Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, March 14, 1917 — John Shaqi
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, March 14, 1917Various
History
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, March 14, 1917
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
"Dire qu'il est maintenant prisonnier en Alle... en Bochie!" she said. They
had known long ago that he was mentioned in despatches, and they had been
on the look-out for the glorious details in print, but only this morning
had they heard of his capture.
How proud they were of their gentle cure and brave soldier! Jeanne had at
first been greatly perplexed by the strange dual personality, with its
incompatibilities, and many were the questions that had arisen in her
active little mind. "Le cure de Suzanne, c'est autre chose," she reflected,
for though technically a soldier was he not a _brancardier_ rescuing the
wounded? Her own practical conclusions, however, and the answers to her
questions smoothed away many difficulties, and perfect faith in her friend
did the rest.
Still she had never been able quite to merge the _religieux_ and the
_poilu_ into one picture; besides, she liked to play with the idea and
confront the one with the other. "Que va dire Monsieur le cure lorsque le
soldat tuera un homme?" And she had slipped into the habit of calling him
"Mon soldat et mon cure," suddenly inspired to adapt the title of Cousin
Juliette's absorbing book, _Mon Oncle et mon Cure_, and she refused to
abandon it when told that they were two separate persons. For that matter
so were the _soldat_ and the _cure_.
"Maman, nous allons tout de suite preparer son paquet de conforts," urged
Jeanne. And, thinking out what comforts had best be included in the parcel,
her mind went off now in one channel, now in another, as she pictured the
priest or the _piou-piou_. The latter presented no difficulty--for him good
things to eat were the first necessity--but the _cure_ would require
spiritual comforts.
"Des livres de messe," she said to herself; and thereupon the image of the
cold and hungry soldier arose before her, and "un poulet ou un bon
bifteck!" she added. Then, her eye lighting upon an advertisement in the
newspaper before her, "Maman, que veut dire por-ta-tif?" she asked. The
explanation received, she clapped her hands with joy; yes, surely a
_portable_ one was the very thing! "Maman, si nous envoyions a mon cure un
autel por-ta-tif?"
But Maman thought that, all things considered, it would be better to send
only food in the first parcel. So Jeanne reconciled herself to the idea,
although the _cure_ still remained a shadowy figure in the background with
his own especial need.
And prisoners were cold as well as hungry. What a pity something _hot_
could not be sent.
"Tiens! J'y suis!" cried Jeanne. "O Maman, j'ai une si bonne idee! Si nous
envoyions un bon repas bien chaud dans _l'auto-cuiseur!_" Perhaps it would
keep hot for a day or two. _How_ long did it take for a parcel to reach
_Bochie?_
But Maman decided this plan could not be risked; there was often delay, and
the moist food might turn sour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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