by Eugène Sue
CHAPTER V.
THE STORY OF SYOMARA.
The storm of questions had spent itself and the thirst for fresh storiesreturned among the assembled family of Joel, whose head remarked withwonderment: "What a thing traveling is? How much one learns; but we mustnot lag behind our guest. Story for story. Proud Gallic woman for proudGallic woman. Friend guest, ask Mamm' Margarid to tell you the beautifulstory and deed of one of her own female ancestors, which happened abouta hundred and thirty years ago when our fathers went as far as Asia tofound a new Gaul, because you must know that few are the countries onearth that their soles have not trod upon."
"After your wife's story," answered the stranger, "and seeing that youwish to speak of our own ancestors, I shall also speak of them ... andby Ritha Gaur!... never would the time be fitter. While we are heretelling stories, you do not seem to know what is going on elsewhere inthe land; you do not know that perhaps at this very moment--"
"Why do you interrupt yourself?" asked Joel wondering at the suddennesswith which his guest broke off in the middle of the sentence. "What isgoing on while we are here telling stories? What better can we do at thecorner of our hearth during an autumn evening?"
Instead of answering Joel, the stranger respectfully said to Mamm'Margarid:
"I shall listen to the story of Joel's wife."
"It is a very short and simple story," answered Margarid plying herdistaff. "The story is as simple as the action of my ancestralgrandmother. Her name was Syomara."
"And in honor of her," said Guilhern breaking in upon his mother andproudly pointing the stranger to an eight year old child of surprisingbeauty, "in honor of our ancestral grandmother Syomara, who was asbeautiful as she was brave, I have given her name to this little girl ofmine."
"This is indeed a most charming child," remarked the stranger struck bythe lovely face of little Syomara. "I am sure she will have hergrandmother's valor in the same degree that she is endowed with herbeauty."
Henory, the child's mother blushed with joy at these words and saidsmiling to Mamm' Margarid:
"I dare not blame Guilhern for having interrupted you; it brought on thepretty compliment."
"The compliment is as sweet to me as to you, my daughter," answeredMamm' Margarid; saying which she began her story:
"My grandmother's name was Syomara; she was the daughter of Ronan. Herfather had taken her into lower Languedoc whither his traffic calledhim. The Gauls of the neighborhood were just preparing for theexpedition to the East. Their chief, Oriegon by name, saw mygrandmother, was fascinated by her beauty, won her love and married her.Syomara departed with her husband on the expedition to the East. Atfirst they triumphed. Afterwards, the Romans, who were ever jealous ofthe Gallic possessions, attacked our fathers. In one of the battles,Syomara, who, led thereto both by duty and love, accompanied Oriegon,her husband, to battle in a war-chariot, was separated from her husbandduring the fray, taken prisoner, and placed under the guard of a Romanofficer, who was a miser and a libertine. The Roman, who was captivatedby the beauty of Syomara, attempted to seduce her; but she repelled hisadvances with contempt. He then surprised his captive during her sleepand outraged her--"
"Listen, Joel!" cried the stranger indignantly. "Listen to that!... ARoman subjects an ancestor of your wife to such indignity!"
"Listen to the end of the story, friend guest," said Joel; "you will seethat Syomara is the peer of the Gallic woman of the Rhine."
"The one and the other," Margarid proceeded, "showed themselves true tothe maxim that there are three kinds of chastity among the women ofGaul: The first, when a father says in the presence of his daughter thathe grants her hand to him whom she loves; the second, when for the firsttime she enters her husband's bed; and the third, when she appears thenext morning before other men. The Roman had outraged Syomara, hisprisoner. His passion being satisfied, he offered her freedom uponpayment of a ransom. She accepted the offer and induced the Roman tosend her servant, a prisoner like herself, to the camp of the Gauls andtell Oriegon or, in his absence, any of his friends, to bring the ransomto an appointed place. The servant departed to the camp of the Gauls.The miserly Roman, wishing himself to receive the ransom and not shareit with anyone else, led Syomara alone to the appointed place. Thefriends of Oriegon were there with the gold for the ransom. While theRoman was counting the gold, Syomara addressed the Gauls in their owntongue and ordered them to kill the infamous man. Her orders wereexecuted on the spot. Syomara then cut off his head, placed it in a foldof her dress and returned to the camp of her people. Oriegon, who hadhimself been also taken prisoner and managed to escape, arrived in campat the same time as his wife. At the sight of her husband, Syomaradropped the head of the Roman at his feet and addressed Oriegon saying:'That is the head of a man who outraged me.... There is none but you whocan say that he possessed me.'"
