Ball of Suet: Selected Short Stories by Maupassant

Chapter 12 Little Rock (2)
However, he was startled by a sound and turned around suddenly.A woman ran towards him.She is Aunt Rock, the mother of Little Rock.She was wearing a brimless hat on her head, and a blue apron tied around her waist.Seeing Renardet, she immediately cried out: "Where is it? Where is my child?" She was so confused that she didn't even look at the ground.Suddenly, she glanced down to the ground, saw her child lying there, stopped immediately, raised her arms above her head, and screamed like a slaughtered animal, making a shrill and mournful sound .

Afterwards, she knelt down next to the corpse and couldn't wait to remove the handkerchief covering the dead little girl's face.A hideous face, already blackened, was revealed.Seeing this face, she straightened up immediately, then suddenly fell to the ground, her face pressed against the thick moss, and she couldn't stop crying.

Beneath her clothes, her slender body was trembling.Although her thin calves and protruding ankle bones were covered by thick blue stockings, their trembling was still clearly visible.Her fingers are like a hook.She dug with them, as if to dig a hole in the ground to accommodate her.

Seeing this scene, the doctor was very sad.He said in a low voice: "This old woman is really poor." A peculiar voice rang out from Renardet's belly.He sneezed loudly.He took out his handkerchief, put it over his mouth, and began to cry.The whimpering, sneezing, and coughing mix together to create quite a loud noise.He said intermittently: "Damn...you bastard...you did such a thing...I...I want to see him executed by guillotine..."

Planship returned dejectedly.He has nothing in his hands.He whispered: "Mr. Village Chief, I have searched for a long time, and I have searched everywhere I can find, but I can't find anything."

The village chief panicked.He said in a slurred voice: "What did you say, what did you not find?"

"The little girl's clothes."

"Okay...ok...keep looking...and...you must find it...otherwise...I won't let you go."

Planship knew the village chief's character and knew that he was no match for him, so he could only obey his orders and continue searching.He glanced at the corpse, then left resentfully.

The noise of the crowd coming and going came from under the trees in the distance.Medalik had already spread the news when he delivered the letter.At first, the local people were quite shocked, everyone talked about it, and then they got together and gave their opinions and commented on it for several minutes.Finally, they decided to go to the scene of the incident to find out.Therefore, they came shoulder to shoulder.They were a little uneasy in their hearts, and they hesitated when they walked, as if they were worried that they could not bear the initial excitement.When the corpse was not far from them, they stopped and talked in low voices.After that, they picked themselves up again and walked forward, but stopped after a few steps, and then moved forward again.Soon Renardet, the doctor, and the mother of the deceased were surrounded by them.They made noisy noises, and their hearts were very excited.The people behind pushed forward so that they were all squeezed together.When they came to the corpse, some of the bravest ones bent down to touch it.The doctor stopped them.At this time, the village chief suddenly woke up from his numbness.He was furious, grabbed the doctor's cane, and rushed towards his villagers: "Go away... Go away... Beast... Get away from me..." The team formed by the spectators pulled away at once. 200 meters long.

At this time, Aunt Rock stood up again and turned around, but then she sat down again, and then covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

People have their own opinions on the matter.The naked body of the young girl attracts the attention of the lads, who are looking at it greedily.Realizing this, Renardet quickly took off his coarse coat and threw it on the body.The garment was so wide and bulky that it completely covered the body.

The spectators began to slowly move forward again.The big woods are full of people.The noisy voice kept echoing among the dense branches and leaves.

The mayor stood there in his shirt.He holds a cane in his hand, as if confronting an enemy.People's curiosity seemed to irritate him.He was very angry, and kept saying, "I'll see if any of you dare to come over. If someone comes over, I'll beat his head like a dog."

The peasants were afraid of him and kept a certain distance from him.Dr. Rabalpo lit a cigarette, and in order to distract Madam Roque, he sat down beside her and talked with her.Aunt Rock immediately put her hand down, crying and nagging non-stop.She is using this method to vent her pain.She started talking.She talked about her life, about her marriage, about her husband who was killed by a bull.After that, she talked about the poor life she led her daughter after her husband died, and about her daughter's childhood.She and her daughter Roque depended on each other for life, but Roque was murdered in the woods.Suddenly, she crawled towards the corpse on her knees, and she wanted to see her daughter again.Crawling to the corpse, she lifted a corner of the clothes covering the corpse, then put it down again, and wept bitterly again.The onlookers quietly watched the mother's every move.

However, people suddenly became confused. "Gendarmerie! Gendarme!" shouted the people.

In the distance are two gendarmes.They came at a trot, escorting a small gentleman and their captain.The gentleman rode a big white horse with a brown beard.His diminutive body danced on the horse like a monkey.

Just as the examining magistrate Petouin was on his horse, pretending to be a knight capable of fighting, and going on his daily walk, the village police found him.

