"I have learned,"said Jasmin of himself,"that in moments of heat and emotion we may be eloquent or laconic,alike in speech and action--unconscious poets,in fact;but I have also learned that it is possible for a poet to become all this voluntarily by dint of patient toil and conscientious labour!"Jasmin was not the man to rest upon his laurels.Shortly after his visit to Paris in 1842,he began to compose his Martha the Innocent,which we have already briefly described.Two years later he composed Les Deux Freres Jumeaux--a story of paternal and motherly affection.This was followed by his Ma Bigno ('My Vineyard'),and La Semaine d'un Fils ('The Week's Work of a Son'),which a foot-note tells us is historical,the event having recently occurred in the neighbourhood of Agen.
A short deion may be given of this affecting story.
The poem is divided into three parts.In the first,a young boy and his sister,Abel and Jeanne,are described as kneeling before a cross in the moonlight,praying to the Virgin to cure their father."Mother of God,Virgin compassionate,send down thine Angel and cure our sick father.Our mother will then be happy,and we,Blessed Virgin,will love and praise thee for ever."The Virgin hears their prayer,and the father is cured.A woman opens the door of a neighbouring house and exclaims joyously,"Poor little ones,death has departed.The poison of the fever is counteracted,and your father's life is saved.Come,little lambs,and pray to God with me."They all three kneel and pray by the side of the good father Hilaire,formerly a brave soldier,but now a mason's labourer.This ends the first part.
The second begins with a deion of morning.The sun shines through the glass of the casement mended with paper,yet the morning rays are bright and glorious.Little Abel glides into his father's room.He is told that he must go to the house of his preceptor to-day,for he must learn to read and write.
Abel is "more pretty than strong;"he is to be an homme de lettres,as his little arms would fail him if he were to handle the rough stones of his father's trade.Father and son embraced each other.
For a few days all goes well,but on the fourth,a Sunday,a command comes from the master mason that if Hilaire does not return to his work to-morrow,his place shall be given to another.This news spreads dismay and consternation among them all.Hilaire declares that he is cured,tries to rise from his bed,but falls prostrate through weakness.It will take a week yet to re-establish his health.
The soul of little Abel is stirred.He dries his tears and assumes the air of a man;he feels some strength in his little arms.He goes out,and proceeds to the house of the master mason.When he returns,he is no longer sorrowful:honey was in his mouth,and his eyes were smiling."He said,"My father,rest yourself:gain strength and courage;you have the whole week before you.Then you may labour.Some one who loves you will do your work,and you shall still keep your place."Thus ends the second part.
The third begins:"Behold our little Abel,who no longer toils at the school-desk,but in the workshop.In the evenings he becomes again a petit monsieur;and,the better to deceive his father,speaks of books,papers,and writings,and with a wink replies to the inquiring look of his mother (et d'un clin d'oeil repond aux clins des yeux de sa mere).Four days pass thus.