Evening star., 1924-10-25
The Library Table
ny THE BOoKLovER


the borders of France and Spain. The
peculiar life and usagee OF its farmer
citizens form the groundwork OF a
recently translated French novel by
Isabelle Sandy. "Andorra." The land
is the religion and the life of the An
dorian peasant, and. because the
mountain measures out the land so
parsimoniously, IL Is never divided,
but descends from father to one son
in each family. The son who is to be
the heir, or "hereu," Is not necessa-
rily the eldest, but the one designated
by the father at a time when the
sons have reached marriageable age.
The other sons arc given small sums
Of money and either become priests
or are helped to marry wives endow-
ed with land. The name CONGO" is
reserved for an unmarried son who
remains under his fathers roof, with
a position similar to that of an upper
servant. When there are no sons and
a daughter is heiress to the family
lands she is called "pubilla" and is
naturally much sought in marriage
The valley lands belong in this man
ner to the Andorran families, but the
mountain sides, including the pasture
lands, belong to the community.
Against this background Isabelle
Sandy has developed a peasant drama
of fratricidal hatred caused by the dis
placement OF an older son as "hereu"
in favor Of younger son.
y
-Four generations of XiribaIls live
at La Solana, the old russet stone
house built into the mountain side.
There old Anton lives on, bowed with
the weight OF years, but still rugged,
selfish and scornful OF his son Joan,
the present Cap de Casa, who has
grown old prematurely under the
family burdens. There also are the
two sons of Joan, the evil, vicious
Nyerro and the beautiful, educated
Angelo, whose four sons are to carry
on the Xiriball family. Hardship, Sc
cret, gnawing sorrow and bitter trag-
edy are woven into the lives OF the
Xiribal1s, but through everything
persists the idea of family unity and
progress. AS Joan nears his end he
says to his daughter-in-law sadly,
but hopefully: Il was not the man
needed to save the family. l was not
very Intelligent, SO 1 had to make
great effort, Conchita; that is why l
am going a little before my time.
Our family is strong and 1t
will be strong for a long time if you
bring your children up aright-in the
William Montgomery McGovern, the
author of ITO Lhasa in Disguise" did
three things never before accom-
plished by a white man: He crossed
the Himalayan passes from India into
Tibet in Winter, a feat heretofore
considered impossible; he lived six
weeks in the For bidden City, Lhasa,
and that during the crisis of intoler-
ance induced by the Tibetans holiest
religious festival OF the year, when
the civil government of Lhasa resigns
its power to two monks; and he took
the first motion picture films which
show the life OF this holy city of the
lamas. He is an uncommon combina-
tion of adventurer and scholar. Born
in Georgia, he spent most of his
young life in the Far East. He is an
oxford man, and was considered one
of the university's most brilliant
speakers. Most interesting of all, he
is an honorary Buddhist priest, a dis
tinction granted him in recognition
of treatise on Mahayana Buddhism.
He has said that this sacred Office
proved of use to him in gaining the
respect and confidence of certain of
the higher officials in Lhasa, after he
had revealed himself to them as an
Englishman, while 1t may have saved
his life by preventing his betrayal by
one unruly and disloyal native serv-
ant. There can be no question that
his knowledge of Buddhist customs
and beliefs immensely contributed to
his safety in that terrible land which
he penetrated, where, he says, it is
sacrilege to walk around a temple or
sacred wall in one direction, while to
walk the other way is distinct
merit.
Whenever Bernard Shaw writes a
new play, no matter whether / see or
read the play itself, / am always keen
to read his preface for in it I always
expect to find not simply good writ
ing, but clever and trenchent analysis
of some present-day questions, salted
From his latest, Saint JOAN" the
setting of which is, of course, me-
dieval. I Gull these intensely modern
sentences: She was the most no
table Warrior Saint in the Christian
calendar, and the queerest fish among
the eccentric worthless of the Middle
Ages. Though a professed and most
pious Catholic, she was, in fact, one
of the first Protestant martyrs. She
was the pioneer of rational dressing
for women. AS her actual condition
opinions about her-one was that she
was miraculous; the other that she
was unoearable. Joan got a far fairer
trial from the Church and the Inqui-
sition than any prisoner of her type
and in her situation gets nowadays in
any official secular court; and the de-
cision was strictly according to law.
Joan's other abnormality, too COM
mon among uncommon things to be
called a popularity, was her craze for
soldering and the masculine life. She
was the sort OF woman that wants to
lead a mans life. Had Joan not been
one Of those 'unwomanly women she
might have been canonized much
sooner. John was prosecuted essen
TALLY as she would be prosecuted to-
day. AS far as federation is concern
ed, the trial and execution in Rouen
In 1431 might have been an event of
today; and we may charge our con-
sciences accordingly. If Joan had to
be dealt with by US in London, she
would be treated with no more toll
GRAFTON than Miss Silvia Pankhurst,
or the Peculiar People, or the parents
who keep their children out of the
elementary school, or any of the
others who cross the line we have to
draw, rightly or wrongly, between
the tolerable and the intolerable."
* X X
The Roman pro-consul Gallo, be-
fore whom ST Paul was arraigned.
cared for none of these things" that
is, he was Indifferent to all the ordi-
nary considerations Of life. w. L.
George has attempted to create his
modern prototype in the character of
Holyoake Tarrant in the novel. .eThe
Triumph of Gallo" This modern
Gallo is not, however, entirely con-
sistent, for he is not Indifferent
enough, and one finds 1t hard to dis
cover his triumph" His progress
from the situation of radical street