Page:Mistral - Mirèio. A Provençal poem.djvu/60

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Then laughed the maiden, and her laugh was gay:
"See, Vincen! Have you never heard them say
That when two find a nest in company,
On mulberry, or any other tree,
The Church within a year will join those two?
And proverbs, father says, are always true."

"Yea," quoth the lad; "but do not thou forget
That this, our happy hope, may perish yet,
If all the birdies be not caged forthwith."
"Jesu divine!" the maiden murmureth:
"Put them by quickly! It concerns as much
Our birdies should be safe from alien touch."

"Why, then, the very safest place," said he,
"Methinks, Mirèio, would thy bodice be!"
"Oh, surely!" So the lad explores the hollow,
His hand withdrawing full of tomtits callow.
Four were they; and the maid in ecstasy
Cries, "Mon Dieu!" and lifts her hands on high.

"How many! What a pretty brood it is!
There! There, poor darlings, give me just one kiss!"
And, lavishing a thousand fond caresses,
Tenderly, carefully, the four she places
Inside her waist, obeying Vincen's will;
While he, "Hold out thy hands! there are more still!"