GRINGALET AND CUT-IN-HALF.
Before we commence the recital of Pique-Vinaigre, we will recall to our
readers that, by a strange contrast, the majority of the prisoners,
notwithstanding their cynical perversity, almost always preferred artless
stories (we will not say puerile), in which the oppressed, by the laws of
an inexorable fatality, is revenged on his tyrant, after trials and
difficulties without number. The thought is far from us, to establish the
slightest parallel between corrupted beings and the honest and poor masses;
but is it not known with what frenzied applause the audience of minor
theaters behold the deliverance of the victim, and with what curses they
pursue the traitorous and the wicked? One ordinarily laughs at these rough
evidences of sympathy for that which is good, weak, and persecuted; of
aversion for that which is powerful, unjust, and cruel. It seems to us that
to laugh at this is wrong. Nothing is more consoling than these feelings
innately of the multitude. Is it not evident that these salutary instincts
may become fixed principles in those unfortunate beings whom ignorance and
poverty expose to the subversive attacks of evil? Why not have every hope
of a people whose good moral sense is so invariably manifested? of a people
who, in spite of the fascinations of art, will never permit a dramatic work
to arrive at its denouement by the triumph of the wicked and the punishment
of the just? This fact, scorned and laughed at though it be, appears to us
of considerable importance on account of the tendencies which it proves,
and which are even often found (we repeat it) among beings the most
corrupt, when they are, so to speak, in repose, and sheltered from criminal
temptations or necessities. In a word, since men hardened in crime still
sometimes sympathize with the recital and expression of elevated
sentiments, ought we not to believe that all men have more or less in them
of the good, the well doing, the just, but that poverty and ignorance, in
falsifying, in stifling these Divine instincts, are the first causes of
human depravity?
Is it not evident that generally ones does not become wicked except through
misfortune, and that to snatch man from the terrible temptations of warn by
the equitable melioration of his material condition, is to make him capable
of the virtues of which he is conscious? The impression caused by the story
of Pique-Vinaigre will demonstrate, or rather display, we hope, some of the
ideas we have just set forth. Pique-Yinaigre then commenced his story in
these terms, in the midst of the profound silence of his audience. "It is
not very long since the events occurred which I am going to relate to this
honorable society. Little Poland was not then destroyed. Does the honorable
society know what was called Little Poland?"
"I remember," said the prisoner in the blue cap and gray blouse, "it was
some small houses near the Rue du Rocher, and the Rue de la Pepiniere."
"Exactly, pal," replied Vinaigre; "the city streets, which, however, are
not full of palaces, would be lovely alongside of Little Poland, but,
otherwise, a famous resort for our lot; there were no streets, but lanes;
no houses, but hovels; no pavement, but a carpet of mud, so that the noise
of carriages would not have incommoded you if any passed; but none passed.
From morning to night, and, above all, from night till morning, what one
did not cease to hear, were cries, of '_watch_!' '_help_!' '_murder_!' but
the watch did not disturb himself. The more with their brains dashed out in
Little Poland--so many the less to be arrested!
"The swarming population, therein, you should have seen; very few jewelers,
goldsmiths, or bankers lodged there! but to make amends, there were heaps
of organ-players, rope-dancers, Punch-and-Judy-men, or keepers of curious
beasts. Among the latter was one named Cut-'em-in-half, so cruel was he;
above all, cruel toward children. They called him so, because, with a
hatchet, he had cut in two a little Savoyard!"
At this part of the story the prison clock struck a quarter past three. The
prisoners entering their sleeping apartments at four o'clock, the crime was
to be consummated before that hour.
"Thousand thunders! the keeper does not go," whispered the Skeleton to the
Big Cripple.
"Be quiet; once the story started, he will leave." Pique-Vinaigre continued
his recital.
"No one knew whence Cut-in-half came; some said he was an Italian, others a
gipsy, others a Turk, others an African; the old women called him a
magician, although a magician in these days may appear fishy; as for me, I
should be quite tempted to say the same as the old women. What makes this
likely is, that he always had with him a great red ape called Gargousse,
which was so cunning, and wicked, that one would have said he had Old Nick
in him. By and by I shall speak again of Gargousse. As to Cut-'em-in-half,
I am going to show him up; he had skin the color of a bootlining, hair as
red as the hide of his ape, green eyes, and what makes me think with the
old women that he was a magician, is, that he had a black tongue."
"Black tongue?" said Barbillon.
"Black as ink!" answered Pique-Vinaigre.
"And how is that?"
"Because, before he was born, his mother had probably spoken of a negro,"
answered Pique-Vinaigre, with modest assurance. "To this ornament,
Cut-in-half joined the trade of having I do not know how many tortoises,
apes, guinea-pigs, white mice, foxes and marmots, with an equal number of
little Savoyards.
"Every morning, the padrone distributed to each one his beast and a piece
of black bread, and started them off, to beg for a sou or dance a Catalina.
Those who, at night, brought back less than fifteen sous were beaten, oh!
how they were beaten! so that they were heard to cry from one end of Little
Poland to the other.
"I must tell you also that there was in Little Poland a man who was called
the Alderman, because he was the longest resident of this quarter, and also
the mayor, justice of the peace, or rather, of war, for it was in his court
(he was a wine dealer) that they went to comb one another's heads when
there was no other way to settle their disputes. Although quite old, the
Alderman was strong as a Hercules, and very much feared; they swore only by
him in Little Poland; when he said, 'It is good,' every one said, 'It is
very good;' when he said, 'It is bad,' every one said, 'It is awful bad,'
he was a good man at the bottom, but terrible; when, for example, strong
people caused misery to the weaker, then, stand from under! As the Alderman
was the neighbor of Cut-in-half, he had in the commencement heard the
children cry, on account of the blows which the owner of the beasts gave
them; so he said to him, 'If I hear the kids squeal again, I'll make you
cry in your turn, and, as you have a stronger voice, I'll strike harder.'"
"Comic of the Alderman! I quite tumble to the old boy," said the prisoner
in a blue cap.
