The Blacksmith's Hammer; or, The Peasant Code: A Tale of the Grand MonarchSue, Eugène
History
The Blacksmith's Hammer; or, The Peasant Code: A Tale of the Grand Monarch
Sue, Eugène
France -- History -- Louis XIV, 1643-1715 -- Fiction
Tankeru, Serdan, Salaun Lebrenn and Nominoë made their escape through
the underground staircase of the prison building. The building itself
was now ablaze, the same as all the out-houses appertaining to the
castle. Their roofs fell with crash upon crash within the walls that
had partly crumbled in the conflagration, and shot up long streamers of
fire and sparkling embers. Seeing that the castle itself did not contain
the mass of combustible materials of all sorts with which the out-houses
were filled, it offered a longer resistance to the conflagration. Off
and on a tongue of fire would be seen expiring in the midst of smoke
that was still escaping from the windows on the ground floor; the panes
of glass had exploded noisily and the frames were charred black. But the
fire spared the upper floors where the vassals still pursued their work
of devastation, throwing out of the windows pieces of furniture, looking
glasses, bedding, books, pictures. Debris of all kinds was heaped in the
center of the court of honor, and the insurgents turned the heap into a
huge bonfire that lighted the three gibbets which were erected for
Salaun, Serdan and Nominoë, but from which now dangled the lifeless
bodies of the Count of Plouernel, Abbot Boujaron and Sergeant La
Montagne, all three objects of the implacable hatred of the people--the
_seigneur_, the _priest_ and the _King's soldier_.
Informed of the death of his brother Gildas who was massacred together
with the other delegates of the vassals, Tankeru excepted, Salaun looked
for and found the body, and laid it in a grave that he dug with the
assistance of Tankeru, Serdan and Nominoë. That funeral duty being
fulfilled, Salaun said to them, as he sadly contemplated the scene of
wreck and ruin which they had been unable to prevent:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account