FluentFrench.com Transcription and line-by-line translation for the CD La chvre de Monsieur Seguin. Our goal at FluentFrench.com is to help French learners understand the original French. So, instead of a traditional translation that reads as if it were originally written in English, we give you a literal translation, except for underlined words, which must be understood as a group and for which a literal translation might lead you astray of the meaning. The stories here were first published by Alphonse Daudet in 1886 in a collection called Les Lettres de mon Moulin. In 1954, Fernandel recorded them. Fernandels recordings dont always include the whole story. For instance, youll see that track 1 of this CD starts a couple of pages into the first story. You can get the CD at this page : http://www.fluentfrench.com/chevre.html LA CHVRE DE M. SEGUIN .................................. 1 LE CUR DE CUCUGNAN................................... 21 LA MULE DU PAPE .............................................. 37 LE SECRET DE MATRE CORNILLE................... 65 La chvre de M. Seguin 1 LA CHVRE DE M. SEGUIN (Editors note: Fernandel recorded only the central story and not the beginning and end of Daudets letter to an imaginary friend back in Paris. To follow along with the CD, you can skip to Track 1 on the page 3. M. Pierre Gringoire,1 pote lyrique Paris To Mr. Pierre Gringoire, lyric poetin Paris. Tu seras bien toujours le mme, mon pauvreYou will never change, my poor Gringoire ! Gringoire! Comment ! on toffreune place de chroniqueur dansWhat!you are offered a position aschronicler for un bon journal de Paris, ettu as laplomb de refuser Mais a fine newspaperin Paris, and you havethe nerveto refuseWhy, regarde-toi, malheureux garon ! Regarde ce pourpoint look at you, you unfortunate boy! Look at your pourpoint trou,ces chausses en droute,2 cette face maigrefull of holes, those breeches a complete disaster,thatlean face qui crie la faim.that screams hunger. Voil pourtant o ta conduit3 la passion des belles rimes ! That is exactly where your passion for good rhymes has led you! Voil ce que tont valu4 dix ans de loyaux services Here is what ten years of loyal services 1 Pierre Gringoire (1475 - 1538). French poet. In: " Notre-Dame de Paris," Victor Hugo made Pierre Gringoire one of his characters. In the novel, Gringoire is carefree and often poor. 2 en droute = in ruins. 3 o ta conduit la passion : literally, where passion has lead you. conduire quelquun = to lead someone, to drive someone. 4 Voil ce que tont valu = Look at what have earned for you, have been worth to you valoir = to be worth. FluentFrench.com dans les pages du sire Apollo1as a page of his Majesty Apollo (have brought you) Est-ce que tu nas pas honte, la fin ? Arent you ashamed, for heavens sake? Fais-toi donc chroniqueur, imbcile !So become a chronicler, you imbecile! Fais-toi chroniqueur ! Tu gagneras de beaux cus la rose, Become a chronicler! You will earnbeautiful rose-engraved coins, tu auras ton couvert chez Brbant,2 et tu pourras te montreryou will have your table reserved at Brbants and you'll be ableto appear les jours de premire avec une plume neuve ta barrette at opening nights with abrand-new feather on your cap Non ? Tu ne veux pas ? Tu prtends rester No? You do not want to?You intendto remain libre ta guise3 jusquau bout Eh bien, coute un peuas free as you wish to the very end Well,listen a while to lhistoire de la chvre de M. Seguin.the storyof Mr. Seguins goat. Tu verras ce que lon gagne vouloir vivre libre. You will seewhatone gains from wanting to livefree. 1 les pages du sire Apollo = poets, writers, artists. Literally, "the pages (the servants) of his Majesty Apollo." Apollo is the protector of arts and literature. 