Folk Tales from Gascony: La Fleur, Part 2.

This is post #11 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.


LA FLEUR

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But La Fleur suffered without saying anything, and without uttering a single cry. At sunrise, his servant found him almost dead on the bed.

“Captain, what is the matter with you?"

"I can't take it anymore. Didn't you hear anything last night?"

"Nothing, captain."

"Find something to relieve me."

The valet obeys. On the mantelpiece, he found a pot of ointment and rubbed his master with it from head to toe. Five minutes later, the captain was fresh and cheerful like no other. The two of them entered the flowerbed full of beautiful trees and pretty flowers. Under the laurel tree, the Princess had emerged from the ground up to her shoulders.

“Thank you, La Fleur. You had a sad night. Soon you will suffer more. Suffer, and say nothing. If you utter one cry, I'm lost forever."

"Princess, you will be obeyed."

Both returned to the castle.

“Valet, haven’t you seen anything? Haven't you heard anything, under the laurel?"

"Nothing, my captain."

When evening came, La Fleur and his valet had an early supper and went to bed. At the stroke of eleven o'clock, the captain heard a loud noise. The wicked man, who had buried the princess alive under the laurel tree, arrived with his people.

“Come, my friends, take this guy. Cut off his nose and ears, and comb him with an iron comb until the first cock crows."

The evil man's people did as he commanded. They cut off La Fleur's nose and ears, and, from the first stroke of eleven o'clock to the first cock crow, they combed him with an iron comb. At sunrise, his servant found him almost dead on the bed.

“Captain, what is the matter with you?"

"I can't take it anymore. Didn't you hear anything last night?"

"Nothing, captain."

"Find something to relieve me."

The valet obeys. On the mantelpiece, he found another pot of ointment and rubbed his master with it from head to toe. Five minutes later, the nose and ears had grown back. The captain was fresh and cheerful like no other. They both entered the flowerbed, full of beautiful trees and pretty flowers. Under the laurel tree, the Princess had emerged from the ground up to her knees.

“Thank you, La Fleur. You had a sad night. Soon you will suffer more, but for the last time. Suffer, and say nothing. If you utter one cry, I'm lost forever."

"Princess, you will be obeyed."

Both returned to the castle.

“Valet, haven’t you seen anything? Did you not hear anything, under the laurel?"

Nothing, captain. »

When evening came, La Fleur and her valet had an early supper and went to bed. At the stroke of midnight, the captain heard a loud noise. The wicked man, who had buried the Princess alive under the laurel tree, arrived with his people.

“Come on, my friends. Take this worthless guy. Cut off his legs and arms. Skewer the body and cook it alive until the first rooster crows."

The evil man's people did as he commanded. They cut off La Fleur's arms and legs. They skewered the body, and from the first stroke of midnight until the first crow of the cock, they cooked it alive. At sunrise, his servant found him almost dead on the bed.

“Captain, what is the matter with you?"

The captain did not answer.

So the valet looked for something to relieve him. On the mantelpiece, he found another pot of ointment and rubbed his master's body with it. Five minutes later, the arms and legs had grown back. The captain was fresh and cheerful like no other.


Source: La Fleur, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886.


Part 1

Part 3

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Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.

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I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.

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Here again, we have repetition. The three nights follow the same scenario. The only difference is the amount of suffering for La Fleur. After the third night, La Fleur is probably dead, but the third ointment resuscitates him in five minutes!

Repetition makes it easy for the storyteller to remember the story. There are not as many details as if there were no repetition.

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Two days ago, after our lunch in the vegan restaurant, we went to a nursery to buy some trees. We had a hard time finding this nursery as it was in the middle of nowhere. We had to drive for 1,500 meters on a very bumpy dirt road at a speed of around 15 km/h.

We bought four trees. From the left to the right: a cherry tree, two pecans, and an "Indian banana tree".

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Kati already has two big cherry trees on her first property. This one will be planted on her new property.

The other two kinds of trees are very rare in Hungary, They both originate from North America.

Pecans are cultivated in the South of the United States and Southern Mexico.

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They can be as high as 40 meters. We had to get two, as a single pecan would never bear fruits. Kati originally wanted to buy three pecans, but when she realized how big they could be, she decided to buy only two.

Pecans are cultivated for their seeds, which can be eaten as is, in a candy, or in a pecan pie. The seeds look similar to walnuts, but their taste is quite different.

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The last tree, the "Indian Banana" (in Hungarian, "indiai banán") is not a banana and is not originating from India. The English name for the tree is asimina triloba. It is also known as American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw.

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It is cultivated in North America for its fruits. The taste is between a banana and a mango.

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According to the nursery, this tree will grow to a maximum of 6 meters.

In 3 to 5 years, we will see if the pecans and the Indian banana survive the cold Hungarian winter. In my opinion, they should.

-- Vincent Celier

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