while measuring ribbon. And now here she was with
a posthumous son of four months old, but alas, with
no husband; with a drapery shop, but alas, with no
male to assist her in keeping the business together;
with a healthful and willing body enough, but alas,
with small prospect of future breeding. And so, after
that tumbler of Camp Romain rouge, it was natural
perhaps that her thoughts should be turned away from
the dead and toward the living. But Goundran was
a lover and lord of the sea, and appeared to be little
attracted by women.
Jouse drank, laughing many times as he did so. He
laughed in pure joy at his fine situation; and his
mighty fist came down on the table while his mighty
voice pressed hospitality, urging his guests to fill up
their glasses:
€Hoi, tafort! Have courage my friends!5 he roared
in the Provencal tongue which they dearly loved
speaking, cHoi, tafort! Lou vin es fa per beure!'
And undoubtedly this wine seemed made to be drunk,
for, cheap though it was in that land of plenty, it
possessed no mean flavour to tickle the palate.
Then Goundran lifted his glass to the child who lay
quietly asleep on the knees of his mother: cMay you
live many years and prosper, little godson; and may
you become a good fisherman, for the sea is the finest
thing in creation.5
Jouse grinned: 'May he learn to work in my shop;
may he learn to make comfortable chairs and strong
tables/
'May he prosper,5 they all murmured fervently,
while Ghristophe, worn out, still continued to sleep,
completely indifferent, it seemed, to his future.
But now Eusebe, the sandal-maker, who plied his
trade just across the street in a house that at one time
had been a convent, Eusebe, not content with so
seemly a toast, must dip a gnarled finger into his