Ball of Suet: Selected Short Stories by Maupassant

Chapter 11 Little Rock (1)
A widowed village chief impulsively rapes and kills a young girl.Since then, his conscience has been tortured, and finally he couldn't help but commit suicide in order to atone for his sin.

一
Medelik Romper was the rural postman.The locals liked him very much and called him "Medali".Every day, at the same time, he leaves the Leuylerdale post office.With the strides of an old soldier, he took the short cut from the Wyillaum pasture to the banks of the Brandier, and then followed the river until he reached the village of Calfrain.That's where he started delivering the mail.

The Brandier is narrow.He walked quickly along the river.Willow shade covers the river.Under the shade of the willows, the river is bubbling and rolling, flowing forward on the river bed full of water plants.There are some big rocks on the river bed.Flowing water is held back by them, swirling around them like a tie knotted with foam.Under the vines, under the leaves, or in other places, there will be some very low waterfalls.Generally, people cannot see them, but they can hear their loud rumbling noise.As the water continues to move forward, a small quiet lake is formed where the river is open.The water at the bottom of the lake is slow and green aquatic plants grow.They float with the current and become a place for trout to play and play.

Medalik was not attracted by the scenery on the road.He walked on without distraction, thinking only of one thing: "The first letter is to be sent to the Poivrons' house, and the other letter is from M. Renardet's, and I will send it too. Therefore, walking through this large forest is something I must do."

A blue shirt was worn on him, and a black belt was tightly wrapped around his waist.With steady steps, he quickly walked towards the hedge made of willows.In his hand he held a cane made of strong holly wood, which he moved along with his legs as he walked.

He crossed a single-plank bridge and crossed the Brandier.This single-plank bridge spans the entire river. There is a small wooden pile on each side of the river. A rope connects the two wooden piles and becomes the only handrail of the single-plank bridge.

Monsieur Renardet was the master of the great wood.He is the largest landowner in the area and the mayor of Kalveran Village.There are many straight and tall old trees growing in the woods.Half a mile on the left bank of the river was occupied by them.Their shadows arched down to the river.In the warm sunshine, some tall bushes grow near the water.A soft, smooth layer of thick moss covers the floor of the great wood.There was a faint smell of dead branches and mildew in the woods.

Medalik slowed down.He took off the big black hat he was wearing on his forehead - a red ribbon adorned it - and began to wipe the sweat from his brow.It was quite hot on the ranch by this time, although it was not yet 8 o'clock in the morning.

He had just put on his hat and was striding forward when something under a tree caught his attention.It was a small knife for children.When he came to the knife and stretched out his hand to pick it up, he found a thimble, and then a needle case, only two paces away from the thimble.

He picked up all these things and planned to give them to Mr. Village Chief.After that, he started on his way again.But now he kept looking around, always expecting something else to come into his sight.

Suddenly, he stopped as if he had hit a stake.He saw a child lying on the moss.The child was nearly ten paces away from him, lying naked on his back.It was a little girl, about 12 years old.Her face was covered with a small handkerchief, her limbs were sprawled, and there were bloodstains on her thighs.

Medalik kept his eyes wide open as if he was afraid of danger or making a sound, and walked forward on tiptoe.

Why is she lying there?Is it sleeping?He replied in the negative because it was 07:30 in the morning, there were verdant trees everywhere, and the temperature here was so low that she would not sleep there naked like this.If it's not sleep, it's death.A murder case lay before him.He trembled with horror at the thought.Although he had been a soldier, homicides rarely occurred in the area, and killing a little girl would never happen.Even though the facts were right in front of him, he still couldn't believe it.Only clotted blood smeared on her thigh, other than that, there was no wound.How did someone else kill her?
He came to her, propped his stick on the ground, and began to observe the little girl.Of all the residents here, there was no one he didn't know.So, he must know her too.However, her face was covered and he couldn't guess her name.He bent down and reached out to remove the handkerchief.But at this moment, he stopped.An idea popped into his mind.

The state of the corpse is the basis for the judicial department to investigate the case. Before they arrive, does he have the right to do so?In his mind, the judiciary is like a general.The general's eyes are sharp, and he will not let go of any clues.A knife in the stomach is equally important to him as a button that falls off.Perhaps a proof was hidden beneath the handkerchief.In short, this is an important piece of physical evidence that should never be touched by a dirty hand.

So he stood up and planned to report to the village chief's house.But, he stopped again because another idea popped into his head.Maybe the little girl isn't dead yet.He couldn't just walk away and leave her here.He moved a little away from her, then knelt down and touched her feet with his hands.Her feet were so cold that it both frightened and reassured him.When the postman's hand touched the girl's cold feet, he felt, as he said later, an urge to throw up and drool.He got up immediately and ran to M. Renardet's.

