Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France - a World Heritage Site - Le Mont Saint-Michel 聖米歇爾山

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Le Mont Saint-Michel (Saint Michael's Mount) is an island commune in Normandy, France. It is located about one kilometre (0.6 miles) off the country's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is 100 hectares (247 acres) in size. As of 2009, the island has a population of 44 people. Site visited by more than 3 million people each year.

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The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times and since the 8th century AD has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudal society that constructed it: on top, God, the abbey and monastery; below, the great halls; then stores and housing; and at the bottom, outside the walls, houses for fishermen and farmers.

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The commune's position — on an island just 600 metres from land — made it accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey, but defensible as an incoming tide stranded, drove off, or drowned would-be assailants. The Mont remained unconquered during the Hundred Years' War; a small garrison fended off a full attack by the English in 1433. The reverse benefits of its natural defence were not lost on Louis XI, who turned the Mont into a prison. Thereafter the abbey began to be used more regularly as a jail during the Ancien Régime.

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One of France's most recognizable landmarks, visited by more than 3 million people each year, Mont Saint-Michel and its bay are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Over 60 buildings within the commune are protected in France as monuments historiques.

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The tides can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres between high and low water marks. Popularly nicknamed "St. Michael in peril of the sea" by medieval pilgrims making their way across the flats, the mount can still pose dangers for visitors who avoid the causeway and attempt the hazardous walk across the sands from the neighbouring coast.

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Polderisation and occasional flooding have created salt marsh meadows that were found to be ideally suited to grazing sheep. The well-flavoured meat that results from the diet of the sheep in the pré salé (salt meadow) makes agneau de pré-salé (salt meadow lamb), a local specialty that may be found on the menus of restaurants that depend on income from the many visitors to the mount.

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On 16 June 2006, the French prime minister and regional authorities announced a €164 million project (Projet Mont-Saint-Michel) to build a hydraulic dam using the waters of the river Couesnon and the tides to help remove the accumulated silt, and to make Mont Saint-Michel an island again.

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The construction of the dam began in 2009. The project also includes the removal of the causeway and its visitor car park. Since 28 April 2012 the new car park on the mainland has been located 2.5 kilometres from the island. Visitors can walk or use shuttles to cross the causeway.

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On 22 July 2014 the new bridge by architect Dietmar Feichtinger was opened to the public. The light bridge allows the waters to flow freely around the island and improves the efficiency of the now operational dam. The project, which cost €209 million, was officially opened by President François Hollande. On rare occasions tidal circumstances produce an extremely high 'supertide'. The new bridge was completely submerged on 21 March 2015, by the highest sea level for at least 18 years, as crowds gathered to snap photos.

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Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called Mont Tombe. According to legend, the archangel Michael appeared in 708 to Aubert of Avranches, the bishop of Avranches, and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet.

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In 1067, the monastery of Mont Saint-Michel gave its support to William the Conqueror in his claim to the throne of England. The Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the 1066 Norman conquest of England. Mont Saint-Michel and its bay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979, and it was listed with criteria such as cultural, historical, and architectural significance, as well as human-created and natural beauty.

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French composer Claude Debussy frequented the island and possibly drew inspiration from not only the legend of the mythical city of Ys, but also Mont Saint-Michel's cathedral for his piano prelude La Cathédrale Engloutie.

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2003 : Mont Saint-Michel was the inspiration for the design of Minas Tirith in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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2010 : Mont Saint-Michel served as the artistic inspiration for the Disney hit Tangled. The castle and surrounding town are easily recognizable.

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Mont Saint Michel's popularity and prestige as a center of pilgrimage waned with the Reformation, and by the time of the French Revolution there were scarcely any monks in residence. The abbey was closed in 1791 and converted into a prison, initially to hold clerical opponents of the republican regime (up to 300 priests at one point). The abbey was then nicknamed « bastille des mers » (Bastille of the sea). Starting in 1922, Christian worship was again practiced in the abbey. Since 2001, the Benedictine monks have been replaced by some from the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem.

