Julius Cæsar deplored. We learn of the introduction of Christianity. We
come down to the glorious days of Raymond of Toulouse.

"And enraptured to be free, young, robust, happy in the joy of living,
in those days a whole people was seen at the feet of Beauty; and singing
blame or praises a hundred Troubadours flourished; and from its cradle,
amid vicissitudes, Europe smiled upon our merry singing."

"O flowers, ye came too soon! Nation in bloom, the sword cut down thy
blossoming! Bright sun of the south, thou shonest too powerfully, and
the thunder-storms gathered. Dethroned, made barefoot, and gagged, the
Provençal language, proud, however, as before, went off to live among
the shepherds and the sailors."

"Language of love, if there are fools and bastards, ah! by Saint Cyr,
thou shalt have the men of the land upon thy side, and as long as the
fierce mistral shall roar in the rocks, sensitive to an insult offered
thee, we shall defend thee with red cannon-balls, for thou art the
fatherland, and thou art freedom!"

This love of the language itself pervades all the work of our poet, but
rarely has he expressed it more energetically, not to say violently,
than here.

Calendau reaches the point where he first catches a glimpse of the
Princess. He tells of the legends concerning the fairy Esterello, and of
the _Fada_ (Les Enfées). This last is a name given to idiots or to the
insane, who are supposed to have come under her spell.

"E degun auso