[Penguin Island by Anatole France]@TWC D-Link bookPenguin Island BOOK I 4/54
It is because of these facts that when he saw the stone trough the holy Mael understood that the Lord intended him for the apostolate of the pagans who still peopled the coast and the Breton islands. He handed his ashen staff to the holy Budoc, thus investing him with the government of the monastery.
Then, furnished with bread, a barrel of fresh water, and the book of the Holy Gospels, he entered the stone trough which carried him gently to the island of Hoedic. This island is perpetually buffeted by the winds.
In it some poor men fished among the clefts of the rocks and labouriously cultivated vegetables in gardens full of sand and pebbles that were sheltered from the wind by walls of barren stone and hedges of tamarisk.
A beautiful fig-tree raised itself in a hollow of the island and thrust forth its branches far and wide.
The inhabitants of the island used to worship it. And the holy Mael said to them: "You worship this tree because it is beautiful.
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