THE RECTEUR'S TESTAMENT
In Brittany the main priest in a parish is called the "recteur", not the "curé" as in most regions of France.
The shepherd of the sea
Source
Hervis locked the animals in the stable, promising himself not to lose sight of them, all year round.
It was a useless effort, because the next morning the stable was empty... The herd had disappeared, and soon a fisherman, who was returning from the coast, told Hervis that he had seen late the day before, passing along the shore a line of cows and large oxen led by a shepherd dressed all in black.
The one-eyed man drank a pint of fire wine to stun himself, then supposing that his animals were still at Gavrinis, although the weather was bad and the sea heavy, he wanted to leave immediately. As he approached the shore, sailors told him that the waves were washing up the bodies of several animals on the shore. Hervis went down to the seaside and recognized with rage and terror his cows, his goats, and his oxen all drowned. He should then have remembered the will of the recteur of Baden and what he had promised him; unfortunately, this was not the case. On the contrary, he said to himself that with the money from the masses and the amount of alms, he could buy four oxen and as many dairy cows at the first Vannes fair.
In the meantime, he put his coins in an old earthen pot, and one very dark night he buried his treasure in the courtyard at the foot of an apple tree. But the bad Christian did not have time to realize the dreams of his avarice, because he died suddenly a few days later in a fit of anger and drunkenness.
There are sailors from the small sea who say that people sometimes see, between Île-aux-Moines and Locmariaquer, a shepherd in a black cassock leading a large flock across the sea. This, they say, is the old recteur of Baden, whose soul is in pain for lack of masses and prayers. Others, even more credulous, saw, at night, what they claim, in the courtyard of Hervis in Larmor-Baden, a deceased person digging the earth to discover the hidden treasure.
The phantom of the recteur
THE END
Source: Le Testament du Recteur from the French book Contes et légendes de Basse-Bretagne published in 1891.
Next Tale: The Adventures of Mr. Tam-Kik
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
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.
Even after his cattle were moved to an island, and then drowned, Hervis did not repent. He never fulfilled the promise he made to the recteur.
And Hervis sied before he could use the money he got from his inheritance.
Now, the recteur will be a phantom forever, as nobody will pray for him to go to heaven.
Let's continue with what is exposed on the wall in my house in Harrison Hot Springs.
Below is a series of three photos that my eldest daughter Roseline put in a triple frame.
The photos were taken when I became the captain of a Minehunter in 1985.
And this is a drawing that @katharsisdrill made several years ago. At this time, I was translating to French his comics *Phill from the GCHQ".
In the drawing, you see Phill and several of the other characters of the comics, and myself too. As @katharsisdrill knew that I was vegan, he made sure that there were vegetables on the barbecue.
-- Vincent Celier