belfry in which one may see the chime of bells swin
ing; the old fish-market renowned for fine langoust
and three cafes frequented by fishermen, sailors, ai
sometimes by artists with their wives and their mode
The streets, which are narrow and tortuous, are but
adapted for the passage of motors; moreover
summer their heat is relentless, while in winter th
are swept and re-swept by the mistral. Yet innum<
able fruit trees surround the town, and these in t
midst of plentiful vineyards.
On a day of insistent fertility towards the end oi
perfect April, when the vines were beginning
extend their pink shoots, and the small peach trees
grow restless with sap, and the bountiful soil that \A
make men lazy was stirred by a constant thrusti
and growing, and the very earthworms under t
soil must curl and uncurl for the joy of living —
such a day, Mireio, the gaunt yellow bitch, broug
forth her large litter of lusty puppies in the sawdi
and shavings of the carpenter's shop belonging
Jousfe Benedit — in great anguish and joy she broug
forth her puppies. While above, in a bedroom unc
the eaves, Marie Benedit cried out again and aga:
so that Jouse, her husband, must cover his ears, J
he could not endure those sounds of her travs
Marie Benedit cried out, yet not solely in pain, j
hers was the purposeful suffering of women; and t]
she well knew, so that while she protested her bro^
peasant body strove bravely in labour and her cr
and her wails held a note of triumph which partook
the age-old cry of creation.
Towards dusk Marie Benedit gave birth to a sc
and after the midwife had cleansed his limbs a
swathed him in flannel she took him to his moth
while Jouse stood gaping at this sacrament of 1
which he had raised up through the seed of his lo:
— too confounded for speech he must just stand gapii
18