Ernest Pérochon

“ Madeleine took the children back under the oak. She had been afraid of the water ever since childhood. A half-witted old aunt had told her so many stories about bad fairies and black water witches that she always felt a kind of mysterious, fearsome fascination in the sleepy waters of a pond.
"You mustn't go too near, do you hear me, dear? The water is full of wicked creatures, that pull little children in by the feet!"
"Let's play, Madeleine!" said Lalie without listening. "I'll be a peddlar woman, I'll be selling pins; Jo'll be a little boy and you'll be his mamma. You're inside your house. ”

“ When she was eighteen, of a festive morning when the young people were preparing for a party, she had felt like this—as light as a sparrow.
"What a foolish thing I am! Poor bee in the rain! November swallow!" ”