Marcel Ayme'
GRACE *
The best Christian in the rue Gabrielle as in all Montmartre,
in 1939, was a certain Monsieur Duperrier, a man of such piety, jus–
tice and charity that God, without waiting for him to die, and while
he was
in
the full vigor of manhood, circled his head with a halo
which left him neither day nor night. Made of an immaterial sub–
stance as are haloes
in
Paradise, it took the form of a rather thick,
whitish disk, which gave off a soft light. Monsieur Duperrier wore
his
halo gratefully and never wearied of thanking God for having
granted him such a distinction, though he was careful, in his modesty,
not to look upon it as an outright promise regarding the hereafter. He
would surely have been the happiest of men had not his wife, instead
of rejoicing over
so
special a mark of God's grace, given evidence of
resentment and annoyance.
"How will it look?" she asked. "What will people think? How
can you face anyone, not just the tradespeople in the neighbor–
hood, but my cousin Leopold? You may be as proud as you like, it's
still
ridiculous
!
You'll see, this is something we'll never hear the
end of."
Madame Duperrier was an excellent person, refined in her
piety and of decent character. But the vanity of things terrestrial had
not yet become apparent to her. Like so many whose good intentions
yield to the exigencies of the moment, she believed that it
is
better to
be well thought of by one's concierge than by the Creator. Before a
single week was out, the fear of having to explain about the halo to
a next-door neighbor or the dairy woman had spoiled her disposition.
More than once she tried to grab the circle of white light that shone
*
Published in French under the title
"La Grdce"
in Ayme's collection
Vin de
Paris
(Paris: Gallimard). Copyright by Librairie Gallimard.
