Thibault felt appalled as he realised with what scrupulous exactness the
black wolf had fulfilled his part of the contract, and not without a
shudder did he think of the right Master Isengrin now had to claim an
equal punctuality of payment in return. He began to wonder uneasily
whether the wolf, after all, was the kind of being that would continue
to be satisfied with a few hairs--and this the more that both at the
moment of his wish and during the succeeding minutes during which it was
being accomplished, he had not been conscious of the slightest sensation
anywhere about the roots of his hair, not even of the least little
tickling. He was far from being pleasantly affected by the sight of poor
Marcotte’s corpse; he had not loved him, it was true, and he had felt
that he had good reason for not doing so; but his dislike to the defunct
had never gone so far as to make him wish for his death, and the wolf
had certainly gone far beyond his desires. At the same time, Thibault
had never precisely said what he did wish, and had left the wolf a wide
margin for the exercise of his malice; evidently he would have to be
more careful in future in stating exactly what he wanted, and above all,
more circumspect as regards any wish he might formulate.
As to the Baron, although still alive, he was almost as good as dead.
From the moment when, as the result of Thibault’s wish, he had been
struck down as it were by lightning, he had remained unconscious. His
men had laid him on the heap of heather which the shoe-maker had piled
up to hide the door of the shed, and troubled and frightened, were
ransacking the place to try and find some restorative which might bring
their master back to life. One asked for vinegar to put on his temples,
another for a key to put down his back, this one for a bit of board to
slap his hands with, that for some sulphur to burn under his nose. In
the midst of all this confusion was heard the voice of little
Engoulevent, calling out: “In the name of all that’s good, we don’t want
all this truck, we want a goat. Ah! if only we had a goat!”
“A goat?” cried Thibault, who would have rejoiced to see the Baron
recover, for it would lift at least part of the burden now weighing on
his conscience, and would also rid his dwelling of these marauders. “A
goat? I have a goat!”
“Really! you have a goat?” cried Engoulevent, “oh! my friends! now our
dear master is saved!”
And so overcome with joy was he, that he flung his arms round Thibault’s
neck, saying, “Bring out your goat, my friend! bring out your goat!”
Thibault went to the shed and led out the goat, which ran after him
bleating.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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