EL LADO OSCURO DE LAS CANCIONES INFANTILES

 Ah, las canciones infantiles. Las que nos cantaban nuestras madres, tías, abuelas y/o maestras de parvulario. Qué recuerdos nos despiertan... Bien, bien, bien... ¿y si os dijera que algunas de estas cancioncillas tienen un origen más bien siniestro? He aquí cuatro populares canciones infantiles que llegaron a este país de Sagitario traducidas del francés, y cuya versión original es mucho más oscura y violenta que las que se transmiten de boca a oreja en las nurseries españolas:

1. Le petit navire / El barquito chiquitito

"Il était un petit navire,

Il était un petit navire..."

"Había una vez

un barquito chiquitito..."

Para quien no se acuerde: trata de este barquito que hace un viaje de varias semanas y, ¿cómo no?, se acaban los víveres a bordo. Tras dar cuenta del gato de a bordo y de las ratas de las que éste se alimentaba (ésto no sale en la letra, pero lo intuyo), la tripulación se ve obligada a comerse sus botines con salsa roja, roja, roja y a la nuez, lo cual les mantiene vivos y en pie hasta que llegan a puerto. Esto en la versión española. En la original francesa, toman medidas más drásticas que alimentarse de su calzado: echan a suertes a ver quién saca la pajita de trigo más corta para matar y comerse al desgraciado que la saque. Como lo oyes, recurren al canibalismo. Y, ¿quién será ese pobre pecador que saca la pajita más corta? Pues el grumete, el tripulante más joven de todos, que sólo es un niño pequeño. Para más inri, tienen varias salsas a bordo (les quedarán después de haberse zampado al gato y a las ratas), y el capitán y los oficiales discuten sobre con qué salsa servir la carne del muchacho, del que no dejarán ni el pompón rojo del gorro. Tienen a un grumete por degollar y uno quiere hacerlo con salsa termidor, otro con salsa Robert y un tercero en fricassé. Se están muriendo de inanición pero son franceses, al fin y al cabo. ¿Y el chico? Viéndose en tal situación y desesperado, recuerda que es ferviente católico y reza: "Santa María, Estrella de los Mares, ten piedad..." Y le pide al capitán, por último deseo, que hagan una última pesca antes de matarle y devorarle. Todos echan las cañas por la borda y sacan unos bacalaos así de grandes, lo cual les mantiene vivos y en pie hasta que llegan a puerto, y le salva la vida al renacuajo del grumete, que no merecía morir tan joven. Si no fuera por la Virgen... El final feliz religioso es un poco forzado como lección de fe, con su virgo ex machina que recuerda en cierto modo a Atenea en Las Euménides, pero lo que sucede antes es fortísimo e inspirado en hechos reales, como el canibalismo entre los supervivientes tras el naufragio de un barco llamado Méduse, hecho que inspiró el famoso cuadro La balsa de la Medusa que se ha parodiado hasta la saciedad en el cómic francobelga.

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2. Il était une bergère / Estaba una pastora

"Il était une bergère

et ron, et ron, petit Patapon..."

"Estaba una pastora,

laray, laray, larito..."

La pastora tiene un gatito que juega con los quesitos que ella ha hecho con la leche de su rebaño, tanto en la versión española como en la francesa. Ella, cómo no, se enfada, saca su cuchillo, y corre la sangre de su mascota. En la versión castellana, la pastora le corta el rabito. En la francesa, el gato, que se llama "le petit Patapon" como narra el estribillo, paga sus travesuras con la vida. La canción acaba así, con la pastora que mata a su gatito, que, en mi humilde opinión, no merecía morir. Los mininos pueden ser muy traviesos: mis propias mascotas bigotudas me han hecho bastantes barrabasadas, me han roto objetos frágiles (lo más parecido a arruinarme un quesito), pero nunca he derramado ni gota de su sangre: lo único que les he hecho ha sido sonarles el ano. Nuestra pastora debería de haber estado muy furiosa y haberse tomado muy a pecho lo de los quesitos... y debería de haber estado muy arrepentida tras haber acabado con su querido Patapon en la versión francesa. Algunas ilustraciones francesas la muestran acunándolo y llorando como una magdalena, en plan Piedad vaticana. Al menos el minino en la versión española simplemente se queda o colicorto o castrado, dependiendo de cómo interpretes la palabra "rabito". No sé cuál de las tres canciones es más fuerte, si la pastora, el barquito chiquitito o ésta que viene a continuación:

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3. Malbrough s'en va-t'en guerre / Mambrú se fue a la guerra

"Malbrough s'en va-t'en guerre,

mironton, mironton, mirontaine..."

"Mambrú se fue a la guerra,

mire usted, mire usted qué pena..."

Versión española: Mambrú, un líder militar por lo que parece, se va a la guerra y su esposa le espera en su castillo. No sabe si volverá por Pascuas o para Navidad, pero, como no se presenta ni para las fiestas invernales, ella sigue esperándole como buena damisela. Aquí se trunca la versión española, pero la versión francesa continúa. Ella sube a la torre más alta para otear el horizonte y ve que viene del frente un paje mensajero. Éste le cuenta lo peor que puede sucederle: que su marido ha muerto en combate y que ha visto cuatro oficiales llevando sus armas. Y que ha visto incluso a su fantasma aparecer entre los laureles. También describe cómo se celebró la misa de réquiem y cómo cada uno volvió a su hogar tras ella. La canción concluye con una nota ligeramente esperanzadora, pero aún así es bastante siniestra... estar esperando a tu esposo durante prácticamente un año y luego que venga un mensajero del frente y te diga que ha muerto en combate tu esposo el líder militar... Lo interesante es que María Antonieta ayudó a popularizar esta canción, junto con sus niñeras la cantaban mucho a los hijos de María Antonieta, Teresita y Luisito: la canción se propagó por todo Versalles, de allí a París, de allí a las provincias de Francia, de allá por toda Europa... Mambrú se volvió un fenómeno viral, y hubo una década en que llegó a eclipsar a Mozart en cuanto a popularidad. Así fue como llegó a España. Pero lo interesante es que la canción es una fantasía de poder de los franceses, que María Antonieta había aprendido de las niñeras de Versalles. Ella era hija de la emperatriz de Austria, que la había casado con la realeza francesa por poderes, para fomentar una alianza contra los prusianos. Austria y Francia habían estado enemistadas tiempo atrás... y el duque de "Mambrú", el duque de Marlborough originalmente, no había muerto en combate, sino que había muerto de viejo, y había tenido una vida larga y madura. Había sido un general británico al servicio de los Habsburgo de Austria, la familia materna de María Antonieta. Qué curioso... En resumen, la canción era una fantasía de poder y una ucronía que describía cómo les hubiera gustado a los franceses del XVIII que hubieran sido las cosas unas décadas antes...