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Guy de Maupassant-La légende du Mont Saint Michel-Legend of Mont Saint Michel

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La Légende du Mont Saint-Michel est une nouvelle publiée par Guy de Maupassant le 19 décembre 1882, dans le journal républicain le Gil Blas. Extract with English translation:

 

Je l'avais vu d'abord de Cancale, ce château de fées planté dans la mer. Je l'avais vu confusément, ombre grise dressée sur le ciel brumeux. I had first seen it from Cancale, this fairy castle in the sea. I got an indistinct impression of it as of a gray shadow outlined against the misty sky.

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Je le revis d'Avranches, au soleil couchant. L'immensité des sables était rouge, l'horizon était rouge, toute la baie démesurée était rouge ; seule, l'abbaye escarpée, poussée là-bas, loin de la terre, comme un manoir fantastique, stupéfiante comme un palais de rêve, invraisemblablement étrange et belle, restait presque noire dans les pourpres du jour mourant.

I saw it again from Avranches at sunset. The immense stretch of sand was red, the horizon was red, the whole boundless bay was red. The rocky castle rising out there in the distance like a weird, seigniorial residence, like a dream palace, strange and beautiful-this alone remained black in the crimson light of the dying day.

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J'allai vers elle le lendemain dès l'aube, à travers les sables, l’œil tendu sur ce bijou monstrueux, grand comme une montagne, ciselé comme un camée et vaporeux comme une mousseline.

The following morning at dawn I went toward it across the sands, my eyes fastened on this, gigantic jewel, as big as a mountain, cut like a cameo, and as dainty as lace.

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Plus j'approchais, plus je me sentais soulevé d'admiration, car rien au monde peut-être n'est plus étonnant et plus parfait.

The nearer I approached the greater my admiration grew, for nothing in the world could be more wonderful or more perfect.

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Et j'errai, surpris comme si j'avais découvert l'habitation d'un dieu à travers ces salles portées par des colonnes légères ou pesantes, à travers ces couloirs percés à jour, levant mes yeux émerveillés sur ces clochetons qui semblent des fusées parties vers le ciel et sur tout cet emmêlement incroyable de tourelles, de gargouilles, d'ornements sveltes et charmants, feu d'artifice de pierre, dentelle de granit, chef-d’œuvre d'architecture colossale et délicate.

As surprised as if I had discovered the habitation of a god, I wandered through those halls supported by frail or massive columns, raising my eyes in wonder to those spires which looked like rockets starting for the sky, and to that marvelous assemblage of towers, of gargoyles, of slender and charming ornaments, a regular fireworks of stone, granite lace, a masterpiece of colossal and delicate architecture.

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Comme je restais en extase, un paysan bas normand m'aborda et me raconta l'histoire de la grande querelle de saint Michel avec le diable.

As I was looking up in ecstasy a Lower Normandy peasant came up to me and told me the story of the great quarrel between Saint Michael and the devil.

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Un sceptique de génie a dit : "Dieu a fait l'homme à son image, mais l'homme le lui a bien rendu."

A skeptical genius has said: "God made man in his image and man has returned the compliment."

 

Ce mot est d'une éternelle vérité et il serait fort curieux de faire dans chaque continent l'histoire de la divinité locale, ainsi que l'histoire des saints patrons dans chacune de nos provinces.

This saying is an eternal truth, and it would be very curious to write the history of the local divinity of every continent as well as the history of the patron saints in each one of our provinces.

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Le nègre a des idoles féroces, mangeuses d'hommes; le mahométan polygame peuple son paradis de femmes ; les Grecs, en gens pratiques, avaient divinisé toutes les passions.

The negro has his ferocious man-eating idols; the polygamous Mahometan fills his paradise with women; the Greeks, like a practical people, deified all the passions.

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Chaque village de France est placé sous l'invocation d'un saint protecteur, modifié à l'image des habitants.

