws near, Engoulevent surprises her by jumping out from a bush he was hiding behind. She is relieved to find him alive (and she calls him “Etienne”), and she tells him all about her encounter with Thibault (again, see section 21). Engoulevent will take Agnelette to her grandmother’s, and he will ride to Vez to tell the Baron where Thibault is now located so that they can move their battue to that area, but he will take a route that avoids the forest and thus the danger that Thibault presents to his life. On the way home, Agnelette tries to convince Engoulevent not to tell Vez of Thibault’s whereabouts, because Thibault saved her, withheld his power from her, and also, when he learns about such a treachery, Thibault “would never under similar circumstances show mercy to any one again.” Out of his jealousy about Thibault’s love for Agnelette and also on account of the grudge between him and Thibault from when he “had spied out Thibault in his tree, and his boar-spear in a neighbouring bush” (see section 2.3), Engoulevent refuses to restrain himself on the matter. When they reach Préciamont, there are guards who are protecting the town from Thibault and are guarding the entrance. A sentinel calls to Engoulevent and Agnelette “Who goes there?”, but they do not hear it, because they are still discussing the matter. The sentinel aims his gun to shoot. Seeing this, Engoulevent protects Agnelette with his body and is shot in the heart and dies. Agnelette faints. Then “They carried her to her grandmother’s, but she only came to her senses to fall into a state of despair which bordered on delirium, and which at last became almost madness. She accused herself of her husband’s death, called him by name, begged the invisible spirits, which seemed to haunt her, even in the short intervals of slumber which her excited state of brain made possible, to have mercy upon him. She called Thibault’s name, and addressed such heartbroken supplications to him that those about her were moved to tears. By degrees, in spite of the incoherence of her words, the real facts became evident, and it grew to be generally understood that the Wolf-leader was in some way accountable for the unhappy accident which had caused poor Etienne’s death. The common enemy was therefore accused of having cast a spell [jeté un sort] over the two unfortunate young creatures, and the animosity felt towards the former shoe-maker became intensified.” Gradually Agnelette’s health declines until she nears death.]
[ditto]
Bien que poursuivie par une terreur profonde et ayant hâte d’arriver au village où elle avait laissé son mari, Agnelette, justement à cause de la rapidité de sa course, était obligée de s’arrêter de temps en temps : l’haleine lui manquait.
Dans ces moments de halte, pendant lesquels elle essayait de ressaisir sa raison, elle se disait qu’elle était folle d’attacher tant d’importance à des paroles impuissantes, dictées par la jalousie et la haine, que le vent avait déjà emportées ; et cependant, malgré cela, dès qu’elle était parvenue à reprendre sa respiration, dès que la force lui revenait, elle poursuivait sa route de la même course précipitée, car elle sentait qu’elle ne serait tranquille que lorsqu’elle aurait revu son mari.
Bien qu’elle eût à traverser une demi-lieue à peu près des triages les plus solitaires et les plus sauvages de la forêt, elle ne songeait plus aux loups, qui étaient la terreur de toutes les villes et de tous les villages à dix lieues à la ronde. Elle n’avait qu’une peur : c’était de rencontrer sous ses pas le corps inanimé d’Engoulevent.
Plus d’une fois, lorsque son pied heurta un caillou ou une branche, sa respiration s’arrêta tout à coup comme si son dernier soupir se fût exhalé, un froid aigu lui entra jusqu’au fond du cœur, ses cheveux se dressèrent sur son front et une sueur froide inonda son visage.
Enfin, au bout du sentier qu’elle suivait, et au-dessus duquel les arbres, en se croisant, formaient une voûte, elle aperçut la campagne doucement argentée par les rayons de la lune.
Au moment où elle entrait dans la plaine et passait de l’obscurité à la lumière, un homme qu’elle n’avait point aperçu, caché qu’il était derrière un buisson du fossé qui séparait la plaine de la forêt, se jeta au-devant d’Agnelette et la prit entre ses bras.
