The Corsican Brothers | Page 9

has made him go to Paris, from whence he will return a lawyer. He will then live at Ajaccio, instead of living in the house of his forefathers; he will practice law--if he has talent he will perhaps be appointed royal attorney; he will then sue the poor fellows who have made* a skin, as they say in this country; he will confound the assassin with the murderer, as you have done awhile ago; he will, in the name of the law, demand the heads of those who have done merely what their fathers would have felt themselves disgraced by not doing. He will substitute the judgments of men for the judgments of God. And in the evening, after he has given a head to the executioner, he will imagine that he has saved his country, and think he has brought his stone to the foundation of the temple of civilization, as our Pr?fet says. Oh God! Oh God!!"
* FAIRE UNE PEAU, literally, to make a skin, means to kill a person in what they call an honorable cause, as for instance the celebrated Corsican vendetta. T.
And the young man raised his eyes to heaven, just as Hannibal must have done after the battle of Zama.
"But," said I, "God has balanced all things well, for if your brother has become a follower of the new principles, you have at the same time adhered more firmly to the old customs."
"Yes; but who assures me that my son may not follow the example of his uncle, instead of following mine? and I, myself, don't I sanction things unworthy of one of the de Franchis?"
"You?" exclaimed I, astonished.
"Ah, heaven! yes, I, myself. Will you permit me to tell you what was your object in visiting the province of Sartene?"
"Speak!"
"You came here with the curiosity of a man of the world, of an artist, or of a poet; I know not, nor do I ask what you are. You may tell us, before we part, if it be agreeable, or you may remain silent on the subject--just as you please. Well, now, you come here in hope of seeing some village in vendetta, to be brought into contact with some real original bandit, like those whom Monsieur M?rim?e has pourtrayed in his Colomba.
"Well, I think I have then been tolerably fortunate, for if I have seen right, yours is the only house in the village, that is not fortified."
"This proves how much I have degenerated; for my father, my grandfather, or any one of my forefathers would have taken part for one or other of the two parties which have divided this village for the last ten years. Well, and do you know what I am in all this, in the midst of the report of guns, the strokes of knives, and the blows of stilettos! I am arbiter. You came to the province of Sartene to see bandits, did you not? Well, come with me this evening, and I'll show you one."
"How! You permit me then to accompany you?"
"Oh! yes; if it amuses you, it depends entirely upon yourself."
"I certainly accept your invitation with great pleasure."
"Your signoria must be very much fatigued," said Madame de Franchi, casting a glance at her son, as if she had partaken of the shame he felt at the degeneration of Corsica.
"No, mother, no, he must come; and when in some Parisian saloon, they will speak hereafter before monsieur of these terrible vendettas, and of those cruel bandits, who yet frighten the young children at Bastia and Ajaccio, he can at least shrug his shoulders and tell them all about it."
"But what gave rise originally to this great quarrel, which as it appears is now on the point of being settled peaceably?"
"Ah!" said Lucien, "in a quarrel, the origin is not of any consequence--but the result. If a fly, in crossing a man's path, has occasioned his death, the man is not the less dead for that."
I saw that he felt some reluctance to tell me the cause of this terrible mar, which had for ten years desolated the village of Sullacaro. But, as a matter of course, the more reserved I found him, the more inquisitive I became.
"But this quarrel must have had an origin," said I. "Perhaps the reason for it is a secret?"
"Oh! no, not at all. The matter originated between the Orlandi and the Colonna."
"On what occasion?"
"A hen escaped from the yard of the Orlandi, and flew over into that of the Colonna. The Orlandi went over to claim their hen, but the Colonna refused to give it up, claiming it as their own; the Orlandi then threatened to take them before a justice of the peace. The old mother Colonna, who kept the hen in her hands, then twisted its neck, and threw