The Story of a Farm Girl

by Guy de Maupassant

PART IAs the weather was very fine, the people on the farm had hurried throughtheir dinner and had returned to the fields.The servant, Rose, remained alone in the large kitchen, where the firewas dying out on the hearth beneath the large boiler of hot water. Fromtime to time she dipped out some water and slowly washed her dishes,stopping occasionally to look at the two streaks of light which the sunthrew across the long table through the window, and which showed thedefects in the glass.Three venturesome hens were picking up the crumbs under the chairs, whilethe smell of the poultry yard and the warmth from the cow stall came inthrough the half-open door, and a cock was heard crowing in the distance.When she had finished her work, wiped down the table, dusted themantelpiece and put the plates on the high dresser close to the woodenclock with its loud tick-tock, she drew a long breath, as she felt ratheroppressed, without exactly knowing why. She looked at the black claywalls, the rafters that were blackened with smoke and from which hungspiders' webs, smoked herrings and strings of onions, and then she satdown, rather overcome by the stale odor from the earthen floor, on whichso many things had been continually spilled and which the heat broughtout. With this there was mingled the sour smell of the pans of milkwhich were set out to raise the cream in the adjoining dairy.She wanted to sew, as usual, but she did not feel strong enough, and soshe went to the door to get a mouthful of fresh air, which seemed to doher good.The fowls were lying on the steaming dunghill; some of them werescratching with one claw in search of worms, while the cock stood upproudly in their midst. When he crowed, the cocks in all the neighboringfarmyards replied to him, as if they were uttering challenges from farmto farm.The girl looked at them without thinking, and then she raised her eyesand was almost dazzled at the sight of the apple trees in blossom. Justthen a colt, full of life and friskiness, jumped over the ditches andthen stopped suddenly, as if surprised at being alone.She also felt inclined to run; she felt inclined to move and to stretchher limbs and to repose in the warm, breathless air. She took a fewundecided steps and closed her eyes, for she was seized with a feeling ofanimal comfort, and then she went to look for eggs in the hen loft.There were thirteen of them, which she took in and put into thestoreroom; but the smell from the kitchen annoyed her again, and she wentout to sit on the grass for a time.The farmyard, which was surrounded by trees, seemed to be asleep. Thetall grass, amid which the tall yellow dandelions rose up like streaks ofyellow light, was of a vivid, fresh spring green. The apple trees casttheir shade all round them, and the thatched roofs, on which grew blueand yellow irises, with their sword-like leaves, steamed as if themoisture of the stables and barns were coming through the straw.The girl went to the shed, where the carts and buggies were kept. Closeto it, in a ditch, there was a large patch of violets, whose fragrancewas spread abroad, while beyond the slope the open country could be seen,where grain was growing, with clumps of trees in places, and groups oflaborers here and there, who looked as small as dolls, and white horseslike toys, who were drawing a child's cart, driven by a man as tall asone's finger.She took up a bundle of straw, threw it into the ditch and sat down uponit. Then, not feeling comfortable, she undid it, spread it out and laydown upon it at full length on her back, with both arms under her headand her legs stretched out.Gradually her eyes closed, and she was falling into a state of delightfullanguor. She was, in fact, almost asleep when she felt two hands on herbosom, and she sprang up at a bound. It was Jacques, one of the farmlaborers, a tall fellow from Picardy, who had been making love to her fora long time. He had been herding the sheep, and, seeing her lying downin the shade, had come up stealthily and holding his breath, withglistening eyes and bits of straw in his hair.He tried to kiss her, but she gave him a smack in the face, for she wasas strong as he, and he was shrewd enough to beg her pardon; so they satdown side by side and talked amicably. They spoke about the favorableweather, of their master, who was a good fellow, then of their neighbors,of all the people in the country round, of themselves, of their village,of their youthful days, of their recollections, of their relations, whohad left them for a long time, and it might be forever. She grew sad asshe thought of it, while he, with one fixed idea in his head, drew closerto her."I have not seen my mother for a long time," she said. "It is very hardto be separated like that," and she directed her looks into the distance,toward the village in the north which she had left.Suddenly, however, he seized her by the neck and kissed her again, butshe struck him so violently in the face with her clenched fist that hisnose began to bleed, and he got up and laid his head against the stem ofa tree. When she saw that, she