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Speaker 1: The Parrot by Gui de Mopesso one. Everybody in fcomp

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knew Mother PETA's story. She had certainly been unfortunate with

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her husband, for in his lifetime he used to beat

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her just as wheat is threshed in the barn. He

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was a master of a fishing bark, and had married

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her formerly because she was pretty. Although poor Petain was

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a good sailor, but brutal. He used to frequent father

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Obas Inn, where he would usually drink four or five

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glasses of brandy on lucky days, eight or ten glasses,

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and even more according to his mood. The brandy was

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served to the customers by Father Oba's daughter, a pleasing

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brunette who attracted people to the house only by her

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pretty face. For nothing had ever been gossiped about her. Petain,

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when he entered the inn, would be satisfied to look

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at her and to compliment her politely and respectfully. After

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he had had his first glass of brandy, he would

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already find her much nicer. At the second, he would wink.

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At the third he would say, if you were only

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billing Mademoiselle desiree, without ever finishing his sentence. At the

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fourth he would try to hold her back by her

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skirt in order to kiss her. And when he went

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as high as ten, it was father Obin who brought

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him the remaining drinks. The old innkeeper, who knew all

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the tricks of the trade, made Desiree walk about between

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the tables in order to increase the consumption of drinks,

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and Desiree, who was a worthy daughter of Father Obin,

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flitted around among the benches and joked with them, her

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lips smiling and her eyes sparkling. But Tag got so

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well accustomed to Desiree's face that he thought of it

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even while at sea, when throwing out his nets in

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storms or in calms, on moonlit or dark evenings. He

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thought of her a while holding the tiller in the

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stern of his boat, while his four companions were slumbering

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with their heads on their arms. He always saw her, smiling,

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pouring out the yellow brandy with a peculiar shoulder movement,

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and then exclaiming as she turned away, there, now are

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you satisfied. He saw her so much in his mind's

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eye that he was overcome by an irresistible desire to

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marry her, and, not being able to hold out any longer,

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he asked for her hand. He was rich, owned his

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own vessel, his gnats in a little house at the

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foot of the hill on the Retinue, whereas father Oba

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had nothing. The marriage was therefore eagerly agreed upon, and

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the wedding took place as soon as possible, as both

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parties were desirous for the affair to be concluded as

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early as convenient. Three days after the wedding, Petak could

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no longer understand how he had ever imagined Desiree to

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be different from other women. What a fool he had

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been to encumber himself with a penniless creature who had

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undoubtedly inveigled him with some drug which he had put

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in his brandy. He would curse all day long, break

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his pipe with his teeth, and maul his crew. After

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he had sworn by every known term at everything that

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came his way, he would rid himself of his remaining

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anger on the fish and lobsters which he pulled from

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the nets and threw into the baskets, aas oaths and

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foul language. When he returned home, he would find his wife,

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father Oba's daughter within reach of his mouth and hand,

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and it was not long before he treated her like

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the lowest creature in the world. As she listened calmly,

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accustomed to paternal violence, he grew exasperated at her quiet,

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and one evening he beat her. Then life at his

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home became unbearable. For ten years, the principal topic of

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conversation on the Retinue was about the beatings that Petag

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gave his wife, and his manner of cursing at her

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for the least thing. He could, indeed curse with a

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richness of vocabulary in a roundness of tone unequaled by

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other men in fecamp. As soon as his ship was

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sighted at the entrance of the harbor, returning from the

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fishing expedition, every one awaited the first volley he would

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hurl from the bridge. As soon as he perceived his

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wife's white cap standing at the stern, he would steer,

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his eye fixed on the boughs and on the sail, and,

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notwithstanding the difficulty of the narrow passage and the height

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of the turbul waves, he would search among the watching

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women and try to recognize his wife, father Oba's daughter,

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the Wretch. Then, as soon as he saw her, notwithstanding

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the noise of the wind and the waves, he would

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let loose upon her with such power and volubility that

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everyone would laugh, although they pitied her greatly. When he

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arrived at the dock, he would relieve his mind while

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unloading the fish, in such an expressive manner that he

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attracted around him all the loafers of the neighborhood. The

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words left his mouth, sometimes like shots from a cannon,

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short and terrible, Sometimes like peals of thunder which roll

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and rumble for five minutes, Such a hurricane of oaths

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that he seemed to have in his lungs, one of

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the storms of the eternal Father. When he left his

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ship and found himself face to face with her, surrounded

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by all the gossips of the neighborhood, he would bring

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up a new cargo of insults and bring her back

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to their dwelling. She in front, he behind, she weeping,

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he yelling at her. At last, when alone with her

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behind and closed doors, he would thrash her. On the

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slightest pretext, the least thing was sufficient to make him

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raise his hand, And when he had once begun, he

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did not stop, but he would throw into her face

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the true motive for his anger. At each blow, he

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would roar, there, you beggar, there you wretch, there, you popper,

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What a bright thing I did when I rinsed my

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mouth with your rascal of a father's apology for Brandy.

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The poor woman lived in continual fear, in a ceaseless

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trembling of body and soul, in everlasting expectation of outrageous thrashings.

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This lasted ten years. She was so timorous that she

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would grow pale whenever she spoke to anyone, and she

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thought of nothing but the blows with which she was threatened,

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And she became thinner, more yellow, and drier than a

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smoked fish. Two. One night, when her husband was at sea,

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she was suddenly awakened by the wild roaring of the wind.

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She sat up in her bed, trembling, but as she

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heard nothing more, she lay down again. Almost immediately there

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was a roar in the chimney which shook the entire house.

