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by Corry Shores
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[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
23
“L’anniversaire”
“The Anniversary”
Brief summary (collecting those below):
__(23.1)__ (Recall from section 22 that Thibault the sorcerer was being chased by villagers after quickly visiting his love Agnelette, who was sick and dying in bed. Agnelette then prayed for someone, possibly Thibault.) Thibault has run into the forest and happens to have arrived at his burned down hut (see section 19.1). He cries. It is midnight, and “At this moment the priest was listening to Agnelette’s dying prayers.” Perhaps these prayers are causing Thibault to have a change of heart: “‘Cursed be the day!’ cried Thibault, ‘when I first wished for anything beyond what God chooses to put within the reach of a poor workman! Cursed be the day when the black wolf gave me the power to do evil, for the ill that I have done, instead of adding to my happiness, has destroyed it for ever!’” Just then, Thibault hears loud laughter behind him. “He turned; there was the black wolf himself, creeping noiselessly along, like a dog coming to rejoin its master. The wolf would have been invisible in the gloom but for the flames shot forth from his eyes, which illuminated the darkness; he went round the hearth and sat down facing the shoe-maker.” The Wolf-Devil wonders why Thibault is so displeased. Thibault says that “since I first met you, have known nothing but vain aspirations and endless regrets.” He notes that he wished for riches, rank, and love, but now he only has these burnt down ruins, he is universally despised, and he lost to another man his true love who is now dying, “while I, notwithstanding all the power you have given me, can do nothing to help her!” The Wolf-Devil replies, “Leave off loving anybody but yourself, Thibault.” Then the Wolf-Devil notes that Thibault was an envious person even before meeting him (see section 1.3). Thibault says he only wanted a buck, but the Wolf-Devil reminds him that his ambitions were boundless (see section 4.2), as he is as envious as Lucifer “the fallen Angel [l’ange déchu], your master and mine:” “You thought your wishes were going to stop at the buck, Thibault; but wishes lead on to one another, as the night to the day, and the day to night. When you wished for the buck, you also wished for the silver dish on which it would be served; the silver dish led you on to wish for the servant who carries it and for the carver who cuts up its contents. Ambition is like the vault of heaven; it appears to be bounded by the horizon, but it covers the whole earth. You disdained Agnelette’s innocence, and went after Madame Poulet’s mill; if you had gained the mill, you would immediately have wanted the house of the Bailiff Magloire; and his house would have had no further attraction for you when once you had seen the Castle of Mont-Gobert. You are one in your envious disposition with the fallen Angel [l’ange déchu], your master and mine; only, as you were not clever enough to reap the benefit that might have accrued to you from your power of inflicting evil, it would perhaps have been more to your interest to continue to lead an honest life.” Thibault acknowledges this with the proverb “Evil to him who evil wishes.” He asks the Wolf-Devil if he can become honest again. “My good fellow, the devil can drag a man to hell ... by a single hair [avec un seul cheveu, le diable peut conduire un homme en enfer]” and he notes that Thibault has only one black hair left and that he is well past hope of repenting. But Thibault wonders, “‘But if a man is lost when but one of his hairs belongs to the devil,’ said Thibault, ‘why cannot God likewise save a man in virtue of a single hair?’” Thibault also seems to plead ignorance, saying “when I concluded that unhappy bargain [funeste marché] with you, I did not understand that it was to be a compact [un pacte] of this kind.” The Wolf-Devil explains that demons cannot take hold over baptized people, so their bargains involve humans giving up parts of their body to the devils, and this is how the they have taken possession of Thibault: “Since men invented baptism, we do not know how to get hold of them, and so, in return for any concessions we make them, we are bound to insist on their relinquishing to us some part of their body on which we can lay hands. You gave us the hairs of your head; they are firmly rooted, as you have proved yourself and will not come away in our grasp.... No, no, Thibault, you have belonged to us ever since, standing on the threshold of the door that was once there, you cherished within you thoughts of deceit and violence.” So now Thibault is sure he can never get into heaven and instead is damned. He is angry that he can now never have the pleasures of the afterlife, and he also cannot even enjoy the pleasures of this world. The Wolf-Devil says that in fact there is still away for him to enjoy the pleasures of this world. He first explains how in a general way: “By boldly following the path that you have struck by chance, and resolutely determining on a course of conduct which you have adopted as yet only in a halfhearted way; in short, by frankly owning yourself to be one of us.” Specifically, this involves taking the Wolf-Devil’s place: “You will then acquire my power, and you will have nothing left to wish for.” Thibault does not understand what is in it for the Wolf-Devil, who seems to be giving up his riches. The Wolf-Devil explains: “Do not trouble yourself about me. The master for whom I shall have won a retainer will liberally reward me.” The Wolf-Devil further informs Thibault that he will take the Wolf-Devil’s animal form “in the night-time; by day you will be a man again.” He also says that while in this form his skin is “impenetrable by iron, lead or steel” and he is immortal. The only exception is the following: “once a year, like all were-wolves, you will become a wolf again for four and twenty hours, and during that interval, you will be in danger of death like any other animal. I had just reached that dangerous time a year ago to-day, when we first met.” Thibault now realizes why he was so afraid of Vez’s hounds (see section 4.2). (Also note that this seems to make today the day of vulnerability.) The Wolf-Devil also notes that “When we have dealings with men, we are forbidden to speak anything but the truth, and the whole truth; it is for them to accept or refuse.” He further