It came to him one Sunday after mass. He was walking home from church along the by-
road that led to his house when he saw ahead of him Martine, who was also going home.
Her father walked beside his daughter with the important gait of a rich farmer. Discarding
the smock, he wore a short coat of gray cloth and on his head a round-topped hat with
wide brim.
She, laced up in a corset which she wore only once a week, walked along erect, with her
squeezed-in waist, her broad shoulders and prominent hips, swinging herself a little. She
wore a hat trimmed with flowers, made by a milliner at Yvetot, and displayed the back of
her full, round, supple neck, reddened by the sun and air, on which fluttered little stray
locks of hair.
Benoist saw only her back; but he knew well the face he loved, without, however, having
ever noticed it more closely than he did now.
Suddenly he said: "Nom d'un nom, she is a fine girl, all the same, that Martine." He
watched her as she walked, admiring her hastily, feeling a desire taking possession of
him. He did not long to see her face again, no. He kept gazing at her figure, repeating to
himself: "Nom d'un nom, she is a fine girl."
Martine turned to the right to enter "La Martiniere," the farm of her father, Jean Martin,
and she cast a glance behind her as she turned round. She saw Benoist, who looked to her
very comical. She called out: "Good-morning, Benoist." He replied: "Good-morning,
Martine; good- morning, mait Martin," and went on his way.
When he reached home the soup was on the table. He sat down opposite his mother
beside the farm hand and the hired man, while the maid servant went to draw some cider.
He ate a few spoonfuls, then pushed away his plate. His mother said:
"No. I feel as if I had some pap in my stomach and that takes away my appetite."
He watched the others eating, as he cut himself a piece of bread from time to time and
carried it lazily to his mouth, masticating it slowly. He thought of Martine. "She is a fine
girl, all the same." And to think that he had not noticed it before, and that it came to him,
just like that, all at once, and with such force that he could not eat.
He did not touch the stew. His mother said:
