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at my hole it was already taken! Such a thing had never happened

to me in three years; and it made me feel as if I were being

robbed under my own eyes。 I said to myself; Confound it all!

confound it! And then my wife began to nag at me。 'Eh! What about

your Casque a meche! Get along; you drunkard! Are you satisfied;

you great fool?' I could say nothing; because it was all quite

true; and so I landed all the same near the spot and tried to

profit by what was left。 Perhaps after all the fellow might catch

nothing; and go away。



〃He was a little thin man; in white linen coat and waistcoat; and

with a large straw hat; and his wife; a fat woman who was doing

embroidery; was behind him。



〃When she saw us take up our position close to their place; she

murmured: 'I suppose there are no other places on the river!' And

my wife; who was furious; replied: 'People who know how to behave

make inquiries about the habits of the neighborhood before

occupying reserved spots。'



〃As I did not want a fuss; I said to her: 'Hold your tongue;

Melie。 Let them go on; let them go on; we shall see。'



〃Well; we had fastened 'Delila' under the willow…trees; and had

landed and were fishing side by side; Melie and I; close to the

two others; but here; Monsieur; I must enter into details。



〃We had only been there about five minutes when our male

neighbor's float began to go down two or three times; and then he

pulled out a chub as thick as my thigh; rather less; perhaps; but

nearly as big! My heart beat; and the perspiration stood on my

forehead; and Melie said to me: 'Well; you sot; did you see

that?'



〃Just then; Monsieur Bru; the grocer of Poissy; who was fond of

gudgeon fishing; passed in a boat; and called out to me: So

somebody has taken your usual place; Monsieur Renard? And I

replied: 'Yes; Monsieur Bru; there are some people in this world

who do not know the usages of common politeness。'



〃The little man in linen pretended not to hear; nor his fat lump

of a wife; either。



Here the President interrupted him a second time: 〃Take care; you

are insulting the widow; Madame Flameche; who is present。



Renard made his excuses: 〃I beg your pardon; I beg your pardon;

my anger carried me away。 Well; not a quarter of an hour had

passed when the little man caught another chub and another almost

immediately; and another five minutes later。



〃The tears were in my eyes; and then I knew that Madame Renard


was boiling with rage; for she kept on nagging at me: 'Oh! how

horrid! Don't you see that he is robbing you of your fish? Do you

think that you will catch anything? Not even a frog; nothing

whatever。 Why; my hands are burning; just to think of it。'



〃But I said to myself: 'Let us wait until twelve o clock。 Then

this poaching fellow will go to lunch; and I shall get my place

again。 As for me; Monsieur le President; I lunch on the spot

every Sunday; we bring our provisions in 'Delila。' But there! At

twelve o'clock; the wretch produced a fowl out of a newspaper;

and while he was eating; actually he caught another chub!



〃Melie and I had a morsel also; just a mouthful; a mere nothing;

for our heart was not in it。



〃Then I took up my newspaper; to aid my digestion。 Every Sunday I

read the 'Gil Blas' in the shade like that; by the side of the

water。 It is Columbine's day; you know; Columbine who writes the

articles in the 'Gil Blas。' I generally put Madame Renard into a

passion by pretending to know this Columbine。 It is not true; for

I do not know her; and have never seen her; but that does not

matter; she writes very well; and then she says things straight

out for a woman。 She suits me; and there are not many of her

sort。



〃Well; I began to tease my wife; but she got angry immediately;

and very angry; and so I held my tongue。 At that moment our two

witnesses; who are present here; Monsieur Ladureau and Monsieur

Durdent; appeared on the other side of the river。 We knew each

other by sight。 The little man began to fish again; and he caught

so many that I trembled with vexation; and his wife said: 'It is

an uncommonly good spot; and we will come here always; Desire。'

As for me; a cold shiver ran down my back; and Madame Renard kept

repeating: 'You are not a man; you have the blood of a chicken in

your veins'; and suddenly I said to her: 'Look here; I would

rather go away; or I shall only be doing something foolish。'



〃And she whispered to me as if she had put a red…hot iron under

my nose: 'You are not a man。 Now you are going to run away; and

surrender your place! Off you go; Bazaine!'



