
At the crossroads just outside the village of Fouesnant, a squat thatched tavern clings to the road like a weary sentinel. Once a prosperous stop for the late Père Guillou, it now survives on the meager earnings of his widow and their daughter, who tend a single room, a modest hearth, and a modest array of bottles that promise a fleeting escape. Their lives are marked by the relentless rhythm of the fields and the quiet desperation of a household that has learned to make do with very little.
Into this fragile world steps Moëlan, a sturdy mason from the nearby bridges, whose marriage promises stability but quickly unravels into violence and drunken excess. His frequent “tours” of the bar turn harmless drinks into a weapon, and his aggression toward his wife escalates until even the local doctor and a visiting deputy feel compelled to intervene. As the community watches the unraveling, the tavern becomes a stage where the thin line between sustenance and self‑destruction is tested, hinting at a deeper, poisonous influence that threatens to consume them all.
Language
fr
Duration
~1 hours (64K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Clarity, Hans Pieterse and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
Release date
2021-06-02
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1856–1941
A French poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, remembered for lyrical writing and a lasting place in Paris literary life. He also worked in museum administration, bringing art and literature together throughout his career.
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