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4. Jean Petit qui danse / El Joan Petit quan balla

(esta está en valenciano / catalán pero aún así la ponemos porque tiene un origen francés e igual de oscuro)

"Jean Petit qui danse,

Jean Petit qui danse,

Jean Petit qui danse,

danse de son doigt,

de son doigt, doigt, doigt...

(de sa main, main, main,

de son coude, coude, coude, etc.)"

"El Joan Petit quan balla,

balla, balla, balla,

el Joan Petit quan balla,

balla amb el dit,

amb el dit, dit, dit,

(amb la mà, mà, mà,

amb el colze, colze, colze, etc.)"

Y ustedes dirán, es una hermosa coreografía para enseñar las partes del cuerpo a los más pequeños. Eso es lo que parece, pero el origen también es bastante oscuro. Remontémonos a Occitania, región francesa cercana a los Países Catalanes y donde aún hay gente que habla un dialecto del catalán, en el siglo XVII, en plena Guerra de los Treinta Años. Por aquella época, como protesta contra los abusos de los poderosos de turno, hubo una revuelta popular liderada por un artesano llamado Jean Petit, Joan Petit en catalán occitano. La revuelta fue reprimida con violencia, y su desgraciado líder, ejecutado mediante el suplicio de la rueda. Ataron a Jean Petit a una gran rueda de madera y le rompieron todas las articulaciones a martillazos mientras la rueda daba vueltas y vueltas. Así que cuando Joan Petit "balla amb el dit, dit, dit, amb la mà, mà, mà, amb el colze, colze, colze..." es que le han roto esas articulaciones y se mueven al compás de las vueltas de la rueda.

THE BANNER OF BEAUMANOIR

A Story from the North - and the French Revolution

Skylarks were singing in the clear sky over Dinan, the hill-sides were white with hosts of blooming cherry-trees, and the valley golden with willow blossoms. The gray tower of the good Duchess Anne was hung with garlands of ivy and gay with tufts of fragrant wallflowers, and along the fosse the shadows deepened daily as the young leaves thickened on the interlacing branches overhead. Women sang while they beat their clothes by the pool; wooden shoes clattered to and fro as the girls brought water from the fountain in Place St. Louis; men, with their long hair, embroidered jackets, and baggy breeches, drank cider at the inn doors; and the great Breton horses shook their high collars till the bells rang again, as they passed along the roads that wound between wide fields of colza, buckwheat, and clover.

Up at the château, which stood near the ruins of the ancient castle, the great banner streamed in the wind, showing, as its folds blew out, the device and motto of the Beaumanoirs—two clasped hands and the legend, "En tout chemin loyauté." In the courtyard, hounds brayed, horses pranced, and servants hurried about; for the count was going to hunt the wild boars. Presently, away they went, with the merry music of horns, the clatter of hoofs, and the blithe ring of voices, till the pleasant clamor died away in the distant woods, where mistletoe clung to the great oaks, and menhirs and dolmens and circles of stones, mysterious relics of the Druids, were to be seen.

From one of the windows of the château-tower a boy's face looked out, full of eager longing,—a fine, strong face, but sullen now, with black brows, dark, restless eyes, and lips set, as if rebellious thoughts were stirring in his mind. He watched the gay cavalcade disappear, until a sunny silence settled over the landscape, broken only by the larks and the sound of a girl's voice singing. As he listened, the frown smoothed itself from his brow, and his eye brightened when it rested on a blue-gowned, white-capped figure, sprinkling webs of linen, spread to bleach in the green meadow by the river Rance.

"If I may not hunt, I'll away to Yvonne and take a holiday. She can tell better tales than any in this weary book, the bane of my life!"

As he spoke, the boy struck a volume that lay on the wide ledge, with a petulant energy that sent it fluttering down into the courtyard below. Half-ashamed and half-amused, young Gaston peeped to see if this random shot had hit any one. But all was quiet and deserted now; so, with a boyish laugh and a daring glance at the dangerous descent, he said to the doves cooing on the roof overhead: "Here's a fine pretext for escape. Being locked in, how can I get my lesson unless I fetch the book? Tell no tales of the time I linger, and you shall be well fed, my pretty birdies."

Then swinging himself out as if it were no new feat, he climbed boldly down through the ivy that half hid the carved flowers and figures which made a ladder for his agile feet.

The moment he touched ground, he raced away like a hound in full scent to the meadow, where he was welcomed by a rosy, brown-eyed lass, whose white teeth shone as she laughed to see him leap the moat, dodge behind the wall, and come bounding toward her, his hair streaming in the wind, and his face full of boyish satisfaction in this escapade.

"The old tale," he panted, as he threw himself down upon the grass and flung the recovered book beside him. "This dreary Latin drives me mad, and I will not waste such days as this poring over dull pages like a priest, when I should be hunting like a knight and gentleman."

"Nay, dear Gaston, but you ought, for obedience is the first duty of the knight, and honor of the gentleman," answered the girl, in a soft, reproachful tone, which seemed to touch the lad, as the voice of a master tames a high-mettled horse.

"Had Père Nevin trusted to my honor, I would not have run away; but he locked me in, like a monk in a cell, and that I will not bear. Just one hour, Yvonne, one little hour of freedom, then I will go back, else there will be no sport for me tomorrow," said the lad, recklessly pulling up the bluets that starred the grass about him.

"Ah, if I were set to such a task, I would so gladly learn it, that I might be a fitter friend for you," said the girl, reverently turning the pages of the book she could not read.

"No need of that; I like you as you are, and by my faith, I doubt your great willingness, for when I last played tutor and left you to spell out the pretty legend of St. Coventin and his little fish, I found you fast asleep with the blessed book upon the floor," laughed Gaston, turning the tables on his mentor, with great satisfaction.

The girl laughed also as she retorted, "My tutor should not have left me to play with his dogs. I bore my penance better than you, and did not run away. Come now, we'll be merry. Will you talk, or shall I sing, while you rest this hot head, and dream of horse and hound and spearing the wild boars or deer?" added Yvonne, smoothing the locks of hair scattered on the grass, with a touch as gentle as if the hand were that of a lady, and not that of a peasant, rough with hard work.

"Since I may not play a man's part yet, amuse me like a boy, with the old tales your mother used to tell, when we watched the fagots blaze in the winter nights. It is long since I have heard one, and I am never tired hearing of the deeds I mean to match, if not outdo, some day.

"Let me think a bit till I remember your favorites, and do you listen to the bees above there in the willow, setting you a good example, idle boy," said Yvonne, spreading a coarse apron for his head, while she sat beside him racking her brain for tales to beguile this truant hour.

