'Look,5 he would say, cthe quiet, lovely curve . . /
and then he would stop, at a loss for words, stroking
the undulating surface of the oak as though the old
wood could draw comfort from his fingers.
Anfos would murmur: cBeu Dieu;3 very softly and
perhaps a great many times, for he often evoked a
beautiful God when his heart and his struggling child-
ish mind were stirred by pleasure or admiration. So
while Jouse fondled the venerable oak, Anfos would
murmur: cBeu Dieu/
Jouse had much to teach his apprentice, and he
found that he took a real pleasure in this teaching.
The young man who had left him to go to Aries had
been a very ungracious fellow, full of sullen and
envious discontents, so that Jouse turned with relief
to Anfos who listened like a good and intelligent child,
despite the fact that they called him half-witted. And
although he could not be trusted with a razor, perhaps
because this concerned him alone, he could always be
trusted with the tools of his craft which concerned the
great, sweet-smelling blocks of timber.
Many implements are used in the working of wood,
and the ways of all these must be studied with care,
for some are uncertain in their dispositions. Thus
Anfos must study the holding tools, the stalwart oak
bench with its heavy vices, the holdfasts, the endless
family of cramps, and last but not least, the versatile
pincers. The paring and shaving tools he must
learn, and the angle at which it is best to work a chisel,
the balance of forces in using the knife, the capacities
of planes, gouges and the rest — all deadly weapons
unless wielded with skill, with the calm and purpose-
ful skill of the creator. Yes, and then he must learn
how to purchase a saw; how to test it by laying hold
of the handle which should fit the hand as neatly as
a glove, and moreover be fashioned of well-seasoned
wood lest it shrink and loosen the blade by so doing.
c 33