– Oh ! oh ! dit-il en riant, où allez-vous à cette heure de nuit, madame, et de ce pas-là encore ?
Agnelette reconnut son mari.
– Étienne ! oh ! mon cher petit Étienne ! s’écria la jeune femme en lui jetant les deux bras autour du cou, que je suis donc aise de te revoir, et de te revoir bien vivant ! Mon Dieu ! je vous remercie !
– Oh ! oh ! dit Engoulevent, tu croyais donc, pauvre Agnelette, que Thibault, le meneur de loups, avait dîné de mes os ?
– Ah ! ne prononce pas le nom de Thibault, Étienne ; fuyons, mon ami, fuyons du côté des maisons !
– Allons, fit en riant le jeune piqueur, voilà que tu vas faire dire aux commères de Préciamont et de Vez qu’un mari n’est bon à rien, pas même à rassurer sa femme.
– Tu as raison, Étienne ; mais, moi qui tout à l’heure ai eu le courage de traverser ces grands vilains bois, je ne sais pourquoi, maintenant que je devrais être rassurée puisque tu es près de moi, je ne sais pourquoi je tremble de peur.
– Que t’est-il donc arrivé ? Voyons, dis-moi cela, fit Étienne en donnant un baiser à sa femme.
Agnelette raconta alors à son mari comment, en revenant de Vez à Préciamont, elle avait été attaquée par un loup, comme Thibault l’avait arrachée à ses griffes, et ce qui s’était passé entre elle et ce dernier.
Engoulevent écouta avec la plus grande attention.
– Écoute, dit-il à Agnelette, je vais te conduire à la maison, je t’y renfermerai bien soigneusement avec la grand-mère pour qu’il ne t’arrive point malheur ; puis je monterai à cheval et j’irai prévenir le seigneur Jean de l’endroit où se tient Thibault.
– Oh ! non, non ! s’écria Agnelette, tu serais obligé de traverser la forêt, et il pourrait y avoir du danger.
– Je ferai un détour, dit Étienne, et, au lieu de passer par la forêt, j’irai par les fonds de Coyolles et de Value.
Agnelette poussa un soupir et secoua la tête, mais elle n’insista pas davantage. Elle savait que sur ce point elle n’obtiendrait rien d’Engoulevent, et, d’ailleurs, elle se réservait de renouveler ses prières une fois rentrée à la maison.
Et, en effet, ce que comptait faire le jeune piqueur était tout simplement l’accomplissement d’un devoir.
Une battue formidable devait avoir lieu le lendemain, justement dans la partie de la forêt opposée à celle où Agnelette venait de rencontrer Thibault.
Il était du devoir d’Étienne d’aller sans retard prévenir le seigneur Jean du lieu où Agnelette avait rencontré le meneur de loups.
Il n’y avait pas trop du reste de la nuit pour changer les dispositions de la battue.
Cependant, en approchant de Préciamont, Agnelette, qui avait gardé le silence un instant, jugea sans doute que, pendant cet instant, elle avait amassé un nombre suffisant de bonnes raisons, car elle reprit ses sollicitations avec plus d’ardeur que jamais.
Elle représenta à Étienne que Thibault, tout loup-garou qu’il était, avant de lui faire aucun mal, lui avait sauvé la vie ; qu’au lieu d’abuser de sa force, quand il la tenait en sa puissance, il lui avait donné la liberté de venir rejoindre son mari. Dire où était Thibault après cela, dénoncer sa retraite à son ennemi mortel, le seigneur Jean, ce n’était plus accomplir un devoir, c’était ourdir une trahison : c’était vouloir que Thibault, qui ne pouvait manquer d’être instruit de cette trahison, ne fît plus désormais grâce à personne en pareille circonstance.
La jeune femme plaidait la cause de Thibault avec une véritable éloquence. Mais, en épousant Engoulevent, elle ne lui avait pas plus fait mystère de ses premiers engagements avec le sabotier que de ce qui s’était passé dans leur dernière entrevue.