was sorry, and going up to him, she said:"Have I hurt you?" He, however, only laughed. "No, it was a merenothing; only she had hit him right on the middle of the nose. What adevil!" he said, and he looked at her with admiration, for she hadinspired him with a feeling of respect and of a very different kind ofadmiration which was the beginning of a real love for that tall, strongwench. When the bleeding had stopped, he proposed a walk, as he wasafraid of his neighbor's heavy hand, if they remained side by side likethat much longer; but she took his arm of her own accord, in the avenue,as if they had been out for an evening's walk, and said: "It is not niceof you to despise me like that, Jacques." He protested, however. No, hedid not despise her. He was in love with her, that was all."So you really want to marry me?" she asked.He hesitated and then looked at her sideways, while she looked straightahead of her. She had fat, red cheeks, a full bust beneath her cottonjacket; thick, red lips; and her neck, which was almost bare, was coveredwith small beads of perspiration. He felt a fresh access of desire, and,putting his lips to her ear, he murmured: "Yes, of course I do."Then she threw her arms round his neck and kissed him till they were bothout of breath. From that moment the eternal story of love began betweenthem. They plagued one another in corners; they met in the moonlightbeside the haystack and gave each other bruises on the legs, under thetable, with their heavy nailed boots. By degrees, however, Jacquesseemed to grow tired of her; he avoided her, scarcely spoke to her, anddid not try any longer to meet her alone, which made her sad and anxious;and soon she found that she was enceinte.At first she was in a state of consternation, but then she got angry, andher rage increased every day because she could not meet him, as heavoided her most carefully. At last, one night, when every one in thefarmhouse was asleep, she went out noiselessly in her petticoat, withbare feet, crossed the yard and opened the door of the stable whereJacques was lying in a large box of straw above his horses. He pretendedto snore when he heard her coming, but she knelt down by his side andshook him until he sat up."What do you want?" he then asked her. And with clenched teeth, andtrembling with anger, she replied: "I want--I want you to marry me, asyou promised." But he only laughed and replied: "Oh! if a man were tomarry all the girls with whom he has made a slip, he would have more thanenough to do."Then she seized him by the throat, threw him or his back, so that hecould not get away from her, and, half strangling him, she shouted intohis face:"I am enceinte, do you hear? I am enceinte!"He gasped for breath, as he was almost choked, and so they remained, bothof them, motionless and without speaking, in the dark silence, which wasonly broken by the noise made by a horse as he, pulled the hay out of themanger and then slowly munched it.When Jacques found that she was the stronger, he stammered out: "Verywell, I will marry you, as that is the case." But she did not believehis promises. "It must be at once," she said. "You must have the bannsput up." "At once," he replied. "Swear solemnly that you will." Hehesitated for a few moments and then said: "I swear it, by Heaven!"Then she released her grasp and went away without another word.She had no chance of speaking to him for several days; and, as the stablewas now always locked at night, she was afraid to make any noise, forfear of creating a scandal. One morning, however, she saw another mancome in at dinner time, and she said: "Has Jacques left?" "Yes;" the manreplied; "I have got his place."This made her tremble so violently that she could not take the saucepanoff the fire; and later, when they were all at work, she went up into herroom and cried, burying her head in the bolster, so that she might not beheard. During the day, however, she tried to obtain some informationwithout exciting any suspicion, but she was so overwhelmed by thethoughts of her misfortune that she fancied that all the people whom sheasked laughed maliciously. All she learned, however, was that he hadleft the neighborhood altogether.PART IIThen a cloud of constant misery began for her. She worked mechanically,without thinking of what she was doing, with one fixed idea in her head:"Suppose people were to know."This continual feeling made her so incapable of reasoning that she didnot even try to think of any means of avoiding the disgrace that she knewmust ensue, which was irreparable and drawing nearer every day, and whichwas as sure as death itself. She got up every morning long before theothers and persistently tried to look at her figure in a piece of brokenlooking-glass, before which she did her hair, as she was very anxious toknow whether anybody would notice a change in her, and, during the day,she stopped working every few minutes to look at herself from top to toe,to see whether her apron did not look too short.The months went on, and she scarcely spoke now, and when she was asked aquestion, did not appear to understand; but she had a frightened look,haggard eyes