Out of all misery...

This happened not very long after the war, when the French where understandably disgusted by Germans entering their country as tourists. Still they would come, though, those unwelcome guests, if their love for France overcame the hostile looks and, even worse, the silence. Because the French would not argue. They would stay ever so quiet and remember.
In those days, a young woman with her newly wedded husband went on her first trip to the south, to the Mediterranean Sea. She was excited, but instantly felt uneasy by the fact that she might not be welcome in this country. The atmosphere actually alarmed her. How could she learn the language, for example, if no one was willing to talk to her? The husband who had been here many times before, tried to allay her fears and doubts and assured her that only time could bring change, and that, if they kept quiet, too, they could eventually succeed in proving to be trustworthy. And in the meantime she could become acquainted with the land.
Like a child, she nodded and calmed down a little as she was quite willing to relax. After all, this was her holiday, and there was the beautiful south of France right at her fingertips, with all its red wine, white bread and that marvellous blue ocean.
They were still on their way to that little town near the Spanish border, where they wanted to spend their vacation, when they had a break just outside a village at the famous Route Nationale 10, leading form Paris directly to Perpignan.
The husband checked the car inside and out, while the young lady stayed near him, not really knowing what to do. She stretched her legs a little, feeling the sun on her skin, and then she walked along the road looking at some sunflower fields on one side, and a small old farm on the other side, its area surrounded by a big wooden fence. Right there, at the fence, an old man stood looking at the arrivals. Suspicion, again she felt it. But now she was determined to ignore it and enjoy the sun and the air and the land.
She instantly forgot the old man and looked at her husband, in order to ask him whether they could take a longer walk, getting away from the traffic for a while. After all, there was no one waiting for them, and so they could stay as long as they wanted.
Suddenly, right beside her, she saw a biddy stumble over the gravel, not even being able to fly yet. It had probably sneaked through the farm's fences, and was now on its way to the busy road. She kneeled down and carefully took the little creature into her hands. When she had carried it over to the fence, she let it slip back inside through a gap. Happily she looked at the stumbling little life that was now safe inside the yard.
But there, unexpectedly and ever so suddenly, a cat jumped onto the chick and caught it. The young woman was petrified with horror. She could not move, not do anything nor say anything. She just stood there, tears running down her cheeks.
Still crying, the young woman felt a hand on her shoulder, softly but firmly holding onto her. The old man had come up to her, and now he spoke, and what he said, made sense to her, even though she did not speak French, he said: "C'est la vie."