Papa Martin and the young woman

[Part 3 of Ruben Saillens' le Père Martin, translated from French.] A few homeward bound revellers passed by, but the old shoemaker barely glanced at them. The marketplace vendors came with their small carts. He knew them too well to pay much attention to them. After an hour or two, his attention was drawn to … Continue reading Papa Martin and the young woman

Papa Martin and the street sweeper

[Installment two of a Christmas tale by Ruben Saillens. Original title: le Père Martin. Translated from French.] Long before daylight the little lamp of the shoemaker was lit. He put more coal into his stove, where the fire had not yet gone out and busied himself preparing his coffee. Then he hurried to make his … Continue reading Papa Martin and the street sweeper

Papa Martin

[First instalment of a Christmas story by Ruben Saillens, original title Le Père Martin, translated from French.] You don’t know Papa Martin? He is only a shoemaker whose workshop, living room, bedroom and kitchen are all together in a little wooden building at the corner of Place de Lenche and rue des Martégales in the … Continue reading Papa Martin

Ruben Saillens vs Leon Tolstoy

Ruben Saillens (1855-1942) was a well-known French Baptist pastor, writer and musician. My next few posts will consist of my translation of a story written by him that was first published in France about 130 years ago. Unknown to the writer, someone translated it into English. The English version, with no name attached, then found … Continue reading Ruben Saillens vs Leon Tolstoy

The challenge of Islam

[This post is my translation of a portion of Robert Dubarry's commentary on the book of Revelation. I bought this book many years ago from a Montréal bookstore. It is undated, but I believe it was written about sixty years ago. M. Dubarry was a French Baptist pastor; I can find next to nothing about … Continue reading The challenge of Islam

A tale of two nations

How Children Have Taken Power is the title of a book recently published by Swedish psychiatrist David Eberhard. I am going by a story in a French language newspaper so the title is my English translation of the French translation of the Swedish title of the book.  An English edition will be out later this … Continue reading A tale of two nations

The couple that prays together . . .

I was looking over the latest issue of Christianisme aujourd’hui today via the internet and came across a marvellous article by Nancy Decorvet on the subject of why so many Christians divorce. Chrisitanisme aujourd’hui is published in France, the name translates to Christianity Today, but it has no affiliation with the US magazine of that … Continue reading The couple that prays together . . .

Who is the victim here?

A young mother comes into the coffee shop with her three-year-old daughter. - Do you want a doughnut? - No.  I want to go home. - Mommy can buy you a chocolate milk. - No.  I want to go home. Mommy sees some friends at one of the tables and goes to talk to them.  … Continue reading Who is the victim here?

La Nobla Leyçon – X

There is a brief rehearsal in this lesson, Of three laws which God gave to the world; The first law directeth men who have judgement and reason, To know God, and to pray to his Creator. For he that hath judgement, may well think with himself, That he formed not himself, nor anything else: Then … Continue reading La Nobla Leyçon – X

La Nobla Leyçon – IX

But herein is clearly manifest the malice of those men, That they which will curse, lie, and swear, He that will frequently put his money to usury, kill, and whore, And avenge himself on those which hurt him; This they say is a good man, and to be accounted faithful. But let him take heed … Continue reading La Nobla Leyçon – IX