The Poniard's Hilt; Or, Karadeucq and Ronan. A Tale of Bagauders and Vagres

by Eugène Sue

  CHAPTER II.

  ON THE HILL NEAR MARCIGNY.

  The family of Kervan are reassembled together with Ronan in the largehall of the farmhouse. After the morning repast the women take up theirdistaffs, or some other domestic work. The men pound the wheat, whichthey pour out of one set of large bags and then drop into another. Hugelogs of beech and oak burn in the fireplace, seeing that outside thecold is intense. While each pursues his work in silence they cast fromtime to time inquisitive looks at Ronan, the Vagre son of the Bagauder.

  "Uncle," says Ronan, "did you read through the narrative that I gave youyesterday?"

  "Yes, and all the rest of us here assembled heard it read. But there isno mention made of my poor brother's death."

  "Before broaching that subject, uncle, I should inform you of whathappened after the burning down of the burg of Neroweg.

  "The complete success of our raid threw the Franks and bishops of theregion into consternation. All the slaves who were not too besotted, thecolonists whom the seigneurs rack-rented, in short, a considerablenumber of determined men joined our band. From day to day its numbersswelled and it became more redoubtable. With good or evil grace theseigneurs felt themselves forced to improve the condition of theirslaves.

  "My brother Loysik proved himself faithful to the principle of Jesus ofNazareth that it is the sick who stand in special need of a physician.He remained with us, and soon he had a decided ascendency over ourtroop. His good-heartedness, his courage, his eloquence, his love forGaul, his horror of the Frankish conquest gained him all hearts. One dayhe took it into his head to undertake a journey the destination of whichhe kept a secret. Shortly after that we had letters from him urging usto draw near to the confines of Burgundy; he was to join us in theneighborhood of Marcigny, a town situated at the extreme end of thatprovince. Before his departure he made us promise that we would set nomore burgs and episcopal villas on fire; pillage, however, continuedunabated and was distributed among the poor. Thus we administered strictjustice upon the Frankish seigneurs, the bishops and abbots who enjoyeda reputation for cruelty."

  "But did not the Franks take up arms against you? Were they terrified tothat extreme?"

  "King Clotaire ordered a levy of men, but the beneficiary seigneursfeared that, if they parted with their leudes, their burgs would remainunprotected and either at the mercy of the slaves or exposed to attacksfrom our band. They sent but few men in answer to the King's summons.And so we were given fresh opportunities and twice we beat the Franks inpitched encounters. All the time we drew nearer and nearer to thefrontiers of Burgundy as requested by Loysik."

  "And what of little Odille, Ronan? What became of her, poor, dear victimof Frankish brutality?"

  "I took her to wife; the dear girl never leaves me; she is as sweet asshe is brave, as devoted as she is tender."

  "Dear girl--and the bishopess, who interested us all, despite hererrors?"

  "Fulvia has become to the Master of the Hounds what Odille is to me."

  "And that Prince Chram, who was scheming a parricide, did he carry outhis projected treason towards Clotaire, that other monster who stabbedhis brother's son to death?"

  "Three days ago, on my way hither, I saw Chram and his father on thefrontier of our Armorica."

  "The father and son on our frontier?"

  "Aye, and they approved themselves worthy of each other. Oh, Kervan, Ihave run the Vagrery in my boyhood; I have witnessed frightful scenesduring that period; but by the faith of a Vagre, I never was soterrified--I still shudder with horror when I think of what, only a fewdays ago, took place under my own eyes, when Chram and his father met.

  "It was a horrible spectacle--I shall presently describe it to you, butI must first return to our own affairs. Faithful to our promise toLoysik, we drew nearer to the boundaries of Burgundy. That region, oneof the first that was conquered before Clovis by other hordes ofbarbarians that preceded him from Germany and were called Burgunds, wasfull of heroic souvenirs of old Gaul. It was there that, at the voice ofVercingetorix, the Chief of the Hundred Valleys, the people first rosein arms against the Romans. Epidorix, Convictolitan, Lictavic and otherpatriots of that province joined with their several tribes the Chief ofthe Hundred Valleys, all anxious to join him in doing battle for thefreedom of Gaul."

  "And I suppose that once so brave region has undergone the fate of theothers?"

  "There, as elsewhere, Kervan, the bishops undermined the mental virilityof the people, besotted them, and rendered them submissive prey to theconquerors."

  "But here in our Armorican Gaul, both the Christian and thenon-Christian druids preach to us the love of country and hatred for theoppressor."