and trembling hands, which made her master say to heroccasionally: "My poor girl, how stupid you have grown lately."In church she hid behind a pillar, and no longer ventured to go toconfession, as she feared to face the priest, to whom she attributedsuperhuman powers, which enabled him to read people's consciences; and atmeal times the looks of her fellow servants almost made her faint withmental agony; and she was always fancying that she had been found out bythe cowherd, a precocious and cunning little lad, whose bright eyesseemed always to be watching her.One morning the postman brought her a letter, and as she had neverreceived one in her life before she was so upset by it that she wasobliged to sit down. Perhaps it was from him? But, as she could notread, she sat anxious and trembling with that piece of paper, coveredwith ink, in her hand. After a time, however, she put it into herpocket, as she did not venture to confide her secret to any one. Sheoften stopped in her work to look at those lines written at regularintervals, and which terminated in a signature, imagining vaguely thatshe would suddenly discover their meaning, until at last, as she felthalf mad with impatience and anxiety, she went to the schoolmaster, whotold her to sit down and read to her as follows:"MY DEAR DAUGHTER: I write to tell you that I am very ill. Our neighbor,Monsieur Dentu, begs you to come, if you can."From your affectionate mother,"CESAIRE DENTU, Deputy Mayor."She did not say a word and went away, but as soon as she was alone herlegs gave way under her, and she fell down by the roadside and remainedthere till night.When she got back, she told the farmer her bad news, and he allowed herto go home for as long as she liked, and promised to have her work doneby a charwoman and to take her back when she returned.Her mother died soon after she got there, and the next day Rose gavebirth to a seven-months child, a miserable little skeleton, thin enoughto make anybody shudder, and which seemed to be suffering continually, tojudge from the painful manner in which it moved its poor little hands,which were as thin as a crab's legs; but it lived for all that. She saidshe was married, but could not be burdened with the child, so she left itwith some neighbors, who promised to take great care of it, and she wentback to the farm.But now in her heart, which had been wounded so long, there arosesomething like brightness, an unknown love for that frail little creaturewhich she had left behind her, though there was fresh suffering in thatvery love, suffering which she felt every hour and every minute, becauseshe was parted from her child. What pained her most, however, was themad longing to kiss it, to press it in her arms, to feel the warmth ofits little body against her breast. She could not sleep at night; shethought of it the whole day long, and in the evening, when her work wasdone, she would sit in front of the fire and gaze at it intently, aspeople do whose thoughts are far away.They began to talk about her and to tease-her about her lover. Theyasked her whether he was tall, handsome and rich. When was the weddingto be and the christening? And often she ran away to cry by herself, forthese questions seemed to hurt her like the prick of a pin; and, in orderto forget their jokes, she began to work still more energetically, and,still thinking of her child, she sought some way of saving up money forit, and determined to work so that her master would be obliged to raiseher wages.By degrees she almost monopolized the work and persuaded him to get ridof one servant girl, who had become useless since she had taken toworking like two; she economized in the bread, oil and candles; in thecorn, which they gave to the chickens too extravagantly, and in thefodder for the horses and cattle, which was rather wasted. She was asmiserly about her master's money as if it had been her own; and, by dintof making good bargains, of getting high prices for all their produce,and by baffling the peasants' tricks when they offered anything for sale,he, at last, entrusted her with buying and selling everything, with thedirection of all the laborers, and with the purchase of provisionsnecessary for the household; so that, in a short time, she became.indispensable to him. She kept such a strict eye on everything about herthat, under her direction, the farm prospered wonderfully, and for fivemiles around people talked of "Master Vallin's servant," and the farmerhimself said everywhere: "That girl is worth more than her weight ingold."But time passed by, and her wages remained the same. Her hard work wasaccepted as something that was due from every good servant, and as a meretoken of good will; and she began to think rather bitterly that if thefarmer could put fifty or a hundred crowns extra into the bank everymonth, thanks to her, she was still only earning her two hundred francs ayear, neither more nor less; and so she made up her mind to ask for anincrease of wages. She went to see the schoolmaster three times aboutit, but when she got there, she spoke about something else. She felt akind of modesty in asking for money, as