TOWARDS the end of the seventeenth century, there lived at Salon-en-Crau, near Aix, a farrier, one Fran?ois Michel. He came of a respectable family. He himself had served in the cavalry2 regiment3 of the Chevalier de Grignan. He was held to be a sensible man, honest and devout4. He was close on forty when, in February, 1697, he had a vision.
Returning to his home one evening, he beheld5 a spectre, holding a torch in its hand. This spectre said to him:
"Fear nothing. Go to Paris and speak to the King. If thou dost not obey this command thou shalt die. When thou shalt approach to within a league of Versailles, I will not fail to make known unto thee what things thou shalt say to his Majesty7. Go to the Governor of thy province, who will order all that is necessary for thy journey."
The figure which thus addressed him was in the form of a woman. She wore a royal crown and a mantle8 embroidered9 with flowers-de-luce of gold, like the late Queen, Marie-Thérèse, who had died a holy death full fourteen years before.
The poor farrier was greatly afraid. He fell down at the foot of a tree, knowing not whether he dreamed or was awake. Then he went back to his house, and told no man of what he had seen.
Two days afterwards he passed the same spot. There[Pg ii.408] again he beheld the same spectre, who repeated the same orders and the same threats. The farrier could no longer doubt the reality of what he saw; but as yet he could not make up his mind what to do.
A third apparition10, more imperious and more importunate11 than the first, reduced him to obedience12. He went to Aix, to the Governor of the province; he saw him and told him how he had been given a mission to speak to the King. The Governor at first paid no great heed13 to him. But the visionary's patient persistence14 could not fail to impress him. Moreover, since the King was personally concerned in the matter, it ought not to be entirely15 neglected. These considerations led the Governor to inquire from the magistrates16 of Salon touching17 the farrier's family and manner of life. The result of these inquiries18 was very favourable19. Accordingly the Governor deemed it fitting to proceed forthwith to action. In those days no one was quite sure whether advice, very useful to the most Christian20 of Kings, might not be sent by some member of the Church Triumphant21 through the medium of a common artisan. Still less were they sure that some plot in which the welfare of the State was concerned might not be hatched under colour of an apparition. In both contingencies22, the second of which was quite probable, it would be advisable to send Fran?ois Michel to Versailles. And this was the decision arrived at by the Governor.
For the transport of Fran?ois Michel he adopted measures at once sure and inexpensive. He confided23 him to an officer who was taking recruits in that direction. After having received the communion in the church of the Franciscans, who were edified24 by his pious25 bearing, the farrier set out on February 25 with his Majesty's young soldiers, with whom he travelled as far as La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. On his arrival at Versailles, he asked to see the King or at least one of his Ministers of State. He was directed to M. de Barbezieux, who, when he was still very young, had succeeded his father, M. de Louvois,[Pg ii.409] and in that position had displayed some talent. But the good farrier declined to tell him anything, because he was not a Minister of State.
And it was true that Barbezieux, although a Minister, was not a Minister of State. But that a farrier from Provence should be capable of drawing such a distinction occasioned considerable surprise.
M. de Barbezieux doubtless did not evince such scorn for this compatriot of Nostradamus as would have been shown in his place by a man of broader mind. For he, like his father, was addicted26 to the practice of astrology, and he was always inquiring concerning his horoscope of a certain Franciscan friar who had predicted the hour of his death.
We do not know whether he gave the King a favourable report of the farrier, or whether the latter was admitted to the presence of M. de Pomponne, who was then at the head of the administration of Provence. But we do know that Louis XIV consented to see the man. He had him brought up the steps leading to the marble courtyard, and then granted him a lengthy27 audience in his private apartments.
On the morrow, as the King was coming down his private staircase on his way out hunting, he met Marshal de Duras, who was Captain of the King's bodyguard28 for the day. With his usual freedom of speech the Marshal spoke29 to the King of the farrier, using a common saying:
"Either the man is mad, or the King is not noble."
At these words the King, contrary to his usual habit, paused and turned to the Marshal de Duras:
"Then I am not noble," he said, "for I talked to him for a long time, and he spoke very sensibly; I assure you he is far from being mad."
