n in
the ribbed vaults, and the coats of arms on the doors were eaten away
and covered in moss. Chickens were scratching around in the main
courtyard, pigs were wallowing under the fine columned galleries, an
ass was grazing in the chapel overgrown with grass, and pigeons were
drinking from the huge rain-water filled fonts. Finally, amongst the
rubble, two or three peasant families had built huts for themselves
against the walls of the old palace.

Then, one fine day, the son of one the peasants, develops a great
passion for the grand ruins and is indignant to see them thus profaned.
Quickly, he chases the livestock out of the courtyard and the muses
come to help. He rebuilds the great staircase on his own, replaces the
wood panelling on the walls, the glass in the windows, rebuilds the
towers, re-gilds the throne room, and puts the one-time immense palace,
where Popes and Emperors stayed, back on its pediments.

This restored palace: the Provencal language.

The peasant's son: Mistral.

THE THREE LOW MASSES

_A Christmas Story._

I

--Two turkeys stuffed with truffles, Garrigou?...

--Yes, reverend, two magnificent turkeys, bursting out of their skins
with truffles. I know something about it; it was I who helped to stuff
them. It's fair to say that their skins are so tight, that a good
roasting would split them....

--Jesus and Mary! I really do love truffles!... Give me my surplice
quickly, Garrigou.... Is there anything else, apart from the turkeys,
that you have _noticed_ in the kitchen?...

--Oh! All sorts of good things.... We've done nothing but pluck birds
since midday; pheasants, hoopoes, hazel grouse, and common grouse.
Feathers flying everywhere. And from the lake; eels, golden carp,
trout, and some ...

--How fat are the trout, Garrigou?

--As fat as your arm, reverend.... Enormous!...

--Oh, God! I think I've seen them.... Have you put wine in the cruets?

--Yes, reverend, I have put wine in the cruets.... But I assure you,
it's nothing compared with what you will want to drink after you leave
midnight mass. If you saw what was in the chateau's dining room, all
the flaming carafes full of wine of all types.... And the silver
dishes, the carved centre pieces, the flowers, the candelabras.... No
one will ever have seen a Christmas dinner like this one. The Marquis
has invited all the noble lords in the neighbourhood. There'll be at
least forty at the sitting, not including the baili