explains the powers Thibault will gain: It will be such that even the most powerful king will not be able to withstand it, since his power is limited by the human and the possible,” and Thibault will be “So rich, that you will come in time to despise riches, since, by the mere force of your will, you will obtain not only what men can only acquire with gold and silver, but also all that superior beings get by their conjurations.” And he will be able to completely avenge himself on his enemies, because “You will have unlimited power over everything which is connected with evil.” He will also be able to gain and keep any lover: “As you will have dominion over all your fellow creatures, you will be able to do with them what you like.” The Wolf-Devil also reiterates that except for that one day a year, “nothing can harm you, neither iron, lead, nor steel, neither water, nor fire.” Thibault then gets the Wolf-Devil’s assurances on all this. Thibault accepts and is instructed to “Pick a holly-leaf, tear it in three pieces with your teeth, and throw it away from you, as far as you can.” Then “Having torn the leaf in three pieces, he scattered them on the air, and although the night till then had been a peaceful one, there was immediately heard a loud peal of thunder, while a tempestuous whirlwind arose, which caught up the fragments and carried them whirling away with it.” The Wolf-Devil then says: “‘And now, brother Thibault,’ said the wolf, ‘take my place, and good luck be with you! As was my case just a year ago, so you will have to become a wolf for four and twenty hours; you must endeavour to come out of the ordeal as happily as I did, thanks to you, and then you will see realised all that I have promised you. Meanwhile, I will pray the lord of the cloven hoof that he will protect you from the teeth of the Baron’s hounds, for, by the devil himself, I take a genuine interest in you, friend Thibault.’ And then it seemed to Thibault that he saw the black wolf grow larger and taller, that it stood up on its hind legs and finally walked away in the form of a man, who made a sign to him with his hand as he disappeared. We say it seemed to him, for Thibault’s ideas, for a second or two, became very indistinct. A feeling of torpor passed over him, paralysing his power of thought. When he came to himself, he was alone. His limbs were imprisoned in a new and unusual form; he had, in short, become in every respect the counterpart of the black wolf that a few minutes before had been speaking to him. One single white hair on his head alone shone in contrast to the remainder of the sombre coloured fur; this one white hair of the wolf was the one black hair which had remained to the man.” __(23.2)__ Thibault then hears Vez’s hounds approaching, and “He made off, striking straight ahead, as is the manner of wolves, and it was a profound satisfaction to him to find that in his new form he had tenfold his former strength and elasticity of limb.” Vez’s new huntsman tells him this is the same black wolf they were trying to hunt before (see section 1.2). Vez is determined to catch it: “‘I have got this cursed black wolf on my brain,’ added the Baron, ‘and I have such a longing to have its skin, that I feel sure I shall catch an illness if I do not get hold of it.’” The new dogs catch Thibault’s scent and begin their chase, with Vez following determined to catch this wolf.
[Thibault’s Becoming a Were-Wolf]
[Vez’s Hunt for the Were-Wolf]
Summary
[Thibault’s Becoming a Were-Wolf]
[(Recall from section 22 that Thibault the sorcerer was being chased by villagers after quickly visiting his love Agnelette, who was sick and dying in bed. Agnelette then prayed for someone, possibly Thibault.) Thibault has run into the forest and happens to have arrived at his burned down hut (see section 19.1). He cries. It is midnight, and “At this moment the priest was listening to Agnelette’s dying prayers.” Perhaps these prayers are causing Thibault to have a change of heart: “‘Cursed be the day!’ cried Thibault, ‘when I first wished for anything beyond what God chooses to put within the reach of a poor workman! Cursed be the day when the black wolf gave me the power to do evil, for the ill that I have done, instead of adding to my happiness, has destroyed it for ever!’” Just then, Thibault hears loud laughter behind him. “He turned; there was the black wolf himself, creeping noiselessly along, like a dog coming to rejoin its master. The wolf would have been invisible in the gloom but for the flames shot forth from his eyes, which illuminated the darkness; he went round the hearth and sat down facing the shoe-maker.” The Wolf-Devil wonders why Thibault is so displeased. Thibault says that “since I first met you, have known nothing but vain aspirations and endless regrets.” He notes that he wished for riches, rank, and love, but now he only has these burnt down ruins, he is universally despised, and he lost to another man his true love who is now dying, “while I, notwithstanding all the power you have given me, can do nothing to help her!” The Wolf-Devil replies, “Leave off loving anybody but yourself, Thibault.” Then the Wolf-Devil notes that Thibault was an envious person even before meeting him (see section 1.3). Thibault says he only wanted a buck, but the Wolf-Devil reminds him that his ambitions were boundless (see section 4.2), as he is as envious as Lucifer “the fallen Angel [l’ange déchu], your master and mine:” “You thought your wishes were going to stop at the buck, Thibault; but wishes lead on to one another, as the night to the day, and the day to night. When you wished for the buck, you also wished for the silver dish on which it would be served; the silver dish led you on to wish for the servant who carries it and for the carver who cuts up its contents. Ambition is like the vault of heaven; it appears to be bounded by the horizon, but it covers the whole earth. You disdained Agnelette’s innocence, and went after Madame Poulet’s mill; if you had gained the mill, you would immediately have wanted the house of the Bailiff Magloire; and his house would have had no further attraction for you when once you had seen the Castle of Mont-Gobert. You are one in your envious disposition with the fallen Angel [l’ange déchu], your master and mine; only, as you were not clever enough to reap the benefit that might have accrued to you from your power of inflicting evil, it would perhaps have been more to your interest to continue to lead an honest life.” Thibault