  "And, consequently, Brittany has remained free. It happened otherwisewith the unfortunate province that I am speaking of. Since the year 355its population began to degenerate visibly. Two chiefs of barbarianhordes, Westralph and Chnodomar, invaded the region; other barbarians,Burgunds by name, who came from the region of Mayence, in torn droveaway the first invaders and established themselves at about the year416. These Burgunds, who gave their name to the region, were a pastoralpeople and less savage than the other tribes that poured in fromGermany. The larger number of the original inhabitants were either cutto pieces or led into slavery at the time of the first conquest in 355.Although held in slavery by the Burgunds, the lot of the survivingportion of the population was less wretched than that of their brothersin most of the other conquered provinces. Gondiok, Gondehaud and his sonSigismond succeeded one another as kings until 534. In that year,Childebert and Clotaire, sons of Clovis, fell upon the Burgunds, and,although these were of their own Germanic race, laid their countrywaste, enslaved both Burgunds and Gauls, and attached the territory tothe domain of the Frankish kingdom."

  "What devastation! What bloodshed!"

  "Those were horrible times, but by the faith of a Vagre, we renderedthem frightful to many a conqueror himself. Well, agreeable to therequest of Loysik, we drew near the confines of Burgundy and arrived inthe vicinity of Marcigny early in autumn. In that happily located regionthe fall of the year is as mild as summer. The sun was going down, wehad been on the march almost all day; the region, once so thicklypopulated and teeming with wealth, now lay fallow and deserted. Somemore slaves joined us, others, however, fled into Marcigny, and threwthe place into alarm. We expected the return of Loysik at every moment.As a matter of precaution we camped on a woody hill whence we couldobserve the city, lying at a goodly distance away, and hardly protectedby its crumbling walls. Towards evening we saw our brother proceedingout of the town. He hastened to us, having been notified of our arrivalby the fleeing slaves. It seems to me I see him now climbing the hill;he walked hurriedly; his face beamed with happiness. After answering tothe affectionate greetings of our delighted troop who surrounded him,all being eager to express to him their delight at his return, Loysikmade a sign that he wished to speak. He stepped upon a mound under theoverspreading branches of a chestnut tree. We gathered in a semi-circlebefore him; many of the women who joined us in running the Vagrery satdown at his feet on the grass. Odille and the bishopess were foremostamong these. On that day Loysik wore a robe of coarse white wool; a rayof the westering sun that penetrated through the foliage above his headseemed to surround with a golden aureole his serious and sweet face, onboth sides of which, parting from his slightly bald head, fell his longblonde hair of the same color as his slight beard. I know not for whatreason, but as I then looked at Loysik, the young man of Nazarethoccurred to me, as he preached to the vagabond crowd that eversurrounded him. Profound silence reigned among our troop. Loysik held anaddress to us which I shortly after transcribed in full, together withall that happened on the occasion, upon a parchment lest I should forgetit."

  Taking a scroll from his pocket Ronan the Vagre proceeded:

  "Here it is--I shall read it textually to you:

  "'My friends, my brothers, all of you who hear me, I return to yourmidst with good tidings. Until now, you have, by means of f
rightful actsof reprisal, returned evil with evil to the Franks, the abbots andbishops. These wicked folks so willed it--violence invites violence,oppression invites revolt, iniquity invites vengeance. The threateningwords of Jesus have been verified--_They that take the sword, shallperish by the sword; Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, for ye bindheavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders;but ye yourselves will not move them with one of your fingers; Woe untoyou that are rich, for ye have received your consolation._ To the poorwho lacked the necessaries of life you gave the goods that you took fromthe conquering plunderers, or from the modern princes of the Church.Struck with terror, many a hard-hearted seigneur and prelate felt forcedto relax his severity. You have administered justice; but, alas, anadventurous, merciless justice. It could not be otherwise. In these daysof tyranny and civil war, of slavery and revolt, of atrocious misery andcriminal opulence, people are hurled from the paths of morality. Theinnate sense of justice and injustice, of good and evil is beclouded inthe popular mind. Some, besotted with terror, undergo unheard-of illswith abject and degrading resignation; others, a prey to headlongvertigo, mix actions of greatest nobility with deeds that are mostreprehensible. Your vengeance fatedly begets incalculable misfortunes.No doubt there is now many a seigneur, who, merciless until recently,does now conduct himself with less cruelty towards his slaves, as aconsequence of the terror with which you inspire him. But the next day?You will then be far away, and the butchers then resume their murderouspropensities. You set the homes of the conquerors on fire; but thosebuildings are speedily raised again, and it is our brothers, the slaves,who are forced to rebuild them. You distribute among the poor a part ofthe tribute that you levy upon the seigneurs and the prelates; but aftera few days of abundance, misery weighs anew upon the unhappy population,and, by contrast, it is more painful than before. The coffers that yourifle must all be refilled by our brothers, the slaves, by dint of freshand crushing labors. What floods of tears! What floods of blood areshed! How many ruins mark your tracks, how many irreparable disasters!'