Her father was the count's forester, and when the countess had died some sixteen years before, leaving a month-old boy, good dame Gillianne had taken the motherless baby, and nursed and reared him with her little girl, so faithfully and tenderly that the count never could forget the loyal service. As babies, the two slept in one cradle; as children they played and quarrelled together; and as boy and girl they defended, comforted, and amused each other. But time brought inevitable changes, and both felt that the hour of separation was near; for, while Yvonne went on leading the peasant life to which she was born, Gaston was receiving the education befitting a young count. The chaplain, Père Nevin, taught him to read and write, with lessons in sacred history, and a little Latin; of the forester he learned woodcraft; and his own lord father taught him horsemanship and the use of arms, accomplishments considered all-important in those days.

Gaston cared nothing for books, except such as told tales of chivalry; but dearly loved athletic sports, and at sixteen rode the most fiery horse without a fall, handled a sword admirably, could kill a boar or deer at the first shot, and longed ardently for war, that he might prove himself a man. A brave, high-spirited, generous boy, with a very tender spot in his heart for the good woman who had been a mother to him, and his little foster-sister, whose idol he was. For days he seemed to forget these humble friends, and led the gay, active life of his age and rank; but if wounded in the chase, worried by the chaplain, disappointed in any plan, or in disgrace for any prank, he turned instinctively to Dame Gillianne and Yvonne, sure of help and comfort for mind and body.

Companionship with him had refined the girl, and given her glimpses of a world into which she could never enter, yet where she could follow with eager eyes and high hopes the fortunes of this dear Gaston, who was both her prince and her brother. Her influence over him was great, for she was of a calm and patient nature, as well as brave and prudent beyond her years. His will was law; yet in seeming to obey, she often led him, and he thanked her for the courage with which she helped him to control his fiery temper and strong will. Now, as she glanced at him she saw that he was already growing more tranquil, under the soothing influences of the murmuring river, the soft flicker of the sunshine, and a blessed sense of freedom.

So, while she twisted her distaff, she told the stirring tales of warriors, saints, and fairies, whom all Breton peasants honor, love, and fear. But best of all was the tale of Gaston's own ancestor, Jehan de Beaumanoir, "the hero of Ploërmel, where, when sorely wounded and parched with thirst, he cried for water, and Geoffrey du Bois answered, like a grim old warrior as he was, 'Drink thy blood, Beaumanoir, and the thirst will pass;' and he drank, and the battle madness seized him, and he slew ten men, winning the fight against great odds, to his everlasting glory."

"Ah, those were the times to live in! If they could only come again, I would be a second Jehan!"

Gaston sprung to his feet as he spoke, all aglow with the warlike ardor of his race, and Yvonne looked up at him, sure that he would prove himself a worthy descendant of the great baron and his wife, the daughter of the brave Du Guesclin.

"But you shall not be treacherously killed, as he was; for I will save you, as the peasant woman saved poor Gilles de Bretagne when starving in the tower, or fight for you, as Jeanne d'Arc fought for her lord," answered Yvonne, dropping her distaff to stretch out her hand to him; for she, too, was on her feet.

Gaston took the faithful hand, and pointing to the white banner floating over the ruins of the old castle, said heartily: "We will always stand by one another, and be true to the motto of our house till death."

"We will!" answered the girl, and both kept the promise loyally, as we shall see.

Just at that moment the sound of hoofs made the young enthusiasts start and look toward the road that wound through the valley to the hill. An old man on a slowly pacing mule was all they saw, but the change that came over both was comical in its suddenness; for the gallant knight turned to a truant school-boy, daunted by the sight of his tutor, while the rival of the Maid of Orleans grew pale with dismay.

"I am lost if he spy me, for my father vowed I should not hunt again unless I did my task. He will see me if I run, and where can I hide till he has past?" whispered Gaston, ashamed of his panic, yet unwilling to pay the penalty of his prank.

But quick-witted Yvonne saved him; for lifting one end of the long web of linen, she showed a hollow whence some great stone had been removed, and Gaston slipped into the green nest, over which the linen lay smoothly when replaced.

On came the chaplain, glancing sharply about him, being of an austere and suspicious nature. He saw nothing, however, but the peasant girl in her quaint cap and wooden sabots, singing to herself as she leaned against a tree, with her earthen jug in her hand. The mule paused in the light shadow of the willows, to crop a mouthful of grass before climbing the hill, and the chaplain seemed glad to rest a moment, for the day was warm and the road dusty.

"Come hither, child, and give me a draught of water," he called, and the girl ran to fill her pitcher, offering it with a low reverence.

"Thanks, daughter! A fine day for the bleaching, but over warm for much travel. Go to your work, child; I will tarry a moment in the shade before I return to my hard task of sharpening a dull youth's wit," said the old man when he had drunk; and with a frowning glance at the room where he had left his prisoner, he drew a breviary from his pocket and began to read, while the mule browsed along the road-side.

Yvonne went to sprinkling the neglected linen, wondering with mingled anxiety and girlish merriment how Gaston fared. The sun shone hotly on the dry cloth, and as she approached the boy's hiding-place, a stir would have betrayed him had the chaplain's eyes been lifted.

"Sprinkle me quickly; I am stifling in this hole," whispered an imploring voice.

"Drink thy blood, Beaumanoir, and the thirst will pass," quoted Yvonne, taking a naughty satisfaction in the ignominious captivity of the willful boy. A long sigh was the only answer he gave, and taking pity on him, she made a little hollow in the linen where she knew his head lay, and poured in water till a choking sound assured her Gaston had enough. The chaplain looked up, but the girl coughed loudly, as she went to refill her jug, with such a demure face that he suspected nothing, and presently ambled away to seek his refractory pupil.

The moment he disappeared, a small earthquake seemed to take place under the linen, for it flew up violently, and a pair of long legs waved joyfully in the air as Gaston burst into a ringing laugh, which Yvonne echoed heartily. Then, springing up, he said, throwing back his wet hair and shaking his finger at her: "You dared not betray me, but you nearly drowned me, wicked girl. I cannot stop for vengeance now; but I'll toss you into the river some day, and leave you to get out as you can."

Then he was off as quickly as he came, eager to reach his prison again before the chaplain came to hear the unlearned lesson. Yvonne watched him till he climbed safely in at the high window and disappeared with a wave of the hand, when she, too, went back to her work, little dreaming what brave parts both were to play in dangers and captivities of which these youthful pranks and perils were but a foreshadowing.

Two years later, in the month of March, 1793, the insurrection broke out in Vendée, and Gaston had his wish; for the old count had been an officer of the king's household, and hastened to prove his loyalty. Yvonne's heart beat high with pride as she saw her foster-brother ride gallantly away beside his lord father, with a hundred armed vassals behind them, and the white banner fluttering above their heads in the fresh springtime wind.

