Hannibal journal. (Hannibal, Mo.) 1852-1853, 1852-04-01
ORIGINAL STORY.
rRE rEAEL er soUEN.
TRANSLATES FRes THE FRENcH,
atl s.. 30 sa- lI-I t..a
Bv ASNE T. wILnuR,
FOR THE HANNIBAL JOURNAL. 'a
by ANNE T. wILn
Gu 4 ER 1.


Roages. A Duel aud Saile.
pEsEArn Mont 81. Catherine at The foot Of 1
which it would seem as if Rouen had concealed |
itself through fear Of the east wind, winds, like
a beautiful aud cool oasis, the little valley Of /
Darnetal. 1t is one OF those picturesque ra-
vines which abound in the country Of Rol, wa
tered by foalning brook, shadowed with pop
lars and studded with white houses, which peep
out in every direction among The masses Of green
Iverdure.
Situated at hundred leagues from great
city, in the Pyreneos on the Jura, the valley of
Darnetal would have been the delight Of the
painter and the tourist at less than mile from
Rouen, it makes the fortunes Of the industrious.
Everything, even to the smallest blade Of grass,
breathes that poesy Of labor and of steam which
should be as inspiring to rhyme as the reveries
of our lakistes. Among even the most omate
landscapes Of these gentlemen, no more poetic
view could be found, will answer for it, than
that of the awakening Of this valley at day break
While the dawn is by degrees lighting up the
SUBMITS of the hills, while the sky is yet OBJ
scure, while the vcrdure Of the trees and mead
ows still seems dark, light breeze chases a
way tile mist, whose silver and vapory waves
gently roll towards the city. AS the wind dis
.pels the fog, here and there appear the roofs Of
the factories, the tall red chimneys, those obe-
lisks Of industry, whence the smoke is already
issuing, and the verdant and rosy-tinted sum
mits Of the poplars beside the brook. 1t is not
vet day, and the bells, with their sivery voices,
are summoning man 10 labor, as those of the
church, with their grave-stones, call him to
prayer. Very soon those wor kmen who are
pursuing their way in tho silence ond the sha-
dow towards the manufactory, and the children
who with their little baskets on their arms, fol-
low them afar, repeating the .4ngelus, will have
resumed their tasks; the chimneys will send
forth into the air their black columns Of smoke,
the wheels of the hydraulic machines will vom-
it their sheets of foam, the arms Of the slumber-
ing looms will resume their motion; and in this
valley an hour before so calm, at sunrise all
will be noise and activity. ..-
In our days the fever of industry does not
. cease except OH Monday: seventy years since,
il was quiet the day before. The Sabbath was
then religiously bserved in the first place be-
cause the Norman is born with a reverence for
, religious worship; in the second because gov
, ernment then enforced the authority of the
Church, and because the manufacturers, from
motives more or less pure, set the example. -
The result was, that on holidays, the valley Of
1 Darnetal, now SO noisy, presented, during
! twenty-four hours, that picture OF profound re-
pose SO pleasing to quiet strolers. This privi-
> lege, which is enjoyed neither on the BOule-
q wards, the paths bordered by hawthorn which
= lead to the Mont des Malades, nor the green av-
i enues Of St. Scvar, those rendezvous Of the
;. fashionable world, allured many fathers of fam
q lilies whose country habits Stunned luxury ant
:, noise. Those of the parish St. Maclon, little
) worthy Of old Rouen, did not fail, immediately
4 after mass, to conduct their children thither bu
- dligent as they were they found already on tn
velvet lawn the Norman magistrates and th
:, clerks of the Rue Grand Pont. Agile as kids
" the young people seemed to have wings TO fly Z
Darnetal. With what object? You woul
- - have readily OWNED il could you have seen tn
:, - two persons seated beneath Towering appletree
= = OH the last Sunday of April, 1880.
; Evidently this was not the business OF an oil
u man, who was especially remarkable for an o.
- =, i've complexion, hair slightly grey and withOr
n powder, black and lively eyes, . foreign cos
,.o tune, and cigarette, an object OF surprise an
'o a superstitious fear to the whole population {
or Rouen; but rather that Of the young girl wi
" Oe accompanied him, and of whom, it was said,
- was the father for nothing could be positive el
- affirmed respecting this parsonage, Slrane
~ and mysterious problem for Norman Sagacty.
wv To the exquisite delicacy Of form which cha
II iI acterizcs the blondes of Andalusa, the your
1 i girl united the stature, the complexion, and 4
nu beautiful hair of the women Of the Pays de Cau
~ ~ Her sparkling and brilliant glance was tru
81 Spanish, the sweet smile on her lips W
iNIi that OF a Norman, or rather Cauchois maidc
iJ whether she wore in the fields the high lace be
n'u m net and white robe with ininitable grace, e
m mem gancc and coquetry, or appeared at the villa
'A fetes with Jewels on her neck and boddice, m'
tie thrown neglgcntly over her should
aSl tress9s wound around her head in thi
and glossy hraids, ---.-.,
In their admiration, the people had baptil
her after their own fashion, calling her
Pearl of Rouen; and this title, although not
parchment, was as undisputed as the charter Q
historical arms of the Marchioness Of Tanca
Vile.
cath Perhaps, had it been necessary to have
Tended her, sword in hnnd, the young girl mi
en- have found more thar one noble champion,
then the plumed hats and MaInes ruffles Of the
and diers attracted no more attention from her {
the perfumed wigs and gold snni-bOxes Of
lawyers. =.
=. Two mousQuaGirss FOSgss, quartered I
ensn s their noble relatives, and who we're pfofh'
lSsi ding their tnouStaehes and graces on ule m
''the cws of Darnstal, had passed and re-psssed
leral times, without rousmg her from her u