  "A voice cried out from the crowd: 'Have not our conquerors shed theblood of our race in torrents? Let the world perish, together with theiniquity that racks us! Death to the oppressors! Death to the seigneursand the priests!'

  "My brother then proceeded:

  "'Perish iniquity! Aye, perish slavery! Aye, perish misery andignorance! Like you, I hold the barbarian conquest in horror; like you,I hold subjection in horror; like you, I hold in horror the falsepriests of Jesus, who keep their fellowmen in bondage; like you, I holdin horror the degradation of our country. But in order to overcomebarbarism, ignorance, misery and slavery, they must be combated withcivilization, with intelligence, with virtue, with labor, with theawakened Gallic patriotism that lies torpid at the bottom of so manyhearts!'

  "'Hermit, our friend,' the interrupter cried again, 'how else can wefight our enemies than arms in hand? Are we not "Wand'ring Men,""Wolves," "Wolves' Heads"?'

  "'What is it that has turned you into Vagres, ye men of all conditions?What is it that drove you to revolt? Is it not spoliation and misery,and a determination to be free rather than submit to slavery? If youwere to be told: "Renounce your wandering lives, and your labor willsupply you amply with the necessaries of life, and your courage willguarantee your safety and tranquility. You who regret having lost thejoys of the hearth and of family life or who desire to partake ofthem--yours can be those pure delights, while you others who preferaustere seclusion can be free to indulge your bent, and you can livehappy and peacefully;"--if you were to be promised that, would you notprefer it to your present life?'

  "'Hermit, are such prospects possible? You are not of the number offalse priests who pretend to have the power of performing miracles.'

  "'Ah, had they only willed it, the bishops could have performed suchmiracles every day in the name of the human fraternity preached byJesus. Aye, had they all acted like the bishop of Chalon, a path ofpacific emancipation would have been opened to Gaul.'

  "'And what did the bishop of Chalon do?'

  "'Upon leaving you, I proceeded to yonder little town of Marcigny, whichbelongs to the diocese of Chalon and where the bishop owns a villawhich he occupies in summer. He is not a wicked man, although he doeskeep his fellowmen in bondage. He has spent his days in quiet, idlenessand opulence. He is a great friend of King Clotaire. I proceeded to thatbishop. I shall narrate to you the conversation that took place betweenus:

  "'I said: "Did you ever hear about the Vagres?" "Alas, yes! Those peoplecommit grave crimes in other regions. But, thank God, the Vagrery neverentered Burgundy." "Well, bishop, I wish to inform you that bands ofVagres are approaching your diocese." "Oh, woe is me! Woe is all of us!What will become of us all? My diocese will be ravaged, my treasurypillaged, my palace in Chalon sacked, my villa burned down! Monk, whatdesolation!" "Bishop, is not the Valley of Charolles located in yourdiocese?" "It belongs to glorious King Clotaire, like all the rest ofthe lands of Gaul that have not been distributed as benefices either byhimself, or by his father, King Clovis, to the chiefs of the leudes andthe Church." "Are you not a friend of Clotaire's?" "That great Kingshows me a good deal of kindness." "Demand of him in my name the gift ofthe Valley of Charolles; I shall found there a community ofmonk-laborers. Around the monastery a lay colony will be established,open to the Vagres. A portion of the lands shall be reserved for themonk-laborers, the rest shall be left to the colonists. But the giftmust be absolute, hereditary and free from all taxes, fees or imposts.The colonists are to be recognized as free in fact and by right, theyand their descendants. Obtain the donation for me from King Clotaire,and the troop of Vagres, instead of becoming a source of terror to theregion, will be a source of security to your diocese." Such was theconversation. The bishop hastened to forward my application to KingClotaire; and yesterday a royal messenger brought the King's answer.Here it is, I shall read it to you.

