Revenge

by Guy de Maupassant

Paolo Saverini’s widow lived alone with her son in a poor little house outside Bonifacio. The town, built on a mountain, looked across the sea towards the southern coast of Sardinia. Below the house was a harbour and every two weeks a steamer made the trip to the town. On the white mountain, the houses looked even whiter. The wind blew constantly across the unwelcoming coast. Widow Saverini’s house, on the edge of the hill, looked out, through its three windows, over this wild picture of sky and sea.

She lived there alone, with her son Antoine and their dog, Semil, a big, thin animal with long, rough hair. The son took the dog with him when he went hunting.

One night, after an argument, Antoine Saverini, was killed by Nicolas Ravolati, who escaped that same evening to Sardinia. When the old mother got the body of her child back, she did not cry but stayed there for a long time watching him. Then, putting her wrinkled hand over his dead body, she promised him revenge. She did not want anybody to stay with her next to the body, except the dog, which howled continuously. It stood at the end of the bed, looking at its master with its tail between its legs. It did not move any more than the mother.

The young man, dressed in his rough jacket, seemed to be asleep. But he had blood all over him; on his shirt, on his trousers, on his face, on his hands. Blood had dried all over his hair.

His old mother began to talk to him. At the sound of her voice the dog quietened down.

"Don’t worry, my boy, my little baby, you will have revenge. Sleep, sleep; you must have revenge. Do you hear? It's my promise, your mother's promise! And I always keep my word, you know I do."

Slowly she pressed her cold lips to his dead ones. Then Semil began to howl again. The two of them, the woman and the dog, stayed there until morning. Antoine Saverini was buried the next day and soon his name was forgotten in Bonifacio. He had no brothers or cousins. There was no man to take revenge – only his mother, only an old woman.

Across the sea she saw, from morning till night, a little white spot on the coast. It was the Sardinian village, Longosardo, where criminals escaped when the police were hunting them. They stayed there, across the sea from their homes, waiting for the time to return. She knew that Nicolas Ravolati was hiding in this village.

All alone, all day long, sitting by the window, the old woman looked over there, thinking of revenge. How could she do anything without help – a helpless old woman, so near death? But she had promised, she had sworn on her son’s body. She could not forget. She could not wait. She no longer slept; she could not rest; she thought constantly of revenge. The dog, sleeping at her feet, would sometimes lift its head and howl, like it was calling the dead man.

One night, as Semil began to howl, the mother suddenly had an idea, a cruel idea. She thought it over until morning. Then, getting up at daybreak she tried to get the strength she needed for her son’s revenge. Outside, she had an old barrel for rain water. She turned it over and put stones around it so that it did not move. Then she chained Semil to it and went into the house. She walked without stopping now, her eyes always fixed on the faraway coast of Sardinia. He was over there, the murderer.

All day and all night the dog howled. In the morning the old woman brought it some water but nothing else. Another day went by. Semil, exhausted, was sleeping. The following day the dog’s eyes were shining and it was pulling wildly at its chain. All day the old woman gave it nothing to eat again. The animal was furious. Another night went by.

Then, at daybreak, Mother Saverini asked a neighbour for some straw. She took some old clothes and filled them with the straw so they looked like a human body. She put the figure near Semil’s barrel, so the clothes seemed to stand up. Then she made a head out of some more old clothes.

The dog, surprised, was watching this straw man, and was quiet, but starving. Then the old woman went to the shop and bought some meat. When she got home she started a fire, near the barrel, and cooked the meat. Semil was jumping about madly, its eyes on the food. Then the old woman put the meat on the straw man’s throat. She tied it very tight around the neck, and when she had finished, she unchained the dog.

With one wild movement the dog jumped at the straw man’s throat and began to tear at it. It filled its mouth, then jumped another time, biting into the meat again and again. It was tearing the face with its teeth until the whole neck was gone. The old woman, unmoving and silent, was watching with great interest. Then she chained the animal up, did not feed it for two more days and began this strange process again.

For three months she trained the dog to do this. She no longer chained it up, but just pointed to the straw figure. She had taught it to destroy the whole neck. Then, as a reward, she would give the dog meat.

As soon as Semil saw the straw figure, it would begin to shake. Then the dog would look up at the old woman, who, lifting her finger, would shout, "Go!" in a loud voice. When she thought the right time had come, the widow put on men's clothes and, looking like a beggar, persuaded a fisherman to carry her and her dog across the sea. In a bag she had a large piece of meat. Semil had had nothing to eat for two days. The old woman kept letting the dog smell the food.

They got to the village of Longosardo. She went to a baker's shop and asked for Nicolas Ravolati. He was working as a carpenter. The old woman saw him at the back of his workshop. She opened the door and called:

"Hello, Nicolas!"

He turned around. Then letting Semil go, she shouted:

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

The maddened animal jumped for his throat. The man pushed out his arms, grabbed the dog and fell to the ground. For a few seconds he moved, kicking the floor with his feet. Then he stopped moving, while Semil bit hard into his throat.

Two neighbours, sitting in front of their door, remembered an old beggar with a thin, black dog which was eating something that the beggar was giving it.

By evening the old woman was at home again. She slept well that night.