"And so do I," added the keeper, approaching the group. Skeleton could not
restrain a movement of angry impatience.
Pique-Vinaigre continued:
"Thanks to the Alderman threatening Cut-in-half, the children were no more
heard to cry at night; but the poor little unfortunates did not suffer the
less, for if they did not cry when their master beat them, it was because
they feared to be beaten still more. As for going and complaining to the
Alderman, they never had such an idea. For the fifteen sous which each of
the little boys was obliged to bring him, Cut-in-half fed them, lodged
them, and clothed them. At night, a piece of black bread, the same for
breakfast--that was the way he fed them; he never gave them any
clothes--that was the way he clothed them; and he shut them up at night
pell-mell with their beasts, on the same straw, in a garret, to which they
clambered by a ladder and through a trap-door--and that was the way he
lodged them. Once the beasts and children were all housed, he took away the
ladder and locked the trap-door with a key. You may imagine the noise and
uproar which these apes, guinea-pigs, foxes, mice, tortoises, marmosets,
and children made, without any light, in this garret, which was as large as
a thimble. Cut-in-half slept in a room underneath, having his large ape
Gargousse tied to the foot of the bed. When the noise was too loud in the
garret, the owner of the beasts arose, took a large whip, mounted the
ladder without a light, opened the trap, and lashed away at random. As he
always had about a dozen boys, and some of the innocents brought sometimes
as much as twenty sous a day, Cut-in-half, his expenses paid, and they were
not heavy, had for himself about four or five francs each day; with that he
frolicked, for note well that he was the greatest drinker on the earth, and
was regularly dead drunk once every day. It was his rule, he said; except
for that he would have a headache all day long; it must be said, also, that
from his gains he bought sheep's hearts for Gargousse, the big ape eating
raw meat like a very cannibal. But I see that the honorable assembly asks
for Gringalet (Walking Rushlight); here he is, gents!"
"Ay! let us see Gringalet, and then I'll go and eat my soup," said the
keeper. Skeleton exchanged a look of ferocious satisfaction with the
Cripple.
"Among the children to whom Cut-in-half distributed his beasts," resumed
Pique-Vinaigre, "there was a poor little devil nicknamed Gringalet. Without
father or mother, without sister or brother, without a home, he found
himself alone--all alone in the world, where he never asked to come, and
whence he could have gone, without anybody caring at all about it. He was
not called Gringalet in mere sport; he was dwarfish and puny, and reedy; no
one would have given him over seven or eight years, yet he was thirteen;
but if he did not look more than half his age, it was not his fault, for he
had not on the average eaten more than every other day, and then so little,
and so bad, that he really did very well to appear to be seven."
"Poor babby, I think I see him," said the prisoner in the blue cap; "there
are so many like him on the streets of Paris, little starved-to-deaths."
"They ought to begin to learn that trade young," replied Pique-Vinaigre,
bitterly; "so that they can become used to it."
"Come, go on then, make haste," said Skeleton, gruffly; "the keeper is
impatient, his soup is growing cold."
"Oh, bah! never mind," answered the keeper; "I wish to make a little more
acquaintance with Gringalet. It is amusing."
"Really, it is very interesting," added Germain, attentive to the story.
"Oh, thank you for what you say, my capitalist; that gives me more pleasure
than your ten sous."
"Thunder! you sluggard!" cried the Skeleton. "Will you have done keeping us
waiting?"
"Here goes!" answered Pique-Vinaigre.
"One day Cut-in-half had picked up Gringalet in the street, dying with cold
and hunger; he would have done just as well to let him alone to die. As
Gringalet was feeble, he was afraid; and as he was cowardly, he became the
laughing-stock and scapegoat of his companions, who beat him, and caused
him so much misery, that he would have been very wicked if strength and
courage had not failed him. But no; when they beat him, he cried, saying,
'I have done no harm to any one, yet every one harms me--it is unjust. Oh!
if I were strong and bold!' You think, perhaps, that Gringalet was going to
add, 'I would return to others the evil they did me.' Well, no! not at all:
he said, 'Oh! if I were strong and bold, I would defend the weak against
the strong; for I am weak, and the strong make me suffer.' In the mean
time, as he was too much of a pigmy to prevent the strong from molesting
the weak, he prevented the larger beasts from injuring the smaller ones.
"There's a funny idea!" said the prisoner in the blue cap.
"And what is still more funny," replied the patterer, "is that, with this
idea, one would have said that Gringalet consoled himself for being beaten;
and that proves that, at bottom, he had not a bad heart."
"I think so--on the contrary," said the keeper, "Pique-Vinaigre is jolly
amusing."
At this moment the clock struck half-past three. The Skeleton and Big
Cripple exchanged significant glances. The hour advanced, the keeper did
not retire, and some of the least hardened prisoners seemed almost to
forget the sinister projects against Germain, who listened with eagerness
to the recital. "When I say," Pique-Vinaigre resumed, "that Gringalet
prevented the larger beasts from eating the smaller ones, you will please
understand that Gringalet did not go and interfere in the affairs of the
tigers, lions, wolves, or even the foxes and apes of the menagerie; he was
too cowardly for that. But as soon as he saw, for example, a spider
concealed in his web, to catch a poor foolish fly that was buzzing about
gayly in the sun, without harming any one, crack! Gringalet gave a sweep
into the web, delivered the fly, and crushed the spider, like a real Cæsar!
Yes, like a real Cæsar! for he became as white as chalk at even touching
these villainous creatures; he needed, then, resolution. He was afraid of a
lady-bug, and had taken a very long time to become familiar with the turtle
which Cut-in-half handed over to him every morning. Thus Gringalet,
overcoming the alarm which spiders caused him, to prevent the flies from
being eaten, showed himself--"
"Showed himself as bold, in his way, as a man who would have attacked a
wolf, to take from him a lamb of the fold," said Blue Cap.
"Or as a man who would have attacked Cut-in-half, to drag Gringalet from
his claws," added Barbillon, also much interested.
