TOULON, _October 2_.
It has been a long time, dear friend, since I wrote to you. As soon as
my foot returned to its normal size, I felt that I must make up for lost
time by touring the county of Avignon. I have learned, also, how to
appreciate the difference between the gnats of Carpentras, Orange,
Cavaillon, Apt, and other places. Nearly all of them possess in common
the characteristic of preventing an honest man from going to sleep. I
shall not tell you about the beautiful things I have seen, or the
humbugs I have discovered.
But do you know what a _draquet_ is? It is the same thing as a
_fantasy_. I will explain the meaning of these two barbarous words. You
must know, in the first place, that the wealth of the Department of
Vaucluse consists principally in silks. In every peasant’s lodge
silk-worms are cultivated, and silk is spun, from which arises a
disagreeable odour. Very frequently, skeins of silk are found hanging on
the bushes. Towards evening, there are peasant women imprudent enough to
come and gather these skeins of silk, hiding them in their baskets. The
basket gradually becomes heavier, with constantly increasing weight,
until it puts one in a perspiration to carry it. When, after a long and
fatiguing journey, the bank of a stream is reached, the basket has
become absolutely insupportable, and is placed on the ground.
Immediately there jumps from the basket a tiny creature, with an immense
head, who moves himself by a sort of lizard’s tail. Chuckling and
giggling, he plunges into the stream, saying: “_M’as ben pourta!_” which
signifies in Provençal, or in the idiom of the _draquets_, “You have
carried me very well!” I have met more than one woman who had been
hoaxed in this way by these mischievous demons, and am extremely sorry
not to have made the acquaintance of one myself. I should have enjoyed
it enormously.
My journey lengthens as the days grow shorter. I go to-morrow to Fréjus,
and from there to the islands of Lérins, where I may find, perhaps, the
remains of the first Christian church of the West. I am more than half
inclined to believe I shall find nothing at all. But one must follow
one’s profession conscientiously, and examine everything of historical
significance.
It is impossible to find anything dirtier and prettier than Marseilles.
Dirty and pretty applies equally to the women of Marseilles. They all
have expressive faces, lovely black eyes, beautiful teeth, tiny feet,
and imperceptible ankles. On their little feet they wear cinnamon
stockings, of the colour of Marseilles mud, coarse in quality, and
darned with twenty different shades of cotton. Their gowns are badly
made, and are always shabby and soiled. Their beautiful black hair owes
its glossiness almost entirely to the use of candle tallow. Add to this
an atmosphere of garlic mixed with the fumes of rancid oil, and you have
a picture of the Marseilles beauty. What a pity it is that in this world
nothing should be perfect! Ah, well, they are charming, the Marseilles
women, in spite of it all. It is a veritable triumph.
My evenings, which are now long, begin to be horribly tiresome. ‘Tis
true that I have usually volumes of letters to write and reports to
prepare for two or three ministers, but these pleasant occupations have
not kept me from having the blues for the last three weeks. My dreams
are as dismal as they can be, and my waking thoughts are no brighter.
Not a single word from you, when I need it so sadly! If you write to me
promptly, address your letter to Carcassonne. I must hear from you to
cheer me up....
After leaving Carcassonne I shall go to Perpignan, to Toulouse, and to
Bordeaux. I hope I may find there some souvenir from you. The sketch I
am making for you is not yet finished. I shall give it to you when I
return to Paris. I wish you would tell me if there is something more you
should like me to bring you. Here is a flower from a prickly shrub which
grows near Marseilles, and which has the perfume of sweet violets.
Good-bye.