This is post #15 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.
BLUEBEARD
There once was a man six feet tall, with a blue beard that reached down to his waist. That’s why he was called Bluebeard. This man was as rich as the sea. Yet he never gave alms. He never set foot in a church. It was said that he had married seven times, but no one knew what had become of his seven wives.
Finally, the King of France was informed of these bad rumors. Immediately he sent many soldiers to arrest the wicked man, and a great red judge to question him. For seven years they beat the woods and the mountains, but Bluebeard was hiding I don't know where.
The soldiers and the great red judge having left, Bluebeard reappeared, more wicked, more terrible than ever. It was to the point that no one dared venture seven leagues around his castle.
One morning, Bluebeard was running through the countryside, mounted on his big black horse, followed by three mastiffs, as big and strong as bulls. A young and beautiful young lady came passing by, all alone.
Without saying a word, the wretch grabbed her by the belt and carried her into his castle.
"Listen. I hear you are my wife. From now on, you will never leave here."
By force, the young lady married Bluebeard, and remained a prisoner, suffering death and passion, crying all the tears in her eyes. Every morning, at dawn, Bluebeard mounted his horse and set off, followed by his three mastiffs, as big and strong as bulls. He didn't come home until supper time. All day long his wife did not move from the window. She looked over there, in the countryside, and thought very sadly.
Sometimes a bergerette (a young shepherdess) came and sat next to her mistress, as pretty as a heart and wise as a saint.
“Madame,” she said to her, “I know your thoughts. You distrust the valets and maids of this castle. Madam, you are not wrong. But I was not born to betray you. Madam, tell me about your troubles."
The lady was silent. But one day she spoke.
“Bergerette, pretty Bergerette, if you betray me, the Good Lord and the Blessed Virgin will punish you. Listen. I will tell you about my sorrows. Bergerette, night and day, I think of my poor father, of my poor mother. I think of my two brothers, who have been abroad for seven years, in the service of the King of France. Bergerette, pretty Bergerette, if you betray me, the Good Lord and the Blessed Virgin will punish you."
"Madam, I will not betray you. Listen. I have great power over a talking Jay. When you want, he will tell everything to your two brothers, who have spent seven years abroad in the service of the King of France."
"Thank you, Bergerette. Let's wait for the right moment."
Source: Barbe-Bleue, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886.
Previous Tale: La Fleur.
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.
As I already said, this is a version different from Bluebeard published in 1697 by Charles Perrault.
I kept in this English translation the French word "bergerette" because I like the sound of it. It is formed by the word berger, which is *shepherd", and the suffix "-ette" which means feminine and young or little. There are plenty of examples of common words in French with the suffix "-ette". One example is "camionette". A camion is a big truck, a camionette is a small truck.
As I said yesterday, my brother Philippe lives alone all year in our big family house, the Abbey. This house originally was the "Abbey of Saint-Denis". There are two houses near it that are part of the hamlet of "Grand Saint-Denis". One is a farm that is no longer in exploitation. In the farmhouse, another guy, Alain, is also living alone. Philippe visits Alain every day. Yesterday, he came to tell Alain about the mushrooms and Alain came to pick them up and he gave me some of them. I will clean them and cook them.
Philippe over the years has tried to be active. Until recently, he was walking outside every day and making at least 8,000 steps. Two weeks ago, he bought an electric bike and is now biking for around 25 km every day, mostly on trails. Today, so that he will be conforming with the regulations, we went to the nearby city of Saumur to buy a helmet.
He is ready to go on his daily bike ride.
-- Vincent Celier