Les Quarante-cinq. English
Page 35
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE FOUR WINDS.
Chicot, with his little horse, which ought to have been a big one tohave carried him, after having slept at Fontainebleau, made a detour tothe right, and proceeded toward the little village of Orgeval. He wouldhave gone further that day, but his horse failed him. He put up,therefore, at a good hotel, and went through the rooms to select onewhere the doors closed well, and chose an apartment which had just beenrepaired, and the door of which was furnished with a formidable lock.
Before going to bed, although the hotel had appeared almost empty, helocked the door and placed a heavy table and a chest of drawers againstit. He then put his purse under his pillow, and repeated to himselfthree times over the translation of the king's letter. There was anextremely high wind blowing, and as it howled in the neighboring trees,it was with a feeling of great satisfaction that Chicot plunged into avery comfortable bed.
He had a lamp by his bedside, and he occupied himself for some time inreading a book which he had brought with him; but, although he liked thebook, in reading the third chapter he fell asleep. The wind moaned aboutthe house, sometimes like a child crying, and sometimes like a husbandscolding his wife; and as Chicot slept, it seemed to him, in his dreams,that the tempest came nearer and nearer. All at once a sudden squall ofinvincible force broke locks and bolts--pushed the chest of drawers,which fell on the lamp, which it extinguished, and on the table, whichit smashed.
Chicot had the faculty of waking quickly, and with all his senses abouthim, so he jumped out of bed and got hold in an instant of his purse andhis sword. It was quite dark, but it seemed to him that the whole roomwas being torn to pieces by the four winds of heaven; for the chairswere falling, and the table breaking more and more under the weight ofthe drawers. As he could do nothing against the gods of Olympus, hecontented himself with standing in one corner, with his sword held outbefore him, so that if any of these mythological personages approached,they would spit themselves upon it.
At last he profited by a momentary cessation in the uproar to cryloudly, "Help! help!"
He made so much noise that it seemed to quiet the elements, as ifNeptune had pronounced the famous _Quos ego_, and, after six or sevenminutes, during which Eurus, Notus, Boreas and Aquilo seemed to beat aretreat, the host appeared with a lantern and enlightened the scene,which looked deplorably like a field of battle. The great chest ofdrawers was overturned on the broken table; the door was held only byone of its hinges, and the bolts were broken; three or four chairs wereon the floor with their legs in the air, and, to crown all, thecrockery, which had been on the table, lay in bits on the floor.
"This is a regular pandemonium," cried Chicot, recognizing his host.
"Oh! monsieur," cried the host, clasping his hands, "what has happened?"
"Are there demons lodging here?" asked Chicot.
"Oh! what weather," replied the host pathetically.
"But the bolts do not hold; this house must be made of card-board. Iwould rather go away;--I prefer the road."
"Oh! my poor furniture," sighed the host.
"But my clothes! where are they? They were on this chair."
"If they were there, they ought to be there still," replied the host.
"What! 'if they were there.' Do you think I came here yesterday in thiscostume?"
"Mon Dieu! monsieur," answered the host, with embarrassment, "I know youwere clothed."
"It is lucky you confess it."
"But--"
"But what?"
"The wind has dispersed everything."
"Ah! that is a reason."
"You see."
"But, my friend, when the wind comes in it comes from outside, and itmust have come in here if it made this destruction."
"Certainly, monsieur."
"Well, the wind in coming in here should have brought with it theclothes of others, instead of carrying mine out."
"So it should, and yet the contrary seems to have happened."
"But what is this? The wind must have walked in the mud, for here arefootmarks on the floor." And Chicot pointed out the traces left by amuddy boot, on seeing which the host turned pale.
"Now, my friend," said Chicot, "I advise you to keep a watch over thesewinds which enter hotels, penetrate rooms by breaking doors, and retire,carrying away the clothes of the guests."
The host drew back toward the door. "You call me thief!" said he.
"You are responsible for my clothes, and they are gone--you will notdeny that?"
"You insult me."
Chicot made a menacing gesture.
"Hola!" cried the host; "hola! help!"
Four men armed with sticks immediately appeared.
"Ah! here are the four winds," cried Chicot, making a thrust with hissword at one of them; but they all rapidly disappeared, not, however,before one of them had whispered something to the host.
"Your clothes shall be found," growled he.
"Well! that is all I ask."
They soon made their appearance, but visibly deteriorated.
"Ah! there are nails in your staircase; what a devil of a wind it was,"said Chicot.
"Now you will go to bed again?" said the host.
"No, I thank you, I have slept enough; leave me your lantern and I willread."
Chicot replaced the chest of drawers against the door, dressed himself,got into bed again, and read till daybreak, when he asked for hishorse, paid his bill, and went away, saying to himself--
"We shall see, to-night."