"What will become of them without me?" "It's like a stone, right here in my chest" "Him again" "Go away, Arsène; don't stay here" "Please go" "But come back" "The heat helps" "I can breathe now" "Have faith in hope; three days, Columbus told them pointing to the vast heavens on the horizon" "Three days, and I shall give you a world you who have no hope" "His eyes opened to see it in the empty vastness" "Sing!" "You promised, Louisa" "Did I misunderstand?" "Maybe I promised yesterday but today..." "You love another?" "Answer me, Louisa" "Arsène is making a fool of you, Mathieu" " Of me?" " Yes, Mathieu" "I'll fix him" "Arsène loves you, doesn't he?" "And you love him?" "Is it any of your business?" "It is, and I'm going to smash him" "You won't; you're too afraid of him" "We'll see" "He's going on the the prowl tonight" "Arsène had better behave himself" "You want it?" "Take it" "We haven't finished" "You'd better leave Louisa alone, too" "Are you her keeper?" "I don't like people getting in my way" "Nobody pushes me around" "Try something and see" "What are you doing there?" "I got lost" "Why don't you use the road, like the others?" "Hadn't you better find that shoe?" "We're not staying here but get dry first" "When did you leave school?" "At six;" "I left before the others" "Alone?" "Anyone see you?" "I don't think so" "You went by the woods?" "Listen to me:" "You didn't come this way at all" "You went by the road to buy some marbles" "Marbles?" "Some barley-sugar, then" "Buy it?" "What with?" "Say you found the money" "Say you saw me coming out of the bar" "I told you I'd been setting snares at Bassompierre" "Do I mention snares?" "Even to the police?" "I'll find your shoe" "If anyone asks, we haven't been here" "Nobody will be any the wiser" "No ashes here" "Listen to the cyclone" "Come on, we'll manage without him" "There's dry wood and candles" "We'll keep a blaze going" "There'll be a mountain of ash in the morning" "I'll say I was here all day as well" "Do you understand?" "Listen, kid..." "I've got to go on and tell you everything" "Try to look at me" "I may be drunk, but I know what I'm doing" "I think I've killed a man" "Mathieu the gamekeeper" "How did you know?" "He was on the prowl tonight, to get you, as he says" "Well, I got him" "We fell in the water, and the stopper came out of my canteen" "I gave him a drink and we were mates again" "But I don't know what came over Mathieu;" "we were both drunk" "Don't worry, that happens to me sometimes; an aberration" "I can still see myself holding the trap" "He fell forward, his legs thrashing" "Then he stopped moving, face down in the reddening water" "When I went for your shoe and heard the shots..." "I thought:" "He's not dead, he's trying to summon help" "It was him" "I recognized the sound of his gun" "If he really isn't dead, he'll talk" "You must think up another story" "I'll deny what he says;" "newspapers like that" "Perhaps I can help, Monsieur Arsène" "Try to remember what happened" "Remember..." "He was face down in the water legs thrashing" "I'll say I saw it all, that he attacked you" "Please listen to me" "Do I say he was drunk?" "You can trust me." "I hate them." "I'll defy them all" "I can't think clearly; my neck hurts" "I'm going to have an attack" "Were you singing?" "I'll take you home" "Where are we really going?" "To your house" "What about the gamekeeper?" "Did you kill him?" "What with?" "My gun?" "With the trap, Monsieur Arsène;" "you were holding the trap" "Let me past" "Where are you off to?" "Straight home, I swear it" "I won't forget" "If you breathe a word of this, I'll break your neck" "I'd rather die than harm you" "Harm me?" "Where have you been?" "Your father and brother are out" "Warm up the baby's milk" "There's a nappy on the line" "He'll cry if you leave him wet" "What are you standing there for?" "I'll need you to put out the lamp" "What time is it?" "I can't hear the church clock now" "The wind changed with the cyclone" "What cyclone are you talking about?" "It was a cyclone... wasn't it?" "Listen, mum..." "Make him stop;" "I can't bear it" "I can't breathe" "There's some gin hidden under the sacks by the cellar door" "At least I can die painlessly" "What a mess" "Steer clear of drunks and good-for-nothings" "Mum, I've got to tell you..." "Where are you off to?" "I'm going to get milk for the baby" "She was a brave woman" "Stop looking at me like that" "Shit!" "Have some coffee" "So your poor mother's dead, and so suddenly, too" "Don't take it to heart" "It comes to all of us" "At least she didn't know she was dying" "What's got into you?" "Little slut" "Rat face!" "What are you up to?" "I wanted to have a word with you" "Arsène and I had words yesterday;" "he was drunk" "Our fight was just between the two of us" "But the police arrested him today for dynamiting the river" "Arsène says he met you in the woods last night." "If so..." "Yes, he did" "He really came to your house, didn't he to fix an alibi with you?" "I saw Monsieur Arsène in his hut last night" "What were you doing there?" "I was sheltering from the cyclone..." "From the rain" "So you're afraid of a little rain now?" "Monsieur Arsène took me there" "Where were you coming from?" "Don't lie" " From school" " At night?" "It wasn't night yet." "Monsieur Arsène said..." "He wasn't capable of talking" "He could walk straight" "Stupid child" "He always does when he's drunk" "He said you'd fought and that you were drunk, too" "So you took shelter" "When the rain stopped I suppose you went home?" "At daybreak." "I stayed there nearly all night" "You spent the night there?" "I might have known" "The poor child still stinks of gin" "Arsène got her drunk" "I could tell you hadn't been home" "Look at your hair" "Her eyes are still unsteady from the drink" "I think you've told the truth, but not the whole truth" "Leave us, Mathieu" "Don't go, Monsieur Mathieu" "Let her be, or you'll upset her" "You wouldn't let that brute get away with as much as a hare but you don't care whether he got this child drunk" "That's a matter for the police..." "if the father lodges a complaint" "Call that a father?" "I can't question you the day your mother died" "But tomorrow I'll have ten francs for you" "You needn't tell me unless you want" "Monsieur Arsène is my lover." "Ask him your questions" "Is something wrong?" "I must get back" "Your poor mother" "I'm sure you haven't a sheet to bury her in" "Once upon a time the dead used to be embalmed" "Now they're not even washed" "I know the departed go to heaven, as the curé says, but even so..." "The dead were worshipped once" "They were gods; real religion, that was" "In here you'll find some dresses" "I've known you a long time, you know" "They should fit you" "I'll take this lovely sheet and watch over your mother" "I like the dead;" "I understand them" "At your age, I used to be afraid, but now I talk to them and they reply... softly, quietly" "Have you ever thought of death, Mouchette?" "Are you asleep?" "Your little heart sleeps" "Try not to awaken it too quickly" "You're disgusting, you old bitch" "I only wish you well, but you're too wicked" "It's in your eyes... because you don't understand"