At the close of her narrative, Mamm' Margarid continued to spin insilence.
"Did I not tell you, friend," said Joel, "that Syomara, Margarid'sgrandmother, was the peer of your Gallic woman of the Rhine?"
"And must not the noble name bring good luck to my daughter!" addedGuilhern tenderly kissing the blonde head of the child.
"That powerful and chaste story is worthy of the lips that told it,"said the stranger. "It also proves that the Romans, our implacableenemies, have not changed. Avaricious and debauched were they once--andare to-day. And seeing that we are speaking of the avaricious anddebauched Romans and that you love stories," he added with a bittersmile, "you must know that I have been in Rome ... and that I saw ...Julius Caesar ... the most famous of the Roman generals, as also the mostavaricious and the most debauched man of all Italy. I would not ventureto speak of his infamous acts of libertinage before women and younggirls."
"Oh! Did you see that famous Julius Caesar? What kind of a looking man ishe?" asked Joel with great inquisitiveness.
The stranger looked at the brenn as if greatly surprised at thequestion, and answered with an effort to suppress his anger:
"Caesar is nearing old age; he is tall of stature; his face is lean andlong; his complexion pale; his eyes black; his head bald. Seeing the mancombines in his person all the vices of the worst women of the Romans,he is possessed, like them, of extraordinary personal vanity.Accordingly, in order to conceal his baldness, he ever carries a chapletof gold leaves on his head. Is your inquisitiveness satisfied, Joel?Would you want more details about Caesar's infirmities? That he issubject to epileptic fits?... That--"
But the stranger did not finish his sentence. Letting his eyes wanderover the assembled family of the brenn, he cried with towering rage:
"By the anger of Hesus! Can it be that all of you--as many as you arehere capable of seizing the sabre and the sword but insatiable afteridle stories--can it be you do not know that a Roman army, after havinginvaded under the command of Caesar one-half of our provinces, has takenwinter quarters in the country of Orleans, of Touraine and of Anjou?"
"Yes, yes; we have heard about it," calmly said Joel. "People fromAnjou, who came here to buy beef and pork, told us about it."
"And it is with such unconcern that you speak of the Roman invasion ofGaul?" cried the traveler.
"Never have the Breton Gauls been invaded by strangers," proudlyanswered the brenn of the tribe of Karnak. "We shall remain spotless ofthe taint. We are independent of the Gauls of Piotou, of Touraine, ofOrleans and of the other sections of the land, just as they areindependent of us. They have not asked for our help. We are not soconstituted as to offer ourselves to their chiefs and to fight underthem. Let everyone guard his own honor and his own province. The Romansare in Touraine ... but it is a long way from Touraine to here."
"So that if the pirates of the North were to kill your son Albinik thesailor and his brave wife Meroe, it would no wise concern you becausethe murder was committed far from here?"
"You are joking. My son is my son.... The Gauls of provinces other thanmine are not my sons!"
"Are they not, like yourself, the s
ons of the same god, as the druidreligion teaches you? If that is so, are not all the Gauls yourbrothers? And does not the subjugation, does not the blood of a brothercry for vengeance? Are you unconcerned because the enemy is not at thevery gates of your own homestead? On that principle, the hand, even whenit knows that the foot is gangrened, could say to itself: 'As to me, Iam well, and the foot is far from the hand--I need not worry over thedisease.' And the gangrene, not being stopped, rises from the foot tothe other members, until the whole body perishes."
"Unless the healthy hand take an axe," said the brenn, "and cut off thefoot from which the evil proceeds."
"And what becomes of the body that is thus mutilated, Joel?" put inMamm' Margarid who all the while had been listening in silence. "Whenthe best regions of the country shall have been invaded by the stranger,what will then become of the rest of Gaul? Thus mutilated anddismembered, how will she defend herself against her enemies?"
"The worthy spouse of my host speaks wisely," said the travelerrespectfully to Mamm' Margarid; "like all Gallic matrons she holds herplace at the public council as well as at her hearth."
"You speak truly," rejoined Joel, "Margarid has a brave heart and a wisehead. Often her opinion is better than mine.... I gladly say so.... Butthis time I am right. Whatever may happen to the rest of Gaul, neverwill the Romans set foot in our old Britanny. There are her rocks, hermarshes, her woods, her sand banks--above all her Bretons to defendher."
At these words of her husband Mamm' Margarid shook her headdisapprovingly; all the men of the family, however, loudly applaudedtheir brenn's words.