Course description

Kate Chopin – The Storm

Kate Chopin was born in 1851 in the southern US state of Missouri. Her father was an Irish immigrant and her mother’s family were from Canada. She married at twenty and, before she was thirty, had six children. Her husband’s business failed, which meant the family moved to Louisiana, where he managed other people’s property and opened a general store. This was not enough, however, to pay his debts and, when he suddenly died, Chopin was left penniless and moved back with her mother, who soon died as well.

Chopin started writing to overcome her sadness about their deaths. She wrote novels at first. The most famous, ‘The Awakening’, is now well thought of. However, Chopin’s feminist ideas were before their time and people thought the book was immoral. She turned to short stories, but never made much money from these either.

She died of a brain haemorrhage in 1904. Her reputation as a major writer had to wait until the feminist movement of the 1960s and ‘70s.

The Storm

I

The leaves were not moving and so Bibi knew it was going to rain. Bobint, who talked to his little son like they were equals, showed the boy the dark clouds that were coming nearer to them from the west. They were at Friedheimer’s shop and decided to remain there until the storm passed. They sat down on two empty boxes on the veranda. Bibi was four years old and looked very wise.

“Mama will be very afraid,” he suggested.

“She’ll close all the doors and windows. Maybe Sylvie will help her this evening,” Bobint replied, so that Bibi was not frightened for his mother.

“No, Sylvie’s not there. Sylvie was helping her yesterday.”

Bobint got up and went into the shop to buy a can of seafood. His wife, Calixta, loved seafood. Then he returned to his box and sat down holding the can as the storm finally arrived. The wind hit the little shop hard and blew all the plants in the field so that they looked like they were lying down. Bibi put his little hand on Bobint’s knee and was not afraid.

Calixta, at home, was not worried about their safety. She sat at a window, sewing quickly. She was really busy and did not notice that a storm was coming. But she felt uncomfortably hot and often stopped to wipe her face. It began to grow dark and, suddenly realizing the situation, she got up hurriedly and went around the small house closing all the windows and doors.

Then she remembered she had hung Bobint’s best clothes on the washing line and she hurried to get them before the rain started to fall. When she stepped outside, AlceLaballire rode in the gate. She had not seen him very often since she got married – and never alone. She stood there with Bobint’s coat in her hands and big drops of rain began to fall. Alce took his horse into the barn with the chickens and farm equipment in the corner.

“Can I come in and wait until the storm is over, Calixta?” he asked.

“Come in, Mr. Alce.”

Her own voice woke her up and she suddenly took Bobint’s vest. Alce tried to help by getting Bobint’s trousers and Bibi’s jacket, which the wind was just going to carry away. He said that he wanted to stay outside but it soon became clear that standing on the veranda was about the same as in the garden and, so, he went inside, closing the door after him. It was even necessary to put something under the door to keep the water out.

“My God! What rain! It’s two years since it rained like this,” saidCalixta, as she gave Alce some material to put under to stop the rainwater coming in.

She was a little fatter than years ago, when she got married, but she was still attractive. Her blue eyes still made him feel weak, and her blond hair, untidy because of the wind and rain, curled around her ears, just the same as it did five years before.

The rain fell on the low roof so hard that it seemed like it was going to come straight into the house and flood them. They were in the dining room, which was right next to her bedroom.  The door between the rooms stood open and Calixta’s bedroom looked dark and mysterious.

Alse sat down in an armchair and Calixta nervously began to collect the material she had been sewing before.

“If this rain continues, I don’t know when Bobint and Bibi will get back,” she said.

“Let’s hope, Calioxta, that Bobint and Bibi are sensible enough to stay at the shop until the storm passes,” Alce replied.

Calixta went and stood at the window. There was mist all over the glass because it was so very hot inside. Alce stood up and joined her, looking over shoulder. The rain was coming down so hard that they could not even see the garden. And there was constant lightning. It hit a tall tree at the edge of the nearest field to them and it came crashing down. The noise seemed to fill the house and made the floor and walls shake.

Calixta put her hands over her eyes and looked like she was going to fall. Alce put his arms around her and, just for a moment, he pulled her close to him.

“Oh, Bonint!,” she cried. “Where is my Bibi?” She could not sit down. She could not be comfortable.

Alce held her shoulders and looked into her face. The contact with her warm body made him remember the old times with her and he felt like he was on fire.

 “Calixta,” he said. “Don’t be frightened! Nothing can happen. Lightning will not hit the house. It’s too low and there are so many tall trees all around. Now, tell me you are going to be calm and quiet.”

He pushed her hair back from her face. Her face was warm and her lips red and wet. He looked at her white neck. As she looked up at Alce, the fright in her liquid blue eyes changed to love. There was nothing he could do except pull her to him and kiss her. It reminded him of one Christmas.

“Do you remember that Christmas, Calixta?” he asked in a low voice, broken with passion. Of course, she remembered that Christmas. He had kissed her and kissed her until she thought he was never going to stop. But there it stopped. He liked her too much to spoil her and he was an honourable man. Now things were changed. Her lips were there to kiss, and her neck, and …

They did not hear the crash of the rain and the roar of the thunder only made her laugh as she lay in his arms. Her mouth was a fountain of delight, her body invited his lips. Alce’s heart beat like a hammer on her. With one hand, she held his head, while the other touched his powerful shoulders.

The noise of the thunder passed away. The rain fell more softly now, inviting them to sleep. But they did not dare.

The rain was over and the sun was turning the wet grass into a palace of gems. Calixta, on the veranda, watched Alce ride away. He turned and smiled at her and she lifted her pretty chin and laughed aloud.

Bobint and Bibi cleaned their dirty and feet and clothes outside the house before they went in.

“My God, Bibi. What will your mother say? You should be ashamed. You have dirt on the shirt. How could you get dirt there? I never saw a boy like you!”

Bibi waited patiently for his father to clean him up and Bobint was a model father, cleaning off dirt from hands, shoes, trousers and shirt. Then, ready at last, they entered the house, a little worried about the dirt in front of their wife and mother.

Calixta was getting dinner ready but she jumped up when she saw them. There was coffee on the stove.

“Oh, Bobint, you’re back! I was so worried. Where were you in the rain? And Bibi – is he wet? He isn’t hurt, is he?” She pulled Bibi towards her and started kissing him. Bobint’sexplanations and apologies died on his lips as Calixta felt his jacket to see if he was wet. Her eyes showed no anger – only happiness to see them back.

“I brought you some seafood, Calixta,” offered Bobint, pulling the can from his pocket and putting it on the table.

“Seafood? Oh, Bobint, you’re the best husband in the country!” and she gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “I will have it tonight!”

Bobint and Bibi began to relax and enjoy themselves. When the three were sitting at the table, they laughed so loud that anyone could hear them half a mile across the field, the field where the tree had come crashing down.

Alce wrote to his wife, Clarisse, that night. It was a loving letter, full of warm care and concern. He told her not to hurry back from their holiday but, if she and the baby liked it there, they might stay a month more. He missed them, of course, but he could manage on his own. Their health and enjoyment always came first.

V

Clarisse was very happy when she received her husband’s letter. She and the baby were doing very well. Many of her old friends were also on holiday at the resort. This was the first time she could breathe the sweet air of freedom since their marriage and it was very pleasant. Although she loved her husband, she could manage without him for a few weeks longer!

What will i learn?