Chap­ter IV takes place in Vil­lon-sur-Sarthe dur­ing the fall of 1703, where the community’s life revolves around the local Catholic church, a bas­tion of faith that both unites and defines the vil­lagers. At twelve years old, Ade­line feels dis­con­nect­ed from the fer­vent reli­gious prac­tices of her par­ents, view­ing her prayers as part of a monot­o­nous rou­tine rather than a mean­ing­ful spir­i­tu­al act. Her fam­i­ly’s devout­ness con­trasts sharply with her inter­nal indif­fer­ence, high­light­ing her strug­gle to find sig­nif­i­cance in reli­gious rit­u­als that feel more like oblig­a­tions than expres­sions of gen­uine belief. How­ev­er, her world­view begins to shift when she encoun­ters Estele, a mys­tic who teach­es her of for­got­ten deities, old gods once revered by the peo­ple of Vil­lon-sur-Sarthe, that offer a more inti­mate and nat­ur­al con­nec­tion to the world.

Estele’s teach­ings open a world of spir­i­tu­al com­plex­i­ty to Ade­line, offer­ing a per­spec­tive far removed from the dis­tant and for­mal image of God pro­mot­ed by her par­ents. Estele, a deeply root­ed fig­ure in the village’s past, sees the new God as removed from the earth and the peo­ple, in con­trast to the old gods who were more tan­gi­ble and present in the dai­ly life of the com­mu­ni­ty. This view is not only at odds with Adeline’s family’s beliefs but also with her own grow­ing curios­i­ty about the world beyond the rigid bounds of her vil­lage. Adeline’s con­flict between the com­fort­ing, pre­scribed faith of her upbring­ing and the entic­ing allure of Estele’s ancient wis­dom deep­ens when her father, dis­miss­ing Estele as a mad­woman, refus­es to enter­tain such notions. At the same time, Adeline’s moth­er con­demns Estele’s prac­tices and opin­ions, damn­ing them to hell in a fer­vent dis­play of reli­gious zeal. Yet, despite their harsh reac­tions, Ade­line finds her­self fas­ci­nat­ed by Estele’s defi­ant spir­i­tu­al out­look, which stirs a sense of long­ing for knowl­edge and a deep­er under­stand­ing of her world.

Despite the strict expec­ta­tions set by her moth­er, Ade­line yearns for some­thing more than the mun­dane, pre­dictable life in Vil­lon-sur-Sarthe. Unlike her friend Isabelle Ther­ault, who is con­tent with the sim­ple life of a vil­lage girl, Ade­line craves adven­ture, explo­ration, and a broad­er sense of pur­pose that extends beyond her vil­lage’s nar­row bor­ders. This long­ing is par­tic­u­lar­ly pal­pa­ble when her father, prepar­ing for a mar­ket trip to Le Mans, refus­es to take her along—a deci­sion moti­vat­ed by her mother’s insis­tence on pro­pri­ety, fur­ther high­light­ing her exclu­sion from the wider world. Adeline’s long­ing for some­thing beyond the con­fines of her small vil­lage becomes unde­ni­able as she real­izes the extent to which her curios­i­ty and desire for growth are sup­pressed by her family’s expec­ta­tions. Her reflec­tion on this, as well as Estele’s influ­ence, ignites a fire in her to seek out knowl­edge that chal­lenges her tra­di­tion­al upbring­ing.

Estele, aware of Adeline’s inner con­flict and rebel­lious spir­it, nur­tures her curios­i­ty by explain­ing the nature of the old gods. These gods are not con­cerned with moral right­eous­ness or pre­scribed rules, but with pres­ence, respect, and the offer­ing of gifts—a stark con­trast to the Chris­t­ian teach­ings Adeline’s fam­i­ly holds dear. Estele warns Ade­line about the unpre­dictable nature of these deities, advis­ing cau­tion and restraint in her approach to their pow­er. She explains that the old gods demand more than mere wor­ship; they require gen­uine respect, and the offer­ings they receive are to be made with true intent, not out of oblig­a­tion. This cryp­tic advice intrigues Ade­line, as it sug­gests a deep­er, more per­son­al con­nec­tion to the divine, one that feels more real and acces­si­ble than the cold, dis­tant Chris­tian­i­ty she has been taught to fol­low.

Adeline’s life takes a marked turn when her father returns from Le Mans, bring­ing gifts that are meant to appease her rest­less spir­it. Instead of appre­ci­at­ing these mate­r­i­al gifts, Adeline’s first act is to take one of her most trea­sured possessions—a pencil—and ded­i­cate it to the riv­er, offer­ing it to the old gods she now seeks to under­stand. This sym­bol­ic act is a pow­er­ful defi­ance against both her mother’s reli­gious expec­ta­tions and the Chris­t­ian faith that dom­i­nates the vil­lage. It marks her first step into a realm of spir­i­tu­al­i­ty and sac­ri­fice that will guide her through a jour­ney of self-dis­cov­ery, one that chal­lenges the deeply ingrained beliefs of her fam­i­ly and her com­mu­ni­ty. Adeline’s offer­ing sym­bol­izes her entry into a world of spir­i­tu­al explo­ration, bridg­ing the gap between the devout Chris­tian­i­ty of her fam­i­ly and the ancient, pri­mal wor­ship that Estele has intro­duced her to. It is an act that sets her on a path of per­son­al change, one that promis­es to reshape her under­stand­ing of both her­self and the world around her.

This chap­ter intri­cate­ly por­trays the inter­nal con­flict of a young girl caught between the world she knows and the one she longs to explore. Adeline’s encounter with Estele serves as the cat­a­lyst for her rebel­lion against the life that has been cho­sen for her, pro­vid­ing her with the tools and insight to break free from her con­straints. The spir­i­tu­al lessons she learns not only help her under­stand her desires but also grant her the courage to embrace the unknown. Through this jour­ney, the chap­ter high­lights themes of self-dis­cov­ery, rebel­lion, and the search for mean­ing beyond the soci­etal bound­aries that seek to define her.