This is post #17 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
The Lady and the pretty Bergerette listened, all trembling.
“Bergerette, pretty Bergerette, go up, go up to the top of the tower."
The pretty Bergerette obeys. In the courtyard, Bluebeard was still sharpening his cutlass on the stone.
“Sharpen, sharpen, cutlass. — By my wife's neck you will pass."
"Bergerette, pretty Bergerette, what do you see from the top of the tower?"
"Madam, from the top of the tower, I can see the sun shining. I see the sea. I see the mountains and the plains."
Then the lady went up seven steps of the staircase.
In the courtyard, Bluebeard was still sharpening his cutlass on the stone.
“Sharpen, sharpen, cutlass. — By my wife's neck you will pass."
"Bergerette, pretty Bergerette, what do you see from the top of the tower?"
"Madam, from the top of the tower, I see, over there, over there, your two brothers galloping away on their horses."
Then the Lady went up seven more steps of the staircase.
In the courtyard, Bluebeard was still sharpening his cutlass on the stone.
“Sharpen, sharpen, cutlass. — By my wife's neck you will pass."
"Bergerette, pretty Bergerette, what do you see from the top of the tower?"
"Madam, your two brothers are one league closer. — Save your life, if you can."
In the courtyard, Bluebeard had finished sharpening his cutlass on the stone.
“Come down, carrion. Come down, or I'll go up."
Then the lady went up seven more steps of the staircase.
“My friend, give me the time to say my prayers. — Bergerette, pretty Bergerette, what do you see from the top of the tower?"
"Madam, your two brothers are very close, very close. — Save your life, if you can."
Then the Lady went up to the highest point of the tower. His two brothers dismounted in front of the castle gate.
From the courtyard, Bluebeard shouted:
“Come down, carrion. Come down, or I'll go up."
Bluebeard went up, brandishing his sharp cutlass.
"Help! my brothers. Help me."
Bluebeard let go of his wife and whistled at his three mastiffs, big and strong like bulls.
Saber in hand, the two brothers arrived on the platform of the tower.
"Help! my brothers. Help me."
For a whole hour, beasts and people fought. Finally, Bluebeard fell dead with his three mastiffs, big and strong like bulls.
“Little sister, this wretch and his animals have finished doing bad things. Let's go."
The older brother took his sister behind him. The youngest took the pretty Bergerette. At sunset, they arrived at their parents' castle.
“Hello, Father. Hello, Mother. You mourned me as if I were dead, and dead I would be, at Bluebeard's castle, without the friendship of this pretty Bergerette."
Everyone hugged each other, like people happy to see each other again.
At supper, the younger brother spoke.
“Listen, Father. Listen, Mother. I am in love with the pretty Bergerette. If you don't give her to me as a wife, tomorrow I'm going back to war. You will never, ever see me again."
"My son, do as you wish. Your pretty Bergerette will have Bluebeard's castle as her dowry."
Cric, Cric,
My tale is done.
Cric, Crac,
My tale is finished.
Source: Barbe-Bleue, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886.
Next Tale: The Turkey Sitter
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 everybody could have guessed, the two brothers of the lady arrived just in time to fight with Bluebeard.
I could picture the actions of the lady and her questions to Bergerette, while Bluebeard is sharpening his cutlass as if it was in a TV series.
The real winner in this tale is the younger brother who will marry Bergerette. In the tale, apparently, nobody asks Bergerette if she wants to marry the brother.
Three more trees planted by my brother Philippe
Philippe recently bought three trees and planted them.
The first one is a Japanese pepper (Zanthoxylum piperitum)
It is a small tree that will not be higher than 5 meters. The leaves and fruits (peppercorns) are used in Japanese and Korean cuisines.
It has incorrectly been labeled as a Sichuan pepper.
The second one is a ginkgo biloba, which is a taller tree that can be as high as 20 to 35 meters.
As there are male and female versions of this tree, and Philippe only has one, it will never produce seeds that can be fertilized.
As planted, the tree does not look good. Let's hope that it will not die during winter.
The third tree is a metasequoia, another tall tree that can be as high as 35 meters or more.
It is a conifer that has the particularity of being deciduous: it loses
his leaves leaves every year, contrarily to other conifers such as pines or firs.
Apparently, it is fast-growing, so I will see if this is true next year.
-- Vincent Celier