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Show S DE BELGIQUE By PIERRE LOTIO . _, ' ‘ PETITs ISILLON ‘ venalt s belge es refugl dc tram un sud, du 8?:011):[Id/211:3: une de nos villes ent, n are et les pauvres martyrs un 21 im desccndaient lentem ' pour aient s attcnd les francal i] (les ‘ 'd .. . 1 ' ‘ . v ‘ 3 .g e . entrer dexténu ou , es et ahuris, sur ce quai mconnu iasai , s 'llir. Trainant avec eux quelques haldes pliscs ‘au er ou elles. les Con1:5. resurgentés dans ces voitures sans meme se demand idummii $1111 (131211101: diépil fidifziient, ils étaient monte's dans la hate de fuii', ‘l-Tlllllfl‘d "1.151%ch LS lgb laind devant fen, 1e devant mort, la l'horreur et ssiy )llc gfilénandcs' viols sadiques,--devant tout .ce' qus ne semblalt pl‘us‘po etes ‘ mmc 1m, mais qui couvait encore, parait-il, au tond des pietistes clots et qui tout a coup s'était de'verse, sur leur pays ct sur e no 1‘19, C0, .11 H 1 ago, dernier vomissement des barbarles originelles. Ils n avaient pins nitvi cs (paves, it ni foyer, ni famille, ceux qui arrivaient la sans but, comme la detresse éfiarée e'tait dans les yeux de tous. Bcaucoup den agts, (.c petites filles, dont les parents s'étaient perdus au milieu dcs mcen 1L8. ou des batailles. Et aussi des a'ieules, maintenant‘seules au monde, qui avaient fui sans trop savoir pourquoi, ne tenant plus a‘v1vre mais p'oussees par un obscur instinct de conservation ; leur figure, a celles-la, n ez'sprimait 'pluis rien, pas méme le désespoir, comme $1 vraiment leur ame etait paitic ct . leur téte Vidée. ‘ 4 Deux tout petits, perdus dans cette foule lamentable, .se tenaient scares par la main, deux petits garcons, vislblement'deux petits freres, lame, qul avait peut-étre cinq ans, protégeant le plus Jeune qui pouyaitbienwen avo1r trois. Personne ne les reclamait, personne ne les connaissait. Lomment avaient-ils compris, trouvés tout seuls, qu'il fallait/m'onter dans ce tram, eux aussi, pour ne pas mourir? Leurs Vétements etalcnt. convenables Ct 118 portaient (les petits bas de laine bien c‘haud‘s ; 0n devmait qu ils, devalent appartenir a des parents modestes, mais sorgncux; sans doute ctaient-1ls fils dc l'un de ces sublimes soldats belges, tombe's heroiquement au champ d‘honneur, et qui avait dfi avoir pour eux, au moment de la mort, tine supreme pensee de tendresse. lls ne pleuraient meme pas, tant ils etaient aneantis par la fatigue et le sommeil; a peine s'ils tenaient delmut. Ils etaient incapables de répondre quand on les questionnait, ma1s surtout ils ne \‘oulaient pas se lacher, non. Enfin le grand aine', crispant touJours sa main sur celle de l'autre, dans la peur de le perdre, prit tout a coup conscience de son r61e de protecteur et trouva la force dc parler a la dame ' ., i1 brassard penchee vers lui : " Madame," Clit-il, d'une toute petite voix suppliante et déjé a m01t1e endormie, " Madame, est-ce qu'on va nous coucher ? " Pour le moment, c'e'tait tout ce qu'ils etaient capables de souhaiter encore, tout ce qu'ils attendaient de la pitié humaine: qu'on voulfit bien les coucher. Vite 0n les coucha, ensemble bien entendu, et ils s'endormirent aussitot, se tenant toujours par la main et presses l'un contre l'autre, a la méme minute plongCS tous les deux dans la tranquille inconscience des sommeils enfantins. . . . 3o Une fois, 11 y a longtemps, dans la mer de Chine, pendan t la guerre, deux petits o1seaux etourdis, deux mmuscules petits otseaux , moindres encore que nos r01telet s, etalent arrIVés Je ne sais comment a bord de notre cuirass , é, . . dans lappartement de .notre amiral, et, tout le JOUI‘, sans que personne du reste cherchat a leur faire peur, llS avaient volete' la de coté et d'autre, se perchant sur les cornlches ou sur les plantes vertes. La'nult venue, J6 les avals oublie's, quand l'amiral me fit appele r chez lui. C etalt pour me les montrer, et avec attendrlssement, les deux petits Visiteu rs, qul etalent alles se coucher dans sa chambre, posés d'une patte sur un fréle cordon us de son lit. Bien pres, bien pres l'un , de soie qui passait au-dess . de lautre, devenus