She longed to go with him; but her part was to watch and wait, to hope and pray, till the hour came when she, like many another woman in those days, could prove herself as brave as a man, and freely risk her life for those she loved.

Four months later the heavy tidings reached them that the old count was killed in battle, and Gaston taken prisoner. Great was the lamentation among the old, women, and children left behind; but they had little time for sorrow, for a band of the marauding Vendéeans burned the château, and laid waste to the Abbey.

"Now, mother, I must up and away to find and rescue Gaston. I promised, and if he lives, it shall be done. Let me go; you are safe now, and there is no rest for me till I know how he fares," said Yvonne, when the raid was over, and the frightened peasants ventured to return from the neighboring forests, whither they had hastily fled for protection.

"Go, my girl, and bring me news of our young lord. May you lead him safely home again to rule over us," answered Dame Gillianne, devoted still,—for her husband was reported dead with his master, yet she let her daughter go without a murmur, feeling that no sacrifice was too great.

So Yvonne set out, taking with her Gaston's pet dove Blanchette and the little sum of money carefully hoarded for her marriage portion. The pretty winged creature, frightened by the destruction of its home, had flown to her for refuge, and she had cherished Blanchette for her master's sake. Now, when the dove would not leave her, but came circling around her head a league away from Dinan, she accepted the good omen, and made that bird the sole companion of her perillous journey.

There is no room to tell all the dangers, disappointments, and fatigues endured before she found Gaston; but after being often misled by false rumors, she at last discovered that he was a prisoner in Fort Penthièvre. His own reckless courage had brought him there; for in one of the many skirmishes in which he had taken part, he ventured too far away from his men, and was captured after fighting desperately to cut his way out. Now, alone in his cell, he raged like a caged eagle, feeling that there was no hope of escape; for the fort stood on a plateau of precipitous rock washed on two sides by the waves. He had heard of the massacre of the royalist fugitives who landed there, and tried to prepare himself for a like fate, hoping to die as bravely as young Sombreuil, who was shot with twenty others on what was afterward named the "Champ des Martyrs." His last words, when ordered by the executioner to kneel, were, "I do it; but one knee I bend for the LORD, the other for my King."

Day after day Gaston looked down from his narrow window, past which the seagulls flew screaming, and watched the fishers at their work, the women gathering seaweed on the shore, and the white sails flitting across the bay of Quiberon. Bitterly did he regret the wilfulness which brought him there, well knowing that if he had obeyed orders he would now be free to find his father's body and avenge his death.

"Oh, for one day of liberty, one hope of escape, one friend to cheer this dreadful solitude!" he cried, when weeks had passed and he seemed utterly forgotten.

As he spoke, he shook the heavy bars with impotent strength, then bent his head as if to hide even from himself the few hot tears wrung from him by captivity and despair.

Standing so, with eyes too dim for seeing, something brushed against his hair, and a white bird lit on the narrow ledge. He thought it was a seagull, and paid no heed; but in a moment a soft coo started him, and looking up, he saw a white dove struggling to get in.

"Blanchette!" he cried, and the pretty creature flew to his hand, pecking at his lips in the old caressing way he knew so well.

"My faithful bird, Heaven bless thee!" exclaimed the poor lad, holding the dove close against his cheek to hide the trembling of his lip,—so touched, so glad was he to find in his dreary prison even a dumb friend and comforter.

But Blanchette had her part to play, and presently fluttered back to the window ledge, cooing loudly as she pecked at something underneath her wing.

Then Gaston remembered how he used to send messages to Yvonne by this carrier dove, and with a thrill of joy looked for the token, hardly daring to hope that any would be found. Yes! there, tied carefully among the white feathers, was a tiny roll of paper, with these words rudely written on it:—

"Be ready; help will come. Y."

"The brave girl! the loyal heart! I might have known she would keep her promise, and come to save me;" and Gaston dropped on his knees in gratitude.

Blanchette meantime tripped about the cell on her little rosy feet, ate a few crumbs of the hard bread, dipped her beak in the jug of water, dressed her feathers daintily, then flew to the bars and called him. He had nothing to send back by this sure messenger but a lock of hair, and this he tied with the same thread, in place of the note. Then kissing the bird he bade it go, watching the silver wings flash in the sunshine as it flew away, carrying joy with it and leaving hope behind.

After that the little courier came often unperceived, carrying letters to and fro; for Yvonne sent bits of paper, and Gaston wrote his answers with his blood and a quill from Blanchette's wing. He thus learned how Yvonne was living in a fisher's hut on the beach, and working for his rescue as well as she dared. Every day she might be seen gathering sea-weed on the rocks or twirling her distaff at the door of the dilapidated hut, not as a young girl, but as an old woman; for she had stained her fair skin, put on ragged clothes, and hidden her fresh face under the pent-house cap worn by the women of Quiberon. Her neighbors thought her a poor soul left desolate by the war, and let her live unmolested. So she worked on secretly and steadily, playing her part well, and biding her time till the long hempen rope was made, the sharp file procured unsuspected, and a boat ready to receive the fugitives.

Her plan was perilously simple, but the only one possible; for Gaston was well guarded, and out of that lofty cell it seemed that no prisoner could escape without wings. A bird and a woman lent him those wings, and his daring flight was a nine days' wonder at the fort. Only a youth accustomed to feats of agility and strength could have safely made that dangerous escape along the face of the cliff that rose straight up from the shore. But Gaston was well trained, and the boyish pranks that used to bring him into dire disgrace now helped to save his life.

Thus, when the order came, written in the rude hand he had taught Yvonne long ago, "Pull up the thread which Blanchette will bring at midnight. Watch for a light in the bay. Then come down, and St. Barbare protect you," he was ready; for the tiny file of watch-spring, brought by the white bird, had secretly done its work, and several bars were loose. He knew that the attempt might cost him his life, but was willing to gain liberty even at that price; for imprisonment seemed worse than death to his impatient spirit. The jailer went his last round, the great bell struck the appointed hour, and Gaston stood at the window, straining his eyes to catch the first ray of the promised light, when the soft whir of wings gladdened his ear, and Blanchette arrived, looking scared and wet and weary, for rain fell, the wind blew fitfully, and the poor bird was unused to such wild work as this. But obedient to its training, it flew to its master; and no angel could have been more welcome than the storm-beaten little creature as it nestled in his bosom, while he untangled the lengths of strong thread wound about one of its feet.

