CHAPTER IX. MAISTRE PIERRE PATHELIN. THIS, the earliest French comedy, worthy the name, is too remarkable a piece to be passed over in any mention of early French poetry. In some respects it is certainly the most note-worthy production of the fifteenth century. If we compare it with the earliest efforts of English comedy -with Gammer Gurton, for instance-it is impossible not to admire the extraordinary superiority of the French language, the French versification, and, above all, the French humour. There is absolutely none of that clownish uncouthness which distinguishes all our earliest attempts at comedy, there is no horse-play, there are no Fescennine jokes, there needs no Hircius or Spongius to tickle the fancy of the country audience who first heard it-if, indeed, it was acted first at Poitiers, as seems probable. Where the English buffoon tumbles and roars, the French light comedian, with a gallant and courtly air, cajoles his victim, and after all his thousand tricks and turns illustrates the temporary success and ultimate discomfiture of roguery. The comedy was first produced about 1470; in language, though greatly superior, taste, and in humour, it resembles the Répues Franches, falsely attributed to Villon. It was immensely successful. It was acted in all parts of France. Professor Reuchlin translated it into Latin, and made his pupils play it at Heidelberg in 1497. Another and a better translation was made by Connibert in 1512. It became a storehouse of proverbs. From it came the word patheliner. It went through twenty-five editions, at least, in a hundred years. It has been assigned to half-a-dozen authors, who may be reduced to two, Pierre Blanchet, and Antoine de la Sale. The latter edited, in 1456, the Cent Nouvelles nouvelles, and must have been probably too old to be the author of Pathelin in 1470. The former was a barrister at Poitiers. He is known to have written farces as well as songs. Bouchet-Bouchet the voluminous-wrote his epitaph: "Cy gist, dessoubs ce lapideux cachet, Le corps de feu maistre Pierre Blanchet, Hardy sans lettre, et fort joyeux comique. Et y jouoit par grant art sans reproche." Bouchet meant well, though his verse is not so good as might be. It does not much matter who the author was. Let him enjoy an anonymous reputation. M. P. L. Jacob (Bibliophile) is exceedingly indignant with M. Genin, for attributing Pathelin to Antoine de la Sale, but his own case for Blanchet is a very poor one. It rests chiefly on the epitaph of Bouchet. Here, he says, we learn that Blanchet was a poëte satyrique. Very good; so was the author of Pierre Pathelin. Again, Blanchet was a barrister; "probably," he says-I do not see why, "probably a barrister sous l'orme like Pathelin." Again, Blanchet wrote farces-his name was Pierre; like Pathelin, he made a will in rhyme. If anything more is wanting to complete the proof, we have a pun in Pathelin on the word blanchet, which means either a white petticoat or a piece of money, or—and what delight to have a triple pun !—the name of the author. And if any one doubts after all this that Pierre Blanchet was the author of Pierre Pathelin, why, he says, let him sit down and find out an author for himself. In the selections which follow, which I believe to be sufficient to show the character of this little play, I have left in the original those verses which would lose their point by translation. We may divide it into two Acts. It was, doubtless, performed upon a stage in compartments, one of which. was the draper's shop, and the other Pathelin's house. I apologize beforehand for my rough rhymes. They are, at least, tolerably close. Act I. Scene I. Pathelin's House. Maitre Pierre Pathelin and Guillemette his wife; a poorly-furnished room. "Pathelin. Holy Mary! I toil and I cheat: Fair play and foul; by work and deceit : Guillemette. Yes: and what's worse, the neighbours aver, You are not so wise, by half, as you were: You that everyone used to seek— So crafty, so cunning, so clever to speak— And they call you the 'Advocate under the oak.'1 There is not through all the country side, * G. And if you are learned, where is the good? Pathelin hits on an idea: "Taisez vous. Par ma conscience, Si je vueil mon sens esprouver, Je scauray bien où en trouver Des robes et des chaperons." She will not believe him. "Vous n'avez ne denier ne maille, Que ferez vous? PATHELIN. Vous ne sçavez. Belle dame, se vous n'avez Du drap, pour nous deux largement, Si me desmentez hardiment. Quel couleur vous semble plus belle? D'ung gris vert? d'ung drap de Brucelle? Ou d'autre? Il me le faut sçavoir. GUILLEMETTE. Tel que vous le pourrez avoir; Qui emprunte ne choisit mye. 1 "Avocat sous l'orme," i. e. one whose only office was the shade of the elm in the village 'place.' PATHELIN. Pour vous, deux aulnes et demye, GUILLEMETTE. Vous comptez sans rabattre : Que dyable les vous prestera? PATHELIN. Que vous en chault qui ce sera? Car plus tost ne sera ce point." Exit Pathelin, big with thought. Guillemette stays behind, despondent and doubtful. Scene 2. The Draper's shop at the fair. Pathelin looks about in apparent uncertainty. Draper. "Is this his place? it cannot be: A draper's shop? the name-'tis he. (Enters) God be with all. And with you, beau Sire. P. The strangest chance that brought me here: The very man-your hand, my friend That I wanted to find. -Your health-does it mend?" I After manifesting an extraordinary anxiety on this point, he begins in a quite novel and unexpected manner. imagine that the draper knows him by sight, but has never spoken to him before, for Pathelin evidently knows a little about the good man's connections. "Ha!-well. What a man! what a wonderful brain! God keep his soul-your father's, I mean. What a merchant, too, so thoughtful, so wise, (Upon my word, you have the same eyes). |