He dismounted from his horse with the captain and shook hands with the village chief and the doctor one by one.In the process, he glanced very curiously at the dungaree jacket covering the body.

When he found out about this, the first thing he did was to order the military police to drive away the group of onlookers.The gendarmes obeyed the order and drove all the spectators out of the big forest.But it was not long before the people formed a noisy wall on the grass on both sides of the Brandier.

Afterwards, the doctor explained the condition of the deceased, and Renardet was in charge of recording with a pencil and a notebook.Afterwards, they discussed again.So far, all the evidence collection work has been completed, but no problems have been found.Planship returned empty-handed again.

No clothes were found, and everyone felt incredible.The only plausible explanation is robbery.However, those tattered clothes are not worth much at all, who would believe that this is robbery?
The examining magistrate, the captain of the gendarmerie, the village chief and the doctor also started searching.They divided into two groups and searched carefully along the Brandier.

"That bastard, for what purpose did he take away or hide his clothes, and leave his body exposed in the wild, in front of the eyes of the people?" Renardet said to the judge.

The judge is a very deep man.He replied: "Yes! Perhaps it is a conspiracy? The perpetrator may be a scheming rascal, or a vulgar man. In any case, he will not escape."

They heard a loud noise of rolling wheels and turned around.They saw the acting attorney general, the clerk and the judge.While talking enthusiastically, everyone began to search again.

Suddenly Renardet said: "May I invite you to my house for lunch?"

Everyone gladly accepted his invitation.The pre-trial judge thought that everyone had already worked hard on little Rock for a day and was already tired, so he said to the village chief: "I know, there must be a room in your house where I can temporarily store the corpse, and you can put the corpse for me." Keep it till tonight. I'll have it carried to your house, what do you think?"

The village chief felt a little uneasy, and he spoke intermittently: "Okay, no... no... to be honest, I don't want to keep it... this is because... because, they... my servants... The ghosts in that tower... they've started gossiping... so... I can't bring a dead man into my house again... no... I don't want to keep it in my house."

The judge laughed.He said, "Okay .

"no problem."

Everyone walked towards the corpse and came to it.Beside the corpse, Aunt Rock was sitting on the ground.While holding her daughter's hand, she stared blankly into the distance.

In order not to let her see the corpse being pulled away, two doctors came to her and tried to pull her away.However, she immediately understood people's intentions, threw herself on the corpse, hugged it tightly, and said loudly: "She is mine, and none of you can take her. She belongs to me now. She died and was brutally tortured." Killed her, I want to keep her by my side, none of you can take her away."

Everyone didn't know what to do.They stood helplessly beside her.Renardet knelt down and said to her: "Aunt Roque, you must take her away now, because only in this way can the real murderer be found out. We must find out the murderer and let him be punished as he should. After finding the murderer , we will return her to you, please rest assured, we will definitely return her to you."

Aunt Rock was moved by this reason.In her eyes, apart from panic, there was also hatred for the murderer.She asked, "Can the murderer be caught?"

"Of course, I promise you to catch him."

She was thoroughly convinced and decided to let these people take the body away.However, the captain of the gendarmerie suddenly said: "It's really strange. Where did her clothes go? Why can't they be found?"She asked, "Where are her clothes? They belong to me and I want them. Where are they?"

People told her that those clothes had been searched for for a long time but could not be found.Upon hearing the news, she burst into tears, crying out in despair: "Where are they? I want them, they belong to me."

People kept reassuring her.However, not only did this not work, but it made her cry even harder.She can let people take her daughter's body, but she doesn't want to lose her daughter's clothes again.She did this, maybe because of a mother's love for her daughter, maybe because of greed, the greed in the bones of the poor.The poor will cherish every silver coin, because in their eyes, it is a great fortune.

In order to cover the girl's naked body, they went to M. Renardet's house and found pieces of canvas.When people loaded the corpses into the car, the captain of the gendarmerie and the village chief helped Aunt Roque to the tree.She stood there and cried out, "I've got nothing, I've got nothing, I've got nothing in this world, not even her little hat is mine. I've got nothing, I've become nothing, Even her little hat doesn't belong to me anymore."

The priest of the church is a man who has gained weight at a young age.He just arrived.He took Aunt Rock, accompanied by everyone, and walked towards the village together.The priest told her the words commonly used in religion, and said that he would give her various compensations.Therefore, she no longer suffers as much as before.But she kept on saying, "I'm content with her little hat..." This thought trumped all other thoughts in her mind.

Renardet called to the priest from a distance: "Monsieur priest, you will come to my house in an hour and have lunch with us."

The abbe turned his head, looked at Renardet, and replied: "Monsieur mayor, I would like to go. I will go at noon."

Everyone went to the village chief's house.The soaring tower on the banks of the Brandier and the gray facade of the house came into view through the gaps in the leaves.

