The morning call., 1893-11-19
the poet seems annoyed BY the perslstent

the poet seems annoyed by the persistent
stare of this lion, aud in one of his poem
he says: Isl ce God placed me In the
| land of the living. lion with lifted
nosirls has not ceased to watch me-"
When Mistral Is away the country peo-
ple say that the lion wearies of watching
for his return and often is seen to yawD.
MistraPs library is OVERLOOKING with
books. and on brass plaque, iucrusted in
the woodwork, one reads the creed of the
Provencal poets. Everywhere are en-
cravings; high on the wall is portrait of
Lama rhine, called by Mistral Master
and Father" Among the portraits of the
original Felbrges are numerous repre-
sentatives of Alphonse Daudet, another
friend of the poet.
| The drawing-room is furnished In the
gray. dull colors so appreciated by the
Provencaux. The furniture was manufac-
tured hundreds OF years ago in Provence.
| One sees here the old gun that belonged to
the poets father, gun bravely used ON
| the battlefields of the first republic. There
| Is an old-faShi0ned kneadin g-trOugh and
| bread UGH fastened on the wall. Across
| the window are the trident and lasso used
| by the Provencal shepherds. There is
nothing which denotes aught but the soul
of Provence and the ancestors of Mistral.
Nine. Mistral is very beau iful young
woman, whose birthplace was Dion, but
whose ancestors were OF the purest Pro-
vencal type. The other members of the
1 L
dog is named Pain perdu, and performs
| the most wonderful tricks with no pre-
vious training. Mistral thinks this dog
will some day play an important role in
his life. One evening the poet was walk
ing along the road to Saint Remy, when
suddenly Pain-perdu sprang from ditch
| and followed the master of bis choice.
| No one had ever seen the dog before, and
! all the poets friends are astonished at the
remarkable performances of the animal.
Mon hr,,S &c tar
that Mistral says he descends from the
ancient gods Of Egypt. Nj siral is very
good looking man. about 60 years old; bis
hair. slightly silvered, is brushed back
| from broad forehead, and his mustache
and imperial give him the appearance of
soldier.
| Some years ago everybody thought that
| Mistral was an illterats peasant, who
could only speak the dialect of his village.
| Now we all know that he passed very
difficult examinations and upon him have
been conferred many degrees. But soon
as he won his laurels Mistral returned to
| his beloved Provence and decided that
his mission In life would be to teach his
compatriots the national grammar and
history.
"MIreIlle," or "Mireio," was written in
the Provencal idiom, when the poet was
only 25 years old. Great has been the ad-
miration expressed for this beautiful poem
| Many have been the translatiOns from the
Provencal dale ct, but 10 Is best known to
fame by the .s opera Of m he lam .sdd
Calendar Nerto" and "Iseio dor" And
one day he revealed himself as savaDt of
the first rank when he published
Provencal- French dictionary. a work
crowned by the French Institute
Ten years and fifty thousand francs
.Tresor don Felihrige." containing $500
triple-column-d folio pages. This die
tiOnary belongs TO all languages of DC. or
| languages wbe,e oe is equivalent to YES.
| For the work Mistral received the highest
award, the Jean Reyuaud prize of ten
thousand francs. given every five years
for the most important publication during
| that time.
Mistral often writes of the hostility en-
| cOuntered by those who wish to preserve
the Provincial tongue as second national
| language. The children in the schools of
Provence have not the right to give even
to ordinary objec:s the names II their
mother tongne. But outside of France
the Fellbriges are very popular. Five
hundred volumes, written in the Proven
cal tongue, were recently purchased by
an American for the public library of New
| York.
Mstral has written drama, "Reipo
Jano. OF Queen Jeanne" but lie says the
time has not come for its representation.
Love of home, love of ones birthplace is
the sentiment that underlies all Mistrars
efforts Tor the preservation of the PIovencal
tongue. What he does for Provence he
wishes may be done by other patriots for
Brittany, Gascony and Dauphiny. He
hopes that the ancient languages will be re-
vlved In the provinces OF Spain. in Aragon,
Valencia and Catalonia. in Bohemia, Hun
gary ana Flanders. ard that the people OF
these provinces, while maintaining their
wn customs and revereucing their own
traditions. will consider their chief honor
u De part OF the great nations to which
their provinces or countries belong.
BARONESS ALTHEA SALVADOR.
Paris. Oct. Is. 1898