acknowledged the sway of this superior evil genius, and gave him
a uniform and ready obedience, in which there was something almost
fanatic. He was their deliverer in all desperate cases; and when the
weariness of confinement under our chilly vaults began to fill them with
_ennui_, his mind, brutal even in jest, would cure them by arranging
for their pleasure shows worthy of a den of thieves. Sometimes poor
mendicant monks collecting alms would be terrified or tortured for their
benefit; their beards would be burned off, or they would be lowered into
a well and kept hanging between life and death until they had sung some
foul song or uttered some blasphemy. Everybody knows the story of the
notary who was allowed to enter in company with his four clerks, and
whom they received with all the assiduity of pompous hospitality. My
grandfather pretended to agree with a good grace to the execution of
their warrant, and politely helped them to make an inventory of his
furniture, of which the sale had been decreed. After this, when dinner
was served and the king's men had taken their places at table, he said
to the notary:

"Ah, mon Dieu! I was forgetting a poor hack of mine in the stable. It's
a small matter. Still, you might be reprimanded for omitting it; and
as I see that you are a worthy fellow I should be sorry to mislead you.
Come with me and see it; it won't take us a moment."

The notary followed Mauprat unsuspectingly. Just as they were about to
enter the stable together, Mauprat, who was leading the way, told him to
put in his head only. The notary, anxious to show great consideration in
the performance of his duties, and not to pry into things too closely,
did as he was told. Then Mauprat suddenly pushed the door to and
squeezed his neck so violently between it and the wall that the wretched
man could not breathe. Deeming him sufficiently punished, Tristan opened