drop Cap A
AN admirable centre for several expeditions of no little interest is Clermont l'Hérault, where is a good hotel.
Clermont, though called l'Hérault, is not actually on the river of that name, though near it. The town is built at the base and up the sides of a steep hill crowned by a ruined castle.
The church is one of the very few in the department with side aisles11 to the nave12. Indeed, the form affected13 throughout southern Languedoc is a vast nave without pillars, and chapels14 between the buttresses16. This church was begun in 1275 and ended in 1313. It has a seven-sided apse. Over the west window is a gallery with [Pg 283] machicolations, so that it could be used as a fortress17, and melted lead or boiling pitch could be thrown down on besiegers. Narrow, steep, and dirty streets climb the hillside to the castle, now enclosed within the walls of a convent; little remains18, however, but a keep of this once sumptuous19 seigneural residence of the barons21 of Clermont. Formerly22 it consisted of a semicircular ring of wall defended at intervals23 by seven round towers, and with an eighth on the side of the chord of the arc. The view from the height extends over the plain watered by the Hérault and the Lergue, that begins at the feet of the Lodève Mountains and extends to the low range of the Taillades de Gignac. From thirty to forty towns, villages, and hamlets dot this plain.
S. Guilhem-le-Désert
In 1209 Aimar Guilhem, seigneur of Clermont, was the ally of the unfortunate Raymond, Count of Toulouse, against whom Innocent III. hurled25 the thunders of excommunication because he would not butcher and burn his subjects, who had embraced the Albigensian heresy26; and Aimar was accordingly involved in his sentence. Innocent called together the riff-raff of Europe to join in a crusade against Raymond, promising27 life eternal and absolution from all sins to those who would join in an indiscriminate slaughter28 of the Albigenses, and placed Simon de Montfort at the head of this horde29 of the Children of God, as they called themselves, who swept over the land committing indescribable horrors. After the massacre31 of the inhabitants of Béziers by the crusaders, Aimar retired32 to his castle and awaited events. His conduct may have been prudent33, as he saved the town from sack and slaughter, but it was unworthy of him; as had he roused the country of Lodève, he would have menaced the rear of Simon de [Pg 284] Montfort, and might have forced this commander of the soldiers of the Papacy to deal less cruelly with the seigneurs of Languedoc, whom he robbed of their domains34 with impunity35.
On the Place under trees is a monument, surmounted36 by a bust37 of Peyrolles, a potter of Clermont, who composed verses in the Languedoc dialect. He became jealous of the fame acquired by Jasmin, the hairdresser of Agen, the great vernacular38 poet, and sent him a challenge. "I will go to Montpellier any day and hour you choose to name. Let four men of literary notoriety give us three themes on which to compose poems in twenty-four hours; and let us be shut up in one room, with no admission of any one to us or of anything but our food—and see who in the time will turn out most poetry." Jasmin replied that he declined the contest. For his part, he could not produce verses as fast as Peyrolles could pots; his powers did not reach further than the composition of two or three verses in a day.
In the Cirque, Mourèze
A delightful39 walk or drive is to Mourèze, up the valley of the Dourbie. On the col crossed by the road leading into this valley is the quaint40 chapel15 of N. D. du Peyrou. It is pointed41, with an immense porch composed of two flying buttresses sustaining a roof. A chapel at the west end is out of line with the axis42 of the principal building. The nave was rebuilt or altered at the Renaissance43. In the choir44 on one side are oval frames containing representations of girls who have made their first communion, in white paper cut out with scissors, and on the other side similar frames contain nuptial45 crowns. A largely attended pilgrimage visits this chapel on Monday in Easter week. This [Pg 285] shrine46 is at the entrance to the beautiful basin of Villeneuvette, rich with cork47 trees, micocouliers (Celtis Australis), mulberries, chestnuts48, tall ancient cypresses49, pines, caper50 bushes, and the kermes-oak.
Here in the bottom, by the little river, is the industrial settlement of Villeneuvette. An avenue of planes leads to a wall, with a gateway51 in it, over which is the inscription9, "Honneur au travail52." Up to 1848 it bore the title "Manufacture royale." This is the last existing example of the factories established by Colbert in 1666 for the weaving of cloth for the Levant trade, and for each piece of cloth woven was received a bonus of ten francs. It was found that the trade in the Levant of French cloth was failing owing to English competition. Colbert founded this among other colonies of workmen to ensure that the cloth exported was of good quality, and agents in Constantinople and in Pondicherry received and sold it. In order to protect the establishment during the religious wars that desolated53 the Cévennes, the settlement was surrounded by a rampart, crenelated and flanked by redoubts. Within are the factory, a church, and the houses of the artisans, arranged on a formal plan. The colony had its own municipal government, and elected its own mayor. Every night the drawbridge was raised and the gate fastened.