acknowledges this with the proverb “Evil to him who evil wishes.” He asks the Wolf-Devil if he can become honest again. “My good fellow, the devil can drag a man to hell ... by a single hair [avec un seul cheveu, le diable peut conduire un homme en enfer]” and he notes that Thibault has only one black hair left and that he is well past hope of repenting. But Thibault wonders, “‘But if a man is lost when but one of his hairs belongs to the devil,’ said Thibault, ‘why cannot God likewise save a man in virtue of a single hair?’” Thibault also seems to plead ignorance, saying “when I concluded that unhappy bargain [funeste marché] with you, I did not understand that it was to be a compact [un pacte] of this kind.” The Wolf-Devil explains that demons cannot take hold over baptized people, so their bargains involve humans giving up parts of their body to the devils, and this is how the they have taken possession of Thibault: “Since men invented baptism, we do not know how to get hold of them, and so, in return for any concessions we make them, we are bound to insist on their relinquishing to us some part of their body on which we can lay hands. You gave us the hairs of your head; they are firmly rooted, as you have proved yourself and will not come away in our grasp.... No, no, Thibault, you have belonged to us ever since, standing on the threshold of the door that was once there, you cherished within you thoughts of deceit and violence.” So now Thibault is sure he can never get into heaven and instead is damned. He is angry that he can now never have the pleasures of the afterlife, and he also cannot even enjoy the pleasures of this world. The Wolf-Devil says that in fact there is still away for him to enjoy the pleasures of this world. He first explains how in a general way: “By boldly following the path that you have struck by chance, and resolutely determining on a course of conduct which you have adopted as yet only in a halfhearted way; in short, by frankly owning yourself to be one of us.” Specifically, this involves taking the Wolf-Devil’s place: “You will then acquire my power, and you will have nothing left to wish for.” Thibault does not understand what is in it for the Wolf-Devil, who seems to be giving up his riches. The Wolf-Devil explains: “Do not trouble yourself about me. The master for whom I shall have won a retainer will liberally reward me.” The Wolf-Devil further informs Thibault that he will take the Wolf-Devil’s animal form “in the night-time; by day you will be a man again.” He also says that while in this form his skin is “impenetrable by iron, lead or steel” and he is immortal. The only exception is the following: “once a year, like all were-wolves, you will become a wolf again for four and twenty hours, and during that interval, you will be in danger of death like any other animal. I had just reached that dangerous time a year ago to-day, when we first met.” Thibault now realizes why he was so afraid of Vez’s hounds (see section 4.2). (Also note that this seems to make today the day of vulnerability.) The Wolf-Devil also notes that “When we have dealings with men, we are forbidden to speak anything but the truth, and the whole truth; it is for them to accept or refuse.” He further explains the powers Thibault will gain: It will be such that even the most powerful king will not be able to withstand it, since his power is limited by the human and the possible,” and Thibault will be “So rich, that you will come in time to despise riches, since, by the mere force of your will, you will obtain not only what men can only acquire with gold and silver, but also all that superior beings get by their conjurations.” And he will be able to completely avenge himself on his enemies, because “You will have unlimited power over everything which is connected with evil.” He will also be able to gain and keep any lover: “As you will have dominion over all your fellow creatures, you will be able to do with them what you like.” The Wolf-Devil also reiterates that except for that one day a year, “nothing can harm you, neither iron, lead, nor steel, neither water, nor fire.” Thibault then gets the Wolf-Devil’s assurances on all this. Thibault accepts and is instructed to “Pick a holly-leaf, tear it in three pieces with your teeth, and throw it away from you, as far as you can.” Then “Having torn the leaf in three pieces, he scattered them on the air, and although the night till then had been a peaceful one, there was immediately heard a loud peal of thunder, while a tempestuous whirlwind arose, which caught up the fragments and carried them whirling away with it.” The Wolf-Devil then says: “‘And now, brother Thibault,’ said the wolf, ‘take my place, and good luck be with you! As was my case just a year ago, so you will have to become a wolf for four and twenty hours; you must endeavour to come out of the ordeal as happily as I did, thanks to you, and then you will see realised all that I have promised you. Meanwhile, I will pray the lord of the cloven hoof that he will protect you from the teeth of the Baron’s hounds, for, by the devil himself, I take a genuine interest in you, friend Thibault.’ And then it seemed to Thibault that he saw the black wolf grow larger and taller, that it stood up on its hind legs and finally walked away in the form of a man, who made a sign to him with his hand as he disappeared. We say it seemed to him, for Thibault’s ideas, for a second or two, became very indistinct. A feeling of torpor passed over him, paralysing his power of thought. When he came to himself, he was alone. His limbs were imprisoned in a new and unusual form; he had, in short, become in every respect the counterpart of the black wolf that a few minutes before had been speaking to him. One single white hair on his head alone shone in contrast to the remainder of the sombre coloured fur; this one white hair of the wolf was the one black hair which had remained to the man.”]
[ditto]
Lorsque Thibault n’entendit plus retentir derrière lui les cris furieux des paysans, il suspendit la rapidité de sa course.
Puis, enfin, la forêt étant retombée dans son silence habituel, il s’arrêta et s’assit sur un monceau de pierre.
Il était si troublé, qu’il ne reconnut l’endroit où il se trouvait qu’en remarquant que ces pierres portaient de larges taches noires, comme si elles avaient été léchées par le feu.
Ces pierres étaient celles de son foyer.
Le hasard l’avait conduit à l’endroit où avait été la cabane qu’il habitait quelques mois auparavant.