2 Brbant : a well-known restaurant in Paris, near the Opra. 3 libre ta guise = free to follow your fancy. la guise = the manner, the way. Used in expressions such as sa guise (according to his taste, according to his own wishes) and en guise de (as a form of, in place of.) See another example on page 10. La chvre de M. Seguin 3 (THE RECORDING ON THE CD STARTS HERE) TRACK 1M. Seguin navait jamais eu de bonheur avec sesM. Seguinhad neverhad any happiness with his chvres. goats. Illes perdait toutes de la mme faon :He was losing them all in thesamemanner: un beau matin, elles cassaient leur corde, sen allaient1 dansone fine morning,theywould break their rope, would go awayinto la montagne, et l-haut le loup les mangeait.Ni les caressesthe mountains, and up therethe wolf would eat them.Neither the petting de leur matre ni la peur du loup, rien ne les retenait.oftheir masternor the fearof the wolf, nothing kept them (home.) Ctaient, parat-il, des chvres indpendantes,They were, it seems ,independent goats voulant tout prix le grand air et la libert. wantingat all costs open air and freedom. Le brave M. Seguin, qui ne comprenait rien au2 The goodMr. Seguin,who did not understand anything about the caractre de ses btes, tait constern. Il disait : disposition ofhisanimals,was dismayed.Hesaid: Oh ! Cest fini ; les chvres sennuient chez moi,Oh! Its over;goatsget bored at my home, je nen garderai pas une. I wont (be able to) keep even one of them. Cependant, il ne se dcouragea3 pas, et, aprs avoir However,he did not become discouraged, and,after having 1 s'en aller = to go away, to leave. See another example on page 10.Compare to aller (to go). 2 il ne comprend rien ... = he doesn't understand anything about3 se dcourager = to become discouraged. FluentFrench.com perdu six chvres de la mme manire,lost sixgoatsin the same manner, il en acheta une septime ; seulement, cette fois, he bought a seventh;only this time, il eut soin de1 la prendre toute jeune,2

he took careto get her very young, pour quelle shabitut mieux 3 demeurer chez lui. so that she would more easily get used to living at his place. Ah ! quelle tait jolie, la petite chvre de M. Seguin !Ah!how pretty she wasMr. Seguins little goat! Quelle tait jolie avec ses yeux doux, How pretty she was withher soft eyes, sa barbiche de sous-officier, ses sabots noirs et luisants,hermilitary-style goatee,her black and shiny hoofs, ses cornes zbres et ses longs poils4 blancsher striped horns andherlong white hair qui lui faisaient une houppelande ! ctait presque aussithat made a cloak for her! it was almost as charmant que le cabri dEsmralda5 et puis docile, charming as Esmeraldas kid goatand also, docile, caressante, se laissant trairesans bouger,sans mettre affectionate,letting herself be milked without budging, without putting son pied dans lcuelle. Un amour de petite chvre her foot into the pail. A darlingof a littlegoat 1 avoir soin de = to take care to. Example: avoir soin de fermer la porte = to take care to close the door. See page 5 for another example.2 la prendre toute jeune : literally, to get her (while she was) very young. 3 shabituer = to get used to 4 The difference between les poils and les cheveux: un cheveu refers only to the hair on the top of a humans head. A body hair is called un poil. 5 Esmralda : another character in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Recall that the author is writing to Pierre Gringoire. La chvre de M. Seguin 5 M. Seguin avait derrire sa maison un clos entourMr. Seguin had behind his housea fenced yard bordered daubpines. Cestl quil mit la nouvelle pensionnaire. by hawthorn.It was there that he put his new boarder. Il lattacha un pieu, au plus bel endroit du pr,He tied her toa stake, in the bestspot in the meadow, en ayant soin de lui laisser beaucoup de corde, et taking careto give hera large length of rope,and de temps en temps il venait voir si elle tait bien. La chvre from time to time,hecameto seeifshewas all right. The goat se trouvait1trs heureuse et broutait lherbe de si bon curfelt very happyandchewed the grassso heartily que M. Seguin tait ravi. that Mr. Seguinwas delighted. Enfin, pensait le pauvre homme, en voil une "At last"thought thepoor man,"here is one qui ne sennuiera pas chez moi ! who will not get bored at my home!" M. Seguin se trompait2, sa chvre sennuya. Mr. Seguinwas mistaken,his goatbecame bored. TRACK 2 Un jour, ellese diten regardant la montagne :One day, shesaid to herself, while looking atthe mountain, Comme on doit tre bien l-haut3 ! Quel plaisir"How nice it must be up there!What a pleasure (it would be) 1 se trouvait : literally, found herself. 