III
“It is, however, luckily a fact that a violent emotion is seldom long-lived, at least not with animals. After a while the luscious grass began to distract their attention, and I hid myself in the leaves as much as I could, in the hope of being forgotten. The beasts had already begun to spread out and I began to hope for liberation—the rough bark was most uncomfortable to my skin—when I heard the prattle and laughter of girls’ voices. It was the schoolmistress and the enlightened tailor’s two daughters—all of them enlightened, of course—who were coming with towels in their hands to bathe!
“I can’t deny that I whispered to myself, ‘This is the very devil!’ I only hoped that they wouldn’t see me and I vowed in turn to look the other way. As far as that goes, there wasn’t much to look at, if I except the youngest. They were, I must say, so quick in their motions that I had hardly time to think what I should do before the younger girl was standing with one foot in the water and all her clothes neatly laid on a stone. To be frank, I didn’t dare to turn my head away for fear of making a rustle in the leaves. Well, soon all three of the girls were splashing in the water, while I was sitting in my tree as silent as a little rat. There’s nothing like getting used to things: the bark no longer hurt my poor skin as much as before, and I began to submit to my fate and hope for a happy end to the story. So there was, too, in the end, though not in the way I imagined.
“The girls came out of the lake again, but the schoolmistress happened to come ashore a bit farther away, of course just where my clothes were. She came running to tell of her discovery: ‘A man’s clothes are over there; there’s a man bathing right by us!’
“ ‘But where has he gone?’
“ ‘He must have swum far out.’
“They dressed in a great hurry, then stood and listened. They could hear nothing, could see nothing out in the lake. Had he been drowned? And who could it be? They would have to look more carefully at the clothes. The youngest was the boldest; she stole off and came back with the news: ‘It’s the parson. Only think—if he’s been drowned!’
“ ‘What will become of his poor soul?’ the schoolmistress wondered.
“ ‘His soul, nothing!’ responded the youngest girl, angry and at the same time with a sob in her throat; ‘He confirmed me three years ago and I was very fond of him, even if he didn’t have the true revelation. But God isn’t as spiteful as you are.’
“Suddenly they all grew silent and began to stare up into the tree as if they were bewitched. Then they let out a triple shriek and the next instant they were off like the wind.
“Finally I got down out of the tree and dressed. I was comparatively calm. You must admit I hadn’t much more to lose. Never, surely, was a poor servant of the Lord so innocently placed in such a damning situation. It wasn’t long before the tailor came to the spot with two more of the faithful. They looked a bit grim, all three of them, but in the tailor’s eyes was a gleam of secret fire. You can imagine the rascal’s delight at the thought of driving out the devil from no less a person than the lawful guardian of his soul, the parish minister. However, by the greatest luck I had already managed to get my clothes on; and with them the dignity of which I was now in so much need. Before the tailor could open his mouth, I told him I should call on him in the afternoon and explain everything; whereupon I dismissed them with a wave and went off with firm composure.