Chapter 3
A Misty Voyage to the Bald IslandThe narrator stands with hands pressed against the ship railing during the foggy twilight of a pale October morning, watching vague island shapes rise from the water like a fantastic herd of monsters. The rapid speed of the vessel imparts a mysterious kind of life to these forms in the dim, troubling dawn light where remnants of the night still float. These landforms appear confusedly and then almost immediately fade away, carried off by the moving flight of the swells. The unreality of the setting feels strange and striking, looking as though one is witnessing the shivering awakening of light and the organization of chaos out of the dark waters. The ship, a fifty ton steamer named La Louise that services Ouessant three times a week, plunges headlong into the waves, causing dark swells to bulge along its sides like overturned soil. The voyage takes them into the heart of the Iroise sea channel, which is bordered by a double row of aligned lighthouses resembling street lamps. Behind the vessel, the high white light of Saint Mathieu blinks like a dying star, while to the left, the red light of Pierres Noires continues to burn in the western depths, casting a bloody reflection over the abyss. Favourable winds allow the crew to deploy all sails to assist the machine, sending the ship forward at a swift though somewhat jolting pace.Roughly ten individuals are present on the deck, including a sailor, a cabin boy, and the captain. The captain, who is both slender and vigorous, has his torso fitted into a blue woollen jersey as he stands erect behind the steering wheel, occasionally shouting brief orders in the Breton tongue. Toward the bow of the vessel, a group of women from Le Conquet sit close together, collectively reciting their rosary prayers. Near the narrator, a postal worker busily checks the contents of his mailbag, classifying the correspondence one by one. These are small letters belonging to seafaring men, decorated with exotic postage stamps and addressed with large, trembling handwriting.The narrator enters into a conversation with the postal worker, who points out and names the passing islands, identifying them as Beniguet, Morgol, and Quemenes, which he characterizes as poor, widowed lands and the wreckage of a collapsed continent. Suddenly, the postman gestures toward Molène, indicating a high, bare, reddish hill toward which the steamer now alters its course. The postman asks if the island does not well deserve its local nickname signifying the bald island. He explains that it is a well known proverb in the country that only two trees have ever managed to grow in the soil of Molène, with one being made of stone in the form of the church steeple, and the other being made of iron in the form of the semaphore mast.
Chapter 4
The Flower of UshantThe steamer Louise stops in deep waters near a small, quiet village on a granite island where seagulls fly between the roofs of old whitewashed houses. The ship whistles, awakening the village as fishermen gather at the pier and prepare a canoe to unload cargo. The parish priest walks down to the shore and exchanges greetings with Captain Joachim Miniou, who grumbles about the locals not being in a hurry. As the ship prepares to depart, a young woman runs down the main street toward the pier, causing the captain to order the engine room to reverse.The fishermen row the young woman, named Marie Ange, out to the steamer. The narrator admires her grace, beauty, and traditional embroidered headdress as she boards the ship. Captain Miniou playfully teases her about her early morning journey. Marie Ange explains that she visited the island of Molene to celebrate the birth of her cousin's nine-pound baby boy. She adds that she is the godmother, which required her to leave despite having peas to thrash at home. When the captain inquires about her partner Jean, her eyes light up as she describes a highly successful lobster catch that yielded one hundred and fifty lobsters. She notes that Jean could not join her because he went to sell the fish at the island of Saints for a higher price.The narrator listens to her melodic voice in fascination, deeply impressed by her natural, captivating beauty. Captain Miniou whispers to the narrator that he is lucky to see the Flower of Ushant on his first voyage. As the autumn morning sun rises, the dark silhouette of the Breton mainland promontories becomes clear before melting into the brilliant light of the ocean. Marie Ange stands up and crosses herself, prompting the narrator to ask if she is greeting the sun. She explains that they are entering the Fromveur, just as two green islets named Balanec and Bannec pass by. The steamer begins to struggle against choppy, heavy waves that shake the vessel and form deep whirlpools.The narrator recalls childhood legends about the Fromveur being the home of eternal sirens and malicious sea fairies. When he asks Marie Ange if she believes in sirens, she grows visibly pale and troubled. She asks why he is questioning her, but her mood shifts back to a smile when the narrator mentions he is from the Tregor region. Marie Ange asks him about Tregor, which she imagines as a rich land of streams and leaves, before speaking of her own wild homeland of Eussa. Soon, the island of Eussa materializes on the horizon as a colossal granite mass topped with reddish grass, resembling a giant primitive altar rising above the ocean.