"As you say," replied Pique-Yinaigre. "Accordingly, after these doings,
Gringalet did not feel so very unfortunate. He who never laughed, smiled,
looked wise, put on his cap sideways, when he had a cap, and sung the
Marseillaise with a trumpet air. At such times, there was not a spider that
dared to look him in the face! Another time it was a cricket that was
drowning and struggling in a gutter; quickly Gringalet bravely plunged two
of his fingers into the waves and caught the cricket, which he afterward
placed on a blade of grass; a champion swimmer with a medal, who should
have fished up his tenth drowned person, at fifty francs the head, could
not have been more proud than Gringalet, when he saw his cricket kick and
run away. And yet the cricket gave him neither money nor a medal, and did
not even say thank you, nor did the fly. 'But then, Pique-Vinaigre, my
friend,' will the honorable society say, 'what kind of pleasure could
Gringalet, whom every one beats, find in being the deliverer of crickets
and the executioner of spiders? Since others injured him, why did he not
revenge himself in doing harm according to his strength; for instance, by
causing the flies to be eaten by spiders, or in letting the crickets drown
themselves, or even drowning them himself.'"
"Yes; exactly; why did he not revenge himself in that way?" said Nicholas.
"What good would that have done him?" said another.
"Why, to do harm because others harmed him!"
"No! I can comprehend why the poor little kid liked to save the flies,"
answered Blue Cap. "He thought, perhaps, 'Who knows that some one will not
save me in the same way?'"
"Pal, you're right," cried Pique-Vinaigre; "you have read in your heart
what I was about to explain to the honorable company. Gringalet was not
malicious; he saw no further than the end of his nose; but he said to
himself, 'Cut-in-half is my spider; perhaps one day somebody will do for me
what I do for the flies; they will break up his web, and snatch me from his
claws.' For until then, on no account would he have dared to run away from
his master; he would have thought himself stone dead. Yet, one day, when
neither he nor his turtle had had any luck, and they had only earned two or
three sous, Cut-in-half began to whip the child so hard, so hard, that,
hang it! Gringalet could stand it no longer. Tired of being the butt and
martyr of everybody, he watched the moment when the trap-door of the garret
was open, and while the padrone was feeding his beasts, he slipped down the
ladder."
"Hooray! so much the better!" said a prisoner.
"But why did he not go and complain to the Alderman?" said Blue Cap; "he
would have given Cut-in-half his token!"
"Yes, but he did not dare; he was too much afraid, he preferred to run
away. Unfortunately, Cut-in-half had seen him; he caught him by the throat,
and carried him back to the garret; this time Gringalet, thinking of what
he had to expect, shuddered from head to foot, for he was not at the end of
his troubles. Speaking of the troubles of Gringalet, it is necessary that I
should tell you of Gargousse, the favorite ape. This wicked animal was
larger than Gringalet; judge what a size for an ape! Now I am going to tell
you why they did not lead him as a show through the streets, like the other
beasts of the menagerie; it was because Gargousse was so wicked and so
strong that, among all the children, there was only one, Auvergnat,
fourteen years old, a resolute fellow, who, after having several times
collared and fought with Gargousse, had succeeded in mastering him, and
leading him by a chain; and even then, there were often battles between
them, and bloody ones too, you may bet! Tired of this, the little Auvergnat
said one day, 'Well, well, I will revenge myself on you, you lubberly
baboon!' So one morning he set off with his beast as usual; to decoy him he
bought a sheep's heart. While Gargousse was eating, he passed a cord
through the end of his chain, and fastened it to a tree; and when he had
the scoundrel of an ape once tied fast, he poured on him such a torrent of
blows! a torrent that fire could not have extinguished."
"Good boy!"
"Bravo! Auvergnat!"
"Hit him again, he's got no friends."
"Break his back for him, the rascally Gargousse," said the prisoners.
"And he did lay it on with a good heart," answered Pique-Vinaigre. "You
should have heard how Gargousse yelled, seen how he gnashed his teeth,
jumped, danced here and there; but Auvergnat trimmed him up with his club,
saying, 'Do you like it? then here is some more!' Unfortunately, apes are
like cats, they have nine lives. Gargousse was as cunning as he was wicked.
When he saw, as I may say, what kind of wood was burning for him, at the
very thickest moment of the torrent, he cut a last caper, fell flat down at
the foot of the tree, kicked a moment, and then shammed dead, not budging
any more than a log. The Auvergnat wished nothing more; believing the ape
done for, he cleared out, never to put his feet in Cut-in-half's drum
again. But the vagabond Gargousse watched him out of the corner of his eye,
all wounded as he was, and as soon as he saw himself alone and Auvergnat at
a distance, he gnawed the cord with his teeth. The Boulevard Monceau, where
he had had his dance, was very near Little Poland; the ape knew the road as
well as he did his prayers. He slowly went off then, crawling along, and
arrived at his master's, who swore and foamed to see his pet ape thus
served out. But this is not all; from that moment Gargousse had preserved
such furious spite against all children in general, that Cut-in-half,
though not very tender-hearted, had not dared to let any of them lead him
out, for fear of an accident; for Gargousse would have been capable of
strangling or devouring a child, and the little fellows would rather have
allowed themselves to be slashed by their master than approach the ape."
"I must most decidedly go and eat my soup," said the keeper, making a
movement toward the door; "Pique-Vinaigre would make the birds come down
from the trees to hear him. I do not know wherever he has fished up this
story."
"At length the keeper is off," whispered Skeleton to the Cripple; "I am in
a fever, so much do I burn. Only attend to making the ring around the spy,
I'll take care of the rest."
"Be good boys," said the keeper, going toward the door.
"Good as pictures," answered Skeleton, drawing near Germain, while the Big
Cripple and Nicholas, at a concerted signal, made two steps in the same
direction.
"Oh! respectable warder, you are going away at the finest moment," said
Pique-Yinaigre, with an air of reproach.
Except for the Cripple, who prevented his movement by seizing his arm,
Skeleton would have sprung upon Pique-Vinaigre.
"How at the finest moment?" answered the keeper, turning.
