But the demon did not stir.
"Do you think, then," he asked, "that you have brought me hither for
nothing? There is the law. You are not altogether my slave, since you
have kept your soul; but as you have freely called me, and I have come,
you are my vassal. I have a half claim over you. The little children
know that; I am astonished at your ignorance.... From midnight to three
o'clock in the morning you belong to me, in the form of an animal,
restless, roving, complaining, without help from God. This is what you
owe to your strong friend and beautiful bride. Let us settle the affair
before I depart. What animal do you wish to be,--roaring lion, bellowing
ox, bleating sheep, crowing cock? If you become a dog, you can crouch at
Matheline's feet, and Bihan can lead you by a leash to hunt in the
woods...."
"I wish," cried Sylvestre Ker, whose anger burst forth at these words,
"I wish to be a wolf, to devour them both!"
"So be it," said Satan; "wolf you shall be three hours of the night
during your mortal life.... Leap, wolf!"
And the wolf, Sylvestre Ker, leaped, and with one dash shattered the
casement of the window as he cleared it with a bound. Through the
aperture in the roof Satan escaped, and, spreading a pair of immense
wings, rapidly disappeared in an opposite direction from the steeple of
Plouharnel, whose chimes were ringing across the snow.