Letters From My Windmill Read Free Page B

idiot, become a critic! You'll get good money, you'll
have your reserved table in Brébant's, you will be seen at premieres,
and it will secure your reputation….
    No? You don't want to? You prefer to stay as free as the air to the end
of your days. Very well then, listen to the story of Monsieur Seguin's
last kid goat . You'll see where hankering after your freedom gets you.
    * * * * *
    Monsieur Seguin never had much luck with his goats.
    He lost them all, one after another, in the same way. One fine morning
they would break free from their tethers and scamper off up into the
mountain, where they were gobbled up by the big bad wolf. Neither their
master's care, nor the fear of the wolf, nor anything else could hold
them back. They were, or so it seemed, goats who wanted freedom and
open spaces whatever the cost.
    Monsieur Seguin, who didn't understand his animals' ways, was dismayed.
He said:
    —It's all over. Goats get fed up here; I haven't managed to keep a
single one of them.
    But he hadn't totally lost heart, for even after losing six goats, he
still bought a seventh. This time he made sure to get it very young, so
she would settle down better.
    Oh! Gringoire, she was really lovely, Monsieur Seguin's little kid
goat; with her gentle eyes, her goatee beard, her black shiny hooves,
her striped horns, and her long white fur, which made a fine greatcoat
for her! It was nearly as delightful as Esmeralda's kid goat. Do you
remember her, Gringoire? And then again, she was affectionate and
docile, holding still while she was milked, never putting her foot in
the bowl. A lovely, a dear little goat….
    There was a hawthorn enclosure behind Monsieur Seguin's house where he
placed his new boarder. He tied her to a stake in the finest part of
the field, taking care that she had plenty of rope, and often went out
to see how she was faring. The goat appeared to be very happy and was
grazing heartily on the grass, which delighted Monsieur Seguin.
    —At last, triumphed the poor man, this one isn't getting bored here!
    Monsieur Seguin was wrong; his goat was becoming very bored.
    * * * * *
    One day, looking over towards the mountain, she remarked:
    —How great it must be up there! How lovely to gambol on the heath
without this rope tether that chafes my neck. It's alright for an ox or
a donkey to graze all cooped up, but we goats should be able to roam
free.
    From then on, she found the grass in the enclosure bland. Boredom
overcame her. She lost weight and her milk all but dried up. It was
pitiful to see her pulling at her tether all day, with her head turned
towards the mountain, nostrils flared, and bleating sadly.
    Monsieur Seguin noticed that there was something wrong with her, but he
couldn't work out what it was. One morning, as he finished milking her,
she turned towards him and said to him, in her own way:
    —Listen Monsieur Seguin. I am pining away here, let me go into the
mountain.
    —Oh my God. Not you as well! screamed Monsieur Seguin, dropping his
bowl, stupefied. Then, sitting down in the grass beside his goat he
added:
    —So, my Blanquette, you want to leave me!
    Blanquette replied:
    —Yes, Monsieur Seguin.
    —Are you short of grass here?
    —Oh, no, Monsieur Seguin.
    —Perhaps your tether is too short, shall I lengthen it?
    —It-s not worth your while, Monsieur Seguin.
    —Well then, what do you need, what do you want?
    -I want to go up into the mountain, Monsieur Seguin.
    —But, my poor dear, don't you realise that there is a big bad wolf on
the mountain? What will you do when he turns up.
    —I will butt him, Monsieur Seguin.
    —The big bad wolf doesn't give a fig for your horns. He's eaten many a
kid goat with bigger horns than yours. Have you thought about poor old
Renaude who was here only last year? She was really strong and wilful,
she was; more like a billy-goat. She fought off the wolf all night. In
the morning the wolf still ate her, though.
    —Poor, poor Renaude! But that doesn't alter anything,