Quelle que fût la confiance qu’il eût dans sa femme Engoulevent n’en était pas moins accessible à la jalousie.
D’ailleurs, il existait une vieille haine entre lui et Thibault, haine qui avait pris naissance le jour où Engoulevent avait déniché le sabotier sur un arbre et l’épieu du sabotier dans le buisson voisin.
Aussi tint-il bon et continua-t-il, tout en écoutant les prières d’Agnelette, à se diriger vivement vers Préciamont.
Ils arrivèrent en discutant, et chacun soutenant son dire, jusqu’à cent pas des premières haies.
Pour combattre, autant que possible, les incursions soudaines et inattendues que Thibault faisait dans les villages, les paysans avaient établi des espèces de patrouilles nocturnes et se gardaient comme on se garde en temps de guerre.
Étienne et Agnelette étaient si préoccupés de leur discussion, qu’ils n’entendirent pas le qui-vive de la sentinelle embusquée derrière la haie, et qu’ils continuèrent de s’avancer vers le village.
La sentinelle, apercevant dans l’ombre une apparence à laquelle sa préoccupation prêtait une forme monstrueuse et qui, ne répondant point à son qui-vive, continuait de s’avancer vers lui, prépara son fusil.
En levant les yeux, le jeune piqueur aperçut tout à coup la sentinelle à la lumière de la lune qui, pareille à un éclair, se reflétait sur le canon du fusil.
Tout en répondant ami, il se jeta au-devant d’Agnelette, l’enlaçant de ses bras et lui faisant un rempart de son corps.
Mais le coup de feu partit au même instant, et le malheureux Étienne, poussant un soupir, tomba sur celle qu’il étreignait, sans faire entendre une seule plainte.
La balle lui avait traversé le cœur.
Lorsque les gens de Préciamont, avertis par le bruit du coup de feu, arrivèrent sur le sentier qui conduit du village à la forêt, ils trouvèrent Engoulevent mort et Agnelette étendue sans connaissance sur le cadavre de son mari.
On transporta la pauvre Agnelette dans la cabane de sa grand-mère.
Mais elle ne revint à elle que pour tomber dans un désespoir qui touchait au délire.
Lorsqu’elle fut sortie de la torpeur des premiers jours, le délire atteignit les proportions de la folie.
Elle s’accusait de la mort de son mari ; elle l’appelait, elle demandait grâce pour lui à des esprits invisibles qui obsédaient jusqu’aux courts instants de sommeil que l’exaltation de son cerveau lui permettait de prendre.
Elle prononçait le nom de Thibault et s’adressait au maudit avec des supplications qui tiraient les larmes des yeux de tous ceux qui l’entendaient.
Comme dans tout ce que racontait sa folie, malgré l’incohérence des paroles, les faits réels se faisaient jour, on comprenait que le meneur de loups était mêlé au funeste événement qui avait causé la mort du pauvre Étienne. En conséquence, on accusait l’ennemi commun d’avoir jeté un sort sur les deux malheureux enfants, et l’animadversion que l’on portait à l’ancien sabotier s’en était encore accrue.
On eut beau appeler le médecin de Villers-Cotterêts et celui de la Ferté-Milon, l’état d’Agnelette ne fit qu’empirer : ses forces s’en allèrent décroissant ; sa voix, au bout de quelques jours, devint plus faible et plus brève, quoique son délire demeurât toujours aussi violent, et tout faisait croire, même le silence des médecins, que la pauvre Agnelette ne tarderait point à suivre son mari dans la tombe.
La voix de la vieille aveugle avait seule le pouvoir de diminuer sa fièvre. Lorsqu’elle entendait parler la grand-mère, Agnelette se calmait, ses yeux fixés et hagards s’adoucissaient et s’humectaient de larmes ; elle passait sa main sur son front comme pour en chasser une pensée importune, et un triste sourire se dessinait rapide et fugitif sur ses lèvres.