The last words he uttered with so solemn a gravity that those who were present were astonished.
Persons who claim to be inspired are expected to show some sign of their mission. In a second interview, Fran?ois Michel showed the King a sign in fulfilment of a[Pg ii.410] promise he had given. He reminded him of an extraordinary circumstance which the son of Anne of Austria believed known to himself alone. Louis XIV himself admitted it, but for the rest preserved a profound silence touching this interview.
Saint Simon, always eager to collect every court rumour30, believed it was a question of some phantom31, which more than twenty years before had appeared to Louis XIV in the Forest of Saint-Germain.
For the third and last time the King received the farrier of Salon.
The courtiers displayed so much curiosity in this visionary that he had to be shut up in the monastery32 of Des Rècollets. There the little Princess of Savoy, who was shortly to marry the Duke of Burgundy, came to see him with several lords and ladies of the court.
He appeared slow to speak, good, simple, and humble33. The King ordered him to be furnished with a fine horse, clothes, and money; then he sent him back to Provence.
Public opinion was divided on the subject of the apparition which had appeared to the farrier and the mission he had received from it. Most people believed that he had seen the spirit of Marie-Thérèse; but some said it was Nostradamus.[1164]
It was only at Salon, where he slept in the church of the Franciscans, that this astrologer was absolutely believed in. His "Centuries," which appeared at Paris and at Lyon in no less than ten editions in the course of one century, entertained the credulous34 throughout the kingdom. In 1693, there had just been published a book of the prophecies of Nostradamus showing how they had been fulfilled in history from the reign35 of Henry II down to that of Louis the Great.[Pg ii.411]
It came to be believed that in the following mysterious quatrain the farrier's coming had been prophesied36:
"Le penultiesme du surnom du Prophète,
Prendra Diane pour son iour et repos:
En délivrant un grand peuple d'impos."[1165]
An attempt was made to apply these obscure lines to the poor prophet of Salon. In the first line he is said to figure as one of the twelve minor37 prophets, Micah, which name is closely allied38 to Michel. In the second line Diane was said to be the mother of the farrier, who was certainly called by that name. But if the line means anything at all, it is more likely to refer to the day of the moon, Monday. It was carefully pointed39 out that in the third line frénétique means not mad but inspired. The fourth and only intelligible40 line would suggest that the spectre bade Michel ask the King to lessen41 the taxes and dues which then weighed so heavily on the good folk of town and country:
En délivrant un grand peuple d'impos. This was enough to make the farrier popular and to cause those unhappy sufferers to centre in this poor windbag42 their hopes for a better future. His portrait was engraved43 in copper-plate, and below it was written the quatrain of Nostradamus. M. d'Argenson,[1166] who was at the head of the police department, had these portraits seized. They were suppressed, so says the Gazette d'Amsterdam, on account of the last line of the quatrain written beneath the portrait, the line which runs: En délivrant un grand peuple d'impos. Such an expression was hardly likely to please the court.
No one ever knew exactly what was the mission the farrier received from his spectre. Subtle folk suspected one of Madame de Maintenon's intrigues44. She had a friend[Pg ii.412] at Marseille, a Madame Arnoul, who was as ugly as sin, it was said, and yet who managed to make men fall in love with her. They thought that this Madame Arnoul had shown Marie-Thérèse to the good man of Salon in order to induce the King to live honourably45 with widow Scarron. But in 1697 widow Scarron had been married to Louis for twelve years at least; and one cannot see why ghostly aid should have been necessary to attach the old King to her.
On his return to his native town, Fran?ois Michel shoed horses as before.
He died at Lan?on, near Salon, on December 10, 1726.
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1
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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3
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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4
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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5
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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9
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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importunate
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| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
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12
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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13
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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14
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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15
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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16
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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17
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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18
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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21
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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contingencies
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| n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一 | |
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23
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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edified
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| v.开导，启发( edify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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26
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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27
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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28
bodyguard
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| n.护卫，保镖 | |
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29
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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30
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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31
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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33
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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credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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35
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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38
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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39
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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40
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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41
lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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42
windbag
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| n.风囊，饶舌之人，好说话的人 | |
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43
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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44
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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45
honourably
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| adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地 | |
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