Every village in France is under the influence of some protecting saint, modelled according to the characteristics of the inhabitants.

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Or saint Michel veille sur la Basse-Normandie, saint Michel, l'ange radieux et victorieux, le porte-glaive, le héros du ciel, le triomphant, le dominateur de Satan.

Saint Michael watches over Lower Normandy, Saint Michael, the radiant and victorious angel, the sword-carrier, the hero of Heaven, the victorious, the conqueror of Satan.

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Mais voici comment le Bas normand, rusé, cauteleux, sournois et chicanier, comprend et raconte la lutte du grand saint avec le diable.

But this is how the Lower Normandy peasant, cunning, deceitful and tricky, understands and tells of the struggle between the great saint and the devil.

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Pour se mettre à l'abri des méchancetés du démon, son voisin, saint Michel construisit lui-même, en plein Océan, cette habitation digne d'un archange ; et, seul, en effet, un pareil saint pouvait se créer une semblable résidence.

To escape from the malice of his neighbor, the devil, Saint Michael built himself, in the open ocean, this habitation worthy of an archangel; and only such a saint could build a residence of such magnificence.

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Mais, comme il redoutait encore les approches du Malin, il entoura son domaine de sables mouvants plus perfides que la mer.

But as he still feared the approaches of the wicked one, he surrounded his domains by quicksands, more treacherous even than the sea.

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Le diable habitait une humble chaumière sur la côte ; mais il possédait les prairies baignées d'eau salée, les belles terres grasses où poussent les récoltes lourdes, les riches vallées et les coteaux féconds de tout le pays ; tandis que le saint ne régnait que sur les sables.

The devil lived in a humble cottage on the hill, but he owned all the salt marshes, the rich lands where grow the finest crops, the wooded valleys and all the fertile hills of the country, while the saint ruled only over the sands.

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De sorte que Satan était riche, et saint Michel était pauvre comme un gueux.

Therefore, Satan was rich, whereas Saint Michael was as poor as a church mouse.

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Après quelques années de jeûne, le saint s'ennuya de cet état de choses et pensa à passer un compromis avec le diable ; mais la chose n'était guère facile, Satan tenant à ses moissons.

After a few years of fasting the saint grew tired of this state of affairs and began to think of some compromise with the devil, but the matter was by no means easy, as Satan kept a good hold on his crops.

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Il réfléchit pendant six mois ; puis, un matin, il s'achemina vers la terre. Le démon mangeait la soupe devant sa porte quand il aperçut le saint ; aussitôt il se précipita à sa rencontre, baisa le bas de sa manche, le fit entrer et lui offrit de se rafraîchir.

He thought the thing over for about six months; then one morning he walked across to the shore. The demon was eating his soup in front of his door when he saw the saint. He immediately rushed toward him, kissed the hem of his sleeve, invited him in and offered him refreshments.

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Après avoir bu une jatte de lait, saint Michel prit la parole :

Saint Michael drank a bowl of milk and then began:

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- Je suis venu pour te proposer une bonne affaire. "I have come here to propose to you a good bargain."

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Le diable, candide et sans défiance, répondit : The devil, candid and trustful, answered:

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- Ça me va. "That will suit me."

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- Voici. Tu me céderas toutes tes terres. "Here it is. Give me all your lands."

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Satan, inquiet, voulut parler : - Mais... Satan, growing alarmed, wished to speak "But--"

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Le saint reprit : She saint continued:

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- Ecoute d'abord. Tu me céderas toutes tes terres. Je me chargerai de l'entretien, du travail, des labourages, des semences, du fumage, de tout enfin, et nous partagerons la récolte par moitié. Est-ce dit ?

"Listen first. Give me all your lands. I will take care of all the work, the ploughing, the sowing, the fertilizing, everything, and we will share the crops equally. How does that suit you?"

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Le diable, naturellement paresseux, accepta. The devil, who was naturally lazy, accepted.