  "'It runs thus: "Clotaire, illustrious warrior, King of the Franks. Thefunction and duty of a King is to come to the help of the servants ofGod and to receive their prayers favorably. Moreover, seeing that wesojourn but a short time in this life, it is important that we hasten tostore up wealth in heaven. We can easily store up such wealth throughgenerous donations to the bishops and the Church. Therefore, we receivefavorably the request of our venerable father in Christ, Florent, bishopof Chalon-on-the-Saone, and we hereby inform all our loyal subjects, nowand in the future, that a certain monk named Loysik has asked us throughthe intermediary of the said Florent, our venerable father in Christ andfriend, a tract of land where he may live freely, pray and imploredivine mercy for us. He has added that he is followed by a large numberof men whom he wishes to withdraw from the disorders and the miseries ofthe century. Those men have promised to settle down near him, and todevote themselves to a peaceful and industrious life. Whereas, weconsider the monk's request wise, and whereas furthermore we are ofopinion that if we receive it favorably we shall be performing a workagreeable to God and meritorious for the remission of our sins, wehereby grant to the said monk the possession of the Valley of Charolles,situated in the diocese of Chalon, bounded to the north by the mountainsknown as the Balue Rocks; to the south by the river Charolles, an arm ofwhich crosses the said valley; to the west by the ravine known as Goats'Forest, which is contiguous to the lands of the church of Marcigny. Wecede to the said monk all that he may find on said territory--slaves,domestic animals, buildings, vines, cultivated fields, meadows andwoodlands. He shall have the free use of them all, without anyonewhosoever having the right to hinder him, to build or to plant. Weexempt him and those who may settle with him in the said Valley ofCharolles, of all contributions to our fisc. We forbid all our leudes,bishops, dukes, counts and all others to exact, either for themselves ortheir suites, whether moneys, presents, quarter or rents from the saidmonk Loysik, or from those who may settle down upon the territory thatwe have ceded to him, they being held and recognized by us as free men.Let no one be audacious enough to
violate our commandments. We will itthat the said monk Loysik, his companions and their successors livefree and undisturbed under our protection. And in order that thesepresents shall have greater force, we have willed that they be signed byour own hand and sealed with our seal. CLOTAIRE."

  "'As he placed this charter in my hand the bishop added: "Now, monk,make good use of this donation and prevent the Vagres from ravaging mydiocese."

  "'While the bishop was saying these words to me, some fugitive slavesrushed in and announced to him the approach of your troop. The prelatethereupon said to me imploringly: "Go, run, monk, I am ready for anysacrifice in order to live in peace with those redoubtable neighbors."

  "'It now, my friends and brothers, rests with you whether you will livehappy and free. Those of you who are willing to enter our community ofhermit-laborers will be admitted; those who, preferring family life, maywish to join a woman of their choice shall be settled upon thehereditary lands. I have visited the valley in all its parts; a river,well stocked with fish, crosses the meadows, magnificent woods shade it,vines and cereals flourish on its slopes, the cattle on its meadows arenumerous. The poor slaves who were either born upon the place ortransported thither will be set free; the lands that they have hithertocultivated for the royal fisc will henceforth be theirs as hereditaryproperty. The valley is immense. Even if we were ten times more numerousthan we are, the soil's fertility will supply our wants. The lands thatKing Clotaire restores to us in the form of a gift have been violentlyconquered more than two centuries ago by tribes of barbarians, they weresubsequently invaded by the Burgunds, and finally conquered over againby the Franks. Portions of the land are not cultivated; the race thatowned them more than two hundred and fifty years ago, before theinvasion, has long been extinct. The people who once inhabited them havebeen either cut to pieces during the successive conquests or have beenled far away into slavery, or have died under the yoke working forothers on their own ancestral domains--they are no more. By occupyingthis portion of the soil of Gaul we dispossess none of our own race.But, at an emergency, we must be able to defend the territory fromaggression. In these days of civil wars, donations, however perpetual,are not always respected by the inheritors of the royal power, nor bythe seigneurs and the bishops. We must, accordingly, be ready to repelforce with force. The valley is protected towards the north by almostinaccessible rocky cliffs; on the south by a deep river; on the west byrugged ravines, and to the east by a dense forest. It will be an easything for us to fortify ourselves in our possession and maintain ourrights.'"

  Kervan followed closely the Vagre's narrative and asked him with deepinterest whether his companions took the advice of Loysik.

