[THE PARROT]
I
Everybody in Fécamp knew Mother Patin's story. She had certainly been
unfortunate with her husband, for in his lifetime he used to beat her,
just as wheat is threshed in the barn.
He was master of a fishing bark and had married her, formerly, because
she was pretty, although poor.
Patin was a good sailor, but brutal. He used to frequent Father
Auban's inn, where he would usually drink four or five glasses of
brandy, on lucky days eight or ten glasses and even more, according to
his mood. The brandy was served to the customers by Father Auban's
daughter, a pleasing brunette, who attracted people to the house only
by her pretty face, for nothing had ever been gossiped about her.
Patin, when he entered the inn, would be satisfied to look at her and
to compliment her politely and respectfully. After he had had his
first glass of brandy he would already find her much nicer; at the
second he would wink; at the third he would say: "If you were only
willing, Mam'zelle Désirée----" without ever finishing his sentence;
at the fourth he would try to hold her back by her skirt in order to
kiss her; and when he went as high as ten it was Father Auban who
brought him the remaining drinks.
The old innkeeper, who knew all the tricks of the trade, made Désirée
walk about between the tables in order to increase the consumption of
drinks; and Désirée, who was a worthy daughter of Father Auban,
flitted around among the benches and joked with them, her lips smiling
and her eyes sparkling.
Patin got so well accustomed to Désirée's face that he thought of it
even while at sea, when throwing out his nets, in storms or in calms,
on moonlit or dark evenings. He thought of her while holding the
tiller in the stern of his boat, while his four companions were
slumbering with their heads on their arms. He always saw her, smiling,
pouring out the yellow brandy with a peculiar shoulder movement and
then exclaiming as she turned away: "There, now; are you satisfied?"
He saw her so much in his mind's eye that he was overcome by an
irresistible desire to marry her, and, not being able to hold out any
longer, he asked for her hand.