THE ADVENTURES OF MR. TAM-KIK
The benediction
Source
So Mr. Tam-Kik asked for his account from his good father, who was almost seventy-two years old and could not feed him doing nothing. Tam-Kik, for at least three weeks, had wanted to leave to see the beautiful country of Brittany, seek adventures, and collect a few pennies for the old man; but every time Tam-Kik spoke of leaving, old Job shook his head sadly, looked the other way and passed his sleeve over his eyes; finally, as there is an end to everything, Tam gave his father and guardian a receipt for nothing, and left the hut without looking behind him.
Tam-Kik had been nicknamed Tam-Kik by the little boys from the neighboring villages, because he went here and there to the gates of the farms asking for a small piece of food, saying:
Piece of meat or bread,
Charity always does good.
I must tell you that in Job's poor house, Tam-Kik had never smelled the smell of bacon, neither fresh nor salty, because the poor old day laborer, having neither penny nor income, lived mainly on the charity of the lords of Lothéa. Moreover, when he had his spoonful of black bread soup, Job wanted nothing from anyone; more reasonable in this than many people who make themselves thin, in truth, by dint of wanting to fatten themselves with the good of their neighbor; more reasonable also than Tam, his worthy son, who said, looking at his skinny legs, that a little bacon on Sunday would not hurt his teeth. It was, moreover, the only fault, the only ambition of Tam, and even then we must excuse it since he wanted these sweet treats for his old father more than for himself.
Besides, Tam-Kik was a perfect boy, except for his beauty which was a little lacking; because I think he was cross-eyed and almost hunchbacked. No matter, he had many other preferable qualities in his heart: he was good to animals and people, charitable when he had too much, a rare thing indeed, and always pious, in memory of his good mother, whom he had seen die three days before his first communion. Ah! He spoke with enthusiasm of this beautiful day of his first communion, and it was something, indeed! Imagine Tam-Kik dressed in a beautiful green cloth outfit with copper buttons, which belonged to Lothéa's gamekeeper. There are some who say that the outfit was a little baggy for Tam: a trifle! Tam was even more comfortable singing his hymns; and a beautiful candle worth twelve farthings at least, and a new hat!… Ah! What a beautiful day that was, Jesus, Jesus-Maria!
Tam-Kik therefore left, and although he took neither money nor new shoes, his passport was the blessing of his old father. It must have brought him good luck, because, as you know, the good Lord always leads good sons by the hand.
Now, on the same day, on the best farm in the neighborhood, almost the same thing happened: a handsome boy of eighteen to twenty years old, Jalm Thurio, the son of a rich and decent widow, had resolutely asked his mother for his inheritance, wanting to go, he said, throughout the world in search of a greater fortune, and above all to free himself from maternal supervision.
Though the widow, his mother, was a worthy woman, full of virtue, religion, and fear of God, her advice had only served to hasten the departure of his son, by causing him annoyance.
Then, Thurio mounted on a good double bidet of Cornouaille, set off at a brisk trot, along the main road, to go to the big city of Quimper.
Source: Les Aventures de Monsieur Tam-Kik from the French book Contes et légendes de Basse-Bretagne published in 1891.
Previous Tale: The Recteur's Testament
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.
At the beginning of this new tale, we learn of two boys who are leaving their single parent.
One is Tam-Kik, the son of Job, a poor widower.
The other one is Jalm Thurio, the son of a rich widow.
Are they going to meet, to cooperate, or to fight each other?
MORE PICTURES
Here are four pictures of my children that are on a wall in my house in Harrison Hot Springs. They were taken when they were in high school.
From left to right: Roseline, Betty, Syrille and Gaëlle.
Roseline, Betty, and their three children will be here for Christmas.
Underneath, we have all these small photographs of our family, including my grandchildren when they were very young.
In one of the pictures near the lower right, you can see me sleeping with Faith, my granddaughter, sleeping close to me. When the picture was taken, I was pretending to sleep, just for the picture.
-- Vincent Celier