2 se tromper = to be mistaken. Compare to tromper quelquun = to trick someone; to mislead someone; to cheat on someone. 3 tre bien = to feel good; to be happy, content. FluentFrench.com de gambader dans la bruyre,sans cette maudite1 longeto go capering about through the heather, withoutthishateful leash qui vous corche le cou !Cest bon pour lne ou pourthatscratches your neck!It is finefordonkeys or for le buf de brouter dans un clos ! Les chvres,oxen to grazeina fenced yard! Goats, il leur faut du large2. they need space." partir de ce moment, lherbe du clos lui parut fade. From that moment on, the grass of the yard seemed tasteless to her. Lennui lui vint.3 Elle maigrit, son lait se fit rare.Boredom set in.She lost weight, hermilk became rare. Ctait piti de la voir tirer tout le jour sur sa longe, It wasa pityto see her pullall day longon herleash, la tte tourne du ct de4 la montagne, la narine ouverte,her headturnedtoward the mountains, her nostril open, en faisant M ! tristement. goingBaa!sadly. M. Seguin sapercevait bien que Mr. Seguinwas indeed noticingthat sa chvre avait quelque chose5, mais il ne savait pas ce quesomething was the matter with his goat, buthe did not knowwhat ctait Un matin, comme il achevait de la traire, la chvre it was One morning,ashe was finishing milking her, thegoat 1 maudit = cursed, detested, hated. 2 le large = width. It can be used to mean "space, room." Il leur faut means, "They need." Compare il faut (it is necessary) to il me faut (I need). See page 8 for an example of qu'est-ce qu'il te faut ? (what do you need?) 3 Lennui lui vint : literally, boredom came to her. 4 du ct de = over towards, over by. le ct = the side. 5 avoir quelque chose = to have something the matter. Often heard in the question, "Quest-ce que tu as ?," which means, Whats the matter with you? or Whats wrong with you? La chvre de M. Seguin 7 se retourna etlui dit dans son patois : turned around and told him inher dialect: coutez, monsieur Seguin, je me languis Listen, Mister Seguin,I am wasting away chez vous, laissez-moi aller dans la montagne. at your homelet me gointothe mountains. Ah ! mon Dieu ! Elle aussi ! cria M. SeguinAh!my goodness! This one too!,cried Mr. Seguin stupfait. Et du coup1il laissa tomber son cuelle ; puis,astonished.And as a result, he droppedhis pail; then, sasseyant dans lherbe ct de sa chvre : sitting down inthe grass next tohisgoat: Comment, Blanquette, tu veux me quitter ? What,Blanquette? youwantto leave me? Et Blanquette rpondit : And Blanquette replied: Oui, monsieur Seguin. Yes,Mister Seguin. Est-ce que lherbe te manque ici ? Do you lack grass here? Oh non ! monsieur Seguin. Oh no! Mister Seguin. Tu es peut-tre attache de trop court, veux-tu que Perhaps you aretiedtoo tightdo you wish that jallonge la corde ? I make the rope longer? 1 du coup = as a result. Literally, "from the strike, the hit, the blow." le coup = the strike, the hit, the blow. Compare to tout coup (suddenly) on pages 11, 13 and 51. FluentFrench.com Ce nest pas la peine,1 monsieur Seguin. That is not necessary, Mister Seguin. Alors, quest-ce quil te faut ?2 Quest-ce que tu Then,what do you require?What isitthatyou veux ? want? Je veux aller dans la montagne, monsieur Seguin. I want to gointo the mountains,Mister Seguin. Mais, malheureuse, tu ne sais pas quil y a le loup Why,poor thing, you dont knowthat there is the wolf dans la montagne Queferas-tu quand il viendra ?3 inthe mountains What will you do whenhecomes? Je lui donnerai des coups4 de corne, monsieur I will strike him with my horns,Mister Seguin. Seguin. Le loup se moque bien de5 tes cornes. The wolf does not care aboutyourhorns. Il ma mang des biques autrement encornes6 que toiHe ate some of my goats (which had) bigger hornsthan you 1 ce nest pas la peine : literally, it is not (worth) the trouble. Often used to express, "don't go to such trouble," "it is not necessary." la peine = 1) the sorrow, the sadness; 2) the effort, the difficulty; 3) the penalty, the punishment.2 quest-ce quil te faut : this is another example of falloir quelqu'un (to be needed by someone, to be necessary to someone.) See page 6 for il leur faut (they need). 