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Il demanda seulement en plus quelques-uns de ces délicieux surmulets qu'on pêche autour du mont solitaire. Saint Michel promit les poissons.

He only demanded in addition a few of those delicious gray mullet which are caught around the solitary mount. Saint Michael promised the fish.

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Ils se tapèrent dans la main, crachèrent de côté pour indiquer que l'affaire était faite, et le saint reprit : They grasped hands and spat on the ground to show that it was a bargain, and the saint continued:

 

- Tiens, je ne veux pas que tu aies à te plaindre de moi. Choisis ce que tu préfères : la partie des récoltes qui sera sur terre ou celle qui restera dans la terre.

"See here, so that you will have nothing to complain of, choose that part of the crops which you prefer: the part that grows above ground or the part that stays in the ground." Satan cried out: "I will take all that will be above ground."

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Satan s'écria : - Je prends celle qui sera sur terre. Satan cried out: "I will take all that will be above ground."

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- C'est entendu, dit le saint. Et il s'en alla. "It's a bargain!" said the saint. And he went away.

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Or, six mois après, dans l'immense domaine du diable, on ne voyait que des carottes, des navets, des oignons, des salsifis, toutes les plantes dont les racines grasses sont bonnes et savoureuses, et dont la feuille inutile sert tout au plus à nourrir les bêtes.

Six months later, all over the immense domain of the devil, one could see nothing but carrots, turnips, onions, salsify, all the plants whose juicy roots are good and savory and whose useless leaves are good for nothing but for feeding animals.

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Satan n'eut rien et voulut rompre le contrat, traitant saint Michel de "malicieux".

Satan wished to break the contract, calling Saint Michael a swindler.

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Vocabulaire

Quicksands: les sables mouvants.

Wooded valleys: vallées boisées.

Sleeve : la manche.

The demon: Le démon.

Ploughing, sowing, fertilizing : le labourage, les semences, le fumage.

Gray mulet : rouget barbet de roche, surmulet.

The crops, harvest : les récoltes.

Turnip : le navet.

Swindler: malicieux, escroc.

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Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) 居伊·德·莫泊桑

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Maupassant was a French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, and as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives and destinies and social forces in disillusioned and often pessimistic terms. He was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and his stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient, effortless dénouements (outcomes). Many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, describing the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught up in events beyond their control, are permanently changed by their experiences. He wrote some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse.

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His first published story, "Boule de Suif" ("Ball of Suet", 1880 脂肪球 Butterball), is often considered his masterpiece. In 1883 he finished his first novel, Une Vie (translated into English as A Woman's Life), 25,000 copies of which were sold in less than a year. His second novel Bel Ami , which came out in 1885, had thirty-seven printings in four months.

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With a natural aversion to society, he loved retirement, solitude, and meditation. He traveled extensively in Algeria, Italy, England, Brittany, Sicily, Auvergne, and from each voyage brought back a new volume. He cruised on his private yacht Bel-Ami, named after his novel. This life did not prevent him from making friends among the literary celebrities of his day: Alexandre Dumas, fils had a paternal affection for him. Maupassant was one of a fair number of 19th-century Parisians (including Charles Gounod, Alexandre Dumas, fils, and Charles Garnier) who did not care for the Eiffel Tower. He often ate lunch in the restaurant at its base, not out of preference for the food but because it was only there that he could avoid seeing its otherwise unavoidable profile.

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Maupassant was fascinated by the burgeoning discipline of psychiatry, and attended the public lectures of Jean-Martin Charcot between 1885 and 1886. La Légende du Mont Saint-Michel is published in Clair de lune (1884).

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Sources

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont-Saint-Michel

https://www.britannica.com/topic/archangel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_(archangel)

https://thesecretofthetarot.com/archangel-michael/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/seraph

https://www.wikimanche.fr/La_L%C3%A9gende_du_Mont_Saint-Michel_(1882)

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=michael&qs_version=NIV