A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2: To the Close of the 19th CenturySaintsbury, George
History
A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2: To the Close of the 19th Century
Saintsbury, George
French fiction -- History and criticism
The four travellers--the unnamed captain who tells the story; his two
lieutenants, Boutraix, a bluff Voltairian, with an immense capacity for
food and drink, and Sergy, a young and romantic Celadon, _plus_ the
actor-manager Bascara, who is orthodox--with the _arriero_, arrive at
last at the castle, which is Udolphish enough, and with some difficulty
reach, over broken staircases and through ruined corridors, the great
banqueting-hall.[87]
Here--for it is less ruinous that the rest of the building and actually
contains furniture and mouldering pictures--they make themselves
tolerably comfortable with their torches, a huge fire made up from
broken stairs and panels, abundance of provisions, and two dozen of
wine, less a supply for the _arriero_, who prudently remains in the
stables, alleging that the demons that haunt those places are fairly
familiar to him and not very mischievous. As the baggage has got very
wet during the day, the dresses and properties of Bascara's company are
taken out and put to air. Well filled with food and drink, the
free-thinker Boutraix proposes that they shall equip themselves from
these with costumes not unsuitable to the knight, squire, and page of
the legend, and they do so, Bascara refusing to take part in the game,
and protesting strongly against their irreverence. At last midnight
comes, and they cry, "Where is Ines de las Sierras?" lifting their
glasses to her health. Suddenly there sounds from the dark end of the
great hall the fateful "Here am I!" and there comes forward a figure in
a white shroud, which seats itself in the vacant place assigned by
tradition to Ines herself. She is extraordinarily beautiful, and is,
under the white covering, dressed in a fashion resembling the mouldering
portrait which they have seen in the gallery. She speaks too, half
rallying them, as if surprised at _their_ surprise; she calls herself
Ines de las Sierras; she throws on the table a bracelet with the family
arms, which they have also seen dimly emblazoned or sculptured about the
castle; she eats; and, as a final piece of conviction, she tears her
dress open and shows the scar on her breast. Then she drinks response to
the toast they had in mockery proposed; she accepts graciously the
advances of the amorous Sergy; she sings divinely, and she dances more
divinely still. The whole scene is described supremely well, but the
description of the dance is one of the very earliest and very finest
pieces of Romantic French prose. One may try, however rashly, to
translate it:
(_She has found a set of castanets in her girdle._)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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