Paul et Virginie. English
Page 6
active, cleanly, and, above all,faithful. It was her care to prepare their meals, to rear the poultry,and go sometimes to Port Louis, to sell the superfluous produce of theselittle plantations, which was not however, very considerable. If youadd to the personages already mentioned two goats, which were brought upwith the children, and a great dog, which kept watch at night, you willhave a complete idea of the household, as well as of the productions ofthese two little farms.
Madame de la Tour and her friend were constantly employed in spinningcotton for the use of their families. Destitute of everything whichtheir own industry could not supply, at home they went bare-footed:shoes were a convenience reserved for Sunday, on which day, at an earlyhour, they attended mass at the church of the Shaddock Grove, whichyou see yonder. That church was more distant from their homes than PortLouis; but they seldom visited the town, lest they should be treatedwith contempt on account of their dress, which consisted simply of thecoarse blue linen of Bengal, usually worn by slaves. But is there,in that external deference which fortune commands, a compensation fordomestic happiness? If these interesting women had something to sufferfrom the world, their homes on that very account became more dear tothem. No sooner did Mary and Domingo, from this elevated spot, perceivetheir mistresses on the road of the Shaddock Grove, than they flew tothe foot of the mountain in order to help them to ascend. They discernedin the looks of their domestics the joy which their return excited. Theyfound in their retreat neatness, independence, all the blessings whichare the recompense of toil, and they received the zealous serviceswhich spring from affection. United by the tie of similar wants, and thesympathy of similar misfortunes, they gave each other the tender namesof companion, friend, sister. They had but one will, one interest, onetable. All their possessions were in common. And if sometimes a passionmore ardent than friendship awakened in their hearts the pang ofunavailing anguish, a pure religion, united with chaste manners, drewtheir affections towards another life: as the trembling flame risestowards heaven, when it no longer finds any ailment on earth.
The duties of maternity became a source of additional happiness to theseaffectionate mothers, whose mutual friendship gained new strength atthe sight of their children, equally the offspring of an ill-fatedattachment. They delighted in washing their infants together in the samebath, in putting them to rest in the same cradle, and in changing thematernal bosom at which they received nourishment. "My friend," criedMadame de la Tour, "we shall each of us have two children, and eachof our children will have two mothers." As two buds which remain ondifferent trees of the same kind, after the tempest has broken all theirbranches, produce more delicious fruit, if each, separated from thematernal stem, be grafted on the neighbouring tree, so these twoinfants, deprived of all their other relations, when thus exchangedfor nourishment by those who had given them birth, imbibed feelings ofaffection still more tender than those of son and daughter, brother andsister. While they were yet in their cradles, their mothers talked oftheir marriage. They soothed their own cares by looking forward to thefuture happiness of their children; but this contemplation often drewforth their tears. The misfortunes of one mother had arisen from havingneglected marriage; those of the other from having submitted to itslaws. One had suffered by aiming to rise above her condition, the otherby descending from her rank. But they found consolation in reflectingthat their more fortunate children, far from the cruel prejudices ofEurope, would enjoy at once the pleasures of love and the blessings ofequality.
Rarely, indeed, has such an attachment been seen as that which thetwo children already testified for each other. If Paul complained ofanything, his mother pointed to Virginia: at her sight he smiled, andwas appeased. If any accident befel Virginia, the cries of Paul gavenotice of the disaster; but the dear little creature would suppressher complaints if she found that he was unhappy. When I came hither,I usually found them quite naked, as is the custom of the country,tottering in their walk, and holding each other by the hands and underthe arms, as we see represented in the constellation of the Twins. Atnight these infants often refused to be separated, and were found lyingin the same cradle, their cheeks, their bosoms pressed close together,their hands thrown round each other's neck, and sleeping, locked in oneanother's arms.