(284-289)
URGED in her flight by a hideous terror, and anxious to reach the village where she had left her husband with all speed possible, Agnelette, for the very reason that she was running so hastily, was forced by her failing breath, to pause at intervals along the way. During these short spaces of rest, she endeavoured to reason with herself, trying to convince herself of the folly of attaching importance to words which could have no power in themselves, and which were dictated by jealousy and hatred, words which had by now been scattered to the winds; but notwithstanding all her mental arguments, she had no sooner regained her breath than she started off again at the same precipitate pace, for she felt she should know no peace until she had seen her husband again. Best part of her way led through the forest, and near the wildest and most solitary enclosures, but she gave no thought to the wolves, which were the terror of every town and village within ten miles round. Only one fear possessed her, that of coming across her husband’s dead body. More than once, as her foot struck against a stone or a branch, her heart stopped beating, and she felt as if her last breath had been drawn, while a sharp cold seemed to enter her very vitals, her hair stood on end and her face grew wet with perspiration. At last, at the end of the long path she had been traversing, arched over by the trees, she saw ahead of her, a vista of open country lying bathed in the soft silver light of the moon. As she emerged from the gloom into the light, a man, who had been concealed behind a bush in the hollow lying between the forest and the open country, sprang in front of her and took her in his arms.
“Ah! ah!” he said, laughing, “and where are you off to, Madame, at this hour of the night, and at this pace too?” Agnelette recognised her husband.
“Etienne! dear, dear Etienne,” cried the young woman, throwing her arms round his neck. “How thankful I am to see you again, and to find you alive and well! Oh, my God, I thank Thee!”
“What, did you think, you poor little Agnelette,” said Engoulevent, “that Thibault and his wolves had been making their dinner of me?”
“Ah! do not even speak of Thibault, Etienne! let us fly, dear one, fly to where there are houses!”
The young huntsman laughed again. “Well, now then, you will make all the gossips of Préciamont and Vez declare that a husband is of no use at all, not even to restore his wife’s courage.”
“You are right, Etienne; but although I have just had the courage to come through these great dreadful woods, now that I have you with me and should feel reassured, I tremble with fear, and yet I know not why.”
“What has happened to you? Come, tell me all about it,” said Etienne, giving his wife a kiss. Then Agnelette told him how she had been attacked by the wolf, how Thibault had rescued her from its claws, and what had passed between them afterwards. Engoulevent listened with the greatest attention.
“Listen,” he said to Agnelette, “I am going to take you home and shut you up carefully with the grandmother, so that no harm may come to you; and then I shall ride over and tell my lord of Vez where Thibault has taken up his quarters.”
“Oh! no, no!” cried Agnelette, “you would have to ride through the forest, and there is no knowing what danger you might run.”
“I will make a détour,” said Etienne, “I can go round by Croyolles and Value instead of crossing the forest.”
Agnelette sighed and shook her head, but made no further resistance; she knew that Engoulevent would not give in on this matter, and she reserved her strength wherewith to renew her entreaties when she was once indoors.
And in truth, the young huntsman only considered that he was doing his duty, for a great battue had been arranged for the next day in a part of the forest on the further side from that on which Agnelette had met Thibault. Etienne, therefore, was bound to go without delay and report to his master the whereabouts of the Wolf-leader. There was not too much of the night left for the work of re-arranging for the morrow’s battue.
