This is post #13 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.
LA FLEUR
They both set off on foot, chasing the mule laden with gold before them. Two hours before sunset, they arrived at the bottom of a mountain so steep, so high, that neither the two men nor their beast could climb it.
At this moment a woman was passing, black as the hearth, and old as a road.
"Good evening my friends. Do you want me to put you out of trouble?"
"You, poor old woman? And what can you do for us?"
The woman, black as the hearth, and old as a road, blew. Immediately, all three found themselves carried, with the mule loaded with gold, to the summit of the mountain.
“My friends, I am the Mother of the Winds. My children are traveling. I wait for them, an hour after sunset. But I have nothing to make them dinner, and I'm afraid they'll beat me.
"Do not be afraid, Mother of the Winds. Hold. Here are a hundred crowns. Go quickly and buy something for supper.
"Thank you, my friends. Come into my house. I'm going to get some food."
Five minutes later, the Mother of the Winds returned, laden with bread, meat, and wine. While the pans and the spit were doing their dance, the old woman said to La Fleur and his valet:
“My friends, eat, drink, quickly, and retire to this room. My sons are coming home. I don't want them to see you."
"Mother of the Winds, you will be obeyed."
A quarter of an hour later, they heard a hellish Sabbath. It was the Winds returning from their journey.
“At the table, my sons. You won't beat me tonight."
The Winds sat down laughing.
“Ah! Ah! mother! What a soup! What a roast! And what wine, mother! What wine! »
At the roast, the Winds were feasting and clinking glasses.
“To your health, mother."
"To your health, my children."
"What are you doing tomorrow, Wind of Bayonne?
"Tomorrow, I will blow on the great sea, and destroy many ships."
"And you, Wind of Bise?"
"I am going to blow over the city of Paris, and properly shake the Louvre of the King of France."
"And you, North Wind?"
"As for me, the Pope will hear from me. I will blow over the city of Rome."
"And you, Wind of Autan?"
"I will blow on the city of Jerusalem, and break the great trees in the Holy Land."
The master and the valet listened, hidden in the small room.
“Ah! This is good to know."
When supper was over, the Winds took off their coats and their big boots and went to bed. At midnight they were up. Then, La Fleur and his valet said to the Wind of Autan:
“Hello, Wind of Autan. Do you want something to laugh about with your brothers for a long time, like last night?"
"Yes, certainly."
"Well, Vent d’Autan, here is a mule loaded with gold. It's yours if you take us to Jerusalem."
"Poor people, you will never be able to follow me."
"Wind of Autan, this is our problem."
"Well, let's go. Let me just hide my gold, and I will put on my big boots."
While the Wind of Autan hid his gold, La Fleur and his valet each jumped into one of his big boots.
They were in the boots just in time. The Wind of Autan put on his boots.
"Master, valet, are you there?”
"Yes."
The Wind of Autan set off through the clouds. Twenty times an hour, he shouted deafeningly:
“Master, valet, are you there?”
"Yes."
Source: La Fleur, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 1, published in 1886.
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
I don't know if many countries name some particular wind, but we do that in France.
The best-known winds in France are:
- The Mistral, is a strong, cold, northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Mediterranean Sea. (Wikipedia)
- The Tramontane in France is a strong, dry cold wind from the north (on the Mediterranean) or from the northwest (in lower Languedoc, Roussillon). (Also Wikipedia).
The Wind of Autan (Vent d'Autan) is the opposite wind of the Tramontane. It blows from the southeast. It is said that it can make you crazy. It is sometimes called the Wind of the Devil (le vent du diable).
So, it is very surprising that the Wind of Autan says that he will blow on the city of Jerusalem, which is in the opposite direction of where he is blowing.
I could not find any indication about the Wind of Bayonne, but I suspect that it is the local name of the equivalent of the Alpine föhn for the Pyrenees.
I left the vineyard house in Pécs at 5:45 this morning, one hour before sunset. And I arrived at a hotel near Stuttgart five minutes after four in the afternoon. A trip of 10 hours and 20 minutes.
I crossed to border, as I went from Hungary to Austria, then from Austria to Germany.
As the three countries are members of the Schengen Area, I did not stop at any of the two borders.
In the three countries, I saw several green bridges that allow wildlife to cross the motorways safely.
Green bridges are usually not far from road bridges. To prevent animals from going on the motorways, there are fences on both sides. So, any big animal that wants to cross to the other side of a motorway could go on a road the cross the motorway through a bridge. This is not desirable. So, to prevent this, green bridges are used to allow the animals to cross the motorway. It reduces the number of accidents and is good for the wildlife.
The hotel I am in has no reception. There is nobody that gives you the key to your room. Instead, I was sent an email with the room number and a code. The instructions to open the door are displayed on the right of the door.
You have to use the code to open a small box that contains a fob, and then use the fob to open the door.
-- Vincent Celier