French fiction -- Translations into English; Short stories, French -- Translations into English
"One day, Ebenezer having been called back to London proposed that I
should follow him. I did it joyfully, and I must say that the six weeks
I spent in that capital were one long-drawn-out feast. I was exhibited
at the Missionary Society as a model among converts. At dessert I would
rise and speak of my complete happiness, which was but natural after so
good a meal. People wept with emotion, and so did I myself. In that
country the religious fervour of elderly gentlewomen is extraordinary.
Between puddings and mince pies, it was one stream of gifts of food.
Never have I eaten so well or drunk so much.
"There, however, I was surprised to find that the English no more than
the Negroes are all of one mind with regard to their Fetishes, which I
ought to have expected. In Africa, at a six days' journey from our
church, there was a Catholic Mission. I was careful never to go near it,
since Ebenezer had warned me that they worked evil spells there upon the
poor Negroes who let themselves be deceived.
"But one afternoon in London, I was accosted by a big devil of an Irish
priest who had heard of my religious zeal. He was greatly perturbed by
the glory which the Missionary Society owed to me. He had determined to
snatch me away from Ebenezer Jones. I let him take me home with him,
where I found a table abundantly spread. Meat, pies, and preserves, and
liqueurs, oh, such liqueurs! I was deeply shaken, and could not disguise
the fact from my new friend, Father Joseph O'Meara. He increased his
efforts, and so successfully explained to me the superiority of his
Fetishes over Ebenezer's that I was obliged to agree he was right. No
sooner had I uttered the word than he baptized me on the spot, gave me a
good bed to sleep in, and on the morrow celebrated my reconversion with
a ceremony even finer than the former one. There were Fetishes
everywhere surrounded by lights. Joseph O'Meara wept for joy and so did
I. That evening there was a magnificent banquet, ... just like the
others. They had taught me a speech, but as the generous potations had
slightly clouded my memory, I was able to utter but one sentence:
'Mokoubamba is very happy, very happy.'
"And that was no lie.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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