The story begins with the narrator coming to the village of Ille.
The narrator is an archaeologist.
He wants to study local ruins.
He stays with Mr de Peyrehorade.
M. de Peyrehorade collects old objects.
He has discovered a statue of Venus buried on his land.
The statue is beautiful.
Some villagers believe she has evil powers.
Mister de Peyrehorade has a son.
His name is Alphonse.
Alphonse will marry Miss de Puygarrig.
She comes from a rich family.
Alphonse only cares about her money.
Mister de Peyrehorade invites the narrator to the wedding.
On the day of the wedding,
Alphonse plays a game like tennis.
During the game, he puts his wedding ring on the finger
of the Venus statue.
After the game, he forgets to take the ring with him.
During the wedding dinner,
he tries to take the ring off of the statue’s hand.
The ring is stuck.
He asks the narrator for help.
The narrator thinks that Alphonse is drunk.
He decides to try to take the ring back the next day.
In the morning, Alphonse’s family and the narrator
find him dead in his bed.
He died crushed by something heavy.
His bride is in shock.
She says that she saw the statue of Venus kill her husband.
No one believes her.
The narrator leaves the village, troubled by what he has seen.
The statue was melted down.
A church bell was created instead.