Le sabotier compara sans doute avec amertume ce passé si calme avec le présent si terrible, car de grosses larmes, roulant le long de ses joues, vinrent tomber sur les cendres qu’il foulait à ses pieds.
Il entendit minuit qui sonnait à l’église d’Oigny, puis successivement aux horloges des églises voisines.
C’était l’heure où le prêtre écoutait les dernières prières d’Agnelette mourante.
– Oh ! maudit soit, s’écria Thibault, le jour où j’ai souhaité autre chose que ce que le Bon Dieu avait mis à la portée de la main d’un pauvre ouvrier ! Maudit soit le jour où le loup noir m’a vendu la puissance de faire le mal, puisque le mal que j’ai fait, au lieu d’ajouter à mon bonheur, l’a détruit à tout jamais !
Un éclat de rire retentit derrière Thibault.
Il se retourna et vit le loup noir lui-même, qui se glissait dans la nuit, comme un chien qui rejoint son maître.
Il eût été presque invisible dans l’obscurité sans ses yeux, qui jetaient des flammes et l’éclairaient.
Il tourna autour du foyer et vint s’asseoir en face du sabotier.
– Eh quoi ! dit-il, maître Thibault n’est pas content ? Par les cornes de Belzébuth ! maître Thibault est difficile !
– Puis-je être content, dit Thibault, moi qui, depuis que je t’ai rencontré, n’ai connu que les vaines aspirations et les regrets superflus ?
» J’ai voulu la richesse, et je me désespère d’avoir perdu le toit de fougère à l’abri duquel je m’endormais sans m’inquiéter du lendemain, sans me soucier du vent et de la pluie qui fouettaient les branches des grands chênes.
» J’ai désiré les grandeurs, et les derniers paysans de la plaine, que je méprisais autrefois, me chassent aujourd’hui devant eux à coups de pierres.
» J’ai demandé l’amour, et la seule femme qui m’ait aimé et que j’aime m’a échappé pour appartenir à un autre, et elle meurt à cette heure en me maudissant, sans qu’avec tout le pouvoir que tu m’as donné, je puisse rien faire pour la secourir !
– N’aime que toi-même, Thibault.
– Oh ! oui, raille !
– Je ne raille pas. Avant que je me présentasse à tes yeux, n’avais-tu pas déjà jeté sur le bien d’autrui un regard de convoitise ?
– Oh ! pour un misérable daim comme il y en a des centaines qui broutent l’herbe de cette forêt !
– Tu croyais ne souhaiter que le daim, Thibault ; mais les souhaits s’enchaînent les uns aux autres comme les nuits aux jours et les jours aux nuits.
» En souhaitant le daim, tu souhaitais le plat d’argent sur lequel il devait être servi ; le plat d’argent entraînait après lui le serviteur qui le porte et l’écuyer tranchant qui découpe ce qu’il contient.
» L’ambition ressemble à la voûte du ciel : elle a l’air de se borner à l’horizon, et elle embrasse toute la terre.
» Tu as dédaigné l’innocence d’Agnelette pour le moulin de la Polet ; tu n’eusses pas plutôt possédé le moulin, qu’il t’eût fallu la maison du bailli Magloire ; et la maison du bailli Magloire n’eût plus eu de charmes pour toi dès que tu eusses entrevu le château du comte de Mont-Gobert.
» Oh ! tu appartenais bien par l’envie à l’ange déchu, mon maître et le tien ; seulement, comme il te manquait l’intelligence pour souhaiter le mal et en tirer le bien qui pouvait t’en revenir, ton intérêt eût peut-être été de rester honnête.
– Oh ! oui, répondit tristement le sabotier, c’est maintenant que je reconnais la vérité du proverbe : À qui mal veut, mal arrive !… Mais, enfin, ajouta-t-il, ne puis-je pas redevenir honnête ?…
Le loup poussa un ricanement moqueur.
– Oh ! garçon, dit-il, avec un seul cheveu, le diable peut conduire un homme en enfer. As-tu jamais compté combien le diable possédait des tiens ?
– Non.
– Je ne puis pas te dire combien tu as de cheveux à lui sur la tête, mais je puis te dire combien il t’en reste, à toi. Il t’en reste un ! Tu vois que le temps du repentir est passé.
– Pourquoi, dit Thibault, si pour un seul cheveu le diable peut perdre un homme, pourquoi, par un seul cheveu, Dieu ne pourrait-il pas le sauver ?
– Essaye.
– D’ailleurs, lorsque j’ai conclu ce funeste marché avec vous, je n’ai pas cru accomplir un pacte.
– Oh ! je reconnais bien là la mauvaise foi des hommes ! Tu n’as pas accompli un pacte en me donnant tes cheveux, imbécile ? Depuis que les hommes ont inventé le baptême, nous ne savons plus par où les prendre, et il faut qu’en échange de quelque concession que nous leur faisons, ils nous fassent abandon d’une partie de leur corps où nous puissions mettre la main. Tu nous as cédé tes cheveux ; ils tiennent bien, tu t’en es assuré, ils ne nous resteront pas dans la griffe… Non, non, tu es à nous, Thibault, depuis le moment où, sur le seuil de la porte qui était là, tu as caressé dans ton esprit l’idée de la fraude et de la rapine.
– Ainsi, s’écria Thibault avec rage, en se levant et en frappant du pied, ainsi, perdu dans l’autre monde sans avoir joui des plaisirs de celui-ci ?
– Tu peux encore les connaître, Thibault.
– Comment cela ?
