d himself: he was a
little man, young, fair, red-haired, well-mannered, and had
well-furnished pockets. He had not a single fault, and Mother
Holofernes was not able to find any in all her arsenal of negatives.
As for Panfila, it wanted little to send her out of her senses with
delight. So the preparations for the wedding were made, with the usual
grumbling accompaniment on the part of the bridegroom's future
mother-in-law. Everything went on smoothly straightforward, and
without a break--like a railroad--when, without knowing why, the
popular voice--a voice which is as the personification of
conscience,--began to rise in a murmur against the stranger, despite
the fact that he was affable, humane, and liberal; that he spoke well
and sang better; and freely took the black and horny hands of the
labourers between his own white and beringed fingers. They began to
feel neither honoured nor overpowered by so much courtesy; his
reasoning was always so coarse, although forcible and logical.

"By my faith!" said Uncle Blas; "why does this ill-faced gentleman
call me Mr. Blas, as if that would make me any better? What does it
look like to you?"

"Well, as for me," said Uncle Gil, "did he not come to shake hands
with me as if we had some plot between us? Did he not call me citizen?
I, who have never been out of the village, and never want to go."

As for Mother Holofernes, the more she saw of her future son-in-law,
the less regard she had for him. It seemed to her that between that
innocent red hair and the cranium were located certain protuberances
of a very curious kind; and she remembered with emotion that
malediction she had uttered against her daughter on that ever
memorable day on which her foot was injured and her washing spoilt.

At last, the wedding day arrived. Mother Holofernes had made pastry
and reflections--the former sweet, the latter bitter; a great _olla
podrida_ for the food, and a dangerous project for supper; she had
prepared a barrel of wine that was generous, and a line of conduct
that was not. When the bridal pair were about to retire to the nuptial
chamber, Mother Holofernes called her daughter aside, and said: "When
you are in your room, be careful to close the door and windows; shut
all the shutters, and do not leave a single crevice open but the
keyhole of the door. Take with you this branch of consecrated olive,
and beat your husband with it as I advise you; this ceremony is
customary at all marri