La
Guiablesse.
195
— " Lanmou pàti : moin pàti deïé lanmou." — " H o !—ou ni guêpe, anh ?" — " Zanoli bail yon bal ; épi maboya rentré ladans." — " Di moin oti ou kallé, doudoux ?" — " Jouq lariviè Lezà." — " Fouinq !—ni plis passé trente kilomett !" — " Eh ben ?—ess ou 'le vini épi moin ?"* And as she puts the question she stands still and gazes at him ;—her voice is no longer mocking : it has taken another tone,—a tone soft as the long golden note of the little brown bird they call the siffleur-de-montagne, the mountain-whistler. . . . Yet Fafa hesitates. H e hears the clear clang of the plantation bell recalling him to duty; — he sees far down the road — (Out/// how fast they have been walking!)—a white and black speck in the sun : Gabou, uttering through his joined hollowed hands, as through a horn, the ouklé, the rally call. For an instant he thinks of the overseer's anger,—of the distance,—of the white road glaring in the dead heat : then he looks again into the black eyes of the strange woman, and answers : — " Oui ;—moin ké vini épi o u . " With a burst of mischievous laughter, in which Fafa joins, she walks on,—Fafa striding at her side. . . . A n d Gabou, far off, watches them go,—and wonders that, for * — " W h e r e dost stay, d e a r ? " — " A f f a i r s o f the goat are n o t affairs o f the r a b b i t . " — " B u t w h y art thou dressed all in b l a c k t h u s ? " — " I wear mourning for m y dead soul." —"Aïe ya yaïe !. . . N o , true ! . . . w h e r e art thou g o i n g n o w ? " — " L o v e is g o n e : I g o after l o v e . " — " H o ! thou hast a W a s p [ l o v e r ] — e h ? " — " T h e zanoli gives a b a l l ; the maboya enters u n a s k e d . " — " T e l l m e w h e r e thou art g o i n g , sweetheart ? " — " A s far as the R i v e r o f the L i z a r d . " —' ' Fouinq!—there are m o r e than thirty kilometres ! " — " W h a t o f t h a t ? — d o s t thou w a n t t o c o m e w i t h m ç ? "