He knew what to do, and tying a bit of the broken bar to one end, as a weight, he let it down, praying that no cruel gust would break or blow it away. In a moment a quick jerk at the thread bade him pull again. A cord came up, and when that was firmly secured, a second jerk was the signal for the last and most important haul. Up came the stout rope, knotted here and there to add safety and strength to the hands and feet that were to climb down that frail ladder, unless some cruel fate dashed the poor boy dead upon the rocks below. The rope was made fast to an iron staple inside, the bars were torn away, and Gaston crept through the narrow opening to perch on the ledge without, while Blanchette flew down to tell Yvonne he was coming.

The moment the distant spark appeared, he bestirred himself, set his teeth, and boldly began the dangerous descent. Rain blinded him, the wind beat him against the rock, bruising hands and knees, and the way seemed endless, as he climbed slowly down, clinging with the clutch of a drowning man, and blessing Yvonne for the knots that kept him from slipping when the gusts blew him to and fro. More than once he thought it was all over; but the good rope held fast, and strength and courage nerved heart and limbs. One greater than St. Barbe upheld him, and he dropped at last, breathless and bleeding, beside the faithful Yvonne.

There was no time for words, only a grasp of the hand, a sigh of gratitude, and they were away to the boat that tossed on the wild water with a single rower in his place.

"It is our Noël. I found him looking for you. He is true as steel. In, in, and off, or you are lost!" whispered Yvonne, flinging a cloak about Gaston, thrusting a purse, a sword, and a flask into his hand, and holding the boat while he leaped in.

"But you?" he cried; "I cannot leave you in peril, after all you have dared and done for me."

"No one suspects me; I am safe. Go to my mother; she will hide you, and I will follow soon."

Waiting for no further speech, she pushed the boat off, and watched it vanish in the darkness; then went away to give thanks, and rest after her long work and excitement.

Gaston reached home safely, and Dame Gillianne concealed him in the ruins of the Abbey, till anxiety for Yvonne drove him out to seek and rescue in his turn. For she did not come, and when a returning soldier brought word that she had been arrested in her flight, and sent to Nantes, Gaston could not rest, but disguising himself as a peasant, went to find her, accompanied by faithful Noël, who loved Yvonne, and would gladly die for her and his young master. Their hearts sunk when they discovered that she was in the Boufflay, an old fortress, once a royal residence, and now a prison, crowded with unfortunate and innocent creatures, arrested on the slightest pretexts, and guillotined or drowned by the infamous Carrier. Hundreds of men and women were there, suffering terribly, and among them was Yvonne, brave still, but with no hope of escape; for few were saved, and then only by some lucky accident. Like a sister of mercy she went among the poor souls crowded together in the great halls, hungry, cold, sick, and despairing, and they clung to her as if she were some strong, sweet saint who could deliver them or teach them how to die.

After some weeks of this terrible life, her name was called one morning, on the list for that day's execution, and she rose to join the sad procession setting forth.

"Which is it to be?" she asked, as she passed one of the men who guarded them, a rough fellow, whose face was half hidden by a shaggy stubble.

"You will be drowned; we have no time to waste on women;" was the brutal answer; but as the words passed his lips, a slip of paper was pressed into her hand, and these words breathed into her ear by a familiar voice: "I am here!"

It was Gaston, in the midst of enemies, bent on saving her at the risk of his life, remembering all he owed her, and the motto of his race. The shock of this discovery nearly betrayed them both, and turned her so white that the woman next her put her arm about her, saying sweetly:—

"Courage, my sister; it is soon over."

"I fear nothing now!" cried Yvonne, and went on to take her place in the cart, looking so serene and happy that those about her thought her already fit for heaven.

No need to repeat the dreadful history of the Noyades; it is enough to say that in the confusion of the moment Yvonne found opportunity to read and destroy the little paper, which said briefly:—

"When you are flung into the river, call my name and float. I shall be near."

She understood, and being placed with a crowd of wretched women on the old vessel which lay in the river Loire, she employed every moment in loosening the rope that tied her hands, and keeping her eye on the tall, bearded man who moved about seeming to do his work, while his blood boiled with suppressed wrath, and his heart ached with unavailing pity. It was dusk before the end came for Yvonne, and she was all unnerved by the sad sights she had been forced to see; but when rude hands seized her, she made ready for the plunge, sure that Gaston would "be near." He was, for in the darkness and uproar, he could leap after her unseen, and while she floated, he cut the rope, then swam down the river with her hand upon his shoulder till they dared to land. Both were nearly spent with the excitement and exertion of that dreadful hour; but Noël waited for them on the shore and helped Gaston carry poor Yvonne into a deserted house, where they gave her fire, food, dry garments, and the gladdest welcome one human creature ever gave to another.

Being a robust peasant, the girl came safely through hardships that would have killed or crazed a frailer creature; and she was soon able to rejoice with the brave fellows over this escape, so audaciously planned and so boldly carried out. They dared stay but a few hours, and before dawn were hastening through the least frequented ways toward home, finding safety in the distracted state of the country, which made fugitives no unusual sight, and refugees plentiful. One more adventure, and that a happy one, completed their joy, and turned their flight into a triumphant march.

Pausing in the depths of the great forest of Hunaudaye to rest, the two young men went to find food, leaving Yvonne to tend the fire and make ready to cook the venison they hoped to bring. It was nightfall, and another day would see them in Dinan, they hoped; but the lads had consented to pause for the girl's sake, for she was worn out with their rapid flight. They were talking of their adventures in high spirits, when Gaston laid his hand on Noël's mouth and pointed to a green slope before them. An early moon gave light enough to show them a dark form moving quickly into the coppice, and something like the antlers of a stag showed above the tall brakes before they vanished. "Slip around and drive him this way. I never miss my aim, and we will sup royally tonight," whispered Gaston, glad to use the arms with which they had provided themselves.

Noël slipped away, and presently a rustle in the wood betrayed the cautious approach of the deer. But he was off before a shot could be fired, and the disappointed hunters followed long and far, resolved not to go back empty-handed. They had to give it up, however, and were partially consoled by a large rabbit, which Noël flung over his shoulder, while Gaston, forgetting caution, began to sing an old song the women of Brittany love so well:—

"Quand vous étiez, captif, Bertrand, fils de Bretagne,
Tous les fuseaux tournaient aussi dans la campagne."

He got no further, for the stanza was finished by a voice that had often joined in the ballad, when Dame Gillianne sang it to the children, as she spun:—

"Chaque femme apporte son écheveau de lin;
Ce fut votre rançon, Messire du Guesclin."

Both paused, thinking that some spirit of the wood mocked them; but a loud laugh, and a familiar "Holo! holo!" made Noël cry, "The forester!" while Gaston dashed headlong into the thicket whence the sound came, there to find the jolly forester, indeed, with a slain deer by his side, waiting to receive them with open arms.

"I taught you to stalk the deer, and spear the boar, not to hunt your fellow human creatures, my lord. But I forgive you, for it was well done, and I had a hard run to escape," he said, still laughing.