"I think so," said Pique-Vinaigre; "you do not know all you are going to
lose; the most charming part of my story is about to commence."
"Do not listen to it, then," said Skeleton, with difficulty restraining his
rage; "he is not in the vein to-day: I find his story abominably stupid."
"My story stupid?" cried Pique-Vinaigre, his vanity wounded; "well, keeper,
I beg you, I supplicate you, to remain to the end. I have only enough to
fill a good quarter of an hour; besides, your soup is cold. Now what do you
risk? I will hasten on with my story, so that you may still have the time
to go and eat before we go to our beds."
"Well, then, I remain, but make haste," said the keeper, drawing near.
"And you are right to remain, for, without boasting, you have never heard
anything like it--above all, the conclusion; there is the triumph of the
ape and of Gringalet, escorted by all the little beast conductors and
inhabitants of Little Poland. My word of honor I do not say it from vanity,
but it is first-class."
"Then go on, my boy," said the keeper, coming close to the stove.
The Skeleton trembled with rage. He almost despaired of accomplishing his
crime. Once the hour of repose arrived, Germain was saved; for he did not
sleep in the same ward with his implacable enemy, and the next day, as we
have said, he was to occupy one of the vacant cells. And, moreover,
Skeleton saw, from the interruptions of several of the prisoners, that they
found themselves, thanks to the story of Pique-Vinaigre, filled with ideas
that softened their hearts; perhaps, then, they would not assist, with
savage indifference, the accomplishment of a frightful murder, of which
their presence would make them accomplices. He could prevent the patterer
from finishing his story, but then his last hope vanished of seeing the
keeper retire before the hour in which Germain would be in safety.
"Oh! stupid, is it?" said Pique-Vinaigre. "Well, the honorable society
shall be the judge.
"There was not then an animal more wicked than the large ape Gargousse,
which was, above all, as savage as his master toward children. What did
Cut-in-half do to punish Gringalet for wishing to run away? That you shall
know directly; in the mean time, he caught the child, shut him up in the
garret, saying to him, 'To-morrow morning, when all your comrades are gone,
I will take hold of you, and you shall see what I do to those who wish to
run away from here.'
"I leave you to imagine what a horrible night Gringalet passed. He hardly
closed his eyes; he wondered what Cut-in-half would do. At length he fell
asleep. But what a sleep! Then there was a dream, a frightful dream--that
is to say, the beginning--you will see. He dreamed that he was one of those
poor flies which he had so often saved from the spider's web, and that he,
in his turn, fell into a large and strong web, where he struggled with all
his strength without being able to escape; then he saw coming toward him
softly, cautiously, a kind of monster, which had the face of his master, on
a spider's body. My poor Gringalet began again to struggle, as you may
imagine; but the more efforts he made, the more he was entangled in the
toils, just like the poor flies. At length the spider approached--touched
him--and he felt the large, cold, and hairy paws of the monster encircle
him. He thought himself dead, but suddenly he heard a kind of humming
noise, clear and acute, and saw a little golden gnat, which had a kind of
sting as fine and brilliant as a diamond needle, flying round the spider in
a furious manner, and a voice (when I say voice, just imagine the voice of
a gnat!)-a voice said to him, 'Poor little fly! you have saved flies; the
spider shall not---'
"Unfortunately, Gringalet awoke with a start, and he saw not the end of the
dream; nevertheless, he was a little comforted, saying to himself, 'Perhaps
the golden gnat with the diamond sting would have killed the spider if I
had seen the end of the dream.'
"But Gringalet had need of all this to console himself, for, as the night
advanced, his fear returned so strongly that in the end he forgot his
dream, or rather, he only remembered the frightful part of it; the great
web where he had been entangled, and the spider with the padrone's face.
You can judge what shiverings of alarm he must have had. Bless me! judge
then, alone--all alone--with no one to take his part!
"In the morning, when he saw the light appear little by little through the
garret-window, his alarm redoubled; the moment was drawing near when he
would be left all alone with Cut-in-half. Then he threw himself on his
knees in the middle of the garret, and weeping hot tears, he begged his
companions to ask his pardon from Cut-in-half, or to assist him to escape
if there was any way. Oh, yes! some from fear of the master, others from
caring nothing about it, others from cruelty, refused the service which
poor Gringalet demanded."
"Wicked scrubs," said the prisoner in the blue cap, "they had neither body
nor soul."
"It is true," said another; "it is vexing to see this want of feeling."
"And, alone, and without defense," resumed Blue Cap; "for one who cannot
stretch out his neck without wincing, it is always a pity. When one has
teeth to bite, then it is different. You have tusks? Well, show them, and
look for tail, my cadet."
"That is true!" said several of the prisoners.
"Come!" cried Skeleton, no longer able to restrain his rage, and addressing
Blue Cap, "will you shut up? Have I not already said, 'Silence in the
band'? Am I, or am I not, the ruler here?"
For sole answer, Blue Cap looked him in the face, and then made a gesture,
perfectly well known to street arabs, which consists in placing on the tip
of the nose the thumb of the right hand, opened, and touching with the
little finger the thumb of the left, also spread out like a fan. Blue Cap
accompanied this mute answer with an expression so grotesque that several
of the prisoners shouted with laughter, while some of the others, on the
contrary, remained stupefied at the audacity of the new prisoner. Skeleton
shook his fist at Blue Cap, and said, grinding his teeth, "We'll settle
this to-morrow."
"And I will make the addition on your hide. I'll set down seventeen and
carry naught."
For fear the keeper should find a new reason for remaining in order to
prevent a possible quarrel, Skeleton answered calmly:
"That is not the question. I have the ruling of the hall, and I must be
obeyed; is it not so, keeper?"
"It is true," said the officer. "Do not interrupt. And you, Pique-Vinaigre,
go on; but make haste, my boy."
"Then," resumed Pique-Vinaigre, continuing his story, "Gringalet, seeing
himself abandoned, gave himself up to his unhappy fate. Broad daylight
came, and all the children prepared to depart with their beasts.
