The Infant's Skull; Or The End of the World. A Tale of the Millennium Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  THE IDIOT.

  Among the household serfs of the royal domain of Compiegne was a younglad of eighteen named Yvon. Since the death of his father, a foresterserf, he lived with his grandmother, the washerwoman for the castle, whohad received permission from the bailiff to keep her grandson near her.Yvon was at first employed in the stables; but having long lived in thewoods, he looked so wild and stupid that he was presently taken for anidiot, went by the name of Yvon the Calf, and became the butt of all.The King himself, Louis the Do-nothing, amused himself occasionally withthe foolish pranks of the young serf. He was taught to mimic dogs bybarking and walking on all fours; he was made to eat lizards, spidersand grass-hoppers for general amusement. Yvon always obeyed with anidiotic leer. Thus delivered to the sport and contempt of all, since hisgrandmother's death, the lad met at the castle with the sympathy of noneexcept a poor female serf named Marceline the Golden-haired from theabundant gold-blonde ornament of her head. The young girl was a helperof Adelaide, the favorite lady of the Queen's chamber.

  The morning of the day that Blanche and Hugh the Capet had met at theFountain of the Hinds, Marceline, carrying on her head a bucket ofwater, was crossing one of the yards of the castle towards the room ofher mistress. Suddenly she heard a volley of hisses, and immediatelyafter she saw Yvon enter the yard pursued by several serfs and childrenof the domain, crying at the top of their voices: "The Calf!" "TheCalf!" and throwing stones and offal at the idiot. Marceline revealedthe goodness of her heart by interesting herself in the wretch, not thatYvon's features or limbs were deformed, but that the idiotic expressionof his face affected her. He was in the habit of dressing his longblack hair in five or six plaids interwoven with wisps of straw, and thecoiffure fell upon his neck like as many tails. Barely clad in a sorryhose that was patched with materials of different colors, his shoes wereof rabbit or squirrel skin fastened with osiers to his feet and legs.Closely pursued from various sides by the serfs of the castle, Yvon madeseveral doublings in the yard in order to escape his tormentors, butperceiving Marceline, who, standing upon the first step of the turretstairs that she was about to ascend, contemplated the idiot with pity,he ran towards the young girl, and throwing himself at her feet saidjoining his hands: "Pardon me, Marceline, but protect poor Yvon againstthese wicked people!"

  "Climb the stairs quick!" Marceline said to the idiot, pointing up theturret. Yvon rose and swiftly followed the advice of the serf maid, who,placing herself at the door, lay down her bucket of water, andaddressing Yvon's tormentors, who were drawing near, said to them: "Havepity for the poor idiot, he harms no one."

  "I have just seen him leap like a wolf out of the copse of the forestfrom the side of the Fountain of the Hinds," cried a forester serf. "Hishair and the rags he has on are wet with dew. He must have been in somethicket spreading nets for game which he eats raw."

  "Oh, he is a worthy son of Leduecq, the forester, who lived like asavage in his den, never coming out of the woods!" observed anotherserf. "We must have some fun with the Calf."

  "Yes, yes, let us dip him up to his ears in the neighboring pool inpunishment for spreading nets to catch game with," said the forester;and taking a step toward Marceline who remained at the door: "Get out ofthe way, you servant of the devil, or we shall give you a ducking alongwith the Calf!"

  "My mistress, Dame Adelaide, a lady of the Queen's chamber, will knowhow to punish you if you ill-treat me. Begone, you heartless people!"

  "The devil take Adelaide! To the pool with the Calf!"

  "Yes, to the pool with him! And Marceline also! A good mud-bath forboth!"

  At the height of the tumult, one of the casements of the castle wasthrown open, and a young man of twenty years at most leaned out andcried angrily: "I shall have your backs flayed with a sound strapping,you accursed barking dogs!"

  "The King!" exclaimed the tormentors of Yvon, and a minute later all hadfled by the gate of the yard.

  "Halloa, you girl!" called out Louis the Do-nothing to Marceline who wastaking up her bucket of water. "What was the cause of the infernalracket made by that noisy pack?"

  "Seigneur," answered Marceline trembling, "they wanted to ill-treat poorYvon."

  "Is the Calf about?"

  "Seigneur, I know not where he is gone to hide," explained the maid whofeared lest Yvon, barely escaped from one set of tormentors, should fallinto the hands of the whimsical King. As the latter thereupon withdrewfrom the window, Marceline hastened to ascend the stair of the turret.She had scarcely mounted a dozen steps when she saw Yvon crouching withhis elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. At the sight of themaid he shook his head and with a voice full of emotion said: "Good you;oh, you good! Marceline good!" and he fixed his eyes so full ofgratitude upon her that she observed aloud with a sigh: "Who wouldbelieve that this wretch, with eyes at times so captivating, still isdeprived of reason?" and again laying down her bucket she said to theidiot: "Yvon, why did you go this morning into the forest? Your hair andrags are really moist with dew. Is it true that you spread nets to takegame?" The idiot answered with a stupid smile, swaying his head backwardand forward. "Yvon," said Marceline, "do you understand me?" The idiotremained mute, but presently observing the bucket of water that the maidhad laid down at his feet, he lifted it up, placed it on his own head,and motioned to Marceline to go up ahead of him. "The poor creature isexpressing his gratitude as well as he can," Marceline was thinking toherself when she heard steps above coming down the stairs, and a voicecried out:

  "Oh, Calf, is it you?"

  "That is the voice of one of the King's servants," said Marceline. "Heis coming for you, Yvon. Oh, you are going to fall into anothertormentor's hands!"

  Indeed, one of the men of the royal chamber appeared at the turning ofthe winding stairs and said to the idiot: "Come, get up quick and followme! Our lord the King wishes to amuse himself with you, you doubleCalf!"

  "The King! Oh! Oh! The King!" cried Yvon with a triumphant air, clappinghis hands gayly. The bucket being left unsupported on his head, fell andbroke open at the feet of the King's servitor whose legs were therebydrenched up to his knees.

  "A plague upon the idiot!" cried Marceline despite all hergood-heartedness. "There is the bucket broken! My mistress will beatme!"

  Furious at the accident that drenched his clothes, the royal servitorhurled imprecations and insults upon Yvon the Calf, who, however,seeming not to notice either the imprecations or the insults, continuedto repeat triumphantly: "The King! Oh! Oh! The King!"