As they drew near Préciamont, Agnelette, who had not spoken for a while, decided that she had, during her silence, amassed a sufficient number of reasons to justify her in beginning her solicitations afresh, which she did with even more earnestness than she had put into her former arguments. She reminded Etienne that Thibault, even though he might be a were-wolf, had, so far from hurting her, actually saved her life; and that after all, he had not abused his power when he had her in it, but had allowed her to leave him and rejoin her husband. And after that, to betray where he was to his mortal enemy, the Lord of Vez, was not performing a duty, but committing an act of treachery; and Thibault, who would certainly get wind of this treachery, would never under similar circumstances show mercy to any one again. Agnelette became quite eloquent as she pleaded Thibault’s cause. But, when marrying Engoulevent, she had made no more secret of her former engagement to the shoe-maker than she had of this last interview with him, and however perfect a confidence he had in his wife, Engoulevent was nevertheless not unsusceptible to jealousy. More than that, there existed an old grudge between the two men, ever since the day when Engoulevent had spied out Thibault in his tree, and his boar-spear in a neighbouring bush. So he stood his ground, and though listening to Agnelette, continued to walk briskly towards Préciamont. And so arguing together, and each insisting that he or she was in the right, they came to within a stone’s throw of the first forest-fences. To protect themselves as far as possible from Thibault’s sudden and unexpected assaults, the peasants had instituted patrol parties, who mounted guard at night as in times of war. Etienne and Agnelette were so pre-occupied with their discussion, that they did not hear the call of “Who goes there!” from the sentinel behind the hedge, and went walking on in the direction of the village. The sentinel, seeing something moving in the darkness which to his prepossessed imagination appeared to be a monstrous form of some kind, and hearing no answer to his challenge, he prepared to shoot. Looking up at that moment, the young huntsman suddenly caught sight of the sentinel, as the moonlight shone on the barrel of his gun. Calling out “Friend,” he threw himself in front of Agnelette, flinging his arms round her, so as to make a shield of his body. But at the same instant the gun went off, and the unfortunate Etienne, giving one last sigh, fell forward without a groan against the wife he was clasping in his arms. The bullet had pierced his heart. When the people of Préciamont, on hearing the gun shot, came running up to the spot, they found Engoulevent dead, and Agnelette lying unconscious beside her husband. They carried her to her grandmother’s, but she only came to her senses to fall into a state of despair which bordered on delirium, and which at last became almost madness. She accused herself of her husband’s death, called him by name, begged the invisible spirits, which seemed to haunt her, even in the short intervals of slumber which her excited state of brain made possible, to have mercy upon him. She called Thibault’s name, and addressed such heartbroken supplications to him that those about her were moved to tears. By degrees, in spite of the incoherence of her words, the real facts became evident, and it grew to be generally understood that the Wolf-leader was in some way accountable for the unhappy accident which had caused poor Etienne’s death. The common enemy was therefore accused of having cast a spell [jeté un sort] over the two unfortunate young creatures, and the animosity felt towards the former shoe-maker became intensified.
In vain doctors were sent for from Villers-Cotterets and Ferté-Milon, Agnelette became worse and worse; her strength was rapidly failing; her voice, after the first few days, grew feebler, her breath shorter, although her delirium was as violent as ever, and everything, even the silence on the doctors’ part, led to the belief that poor Agnelette would soon follow her husband to the grave. The voice of the old blind woman alone seemed to have any power to allay the fever. When she heard her grandmother speaking, she grew calmer, the haggard staring eyes grew softer and suffused with tears; she would pass her hand over her forehead as if to drive away some haunting thought, and a sorrowful wandering smile would pass across her lips.
(105-107)
[Thibault’s Visit to Agnelette]
[There are two women attending to Agnelette in her room while she is ill. They witness Thibault paying a dramatic visit: “All at once, the sick woman, who for some minutes past had been shivering at intervals, seemed to be fighting against some horrible dream, and gave a piercing cry of anguish. At that moment the door burst open, a man seemingly encircled by flames, rushed into the room, leapt to Agnelette’s bed, clasped the dying woman in his arms, pressed his lips upon her forehead, uttering cries of sorrow, then, rushing to another door which gave on to the open country, opened it and disappeared. The apparition had come and gone so quickly that it seemed almost like an hallucination, and as if Agnelette were endeavouring to repulse some invisible object as she cried out, ‘Take him away! take him away!’ But the two watchers had seen the man and had recognised Thibault, and there was a clamouring outside, in the midst of which the name of Thibault could be distinguished.” A group of villagers arrive to Agnelette’s hut; they are close to catching Thibault, who was seen already in the area. “Thibault, hearing of the hopeless condition in which Agnelette was, had not been able to resist his longing to see her once again, and at the risk of what might happen to him, he had passed through the village, trusting to the rapidity of his movements, had opened the door of the hut and rushed in to see the dying woman.” The woman “showed the peasants the door by which Thibault had escaped, and like a pack that has recovered the scent they started afresh on his track with renewed cries and threats. Thibault, it need hardly be said, escaped from them and disappeared in the forest.” Then “Agnelette’s condition, after the terrible shock given her by Thibault’s presence and embrace, became so alarming that before the night was over the priest was sent for; she had evidently now but a few hours longer to live and suffer.” But Agnelette seems to gain a little strength and a priest hears her praying for someone. “And who was that other? God, the priest, and Agnelette alone knew.”]
