A terrible wind was blowing, cold and penetrating, down from the Massif Central. The tall leafless trees were bending under the weight of the gale and from time to time old, sapless twigs and small branches would come flying across the field where Charles with the constant and uniform help of Mardi the Percheron was ploughing the 5 hectare stubble field from the previous year’s harvest. He had abandoned his cap which was now tucked into his belt as the wind blowing at some 50 km/hr was indeed fierce. As a result, his fair hair which he refused to have cut short, unlike most young men of his age, kept blowing into his face and making him swear. However, when he reached the headland he halted Mardi, gave him a handful of grass to munch and sought and found some tough, flexible but thin twigs from a bush growing there and twisted them into a rough rope to tie his hair back. That done, he took hold of the plough handles again and manoeuvred the horse and plough to the furrow to be turned over in the opposite direction. It was November and the field had to be finished before the first snowfalls and frosts. He could be described as being completely resigned to his life of farmer’s son, thought nothing of rising very early in the morning and bedding down early in the evening, just like his parents. There was a difference though and that was that his mind had been nurtured and his intellect encouraged to blossom through the attentiveness and devotional care of the local priest orcuré who had taken him under his wing at an early age. Could he have been five years old? This had not been without a certain amount of opposition from his parents who feared that there would be no successor to take over the running of the farm later on. Thecuré reassured the parents to some degree by emphasizing that any instruction he gave their son would be based on the bible and the music he taught would be put to good use in the parish church on the organ. He did indeed teach Charles the rudiments of the Old and New Testaments together with the catechism that was more or less mandatory at that time and the musical training he received was put to good use after he had reached the age of fifteen by accompanying the choir and parishioners for the different parts of the mass – Offertory, Kyrie, Gloria – and for the hymns. However, the musical instruction, unknown to the parents went far beyond that and he succeeded in instilling in the lad a love of classical music and also simple country music. Idem for classical writings over and beyond the sacred works encouraged by the Church of the day. Thecuré was in fact an enlightened person and although he was a true believer in the Almighty he was also a believer in Man and being of an extremely generous nature he sought to bring out the best in his parishioners and had spotted young Charles at an early age when he left the church with his parents on a Sunday after the mass. The young lad had questioned him about his sermon asking for instance how the sea had parted into two to allow the Jews to escape the Egyptians. He had put further questions, like the seven loaves and seven fish, which the priest had answered evasively always putting the ‘will of God’ to the fore. It was precisely these questions that made the latter feel strongly that Charles was intelligent and was not to be put off by vague, imprecise replies, exactly like himself, he mused. So, once a