Villeneuvette owns a considerable territory around it, and the land is parcelled out among the workmen engaged in the factory. Each family has its garden, its vineyard, and its plantation55 of mulberries, so that when work is slack in the factory there is plenty of occupation for the hands in the fields.
For more than two centuries Villeneuvette has been [Pg 286] in private hands. It had failed to be a success financially in 1703, and was disposed of to M. Castamé-d'Aurac, who built the church. A century later, in 1803, it became the property of the family of Maistre, and it has remained in the same hands ever since.
It now turns out exclusively cloth for the army and uniforms for colleges and railway officials. Long stretches of dark blue and crimson56 cloth are seen in the meadows outside the walls, destined57 to be cut into the jackets and breeches of the military. Villeneuvette has retained much of its curious patriarchal organisation. There is no village outside the embattled walls; of the ninety-eight cottages all are given rent free to the artisans, and nothing more is exacted of them save respect for rules of decency58 and cleanliness. Here no slops may be thrown out of the windows, nor may birds' nests be molested59. These restrictions60 have been indignantly protested against by the Radicals61, who charge the organisation of the little community with being bound down by the chains of feudalism. Where is liberty if a householder may not throw his slops down on the head of any one passing in the street? Where is equality if the urchins62 of Clermont may rob robins63' nests and not those of Villeneuvette? Where is fraternity if the artisans may not get fuddled together and roar and riot in drunken bands?
The road ascends65 the valley of the Dourbie, but to reach Mourèze it makes a circuit round the conical mountain, Le Puy de Bissou, on the summit of which is a chapel where once lived a hermit66, but to which no pilgrimages are now made. A bridge has been thrown over the river, and a new road has been begun which will give speedier access by carriage to Mourèze, but which can [Pg 287] now only be traced on foot. The sparkling stream slides over contorted slate67 rocks, and trout68 dart69 through the pools. The hillsides are covered with pale grey flowered heath and the stunted70 kermes-oak with its glistening71 leaves. This, the Quercus coccifera, never grows higher than five feet, the garus it is that gives its name to the garigues, the desolate54 regions of limestone72 on which nothing else will grow. On its leaves feeds the kermes insect, round as a ball, and formerly supposed to be the fruit growing out of the rib30 of the leaf as does the berry of the butchers' broom. It produces a red dye, less brilliant than cochineal, and some of the Oriental reds are produced from it. The dye of the kermes is more permanent than cochineal. Suddenly on our eyes bursts Mourèze, one of the most fantastic groups of rock, castle, church, and village to be seen anywhere. We are disposed to regard the pictures by Gustave Doré of rock scenery interspersed73 with ruined towers as in his series, Le Juif errant, to be the creations of a fevered dream. But they are not so. He must have lived or travelled among the dolomitic formations of Languedoc, and thence drawn74 his inspiration.
Group at Mourèze
The approach to Mourèze by the old carriage road is different; it is through red sandstone, soft and friable75, and torn by streams into gullies. One would suppose that Mourèze had been founded originally by refugees from a world devastated76 by wars. It is concealed77 from view on all sides. It is Nature's hiding-place for persecuted78 men. At its back start up sheer cliffs of limestone, pink and yellow and grey, rising from 1,300 to 1,600 feet. Dolomitic limestone is composed of carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia, and the texture79 is mostly crystalline and granulated. [Pg 288] Each grain, having a power of resistance different from the other, yields or remains under the influence of the air and rains, so that alongside of massive rocks, eroded80, hollowed out, perforated, or protruding81 in knots and elbows, are heaps of sand formed by the decomposition of the cement that held the grains in place. Thus are obtained the most bizarre and varied82 shapes of rock. All that imagination can picture of what is strange is found here—dismantled towers, gigantic monoliths, excavated83 walls, narrow gullies between monstrous84 shapes, great porticoes85, pyramids standing86 on their heads, grouped together, and among them cottages clinging to their sides, a church on a ledge87 above a precipice88, and over all a castle, the walls of which can hardly be distinguished89 from the rock out of which they grow. Contrast adds to the picturesque90 effect. The dolomite bristling91 with needles lies in the lap of a great cirque or cradle of more compact calcareous rock, disposed in regular horizontal beds, and attaining92 to a top over 1,610 feet that supports the ruins of the Romanesque church of S. Jean d'Aureillan. These walls back the scene on the north. The south is closed by the Puy de Bissou, clothed in woods, 1,450 feet. To the west is the mountain of S. Scholastica, 1,500 feet, and wooded ranges to the east of less elevation93 complete the enclosure and the screen that hides Mourèze from the world without.