"But how came you here?" cried both the youths, in great excitement; for the good man was supposed to be dead, with his old master.

"A long tale, for which I have a short and happy answer. Come home to supper with me, and I'll show you a sight that will gladden hearts and eyes," he answered, shouldering his load and leading the way to a deserted hermitage, which had served many a fugitive for a shelter. As they went, Gaston poured out his story, and told how Yvonne was waiting for them in the wood.

"Brave lads! and here is your reward," answered the forester, pushing open the door and pointing to the figure of a man, with a pale face and bandaged head, lying asleep beside the fire.

It was the count, sorely wounded, but alive, thanks to his devoted follower, who had saved him when the fight was over; and after weeks of concealment, suffering, and anxiety, had brought him so far toward home.

No need to tell of the happy meeting that night, nor of the glad return; for, though the château was in ruins and lives were still in danger, they all were together, and the trials they had passed through only made the ties of love and loyalty between high and low more true and tender. Good Dame Gillianne housed them all, and nursed her master back to health. Yvonne and Noël had a gay wedding in the course of time, and Gaston went to the wars again. A new château rose on the ruins of the old, and when the young lord took possession, he replaced the banner that was lost with one of fair linen, spun and woven by the two women who had been so faithful to him and his kin, but added a white dove above the clasped hands and golden legend, never so true as now,—

"En tout chemin loyauté."

KRONPRINZ FRIEDRICH IN KÜSTRIN

Kronprinz Friedrich in Küstrin

Von Franz Lüdtke.

Er schritt durch die Zelle, die Zelle war eng.
er trug nicht Sporen, nicht Waffengehäng;
durch vergitterte Fenster das Grauen blickt,
kein Schlafrock hüllte ihn, seidengestickt.
Ein hölzerner Schemel sein ganzes Fauteuil,
die Bibel vor ihm – kein Voltaire, kein Corneille.
Aus Wänden und Decken der Schatten fiel,
Rattenrascheln statt Flötenspiel.

Aus Schatten aber löst sich's und hallt,
es wächst zum Schemen, es wird Gestalt,
es rührt ihm die Schulter, es rüttelt ihn:
ein blasser Leutnant vom Hof in Küstrin.

Der blasse Leutnant blickt ihn an,
er flüstert, er bittet, er schreit: »Werde Mann!«

Mann ... Die Wände hallen es nach,
Mann ... es zittert um Turm und Dach,
Mann ... es schwingt übers breite Land,
Mann ... es hält den Prinzen gebannt,
packt seine Seele, schüttelt ihn:
das Wort des Leutnants vom Hof in Küstrin.

Da schaut er sein Ich, und sein Ich ist tief,
da fühlt er Kraft, die im Dunkeln schlief,
er spürt Erwachen aus wirrem Traum,
er greift ins Leben, will Atem, Raum –
da – wird er Mann! Wird König! Genie!
Da drängen sich Leuthen und Sanssouci
ahnend in einer Stunde Schlag.
Die Schatten weichen, es flutet der Tag!
Und zum letztenmal salutiert am Kamin
der blasse Leutnant vom Hof in Küstrin.

LES ENFANTS DE LA PATRIE

This is a short story I wrote in my teens, when I learned about the French Revolution at class. It was first written by hand in Catalan, then my mother translated it into French... then I Englished it and put it on the cloud.
The story is about how two young men cross paths because of the Revolution: an aristocratic fortress prisoner and a common-born officer of the garrison.
The illustration is mine as well, I drew it with Paint to illustrate the story.

LES ENFANTS DE LA PATRIE

A STORY FROM THE 1790S

By Sandra Dermark

It was quite dark and lonely in there, but René had got finally used to it. Though he wasn’t certain of when, he was sure he should be executed.

Suddenly, he caught sight of the candle-light. It was a little flickering flame that gave away some of its precious glow and warmth to all of his self.

Through the faint light of the candle, René could discern some glittering bayonets and the shimmering lace on the officer’s uniform, and the keyring on the officer’s waist.

Then he felt once more the temptation of snatching the keychain, but this time the officer looked at his blemished face with uncanny sympathy.

This evening, as he was offered supper, the officer was there, staring at René through the bars and introducing himself:

-Me, Lieutenant Étienne Leroux. Been here for three weeks.

-Me, Viscount René Charles D’Arcy. Been here for...

The most surprising thing was their resemblance to each other. Stripped of his wig and face paint, the aristocrat was the spitting image of the lieutenant. Both were in their early twenties, well-shaped, and handsome, with nut-brown hair, hazel eyes, and fine features. They could as well have been twin brothers.

-What’s going on, Lieutenant? -both could hear. Looking over his shoulder slightly, Étienne replied:

-Nothing at all...

Then the candle-light was out of sight and one of them returned upstairs, to the officers’ quarters, while the other lay down on the cold, hard floor that bruised his fair skin.

Evenings came and went as they learned to know each other, wishing for the grate to vanish and staring at each other by the mild candle-light.

René, in those tattered and old-fashioned frilly garments, and Étienne, in that handsome blue uniform with glittering epaulettes and short sword by his side, burst one of those evenings into laughter at unison... perchance because, through elusive appearances, the past self of each one was betrayed through the eyes and clothes of the other. And one turned out to be more refined, the other more modest.

Their complementary stories resounded through the conscience of both when the time to say goodbye came every night.

The young viscount, René, was known throughout the Château Versailles for his extravagant form of acting. He was seen in the ballrooms, at the tennis court, in the woods during the deer hunt, by foreign dignitaries' side, with the royal children when the Queen had too much to do...

He was fiancé to a colonel’s daughter, a fine damsel, and never in his lifetime had he been forced to struggle for life. He was also an only child. In the wake of revolution, he had lost the only lifestyle (an ostentatious, extravagant, and decadent one) he had ever known.

And now he had got used to struggle by instinct within the confined space of three walls and a grate, where traitors to the Republic were locked in. The slate-stone floor and the soup he drank twice a day had changed his state of health, and made his skin look like a brittle silk cloth.

However, what René Charles d’Arcy missed the most wasn’t macaroons or downy beds, but contact with others. And now this problem belonged to the past as well...

...with that commoner, lovechild of an actress, turned lieutenant a few weeks ago. Étienne didn’t recall how hard he had tried to succeed as a boy-player, dressing in petticoats on stage, and live without worries or sorrows, which had then been a dream beyond his reach.

That strife was part of the past and forgotten amidst glasses of liquor drunk at officers’ suppers and jokes, having his boots blacked and his uniform cared for by a servant of his own.

They had, like Pyramus and Thisbe, to see each other in secret, both certain that one of them should die. And it seemed that René should be that one.