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It seemed to cross the heavens like a pack of

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furious animals, snorting and roaring. Then she arose and rushed

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to the harbor. Other women were arriving from all sides,

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carrying lanterns. The men were also gathering, and all were

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watching the foaming crests of the breaking wave. The storm

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lasted fifteen hours. Eleven sailors never returned. Patin was among them.

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In the neighborhood of Dieppe, the wreck of his bark,

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the Jean Amelie, was found. The bodies of his sailors

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were found near Saint Valerie, but his body was never recovered,

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as his vessel seemed to have been cut in two.

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His wife expected and feared his return for a long time,

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for if there had been a collision, he alone might

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have been picked up and carried afar off. Little by

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little she grew accustomed to the thought that she was

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rid of him, although she would start every time then

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a neighbor, a beggar or a peddler would enter. Suddenly,

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one afternoon, about four years after the disappearance of her husband,

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while she was walking along the Rue de Juif, she

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stopped before the house of an old sea captain who

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had recently died, and whose furniture was for sale. Just

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at that moment, a parrot was at auction. He had

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green feathers and a blue head, and was watching everybody

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with a displeased look. Three francs cried the auctioneer. A

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bird that can talk like a lawyer three francs. A

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friend of the pata woman nudged her and said, you

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ought to buy that, you who are rich, It would

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be good company for you. That bird is worth more

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than thirty francs. Anyhow, you can always sell it for

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twenty or twenty five. PETA's widow added fifty sentine and

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the bird was given her in a little cage, which

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she carried away. She took it home, and as she

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was opening the wire door in order to give it

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something to drink, he bit her finger and drew blood.

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Oh how naughty he is, she said. Nevertheless, she gave

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it some hemp seed and corn and watched it pruning

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its feathers as it glanced warily at its new home

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and its new mistress. On the following morning, just as

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day was breaking, the Pateau woman distinctly heard a loud, deep,

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roaring voice calling, are you going to get up? Carrion?

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Her fear was so great that she hid her head

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under the sheets, for when Petao was with her, as

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soon as he would open his eyes, he would shout

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those well known words into her ears. Trembling rolled into

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a ball, her back prepared for the thrashing which she

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already expected. Her face buried in the pillows, she murmured,

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good Lord, he is here, Good Lord, he is here,

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Good Lord, he has come back. Minutes passed, no noise

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disturbed the quiet room. Then, trembling, she stuck her head

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out of the bed, sure that he was there, watching,

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ready to beat her. Except for a ray of sun

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shining through the window, she saw nothing, and she said

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to herself, must be hidden. She waited a long time,

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and then, gaining courage, she said to herself, I must

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have dreamed at seeing there is nobody here. A little reassured,

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she closed her eyes, when from quite near a furious voice,

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the thunderous voice of the drowned man, could be heard, crying, say,

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when in the name of all that's holy, are you

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going to get up? You boo? She jumped out of bed,

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moved by obedience, by the passive obedience of a woman

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accustomed to blows, and who still remembers and always will remember,

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that voice, she said, here, I am Petad, What do

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you want? But Petad did not answer. Then, at a

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complete loss, she looked around her, then in the chimney,

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and under the bed, and finally sank into a chair,

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wild with anxiety, convinced that Petad's soul alone was there

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near her, and that he had returned in order to

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torture her. Suddenly she remembered the loft in order to reach,

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which one had to take a ladder. Surely he must

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have hidden there in order to surprise her. He must

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have been held by sex savages on some distant shore,

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unable to escape until now, and he had returned worse

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than ever. There is no doubting the quality of that voice.

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She raised her head and asked, are you up there, Petit?

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Petad did not answer. Then, with a terrible fear, which

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made her heart tremble, she climbed the ladder, opened the

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skylight a looked, saw nothing, entered, looked about and found nothing,

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sitting on some straw. She began to cry. But while

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she was weeping, overcome by a poignant and supernatural terror,

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she heard Petan talking in the room below. He seemed

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less angry, and he was saying, nasty weather, fierce wind,

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nasty weather. I haven't eaten, damn it, she cried through

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the ceiling. Here I am Petat, I am getting your

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meal ready. Don't get angry, She ran down again. There

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was no one in the room. She felt herself growing weak,

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as if death were touching her, and she tried to

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run and get help from the neighbors. When a voice

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near her cried out, I haven't had my breakfast bike,

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and the parrot in his cage watched her with his round,

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knowing wicked eye. She too, looked at him wildly, murmuring, ah,

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so it's you. He shook his head and continued, just

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you wait, I'll teach you how to loaf. What happened

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within her, she felt she understood that it was he,

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the dead man who had come back, who had disguised

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himself in the feathers of this bird in order to

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continue to torment her, That he would curse as formerly

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all day long and bite her and swear at her

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in order to attract the neighbors and make them laugh.

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Then she rushed for the cage and seized the bird,

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which scratched and tore her flesh with its claws and beak,

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but she held it with all her strength between her hands.

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She threw it on the ground and rolled over it.

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With the frenzy of one possessed. She crushed it and

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finally made of it nothing but a little green, flabby lump,

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which no longer moved or spoke. Then she wrapped it

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in a cloth, as in a shroud, and she went

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out in her nightgown barefoot. She crossed the dock against

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which the choppy waves of the sea were beating, and

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she shook the cloth and let drop this little dead thing,

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which looked like so much grass. Then she returned, threw

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herself on her knees before the empty cage, and, overcome

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by what she had done, kneeled and prayed for forgiveness,

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as if she had committed some heinous crime. And of

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the parrot