JEAN DE CALAIS
Jean de Calais saluted his father, jumped on his horse, and left by the road to Bordeaux.
Three days later, he walked further than Marmande. It was at the time of the dead month, December, at the time of the great cold.
As he walked, Jean de Calais thought:
“I am not far from the village where I paid seven thousand pistoles to have the poor dead man buried."
When he passed through the village, everyone was asleep. The moon was rising in the sky, and the stars marked midnight.
As he passed the cemetery, Jean de Calais pulled on the bridle and dismounted.
“Wait for me there, my good horse. Time to recite a Pater for the poor dead man."
John of Calais entered, without fear. He knelt on the pit and recited a Pater. As he got up, a Great White Bird came and landed at the top of the large cross in the cemetery.
The Great White Bird began to speak.
“Jean of Calais, I am the soul of the poor dead man. Jean de Calais, you have done me a favor. Be sure that I won't forget it."
And the Great White Bird flew away we don’t know where.
Jean de Calais got back on his horse and set off again.
Three hours after sunrise, he came down, dead of cold and hunger, to the threshold of a good inn, opposite the harbor of Bordeaux.
“Ho! Valets! Here, lazy people. Quickly, this horse to the stable. Maids, quickly, a bundle in the fireplace. Quickly, a good lunch on the table."
Once satisfied and thawed, Jean de Calais went up to his room, got into bed, and slept like a log until supper time. Then he came back down, fresh and cheerful, into the common room. Next to him, a ship captain sat down at the table.
“Hey, hello, Jean de Calais."
"Hello, captain."
"Jean de Calais, I am very happy to find you here. Many times, the two of us, have beaten the pavement, laughed, and run amok."
"Captain, there is time for everything. I'm done doing it wrong. I want to travel the world and try to make my fortune."
"Jean de Calais, I want to give you the means. Listen. Tomorrow morning, come see me on my ship, in the middle of the Garonne. There, I will tell you things that are worth listening to."
"Captain, count on me."
The next morning, Jean de Calais was on the ship, in the middle of the Garonne.
“Hello, captain. Give me the means to make a fortune. Tell me the things that are worth listening to."
"Jean de Calais, I will speak, if you swear to me by your soul that you will not say another word about it."
"Captain, I swear to you by my soul."
"Jean de Calais, you want to make your fortune. Come with me. Here I command a hundred strong and bold pirates. Pirates are sailors who travel the world, plundering wherever they can. Come with me. In a year, you will earn your weight in gold."
"Captain, that would be ill-earned gold."
"Jean de Calais, when you pay, people don’t ask where your gold comes from. They check if it is not false. Come with me. If you lay your hands on any beautiful girl, we will keep her here a prisoner. You will do with her as you wish unless you prefer to sell her. Hey, just last month, I stole the two daughters of the king of Lisbon, in Portugal. Follow me. I want to show them to you."
John of Calais followed the pirate captain. In a small room on the ship, two girls, more beautiful than the day, prayed to God and wept bitterly.
Source: Jean de Calais, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 2, published in 1886
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.
We don't know yet what will happen to Jean de Calais, but the Great White Bird already promised to help him when he is in trouble.
Apparently, Jean de Calais is not keen on being a pirate and getting "ill-earned gold".
We will see soon what will be his reaction about the two princesses of Portugal who have been captured by the pirate captain.
Whenever Kati and I leave Kati's mother's house together, Kormi tries to leave the garden to follow us. We have already closed a hole in the fence between the garden and the cemetery, but last time she was able to escape directly to the street, without going through the cemetery.
Kati thinks that she jumps over the gate in the corner where she parks her car, so today, we put some grid to prevent her from doing that. We will see if this works.
We have tried for many days to use a leash on Kormi, but she continues to refuse to move as soon as we attach the leash to her collar.
When she goes back to the house after the "leash trauma", she goes under a table, either in the kitchen or the dining room.
If you have any advice on having a dog to accept to be leashed, do not hesitate to tell me.
-- Vincent Celier