3 quand il viendra : literally, when he will come. Note that French uses the future here. 4 un coup de corne = a blow with one's horns. Compare to donner des coups = to hit; to strike. See page 18 for "un coup de dents" and page 37 for "un coup de pied." 5 se moquer de quelque chose = 1) to make fun of something, to laugh at something, 2) to not care about something.6 autrement encornes =having bigger horns; literally, "differently horned." La chvre de M. Seguin 9 Tu sais bien, la pauvre vieille Renaude qui tait iciYou know,poorold Renaude that was here lan dernier ? une matresse chvre, forteet mchante last year?a high-strung goat,strong and mean comme un bouc. Elle sest battue avec le loup toute la nuitas a billy goat.Shefoughtwiththe wolf all night puis,le matin,le loup la mange. then,in the morning, the wolfate her. Pcare !1 Pauvre Renaude ! a ne fait rien,Alas!Poor Renaude!That does not matter, monsieur Seguin, laissez-moi aller dans la montagne. Mister Seguin, let mego to the mountains. Bont divine ! dit M. SeguinGoodness Gracious!, said Mr. Seguin mais quest-ce quon leur fait donc2 mes chvres ?why,what is being done tomy goats? Encore uneque le loup va me manger Eh bien, nonYet another one thatthe wolf is going to eatWell,no je te sauverai malgr toi, coquine !I will save youin spite of yourself, you rascal! Et,de peur que tu ne rompes ta corde, je vais tenfermerAnd, for fear that you might break your rope,Iwill lock you up dans ltable, et tu y resteras toujours. inthe stable,and you will stay there always. L-dessus, M. Seguin emporte la chvre dans une Thereupon, Mr. Seguin takes thegoatinto a table toute noire, dont il ferma la porte double tour. completely dark stable, whose door he double locks. 1 Pcare = Alas! This is an outdated Provenal exclamation expressing affectionate commiseration. 2 quest-ce quon leur fait donc ? = what are they doing to them then? FluentFrench.com Malheureusement, il avait oubli la fentre, Unfortunately,he hadforgotten the window, et peine eut-il le dos tourn1 que la petite sen alla andno sooner had he turned his backthan the little one went away TRACK 3 Quand la chvre blanche arriva dans la montagne,Whenthe white goat arrivedin the mountains, ce fut un ravissement gnral. itwas a delight for everyone. Jamais les vieux sapins navaient rien vu daussi joli.Never had the old pine trees seen anything as pretty. On la reut comme une petite reine. Les chtaigniersThey received herlike alittlequeen. Thechestnut trees se baissaient jusqu terre pour la caresser du bout de leursbent downall the way to the groundto pet herwith the tips of their branches. Les gents dor souvraient sur son passage, branches.The golden broomopened upas she passed, et sentaient bon tant quils pouvaient. Toute la montagneandsmelledas lovely astheycould.Thewhole mountain lui fit fte. welcomed her. Vous pensez si notre chvre tait heureuse ! You can imagine how happy our goat was! Plus de corde, plus de pieu rienqui lempchtNo more rope,no more stake nothing that kept her de gambader, de brouter sa guise Cest l quil y en avaitfrom frolicking,from grazing as she pleased It was here that there was 1 peine eut-il le dos tourn : from peine (barely) + eut-il (had he) + le dos tourn (the back turned). La chvre de M. Seguin 11 de lherbe ! Jusque par-dessus les cornes ! Et quelle herbe !grass! All the way up over herhorns! Andwhatgrass! Savoureuse, fine, dentele, faite de mille plantes Ah !Delicious, thin, lace-like,made up of a thousand plants Ah! Ctait bien autre chose que le gazon du clos.Et lesIt was indeed different from the grassof the yard. And the fleurs ! De grandes campanules bleues,flowers!Big garden bluebells, des digitales de pourpre longs calices, toute une fort de purple digitalis with a long calyx, a whole forest of fleurs sauvages dbordant de sucs capiteux ! wild flowers overflowing with fragrant juices! La chvre blanche, moiti sole,Thewhite goat,half inebriated, se vautrait l-dedans les jambes en lair et roulait le long dessprawledin there, her legs up in the air and rolledalong the talus,ple-mle avec les feuilles tombes et les chtaignesslopes, every which way with fallen leaves and chestnuts Puis, tout coup1, elle se redressait dun bond2