He tilted his head forward, clenched his fists tightly, tucked his cane under his armpit, and ran forward with small steps.His waist was pounded back and forth by the mailbag full of newspapers and letters.

The village chief's house is at the end of the woods.For the village chief, the whole forest is his big garden.A small pond formed by the Brandier River flowing through this place merged with an entire corner of the wall of his house.

It was a big old square house of gray stone, which had been besieged many times before.There is a 20-meter-high giant tower built in the water at the back of the house.

Previously, the castle was used by people to monitor the whole area.It is known as the Fox Tower.As for why it is called so, no one can give an accurate answer.This appellation may be the source of Renardet's name.The domain is said to have remained in the same family for over 200 years, and the name was used by his owners.The Renardet family belonged to the bourgeoisie, and a bourgeoisie very close to the nobility.Before the French Revolution, such people were often active in the provinces.

The servants are eating in the kitchen.The postman rushed in and shouted: "Is the village chief up? I have something very important to report to him immediately." Everyone knows that Medalik is an important person and an authoritative person, so immediately Got it, something pretty serious must have happened.

Monsieur Renardet, knowing that Medelick had something to say, had him brought in.The postman came in panting, his broad-brimmed hat in his hand.He was rather pale.He saw the village chief sitting in front of a long table covered with scattered papers.

The village head is tall and fat.He is tall and thick, with a red face and a strong body like a yellow ox.Despite his irascible temperament, he still won the love of the local people.He was nearly 40 years old, lost his wife and lived alone for six months.He is a squire, has his own land, and lives on his own land.His violent temper often got him into trouble, and Lewyledauer's judges were his cautious and forgiving friends, always helping him out of trouble.Indeed.One day he pushed the coachman off the seat because his hound, Mikko Mack, was nearly run over by the coachman.Indeed.When he passed a neighbor's game park with a gun, he broke the ribs of the guard who recorded him there.Indeed.The mayor of the prefecture had stopped at the village during an official inspection, which, in M. Renardelle's opinion, was the mayor's campaign trip, for which he grabbed the mayor by his collar.He was brought up by his family and always opposed the government.

The village chief asked, "Medalik, what happened?"

"I saw a little girl die in your big wood."

Renardet straightened up at this and blushed even more.

"You mean...a little girl?"

"That's right, sir. A little girl, lying on her back, naked and bloodstained, is utterly dead!"

The village chief scolded: "Okay! She is Little Rock, yes, I bet it must be Little Rock. I just received a report that she disappeared inexplicably last night and did not come home. You found her Where is the location?"

The township postman told the location.In addition to this, he told Monsieur Renardet some details, and offered to lead the mayor there.

"No, I have no need of you," said Monsieur Renardelle, suddenly and abruptly, "call me the village secretary, the policeman, and the doctor at once, and then you can do nothing and go on with your letters." .Hurry up and tell them, I’m going to the big forest first, let them find me there.”

The postman in the township was a person who had no idea. He left according to the instructions of the village head.But he was suffocated because he was not allowed to participate in the case.

The village head is also going out.He took his gray bonnet with a wide brim in his hand, and stopped for a few seconds on the threshold of his lodging.In front of him was an open lawn with three flower beds, two on either side of the house and one facing the house.The flower-beds were in full bloom, forming three rather large spots of red, white and blue in a green meadow.Farther away is the big forest, the trees in it towering into the sky.On the left is the pond connected to the Brandier River, and in the distance is a pasture. The whole area is covered with green, very flat, and there are hedges or ditches made of willow trees. The branches of willow are often pruned, thin The branches trembled on the short and thick trunk.

On the right is a plot of buildings belonging to the landowner, including garages and stables.The rich village is just behind those buildings.Raising cattle is the main livelihood of the villagers.

Renardet walked slowly down the steps of his house and came to the river.With his forehead tilted forward and his hands behind his back, he walked slowly along the river.As he walked in this way, he occasionally looked around.He did this to see if those whom he had sent for came.

He kept walking.When he got under the tree, he stopped, took off his hat like Medalik did, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. The sun in July is so venomous that it is unbearably hot.After that, the village head continued to move forward.After walking for a while, he stopped again and went back along the same road.Suddenly, he took out his handkerchief, leaned over and put it into the creek.The little river flowed under his feet.After that, he took out his handkerchief and spread it on his head.The water trickled down, onto his temples, over his purple ears, down his thick, red neck, into the collar of his shirt.

He didn't see a single person.He stomped his feet and yelled loudly, "Hi! Hi!"

"Hello! Hello!" someone answered him.

