“He emerges like a stag, all bewildered, from the woodlands on the North slopes of Le Valais. Before following him along the path that goes to Pas de Morgins at the cemetery pit of Nendaz, let us note that in the end he was very aptly named by the people of Le Valais: he is quite simply a deserter. He deserted a particular kind of society to go and live in another.”
JEAN GIONO
Le Déserteur © Gallimard
The Deserter? That man into his thirties who turned up at Le Valais. What was he fleeing? Who was he? He was called Charles-Frédéric Brun, he was from the Alsatian region, he painted images. That was all he would say. Only the Abbot of Saint-Maurice who welcomed him and the police at Sion that tracked him down appear to have known more.”
Saint Maurice is a preferred theme for The Deserter, more so that Saint George, both of whom are people depicted on horses.
PATOIS
I jandârma a fichyà o pèstan p’é joë, i pèstan a bayà coûre û pichyë.
The policeman has got the rascal, he has wet his trousers.
Raynaud’s syndrome is also known as ‘white finger disease’ and is primarily manifested as discoloured fingertips and toes following prolonged exposure to vibrations transmitted by work tools. But what meaning did mountain people attach to white hands in the 19th century?
St. MAURICE D’AGAUNE.
at Marse on the 5th day of the month of March 1868. C.F.B.
21 x 13,5 cm. © Robert Hofer, Sion.
Maybe the Deserter had an animal as a companion along the route and in the barn where he slept. What kind of animal would that be for you? Would it be a parrot or a squirrel perched on the shoulder?