The landscape resembles parts of Bretagne and of Normandy; but these provinces have no such huts. To see a human habitation, you have to rise high above the fences and hedges and then look down upon the ground. At a place where two roads meet, the cracking of a whip is heard; hogs, sheep, and small oxen are driven aside to make way for a kind of procession, consisting of grave and solemn men and women, who almost all wear a look of consternation. It is a wedding. Two young people have just had their union blessed by the priests under the sacred oak. The bride is dressed in black, and wears a wreath of dark leaves on her head; she walks in the midst {067}of her friends, bent double, as if weighed down by overwhelming thoughts. A matron, who walks on her left, holds before her eyes a white cloth; it is a shroud, the shroud in which she will be buried one of these days. On her right, a Druid intones a chant, in which he enumerates, in solemn rhythm, all the troubles and all the anxieties which await her in wedded life. [Illustration: 087] “From this day, young wife, thou alone wilt have to bear all the burden of your united household. “You will have to attend the baking oven, to provide fuel, and to go in search of food; you will have to prepare the resinous torch and the lamp. “You will wash the linen at the fountain, and you will make up all the clothing; “You will attend to the cow, and even to the horse if your husband requires it; “Always full of respect, you will wait upon him, standing behind him, at his meals; “If he chooses to take more wives, you will receive your new companions with sweetness; {068} If needs be, you will even offer to nurse the children of these favorites, and all from obedience to your karl (master); “If he is angry against you and strikes you, you will pray to Esus, the only God, but you will never blame your husband, who cannot do wrong. “If he expresses a wish to take you with him to war, you will accompany him to carry his baggage, to keep his arms in good condition, and to nurse him if he should be sick or wounded. “Happiness consists in the fulfillment of duty. Be happy, my child!” [Illustration: 088] When I heard this dolorous wedding song, which in some parts of France is to this day addressed to brides by local minstrels, when I saw this winding-sheet, {069}the mournful costumes and the whole funereal wedding procession, I felt overcome with sadness. Just then, cries and joyous acclamations were heard at some little distance. Another procession came from the opposite direction to the cross-roads; there all the faces were smiling and full of joyousness. This was a funeral. [Illustration: 089] Such were the ways of our fathers; they rejoiced in facing death, which relieves man from all his sufferings; they had nothing but tears for man when he entered upon his trials.