[25] _Kruptadia_: Heilbronn: Henninger Frères, 1884: _Breton Folk
Lore_.
Once on a time a youth, wishing to become a smith, quitted his village
and hired himself as an apprentice to a farrier. His master was a busy
man, all the beds in his house being filled by his workmen, and when
evening came he was sore pressed to find sleeping quarters for his
apprentice. Reflecting long, he thus finally argued:--
“In each bed are several persons; my daughter alone hath one to
herself. With her will I put the youth to sleep. His parents are good
people, and I have known him from boyhood. There is no danger.”
When these two were in bed together, the youth began to caress the
daughter, a maid nigh unto sixteen years, and since she did not repulse
him, he lost no time in showing her how one makes love. The daughter
found the business very much to her liking, and Pierre (for so the
apprentice was named) gave her several lessons in this pretty game.
She did not tire, and wished that the play might last the whole night
long; but Pierre, awearied, would fain have slept. Anon, when he began
to grow drowsy, she pinched him and snuggled up to him; but he did not
respond to her allurements.
“Pierre,” said she, “dost play no more with thine implement?”
“No--’tis used up,” quoth Pierre.
“‘Tis a pity,” said the girl. “Why is it not more solid? Would it cost
much to have another?”
“Yea--at least three or four hundred francs.”
“I myself have not that sum; but I know where my father keepeth his
money, and on the morrow I will give thee the wherewithal to procure
another. What dost thou call it?”
“‘Tis called an ‘instrument’,”[26] quoth Pierre.
[26] _Frenolle_ is the word in the text--probably a fantastic term,
since Pierre’s “instrument” is not known by that name in Haut
Bretagne. Farmer, in his monumental work _Slang and its Analogues_,
(Privately Printed, 1890-1904) and Landes (_Glossaire Érotique de la
Langue française_--Brussels, 1861) do not include the word in their
comprehensive lists of French erotic synonyms for _penis_. Nor can
we find mention of it in _Vocabula Amatoria_ (London, 1896). Littré,
even, does not give the word.
In the morning the girl, taking her father’s money, gave it to the
apprentice, who hied him to the town and made pretence of buying
another instrument; and when night came, he played on his instrument to
the infinite satisfaction of the girl.
On the morrow the apprentice received a letter, wherein he learned that
his mother lay ill and desired to see him. He started on his journey
forthwith. Anon the girl appeared, and not seeing the apprentice,
inquired:
“Where is Pierre?”
And they answered her that he was gone and would return no more.
Whereat she sped after him, and when she perceived him afar off, cried
out:--
“Pierre! Pierre! At least leave me the instrument!”
Pierre, who was in a field at the moment, wrenched up a big turnip, and
casting it into a swamp at the feet of the girl, cried out:--
“Take it--’tis there!”
And while the girl sought the instrument, he continued on his way.
With both her eyes she looked, but of Pierre’s instrument could
perceive no vestige. Anon she sat down on the edge of the swamp and
gave herself up to tears. Presently there chanced to pass the vicar,
who made inquiry as to the cause of her grief.
“Oh! thy reverence!” she made answer. “The instrument hath fallen in
the swamp and I cannot recover it. A sad pity, for ‘tis a precious
instrument and cost three or four hundred francs.”
“Let us both seek,” quoth the vicar. “I will aid thee.”
He tucked up his gown, and both fell to seeking in the swamp, which was
somewhat deep. Anon the girl turned her head, and perceiving the vicar
with his garments tucked up above his hips, cried out:--
“Ah! thy reverence! No need for further search! ‘Tis thou who hast the
instrument ‘twixt thy legs!”
_EXCURSUS_ to _THE INSTRUMENT_
A variant of the foregoing story, (_The Instrument_), is to be found
in _Le Moyen de Parvenir_ (Béroalde de Verville). The editors of
_Kruptadia_ draw attention to it, quoting the following extract:--