Folk Tales from Gascony: The Bastard, Part 1.
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This is post #25 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.
THE BASTARD
Once upon a time, in Sainte-Radegonde, there was a child who was called the Bastard, because he had never known his father or his mother. This child earned his poor living tending sheep, in the woods of Réjaumont.
One summer day, the Bastard was guarding sheep in the woods, as usual. It was noon. The sun was shining, and the child slept for a while, lying at the foot of an old oak tree. Suddenly he heard terrible screams and woke up. It was a large eagle that came from the mountains, and which flew as fast as the wind. The great eagle came and perched on the top of the old oak.
“Bastard, Bastard, the aptly named, listen, listen. Your mother is dead, and you will never, ever see her. She died, after having mourned her sin for a long time. Now she is with the Good Lord. Your father is the King of France, and the proof of what I tell you is written in your mouth. If, before the right moment, you show your tongue to anyone other than your father, who must see it first, the son of the King of France and his mother will know it, and they will put you to death. When it is time to make your first communion, wait until you find a dead priest, who will confess to you, who will give you the host, and who will not be able to tell anyone what he has seen and heard. If you do what I command you, you will be king after your father. But you are not at the end of your trials, and nothing will be given to you until you have won it a hundred times."
Then the great eagle flew back, shouting, towards the Mountain, and he never, ever returned.
From that moment on, the Bastard thought night and day about what he had seen and heard. The parish priest could never persuade him to make his first communion. However, the Bastard was well-regarded by everyone, because he was as devout as a priest, strong as a pair of oxen, and always ready to be of service to everyone.
When the Bastard was twenty years old, he left, one Sunday morning, to hear high mass at the church of La Sauvetat. At this mass, there was a young lady of fifteen, beautiful as day, and honest as gold. She was the daughter of a nobleman, who lived at the Castle of Sérillac, near La Sauvetat. Immediately, the Bastard fell madly in love with the young lady; and in the evening he did not take his eyes off her throughout vespers. As she was leaving the church, with her parents, the Bastard looked everywhere to see if there wasn't some gallant, to kill him like a dog. Fortunately, there were none. Then the Bastard thought:
“This young lady must be my wife. Otherwise, I am capable of causing great misfortune. »
That thought, he waited until the noble and his people had returned to Sérillac, and came to knock at the castle door.
“Good evening, noble."
"Good evening, Bastard. What did you come to do here?"
—"Noble, I want to speak to you in private."
The people of the castle left the room and left them both alone.
“Noble, your young daughter must be my wife. Otherwise, I am capable of causing great misfortune."
"Bastard, you will have my daughter on two conditions. Prove to me that you are noble. Prove to me that you are rich. I have no money to give to my daughter, and I don't want her to be hungry and thirsty."
"Noble, I am of greater blood than yours; and I would have quickly proved it to you if I had not been commanded to remain silent. Rich, I will work to become rich. In the meantime, tell the gallants to stay away from your daughter. Otherwise, I am capable of causing great misfortune."
The Bastard greeted the nobleman and left.
Source: Le Bâtard, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886
Previous tale: The Two Twins
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
This is the second tale in the section "Perilous Adventures".
It is another tale of a poor man of a lower class who will become rich and of the highest class.
It is interesting that the tale is supposed to happen in various locations that are still in existence, including the Castle of Sérillac that, I understand, was built in the XIIIth century.
Until the 1960s, for communion in catholic churches, you had to stick out your tongue so that the priest placed the host on it. So, the priest could see your tongue. The Bastard did not want to receive communion because he did not want the priest to see his tongue before his father, the King of France, as the great eagle as told him.
Yesterday morning, there was a race that passed in front of the house of my brother Antoine. I took this picture when some of the slow runners were passing by.
Every first, third, and fifth Sunday, with my brothers and sisters we have a Zoom meeting, at 18:30 in France. It is a convenient hour for me in British Columbia, as it is 9:30 Pacific Time, and I am always up before 8:30.
So, yesterday, as it was the third Sunday of October, we met on Zoom. In the picture below, I am on the left and Antoine is on the right. On the screen, we have Benoit, us two, Philippe, then Monique and Bruno. Nicole and Jérôme arrived later.
The meeting usually lasts more than an hour. We give important news to each other, but mainly we have fun cracking jokes and remembering the good times of our youth.
-- Vincent Celier
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