Chapter one: A welcome visitor
At one point in my life, I was a shepherd at Luberon. It was a very isolated place.
I would often spend weeks there without seeing a single person.
During those weeks, I would joyfully spend my time with my dog, tending my flocks of sheep.
At times when I did see another person, it was usually the loner who lived up on Mount Lure.
From time to time, he would come down, looking for some simple conversation and to hear some news of the outside world. I also saw the odd coal men.
They worked in the coal mines not too far from my fields.
All of these people were simple folk and did not care for the shallow wants of the world.
About once every two weeks, a person was sent to bring me supplies on a mule. This person was usually a farmhand from the lowlands or an old woman who always wore a reddish colored cap.
I heard all of the news from the lowlands news from them.
However, the news that interested me the most was any word about my master's daughter.
My master's daughter was the prettiest girl in the surrounding area.
But I was just a lowly twenty year old shepherd who tended her father's flocks. I always had to remind myself that there were many handsome young men in the lowlands.
They could provide better for her than what some poor shepherd could.
Being a vain girl, I knew that she would always have more interest in wealthier men. I never even expected her to say hello to me.
Two weeks had passed since my last supplies had been delivered to me. It was a sunday, and I was waiting for the mule to arrive with my provisions. I waited patiently, but no one came. “It is the fault of my master's house,” I thought.
“They have forgotten to send me my provisions. ”
I waited until noon.
I watched for someone to come, but in the distance, I noticed there was a very dark storm “The storm has delayed the person from delivering me my necessities,” I thought. “I am sure that the roads are very bad now because of the storm. ”
Another three hours passed. The storm had now passed. I looked into the sky.
It was now a beautiful, clean, blue sky, and the sun was casting its warm rays over the hills.
The familiar sound of water running through the brook brightened my spirits. Then I heard another familiar sound. It was the sound of the bell ringing around the mule's neck.
I waited to see whether it was a farmhand or the old woman who wore the red cap.
I was greatly surprised.
It was neither the farmhand nor the old woman.
It was the young lady, my master's daughter.
She rode up as I watched in amazement.
She climbed down from the mule and said, “The farmhand is sick and the old woman is spending a holiday with her children. So I came instead. ”
She also told me that she had lost her way.
However, when I looked into her face, her eyes danced.
It seemed like she was delayed because she had stopped to dance on the hills instead. In that fresh afternoon air, she looked simply beautiful.
I could hardly take my eyes off her.
I had never stood so closely to her before. I had only ever seen her from an admiring distance.
When I returned to the lowlands in the winter with the flocks, I went to the farm for my dinner.
At those times, I had seen her proudly walking through the rooms, not saying a word to any of the servants.
She had always appeared to be very proud at those moments.
Now she was standing directly in front of me.
I had her all to myself.
I watched as she took my provisions off the mule.
“So where is it that you sleep? ” the girl asked me.
I showed her. My bed was a very simple place made only of straw and sheepskin. Just above on the wall were my cape and stick.
She found it all very amusing.
“You poor shepherd! ” She exclaimed.
“You live here? You must always be so lonely and bored! What do you do with your time? What do you think about during your days? ” She asked.
I wanted to reply, “I only think about you. ” however, I didn't. In fact, I couldn't speak a word.
My master's daughter realized my embarrassment.
She took great pleasure in it. She started to tease me.
“And do the fairies come to visit you here? ”
She asked, laughing with a twinkle in her eyes.
I thought that she seemed as delicate and graceful as a fairy. She quickly prepared to leave. We said goodbye, and I watched her as she disappeared.
However, the sound of the mule's footsteps continued for a while longer. The sounds of those footsteps stayed with me for a long time.
I wanted to keep hearing them over and over in my head. They were a reminder of my very pleasant visitor