Then,all of sudden, she would leap up sur ses pattes. Hop ! la voil partie, la tte en avant,onto her legs. Hop!, there she went, head first, travers les maquis3 et les buissires, tantt sur un pic, through shrubsandbrushessometimes on a peak, tanttau fond dun ravin, l-haut,en bas,partoutsometimesat the bottom of a ravine,up there, down there, everywhere 1 tout coup = suddenly. le coup = the hit, the blow, the stroke. See other examples on pages 13 and 51. 2 elle se redressait dun bond : she would leap up. se redresser = to sit up, to stand up, to stand up straight. un bond = a leap. 3 un maquis : dense, shrubby vegetation of Mediterranean coast regions. FluentFrench.com On aurait dit quil y avait dix chvres de M. SeguinOne would have thought there were tenofMr. Seguins goats dans la montagne. inthe mountains. Cest quelle navait peur de rien, la Blanquette. She was afraid of nothing, Blanquette. Elle franchissait dun saut de grands torrents quiShewould leap across wide mountain streams that lclaboussaient au passage de poussire humide et dcume. splashed her as they wentwithsome humid dust andfoam. Alors, toute ruisselante, elle allait stendre surAnd, dripping wet,she would go stretch outon quelque roche plate et se faisait scher par le soleilsomeflat rock andwould let herself by dried by the sun Une fois, savanant au bord dun plateau, une fleur de cytiseOnce,movingto the edge ofaplateau, abroom flower aux dents, elle aperuten bas, tout en bas dans la plaine,in her teeth, sheperceived, down below, all the way down below in the plain, la maison de M. Seguin avec le closderrire.the houseof Mr. Seguinwith the fenced yard in the back. Cela la fit rire aux larmes. That made her laugh until she cried. Que cest petit ! dit-elle ;How small it is!, she said; comment ai-je pu tenir l-dedans ? how was I able to stand it in there? Pauvrette ! De se voir si haut perche,Poor little thing!Seeing herself perched so high, elle se croyait au moins aussi grande que le monde she believed she was at leastas big asthe world En somme, ce fut une bonne journe pour In all,it was apleasantday for La chvre de M. Seguin 13 la chvre de M. Seguin. Vers le milieu du jour,en courantMr. Seguins goat.Around the middle of the day, whilst running de droite et de gauche, elle tomba dans une troupe derightand left,she fell uponaherdof chamois en train de1 croquer une lambrusque belles dents. chamois busychewing on a wild vine with relish. Notre petite coureuse en robe blanche fit sensation.2

Ourlittlerunnerin her white coat was a sensation. On lui donna la meilleure place la lambrusque, et tous ces She was giventhe best spot at the wild vineandallthose messieurs furent trs galantsIl parat mme quun jeune gentlemen werevery courteous. Rumor even has it that a young chamois pelage noir eut la bonne fortune de plaire chamoiswith a black coat hadthegoodluckof being fancied by Blanquette. Les deux amoureux sgarrent3 parmi le boisBlanquette. Thetwo lovers went into the woods une heure ou deux, et, si vous voulez savoir ce quils dirent, for an hour or two,and if you wantto knowwhatthey said, allez le demander aux sources bavardes qui courent invisiblesgoask the babbling springs thatrun unseen dans la mousse. amid the moss. TRACK 4Tout coup le vent frachit. La montagne devintAll of sudden, the wind got chilly. The mountainbecame 1 tre en train de faire quelque chose = to be doing something; to be in the process of doing something. See another example of en train de on page 33. 2 faire sensation = to make an impression, to create a sensation; to be the star of the show. 3 s'garer = to wander; to get lost. FluentFrench.com violette ; ctait le soir. purple; it wasevening. Dj ! dit la petite chvre ; et elle Already! said the littlegoat;and she sarrtafort tonne. stopped short, quite surprised. En bas,les champs taient noys de brume.Down below, thefieldswere drowned in mist. Le clos de M. Seguin disparaissait dans le brouillard,Mr. Seguins fenced yardwas disappearing inthefog, et de la maisonnette on ne voyait plus quele toit avec unand of thelittle houseone no longer saw anything but the roofwitha peu de fume. Elle couta les clochettes dun troupeaulittle smoke.Shelistened to the