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Maria Chapdelaine: A Tale of the Lake St. John Country

by Louis Hémon

Pages
about 168
Category
Literature & Fiction
Language
English
Reading time
3.1 h at 250 wpm
Start readingThe whole book, as cards or one word at a time. 1.7 h at 450 wpm in Read mode.

From the opening

Set up and electrotyped. Published December, 1921 Second printing January, 1922 Third printing February, 1922 Fourth printing February, 1922 Fifth printing March, 1922 Sixth printing March, 1922 Seventh printing March, 1922 Eighth printing April, 1922 Ninth printing July, 1922 Tenth printing August, 1922 Eleventh printing August, 1922 Twelfth printing October, 1922

It was supper-time before Maria had answered all the questions, told of her journey down to the last and littlest item, and given not only the news of St. Prime and Peribonka but everything else she had been able to gather up upon the road.

Tit'Bé, seated facing his sister, smoked pipe after pipe without taking his eyes off her for a single moment, fearful of missing some highly important disclosure that she had hitherto held back. Little Alma Rose stood with an arm about her neck; Telesphore was listening too, as he mended his dog's harness with bits of string. Madame Chapdelaine stirred the fire in the big cast-iron stove, came and went, brought from the cupboard plates and dishes, the loaf of bread and pitcher of milk, tilted the great molasses jar over a glass jug. Not seldom she stopped to ask Maria something, or to catch what she was saying, and stood for a few moments dreaming, hands on her hips, as the villages spoken of rose before her in memory--

"... And so the church is finished--a beautiful stone church, with pictures on the walls and coloured glass in the windows ... How splendid that must be! Johnny Bouchard built a new barn last year, and it is a little Perron, daughter of Abelard Perron of St. Jerome, who teaches school ... Eight years since I was at St. Prime, just to think of it! A fine parish indeed, that would have suited me nicely; good level land as far as you can see, no rock cropping up and no bush, everywhere square-cornered fields with handsome straight fences and heavy soil. Only two hours' drive to the railway ...

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