The Sentinel, Mourèze
The dolomite formation of Mourèze forms an almost continuous belt from Bédarieux to Bories and the north of Clermont. The region of Carlencas on this line presents an equally extraordinary appearance. The same rock is found north of Lodève, above Pégairolles, [Pg 289] where they constitute the picturesque passage of l'Escalette.
The castle is mentioned in records from 790; it is called Castrum Morelinum, or Morazios Villa24; Mourezés in 1625, and Mourèze in 1659.
The church, of two bays, has a seven-sided apse, and is of the thirteenth century. It is vaulted94, and has no aisles. The tower is square.
The train will take one to Lodève, an ancient cathedral city, and before that a Roman Castrum Luteva. Paris was also a Luteva.
When Charlemagne completed the expulsion of the Arabs out of Septimania, he made of Lodève a county under his empire, and granted considerable privileges to the bishops.
There arose by degrees three powers to dispute possession of the land, the Municipality, the Count, and the Bishop4, representing the people, the aristocracy, and the clergy95. The history of Lodève is thenceforth a history of their conflicts for pre-eminence. In the tenth century arose a man who gave a new direction to affairs. Hitherto the counts had retained the mastery; now the Church would attempt to grapple with their power.
This man was Fulcran, who ascended97 the episcopal throne at the age of thirty in 947. He was noted98 for his beauty, for his grace of manner towards all men, so that, although a member of a noble family, he was greatly beloved by the common people. He wrote nothing; he was above all an orator99 and a man of action. He began to build a tower to his cathedral. The Count Eldin, who occupied the Castle of Montbrun, ordered him to pull it down. Fulcran refused. [Pg 290] Meanwhile the oppressions of the people by the count had become intolerable. They were crushed with taxation100 and denied municipal rights. The tower served as an excuse for a quarrel. Gentle as he was, Fulcran was determined101 to come to conclusions with the count. At his word the citizens rose, were aided by the country folk, Montbrun was stormed, and the bishop held Count Eldin prisoner till he had given guarantees not to continue his misrule. When Fulcran died in 1006 he had marked out the course his successors were to follow. They continued to snatch from the seigneur one right after another, and when the county passed into the hands of the Duke of Rodez, the Castle of Montbrun went by way of purchase to the bishops, and they became both spiritual and temporal lords of the county.
But what all this while of the people? At the outset it had assisted Fulcran in his strife102 with the count; it had contributed to effect the revolution that finally transferred the temporal power from lay into ecclesiastical hands. The ambition of Fulcran's successors knew no limits. After having conquered the seigneur they attacked the municipal liberties.
The people of Lodève soon saw that they had changed masters for the worse. A struggle broke out between them and their masters that caused much blood to flow. One bishop was driven from his palace. Later, in 1202, the inhabitants sent delegates to the prelate, Pierre de Frotier, to complain of his unendurable exactions. He refused to admit them to his presence. Then the mob broke in on him and made him swear to grant concessions103. He appealed to Innocent III., who at once relieved him of his oath. The people, [Pg 291] enraged105 at this bit of deceit, again rose, broke into the palace, and killed the perjured106 bishop. The punishment inflicted107 on the town for this act was severe. However, the citizens were determined on resistance, and at last the controversy108 was submitted to arbitration109, and they gained most of what they had demanded.
The cathedral is of the fourteenth century. The nave of three bays has side aisles and chapels on the south side, one of which, dedicated110 to S. Michael, is recessed111 behind richly moulded arches. The choir consists of two bays, with a nine-sided apse with lofty narrow two-light windows in each side. A curious arrangement is the walling up on each side of the choir so as to transform the continuation of the aisles into lengthy112 independent chapels. On the north side is the richly adorned113 chapel of S. Fulcran. The west front has no doorway114 in it, but a beautiful rose window between machicolated turrets115. To see it one must enter the gendarmerie which occupies this end of the building. Poor fragmentary cloisters116 remain on the south.