The murder was constantly discussed at the table, so that lunch lasted a long time.It is agreed that a villain who happened to pass by spotted the little girl while she was taking a bath, raped her, and eventually killed her.

After lunch, the judges returned to Louie.Before leaving, they said they would come early the next morning.The priest and the doctor were gone too.Renardet was alone.He is walking on the pasture.After a considerable time, he returned to the great wood again.Putting his hands behind his back, he began to walk slowly there, and did not return until it was dark.

He goes to bed early.The next day, while he was still sound asleep, the examining magistrate came to his room.With a happy expression on his face, the judge rubbed his hands repeatedly and said, "Ah! You haven't woken up yet! My dear, I have some good news for you. This morning, we found a new clue."

The mayor sat up.He asked, "What clue?"

"It's a bit strange to say. Yesterday Little Rock's mother kept talking about wanting a piece of her daughter's clothing as a keepsake. She kept saying that she wanted her daughter's little hat. Do you remember these things? Just this morning, when she opened the door, she saw her daughter's two small wooden clogs. They were placed on the wooden sill. This proves that the murderer must be a local. That person felt sorry for her, so he This is done. In addition, the postman Medelik sent me the little girl's knife, thimble, and needle case. These things show that when the murderer hid the clothes, the contents of the pockets of the clothes fell out. This incident is a very important clue. It proves that the murderer is not a man with no conscience, but a man who has some sympathy and a certain moral cultivation. I would like to discuss with you the main people in this village. To study the situation of the villagers, of course, the premise is that you are willing."

The mayor stood up and rang the bell.He wanted to shave, so he ordered hot water to be brought over.He said: "I would like to do it. However, this work is not easy and it will take us quite a long time to complete. Let's start now!"

Monsieur Petouin sat astride a chair as if he were riding a horse.This hobby, even indoors, he will never forget.

Renardet put the white lather on his chin in front of the mirror.He took out his razor, sharpened it on his belt a few times, and said: "Joseph Renardet is one of the principal residents of Calfrain, a rich landowner and mayor of the village, a very bad-tempered, coachman. and forest watchers were beaten by him..."

The examining judge stopped him with a smile: "There is no need to say any more, let's see the next one..."

"Mr. Peterson, assistant to the mayor, is the second most important person in Calfrain. He is also a rich landowner, with a lot of cattle. He is very cunning, and always very cunning when money matters are involved, but I think There's no way he could have done such a brutal thing."

Mr. Bituan said: "Then look at the next one."

And so, while washing and shaving, Renardet continued to comment on the moral sentiments of the other inhabitants of the village.This work was carried out for two hours.In the end, they believed that the three people were the most likely murderers.These three people are: Klauvis who feeds horses, Pague who catches fish, and Kaval who poachers.

two

Throughout the summer, the work of tracking down the murderer has been in full swing.However, the result was not satisfactory, and the murderer was not found.Those suspicious characters were arrested.But they all have solid evidence to prove their innocence.The procuratorate had no choice but to give up the investigation.

But the murder seemed to have a magical power that terrified the whole district.The residents felt a kind of unexplainable fear, and were also terrified that they could not find any clues and clogs that appeared in front of Aunt Rock's door.It is believed with great certainty that the murderer was present at the time of the investigation and that he continued to live in the village thereafter.They've been haunted by the idea.

They also think that the big woods are haunted, and they all find it daunting and try not to go there.In the past, the forest was an important place for residents' activities.They went for a walk there every Sunday afternoon, sometimes walking along the bank watching the trout swim under the weeds, sometimes sitting on the thick moss under the big tree to rest.The boys choose some suitable places, clean up the moss on the ground, then level and tamp the ground, and then play various games on it.The girls walked hand in hand, singing ballads in shrill voices, and the harsh singing disturbed the air.Now, the tall trees are still there, and the dense shade is still there, but no one has gone there. It seems that everyone knows that there is a corpse there, as long as you go there, you will see it.

In a blink of an eye, it is autumn.The round leaves fell from mid-air to the ground.Without leaves, people can already see the sky in the woods.Sometimes, a light rain in the sky will turn into a heavy rain.The raindrops kept falling on the moss, like a thick carpet covering it.People walked on it and made a creaking sound.As the leaves fall, they make an imperceptible whimper-like whisper.The falling leaves are the tears of the sad trees.Sadness has become the only theme of these big trees, because the mild dawn and the intoxicating dusk have left it, because the bright sun and warm breeze are no longer there, because the end of the year has come.In addition, perhaps also because at their feet, a little girl was raped and killed.And all of this, they see it in their eyes.This forest is frightening and has been ruthlessly abandoned. Perhaps only the soul of the dead little girl is floating in it.In the silence, the trees weep.

Due to the sudden fall of the rainstorm, the Brandier River grew rapidly, and the clear water turned into a muddy yellow soup. It roared forward between two rows of thin willow trees and between the steep banks.

(End of this chapter)