The revolution had uplifted the humble and struck down the haughty, like the wrath of the now-fabled Lord would have done on the Judgment Day. Only that the new régime had placed the righteous on its left and the damned on its right.

The young viscount and that officer looked like each other’s reflection. Many a time, after passing his empty bowl of soup through the grate, René responded to Étienne by passing his smooth and pale hands through it by faint candle-light.

That night the lieutenant lay in his downy feather-bed, and the convict lay on the hard floor. And both thought of the ironic fact that a republic of freedom, equality, and brotherhood could take innocent prisoners and execute them.

Weeks passed on and the execution of Marie Antoinette led Austria, allied with Prussia, to declare war on France.

And thus, Étienne was transferred to another regiment and sent to the frontline, to fulfil once more his patriotic ambitions and rise to a higher level of the officer class.

And so, both took farewell of each other.

It was a fresh and cloudy spring day. Étienne and his detachment hadn’t done anything more than run forward, amidst cornflower stalks, in their blue uniforms. Shouting, leaping, singing “Allons enfants de la patrie”, they followed their officer across the plains, looking forward, with glittering fixed bayonets and the wish to rise through the ranks.

Then... Bang!

His cheeks pale as white rose petals and a bright red stain on the middle of his blue coat, he collapsed and was utterly still. His men and his sergeant turned towards him, seized his wrists, but he couldn’t be healed: a Prussian bullet had entered the lieutenant’s heart.

It all lasted one second. The last he ever saw, and he ever heard, was the fatal gunshot. And he passed away instantly, without a fever, without feeling anything. He had given his life for the sake of the régime he had contributed to create.

Meanwhile, René was trying hard to take a stone from the wall. He had been doing that for a few weeks. Every day, he took out a different stone and set it back in its place. Those stones were easy to recognize, since they were bloodstained. Due to the effort he had to make, René’s hands bled when he took out those stones.

Some light from the sun was filtered through the cracks the convict had made. He had obviously lost weight and strength the last days, and rested for a long time between stone removals. And he had completely forgotten Étienne.

Now unrecognizable (his ribs and cheek-bones were seen through the thin skin, and he had turned pale as if he were wearing face paint again), he looked just like a commoner. And he expected the day when he had taken out enough stones to escape through the hole.

Then, René would take a stagecoach to Calais, and after that a ship bound for more northern climates.

But he was discovered by the garrison in the act of removing one of those stones.

Then they unexpectedly opened the grate. They flanked him with their bayonets when he made his first steps to the freedom he had been denied.

The light of the sun dazzled his eyes.

Soon he wasn’t aware that he was on a scaffold, above a crowd, before a guillotine.

He didn’t listen to the charges against him, nor to the crowds demanding his execution.

He laid his head down and, without resisting, let the hastily descending steel blade enter the back of his neck... because he was already dying of exhaustion, after many a day of struggle, the floréal afternoon when he was put to death.

THE RINGSTETTEN SAGA VII: LÜTZEN

Previously on The Ringstetten Saga:
By All Hallows (31-10/1-11), Leipzig, Halle, and the villages in the surrounding area have been taken back by the Imperialists. Eleanor is especially worried about the fate of her spouse, having seen his death on the battlefield in a prophetic dream. Gustavus has received and replied to a letter from his little daughter Christina at Stegeborg. Count Pappenheim, now Wallenstein's Man Friday, is commanding the garrison of Halle an der Saale and quelling an uprising in the local marketplace. Gerhard and Alois, especially our young lieutenant, are worried about the outcome of the upcoming confrontation. Liselotte and Hedwig are also worried, but about the ones they love. And Albrecht von Wallenstein, together with his son and heir Berthold, leaves Schloss Lützen, where the Wallensteins are quartered, for a cold and foggy battlefield... on the eve of battle, the evening before the sixth of November 1632.
From sunrise until about 11:30, a thick and cool morning fog covers the battlefield. On one side, a pale, lean, raven-haired overlord reviews his ranks from a scarlet velvet sedan chair, without saying a word, but casting heart-freezing glares at officers and privates.
Across the swampy plains, his strawberry blond and well-spoken opponent reviews the Protestant army on a nutbrown steed, while singing a song he has written himself in an incredible baritone voice, in Swedish and German. After which the Swedish army repeats the song in chorus (here is the English translation!):

"Do not despair, my little band,

though enemies throughout the land

are seeking to destroy you!

They rejoice, hoping you'll fall soon,

but they will sing another tune,

so keep on brave and coy, you!"

Right before midday, the fog clears like a curtain opening up before a play. And this one will prove one bloody, gory tragedy.

With thunder and lightning, two armies have clashed

at daybreak, one autumn morrow.

Through thick gray fog, gunfire has violently flashed,

stifling the wounded’s cries of sorrow.

On winning, on winning, on daring to dare

is hell-bent the mind of each rider,

though he lose the grip on the reins of his mare,

and rashly dismount, in a stride, her.

As the heavy cuirassier falls to the ground,

the pikeman, who would stand defeated,

sees his chance and thrusts his blade, turning around:

thus, rider and steed are mistreated.

The common soldier rushes into the fray:

his duty reads “dying or slaying”.

The commander watches his men the game play,

and soon heavy cards he’s seen playing.

While Wallenstein stays overlooking the fight in his sedan chair on top of a hill at the edge of the fields (due to his fear of gunshots), Gustavus rides forth into the frontline to encourage his men and keep them from yielding, as bravely as any subaltern officer. Call that foolhardiness or daring-do, whatever you will!

There he rides, his blue plume flutters! Lovely lad!

Cool eyes, every muscle in tension!

The tall, dashing figure in bright doublet clad

draws friends’ and enemies’ attention!

Thus he takes command of his faltering wing,

exposed like a leader of twenty.

Like a young lieutenant, risks takes the blond king:

his sword’s drawn, his scabbard is empty.

He’s shuttled by thunderstorm wings through the ranks,

into the fog, into the fire.

Like hail, many a bullet on a breastplate clanks

where enemy units conspire.

In the early afternoon, the fog returns, blurring the distinction between friend and foe, as gunshots stifle the officers' words of command and screams of pain from the wounded ones.

Gustavus gets lost and finds himself caught in the crossfire, as his men react to his disappearance and the fact that he is already wounded: an Austrian bullet has already pierced and broken His Majesty's left arm, though he does not react to the pain and has already bandaged the wound, using his blue sash as a sling (clever as always!)...

“Onward, my brave Swedish cavalry!

Onward, comrades of German breeding!”

In vain… they can’t catch up… their leader don’t see...

then, suddenly, hear: “The King’s bleeding!”

Into the dark bosom of Wallenstein’s troop

no one the wounded rider followed.

The yellow doublet was, at one fell swoop,

by the clanking iron wave swallowed.

