THE STONES OF PLOUHINEC
The avenue
Source
Plouhinec is a poor village beyond Hennebont, towards the sea. All around, you see only moors or small fir woods, and the parish has never had enough grass to raise an ox for meat, nor enough bran to fatten a pig.
But if the people of the country lack wheat and livestock, they have more stones than would be needed to rebuild Lorient, and beyond the town, we find a large heath in which the korrigans have planted two rows of long stones that could be mistaken for an avenue if they led somewhere.
It was near there, towards the banks of the river Intel, that a man called Marzinn once lived: he was rich for the canton, that is to say, he could salt a small pig every year, eat black bread as much as he likes, and buy a pair of clogs on Palm Sunday.
Also, he was considered proud in the country and he had refused his sister Rozennik to many young boys who lived from their daily sweat.
Among them was Bernèz, a brave worker and worthy Christian who had only brought goodwill when he came into this world. Bernèz had known Rozennik when he was little when he arrived from Pont-Scorff-Bidré to work in the parish, and she had often chased him with the song that children repeat to those from her country:
Pont-Scorff-Bridé,
Goat’s flesh, Béé!
This had made them acquainted, and, little by little, as Rozennik grew, Bernèz's attachment had also grown, so much so that one day he found himself in love like the English are damned, I mean without remission.
You understand that Marzinn's refusal was a great heartbreak for him; However, he did not lose courage, because Rozennik continued to receive him well and to sing to him while laughing, the refrain composed for those of Pont-Scorff.
Now, it was Christmas night, and as the storm had prevented going to midnight mass, all the people from the farm were gathered, and, with them, several boys from the neighborhood, among whom was Bernèz. The master of the house, who wanted to show his big heart, had had a supper prepared of blood sausages and wheat porridge with honey; so all eyes were turned towards the hearth, except those of Bernèz who was looking at his dear Rozennik.
The diner
But just when the benches were near the table and the wooden spoons were stuck in a circle in the basin, an old man suddenly pushed the door open and wished everyone bon appetit.
He was a beggar from Pluvigner who never entered churches, and of whom honest people were afraid.
Source: Les Pierres de Plouhinec from the French book Contes et légendes de Basse-Bretagne published in 1891.
Previous Tale: The Groac'h of Lok Island
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.
Another tale where the hero is a poor boy who wants to marry the sister of a rich man.
How can he make his fortune, when he has only his bare hands to work?
And what does this beggar who just arrived on Christmas night have to do with our hero?
Yesterday, I received from Amazon a board game: Twilight Imperium that we could play as a family during Christmas break.
Pax Magnifica Bellum Gloriosum in Latin means Magnificent Peace, Glorious War.
Twilight Imperium is a strategy board game [] in the genre of science fiction and space opera.
Wikipedia.
It seems to be a rather complicated game and we will need to spend hours to understand how to play this game.
I learned about this game from a post by @jfuji, a hiver from Toronto: Tales from a 14-point Twilight Imperium Game.
This was @jfuji's first post after his introduction post, in January 2022.
By the way, @jfuji is part of the teams of two Hive games that will start soon: HOLOZING and Rise of the Pixels. Like myself, he also plays Rising Star on Hive.
-- Vincent Celier