The
Woodcutter’s Dog
In the Forest of Lions, not far from the village of La Goupilière and close to a fine well which belongs to St. Mathurin’s Chapel, lived a kindly soul, a woodcutter by trade, who was called Brisquet, or, as often as not, the Man with the Trusty Axe.
He and his wife, whose name was Brisquette, lived poorly enough on the sale of his faggots. God had given them two pretty children—a seven year old boy, who was dark and was called Biscotin, and Biscotine, a girl of six who was very fair.
They had, besides, a dog, a curly-haired mongrel, which was all black except for its nose, and that was red as fire. They called it Bichonne.
You may remember the time when such numbers of wolves swarmed in the Forest of Lions. It was the year of the Great Snow, when the poor folk found it so hard to keep alive. The misery in the country was dreadful.