Cut-in-half opened the trap and called the roll, in order to give each one
his piece of bread; all descended the ladder, and Gringalet, more dead than
alive, crouching in a corner of the garret, moved no more than it did; he
saw his companions going off one after the other; he would have given
anything to do as they did. Finally, they were all gone. The heart of the
poor child beat strongly; he hoped that, perhaps, his master would forget
him. Ah, well, he heard Cut-in-half at the foot of the ladder, cry in a
harsh voice: 'Gringalet! Gringalet!' 'Here I am, master.'
"'Come down at once, or I'll fetch you,' answered Cut-in-half. Gringalet
thought his last day was come.
"'I must,' he said to himself, trembling in every limb, and remembering his
dream, 'now you _are_ in for it, little fly: the spider is going to eat
you.'
"After having placed his turtle softly on the ground, he bade him good-bye,
for he had become attached to the creature, and approached the trap-door.
He placed his foot on the ladder to descend, when Cut-in-half, taking him
by his poor little leg, as slender as a spindle, drew him so strongly, so
harshly, that Gringalet tumbled down, and polished his face against the
whole length of the ladder."
"What a pity that the Alderman had not been there--what a fine dance for
Cut-in-half," said Blue Cap; "it is in such times as these that it is good
to be strong."
"Yes, my son; but, unfortunately, the Alderman was not there! Cut-in-half
took the child by the seat of his trousers, and carried him into his den,
where he kept his big ape tied to the foot of his bed. On seeing the child,
the beast began to leap and grind his teeth like a mad thing, and to spring
the whole length of his chain, as if he wished to devour him."
"Poor Gringalet, how did he ever get out of this?"
"Why, if he had fallen into the clutches of the ape, he would have been
strangled at once."
"Thunder! it makes me half dead," said Blue Cap: "as for me at this moment,
I could not harm a mouse--what do you say, mate?"
"Nor I either."
"Nor I."
At this moment the clock struck three-quarters past three. Skeleton,
fearing more and more that time would be wanting, cried, furious at these
interruptions, which seemed to indicate that several of the prisoners were
becoming softened, "Silence in the crowd! He will never finish, if you
jabber as much as he does."
Pique-Vinaigre continued: "When one reflects that Gringalet had had all the
trouble in the world to become accustomed to his turtle, and that the most
courageous of his comrades trembled at the name alone of Gargousse, let him
imagine his terror when he saw himself carried by his master near to this
fiend of an ape. 'Pardon, master,' he cried, his teeth chattering as if he
had an ague,--'pardon, master! I'll never do it again, I promise you.'
"The poor little fellow cried, 'I will never do it again,' without knowing
why he said so, for he had nothing to reproach himself with; but
Cut-in-half laughed at that. In spite of the cries of the child, who
struggled hard, he placed him within reach of Gargousse, and the beast
sprung upon him and clutched him!"
A shudder passed through the audience, who were more and more attentive.
"How stupid I should have been to go away," said the keeper, approaching
still nearer.
"And this is nothing yet; the finest has to come," answered Pique-Vinaigre.
"As soon as Gringalet felt the cold and hairy paws of the great ape, which
seized him by the throat and by the head, he thought himself devoured,
became, as it were, off his nut, and began to cry with groans which would
have softened a tiger.
"' The spider of my dream, good Lord! the spider of my dream--little golden
gnat, help, help!'
"'Will you hush? will you hush?' said Cut-in-half, giving him heavy kicks,
for he was afraid that his cries would be heard; but at the end of a moment
there was no more danger: poor Gringalet cried no more, struggled no more;
on his knees, as white as a sheet, he shut his eyes and shivered as if it
had been January. Meantime the ape beat him, pulled his hair, and scratched
him; and from time to time, the wicked beast stopped to look at his master,
absolutely as if they understood each other. As for Cut-in-half, he laughed
so loud, that if Gringalet had cried, the shouts of his master would have
drowned his cries. It would seem as if this encouraged Gargousse, for he
was more and more cruel to the child."
"Oh! you sanguinary ape," cried Blue Cap. "If I had hold of you by the
tail, I would spin you round like a mill--just like a sling, and I would
crack your conk on the pavement."
"Rascally ape! he was as wicked as a man!"
"There are no men so wicked as that!"
"Not so wicked?" answered Pique-Vinaigre. "You forget old Cut-in-half!
Judge of it--this is what he did afterward: he unfastened the chain (which
was very long) from the bed, took the child, more dead than alive, from the
paws of Gargousse, and fastened him at one end of it, with Gargousse at the
other. There was an idea!"
"It is true, there are men more cruel than the most cruel beasts."
"When Cut-in-half had done this, he said to his ape, which appeared to
understand him,
"'Attention, Gargousse! they have led and shown you, now in your turn you
shall show Gringalet; he shall be your ape. Come, hop, stand up, Gringalet,
or I say to Gargousse, 'Speak to him, fellow!'"
"The poor child had fallen on his knees, his hands clasped, but not able to
speak; his teeth chattered in his head.
"'There! make him walk, Gargousse,' said Cut-in-half to his ape; 'and if he
is sulky, do as I do.'
"And at the same time he gave the child a torrent of blows with a switch,
and afterward handed it to the ape. You know how these animals imitate by
nature, but Gargousse in this respect excelled; so he took the rod in his
hand and fell upon Gringalet, who was obliged to get up. Once on his legs
he was about the same size as the ape; then Cut-in-half went out of his
room and descended the staircase, calling Gargousse, and Gargousse followed
him, driving Gringalet before him with blows from the rod. They reached
thus the little court of the building. There Cut-in-half counted on amusing
himself; he shut the door leading into the lane, and signed to Gargousse to
make the child run before him around the court, by striking him with the
switch. The ape obeyed, and began to chase Gringalet in this manner, while
Cut-in-half held his sides with laughter. You think that this wickedness
was enough? Oh! yes, but it was nothing as yet. Up to this time, Gringalet
would have escaped with a few scratches, lashes, and horrible fear. Now
this is what Cut-in-half did: to make the ape furious against the child,
who, panting and out of breath, was more dead than alive, he took Gringalet
by the hair, pretending to belabor him with blows, and then he handed him
back to Gargousse, crying, 'Speak to him, speak to him!' and then he showed
him a piece of sheep's heart, as much as to say to him, 'This shall be your
reward!' Oh! then, my friends, truly it was a dreadful sight. Imagine a
great red ape with a black snout, grinding his teeth like a madman, and
throwing himself furiously on this poor little unfortunate, who, not being
able to defend himself, had been thrown down at the first blow, and lay
with his face to the ground, in order to protect it. Seeing this,
Gargousse, his master setting him at the child continually, mounted on his
back, took him by the neck, and fell to biting him, until he made the blood
come. 'Oh! the spider of my dream--the spider!' cried Gringalet in a
stifled voice, believing now that he was going to be killed. Suddenly there
was a knock at the door!"
