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. : 
“‘T 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 
333 