if it were something disgraceful;but, at last, one day, when the farmer was having breakfast by himself inthe kitchen, she said to him, with some embarrassment, that she wished tospeak to him particularly. He raised his head in surprise, with both hishands on the table, holding his knife, with its point in the air, in one,and a piece of bread in the other, and he looked fixedly at, the girl,who felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but asked for a week's holiday, sothat she might get away, as she was not very well. He acceded to herrequest immediately, and then added, in some embarrassment himself:"When you come back, I shall have something to say to you myself."PART IIIThe child was nearly eight months old, and she did not recognize it. Ithad grown rosy and chubby all over, like a little roll of fat. She threwherself on it, as if it had been some prey, and kissed it so violentlythat it began to scream with terror; and then she began to cry herself,because it did not know her, and stretched out its arms to its nurse assoon as it saw her. But the next day it began to know her, and laughedwhen it saw her, and she took it into the fields, and ran about excitedlywith it, and sat down under the shade of the trees; and then, for thefirst time in her life, she opened her heart to somebody, although hecould not understand her, and told him her troubles; how hard her workwas, her anxieties and her hopes, and she quite tired the child with theviolence of her caresses.She took the greatest pleasure in handling it, in washing and dressingit, for it seemed to her that all this was the confirmation of hermaternity; and she would look at it, almost feeling surprised 'that itwas hers, and would say to herself in a low voice as she danced it in herarms: "It is my baby, it's my baby."She cried all the way home as she returned to the farm and had scarcelygot in before her master called her into his room; and she went, feelingastonished and nervous, without knowing why."Sit down there," he said. She sat down, and for some moments theyremained side by side, in some embarrassment, with their arms hanging attheir sides, as if they did not know what to do with them, and lookingeach other in the face, after the manner of peasants.The farmer, a stout, jovial, obstinate man of forty-five, who had losttwo wives, evidently felt embarrassed, which was very unusual with him;but, at last, he made. up his mind, and began to speak vaguely,hesitating a little, and looking out of the window as he talked. "How isit, Rose," he said, "that you have never thought of settling in life?"She grew as pale as death, and, seeing that she gave him no answer, hewent on: "You are a good, steady, active and economical girl; and a wifelike you would make a man's fortune."She did not move, but looked frightened; she did not even try tocomprehend his meaning, for her thoughts were in a whirl, as if at theapproach of some great danger; so, after waiting for a few seconds, hewent on: "You see, a farm without a mistress can never succeed, even witha servant like you." Then he stopped, for he did not know what else tosay, and Rose looked at him with the air of a person who thinks that heis face to face with a murderer and ready to flee at the slightestmovement he may make; but, after waiting for about five minutes, he askedher: "Well, will it suit you?" "Will what suit me, master?" And he saidquickly: "Why, to marry me, by Heaven!"She jumped up, but fell back on her chair, as if she had been struck, andthere she remained motionless, like a person who is overwhelmed by somegreat misfortune. At last the farmer grew impatient and said: "Come,what more do you want?" She looked at him, almost in terror, thensuddenly the tears came into her eves and she said twice in a chokingvoice: "I cannot, I cannot!" "Why not?" he asked. "Come, don't besilly; I will give you until tomorrow to think it over."And he hurried out of the room, very glad to have got through with thematter, which had troubled him a good deal, for he had no doubt that shewould the next morning accept a proposal which she could never haveexpected and which would be a capital bargain for him, as he thus bound awoman to his interests who would certainly bring him more than if she hadthe best dowry in the district.Neither could there be any scruples about an unequal match between them,for in the country every one is very nearly equal; the farmer works withhis laborers, who frequently become masters in their turn, and the femaleservants constantly become the mistresses of the establishments withoutits making any change in their life or habits.Rose did not go to bed that night. She threw herself, dressed as shewas, on her bed, and she had not even the strength to cry left in her,she was so thoroughly dumfounded. She remained quite inert, scarcelyknowing that she had a body, and without being at all able to collect herthoughts, though, at moments, she remembered something of what hadhappened, and then she was frightened at the idea of what might happen.Her terror increased, and every time the great kitchen clock struck thehour she broke out in a