renewed desolation. And what could they do? It
was dreadful to see him sitting hunched in his chair
and he near to weeping. Marie racked her brains
for encouraging words, Christophe tried his best to
distract and amuse him, even Loup became docile
and ate the food that his mother had prepared, without
complaint; but Jouse's whole being was one immense
ache for the solace that lay so close to his hand . . .
the strong comforting wine from the vineyards of
Provence,
Then quite suddenly Anfos began to laugh, and he
laughed and laughed, losing all self-control, so that
he choked and spat out his soup which ran down his
beard and the front of his shirt — a thick, greasy
trickle mixed with saliva. Clutching the tip of his
beard he sucked it, still choking and gasping and
spluttering with laughter, until in the end he must
hold his side and his belly: CO! O! Ai...ai...O! O!'
And he rocked himself now this way and now that,
<O! O! . . . Ai . . . ai;ai . . . ai . . .' spluttered
Anfos in a kind of agonized ecstasy.
Without warning, Jouse leant forward and struck
him.
§2
Midnight Mass; the altar blazing with candles
because once long ago a solitary star had served the
wise kings from the East as a beacon. Midnight Mass;
the church fragrant with clouds of incense because
once long ago the reek and the steam of cattle, the
sweating of anxious peasants, incredulous, frightened
and wholly amazed, had lain heavy upon the air of
a stable. Midnight Mass; the Cure robed in white
vestments of satin embroidered richly with silver,
because once long ago a Child had been born very
crudely and harshly into this world, with scarcely
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