"Ah! the Alderman!" cried the prisoners with joy.
"Yes, this time it was he, my friends; he called through the door, 'Will
you open, Cut-in-half? will you open? Do not sham deaf; for I see you
through the keyhole!"
"Cut-in-half, forced to reply, went grumbling to open the door for the
Alderman, who was a rough, as solid as a bridge, in spite of his fifty
years, and with whom it was worth no one's while to joke when he was angry.
"'What do you want with me?' said Cut-in-half to him, half opening the
door. 'I want to speak to you,' said the Alderman, who entered almost by
force into the little yard; then, seeing the ape still savage after
Gringalet, he ran, caught Gargousse by the nape of his neck, and tried to
take the child away from under him; but he only then saw that the child was
chained to the ape. Seeing this, he looked at Cut-in-half in a terrible
manner, and cried, 'Come, then, at once, and unchain this poor boy!' You
can judge of the joy and surprise of Gringalet, who, half dead with fright,
found himself saved as it were by a miracle. Then he could not but think of
the golden gnat of his dream, although the Alderman did not look much like
a gnat, the big buffer."
"Ah," said the keeper, making a step toward the door; "now Gringalet is
saved, I'll go to eat my soup."
"Saved?" cried Pique-Vinaigre, "oh yes, saved! but not yet at the end of
his troubles, poor Gringalet."
"Really?" said several of the prisoners, with interest.
"But what is going to happen to him now?" asked the keeper, drawing near.
"Remain, and you shall know," answered the patterer.
"Cunning Pique-Vinaigre, he does with one just as he pleases," said the
keeper; "I will remain a little longer."
Skeleton, mute, foamed with rage. Pique-Vinaigre continued:
"Cut-in-half, who feared the Alderman as he did fire, had grumblingly
loosened the child from the chain; when that was done, the Alderman threw
Gargousse into the air, received him on the end of a most magnificent kick,
and sent him sprawling ten feet off. The ape cried like a burned child,
gnashed his teeth, but fled quickly, and went to take refuge on the top of
a shed, where he shook his fist at the Alderman. 'Why do you beat my ape?'
said Cut-in-half to the Alderman. 'You ought rather to ask me, why I do not
beat you, to cause this child such suffering! You are drunk pretty early
this morning!' 'I am no more drunk than you are; I was teaching a trick to
my ape; I wish to give a representation where he and Gringalet will appear
together; I am following my business--why do you meddle with it?' 'I meddle
with what concerns me. This morning, not seeing Gringalet pass before my
door with the other children, I asked them where he was; they did not
answer--they looked embarrassed. I know you. I thought you were after no
good, and I was not wrong. Listen to me: every time I do not see Gringalet
pass before my door with the others in the morning, I will be here at once,
and you must show him to me, or I'll knock you down.' 'I will do as I
please; I have no orders to receive from you,' answered Cut-in-half, riled
at this threat. You shall not knock me down; and if you do not take
yourself off from this, or if you return, I---' Flip flap! went the
Alderman, interrupting Cut-in-half by a duet of blows enough to silence a
rhinoceros: 'There is what you get for answering to the Alderman of Little
Poland.'"
"Two blows! it was too little," said Blue Cap; "in his place, I should have
given him a bigger dose."
"And he should not have had it too hastily," added a prisoner.
"The Alderman," replied Pique-Vinaigre, "could have eaten ten like
Cut-in-half. So he was obliged to put these blows in his pocket; but he was
none the less furious at being struck, and above all, before Gringalet. So
at this very moment he promised to avenge himself, and an idea occurred to
him which could only have occurred to a demon of wickedness like himself.
While he was ruminating on this diabolical idea, the Alderman said:
'Remember, that if you attempt to injure this child again, I will force you
to clear out from Little Poland, you and your beasts; otherwise I will stir
up the neighborhood against you; you know they hate you here, so you will
have a passport which your back will remember, I promise you.' Traitor as
he was, in order to be able to execute his wicked idea, instead of
continuing to be angry against the Alderman, Cut-in-half cringed like a
dog, and said: 'Faith of a man! you were wrong to strike me, Alderman, and
to think that I wished any harm to Gringalet; on the contrary, I repeat to
you that I was teaching a new trick to my ape; he is not sweet-tempered
when he is angry, and if, in the scuffle, the little one was bitten, I am
sorry for it. 'Hum!' said the Alderman, looking at him out of the corner of
his eye, 'is this really true, what you tell me? If you wish to teach a
trick to your ape, why did you fasten him to Gringalet?' 'Because Gringalet
must also know it. This is what I wish to do; I will dress Gargousse in a
red coat and a cap with feathers; I will seat Gringalet in a child's chair;
then I will put a towel around his neck, and the ape, with a large wooden
razor will pretend to shave him.'
"The Alderman could not keep from laughing at this idea. 'Is it not
comical?' said Cut-in-half, with a smirking look. 'In truth, it is,' said
the Alderman, 'so much the more as they say your ape is sufficiently
cunning and knowing to play such a part.
"'I think so. When he has seen me five or six times pretend to shave
Gringalet, he will imitate me with his large wooden razor; but on that
account, as the child must become used to him, I have tied them together.'
