The Nuptial Flight 



[92] 



" Let us draw nearer. Can you distin- 

 guish the song that blended so well with 

 the whispering of the leaves ? It is 

 made up of abuse and insult ; and when 

 laughter bursts forth, it is due to an ob- 

 scene remark some man or woman has 

 made, to a jest at the expense of the 

 weaker, — of the hunchback unable to lift 

 his load, the cripple they have knocked 

 over, or the idiot whom they make their 

 butt. 



" I have studied these people for many 

 years. We are in Normandy ; the soil is 

 rich and easily tilled. Around this stack 

 of corn there is rather more comfort than 

 one would usually associate with a scene 

 of this kind. The result is that most 

 of the men, and many of the women, are 

 alcoholic. Another poison also, which 

 I need not name, corrodes the race. To 

 323 