perspiration from grief. She became bewildered,and had the nightmare; her candle went out, and then she began to imaginethat some one bad cast a spell over her, as country people so oftenimagine, and she felt a mad inclination to run away, to escape and toflee before her misfortune, like a ship scudding before the wind.An owl hooted; she shivered, sat up, passed her hands over her face, herhair, and all over her body, and then she went downstairs, as if she werewalking in her sleep. When she got into the yard she stooped down, so asnot to be seen by any prowling scamp, for the moon, which was setting,shed a bright light over the fields. Instead of opening the gate shescrambled over the fence, and as soon as she was outside she started off.She went on straight before her, with a quick, springy trot, and fromtime to time she unconsciously uttered a piercing cry. Her long shadowaccompanied her, and now and then some night bird flew over her head,while the dogs in the farmyards barked as they heard her pass; one evenjumped over the ditch, and followed her and tried to bite her, but sheturned round and gave such a terrible yell that the frightened animal ranback and cowered in silence in its kennel.The stars grew dim, and the birds began to twitter; day was breaking.The girl was worn out and panting; and when the sun rose in the purplesky, she stopped, for her swollen feet refused to go any farther; but shesaw a pond in the distance, a large pond whose stagnant water looked likeblood under the reflection of this new day, and she limped on slowly withher hand on her heart, in order to dip both her feet in it. She sat downon a tuft of grass, took off her heavy shoes, which were full of dust,pulled off her stockings and plunged her legs into the still water, fromwhich bubbles were rising here and there.A feeling of delicious coolness pervaded her from head to foot, andsuddenly, while she was looking fixedly at the deep pool, she was seizedwith dizziness, and with a mad longing to throw herself into it. All hersufferings would be over in there, over forever. She no longer thoughtof her child; she only wanted peace, complete rest, and to sleep forever,and she got up with raised arms and took two steps forward. She was inthe water up to her thighs, and she was just about to throw her self inwhen sharp, pricking pains in her ankles made her jump back, and sheuttered a cry of despair, for, from her knees to the tips of her feet,long black leeches were sucking her lifeblood, and were swelling as theyadhered to her flesh. She did not dare to touch them, and screamed withhorror, so that her cries of despair attracted a peasant, who was drivingalong at some distance, to the spot. He pulled off the leeches one byone, applied herbs to the wounds, and drove the girl to her master's farmin his gig.She was in bed for a fortnight, and as she was sitting outside the dooron the first morning that she got up, the farmer suddenly came andplanted himself before her. "Well," he said, "I suppose the affair issettled isn't it?" She did not reply at first, and then, as he remainedstanding and looking at her intently with his piercing eyes, she saidwith difficulty: "No, master, I cannot." He immediately flew into arage."You cannot, girl; you cannot? I should just like to know the reasonwhy?" She began to cry, and repeated: "I cannot." He looked at her, andthen exclaimed angrily: "Then I suppose you have a lover?" "Perhaps thatis it," she replied, trembling with shame.The man got as red as a poppy, and stammered out in a rage: "Ah! So youconfess it, you slut! And pray who is the fellow? Some penniless, half-starved ragamuffin, without a roof to his head, I suppose? Who is it, Isay?" And as she gave him no answer, he continued: "Ah! So you will nottell me. Then I will tell you; it is Jean Baudu?' "No, not he," sheexclaimed. "Then it is Pierre Martin?" "Oh! no, master."And he angrily mentioned all the young fellows in the neighborhood, whileshe denied that he had hit upon the right one, and every moment wiped hereyes with the corner of her blue apron. But he still tried to find itout, with his brutish obstinacy, and, as it were, scratching at her heartto discover her secret, just as a terrier scratches at a hole to try andget at the animal which he scents inside it. Suddenly, however, the manshouted: "By George! It is Jacques, the man who was here last year.They used to say that you were always talking together, and that youthought about getting married."Rose was choking, and she grew scarlet, while her tears suddenly stoppedand dried up on her cheeks, like drops of water on hot iron, and sheexclaimed: "No, it is not he, it is not he!" "Is that really a fact?"asked the cunning peasant, who partly guessed the truth; and she replied,hastily: "I will swear it; I will swear it to you--" She tried to thinkof something by which to swear, as she did not venture to invoke sacredthings, but he interrupted her: "At any rate, he used to follow you intoevery corner and devoured you with his eyes at meal times. Did you evergive him your promise, eh?"This time she looked her master straight in the face. "No, never, never;I