The priest of the monastery "St. Genevieve", strict nun Matilda Krause, bending over the table, looked through the writing-books of her young pupils, underlined the detected errors with a red pencil. “Oh, how bad they are writing,” she lamented, intending to reprimand her mother Hortense, who taught French. She wanted to call, but at that time one of the nuns-wardens gave her an envelope on the letter tray. Breaking it, Matilda Krause read the following lines:

“You asked me to find you a man who, on the one hand, was so strong that he could perform various chores and, on the other, that he could not be dangerous for the girls entrusted to your upbringing. The submitter of this letter may be perfectly safe in this regard, since, as I have noticed, he is impassable stupid and, moreover, deaf and dumb. I testify to your reverend my deep respect. ”Tal de Muren.

- Here, finally, the person we need is found! “Having read the whole letter, said the abbess, who was awaiting orders from the warden,” now she will cultivate our garden.

“You are right, your reverend,” answered the matron, “it is unlikely that this man would be dangerous.”

“Bring him to my office,” the prioress ordered, wishing to personally examine the new man recommended by the gardeners.

A minute later, a young man entered the office, with a wandering gaze and a smile, about twenty years old, rather cleanly dressed and in simple fashion. “Really stupid,” the abbess of the monastery noticed, glancing at him, seeing a stupid smile that had not left his face.

“It’s only a pity that he is young and rather handsome,” she said, turning to the matron.

“Hardly this circumstance can have serious consequences when he is a fool and deaf-and-dumb,” said the warder respectfully.

“Well, you are not at all right,” Matilda Krause objected, “the girls are very curious and may take an interest in its masculine features, and this can lead to sad consequences, although, however, they will be under strict supervision,” she added.

“Of course, we will not take our eyes off them,” confirmed the matron.

“Explain to him somehow what he has to do with us, and then report to me about his abilities,” the prioress ordered, signifying that the conversation was over.

The matron led a young man into the garden and began to catch a glimpse of what he had to do: sweep the paths, cut and remove dry leaves and branches, chop wood.

All this is a young man realized by discovering dexterity and strength.

“Yes, he is preoccupied, your reverend,” said the nun, reporting to the prioress after two hours on the results of the young man’s test.

“Oh, this is excellent,” the abbess agreed, “agree with him about the remuneration, and most importantly, make sure that he meets with our girls as seldom as possible.”

- Having received a strict order to supervise the young man, the entire staff of the wardens constantly turned around him in the garden, when the young pupils, using their rest hours, ran frolicking around the garden, inventing various amusements and games.

All these were young girls, of better surnames, not older than sixteen years, entrusted to the education of the Mother Superior of the Krause Monastery, who enjoyed the excellent reputation of a strict and pious woman.

The main attention in the upbringing of their pupils was to ensure that the girls were completely unaware of anything about sex and the intimate aspects of life in general.

The notions were introduced to their young heads that children are brought by a stork, that they are found in vegetable gardens, in cabbage, that men differ from women only in costume, that their hair grows in certain places from what they eat mutton.This nonsense is told not only to kids, but also to sixteen year old girls. The morality of the girls was protected so strictly that even the baths were taken by them in their shirts, so that they would not see their own nudity.

Of course, the ugliness of such upbringing should have affected and developed into ugly forms. The appearance among the girls of a young gardener, of course, was noticed. Tall, slender, with curly hair and beautiful features he made a charming impression on girls. Many of them wanted to talk to him with facial expressions, but some caregiver appeared at once and the playful girls had to walk away with disappointment. The main thing they wanted to confirm his guess that a man differs from a woman not only in a suit.

This constant supervision was extremely dissatisfied with the young gardener Xavier de Montal, for he did not expect that when he read the announcement in “The Basis of Christian Morality” inviting a young man, strong, deaf and dumb to a permanent place.

Knowing that that clerical journal enjoys the blessing of monasteries engaged in the upbringing and education of young girls, Xavier de Montal easily guessed why it was the deaf-and-dumb that was required.

Being a young rake, completely free and independent, he changed his name, took upon himself the rather difficult role of a deaf-mute. Entering the monastery, he hoped that it would be easy for him to make friends with the girls and to dedicate them to forbidden secrets.

He especially liked one adorable pupil named Clarice de Murel, a girl of about sixteen, with plump coral lips, a thin waist and an elastic bust as if the two apple halves were hidden on her virgin breast. Cheerful, high-spirited, she more often ran up to him, choosing the moment when there were no guarding arguments near her.

One day, Clarice de Montal, running near the gardener, dared to even push him with a finger and, running back, saw that this stupid but beautiful deaf-and-dumb guy made a gesture very similar to a kiss.

“Stupid, however, he is not quite a piece of wood,” she thought, having made this discovery, and decided to come closer and get to know him.

“It is from this magnificent flower that I will cultivate this wonderful garden,” thought Xavier de Montal, admiring the girl’s graceful face and her large beautiful eyes. Constant supervision not only to himself, but also to the warders who are tired, who would prefer to sit in their cells, and drink coffee, as it was before.

“And why watch him,” they thought, “when he is a fool and deaf-and-dumb, does not even suspect his masculine appointment?” But oversight of him was inevitable, in view of the strict mandate of the abbess herself.

“We need to think of something to weaken this damned supervision,” Xavier often thought, puzzling over this difficult task. In the end, he still invented and threw a trick.

On the day of St. Genevieve, the monastery personnel released two quarts of excellent monastic wine to the gardener. After drinking this wine and pretending to be drunk, Xavier, before the arrival of the warden, who was supposed to bring him lunch, lounged on the bed, in the closet allocated to him and pretended to be deeply asleep. Previously, he assumed such a pose that the belonging of his toilet, as if in a dream, slipped from its place, revealing that part of the body that is usually carefully hidden.

The nun, who had broken in, shook her head when she saw the monastic gardener in such an ugly state, putting the dinner brought to the table, she thought with distress about the intemperance and untidyness of men.

Leaving, she, however, could not resist the temptation, and having looked suddenly became dumbfounded by surprise, when she saw a man’s identity in the place where she knew for certain in the days of her youth, there was an empty place !!!

- Holy Genevieve! - about ...