" 238

SCENE FROM THE FIRST ACT OF "OEDIPUS" " 248

SCENE FROM THE SECOND ACT OF "ANTIGONE" " 256

The Christmas Kalends of Provence

I

Fancy you've journeyed down the Rhone,
Fancy you've passed Vienne, Valence,
Fancy you've skirted Avignon--
And so are come _en pleine_ Provence.

Fancy a mistral cutting keen
Across the sunlit wintry fields,
Fancy brown vines, and olives green,
And blustered, swaying, cypress shields.

Fancy a widely opened door,
Fancy an eager outstretched hand,
Fancy--nor need you ask for more--
A heart-sped welcome to our land.

Fancy the peal of Christmas chimes,
Fancy that some long-buried year
Is born again of ancient times--
And in Provence take Christmas cheer!

In my own case, this journey and this welcome were not fancies but
realities. I had come to keep Christmas with my old friend Monsieur de
Vielmur according to the traditional Provencal rites and ceremonies in
his own entirely Provencal home: an ancient dwelling which stands high
up on the westward slope of the Alpilles, overlooking Arles and Tarascon
and within sight of Avignon, near the Rhone margin of Provence.

The Vidame--such is Monsieur de Vielmur's ancient title: dating from the
vigorous days when every proper bishop, himself not averse to taking a
breather with sword and battle-axe should fighting matters become
serious, had his _vice dominus_ to lead his forces in the field--is an
old-school country gentleman who is amiably at odds with modern times.
While tolerant of those who have yielded to the new order, he himself is
a great stickler for the preservation of antique forms and ceremonies:
sometimes, indeed, pushing his fancies to lengths that fairly would lay
him open to the charge of whimsicality, were not even the most
extravagant of his crotchets touched and mellowed by his natural
goodness of heart. In the earlier stages of our acquaintance I was
disposed to regard him as an eccentric; but a wider knowledge of
Provencal matters has convinced me that he is a type. Under his genial
guidance it has been my privilege to see much of the inner life of the
Provencaux, and his explanations have enabled me to understand what I
have seen: the Vidame being of an antiquarian and bookish temper, and
never better pleased than when I set him to rummaging in his memory or
his library for the