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
"What sort of a hammer is that? It carries, cut into the iron head the
Breton words _Ez-Libr_."
"They mean _To Be Free_. It was the device of Tankeru the blacksmith.
He used this hammer as his weapon during the insurrection. I arrived
this morning before dawn in the forest of Mezlean, feeling greatly
alarmed over the fate of Tina's father. I went to his house early this
morning. I calculated upon waiting there for nightfall, not daring to
draw near Mezlean by daylight. I found at Tankeru's house only his
desolate old mother. Tankeru had been arrested. Distracted with despair
she informed me of her son's execution. My eyes alighted upon his hammer
which lay near his extinct forge. I took its iron head. The blacksmith's
hammer shall be joined to our symbolic relics. The manuscripts and the
relic are to be forwarded to a relative, an artisan at Vannes, who will
transmit them to his children. One of them will, perhaps, continue our
plebeian annals by writing the history of Mademoiselle Plouernel and
Nominoë Lebrenn."
Nominoë then proceeded to write and to read as he wrote:
"I, Nominoë Lebrenn, write this on the 17th of July, 1675, at the manor
of Mezlean, one hour before dawn. Bertha of Plouernel is standing beside
me. In a few minutes we shall leave the manor, which is surrounded by
soldiers. The passage that leads from the close to the orchard runs
under the road along which the sentries are on watch."
Nominoë stopped writing and asked Bertha:
"I understand it will be easy for us to reach the fields and the
seashore after we are in the orchard?"
"Very easy, my friend. The owners of this manor had the vaulted passage
dug under the road in order not to have to cross it every time they
wished to go to the garden. The high walls that surround it will shelter
us from the sight of the soldiers. The door that leads to the fields can
be easily opened."
"When we leave the orchard," Nominoë proceeded to write, "we shall
hasten to the seashore. The stones of Karnak rise there. The night is
clear; the moon shines. Guided by the mellow light of the planet, Bertha
and I, holding each other's hands, will climb the stairs of the ancient
rock consecrated to the sacrifices, the druid trysting place, where ran
the blood of Hena, the Virgin of the Isle of Sen. When Bertha and I
shall have reached the platform of the granite rock, then, in the
presence of the immensity of the sky and the ocean, the illimitable
expanses of which will spread before our eyes, we shall kneel down, and
joining our voices, say to the God of justice:
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