The Gold Sickle; Or, Hena, The Virgin of The Isle of Sen. A Tale of Druid Gaul

by Eugène Sue

  CHAPTER VI.

  THE STORY OF GAUL.

  When the noisy and martial ardor, evoked by the boastful words of thebrenn of the tribe of Karnak had subsided, the traveler was seen sittingin somber silence. He looked up and said:

  "Very well, one more and last story, but let this one fall upon thehearts of you all like burning brass, seeing that the wise words of thishousehold's matron have proved futile."

  All looked with surprise at the stranger, who with somber and severemien began his story with these words:

  "Once upon a time, as far back as two or three thousand years, therelived a family here in Gaul. Whence did it come, to fill the vastsolitudes that to-day are so populous? It doubtlessly came from theheart of Asia, that ancient cradle of the human races, now, however,hidden in the night of antiquity. That family ever preserved a typepeculiar to itself, and found with no other people of the world. Loyal,hospitable, generous, vivacious, gay, inclined to humor, loving to tell,above all, to hear stories, intrepid in battle, daring death moreheroically than any other nation, because its religion taught it whatdeath was--such were that family's virtues. Giddy-headed, vagabond,presumptuous, inconsistent, curious after novelty, and greedier yet ofseeing than of conquering unknown countries, as easily uniting asfalling apart, too proud and too fickle to adjust its opinions to thoseof its neighbors, or if consenting thereto, incapable of long marchingin concert with them, although common and vital interests be atstake--such are that family's vices. In point of its virtues and inpoint of its vices, thus has it always been since the remotestcenturies; thus is it to-day; thus will it be to-morrow."

  "Oh, oh! If I am not much mistaken," broke in the brenn smiling, "all ofus, Gauls though we may be, must have some cousin red with that family."

  "Yes," said the stranger, "to its own misfortune--and to the joy of itsenemies--such has been and such is to-day the character of our ownpeople!"

  "But at least admit, despite such a character, the dear Gallic peoplehas made its way well through the world. Few are the countries where theinquisitive vagabond, as you call it, did not promenade his shoes, withhis nose in the air, his sword at his side--"

  "You are right. Such is its spirit of adventure: always marching aheadtowards the unknown, rather than to stop and build. Thus, to-day,one-third of Gaul is in the hands of the Romans, while some centuriesago the Gallic race occupied through its headlong conquests, besidesGaul, England, Ireland, upper Italy, the banks of the Danube, and thecountries along the sea border as far east and north as Denmark. Nor yetwas that enough. It looked as if our race was to spread itself over thewhole world. The Gauls of the Danube went into Macedonia, into Thrace,into Thessaly. Others of them crossed the Bosphorus and the Hellespont,reached Asia Minor, founded New Gaul, and thus became the arbiters ofall the kingdoms of the East."

  "So far, meseems," rejoined the brenn, "we have nothing to regret overour character that you so severely judge."

  "And what is left of those senseless battles, undertaken by the pride ofthe kings who then reigned over the Gauls?" the stranger proceededlooking around. "Have not the distant conquests slipped from us? Havenot our implacable and ever more powerful enemies, the Romans, raisedall the peoples against us? Have we not been compelled to abandon thoseuseless possessions--Asia, Greece, Germany, Italy? That is the netresult of so much heroism and so much blood! That is the pass to whichwe have been brought by the ambition of the kings, who usurped the powerof the druids!"

  "To that I have nothing to say. You are right. There was no need ofpromenading so far away only to soil the soles of our shoes with theblood and the dust of foreign lands. But if I am not mistaken, it was atabout that time that the sons of the brave Ritha Gaur, who had a blousemade for himself of the beards of the kings whom he shaved, seeing inthese the butchers of the people and not its shepherds, overthrew theroyalty."

  "Yes, thanks to the gods, an epoch of real grandeur, of peace and ofprosperity succeeded the barren and bloody conquests of the kings.Disembarassed of its useless possessions, reduced to rationallimits--its natural frontiers--the Rhine, the Alps, the Pyrenees and theOcean--the republic of the Gauls became the queen and envy of the world.Its fertile soil, cultivated as we so well know how, produced everythingin abundance; the rivers were covered with merchant vessels; gold,silver and copper mines increased its wealth every day; large citiesrose everywhere. The druids, spreading light in all directions, preachedunion to the provinces, and set the example by convoking once a year inthe center of Gaul solemn assemblies, at which the general interests ofthe country were considered. Each tribe, each canton, each town, electedits own magistrates; each province was a republic which, according tothe druid plan, merged into the great Republic of the Gauls, and thusconstituted one powerful body through the union of all."

  "The fathers of our grandfathers saw those happy days, friend guest."