That was the doctor's answer.He appears under the tree.He was a small, thin man, a former army surgeon.In the eyes of people around him, he is a capable person.When he was serving, he was injured, so his legs and feet were not very flexible, and he walked with a limp.Therefore, he always walks with a cane for support.

After a while, the village secretary and the township police who were notified at the same time also came.They arrive at the same moment.In order to come as soon as possible, they often waved their arms, trotted for a while, and walked for a while when they were tired from running.They arrived panting, with terrified and uneasy expressions on their faces.

"You know what happened?" Renardet asked the doctor.

"Yes. A child died in the woods and was found by Medalik."

"Yes, let's go!"

After speaking, they walked forward side by side.The village secretary and the township police followed behind.The ground was thick with moss, so they made no sound as they walked.They look ahead.

Suddenly, the doctor Rabalpo stretched out his arm and shouted: "Look, there!"

A very pale object lies under a tree in the distance.If they hadn't known what it was beforehand, they wouldn't have been able to guess it at all.It was so white it might have been mistaken for a piece of underwear that had been accidentally dropped, and it seemed to be shining.There was a large line across her stomach, caused by a ray of sunlight piercing through the thick branches.They approached her and gradually became aware of her figure.Both arms are spread out as if crucified, and the face covered with a handkerchief faces the river.

"It's too hot, I can't take it anymore," said the village chief.

He bent down, put the handkerchief again into the Brandier, took it out again, and laid it on his forehead.

Their findings allow doctors to go faster.As soon as he came to the corpse, he bent down and inspected it carefully, but he didn't touch it.He took out a pair of pince-nez, put them on, and walked slowly around the body, as if people were looking at a rare treasure.

Before he straightened up, he couldn't wait to say: "This is rape and murder. Regarding this, we can prove it immediately. Besides, this little girl's breasts can prove that she has fully grown."

The little girl has a pair of very full breasts.Now that she was dead, they softened and collapsed.

The handkerchief covering his face was gently lifted off by the doctor.The face of the dead man was revealed.The eyes were protruding, the tongue was sticking out, and the whole face looked terrible and dirty.

He reached out his hand to the neck of the deceased, touched it, and said, "She is Little Rock, who was strangled to death with hands. The murderer was quite sophisticated, and there were no fingerprints or fingernail marks left."

He carefully put the handkerchief back on the dead man's face and said, "There is nothing I need to do. Let the prosecutor's office come! It has been at least twelve hours since she died."

Renardet stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the girl's body.He whispered: "The little girl is very poor. Her clothes should be found."

The doctor felt her arms, hands and thighs, and said: "She must have just had a bath before she was killed. Her clothes are probably somewhere by the river."

The village chief began to issue orders: "Planship (village secretary), you find her clothes for me, along the river. Maxime (village policeman), you go to Louie-le-Dauer immediately and send The police and the examining magistrate are here. You make a mark for me, and I shall see them here in an hour."

The two of them immediately went into action.

"Which bastard would be so mad as to do such a thing in this place?" Renardet said to the doctor.

"I can't tell! Everyone can do this kind of thing. But generally speaking, no one would do such a thing." The doctor replied in a low voice.

"Perhaps an unemployed worker, a fellow with nothing to do. Ever since the republic, such people have been everywhere," said Renardet.Both he and the doctor were Napoleonic.

The village head continued: "That's right, he can only be an outsider, a person passing by here, a wanderer who has lost his home and nowhere to go..."

The doctor smiled and added to the mayor: "And he has no comfortable house, no good food, no wife. So, he starts to do other things. At a certain time, people don't know who will Committed a heinous crime. Did you already know about the disappearance of this little girl?"

"Yes. At seven o'clock last night, the child still hadn't come home for supper. Her mother was very worried, and came to me around nine o'clock. We went out together to find her, calling her name on several roads, We have been searching late at night. We have never thought of the place of the big forest. Besides, if we want to conduct an effective search, we must wait until dawn."

"A cigar?" asked the doctor.

"Thank you for your kindness, I don't need it, the sight in front of me makes me very uncomfortable."

The two of them were still standing facing the girl's slender body.Underneath her body was a very dark moss, which made her body look extremely pale.On one thigh a blue-bellied fly was climbing up, pausing for a moment on the bloodstain, then going up again, eagerly and intermittently across the flank and onto one breast.After staying on it for a while, it climbed up another one.It did this in order to find something to drink on the corpse.Renardet and the doctor looked at it.

The doctor said: "A fly on the skin is so beautiful! In the last century, women had the habit of sticking fake moles on their faces, and I think their practice is very good. Why don't they put this habit on the skin?" How about keeping it up?"

The village chief was thinking deeply, as if he hadn't heard his words at all.

(End of this chapter)