When they first began to speak, the first name they learned to give eachother were those of brother and sister, and childhood knows no softerappellation. Their education, by directing them ever to consider eachother's wants, tended greatly to increase their affection. In a shorttime, all the household economy, the care of preparing their ruralrepasts, became the task of Virginia, whose labours were always crownedwith the praises and kisses of her brother. As for Paul, always inmotion, he dug the garden with Domingo, or followed him with a littlehatchet into the woods; and if, in his rambles he espied a beautifulflower, any delicious fruit, or a nest of birds, even at the top of thetree, he would climb up and bring the spoil to his sister. When you metone of these children, you might be sure the other was not far off.
One day as I was coming down that mountain, I saw Virginia at the end ofthe garden running towards the house with her petticoat thrown over herhead, in order to screen herself from a shower of rain. At a distance,I thought she was alone; but as I hastened towards her in order to helpher on, I perceived she held Paul by the arm, almost entirely envelopedin the same canopy, and both were laughing heartily at their beingsheltered together under an umbrella of their own invention. Those twocharming faces in the middle of a swelling petticoat, recalled to mymind the children of Leda, enclosed in the same shell.
Their sole study was how they could please and assist one another; forof all other things they were ignorant, and indeed could neither readnor write. They were never disturbed by inquiries about past times, nordid their curiosity extend beyond the bounds of their mountain. Theybelieved the world ended at the shores of their own island, and alltheir ideas and all their affections were confined within its limits.Their mutual tenderness, and that of their mothers, employed all theenergies of their minds. Their tears had never been called forth bytedious application to useless sciences. Their minds had never beenwearied by lessons of morality, superfluous to bosoms unconscious ofill. They had never been taught not to steal, because every thing withthem was in common: or not to be intemperate, because their simplefood was left to their own discretion; or not to lie, because they hadnothing to conceal. Their young imaginations had never been terrifiedby the idea that God has punishment in store for ungrateful children,since, with them, filial affection arose naturally from maternaltenderness. All they had been taught of religion was to love it, and ifthey did not offer up long prayers in the church, wherever they were, inthe house, in the fields, in the woods, they raised towards heaven theirinnocent hands, and hearts purified by virtuous affections.
All their early childhood passed thus, like a beautiful dawn, theprelude of a bright day. Already they assisted their mothers in theduties of the household. As soon as the crowing of the wakeful cockannounced the first beam of the morning, Virginia arose, and hastened todraw water from a neighbouring spring: then returning to the house sheprepared the breakfast. When the rising sun gilded the points of therocks which overhang the enclosure in which they lived, Margaret and herchild repaired to the dwelling of Madame de la Tour, where they offeredup their morning prayer together. This sacrifice of thanksgiving alwayspreceded their first repast, which they often took before the door ofthe cottage, seated upon the grass, under a canopy of plantain: andwhile the branches of that delicious tree afforded a grateful shade, itsfruit furnished a substantial food ready prepared for them by nature,and its long glossy leaves, spread upon the table, supplied the place oflinen. Plentiful and wholesome nourishment gave early growth and vigourto the persons of these children, and their countenances expressed thepurity and the peace of their souls. At twelve years of age the figureof Virginia was in some degree formed: a profusion of light hair shadedher face, to which her blue eyes and coral lips gave the most charmingbrilliancy. Her eyes sparkled w
ith vivacity when she spoke; but when shewas silent they were habitually turned upwards, with an expression ofextreme sensibility, or rather of tender melancholy. The figure of Paulbegan already to display the graces of youthful beauty. He was tallerthan Virginia: his skin was of a darker tint; his nose more aquiline;and his black eyes would have been too piercing, if the long eye-lashesby which they were shaded, had not imparted to them an expression ofsoftness. He was constantly in motion, except when his sister appeared,and then, seated by her side, he became still. Their meals often passedwithout a word being spoken; and from their silence, the simple eleganceof their attitudes, and the beauty of their naked feet, you might havefancied you beheld an antique group of white marble, representing someof the children of Niobe, but for the glances of their eyes, which wereconstantly seeking to meet, and their mutual soft and tender smiles,which suggested rather the idea of happy celestial