will solemnly swear to you that if he were to come to-day and ask me tomarry him I would have nothing to do with him." She spoke with such anair of sincerity that the farmer hesitated, and then he continued, as ifspeaking to himself:. "What, then? You have not had a misfortune, asthey call it, or it would have been known, and as it has no consequences,no girl would refuse her master on that account. There must be somethingat the bottom of it, however."She could say nothing; she had not the strength to speak, and he askedher again: "You will not?" "I cannot, master," she said, with a sigh,and he turned on his heel.She thought she had got rid of him altogether and spent the rest of theday almost tranquilly, but was as exhausted as if she had been turningthe thrashing machine all day in the place of the old white horse, andshe went to bed as soon as she could and fell asleep immediately. In themiddle of the night, however, two hands touching the bed woke her. She .trembled with fear, but immediately recognized the farmer's voice, whenhe said to her: "Don't be frightened, Rose; I have come to speak to you."She was surprised at first, but when he tried to take liberties with hershe understood and began to tremble violently, as she felt quite alone inthe darkness, still heavy from sleep, and quite unprotected, with thatman standing near her. She certainly did not consent, but she resistedcarelessly struggling against that instinct which is always strong insimple natures and very imperfectly protected by the undecided will ofinert and gentle races. She turned her head now to the wall, and nowtoward the room, in order to avoid the attentions which the farmer triedto press on her, but she was weakened by fatigue, while he became brutal,intoxicated by desire.They lived together as man and wife, and one morning he said to her: "Ihave put up our banns, and we will get married next month."She did not reply, for what could she say? She did not resist, for whatcould she do?PART IVShe married him. She felt as if she were in a pit with inaccessiblesides from which she could never get out, and all kinds of misfortuneswere hanging over her head, like huge rocks, which would fall on thefirst occasion. Her husband gave her the impression of a man whom shehad robbed, and who would find it out some day or other. And then shethought of her child, who was the cause of her misfortunes, but who wasalso the cause of all her happiness on earth, and whom she went to seetwice a year, though she came back more unhappy each time.But she gradually grew accustomed to her life, her fears were allayed,her heart was at rest, and she lived with an easier mind, though stillwith some vague fear floating in it. And so years went on, until thechild was six. She was almost happy now, when suddenly the farmer'stemper grew very bad.For two or three years he seemed to have been nursing some secretanxiety, to be troubled by some care, some mental disturbance, which wasgradually increasing. He remained sitting at table after dinner, withhis head in his hands, sad and devoured by sorrow. He always spokehastily, sometimes even brutally, and it even seemed as if he had agrudge against his wife, for at times he answered her roughly, almostangrily.One day, when a neighbor's boy came for some eggs, and she spoke rathercrossly to him, as she was very busy, her husband suddenly came in andsaid to her in his unpleasant voice: "If that were your own child youwould not treat him so." She was hurt and did not reply, and then shewent back into the house, with all her grief awakened afresh; and atdinner the farmer neither spoke to her nor looked at her, and he seemedto hate her, to despise her, to know something about the affair at last.In consequence she lost her composure, and did not venture to remainalone with him after the meal was over, but left the room and hastened tothe church.It was getting dusk; the narrow nave was in total darkness, but she heardfootsteps in the choir, for the sacristan was preparing the tabernaclelamp for the night. That spot of trembling light, which was lost in thedarkness of the. arches, looked to Rose like her last hope, and with hereyes fixed on it, she fell on her knees. The chain rattled as the littlelamp swung up into the air, and almost immediately the small bell rangout the Angelus through the increasing mist. She went up to him, as hewas going out."Is Monsieur le Cure at home?" she asked. "Of course he is; this is hisdinnertime." She trembled as she rang the bell of the parsonage. Thepriest was just sitting down to dinner, and he made her sit down also."Yes, yes, I know all about it; your husband has mentioned the matter tome that brings you here." The poor woman nearly fainted, and the priestcontinued: "What do you want, my child?" And he hastily swallowedseveral spoonfuls of soup, some of which dropped on to his greasycassock. But Rose did not venture to say anything more, and she got upto go, but the priest said: "Courage."And she went out and returned to the farm without knowing what she wasdoing. The farmer was waiting for her, as the laborers had gone awayduring her absence, and