So they starve and languish and fall sick, as did this young
man's wife. But in my native Burgundy--blessed be its name!--and
also in the country of Doubs, salt is cheap enough. Now this young
man dwelt close on the frontier of Burgundy--I have seen him times
and again at the vintage work--and because he was very fond of his
wife, and could not bear to see her die, he ventured across the
frontier to buy salt cheaply; and, being taken, he has been condemned
to the galleys for six years. In the meantime his wife will perish.
But the King's taxes must be paid. Else how shall we exterminate his
enemies?"
"But," Tristram exclaimed, trembling with indignation, "how can you
be cheerful in this fearful land?"
"What! I? Well, I am cheerful, to begin with, because my nose is
not slit."
"That appears to me a very slight reason."
"You would not say so if you had run so near it as I."
"Are you a deserter, then?"
"Thanks for your good opinion, comrade! No. I was never guilty of
disloyalty to King Lewis, But I killed my wife's mother, _pardieu!_--
which the judge seemed to think almost as vile, till I sent a friend
to grease his palm with the last sou of my patrimony. And, by good
fortune, it became greasy enough to let me slip out of the worst.
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