Ferdinand Fabre thus describes the interior of the cathedral:—
"It has a nave and side aisles. The choir is large, lengthy, and occupies almost half the church, which gives an impression of surprise, and awakes in one the unpleasant idea that there is a want of proportion in the general disposition117 of the monument. But when this vexatious impression has passed away, one admires the nine windows of the apse, of original design, enormously lofty, certainly not in the purest style. The Gothic of the South always retained something incomplete, coarse, disagreeable, and never attained118 to the marvellous proportion, to the supreme119 elegance120, to the aerial grace of the North. [Pg 292] Nevertheless, with all its faults, the clumsiness of hand of an unskilled artist, who opened these windows to let in the light of heaven;—these immense bays, enriched with little pillars having carved capitals, divided into two by a single mullion that rises unsustained to the point where the tracery begins, and receive the ribs121 of the vaulting122, lay hold of and retain one's eyes. The vaults123, distributed in five bays, are designed not without dignity. The whole edifice124, in spite of gross and many architectural faults—faults of construction, faults of arrangement—breathes a certain robust125 grace, a barbaric charm, making it the most interesting and most grateful of sanctuaries126 in our land."
A pretty, late flamboyant127, melting into early Renaissance, chapel is between the cathedral and the cloister.
The old episcopal palace has been converted into municipal buildings, and the gardens into a fine promenade128; so that the long conflict that endured for centuries has ended in the complete victory of the people. The bishopric was suppressed at the Concordat129.
Between Clermont and Lodève the line runs through a red sandstone district, curiously130 bare and water-torn. The red stone seems to melt like butter under the rain, and with the least rush of water it swims away in masses, and grass can scarcely grow on the denuded131 surface.
At the distance of an hour and a half from Lodève is the well-preserved monastery132 of S. Michel-de-Grammont, now converted into farm buildings. It has a Romanesque cloister and a pointed chapter-house. The tower bears an octagonal campanile, rising out of a square base, the four windows of which are flamboyant.
[Pg 293]
The octagon is surmounted by a dome133. The church is of great simplicity134, and consists of a nave, vaulted, with a circular apse. On the north side is a pretty portal of three orders, resting on pillars with foliaged capitals.
Near the church is a little chapel, on the front of which is inlaid an inscription in characters of the twelfth century, stating that it was consecrated135 on the 11th of the Calends of June in honour of S. Michael, but without date of the year.
DOLMEN OF GRANDMONT
At no considerable distance is a remarkably136 well-preserved dolmen. The end stone is pierced with a triangular137 opening, through which food was thrust for the dead who lay within. From Lodève the great upland causse can be reached by the road that leads to Le Caylar, through the valley of the Lergue and by the passage of l'Escalette. This was formerly a scramble138 up a stair of rocks, but now a good road has been driven up the heights to the vast plateau of Larzac, which has been seen as the train passes over it from Le Vigan to Tournemire.
There are caves to be explored near Lodève by such as enjoy such underground excursions; and these with marvellous stalagmitic and stalactitic formations. Such are the Mas de Bouquet139, in the commune of Soubès. Another is the Grotte de Labeil, opening out of a cirque of rocks above the source of the Baume-Bauède, that once found its issue thence, but has now burrowed140 its way to a lower level.
Larzac (Larga saxa) is the most extensive and the most barren of all the limestone causses—a Siberian tundra141 in winter, an Arabia Petr?a in summer.
It seems to be transpierced by the Cévennes, that [Pg 294] penetrate142 it at the Col de Sanctières, and issue from its huge bulk again at Mont Paon, a distance of fifteen miles. But from its abrupt143 precipices144 above Milau to the bold frontage of glaring white at L'Escalette is a distance of twenty-four miles. Elisée Reclus says of it:—
"The plateau of Larzac is a veritable table of stone. Water lacks on its surface. The soil, pierced by fissures145, is hardly moistened by torrential rains. The drops falling on it pass through it as through a sieve147 and disappear. At certain spots the rifts148 in the rock are large, their walls have fallen in, and one sees huge funnels149, avens, open in the calcareous surface, and descend150 to frightful151 depths. But almost everywhere the surface of the causse is uniform, and the subterranean152 wells are only indicated by superficial zigzags153. Nowhere does a single spring rise.
