Vendetta She lived there alone, with her son Antonia and their dog

by Guy De Maupassant "Semillante," a big, thin beast, with a long rough coat, of the
sheep-dog breed. The young man took her with him when out
hunting.
The widow of Paolo Saverini lived alone with her son in a poor
little house on the outskirts of Bonifacio. The town, built on an One night, after some kind of a quarrel, Antoine Saverini was
outjutting part of the mountain, in places even overhanging the treacherously stabbed by Nicolas Ravolati, who escaped the
sea, looks across the straits, full of sandbanks, towards the same evening to Sardinia.
southernmost coast of Sardinia. Beneath it, on the other side and
almost surrounding it, is a cleft in the cliff like an immense When the old mother received the body of her child, which the
corridor which serves as a harbor, and along it the little Italian neighbors had brought back to her, she did not cry, but she
and Sardinian fishing boats come by a circuitous route between stayed there for a long time motionless, watching him. Then,
precipitous cliffs as far as the first houses, and every two weeks stretching her wrinkled hand over the body, she promised him a
the old, wheezy steamer which makes the trip to Ajaccio. vendetta. She did not wish anybody near her, and she shut
herself up beside the body with the dog, which howled
On the white mountain the houses, massed together, makes an continuously, standing at the foot of the bed, her head stretched
even whiter spot. They look like the nests of wild birds, clinging towards her master and her tail between her legs. She did not
to this peak, overlooking this terrible passage, where vessels move any more than did the mother, who, now leaning over the
rarely venture. The wind, which blows uninterruptedly, has body with a blank stare, was weeping silently and watching it.
swept bare the forbidding coast; it drives through the narrow
straits and lays waste both sides. The pale streaks of foam, The young man, lying on his back, dressed in his jacket of coarse
clinging to the black rocks, whose countless peaks rise up out of cloth, torn at the chest, seemed to be asleep. But he had blood all
the water, look like bits of rag floating and drifting on the surface over him; on his shirt, which had been torn off in order to
of the sea. administer the first aid; on his vest, on his trousers, on his face,
on his hands. Clots of blood had hardened in his beard and in his
The house of widow Saverini, clinging to the very edge of the hair.
precipice, looks out, through its three windows, over this wild
and desolate picture. His old mother began to talk to him. At the sound of this voice the
dog quieted down.

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"Never fear, my boy, my little baby, you shall be avenged. Sleep, All alone, all day long, seated at her window, she was looking
sleep; you shall be avenged. Do you hear? It's your mother's over there and thinking of revenge. How could she do anything
promise! And she always keeps her word, your mother does, you without help--she, an invalid and so near death? But she had
know she does." promised, she had sworn on the body. She could not forget, she
could not wait. What could she do? She no longer slept at night;
Slowly she leaned over him, pressing her cold lips to his dead she had neither rest nor peace of mind; she thought persistently.
ones. The dog, dozing at her feet, would sometimes lift her head and
howl. Since her master's death she often howled thus, as though
Then Semillante began to howl again with a long, monotonous, she were calling him, as though her beast's soul, inconsolable
penetrating, horrible howl. too, had also retained a recollection that nothing could wipe out.

The two of them, the woman and the dog, remained there until One night, as Semillante began to howl, the mother suddenly got
morning. hold of an idea, a savage, vindictive, fierce idea. She thought it
over until morning. Then, having arisen at daybreak she went to
Antoine Saverini was buried the next day and soon his name church. She prayed, prostrate on the floor, begging the Lord to
ceased to be mentioned in Bonifacio. help her, to support her, to give to her poor, broken-down body
the strength which she needed in order to avenge her son.
He had neither brothers nor cousins. No man was there to carry
on the vendetta. His mother, the old woman, alone pondered She returned home. In her yard she had an old barrel, which
over it. acted as a cistern. She turned it over, emptied it, made it fast to
the ground with sticks and stones. Then she chained Semillante
On the other side of the straits she saw, from morning until night, to this improvised kennel and went into the house.
a little white speck on the coast. It was the little Sardinian village
Longosardo, where Corsican criminals take refuge when they are She walked ceaselessly now, her eyes always fixed on the distant
too closely pursued. They compose almost the entire population coast of Sardinia. He was over there, the murderer.
of this hamlet, opposite their native island, awaiting the time to
return, to go back to the "maquis." She knew that Nicolas All day and all night the dog howled. In the morning the old
Ravolati had sought refuge in this village. woman brought her some water in a bowl, but nothing more; no
soup, no bread.

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Another day went by. Semillante, exhausted, was sleeping. The her paws on its shoulders she began to tear at it. She would fall
following day her eyes were shining, her hair on end and she was back with a piece of food in her mouth, then would jump again,
pulling wildly at her chain. sinking her fangs into the string, and snatching few pieces of
meat she would fall back again and once more spring forward.
All this day the old woman gave her nothing to eat. The beast, She was tearing up the face with her teeth and the whole neck
furious, was barking hoarsely. Another night went by. was in tatters.

Then, at daybreak, Mother Saverini asked a neighbor for some The old woman, motionless and silent, was watching eagerly.
straw. She took the old rags which had formerly been worn by Then she chained the beast up again, made her fast for two more
her husband and stuffed them so as to make them look like a days and began this strange performance again.
human body.
For three months she accustomed her to this battle, to this meal
Having planted a stick in the ground, in front of Semillante's conquered by a fight. She no longer chained her up, but just
kennel, she tied to it this dummy, which seemed to be standing pointed to the dummy.
up. Then she made a head out of some old rags.
She had taught her to tear him up and to devour him without
The dog, surprised, was watching this straw man, and was quiet, even leaving any traces in her throat.
although famished. Then the old woman went to the store and
bought a piece of black sausage. When she got home she started Then, as a reward, she would give her a piece of sausage.
a fire in the yard, near the kennel, and cooked the sausage.
Semillante, frantic, was jumping about, frothing at the mouth, her As soon as she saw the man, Semillante would begin to tremble.
eyes fixed on the food, the odor of which went right to her Then she would look up to her mistress, who, lifting her finger,
stomach. would cry, "Go!" in a shrill tone.

Then the mother made of the smoking sausage a necktie for the When she thought that the proper time had come, the widow
dummy. She tied it very tight around the neck with string, and went to confession and, one Sunday morning she partook of
when she had finished she untied the dog. communion with an ecstatic fervor. Then, putting on men's
clothes and looking like an old tramp, she struck a bargain with a
With one leap the beast jumped at the dummy's throat, and with Sardinian fisherman who carried her and her dog to the other

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side of the straits. At nightfall the old woman was at home again. She slept well that
night.
In a bag she had a large piece of sausage. Semillante had had
nothing to eat for two days. The old woman kept letting her smell
the food and whetting her appetite.

They got to Longosardo. The Corsican woman walked with a

The old woman opened the door and called:

"Hallo, Nicolas!"

He turned around. Then releasing her dog, she cried:

"Go, go! Eat him up! eat him up!"

The maddened animal sprang for his throat. The man stretched
out his arms, clasped the dog and rolled to the ground. For a few
seconds he squirmed, beating the ground with his feet. Then he
stopped moving, while Semillante dug her fangs into his throat
and tore it to ribbons. Two neighbors, seated before their door,
remembered perfectly having seen an old beggar come out with
a thin, black dog which was eating something that its master was
giving him.