Le Tour de la France (8)—The Path Through the Forest

Translated by Robert André LaFleur
Le Tour de la France par deux enfants (A Journey Around France Undertaken by Two Children) is a little 119-chapter book about French geography and culture. Written in 1877 by Augustine Fouillée (under the pseudonym G. Bruno), it was geared toward primary school students in their fourth and fifth years (cours moyen).  It has been read by generations of French students, and has played a small but important role in the development of a French national imagination. It was the little book that launched the Tour de France.

Chapters

1            2            3            4            5            6            7            8            9            10            11

Click here for the introduction to Round and Square's series on this 1877 classic. 
 

VIII
The Path Through the Forest;
André Points Out Ursa Major and the Pole Star

 The elder brother must instruct the younger with 
his example and, if he can, with lessons. 

To the west, behind the Vosges range, the sun had just set and the countryside darkened. On the high peaks of the mountains, off in the distance, they could see the last light of the fading day. The dark fir branches swayed in the autumn wind, darkening the scene still more.

The two brothers advanced along the path, holding hands. Soon they entered a place where the trees enveloped the whole countryside. Julien walked—head down, serious, not saying a word. 

          —What are you thinking, my Julien? asked André.

          —I am trying to remember everything the ranger told us, said the youth; I listened the best I could. 

          —Don't worry, Julien; I know the route well now, and we will not go astray.          

          —But, the child said in a soft and resigned voice, if we do go astray, we will calmly retrace our steps, without fear, as the ranger said to do. Isn't that right, André? 

          —Yes, yes, Julien. But we are going to try not to lose our way in the first place.

          —For that, you know André, it is necessary to look to the stars at each fork in the road; the ranger told us that, and I will remember it. 

          —Bravo, Julien, responded André. I see that you have lost nothing of the ranger's lessons. If we both remember this, the journey will be easier.

          —Yes, said the youth. But I do not know the stars by their names, and I don't know which one is the Grand Chariot [Big Dipper].

          —I will explain it to you when we stop to rest.

Talking in low voices, the two brothers made their way as the night grew darker and darker.

André had studied the countryside so carefully that he seemed to recognize it as though he had already passed through it. In spite of this, he could not control a certain level of anxiety: it was the first time that he had ever taken the mountain paths, and he was now enveloped in the darkness of the night. Nonetheless, he was a brave youth, and had never forgotten his responsibility as elder brother. He knew that little Julien would be even more apprehensive than he to face the gloomy forest. André sought to overcome his own youthful worries in order to embolden his younger brother by his example, and to fulfill his duty courageously.

L'ETOILE POLAIRE ET LA GRANDE OURSE —It is useful to know and recognize the stars in the sky that form the constellations called the Great Chariot and Big Bear. Near them one can perceive the Pole Star, which marks exactly the north and indicates the cardinal points.

They stopped at a crossroads. André looked at the sky behind them.

          —Look, he said to his brother. Do you see those seven bright stars, of which four form a square like the wheels of a chariot, with the three others in front of them appearing like the coachman and horses? They are called the Grand Chariot—or sometimes the Big Bear. Not far from it you find another brilliant star, as well. It remains exactly in place in the north—unmoving. Thanks to this star, we can always find our way in the nighttime. Do you see it? It is just behind us: it shows that we are going the right way. We are walking to the south, that is to say, toward France.

André, who never neglected opportunities to instruct his brother, also showed him that the moon would rise soon. Thinking that it would light their way, the children rejoiced.


NEXT
Clouds on the Mountain
The moon rose, but a thick fog obscured even the path right in front of the worried children.