"The inhabitants have for their own use and that of their cattle but the rain-water collected in cisterns154 or lavagnes, carefully cemented inside. Where water lacks, vegetation lacks also, and so also inhabitants.
"On most of the causses not a tree is to be seen, hardly a bush, save in dips offering some shelter from the wind. The rock is covered with naught155 but a short herbage, and the inhabitants, few in number, have utilised but scanty156 surfaces for the growth of barley157, oats, and potatoes."
When the water in the cisterns fails, the caussenard has to make a day's journey to descend into the valleys and fetch the pure liquid from one of the springs that issue there, either in boisterous158 cascades159 or welling up out of deep abysses, thrust forth96 silently by the pressure of the water from above.
A century ago the Larzac could be reached from [Pg 295] Lodève only by ladders planted against the precipice at the Pas de l'Escalette.
Le Caylar stands 2,400 feet above the sea, and was once a walled town, with its castle on a rock above it. From the summit the prospect160 is strange, and not to be forgotten. The eye stretches over the vast barren plain of the same white rock, that here and there assumes strange forms. At night, when the moon glares over it, these rocks with their black shadows stand up in the most fantastic shapes, and nothing can be conceived more surprising. One is in la belle161 France, indeed—but where is the beauty?
The flora of these plateaux is sufficiently162 interesting. A list of the plants that the Larzac produces will be found in Fabre (A.), Histoire du Canton du Caylar, Montpellier, 1895.
Le Caylar was the birthplace of Abdias Maurel, called Catinat, the Camisard chief, of whom I have already related some of the achievements.
When Cavalier submitted, Catinat in wrath163 withdrew and vowed164 to continue the conflict; but finally he also was compelled to abandon the struggle, and he retired into Switzerland in September, 1704. But he was restless, and two months later recrossed the frontier and entered into a conspiracy166, the object of which was to remove the governor Baville and the Duke of Berwick by assassination167. The plot was discovered whilst he was in N?mes, 20th April, 1705, and Catinat attempted to escape from the town in disguise, having shaved his face. A price had been set on his head. At the gate of N?mes something suspicious in his appearance caused his arrest, and compromising letters were discovered secreted168 about his person. He was led to the Duke of [Pg 296] Berwick. He demanded to be exchanged for Marshal Tallard, who was a prisoner in the hands of the English, and threatened that if this were not done the English would make Tallard suffer the same death that was inflicted on him. His trial was short, and he was condemned169 to be burnt alive along with Ravanel, his accomplice170 in the intended murder.
At the stake Ravanel thundered forth a psalm171 of Marot, but Catinat, who was chained by him, died biting Ravanel's shoulder, possibly in the delirium172 of his agony.
A very interesting walled town on the causse is La Couvertoirade, for which there is a station on the line from Le Vigan. It was a commandery of the Templars, and after their suppression of the Knights173 of S. John.
La Couvertoirade seems to attest175 to the present day the power of these military orders, and to reveal to us as in a picture the story of their greatness, their faults, and their misfortunes. The general plan is that of an irregular hexagon; the southern portion is occupied by a huge rock that sustains the castle and the church. The ramparts of the town, that are almost perfect, were begun at the end of the thirteenth century and finished at the beginning of the fourteenth. The houses of the little place have a character that harmonises well with the ring of walls enclosing them. If La Couvertoirade shows traces of decay produced by time or the violence of men, the town is, nevertheless, one of the most curious and best-preserved examples of a fortified176 place of the Middle Ages that can be found in Southern France.
On the Hérault
S. Guilhem-le-Désert is one of the strangest and most [Pg 297] picturesque towns in France. It can be reached from Montpellier by taking the train to Aniane and walking or driving thence, or from Clermont in a carriage.
The Hérault escapes from its gorges at S. Jean de Foss, a little walled town, of which one gate remains. The church, crowded about by houses, is very early Romanesque and peculiar177 in many ways. It underwent alterations178 in the second Pointed period. There is a west tower, and the chancel is bored out under another.
Aniane is an uninteresting place, with a church built in the eighteenth century, very ugly. The huge abbey was also rebuilt about the same period, and now serves as a prison. I have not stayed the night at Aniane, and think that perhaps the inns may be better on the inside than they appear without. They do not invite to try their internal comforts.
