Maria Chapdelaine

n talked at the Chapdelaines about the h

is not very energetic. The people at St. Prime would not care to take the journey. Possibly Wilfrid or Ferdinand might drive from St. Gedeon if the ice on the lake were in good condition." A sigh disclosed that she still was dreaming of th

they were last year," said she, "we shall not be able to attend the midnight m

tances do but add to the impressiveness and the mystery. This anniversary of the birth of Jesus is more to them than a mere fixture in the calendar with rites appropriate; it signifies the renewed promise of salvation, an occasion of deep rejoicing, and those gathered in the wooden church are imbued with sincerest fervour, are p

harnessed Charles Eugene to the heavy sleigh and departed with Tit'Bé; they took shovels to clear the way or lay out another route. The two men returned by noon, worn out, white with snow, assertin

, "that if you repeat a thousand Aves on the day befor

favour who says her thousand Aves properly before midnight o

success; but long before they left, and indeed long before daylight, Maria began to recite her Aves. Awakening very early, she took her rosary

g his head upon the coverings. Maria's glance wandered over the long white muzzle resting upon the brown wool, the liquid eyes filled with the

erlet as she continued to pray. The stove roared; Chien went back to his usual spot, and for another half-hour nothing was stirring in t

h the dishes, sweep the house. What time she attended to these things, Maria was ever raising a little higher toward heaven the monument of her Aves; but the rosary had to be la

. It comes to her mind that fasting would give a further title to heavenly consideration, and might, with rea

not, the work of her fingers was something of a distraction and a delay; then came the long preparations for supper, and finally Tit'Bé brought his

den beneath their icy cloak, take the rosary once more in her hands and throw her heart into the prayer. She was happy that so many Aves were left to be recited, since labour and difficulty coul

de moccasins. Outside, the moon had risen, flooding the chill whiteness with colder light, and the he

t Thou amon

t among the well-known words. It is only for a moment; sighing she closes her eyes, and the phrase which rises at onc

Thou amongs

her fingers in endless succession, and each one launches the offering of an Ave to that sky where Mary the compassionate is su

is with

trees standing against the dark background of forest were like the skeletons of living creatures sm

Marie, with Yvonne Boilly playing the harmonium, and Pacifique Simard who sings the Latin so beautifully!" She was very careful to say nothing that might seem reproachful or complaining on such a ni

a happier life with some other man than me, who l

n't something to grumble about? But we have never been unhappy, we two; we have managed to live without faring

straightforward thing for them; severe but inevitable toil, a good understanding between man and wife, obedience alike to the laws of nature and of the Church. Everything was drawn into the s

and hastened to demand her portion. "I hav

n indeed if one were naughty on the

ch was the image oftenest brought to mind by the Name. Not the sad enigmatic Christ of the Protestant, but a being more familiar and less august, a ne

like me t

es

n his knees and began to

e going to

es

; now sing

son e

us est

est

on aba

ked at him with worshipping eyes. To these children brought up in a lonely house, with only their parents for companions, Samuel Chapdelaine embodied all there was in the world of wisdom and migh

les palai

en de co

utes qu

ette e

ore? Ve

few moments that she might look and hearken; but the words of the hymn renewed her ardour,

navires s

voine, char

l'eau nous y

jouer dan

e struck in ... "No? not that one ... Claire Fontaine? Ah! Th

the beads ever slipping through

laire

lant pr

uve l'ea

'y suis

gtemps que

ne t'oub

sadness of the refrain lingering in the ear, a

plus hau

ignol c

rossigno

a le coe

gtemps que

ne t'oub

hers; but she was listening, and this lament of a love that was unhappy

s le coe

l'ai a

rdu ma

voir la

bouquet

lui r

gtemps que

e ne t'o

ingle emotion. Truly the world was filled with love that evening, with love human and divine, simple in nature and mighty in strength, one and the other most natural and right; so intermingled that the beseeching of h

udrais q

ore au

le rosi

er fut

gtemps, qu

ne t'oub

, full of

her prayers with zeal refreshed, and o

rose in turn, stretched himself, and filled the stove with green birch logs; the father made a last trip t

rget to put o

fat

sailed her, and a fear lest she had erred in the reckoning, because it had not always been possible to count the beads of her rosary. Out of prudence s

s of snow when the sky is clear and the moon is shining. Within the house was darkness, and

that perhaps it were not needful; that the Divinity might understand without hearing wishes shaped by lips-Mary above all ... Who had bee

f grace? How might she frame this her desire without impiety? That he should be spared hardship in the wood

e is with her again, his promise kept, all the happiness in the world must be within

all else, and looks long with unseeing eyes at the snow-covered ground which the moonlight has turned into a glittering fabri