France -- History -- 15th century -- Juvenile fiction
Le Glorieux in his fantastic costume of striped yellow and green, and
his queer cap with its points sticking out on either side and adorned
with bells, was an object of much interest, for it was the first time
these people had ever seen such a costume. To-day the portraits of the
celebrated people of the world are familiar to all who have pennies to
invest in newspapers, and had there been at that time the same
facilities for spreading the news that there are to-day, Le Glorieux,
with his sayings and doings, particularly in the campaign with his late
master, would have been written up again and again, and the public, you
may be sure, would have known his face as well as those of its own
father and mother.
The innkeeper, his family, and friends all wore what to us would seem
like comic opera costumes: mine host, fat and rosy, wore his holiday
suit of a gorgeous color, and all the men were similarly attired, while
the women wore pink, or blue, or green bodices with short skirts of a
different color. On their heads they wore flat white linen caps fitting
close, and with tails to them like mantles floating down their backs,
the costume being completed by a high collar flaring out from the
shoulders.
The fairest of the women was the pale, pretty young mother, who cast
many proud glances at the rude wooden cradle in the corner where lay the
real heroine of the occasion, and, to her, the most important person in
the company.
Considered the most distinguished of the guests, Le Glorieux was given a
seat at the head of the table, where he immediately began to make
himself at home, not only with the viands, but with the company, keeping
up a continuous chatter and convulsing his audience with his merry
jokes.
"I should like to know the name of the woman who came shortly after our
arrival," he said after a while, turning to his host, who replied, "I do
not know her name; her garb is plain, yet she seems to be one who is
accustomed to the best of everything, for she insisted upon having two
of my largest rooms for herself and the child, showing that she had the
means to pay for them. She is on her way to the shrine of Saint Roch in
the forest beyond, to be relieved of a migraine that torments her
morning, noon, and night."
"And the blessed Saint Roch will cure her," said the innkeeper's mother
confidently; "no one goes in pain from his shrine."
Le Glorieux had noticed the shrine as they came along. The good saint,
who is supposed to lend a kindly hearing to those who are suffering from
physical ailments, was carved in rock above a clear spring. He was
represented as a young man with his robe lifted to show a plague spot on
his leg, and by his side was the dog which brought bread to him when he
was starving. When the readers of this story travel abroad they will see
pictures of Saint Roch painted by Rubens, Guido, Tintoretto, and other
great masters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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