The Hérault breaks out into the plain through a gorge7 of calcareous rocks, and it has sawn for itself a deep cleft179 in the bed below the roadway. The strata180 therein are strangely contorted. From Aniane a bridge is crossed, Le Pont du Diable, not very alarming, in spite of its name, and above is an aqueduct that conveys the water of the Hérault by a channel into the plain to Gignac and beyond that to S. André, carrying fertility with it.
Springs break forth from the cliffs, forming tables of calcareous deposit. One of these, of a high temperature, has constructed a large shelf extending towards the river, into which it flows.
The cliffs on each side of the ravine are very bare, striated181, grey and yellow and white, spotted182 here and there with shrubs183, aromatic184 and evergreen185, and the [Pg 298] wild pomegranate with its crimson flowers may be found here and about Aniane.
As we ascend64 the valley, looking down into emerald green pools or wreaths of foam186, we light on curious domed187 structures by the water. These are ancient mills, vaulted over with stone as a protection against floods that sometimes cover them many feet with rolling water, and in one place is a tower beside them up which the millers188 might fly for refuge when the torrent146 came rolling down unexpectedly.
All at once we reach the opening of a narrow lateral189 valley, where are the remains of a tower and walls, and where also are two humble190 inns, in one of which, as I can vouch191, at very short notice an excellent déjeuner can be improvised192. "Go up and see S. Guilhem," said the old woman of the inn, "and see what I shall have when you return." So we went, and on coming back she produced crayfish just caught in a net, also a rabbit; further, a couple of fieldfares plump with juniper berries; these, with vegetable soup, foie gras, boiled beef, etc., made a rare lunch.
S. Guilhem is a little town drawn out in a thread alongside of a small stream that rises at the base of a cirque of pink and yellow Jura-limestone above the place. It is itself surmounted by a crag towering high into the sky with what appears to be a lacework of stone on top, actually the ruins of a castle, called of Don Juan. Half-way up is a tower and gateway, through which alone the castle could be reached by a stair cut in the rock, but now the summit can be attained by a circuitous193 path cut for the purpose.
S. Guilhem-le-Désert
Mills on the Hérault
The village, or little town, grew about an abbey founded by Guillaume, Duke of Aquitaine, in 804. He [Pg 299] was grandson of Charles Martel, and he also was a hammer to smite194 the Saracens. In 793 he fought them at Carcassonne and drove them back; in 797 he wrested195 Narbonne from them. Then, pursuing them, he drove them out of Barcelona. War made him a misanthrope196, and misanthropy made a monk197 of him. He retired to this desert, settled there with his sisters twain, Albara and Bertrara, and died there on May 28th, 812; and when he died the bells pealed104 of themselves. His heroic life and pious198 end became the theme of one of the longest and finest of the Proven?al Chansons de Gestes, that of Guillaume de Courtenez—whence the honoured name of Courtenay in England. This is what Fauriel says of the romance:—
"William is the ideal of the Christian199 knight174, fighting for the maintenance of his faith against the Saracens. The epic200, in accord with history, does not always paint him as happy, as always victorious201. It represents him sometimes as defeated, reduced to the most deplorable extremities202, but never losing courage, and always vanquishing203 in the long run. No other epic of the Carlovingian cycle is so deeply impressed with a sentiment of shuddering204 apprehension205, which one may assume to be a traditional reflection of the contemporary feelings excited by the terrible struggle that took place in the South and lasted two centuries against the Andalusian Arabs."
I think I must find place for a single episode from this poem. It relates to the parting of Guillaume and his wife Gibors, when he was about to go to Paris to ask for succour:—
"Sire Guillaume," said she, "you go into France so highly lauded206, and you leave me here, sad, among people that love me not. In the honoured land of France you will meet with [Pg 300] many a fresh-faced damsel, many a well-dressed dame207, and therefore will lose your heart. You will forget me and this land where you have suffered such pains and endured hunger and thirst."
It must be known that at this time Guillaume and Gibors had been married something like five-and-twenty years. They were not a young couple just out of their honeymoon208. Then he replied, kissing Gibors tenderly:—
"Gentle lady, do not concern yourself about me. Receive now my solemn vow165, which I will keep faithfully. During my journey I will not change my linen209 or my coat. I will not taste meat or anything peppered. I will not drink wine nor water out of a goblet210; only such of the latter as I can scoop211 up in my hand. And know further that never shall another mouth be joined to mine, which has been kissed and made spicy212 by your lips."
