New-York tribune., 1906-10-27
ROMANTIC PROVENCE.
4 Woman's Bo0k About Trouba-
dOHr Land.

ROMANTIC ~ n ,t5 CITIES oF PRoyENcE By Mona
PenneI End Edward NJ synge- Svo PIP. 4le-
Imported by Charles Scribner's Sons.
\ 'wondrous land of Sun and Wind and
Dream"-that is what Mrs. Card in her pref
ace calls Provence. AS for its external features,
she admits that they are not attractive. "a
wide plain bounded by mountains OF moderate
height and an Insignificant chain OF bare lime.
stone hills 0he Alpilles} cities, ancient indeed,
but small, shabby, not too clean, with dingy old
hotels, and no particular advantages of situa-
ton-such description of Provence would be
accurate for those who are not among its en-
thusiasts." Mrs. Card is frankly enthusiast
to the extent Of believing that in Provence were
born and fostered the sentiments the unwrit-
ten laws and traditions which is built al,
that we understand by civilized life" and in the
body Of her book she has essayed to re-create
the spell which the history and the romance and
the physical features of the country cast upon
it's lovers.
This is not book of travel, though in it are
Incorporated some notes of long past journey.
The author has 10 great gift of humor, such
sprightliness as she attempts to put into her
text being Of a conventional sort. The pleasant
ness Of her work lies chiefly in its desultory
glimpses Of the picturesque medieval figures. the
uTafnaJlc happenings, the oIdtlme Ideas and
customs and the strange legends of the region;
and if in fuiness and vividness she leaves much
to seek she at least covers a wide ground in
description and allusion. One might guess, be-
fore turning her pages. that writer who has
strong convictions the Woman Question
would naturally have great deal to say about
the rise of the Troubadours, the birth of Chival-
ry and the consequent prodigious change in the
status OF women She deals with these sub
jects, indeed, in an earnest and enthusiastic
spirit. making judicious selections of illustra-
tion and authorities. In lighter vein she re-
peats the legend of Martha, the gentle saint.
who. by force of her sweet reasonableness,"
tanned the terrible dragon beast, the Tarasque
and led it by a silken cora through the streets
of Tarascon. The yearly procession in honor of
Saint Martha. which King Rene instituted, has
always had ferocious Tarasque as its chief
ornament. and the people accompanying it sang
loudly the "Lagagdigadeu," the chant invented
by that good King Rene:
Lagagdigadeu!
Lagagdigadeu!
La Tarasco!
De Casteu!
La vieio mascot
Laissas la passa-
And the Tarasque wags his tail "a straight beam
6fowd ee sd 5 edne and 0T wifi Of the the
prOwess of their beast.
The pride of Tarascon in this fearful wild
fowl" is such that the traveller is expected to
visit it in the of large stable in which it is
kept under lock ana key.
Laughter was out of keeping with the OCCASION
our poor cOcher would have been cut to the heart
but it was hard work to behave decorously. Out
ioomed forth grotesqGely terrible monster, whose
proper sphere certainly the pantomime. Enor-
nous red-rmmed eyes stared ferociously at the
bristIing white whiskers There was also a touch
of hippOpotamus in the cast Of countenance only
II lacked the swceter expression of that more
4 new coat Of natntEblacE with red facings-for
the huge body beautifully glossy.
La VOLTA Ia tarasque' said our coachman, with
We hesitated in our comments Barbara rather
from lack of familiarity with the nuGncGS of the
language than from any want of frankness muir
INJURED something about tres joIie"; and Tartarin
said, En- effet, madame, mais on devait la voir
quand on fait le tour de la vile au jour de fate
"Je lie cro!s ben." murmured apprecatively.
Tartarn suggested that we might like to see the
rest of the animal before leaving, and so we made
the round Che extended far into the depths of his
gloomy dwellingl, adnirins the pose and the noble
fashioned locomotive-and the formidable nature
Of the tail Then we felt that without indiscretion
we might depart As drove off we caught
last glimpse of that unspeakably ridiculous beast
steadily ferocOus to the ast Then the ereat doors
We're swung together, and the pride Of Tarascon
ore could but laugh. and yet that absurd efigy
was the representative of the beginnings of our
The Christian version of the story Is of yester-
day the arrival Of the saints the shore OF pagan
Gaul and the conversion of Tarascon TO the
faith by St. Martha. Some trace the legend TO
ia Phncah rara2S6 sogSe; m tn more frequently the
there stories OF Hercules and a giant named
Taras or Tauriskos-the classic form Of the tradi-
the Gods, and II one could really trace the family
tree or that Monsrei monster to its roots one would
would starte archRologlst5.