〃Well; I felt that; but yet I did not move; while the other

fellow pulled out a bream; Oh! I never saw such a large one

before; never! And then my wife began to talk aloud; as if she

were thinking; and you can see her trickery。 She said: 'That is

what one might call stolen fish; seeing that we baited the place

ourselves。 At any rate; they ought to give us back the money we

have spent on bait。'



〃Then the fat woman in the cotton dress said in turn: 'Do you

mean to call us thieves; Madame?' And they began to explain; and

then they came to words。 Oh! Lord! those creatures know some good

ones。 They shouted so loud; that our two witnesses; who were on

the other bank; began to call out by way of a joke: 'Less noise

over there; you will prevent your husbands from fishing。'



〃The fact is that neither of us moved any more than if we had

been two tree…stumps。 We remained there; with our noses over the

water; as if we had heard nothing; but by Jove; we heard all the

same。 'You are a mere liar。'



〃 'You are nothing better than a street…walker。'



〃 'You are only a trollop。'



〃 'You are a regular strumpet。'



〃And so on; and so on; a sailor could not have said more。



〃Suddenly I heard a noise behind me; and turned round。 It was the

other one; the fat woman who had fallen on to my wife with her

parasol。 WHACK! WHACK! Melie got two of them; but she was

furious; and she hits hard when she is in a rage; so she caught

the fat woman by the hair and then; THUMP; THUMP。 Slaps in the

face rained down like ripe plums。 I should have let them go

onwomen among themselves; men among themselvesit does not do

to mix the blows; but the little man in the linen jacket jumped

up like a devil and was going to rush at my wife。 Ah! no; no; not

that; my friend! I caught the gentleman with the end of my fist;

CRASH; CRASH; one on the nose; the other in the stomach。 He threw

up his arms and legs and fell on his back into the river; just

into the hole。



〃I should have fished him out most certainly; Monsieur le

President; if I had had the time。 But unfortunately the fat woman

got the better of it; and she was drubbing Melie terribly。 I know

that I ought not to have assisted her while the man was drinking

his fill; but I never thought that he would drown; and said to

myself: 'Bah; it will cool him。'



〃I therefore ran up to the women to separate them; and all I

received was scratches and bites。 Good Lord; what creatures!

Well; it took me five minutes; and perhaps ten; to separate those

two viragoes。 When I turned round; there was nothing to be seen;

and the water was as smooth as a lake。 The others yonder kept

shouting: 'Fish him out!' It was all very well to say that; but I

cannot swim and still less dive!



〃At last the man from the dam came; and two gentlemen with

boat…hooks; but it had taken over a quarter of an hour。 He was

found at the bottom of the hole in eight feet of water; as I have

said; but he was dead; the poor little man in his linen suit!

There are the facts; such as I have sworn to。 I am innocent; on

my honor。〃



The witnesses having deposed to the same effect; the accused was

acquitted。







LOVE



THREE PAGES FROM A SPORTSMAN'S BOOK



I have just read among the general news in one of the papers a

drama of passion。 He killed her and then he killed himself; so he

must have loved her。 What matters He or She? Their love alone

matters to me; and it does not interest me because it moves me or

astonishes me; or because it softens me or makes me think; but

because it recalls to my mind a remembrance of my youth; a

strange recollection of a hunting adventure where Love appeared

to me; as the Cross appeared to the early Christians; in the

midst of the heavens。



I was born with all the instincts and the senses of primitive

man; tempered by the arguments and the restraints of a civilized

being。 I am passionately fond of shooting; yet the sight of the

wounded animal; of the blood on its feathers and on my hands;

affects my heart so as almost to make it stop。



That year the cold weather set in suddenly toward the end of

autumn; and I was invited by one of my cousins; Karl de Rauville;

to go with him and shoot ducks on the marshes; at daybreak。



My cousin was a jolly fellow of forty; with red hair

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