  "Yes, dear uncle, almost all the Vagres accepted Loysik's offer; fewonly preferred to continue their life of adventure. They left us withthe promise, however, not to enter Burgundy. We never since heard ofthem. Among those who now people the Valley of Charolles, many haveadopted the rules of the monk-laborers under the direction of Loysik.The large majority of our companions, however, have organized a laycommunity around the monastery; they married either women who ran theVagrery with us or daughters of neighboring colonists. I wedded littleOdille, while the Master of the Hounds took the bishopess for his mate.The artisans whom slavery and want had driven to the Vagrery, resumedtheir former occupations, and now work for the colony; others tend thefields, the vines and the cattle. As to myself, I have become a goodhusbandman, and my little Odille, who since her childhood was accustomedto tend flocks of sheep in the mountains where she was born has turnedto that occupation. The bishopess works at the distaff, spins and weaveslike a skilful housekeeper, and also oversees the hospital which weopened for sick women. Loysik superintends the hospital of men in themonastery."

  "Ah, Ronan! Why did not the bishops act like your father, seeing theydid not follow the example of our venerated druids, and preach a holywar against the Franks? Why did not the Church restore to their formerowners the vast domains that they find it so easy to wheedle from thecredulity of the Frankish Kings and seigneurs? Or, in cases where theformer owners are no more, why does not the Church distribute the landamong the slaves that cultivate it?"

  "Alas, the prelacy has preferred to reign over a brutified people; theydid not like to live a simple life among a free people. Oh! It will bedone for our old Armorica if she ever falls under the yoke of thepriests!"

  "May it please heaven that such a fatality may never befall our belovedregion! Let us put aside such sad thoughts; let us rather talk of thepeaceful and industrious life of the colony of Charolles."

  "Yes, we live happy in our beloved valley, where we cultivate our fieldsin common and share the fruits of our labor, agreeable to the words thatyou saw graven on the hilt of the poniard that I delivered toyou--_Friendship_, _Community_."

  "But what is the meaning of that other word--_Ghilde?_"

  "It is a Saxon word; it means association, fraternity. In the northerncountry where the word comes from there is a custom, the origin of whichis lost in the remotest ages, according to which all the members of a_ghilde_ pledge to one another with a mysterious oath friendship, mutualsupport and solidarity in all things. If the house of one of theassociates burns down, all the others help him in rebuilding it; if hiscrops are destroyed by a storm or any other accident, all the associatescontribute their share to indemnify him for his loss; likewise if hisvessel is lost at sea. Is anyone of them afraid to undertake a longvoyage alone, one, two or several of his associates accompany him; isany member of the _ghilde_ the victim of some iniquity, all the otherstake his part in order to secure justice; is he insulted, all the othersrally around him to aid him in obtaining reparation or vengeance. Ourcommunity has put into practice the virtues of that custom. We saythere, as once we said in Vagrery: _All for each, each for all_."

  "And my brother Karadeucq, did he long enjoy that peaceful life after alife of so many hardships?"

  "He lived happy in my house unto the day of his death, and he was ableto bless my first-born child."

  "Tell us the circumstances of my brother's death."

  "From the written narrative that I delivered to you, you must have seenwhat kind of a man was Chram, the son of King Clotaire. His projects ofrevolt having failed in Poitou and Auvergne, he made a raid intoBurgundy at the head of a few troops in the expectation of raising thecountry against his father. The counts and dukes of the reign consideredit in their interest to take the field against Chram in this new civilwar. Nevertheless, he laid part of the country waste. One of the bandsof Chram arrived near our valley. Foreseeing the need thereof in thesedisturbed times, my father and Loysik had the unprotected accesses ofthe valley fortified with fosses and entrenchments made of felled trees.Our colonists and the men of the monastery took turns in mounting guardat these places the moment the invasion of Burgundy by Chram was known.My father was in command of one of the advanced posts when Chram'swarriors approached our valley for the purpose of ravaging it."

  "I presume an armed encounter took place between Chram's soldiers andthe inhabitants of Charolles, and my poor brother Karadeucq--"

  "Was mortally wounded as he drove the Franks back at the head of hismen. My father died after giving me the orders that I stated to you. Hewore during the combat the Saxon poniard that belonged to Loysik, andwhich the Master of the Hounds had picked up as he fled from the fieldof carnage at the fastness of Allange. The Master of the Hounds returnedthe poniard to my brother after our flight from the burg of Neroweg.Loysik afterwards presented the weapon to my father. He wore it on theday of the encounter with the Franks. He ordered me to bring it to you,in order that it be joined to our family relics."

  "My brother's death was brave, like his life. A curse upon that Chram,son of Clotaire! Had he not raided Burgundy, my brother Karadeucq mightstill be alive!"

  "Like you, Kervan, I say a curse upon Chram! But, at any rate, he met onthe frontiers of our Brittany the merited punishment for his criminallife."