The Project Gutenberg EBook of Maria Chapdelaine, by Louis Hemon

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Title: Maria Chapdelaine
A Tale of the Lake St. John Country

Author: Louis Hemon

Translator: W. H. Blake

Posting Date: July 26, 2009 [EBook #4383]
Release Date: August, 2003
First Posted: January 20, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIA CHAPDELAINE ***

Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines.

MARIA CHAPDELAINE

A TALE OF THE LAKE ST. JOHN COUNTRY

BY

LOUIS HEMON

TRANSLATED BY
W. H. BLAKE

Author of "Brown Waters," etc.

New York

1921

CONTENTS

I PERIBONKA
II HOME IN THE CLEARING
III FRANCOIS PASSES BY
IV WILD LAND
V THE VOWS
VI THE STUFF OF DREAMS
VII A MEAGER REAPING
VIII ENTRENCHED AGAINST WINTER
IX ONE THOUSAND AVES
X STRAYING TRACKS
XI THE INTERPRETER OF GOD
XII LOVE BEARING GIFTS
XIII LOVE BEARING CHAINS
XIV INTO THE DEEP SILENCE
XV THAT WE PERISH NOT
XVI PLEDGED TO THE RACE

CHAPTER I

PERIBONKA

Ite, missa est

The door opened, and the men of the congregation began to come out
of the church at Peribonka.

A moment earlier it had seemed quite deserted, this church set by
the roadside on the high bank of the Peribonka, whose icy
snow-covered surface was like a winding strip of plain. The snow lay
deep upon road and fields, for the April sun was powerless to send
warmth through the gray clouds, and the heavy spring rains were yet
to come. This chill and universal white, the humbleness of the
wooden church and the wooden houses scattered along the road, the
gloomy forest edging so close that it seemed to threaten, these all
spoke of a harsh existence in a stern land. But as the men and boys
passed through the doorway and gathered in knots on the broad steps,
their cheery salutations, the chaff flung from group to group, the
continual interchange of talk, merry or sober, at once disclosed the
unquenchable joyousness of a people ever filled with laughter and
good humour.

Cleophas Pesant, son of Thadee Pesant the blacksmith, was already in
light-coloured su