"'But why have you chosen Gringalet rather than any other?'
"'Because he is the smallest of all, and, being seated, Gargousse will be
larger than he is; besides, I intended to give half the profits to
Gringalet.'
"'If this is so,' said the Alderman, reassured by the hypocrisy of the
owner of the beasts, 'I regret the dose I gave you; consider it as an
advance against the next time you do wrong.'
"While his master spoke with the Alderman, Gringalet dared not breathe; he
trembled like a leaf, and longed to throw himself at the Alderman's feet,
and beg to be taken away; but his courage failed him, and he began again to
despair, saying to himself, 'I shall be like the poor fly of my dream--the
spider will devour me; I was wrong to believe that the golden gnat would
save me!'
"'Look here, my boy; since Daddy Cut-'em-in-half gives you half of the
money, that ought to encourage you to accustom yourself to the ape. Bah!
bah! you will do it; and if the profits are large, you will have no cause
to complain.'
"'He complain! Have you any reason to complain?' asked his master, giving
him a side look so terrible that the child wished he was a hundred feet
under ground.
"'No, no, master!' he stammered.
"'You see, Alderman,' said Cut-in-half, 'he never has complained. I only
wish for his welfare, after all. If Gargousse scratched him the first time,
it shall not happen again, I promise you. I will watch.'
"'Very well! Thus every one will be content.'
"'Gringalet the most,' said Cut-in-half; 'is it not so?'
"'Yes, yes, master,' said the trembling child.
"'And to console you for your scratches, I will give you part of a good
breakfast; for the Alderman is going to send a plate of cutlets and
pickles, four bottles of wine, and a gallon of brandy.'
"'At your service, Cut-in-half, my cellar and my kitchen are open for the
whole world.'
"At heart the Alderman was a good man, but he was not very wise, and he
liked to sell his wine, and cutlets also. The rascal knew it well; you see
that he sent him off contented at having sold some eatables and drinkables,
and reassured as to the fate of Gringalet. So now, here is the poor little
fellow fallen again into the power of his master. The moment the Alderman
had turned on his heels, Cut-in-half showed the staircase to his victim,
and ordered him to mount at once to his garret; the child did not allow him
to say it twice, but went, very much alarmed.
"'Oh, Lord! I am lost,' he cried, throwing himself upon the straw beside
his turtle, and weeping bitterly. He was there for a good hour sobbing,
when he heard Cut-in-half's coarse voice calling him. What increased the
fear of Gringalet was, that it seemed to him the voice of his master had a
strange sound.
"'Will you come down at once?' said the owner of the beasts, with a horrid
oath.
"The child quickly descended the stairs. Hardly had he put his foot on the
ground, when his master seized him, and carried him to his chamber,
staggering at each step, for Cut-in-half had drunk so much that he was as
tipsy as a sow, and could hardly keep his legs; his body swayed backward
and forward, and he looked at Gringalet, rolling his eyes in a most
ferocious manner, but without speaking. He had too thick a tongue. Never
had the child been more afraid of him.
"Gargousse was chained to the foot of the bed. In the middle of the room
was a chair with a cord hanging on the back.
"'Si--(hic!)--sit down there,'" continued Pique-Vinaigre, imitating, to the
end of his story, the stammering of a drunken man, whenever he related what
Cut-in-half said.
"Gringalet seated himself trembling. Then Cut-in-half, without saying a
word, wound the cord around him, and tied him to the chair, and that not
easily; for although the owner of the beasts could still see a little, and
knew what he was about, you may imagine he made granny's knots. At length
Gringalet is firmly fastened in the chair. 'Oh, dear,' he murmured, 'this
time no one will come to deliver me.'
"Poor little fellow, he was right; no one could--no one did come, as you
will see. The Alderman had gone, and Cut-in-half had double-locked the door
of the court on the inside, and drawn the bolt; no one could come there to
the aid of Gringalet."
"Oh! this time," said several of the prisoners, much interested in the
story, "Gringalet, you are lost!"
"Poor little fellow!"---"What a pity!"
"If twenty sous would save him, I would give them."
"I also."
"Rascal of a Cut-in-half! Whatever is he going to do?"
Pique-Vinaigre continued: "When Gringalet was tied to the chair, his master
said to him, 'You young rascal, it is you who have been the cause that--I
have been beaten by the Alderman--you--are--go-o-o-ing to die!' And he drew
from his pocket a large razor, newly sharpened, opened it, and took with
one hand Gringalet by the hair."
A murmur of indignation and horror circulated among the prisoners, and
interrupted for a moment Pique-Vinaigre, who resumed:
"At sight of the razor the child began to cry, 'Pardon! master, pardon! do
not kill me! 'C-r-r-r-y, c-r-r-y, b-o-o-y--you will not (hic!) cry long,'
answered Cut-in-half.
"'Golden gnat! golden gnat! help!' cried poor Gringalet, almost delirious,
recalling to his mind his dream; 'here is the spider going to kill me!'
"'Ah! you call--me--a-a-a (hic!) spider!' said Cut-in-half; 'on
account--o-of--that--and other things you--are--go-o-o-ing to (hic!)
die--do you hear-r-r?--but--not by my (hic!) hand--because, besides, they
will guillotine me-e-e. I will say--and--prove--that it was--the a-a-pe--I
have prepared--but no matter!' said Cut-in-half, hardly able to stand;
then, calling his ape, which, at the end of his chain, ground his teeth,
and looked alternately at his master and the child:
"'Look here, Gargousse,' he said showing him the razor and Gringalet, whom
he held by the hair, 'you must do so to him; do you (hic!) see?'
"And passing the back of the razor several times over the throat of
Gringalet, he pretended to cut it. The confounded ape was such a good
imitator, so wicked, and so malicious, that he comprehended what his master
wished; and, to prove it to him, shook his chain with the left paw, threw
his head back, and pretended to cut his throat. 'That's it, Gargousse--
that's it,' said Cut-in-half stammering, shutting his eyes, and reeling so
much that he came near, falling with Gringalet and the chair. 'Yes, that's
it; I'll unfasten your chain--cut his whistle--that's it; hey, Gargousse?'
