Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-20
By GUY DE MAUPASSANT.

1t was tea-time before the appear
ance Of the lamps. The villa com
manded the sea; the sun, which nat
disappeared, had left the sky all rosy
from his passing-rubbed, as 1t were
with gold-dust; and the Mediterran
can, without a ripple, without shud
der, smooth, still shining under th'
dying day, seemed like huge ant
polished metal plate.
Far off to the right the ragged
mountains outlined their black profile
on the paled purple Of the west.
We talked Of love, we discussed
that old subject, we said again the
things which we had said already yer!
often. The sweet melancholy OF the
twilight made our words slower, caus'
ed a tenderness to waver in our souls
and that word, love-" which came
back ceaselesly, now pronounced D!
a strong mans voice, now uttered BY
the frail-toned voice Of woman
seemed to fill the little salon, to fiut'
ter there like a bird, to hover there
like a spirit
Can one remain in love for several
years in succession?
Yes" maintained some.
NO" affirmed others.
We distinguished cases, we estab-
lished limitations, we cited examples
and all, men and women, filled with
rising and troublesome memories
and which
mounted to their lips, seemed moved
and talked Of that common, that SOW
ereign thing, the tender and mysteri-
GUS union of two beings, with pro-
found emotion and an ardent interest
But all of a sudden some one, whose
eyes had been fixed upon the distance
cried out:
"Oh! Look down there; what Is it?'
On the sea, at the bottom Of the ho-
rizon, loomed up mass, gray, enor'
nous and confused.
The women had risen from their
seats, and without understanding
looked at this surprising thing which
they had never seen before.
Some one said:
TT is Corsica! You see 1t so two OF
three times a year, in certain excep-
tional conditions of the atmosphere
when the air is perfectly clear and II
is not concealed by those mists or sea-
fog which always veil the distances
We distinguished vaguely the noun
tain ridges, we thought we recognized
the snow Of their SUBMITS. And every
one remained surprised, troubled, al
most terrified, by this sudden appari-
ton of a world, by this phantom risen
from the sea. Maybe that those who
like Columbus, went away across un-
discovered oceans had such strange
visions Of this.
Then said an old gentleman VINO
had not yet spoken:
See here: / knew in that island
which raises itself before us, as If In
person to answer what was said, ano
to recall to me a singular memory
knew, I say, an admirable case of love
which was true, Of love which, i'm
probably enough, was happy.
Here 1t is
Five years ago made journey In
Corsica. That savage island Is more
unknown, and more distant from us
than America, even though you see II
sometimes from the very coasts OF
France, as we have done today.
Imagine a world which is still cha
no imagine a storm Of mountains sep
arated by narrow ravines where tor
rents roll; not a single plain, but i'm
mense waves of granite, and giant
undulations Of earth covered WITT
brushwood or with high forests oi
chestnut trees and pines. 1t Is Vlr-
gin soil, uncultivated, desert, altnougn
YOU sometimes make out a village
like a heap Of rocks, on the summit oi
a mountain. No culture, no INDUS
tries. no art. One never meets mere
with a morsel Of carved wood or bi'
of sculptured stone, never the least
reminder that the ancestors OF these
people had any taste, whether rude OF
refined for gracious and beautitu
things. 1t is this which strikes you
the most in their superb and hare
country; their hereditary indifference
to that search for seductive forms
which is called Art.
Italy, where every palace, full o.
masterpieces, is masterpiece ltseH
Italy. where marble, wood, bronze
iron, metals and precious stones at
test mans genius, where the smailes
old things which lie about in the an
cient houses reveal the divine care foi
grace-Italy is for us the sacred coun'
try which we love, because she snow:
to us and proves to us the struggle the
grandeur, the power and the triumph
of the intelligence which creates.
"And face to face with her, the saw
age Corsica has remained exactly az
in her earliest days. A man hVe'
there in his rude house, Indifferent u
everything which does not concern MI
own bare existence or his tamiL!
feuds. And he has retained the wees
and the virtues of savage races; he Il
violent malignant, sanguinary with
out a thought of remorse, but als'
hospitable, generous, devoted, simple
opening his door to passers-by, an'
giving his faithful friendship in return
for the least sign of sympathy.
$50, for a month, 1 had been wan
dering over this magnificent islan'
with the sensation that l was at th'
end of the world. No more inns, NJ
taverns, no roads. You gain by mule
paths, hamlets hanging up, as 1t were
on a mountain-side, and commandins
torturous abysses whence Of an even
ing you hear rising the steady SOUND
the dull and deep voice of the torrent
You knock at the doors of the houses
You ask a shelter for the night ant
something to live on till the morrow
And you sit down at the humble boart
and you sleep under the humble roof
and in the morning you press the ex
tended hand of your host, who ha