Belle Madeleine
Then the Good Lord said to the two girls:
“Give me your mother’s arms."
In an instant, both arms were attached to the body.
“Belle Madeleine, you will leave immediately with your two daughters. All night you will walk, without eating or drinking, without ever resting. At sunrise, you will arrive in a large city. There, you will rent a cottage, and you will work there to earn your poor living."
"Good Lord, you will be obeyed."
The Good Lord left with Saint John and Saint Peter.
The next day, at sunrise, Belle Madeleine and her two daughters arrived in the big city. There, they rented a cottage and worked there to earn their poor living. Early in the morning, all three took their distaffs and spun flax together until bedtime.
At this job, the two girls ended up, one evening, scratching their fingers with their spindles.
“Poor children,” said Belle Madeleine, “come and let me take care of you.” —And now go to sleep. Until the Good Lord heals you, I will spin flax night and day, to earn our poor living."
The two girls obeyed, and Belle Madeleine began spinning flax again.
While all this was happening, the marquess had been traveling the world for seven years, mounted on his big black horse. Everywhere he asked for news of Belle Madeleine and her two daughters. But no one was able to answer him.
One evening, after midnight, the poor man arrived in a big city. The rain was falling in torrents.
The marquis dismounted and took shelter, with his large black horse, under the awning of a small house.
It was the cottage where his two daughters slept, while his wife, Belle Madeleine, spun flax to earn their poor living. The light shone through the cracks in the door, and the Marquis listened, while the rain still fell in torrents.
The flax said to Belle Madeleine:
“Belle Madeleine, is there a sadder fate than mine? They throw me into the ground. They're tearing me away. They decapitate me. They're drowning me. They hit me with heavy blows with a mallet. They put me to roast in the bright sun. My bones are being broken. I'm being put through an iron comb. They're tailing me. They put me on canvas. I'm being twisted. They beat me. Belle Madeleine, is there a sadder fate than mine?"
“Shut up, flax,” replied Belle Madeleine. "My fate is even sadder than yours. Flax, there was a time when I lived as a marchioness, in a beautiful castle, with the one I loved. He was a man as handsome as day, honest as gold, strong and bold as Samson. Unfortunately, he married me without his mother's consent. The Good Lord has punished us. However, his mother had always remained mistress at the castle. I was her first servant. Lin, my husband left one day for the war; but he did not come back. For seven years I waited for him. Then his mother had both of my arms sawn off and chased me out of the castle. With my two poor daughters, we left by the grace of God. But God is good. He gave me both my arms back. Flax, the three of us are following you here. But, this evening, my daughters both injured their fingers with their spindles. That's why I sent them to sleep. That's why I'm going alone, and will go night and day, to earn our poor living. Flax, you see, my fate is sadder than yours."
With a strong kick, the marquis broke down the door.
" My wife! My poor wife! My daughters! My poor girls!"
The four of them spent the rest of the night kissing.
Seven weeks later, they were back in their castle.
“Mother,” said the marquis, “you lied to me. Through you, my brave wife and my two poor daughters suffered fourteen years of death and passion. Retire to a convent. The Good Lord will forgive you your sin."
Then, Belle Madeleine and her two daughters began to scream and cry.
"No no. We don't want your mother to retire to a convent. We intend that she will always be mistress in the castle. We intend to be her first servants."
Then the marchioness repented. She asked forgiveness from her son, from Belle Madeleine, from their two daughters, and they lived happily for a long time.
Source: La Belle Madeleine, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 2, published in 1886
Next Tale: {The Little Lady](@vcelier/folk-tales-from-gascony-the-little-lady)
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
In this tale, the good people who have suffered for many years are finally happy again.
And, interestingly enough, they don't want to take revenge against the wicked mother-in-law, who repented of her evil behavior.
I was too tired yesterday to make a late post when we arrived in Calgary.
We left Kati's mother's house at 5:20 in the morning, before sunrise, in a shuttle that took us to Budapest International Airport. We were the only passengers in the shuttle.
In this picture taken from inside the shuttle minibus, the sun has just risen.
And in this one, we see the shadow of the minibus that travels at the same speed.
The flight to Frankfurt arrived on time. But we had to walk for more than 45 minutes to our next flight. It seems that we arrived at one end of Frankfurt airport and had to walk to the other end! We decided right then to never again fly through Frankfurt.
At the Calgary airport, we were greeted by Peter, Timi, and their two children.
We finally arrived at their house around 6 PM, after a trip of more than 20 hours. As we are saying regularly: We are too old for this shit!.
Two hours later, I was in bed sleeping.
-- Vincent Celier