"The ape cried and chattered, as if to say yes, and put out his paw to take
the razor, which was held toward him.
"'Golden gnat, help!' murmured Gringalet, in a crying tone, certain now
that his hour was come. For, alas! he called the golden gnat to his
assistance, without any hope that he would come; but he said that as one
says 'Oh, Lord!' when one is drowning. Just at this moment, Gringalet saw
come in at the window one of those small flies, green and gold, which are
so common; one would have called it a spark of fire which flew, and just at
the moment Cut-in-half gave the razor to Gargousse, the golden gnat flew
straight into the eye of the wicked wretch. A fly in the eye is no great
thing; but, for a moment, it stings like a prick with a needle; so
Cut-in-half, who could hardly stand, fell on the floor and rolled like a
log to the foot of the bed where Gargousse was chained.
"'Golden gnat, I thank you; you have saved me!' cried Gringalet; for, still
seated, and tied on the chair, he had seen everything."
"It is true enough, the golden gnat prevented his throat from being cut,"
cried the prisoners, transported with joy.
"Hooray for the golden gnat!" cried Blue Cap.
"Yes, long live the golden gnat!" repeated several voices.
"Bravo, Pique-Vinaigre and his stories!" said another.
"Stop, then," resumed the patterer, "here's the finest and most terrible
part of the story that I had promised you. Cut-in-half had fallen on the
ground like lead; he was so drunk that he stirred no more than a log; he
was dead drunk, and knew nothing; but, in falling, he came near crushing
Gargousse, and had almost broken one of his hind paws. You know how wicked
this villainous beast was--rancorous and malicious. He held on to the razor
which his master had given him to cut the throat of Gringalet. What does my
lovely ape do when he sees his master stretched on his back, immovable as a
fried carp, and much at his ease? He sprung upon him, crouched on his
breast, with one of his paws stretched the skin of his throat, and with the
other--click! he cut his windpipe in a moment, exactly as Cut-in-half had
shown him how to operate on Gringalet."
"Bravo!"
"Well done!"
"Long live Gargousse!"
"The little golden gnat forever!"
"Bravo, Gringalet!"
"Hooray, Gargousse!" cried the prisoners with enthusiasm.
"Well, my friends!" cried Pique-Vinaigre, enchanted at the success of his
story, "what you have just cried, all Little Poland cried an hour later."
"How is that--how?"
"I told you that, to do this bloody deed quite at his ease, Cut-in-half had
locked his door on the inside. In the evening, the children returned, one
after the other, with their beasts; the first knocked--no answer; at
length, when they were all assembled, they knocked again--no reply; one of
them went after the Alderman, and told him that they had knocked, and that
their master did not open the door. 'The fellow is as drunk as a Dutchman,'
said he. 'I sent him some wine just now; we must break open the door; the
children cannot remain all night out of doors.'
"They break open the doors, they enter, they mount the stairs, they reach
the chamber, and what do they see? Gargousse, chained and crouching on the
body of his master, and playing with the razor; poor Gringalet, happily out
of his reach, still seated, and tied on the chair, not daring to cast his
eyes on the dead body, and looking at--guess what? The little golden fly,
which, after having fluttered around the child, as if to felicitate him,
had finally come and seated itself on his little hand. Gringalet related
all to the Alderman, and the crowd who followed him; this appeared truly,
as they said, an act of Providence; then the Alderman said, 'A triumph to
Gringalet; a triumph to Gargousse, who has killed this bad Cut-in-half. He
cut others; it was his turn to be cut!'
"'Yes, yes!' said the crowd, for the defunct was detested by everybody, 'a
triumph for Gargousse! a triumph for Gringalet.'
"It was night; they lighted wisps of straw, they tied Gargousse on a bench,
which four boys carried on their shoulders; the sweet pet of an ape did not
appear to dislike this, and assumed the airs of a conqueror, showing his
teeth to the crowd. After the ape came the Alderman, carrying Gringalet in
his arms: all the little boys, each with his beast, surrounded the
Alderman; one carrying his fox, another his marmoset, another his
guinea-pig: those who played on the hurdygurdy, played on the hurdygurdy;
there were chimney-sweeps, with their bagpipes, who also played; it was an
uproar of joy, which cannot be imagined! Behind the musicians came all the
inhabitants of Little Poland, men, women, and children; they all held
torches, and shouted like madmen, 'Hooray, Gringalet!' 'Gargousse forever!'
The cortège in this order marched round the house of Cut-in-half. It was a
droll spectacle; the old buildings and all the figures illuminated by the
red light of the straw fires, which flickered, and sparkled, and blazed up!
As to Gringalet, the first thing he did, once at liberty, was to place the
little golden fly in a paper box; and he kept repeating, during his
triumph, 'Little golden gnat, I did well to hinder the spiders from eating
you, for---'"
The recital of Pique-Vinaigre was interrupted.
"Roussel, ahoy!" cried a voice from without; "come then, and eat your soup;
four o'clock will strike in ten minutes."
"All right! the story is about finished. I'll go. Thank you, my boy, you
have amused me finely; you may be proud of it," said the keeper to
Pique-Vinaigre, going toward the door. Then, stopping, "Be good boys!" he
added, to the prisoners, turning around.
"We are going to hear the end of the story," said Skeleton, almost bursting
with restrained rage. Then he whispered to the Big Cripple, "Go to the
door, look after the keeper, and when you have seen him go out of the
court, cry 'Gargousse!' and the spy is dead."
"Just so," said the Cripple, who accompanied the keeper, and remained
standing near the door, watching him.
"I told you, then," said Pique-Vinaigre, "that Gringalet, all the time of
his triumph, said to himself, 'Little gnat, I have---'"
"Gargousse!" cried the cripple.
"Mine! Gringalet, I will be your spider!" shouted Skeleton, throwing
himself on Germain so that he could neither make a movement nor utter a
cry. His voice died under the formidable grasp of the long iron fingers.