– En entrant hardiment dans le sentier où tu t’es engagé par raccroc, en voulant avec résolution ce que tu acceptais sournoisement ; autrement dit, en étant franchement des nôtres.
– Et que faudrait-il faire ?
– Prendre ma place.
– Et en la prenant ?
– Acquérir ma puissance ; alors, tu n’auras plus rien à désirer.
– Si votre puissance est si étendue, si elle vous donne toutes les richesses que j’envie, comment y renoncez-vous ?
– Ne t’inquiète pas de moi. Le maître auquel j’aurai conquis un serviteur me récompensera largement.
– Et, en prenant votre place, prendrai-je votre forme ?
– Oui, pendant la nuit ; mais, le jour, tu redeviendras homme.
– Les nuits sont longues, obscures, pleines d’embûches ; je puis tomber sous la balle d’un garde, ou poser la patte sur un piège ; alors, adieu richesse, adieu grandeur.
– Non ; car cette peau qui m’enveloppe est impénétrable au fer, au plomb et à l’acier… Tant qu’elle couvrira ton corps, tu seras non seulement invulnérable, mais immortel ; une seule fois par an, comme tous les loups-garous, tu redeviendras loup pour vingt-quatre heures, et, pendant ces vingt-quatre heures, tu auras la mort à craindre comme les autres. Lorsque nous nous sommes vus, il y aura juste un an aujourd’hui, j’étais dans mon jour fatal.
– Ah ! ah ! fit Thibault, cela m’explique pourquoi vous craigniez si fort la dent des chiens du seigneur Jean.
– Quand nous traitons avec les hommes, il nous est défendu de faire aucun mensonge, et nous sommes forcés de tout leur dire : c’est à eux d’accepter ou de refuser.
– Tu me vantais la puissance que je pouvais acquérir ; eh bien, voyons, quelle sera cette puissance ?
– Telle, que celle du roi le plus puissant ne pourra lutter avec elle, puisque cette puissance royale aurait les limites de l’humain et du possible.
– Serai-je riche ?
– Si riche, que tu en arriveras à mépriser la richesse, puisque, avec la seule force de ta volonté, tu auras non seulement ce que les hommes obtiennent avec de l’or et de l’argent, mais encore ce que les êtres supérieurs obtiennent par leurs conjurations.
– Je pourrai me venger de mes ennemis ?
– Pour tout ce qui se rapportera au mal, ton pouvoir sera sans limites.
– La femme que j’aimerai pourra-t-elle m’échapper encore ?
– Dominant tes semblables, tu les auras à ta discrétion.
– Rien ne pourra les soustraire à ma volonté ?
– Rien, excepté la mort, qui est plus forte que tout.
– Et moi, un seul jour sur trois cent soixante-cinq, je risquerai de mourir ?
– Un seul ; pendant les autres jours, ni fer, ni plomb, ni acier, ni eau, ni feu ne prévaudront sur toi.
– Et aucun mensonge, aucun piège n’est caché sous ta parole ?
– Aucun, foi de loup !
– Eh bien, soit, dit Thibault ; loup pour vingt-quatre heures, pour tout le reste du temps roi de la création ! Que faut-il faire ? Je suis prêt.
– Cueille une feuille de houx ; déchire-la en trois morceaux avec les dents, et jette-la loin de toi.
Thibault fit ce qui lui était ordonné.
Après avoir rompu la feuille, il en éparpilla les morceaux, et alors, quoique la nuit eût été excessivement calme jusque-là, un coup de tonnerre se fit entendre et une trombe de vent, impétueuse comme une tempête, fit tourbillonner ces fragments et les emporta avec elle.
– Et maintenant, frère Thibault, dit le loup, prends ma place et bonne chance ! Comme moi il y a un an, tu vas rester loup pendant vingt-quatre heures ; tâche de sortir de cette épreuve aussi heureusement que j’en suis sorti moi-même, grâce à toi, et tu verras se réaliser tout ce que je t’ai promis. Moi, pendant ce temps, je vais prier le seigneur au pied fourchu qu’il te gare de la dent des chiens du baron de Vez ; car, foi de diable ! tu m’inspires un véritable intérêt, ami Thibault.
Et il sembla à Thibault qu’il voyait le loup noir grandir, s’allonger, se planter sur ses deux pieds de derrière et s’éloigner sous la forme d’un homme en lui faisant signe de la main.
Nous disons il lui sembla ; car pour un instant ses idées cessèrent d’être bien distinctes. Il éprouva comme une espèce d’engourdissement qui paralysait l’action de la pensée.
Puis, lorsqu’il revint à lui, il était seul. Ses membres étaient emprisonnés dans des formes étranges et insolites.
Il était enfin devenu en tout point semblable au grand loup noir qui lui parlait l’instant d’auparavant.
Un seul poil blanc, placé dans la région du cervelet, jurait avec tout ce pelage sombre.
Ce seul poil blanc du loup, c’était le seul cheveu noir qui restât à l’homme.
(292-298)
AS soon as Thibault ceased to hear the furious cries of his pursuers behind him, he slackened his pace, and the usual silence again reigning throughout the forest, he paused and sat down on a heap of stones. He was in such a troubled state of mind that he did not recognise where he was, until he began to notice that some of the stones were blackened, as if they had been licked by flames; they were the stones of his own former hearth.
Chance had led him to the spot where a few months previously his hut had stood.
The shoe-maker evidently felt the bitterness of the comparison between that peaceful past and this terrible present, for large tears rolled down his cheeks and fell upon the cinders at his feet. He heard midnight strike from the Oigny church clock, then one after the other from the other neighbouring village towers. At this moment the priest was listening to Agnelette’s dying prayers.
