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Updated: May 14, 2025
And it happened that, late and early, Pol Bihan now came to the tower, bringing with him the laughing Matheline; for it was rumored that at last Sylvestre Ker would soon find the fairy-stone and become a wealthy man.
They roasted the chestnuts in the ashes, heated the cider before the fire, adding to it fermented honey, wine, sprigs of rosemary, and marjoram leaves; and so delicious was the perfume of the beverage that even Dame Josserande longed for a taste. On the way thither, Pol had advised Matheline adroitly to question Sylvestre Ker, to know when he would at last find the fairy-stone.
A black mass dashed through the crowd, and Pol Bihan uttered a horrible cry, "Help! help! Matheline!" You have often heard the noise made by a dog when crunching a bone. This was the noise they heard, but louder, as though there were many dogs crunching many bones. And a strange voice, like the growling of a wolf, said, "The strength of a man is a dainty morsel for a wolf to eat.
As Sylvestre Ker walked down the path at the end of which is the Cross of St. Cado, he saw, on the summit of the promontory, Pol and Matheline strolling along, talking and laughing; so he thought, "I need not go far to see Matheline's two pearls." And, in fact, the girl's merry laughter could be heard below, for it always burst forth if Pol did but open his lips.
"The pearls of a smile make a dainty morsel for a wolf to eat. Matheline, serpent that stung my heart, seek for your beauty. I have eaten it!" The white-haired beggar had endeavored to protect Matheline against the wolf, but he was very old, and his limbs would not move as quickly as his heart. He only succeeded in throwing down the wolf.
Meanwhile, Josserande prayed earnestly for Sylvestre Ker. "Never mind," continued Bihan; "it is worth while limping and squinting for a time to win all the money in the world." "That is true; but for how long?" Sylvestre Ker held his breath to hear the better. "As long as you please," answered Pol Bihan. There was a pause, after which the gay Matheline resumed in a lower tone,
Pol and Matheline, condemned to walk around the Basin of the Pagans until the end of time, one without arms, the other without a face, offer a severe lesson to those who are too proud of their broad shoulders and brute force, and gossiping flirts of girls with smiling faces and wicked hearts; the case of Sylvestre Ker teaches young men not to listen to the demon of money; the blow of Josserande's axe shows the miraculous power of faith.
These ruins are now called the Wolf Tower, and the Breton peasants shudder as they pass through the chestnut-grove; for at midnight, around the Wolf Tower, and close to the first circle of great stones erected by the Druids at Carnac, are seen the phantoms of a young man and a young girl Pol Bihan and Matheline du Coat-Dor.
Ah! if it were not for my stiff leg.... Kill him, kill him!... wolf! wolf!" "Wolf! wolf!" repeated Matheline, who tried to drive off the old beggar with her pitchfork. But the fork broke like glass in her hands as it touched the poor man's tatters, and at the same time twenty voices cried, "The wolf! the wolf! Where has the wolf gone?" Soon it was seen where the wolf had gone.
Certainly; such a thing could scarcely be divined; but under what form cannot a mother discover her darling child? She defended the wolf against the peasants, who had returned to strike him with their pitchforks and pikes, as they believed him dead. The two last who came were Pol Bihan and Matheline.
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