[ditto]
Un soir, à la tombée de la nuit, Agnelette reposait d’un sommeil plus agité et plus pénible encore que d’habitude.
La chaumière, faiblement éclairée par une lampe de cuivre, était dans une demi-obscurité ; la grand-mère, assise devant les pierres de l’âtre, gardait dans sa physionomie cette immobilité sous laquelle les sauvages et les paysans cachent leurs plus vives émotions.
Des deux femmes que le seigneur Jean payait pour garder la veuve de son serviteur, l’une récitait son chapelet agenouillée au pied du lit où Agnelette gisait si pâle et si blanche, que, n’eût été le mouvement régulier de sa poitrine oppressée, on eût pu la croire déjà morte ; l’autre filait silencieusement sa quenouille.
Tout à coup, la malade, qui depuis quelques moments frissonnait par intervalles, parut se débattre contre un rêve horrible et poussa un cri d’angoisse.
Au même instant, la porte s’ouvrit. Un homme, dont la tête semblait entourée d’un cercle de flammes, s’élança dans la chambre, bondit jusqu’au lit d’Agnelette, étreignit la mourante entre ses bras, appuya, avec des cris de douleur, ses lèvres sur le front de la malade, puis, s’élançant vers une porte qui donnait sur la campagne, l’ouvrit et disparut.
L’apparition avait été si rapide, que l’on eût pu croire à une hallucination de la jeune femme, qui, essayant de repousser un objet invisible, criait :
– Éloignez-le ! Éloignez-le !
Mais les deux veilleuses avaient vu cet homme et avaient reconnu Thibault ; mais on entendait de grandes clameurs, où le nom de Thibault était mêlé.
Ces clameurs s’approchaient de la maison d’Agnelette, et bientôt ceux qui les poussaient parurent sur le seuil.
Ils poursuivaient le meneur de loups.
Thibault avait été vu rôdant autour de la chaumière d’Agnelette, et les habitants de Préciamont, prévenus par leurs sentinelles, s’étaient armés de fourches et de bâtons, pour lui donner la chasse.
Thibault, qui connaissait l’état désespéré d’Agnelette, n’avait pu résister au désir de la voir une dernière fois.
Au risque de tout ce qui pouvait lui arriver, il avait traversé le village, se fiant à la rapidité de sa course, avait ouvert la porte de la cabane et était allé revoir la mourante.
Les deux femmes indiquèrent aux paysans la porte par laquelle Thibault était sorti, et ceux-ci, comme une meute qui en revoit, s’élancèrent sur ses traces en redoublant de menaces et de clameurs.
Thibault, bien entendu, échappa à ses ennemis, et disparut dans la forêt.
Mais, après la secousse effroyable qu’Agnelette venait de recevoir de la présence et du contact de Thibault, l’état de la malade devint si alarmant, que l’on dut, dans le courant de cette même nuit, aller chercher le prêtre.
Il était évident qu’Agnelette n’avait plus que quelques heures à souffrir.
Vers minuit, le prêtre entra, suivi du sacristain qui portait la croix, et des enfants de chœur qui portaient l’eau bénite.