On reaching Paris, Guillaume was very badly received. The reason was that Louis the Emperor had married Blanchefleur, the sister of the Duke; that she was white only in name; was, in fact, a disreputable character; so dreading213 a scolding from her pious brother she had prejudiced her husband against him. When he reached the door of the palace, no squire214 came to his aid, no one saluted215 him, no groom216 offered to take his horse, which he accordingly tied to an olive tree. The southern poet, never having been in the north, supposed that the same trees grew there as in Provence and Languedoc. Guillaume entered the royal hall and saw the Emperor on his throne and the Empress in ermine and gold at his side, both crowned. Neither took notice of him, and all the princes and nobles turned the cold shoulder to him. And indeed he cut a [Pg 301] sorry figure. His garments were threadbare and ragged217, his linen had obviously not been washed for months, nor was his hair combed and brushed. He was constrained218 to take a stool far back in the hall. Presently his wrath overcame his astonishment219 at this insulting reception. He stood up, as he saw his own father and mother, the Count and Countess of Narbonne, received with favour and seated beside the Emperor and Empress. In a loud and terrible voice he cried: "Louis! for all the great services I have rendered you, for all the battles I have fought for you—is this my reward?" "Set your mind at rest," answered the King; "you shall be rewarded by and by." "What!" cried the Queen, "will you rob me of my heritage to give it to him?" Then Guillaume shouted: "Tais-toi, impure220 chienne!" and he recited before all the court some of his sister's escapades. Then, striding through the crowd of nobles, he mounted to the throne, plucked the crown from his sister's head, and dashed it on the floor.
The abbey church is a fine Romanesque building, not earlier than the first years of the eleventh century. Of that date are the nave and side aisles. Choir, transepts, and porch were added at the end of the twelfth century. The nave communicates with the side aisles by five great arches supported by cruciform piers221, and is lighted by three loftily placed windows. The ornamentation of the church is on the outside. To each transept is an apse. The principal apse has an arcade222 externally like the Lombardic churches on the Rhine. In the apse of the north aisle10 are the sarcophagi of Guillaume Courtenez and his sisters. That of the founder223 was so broken by the Camisards that it was not possible to piece it together again, as has been done with the tomb of the [Pg 302] ladies, which they also broke. Their sarcophagus is a Christian tomb of the fourth century, with Christ and the evangelists, or apostles, carved on it; at the extremities Adam and Eve and the Three Children in the Furnace. Perhaps the greatest treasure in the church is a black marble altar with panels of white marble and inlaid work of coloured glass, very beautiful, of the date 1138.
Pilgrimages arrive at S. Guilhem on Monday in Easter week and October 1st.
On the south side of the church is the cloister, very early, contemporary with the nave, and with traces of painting in it; but it has been pulled to pieces. In the midst stood a fountain that spouted224 water in as many jets as there are days in the year. But it was sold to a Paris dealer225 in antiquities226, and where it now is cannot be said. The old monastic buildings, burnt by the Camisards, were reconstructed, and are now occupied by a Baron20 d'Albenas.
Some of the houses in the town are certainly Romanesque. There was a second church in the place, but it is now in ruins.
Returning to Aniane, it is worth mentioning that in destroying the old presbytery a marble slab227 was found bearing an Arabic inscription: "In the name of Allah, the clement228 and merciful, peace be with Mahomed. There is but one God. It is to Him, and to Him alone, that all power is due." A precisely229 identical inscription has been found at Montpellier, and this shows that the Saracens were in Languedoc not only as destroyers and raiders, but as inhabitants. Guillaume planted himself very close to where they had been, and whence he had turned them out.
[Pg 303]
And now my account is ended: not that I have exhausted230 the country. I have done no more than touch upon some points in it. It is a country that fascinates any one who visits it, that lays hold of his heart in strange fashion, and he is inclined when back in England to say, with Ferdinand Fabre:—
"Quand mon cerveau à vidé sur le papier blanc sa mince231 provision d'idées journalières, les coudes à la barre d'appui (de ma fenêtre) je coule là, en une paresse délicieuse, de longues heurs à rêver. Mon ame alors s'envole au pays si profondément incrusté en elle, ce pays que je rétrouve dans le moindre plis de mes pensées, ce pays qui, le plus ordinairement, lorsque j'ose écrire, me commande, et auquel j'obéis."