“Cursed be the day!” cried Thibault, “when I first wished for anything beyond what God chooses to put within the reach of a poor workman! Cursed be the day when the black wolf gave me the power to do evil, for the ill that I have done, instead of adding to my happiness, has destroyed it for ever!”
A loud laugh was heard behind Thibault’s back.
He turned; there was the black wolf himself, creeping noiselessly along, like a dog coming to rejoin its master. The wolf would have been invisible in the gloom but for the flames shot forth from his eyes, which illuminated the darkness; he went round the hearth and sat down facing the shoe-maker.
“What is this!” he said. “Master Thibault not satisfied? It seems that Master Thibault is difficult to please.”
“How can I feel satisfied,” said Thibault. “I, who since I first met you, have known nothing but vain aspirations and endless regrets? I wished for riches, and here I am in despair at having lost the humble roof of bracken under shelter of which I could sleep in peace without anxiety as to the morrow, without troubling myself about the rain or the wind beating against the branches of the giant oaks.
“I wished for position, and here I am, stoned and hunted down by the lowest peasants, whom formerly I despised. I asked for love, and the only woman who loved me and whom I loved became the wife of another, and she is at this moment cursing me as she lies dying, while I, notwithstanding all the power you have given me, can do nothing to help her!”
“Leave off loving anybody but yourself, Thibault.”
“Oh! yes, laugh at me, do!”
“I am not laughing at you. But did you not cast envious eyes on other people’s property before you had set eyes on me?”
“Yes, for a wretched buck, of which there are hundreds just as good browsing in the forest!”
“You thought your wishes were going to stop at the buck, Thibault; but wishes lead on to one another, as the night to the day, and the day to night. When you wished for the buck, you also wished for the silver dish on which it would be served; the silver dish led you on to wish for the servant who carries it and for the carver who cuts up its contents. Ambition is like the vault of heaven; it appears to be bounded by the horizon, but it covers the whole earth. You disdained Agnelette’s innocence, and went after Madame Poulet’s mill; if you had gained the mill, you would immediately have wanted the house of the Bailiff Magloire; and his house would have had no further attraction for you when once you had seen the Castle of Mont-Gobert.
“You are one in your envious disposition with the fallen Angel [l’ange déchu], your master and mine; only, as you were not clever enough to reap the benefit that might have accrued to you from your power of inflicting evil, it would perhaps have been more to your interest to continue to lead an honest life.”
“Yes, indeed,” replied the shoe-maker, “I feel the truth of the proverb, ‘Evil to him who evil wishes’ ” But, he continued, “can I not become an honest man again?”
The wolf gave a mocking chuckle.
“My good fellow, the devil can drag a man to hell,” he said, “by a single hair [avec un seul cheveu, le diable peut conduire un homme en enfer].” Have you ever counted how many of yours now belong to him?”
“No.”
“I cannot tell you that exactly either, but I know how many you have which are still your own. You have one left! You see it is long past the time for repentance.”
“But if a man is lost when but one of his hairs belongs to the devil,” said Thibault, “why cannot God likewise save a man in virtue of a single hair?”
“Well, try if that is so!”
“And, besides, when I concluded that unhappy bargain [funeste marché] with you, I did not understand that it was to be a compact [un pacte] of this kind.”
“Oh, yes! I know all about the bad faith of you men! Was it no compact then to consent to give me your hairs, you stupid fool? Since men invented baptism, we do not know how to get hold of them, and so, in return for any concessions we make them, we are bound to insist on their relinquishing to us some part of their body on which we can lay hands. You gave us the hairs of your head; they are firmly rooted, as you have proved yourself and will not come away in our grasp.... No, no, Thibault, you have belonged to us ever since, standing on the threshold of the door that was once there, you cherished within you thoughts of deceit and violence.”
“And so,” cried Thibault passionately, rising and stamping his foot, “and so I am lost as regards the next world without having enjoyed the pleasures of this!”
“You can yet enjoy these.”
“And how, I pray.”
“By boldly following the path that you have struck by chance, and resolutely determining on a course of conduct which you have adopted as yet only in a halfhearted way; in short, by frankly owning yourself to be one of us.”
“And how am I to do this?”
“Take my place.”
“And what then?”
“You will then acquire my power, and you will have nothing left to wish for.”
“If your power is so great, if it can give you all the riches that I long for, why do you give it up?”
“Do not trouble yourself about me. The master for whom I shall have won a retainer will liberally reward me.”
“And if I take your place, shall I also have to take your form?”
“Yes, in the night-time; by day you will be a man again.”
“The nights are long, dark, full of snares; I may be brought down by a bullet from a keeper, or be caught in a trap, and then good-bye riches, good-bye position and pleasure.”
“Not so; for this skin that covers me is impenetrable by iron, lead or steel. As long as it protects your body, you will be not only invulnerable, but immortal; once a year, like all were-wolves, you will become a wolf again for four and twenty hours, and during that interval, you will be in danger of death like any other animal. I had just reached that dangerous time a year ago to-day, when we first met.”
“Ah!” said Thibault, “that explains why you feared my Lord Baron’s dogs.”
“When we have dealings with men, we are forbidden to speak anything but the truth, and the whole truth; it is for them to accept or refuse.”
“You have boasted to me of the power that I should acquire; tell me, now, in what that power will consist?”
“It will be such that even the most powerful king will not be able to withstand it, since his power is limited by the human and the possible.”
“Shall I be rich?”
