"Well, this one looks to me very much like him. You don't see this monster's feet, because he has them folded under him, like the Turks; as for his eyes, they are turned toward the straw, luckily for us; for the eyes of such creatures often emit a deadly poison. The more I look at that skin and that mane—yes, it's a sea-lion, that must have found its way here from Normandie."
"A sea-lion!" repeated the peasants; "are they ugly?"
"Parbleu! they eat a man as if he was an oyster."
"Oh! mon Dieu! What shall we do? how shall we catch him?"
"Perhaps he's dead," said Claudine; "he ain't changed his position since this morning."
"Dead? where's the man who'll go and find out?"
"What if you should give him a shot?" suggested the mayor.
"To fire at him is taking a great risk; the bullet often glances off of their skin."
"Aim at his ear."
"I should have to see it, first."