she fell heavily at his feet, and, shedding aflood of tears, she said to him: "What have you got against me?"He began to shout and to swear: "What have I got against you? That Ihave no children, by ---. When a man takes a wife it is not that theymay live alone together to the end of their days. That is what I haveagainst you. When a cow has no calves she is not worth anything, andwhen a woman has no children she is also not worth anything."She began to cry, and said: "It is not my fault! It is not my fault!"He grew rather more gentle when he heard that, and added: "I do not saythat it is, but it is very provoking, all the same."PART VFrom that day forward she had only one thought: to have a child anotherchild; she confided her wish to everybody, and, in consequence of this, aneighbor told her of an infallible method. This was, to make her husbanddrink a glass of water with a pinch of ashes in it every evening. Thefarmer consented to try it, but without success; so they said to eachother: "Perhaps there are some secret ways?" And they tried to find out.They were told of a shepherd who lived ten leagues off, and so Vallin oneday drove off to consult him. The shepherd gave him a loaf on which hehad made some marks; it was kneaded up with herbs, and each of them wasto eat a piece of it, but they ate the whole loaf without obtaining anyresults from it.Next, a schoolmaster unveiled mysteries and processes of love which wereunknown in the country, but infallible, so he declared; but none of themhad the desired effect. Then the priest advised them to make apilgrimage to the shrine at Fecamp. Rose went with the crowd andprostrated herself in the abbey, and, mingling her prayers with thecoarse desires of the peasants around her, she prayed that she might befruitful a second time; but it was in vain, and then she thought that shewas being punished for her first fault, and she was seized by terriblegrief. She was wasting away with sorrow; her husband was also agingprematurely, and was wearing himself out in useless hopes.Then war broke out between them; he called her names and beat her. Theyquarrelled all day long, and when they were in their room together atnight he flung insults and obscenities at her, choking with rage, untilone night, not being able to think of any means of making her suffer morehe ordered her to get up and go and stand out of doors in the rain untildaylight. As she did not obey him, he seized her by the neck and beganto strike her in the face with his fists, but she said nothing and didnot move. In his exasperation he knelt on her stomach, and with clenchedteeth, and mad with rage, he began to beat her. Then in her despair sherebelled, and flinging him against the wall with a furious gesture, shesat up, and in an altered voice she hissed: "I have had a child, I havehad one! I had it by Jacques; you know Jacques. He promised to marryme, but he left this neighborhood without keeping his word."The man was thunderstruck and could hardly speak, but at last hestammered out: "What are you saying? What are you saying?" Then shebegan to sob, and amid her tears she continued: "That was the reason whyI did not want to marry you. I could not tell you, for you would haveleft me without any bread for my child. You have never had any children,so you cannot understand, you cannot understand!"He said again, mechanically, with increasing surprise: "You have a child?You have a child?""You took me by force, as I suppose you know? I did not want to marryyou," she said, still sobbing.Then he got up, lit the candle, and began to walk up and down, with hisarms behind him. She was cowering on the bed and crying, and suddenly hestopped in front of her, and said: "Then it is my fault that you have nochildren?" She gave him no answer, and he began to walk up and downagain, and then, stopping again, he continued: "How old is your child?""Just six," she whispered. "Why did you not tell me about it?" he asked."How could I?" she replied, with a sigh.He remained standing, motionless. "Come, get up," he said. She got upwith some difficulty, and then, when she was standing on the floor, hesuddenly began to laugh with the hearty laugh of his good days, and,seeing how surprised she was, he added: "Very well, we will go and fetchthe child, as you and I can have none together."She was so scared that if she had had the strength she would assuredlyhave run away, but the farmer rubbed his hands and said: "I wanted toadopt one, and now we have found one. I asked the cure about an orphansome time ago."Then, still laughing, he kissed his weeping and agitated wife on bothcheeks, and shouted out, as though she could not hear him: "Come along,mother, we will go and see whether there is any soup left; I should notmind a plateful."She put on her petticoat and they went downstairs; and While she waskneeling in front of the fireplace and lighting the fire under thesaucepan, he continued to walk up and down the kitchen with long strides,repeating:"Well, I am really glad of this; I am not saying it for form's sake, butI am glad, I am really very glad."

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