human
Consider, also, that in summer when men are hired from the neighbouring villages to reap the harvest, these rest when the sun scorches the fields; they sit in their shirt sleeves under the shade of the ricks, and drink, if they are thirsty, and eat; and the lay brother in his heavy clothes looks at them and goes on with his work, and neither eats nor drinks. Ah! men must have well-tempered souls to stand such a life.
gpt
But surely there must be some off days, said Durtal,
human
Never; there is not even, as in some very strict orders--the Carmelites, to take one instance--an hour of recreation, when the religious may talk and laugh. Here, the silence is eternal.
gpt
Even when they are together in the refectory?
human
Then they read the Conferences of Cassien, the 'Holy Ladder' of Climacus, the Lives of the Fathers of the Desert, or some other pious book.
gpt
And on Sunday?
human
On Sunday they rise an hour earlier; but on the whole it is their best day, for they can follow all the offices and pass their whole time in church.
gpt
Humility and self-denial carried to such an extent are superhuman! cried Durtal.
human
But they are surely given a sufficient quantity of strong nourishment to enable them to give themselves up from morning till evening to exhausting work in the fields?
gpt
They simply get vegetables which are not even as good as those which are served to us, and, by way of wine, they quench their thirst with a sour and insipid liquid, which leaves half a glass full of sediment. They get a pint each, and if they are thirsty they can add water.
human
And how often do they eat?
gpt
That depends. From the 14th September to Lent they only eat once a day, at half-past two--and during Lent this meal is put off till four o'clock. From Easter to the 14th September, when the Cistercian fast is less strict, dinner is at about half-past eleven, and to this may be added a light meal in the evening.
human
It is frightful! to work for months on one meal a day, two hours after noon, after being up since two o'clock in the morning; having had no dinner the evening before.
gpt
It would be well, continued M. Bruno, pensively,