Ces derniers s’agenouillèrent au pied du lit, tandis que le prêtre s’approchait du chevet.
Alors, Agnelette parut ranimée par une force mystérieuse.
Elle parla longtemps bas avec le prêtre, et, comme on savait bien que la pauvre enfant n’avait pas si longtemps à prier pour elle, on comprit qu’elle priait pour un autre.
Cet autre, quel était-il ?
Dieu, le prêtre et elle le savaient seuls.
(289-291)
One evening, towards night, her slumber seemed to be more agitated and distressed than usual. The hut, feebly lit by a little copper lamp, was in semi-darkness; the grandmother sat by the hearth, with that immobility of countenance under which peasants and savages hide their strongest feelings. At the foot of the bed on which Agnelette lay, so worn and white that, had it not been for the regular rise and fall of her bosom with its troubled breathing, you might have taken her for dead, knelt one of the women, whom the Baron was paying to attend upon the widow of his young huntsman, engaged in telling her beads; the other was silently spinning with her distaff. All at once, the sick woman, who for some minutes past had been shivering at intervals, seemed to be fighting against some horrible dream, and gave a piercing cry of anguish. At that moment the door burst open, a man seemingly encircled by flames, rushed into the room, leapt to Agnelette’s bed, clasped the dying woman in his arms, pressed his lips upon her forehead, uttering cries of sorrow, then, rushing to another door which gave on to the open country, opened it and disappeared. The apparition had come and gone so quickly that it seemed almost like an hallucination, and as if Agnelette were endeavouring to repulse some invisible object as she cried out, “Take him away! take him away!” But the two watchers had seen the man and had recognised Thibault, and there was a clamouring outside, in the midst of which the name of Thibault could be distinguished. Soon the clamour came nearer to Agnelette’s hut, and those who were uttering the cries ere long appeared on the threshold; they were in pursuit of the Wolf-leader. Thibault had been seen prowling in the neighbourhood of the hut, and the villagers, warned of this by their sentinels, had armed themselves with pitch-forks and sticks preparatory to giving him chase. Thibault, hearing of the hopeless condition in which Agnelette was, had not been able to resist his longing to see her once again, and at the risk of what might happen to him, he had passed through the village, trusting to the rapidity of his movements, had opened the door of the hut and rushed in to see the dying woman.
The two women showed the peasants the door by which Thibault had escaped, and like a pack that has recovered the scent they started afresh on his track with renewed cries and threats. Thibault, it need hardly be said, escaped from them and disappeared in the forest.
Agnelette’s condition, after the terrible shock given her by Thibault’s presence and embrace, became so alarming that before the night was over the priest was sent for; she had evidently now but a few hours longer to live and suffer. Towards midnight the priest arrived, followed by the sacristan carrying the cross, and the choir-boys bearing the holy water. These went and knelt at the foot of the bed, while the priest took his place at the head beside Agnelette. And now, some mysterious power seemed to re-animate the dying woman. For a long time she spoke in a low voice with the priest, and as the poor child had no need of long prayers for herself, it was certain that she must be praying for another. And who was that other? God, the priest, and Agnelette alone knew.
(107-108)
Dumas, Alexandre. 1868. Le meneur de loups. (Nouvelle édition). Paris: Lévy.
PDF at:
https://archive.org/det ails/bub_gb_BhlMAAAAMAAJ/page/n5
and:
https://beq.ebooksgratuits.com/vents/Dumas-meneur.pdf
Online text at:
https://fr.wikisource.org/wik i/Le_Meneur_de_loups
and
https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:Dumas_- _Le_Meneur_de_loups_(1868).djvu
Dumas, Alexandre. 1921. The Wolf-Leader. Translated by Alfred Allinson. London: Methuen.
PDF at:
https://archive.org/details/wolfle ader00duma
or:
https://archive.org/details/wo lfleader00dumauoft
Online text at:
.
No comments:
Post a Comment