  "And their sons saw only ruins and misfortune! What has happened? Theaccursed stock of dethroned kings joins the stock of their former and noless accursed clients or seigneurs, and all of them, irritated at havingbeen deposed of their authority, hope for restoration from the publicmisfortunes, and exploit with infamous perfidy our innate pride and lackof discipline, which, under the powerful influence of the druids, werebeing steadily corrected. The rivalries between province and province,long allayed, re-awakened; jealousies and hatreds sprang up anew;everywhere the structure of union began to crumble. For all this thekings do not re-ascend the throne. Many of their descendants are evenjudicially executed. But they have unchained internal feud. Civil warflares up. The more powerful provinces seek to subjugate the weaker.Thus, towards the end of the last century, the Marseillians, thedescendants of the exiled Greeks to whom Gaul generously assigned theterritory on which they built their town, sought to assume the role ofsovereignty. The province rose against the town; finding herself indanger, Marseilles called the Romans to her aid. They came, not tosustain Marseilles in her contemplated iniquity, but to themselves takepossession of the region, a purpose that they succeeded in, despite theprodigies of valor with which they were opposed. Established inProvence, the Romans built the town of Aix, and thus founded their firstcolony on our soil--"

  "Oh, a curse upon the Marseillians!" cried Joel. "It was thanks to thosesons of Greeks that the Romans gained a foothold in Gaul!"

  "By what right can we curse the people of Marseilles? Must not alsothose provinces be cursed which, since the decline of the republic, thusallowed one of their sisters to be overpowered and subjugated? Butretribution was swift. Encouraged by the indifference of the Gauls, theRomans took possession of Auvergne, and later of the Dauphine, and alittle later also of Languedoc and Vivarais despite the heroic defenceof their peoples, who, besides being divided among themselves, were leftto their own resources. Thus the Romans became masters of almost allsouthern Gaul; they govern it by their proconsuls and reduce its peopleto slavery. Do the other provinces at last take alarm at these ominousinvasions of Rome that push ever forward and threaten the very heart ofGaul? No! No! Relying upon their own courage, they say as you, Joel, didshortly ago: 'The South lies far away from the North, the East lies faraway from the West.' This notwithstanding, our race, which is heedlessand presumptuous enough to fail to prepare in advance, and when it isstill time, against foreign domination, always has the belated courageof rebelling when the yoke is actually placed upon its neck. Theprovinces that have been subjugated by the Romans, break out in resoluterebellion; these are smothered in their own blood. Our disasters followswiftly upon one another. The Burgundians, incited thereto by thedescendants of the old kings, take up arms against the Frank-Compte andinvoke the aid of the Romans. The Frank-Compte, unable to make headagainst such an alliance, requests reinforcements from the Germans ofthe other side of the Rhine. Thus these barbarians of the North aretaught the road to Gaul, and after bloody battles with the very peoplewho invited them, remain masters of both Burgundy and Frank-Compte. Lastyear, the Swiss, encouraged by the example of the Germans, make ani
rruption into the Gallic provinces that had been conquered by theRomans. Thereupon, Julius Caesar is appointed proconsul; he hastens fromItaly; owerthrows the Swiss in their mountains; drives the Germans outof Burgundy and Frank-Compte; takes possession of these provinces, nowexhausted by their long struggles with the barbarians; and to the yokeof these now succeeds that of the Romans. It was a change of masters.And finally, at the beginning of this year a portion of Gaul shakes offits lethargy and scents the dangers that threatens the still independentprovinces. Brave patriots, wanting neither Romans nor Germans for theirmasters--Galba among the Gauls of Belgium, Boddig-nat among the Gauls ofFlanders--induce the people to rise in mass against Caesar. The Gauls ofVermandois and those of Artois also rise in rebellion. Together they allmarch against the Romans! Oh, it was a great and terrible battle, thatbattle of the Sambre!" cried the unknown traveler with exaltation. "TheGallic army awaited Caesar on the left bank of the river. Three times didthe Roman army cross, and three times was it compelled to recross it,fighting up to their waists in the blood-reddened waters. The Roman isoverthrown, the oldest legions are shattered. Caesar alights from hishorse, swings his sword, rallies his last cohorts of veterans, thatalready were yielding ground, and at their head charges upon our army.Despite Caesar's courage the battle was lost to him, when we saw a freshbody arrive to his aid."

  "You say 'We saw'?" asked Joel. "Were you at that terrible battle?"

  But the unknown visitor proceeded without answering: "Exhausted,decimated by a seven hours' fight, we still held out against the freshtroops ... we fought to the bitter end ... we fought unto death.... Anddo you know," added the stranger with an expression of profound grief,"do you know, you who remained peacefully at home, while your brotherswere dying for the liberty of Gaul, which is also yours,--do you knowhow many survived of the sixty thousand men in the Gallic army--in thatbattle of the Sambre?... _Not five hundred!_"

  "Not five hundred!" cried Joel as if questioning the figures.

  "I say so because I am one of the survivors," answered the strangerproudly.

  "Then the two fresh scars on your face--"

  "I received them at the battle of the Sambre--"