Le Tour de la France (6)—A Disappointment; Perseverance

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. 
 

VI

Disappointment and Perseverance 

There is scarcely an obstacle that cannot be surmounted with perseverance. 

A disappointment awaited our young friends when they arrived at the isolated home—situated at the edge of the forest—of the ranger Fritz. An old gentlemen with a gray beard and an energetic physique, Fritz was laid up in bed and had not been out for many days. The old hunter had fallen while descending the mountain and had broken his leg.

          —You see, my children, he said after having read the letter; I cannot get up out of my bed. How could I lead you to your destination? And the only person with me is my old servant, who cannot walk much better than I can.

André was worried, but he did not want to betray his concern to little Julien.

All night long he slept very little. Early in the morning, even before Julien had awakened, he got up in order to reflect upon the situation.

He made his way soundlessly to the ranger's garden, wishing to study the countryside that he had only seen in the fading evening twilight.

MAP OF ALSACE AND LORRAINE, AS WELL AS THE VOSGES RANGE. —Lorraine, separated from Alsace by the Vosges Range, is a mountainous region rich in forest, lakes, ponds, and mines producing both metal and salt. The region has beautiful farmland and pastures. In addition to vineyards and wheat, many things are cultivated there, including hemp and the hops used to make beer. Agriculture in this region is the consummate industry. A part of Lorraine and all of Alsace, with the exception of Belfort, was taken from France by Germany in 1870.

Sitting on a bench at the edge of the Saar River, which curled along the garden between two rows of birch and willows, André turned toward the south and looked out onto the horizon, obstructed by the towering Vosges mountain range.

          —It is there, he said to himself, that we will find France. There, tonight, I will lead my little brother, Julien; there I will find—without any help—a path where we are unlikely to meet anyone before we pass freely across the border to our homeland. Oh, how shall we do it?

And he continued to look out, with sadness, onto the mountains that separated them from France, and which loomed before them like a towering wall.

These discouraging thoughts coursed through his mind, but André was resilient. Instead of accepting the difficulties lying before him, he determined to combat them.

All of a sudden he remembered seeing a large map of the region hanging on the forest ranger's wall. It was one of the best maps, used by ranking officers in the French army, and there he would find the best routes—the hidden little trails—to freedom.

          —I am going to study it, André said to himself. What would be the use of thirteen years as the best student in my class in Phalsbourg if I could not find my way with the help of an excellent map? Onward, and let me be resolute! Have I not made a promise to my father? I have an obligation to cross the border into the French homeland, and I will do it.

NEXT

André Makes a Map

André puts to use the things he learned in school and studies the route that he and little Julien will take on their dangerous trip to the border.

Le Tour de la France (5)—The Preparations of Etienne the Shoemaker

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. 
 

V

The Preparations of Etienne the Shoemaker;
Goodbyes; Children of the Same Country

Children of the same country should love and support each 
other just as do children of the same mother

While André and Julien were eating, Etienne came into the room. 

          —Children, said the shoemaker said, rubbing his hands, I have not wasted my time. I have worked on your behalf this morning. To start, I have found two places in the carriage of a friend who will find some straw on which to sleep near the village of Saint-Quirin, near the frontier. You will then have about a quarter of an hour to the village. This will spare Julien's little legs, as well as your own, André. Then I wrote a post—right here—to refer you to an old acquaintance of mine near Saint-Quirin, who is a former forest ranger for the village. You will be received with open arms, my children, and there you may take a good night's rest. Finally, still better, Fritz will guide you the next day in the mountains, and take you to the border by way of roads where you will not be observed.  My friend Fritz is an experienced hunter who knows all of the mountain and forest trails. Rest assured, in forty-eight hours, you will be in France.

          —Oh! Monsieur Etienne, cried André, you are good to us—like a second father!

          —My children, responded Etienne, you are the sons of my best friend, and it is right that I come to your assistance. And moreover, should not all Frenchmen be prepared to support one another? In your turn, he added in a serious tone, when you encounter a child of France in danger you will help him just as we have helped you, and you will do for your country just as we have done here these two days.

THE SHOEMAKER OF THE VOSGES. He especially makes the clogs worn by people in forested and mountainous regions, mostly using the wood of beech and walnut trees to craft them. There are many shoemakers in the Vosges, where the mountains are deeply wooded.

Having said these words, Etienne went into the neighboring workroom, where he pursued his craft of shoemaking. Wishing to make up for lost time, he set to work with diligence. Little Julien had followed him, and took great pleasure in watching him dig lightly and and shape the beech tree wood from the mountain.

Toward the middle of the afternoon, the carriage of which Père Etienne had spoken stopped on the highway. The carriage driver, as had been agreed, whistled with all his might to call the young travelers.

At that signal, André and Julien quickly grabbed their travel packets. They hugged Mère Etienne, showing all of their emotions, and straight away the shoemaker brought them to the carriage.

After another embrace and further paternal recommendations from the good man, the children seated themselves inside the carriage. The driver cracked his whip, and the horses took off in a gentle trot.

Père Etienne remained alone by the highway, following the carriage with his eyes into the distance. He felt both sad and proud to see the children part.

          —Brave and cherished youth, he murmured, go, carry your hearts over to the homeland!

And, when the carriage had disappeared, he returned home slowly, pensive, thinking of the father of these two orphans—of his old friend since childhood who slept his last slumber under the earth of Lorraine, while his two sons henceforth went off alone, at great risk to their lives. A tear slid from the old man's eyes, but he quickly wiped it away. 

          —Courage, all the same, he said to himself. Hope alone makes the future fruitful.


NEXT
A Disappointment; Perseverance
All does not go exactly as planned for the little travelers, yet they are determined to persevere and complete the dangerous journey to the border.