The End
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1
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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decomposition
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| n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃 | |
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bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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10
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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buttresses
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| n.扶壁，扶垛( buttress的名词复数 )v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的第三人称单数 ) | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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18
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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22
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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24
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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25
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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28
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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35
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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36
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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38
vernacular
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| adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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44
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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45
nuptial
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| adj.婚姻的，婚礼的 | |
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46
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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47
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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48
chestnuts
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| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
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49
cypresses
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| n.柏属植物，柏树( cypress的名词复数 ) | |
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50
caper
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| v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏 | |
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51
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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52
travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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53
desolated
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| adj.荒凉的，荒废的 | |
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54
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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55
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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56
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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57
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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58
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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59
molested
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| v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵 | |
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60
restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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61
radicals
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| n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数 | |
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62
urchins
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| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
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63
robins
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| n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书） | |
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64
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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65
ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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66
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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67
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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68
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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69
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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70
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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71
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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72
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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73
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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74
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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75
friable
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| adj.易碎的 | |
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76
devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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77
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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78
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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79
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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80
eroded
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| adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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81
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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82
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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83
excavated
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| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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84
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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85
porticoes
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| n.柱廊，（有圆柱的）门廊( portico的名词复数 ) | |
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86
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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87
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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88
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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89
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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92
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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93
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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94
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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96
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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101
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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103
concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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104
pealed
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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106
perjured
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| adj.伪证的，犯伪证罪的v.发假誓，作伪证( perjure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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109
arbitration
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| n.调停，仲裁 | |
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110
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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111
recessed
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| v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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112
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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113
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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114
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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115
turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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116
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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117
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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118
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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119
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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120
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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121
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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122
vaulting
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| n.（天花板或屋顶的）拱形结构 | |
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123
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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124
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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125
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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126
sanctuaries
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| n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所 | |
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127
flamboyant
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| adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的 | |
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128
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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129
concordat
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| n.协定；宗派间的协约 | |
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130
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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131
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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132
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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133
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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134
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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135
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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136
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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137
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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138
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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139
bouquet
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| n.花束，酒香 | |
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140
burrowed
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 )；翻寻 | |
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141
tundra
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| n.苔原，冻土地带 | |
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142
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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143
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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144
precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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145
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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146
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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147
sieve
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| n.筛，滤器，漏勺 | |
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148
rifts
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| n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 )；裂隙；分裂；不和 | |
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149
funnels
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| 漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱 | |
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150
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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151
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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152
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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153
zigzags
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| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
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154
cisterns
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| n.蓄水池，储水箱( cistern的名词复数 )；地下储水池 | |
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155
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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156
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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157
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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158
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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159
cascades
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| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
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160
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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161
belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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162
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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163
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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164
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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165
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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166
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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167
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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168
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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169
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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170
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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171
psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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172
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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173
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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174
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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175
attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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176
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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177
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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178
alterations
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| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
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179
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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180
strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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181
striated
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| adj.有纵线，条纹的 | |
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182
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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183
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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184
aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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185
evergreen
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| n.常青树；adj.四季常青的 | |
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186
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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187
domed
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| adj. 圆屋顶的, 半球形的, 拱曲的 动词dome的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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188
millers
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| n.（尤指面粉厂的）厂主( miller的名词复数 )；磨房主；碾磨工；铣工 | |
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189
lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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190
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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191
vouch
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| v.担保；断定；n.被担保者 | |
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192
improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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193
circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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194
smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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195
wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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196
misanthrope
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| n.恨人类的人；厌世者 | |
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197
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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198
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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199
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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200
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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201
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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202
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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203
vanquishing
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| v.征服( vanquish的现在分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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204
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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205
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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206
lauded
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| v.称赞，赞美( laud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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207
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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208
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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209
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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210
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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211
scoop
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| n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出 | |
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212
spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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213
dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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214
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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215
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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216
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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217
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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218
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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219
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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220
impure
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| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
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221
piers
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| n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩 | |
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222
arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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223
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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224
spouted
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| adj.装有嘴的v.（指液体）喷出( spout的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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225
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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226
antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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227
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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228
clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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229
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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230
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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231
mince
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| n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说 | |
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