“So rich, that you will come in time to despise riches, since, by the mere force of your will, you will obtain not only what men can only acquire with gold and silver, but also all that superior beings get by their conjurations.”
“Shall I be able to revenge myself on my enemies?”
“You will have unlimited power over everything which is connected with evil.”
“If I love a woman, will there again be a possibility of my losing her?”
“As you will have dominion over all your fellow creatures, you will be able to do with them what you like.”
“There will be no power to enable them to escape from the trammels of my will?”
“Nothing, except death, which is stronger than all.”
“And I shall only run the risk of death myself on one day out of the three hundred and sixty-five?”
“On one day only; during the remaining days nothing can harm you, neither iron, lead, nor steel, neither water, nor fire.”
“And there is no deceit, no trap to catch me, in your words?”
“None, on my honour as a wolf!”
“Good,” said Thibault, “then let it be so; a wolf for four and twenty hours, for the rest of the time the monarch of creation! What am I to do? I am ready.”
“Pick a holly-leaf, tear it in three pieces with your teeth, and throw it away from you, as far as you can.”
Thibault did as he was commanded.
Having torn the leaf in three pieces, he scattered them on the air, and although the night till then had been a peaceful one, there was immediately heard a loud peal of thunder, while a tempestuous whirlwind arose, which caught up the fragments and carried them whirling away with it.
“And now, brother Thibault,” said the wolf, “take my place, and good luck be with you! As was my case just a year ago, so you will have to become a wolf for four and twenty hours; you must endeavour to come out of the ordeal as happily as I did, thanks to you, and then you will see realised all that I have promised you. Meanwhile, I will pray the lord of the cloven hoof that he will protect you from the teeth of the Baron’s hounds, for, by the devil himself, I take a genuine interest in you, friend Thibault.”
And then it seemed to Thibault that he saw the black wolf grow larger and taller, that it stood up on its hind legs and finally walked away in the form of a man, who made a sign to him with his hand as he disappeared.
We say it seemed to him, for Thibault’s ideas, for a second or two, became very indistinct. A feeling of torpor passed over him, paralysing his power of thought. When he came to himself, he was alone. His limbs were imprisoned in a new and unusual form; he had, in short, become in every respect the counterpart of the black wolf that a few minutes before had been speaking to him. One single white hair on his head alone shone in contrast to the remainder of the sombre coloured fur; this one white hair of the wolf was the one black hair which had remained to the man.
(108-110)
[Vez’s Hunt for the Were-Wolf]
[Thibault then hears Vez’s hounds approaching, and “He made off, striking straight ahead, as is the manner of wolves, and it was a profound satisfaction to him to find that in his new form he had tenfold his former strength and elasticity of limb.” Vez’s new huntsman tells him this is the same black wolf they were trying to hunt before (see section 1.2). Vez is determined to catch it: “‘I have got this cursed black wolf on my brain,’ added the Baron, ‘and I have such a longing to have its skin, that I feel sure I shall catch an illness if I do not get hold of it.’” The new dogs catch Thibault’s scent and begin their chase, with Vez following determined to catch this wolf.]
[ditto]
Alors, et avant qu’il eût eu le temps de se remettre, il lui sembla entendre s’agiter les buissons et en sortir un aboiement sourd et étouffé…
Il pensa en frémissant à la meute du seigneur Jean.
Thibault, ainsi métamorphosé en loup noir, se dit qu’il serait sage de ne point imiter son devancier, et de ne point attendre, comme lui, que la meute du seigneur Jean fût sur ses traces.
Il supposa que ce qu’il avait entendu pouvait bien venir d’un limier, et se décida à ne point attendre le découplé.
Il partit, filant droit devant lui comme les loups le font d’habitude, et il reconnut, avec une satisfaction profonde, que, dans sa métamorphose, ses forces et l’élasticité de ses membres se trouvaient décuplées.
– Par les cornes du diable ! disait à quelques pas de là le seigneur Jean à son nouveau piqueur, tu tiens toujours la botte trop lâche, garçon ; tu as laissé gronder le limier, et nous ne rembucherons jamais le loup.
– La faute est évidente, monseigneur, et je ne la nie pas, répondit le piqueur ; mais, l’ayant vu hier au soir traverser une ligne à cent pas d’ici, il m’était impossible de supposer qu’il eût fait sa nuit dans ce triage et que nous l’eussions à vingt pas de nous.
– Es-tu bien sûr que ce soit le même qui nous a déjà échappé tant de fois ?
– Que le pain que je mange au service de monseigneur me serve de poison si ce n’est pas le loup noir que nous chassions l’an passé, quand le pauvre Marcotte se noya.
– Je voudrais bien l’attaquer, dit le seigneur Jean avec un soupir.
– Que monseigneur l’ordonne, et nous attaquerons ; mais qu’il me permette de lui faire observer que nous avons encore devant nous deux bonnes heures de nuit qui nous suffisent pour rompre les jambes de tout ce que nous avons de chevaux.
– Je ne dis pas non ; mais, si nous attendons le jour, l’Éveillé, ce gaillard-là sera à dix lieues d’ici.
– Au moins, monseigneur, dit l’Éveillé en secouant la tête, au moins !
– J’ai ce misérable loup noir dans la cervelle, ajouta le seigneur Jean, et sa peau me fait si grande envie, que si je ne l’ai pas, j’en ferai, bien sûr, une maladie.
– Alors, attaquons, monseigneur, attaquons sans perdre une minute.
– Tu as raison, l’Éveillé ; va quérir les chiens, mon ami.