deux petites boules de plumes qut. se touchai. ent et se confondalent presque, llS dormaient sans la moindre crainte, eomme tres sfirs de notre pitié. Et ces pauvres petits belges, endormis cote £1 cote, m'ont fait penser aux deux otsdlons perdus au mllieu de la met de Chine. C'etait bien la meme confiance et le méme Innocent sommeil ;-mais des sollicitudes beaucou p plus douces encore allaient veiller sur eux. . . . TRANSLATION by Florence Simmonds Two POOR LITTLE BELGIAN FLEDGLINGS They were not even crying, so overcome were they by At evening in one of our southern towns, a train full fatigue and sleepiness; they could scarcely stand. of Belgian refugees ran into the station, and the poor martyrs, exhausted and bewildered, got out slowly, one by one, on the unfamiliar platform, where French people were waiting to receive them. Carrying a few possessions caught up at random, they had got into the carriages without even asking whither they were bound, urged by their anxiety to flee, to flee desperately from horror and death, from unspeakable mutilation and Sadie outrage-from things that seemed no longer possible in the world, but which, it seems, were lying dormant in pietistic German brains, and had suddenly belched forth upon their land and ours, like a belated manifestation of original barbarism. They no longer possessed a Tillage, nor a home, nor a family ; they arrit‘ed like jetsom cost up by the waters, and the eyes of all were full of terrified anguish. Many children, little girls whose parents had disappeared in the stress Dffire and battle ; and aged women, now alone in the world, who had fled, hardly knowing wh , no longer caring for Ii e, but moved by some obscure instinct of self-presercation. Two little creatures, lost in the pitiable throng, held each other tightly by the hand, two little boys obviously brothers, the elder, who may have been five years Old, protecting the younger, of about three. No one claimed them, no one knew them. How had they been able to understand, finding themselves alone, that they too must get into this train, to escape death ? 1‘heir clothes were decent, and their little stockings were thick and warm ; clearly they belonged to humble but careful parents ; they were, doubtless, the sons Of One Of those sublime Belgian soldiers who had fallen heroically on the battle-field, and whose last thought had perhaps been one of supreme tenderness for them. They could not answer when they were questioned, but they seemed intent, above all, upon keeping a tight hold of each other. Finally the nan, clasping the little one's hand closely, as if fearing to lose him, seemed to awake to a sense of his duty as protector, and, half asleep already, found strength to say, in a suppliant tone, to the Red Cross lady bending over him .' " Madame, are they going to put us to bed soon? " For the moment this was all they were capable of wishing, all that they hoped for from human pity : to be put to bed. They were put to bed at once, together, of course, still holding each other tightly by the hand, and nestling one against the other, they fell at the same moment into the tranquil unconsciousness of childis't slumber. Once, long ago, in the China Sea, during the war, two little frightened birds, smaller even than our wrens, arrived I know not how, on board our iron-clad, in our admiral's cabin, and all day long, though no one attempted to disturb them, they fluttered from side to side, perching on cornices and plants. At nightfall, when I had forgotten them, the admiral sentfor me. It was to show me, not without emotion, the two little visitors, who had gone to roost in his room, perched upon a slender silken cord aboi'e his bed. They nestled closely together, two little balls of feathers, touching and almost merged one in the other, and slept without the slightest fear, sure of our pity. And those little Belgians sleeping side by side made me think of the two little birds lost in the China Sea. There was the same confidence, and the same innocent slumber ;-but a greater tenderness was about to watch over them. 31 |