The enemy leader closest to him recognizes such a high-ranking officer, and he doesn't waste any hot lead on such an important target...

A Croatian officer, who follows the King closely on horseback: Long time have I sought you! (He shoots Gustavus in the back. The bullet shatters his right shoulder blade, and then punctures his lung. Gustavus falls unconscious off his steed, to be stabbed thrice by Croatians in the chest and back, and receive three shots to the same region. The first wound in his back brings searing chest pain. The Croatians take his clothes, weapons, and accessories as spoils of war, leaving the Swedish ruler in a bloodstained shirt.)

The Croatian officer: Now he's suffered enough. Let me give him the mercy shot! (He shoots Gustavus in the nape of the neck).

The news of the King's death spreads across the battlefield like wildfire, amidst gunshots and clanking of steel. Enter Count Pappenheim, the leader of the Catholic cavalry, who wanted to challenge Gustavus to a duel (since he knows of a prophecy in which a scar-faced Count of Pappenheim will someday defeat and slay a great Nordic ruler in single combat, and he was born on the same day the same year as Gustavus!). He learns what has happened to Gustavus from a Swedish officer, who shoots him in the chest as he receives a gunshot in the same spot (the left breast) from one of Pappenheim's own riders. This officer is none other than Lieutenant Gerhard von Ringstetten himself. Both the Prussian youth and the Bavarian count are left each with a punctured lung: Gottfried zu Pappenheim "drowns painfully and slowly in his own blood", carried by his orderly Jakob towards Wallenstein's encampment (he will die in the same Leipzig morgue where he coaxed Tilly)... while the young Prussian, seized with searing pain and staggering from blood loss, makes it to the edge of the front near the Swedish garrison, before collapsing, coughing up blood and closing his veiled green eyes, in one of the trenches of the battlefield.

The Swedish army, through the fog and the fire, thirsts for revenge and lunges relentlessy upon Wallenstein's ranks, driving them to flight:

Then, a rising clamour sears flesh and bone:

“Gustavus! Our father! Our leader!”

Thus, his brigades combine: he won’t die alone.

They roar, rushing forward, dear reader.

Croatians retreat and Walloons take to flight,

and, buried in heaps of slain sinners,

the Friedlander’s cannons are hidden from sight:

the martyr’s men shall be the winners.

The last word was missing in his epic song:

the word that crowns every achievement.

The mourners have done their duty, right or wrong:

they wrote it in blood and bereavement.

They’ve won. On the fields, with a lovely parade,

they honour their beloved leader,

but most of them have fallen within the glade:

the living are few, my dear reader.

At the end of the day, the sun sets over a swampy plain littered with lifeless bodies: casualties like Gustavus, Pappenheim, and Berthold von Wallenstein (the Generalissimo's only son) as well as countless unsung officers and privates on both sides of the conflict. "It is cold for the fallen, cold is the fog, but coldest are the hearts of the few survivors. The Protestants have finally won the battle, but they have lost much more than their liege." 
The slain lay, some of them, embracing one another like friends or like brothers, just like at Breitenfeld: Swede and Croat, Saxon and Austrian, reconciled in the afterlife.

The late king's lifeless body is discovered, bloodstained and riddled with gunshot and stab wounds, amidst a heap of slain Croatians. And Sweden's legendary Blue Brigade has dwindled to a dark sergeant (imprisoned and presumed dead) and a fatally injured lieutenant: Liselotte finds an unconscious and freezing Gerhard, whom she gives a drink of brandy from her canteen, takes to the surgeon, and tends to herself. Another nice draught of brandy (both to quench his thirst and ease his pain) down the lieutenant's throat almost brings him back from a state of near-death, but he will have to rest in bed at Breitenfeld all winter long, speaking and moving as little as possible, if he wants to survive: the bullet is lodged so deeply in his chest that it can't be taken out. The Leipzig Christmas wedding which Liselotte and he had dreamt of will have to be cancelled: they will marry in spring in the Swedish camp, if the wounded lieutenant survives.

Alois, however, has not been found, dead or alive. For one good reason: he strayed in the fog as well, was struck in the nape of his neck with a sword and suffers from amnesia, and thus he has joined Wallenstein's army as he was swept in the Friedlander's pell-mell retreat. After a brief stay in Leipzig before its fall, the amnesiac sergeant has followed the Wallenstein entourage eastward, into Friedland (the Wallensteins' shire, located in between Saxony and Bohemia). He has learned to know Isabella and Thekla von Wallenstein, His Lordship's wife and child (promoted to heiress after her brother's death), the former a blond and elegant Viennese noblewoman, the latter a raven-haired and reserved damsel who has lived in the shade of her father and brother... and is nowadays disturbed by her many suitors. Once in the province of Friedland, Wallenstein has had the local gallows prepared for executing four colonels and nine subaltern officers for cowardice, as scapegoats for the Lützen-Leipzig debacle. Alois, now raised to the rank of generalissimo's orderly's orderly's orderly (pretty high, isn't it?), has become aware that disobedient peasants and servants, officers, privates, and vassals, are bound to wear a hemp necklace at the pettiest offence (even stealing fruit, or not wearing the Wallensteinian colours, which are scarlet and black).
The Schloss Friedland chapel and those closest to it have got no bells, whose knell provokes His Lordship, but eunuchs calling from the church towers... Though very few people there are deeply religious. To start with, the Wallensteins and their associates are freethinkers.
 However, Friedland is a peaceful shire with public schools in the smallest villages, manufactures (early modern industries), steelworks, and medical care for the meanest subjects. The currency is a golden coin made in Friedland itself with Wallenstein's profile on one side and his crest on the other. Everything seems to betray that Wallenstein will take all this to imperial scale once he has dethroned the Kaiser: he is convinced that his reign will be remembered for its goodness and emphasis on welfare. Think of that, of an Enlightened despot born a century ahead of his times!

In a glass case in a parish church (in Weissenfels, Saxony), the hero of freedom is mourned for by officers, privates, and a heartbroken Queen Eleanor (perchance the saddest of them all).
Eleanor (Desperate): Oh, Gustavus! Darling! Without you, I'm so alone! I wither, helpless, on my own!

With the enbalmed form of her late spouse, his unusually large enbalmed heart in a golden baroque reliquary, and his wounded steed, she invites Hedwig and Liselotte to follow the funeral procession to the royal palace in Nyköping. The blond girl, trying in vain to comfort her queen, declines such a tempting offer: she will follow the Swedish ranks, sure that her beloved Alois is still alive somewhere and that they are destined to meet each other again. Liselotte declines as well, worried about Gerhard's state of health and having already decided to tend to his wounds. And also because she feels at home on the war front, not being that fond of courtly life.