L’Éveillé reprit son cheval, que, pour faire le bois, il avait attaché à un arbre. Puis il partit au galop.
Au bout de dix minutes, qui parurent dix siècles au baron, l’Éveillé revenait avec tout l’équipage.
On découpla immédiatement.
– Tout doux, mes enfants ! tout doux ! disait le seigneur Jean ; songez que nous n’avons plus à faire à nos vieux chiens si souples et si bien créancés ; ceux-ci sont pour la plupart des recrues qui, si vous vous emportez, feront un tapage du diable et une besogne de chiens de tournebroche ; laissez-les s’échauffer d’eux-mêmes peu à peu.
En effet, des chiens, débarrassés des liens qui les retenaient, deux ou trois aspirèrent immédiatement les émanations que le loup-garou avait laissées après lui, et commencèrent à donner de la voix.
À leurs cris, les autres les rejoignirent.
Tous partirent sur la trace de Thibault, d’abord rapprochant plutôt qu’ils ne chassaient, ne criant qu’à des intervalles assez éloignés, puis avec plus d’énergie et d’ensemble, jusqu’à ce qu’étant tous bien pénétrés de l’odeur du loup qu’ils avaient devant eux, et la voie devenant de plus en plus chaude, ils s’élançassent, avec des aboiements furieux et une ardeur sans pareille dans la direction du taillis d’Ivors.
– Bête bien lancée est à moitié forcée ! s’écria le seigneur Jean. Toi, l’Éveillé, occupe-toi des relais ; j’en veux partout ! j’appuierai moi-même les chiens… Et de la vigueur, vous autres ! ajouta le seigneur Jean en s’adressant au fretin des valets. Nous avons plus d’une défaite à venger, et si, par la faute d’un de vous, je n’ai pas mon hallali, de celui-là, à la place du loup, cornes du diable ! je fais curée à mes chiens !
Après cet encouragement, le seigneur Jean lança son cheval au galop, et, quoique la nuit fût encore obscure, le terrain mauvais, il le maintint à une grande allure pour rejoindre la chasse, que l’on entendait déjà dans les fonds de Bourg-Fontaine.
(298-300)
Thibault had scarcely had time to recover himself when he fancied he heard a rustling among the bushes, and the sound of a low, muffled bark.... He thought of the Baron and his hounds, and trembled. Thus metamorphosed into the black wolf, he decided that he would not do what his predecessor had done, and wait till the dogs were upon him. It was probably a bloodhound he had heard, and he would get away before the hounds were uncoupled. He made off, striking straight ahead, as is the manner of wolves, and it was a profound satisfaction to him to find that in his new form he had tenfold his former strength and elasticity of limb.
“By the devil and his horns!” the voice of the Lord of Vez was now heard to say to his new huntsman a few paces off, “you hold the leash too slack, my lad; you have let the bloodhound give tongue, and we shall never head the wolf back now.”
“I was in fault, I do not deny it, my Lord; but as I saw it go by last evening only a few yards from this spot, I never guessed that it would take up its quarters for the night in this part of the wood and that it was so close to us as all that.”
“Are you sure it is the same one that has got away from us so often?”
“May the bread I eat in your service choke me, my lord, if it is not the same black wolf that we were chasing last year when poor Marcotte was drowned.”
“I should like finely to put the dogs on its track,” said the Baron, with a sigh.
“My lord has but to give the order, and we will do so, but he will allow me to observe that we have still two good hours of darkness before us, time enough for every horse we have to break its legs.”
“That may be, but if we wait for the day, l’Eveillé, the fellow will have had time to get ten leagues away.”
“Ten leagues at least,” said l’Eveillé, shaking his head.
“I have got this cursed black wolf on my brain,” added the Baron, “and I have such a longing to have its skin, that I feel sure I shall catch an illness if I do not get hold of it.”
“Well then, my lord, let us have the dogs out without a moment’s loss of time.”
“You are right, l’Eveillé; go and fetch the hounds.”
L’Eveillé went back to his horse, that he had tied to a tree outside the wood, and went off at a gallop, and in ten minutes’ time, which seemed like ten centuries to the Baron, he was back with the whole hunting train. The hounds were immediately uncoupled.
“Gently, gently, my lads!” said the Lord of Vez, “you forget you are not handling your old well-trained dogs; if you get excited with these raw recruits, they’ll merely kick up a devil of a row, and be no more good than so many turnspits; let ’em get warmed up by degrees.”
And, indeed, the dogs were no sooner loose, than two or three got at once on to the scent of the were-wolf, and began to give cry, whereupon the others joined them. The whole pack started off on Thibault’s track, at first quietly following up the scent, and only giving cry at long intervals, then more excitedly and of more accord, until they had so thoroughly imbibed the odour of the wolf ahead of them, and the scent had become so strong, that they tore along, baying furiously, and with unparalleled eagerness in the direction of the Yvors coppice.
“Well begun, is half done!” cried the Baron. “You look after the relays, l’Eveillé; I want them ready whenever needed! I will encourage the dogs.... And you be on the alert, you others,” he added, addressing himself to the younger keepers, “we have more than one defeat to avenge, and if I lose this view halloo through the fault of anyone among you, by the devil and his horns! he shall be the dogs’ quarry in place of the wolf!”
After pronouncing these words of encouragement, the Baron put his horse to the gallop, and although it was still pitch dark and the ground was rough, he kept the animal going at top speed so as to come up with the hounds, which could be heard giving tongue in the low lands about Bourg-Fontaine.
(110-111)
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:
.
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