bellsofaherd quon ramenait,etse sentit lme toute tristethat was being brought back in andher soul was very sad Un gerfaut,qui rentrait, la frla de ses ailesen passant.A gyrfalcon, who was returning home, grazed her with his wings in passing. Elle tressaillit Shetrembled Puis ce fut un hurlement dans la montagne : Then there was ahowlinginthe mountains: Hou ! hou ! Hou!hou! Elle pensa au loup ; de tout le jour la folleShe thought of the wolf; all day the nutty girl ny avait pas pensAu mme moment une trompe sonnahad not thought about him At the sametime a horn sounded bien loin dans la valle. Ctait ce bon M. Seguin quifar awayinthe valley.It was that goodMr. Seguin who La chvre de M. Seguin 15 tentait1 un dernier effort. was making one last effort. Hou ! hou ! faisait le loup. Hou! hou!went the wolf. Reviens ! Reviens ! criait la trompe. Come back! come back! criedthe horn. Blanquette eut envie de2 revenir ; mais, Blanquette felt like coming back;but, en se rappelant le pieu, la corde, la haieduclos, elle pensa remembering the stake,therope, the hedge of the yard, she thought que maintenant ellene pouvait plus se faire cette vie,thatnow,she would no longer be able to get used to thatlife, et quil valait mieux rester. and that it was better to stay (on the mountain). La trompe ne sonnait plus The hornwas no longer sounding La chvre entendit derrire elle un bruit de feuilles. The goat heardbehindher the rustle of leaves. Elle se retourna et vit dans lombre deuxShe turned around and saw in the shadow two oreilles courtes, toutes droites, avec deux yeux quishort ears,completely straight,withtwo eyes that reluisaient were shining Ctait le loup. It was the wolf. norme, immobile, assis sur son train de derrire, Huge, motionless,sitting onhis haunches, 1 tenter = to try. 2 avoir envie de quelque chose = to want something, to have a desire for something. FluentFrench.com il tait l, regardant la petite chvre blanche et la dgustanthe was there,looking at thelittlewhite goatandsavoring her par avance. Comme ilsavait bien quil la mangerait, le loupin advance. Since he knew very well that he would eat her, the wolf ne se pressait pas ; seulement, quand elle se retourna,was not rushing;only,whensheturned around, il se mit1 rire mchamment. he began tolaugh in a nasty way. Ha ! ha ! la petite chvre de M. Seguin ! Ha! ha!Mr. Seguins little goat! Et il passa sa grosse langue rouge surAnd heranhisbig red tongue over ses babines damadou2. hisdark lips. Blanquette se sentit perdue Un moment, BlanquettefeltlostFor one moment, en se rappelant lhistoire de la vieille Renaude, quirememberingthe storyof oldRenaude, who stait battue toute la nuit pour tre mange le matin, had foughtall night(only) to beeatenin the morning, elle se ditquil vaudrait peut-tre mieux3 se laisser mangershe told herself thatit would perhaps be betterto let herself be eaten tout de suite ; puis, stant ravise,4 elle tomba en garde,5

right away; then, having changed her mind, she squared up, la tte basse et la corne en avant, comme une brave chvre head downand horns forward, likethebravegoat 1 se mettre faire quelque chose = to begin to do something; to set oneself to doing something. 2 amadou = tinder.3 il vaut mieux = it is better. Literally, it is worth more. valoir = to be worth. 4 se raviser = to change ones mind. 5 tomber en garde = to square up (ready for the fight). La chvre de M. Seguin 17 de M. Seguin quelle tait Non pas quelle et lespoir ofMr. Seguinthat shewasNot thatshehadany hope de tuer le loup les chvres ne tuent pas le loup , maisof killing the wolf goatsdo not kill wolves , but seulement pour voir si elle pourrait tenir aussi longtemps que onlyto seeif she would be able to hold outas long as la Renaude Renaude Alors le monstre savana,et les petites cornesThen, the monster moved forward and thelittlehorns entrrent en danse. entered the dance. Ah ! la brave petite chevrette,Ah! the bravelittle goat, comme elle y allait de bon cur !1Plus de dix fois,how she was going at it with all her might!More than ten times, je ne mens pas, elle fora le loup reculer Iam not lying,sheforced the wolf to retreat pour reprendre haleine. Pendant ces trves dune minute,tocatch his breath. Duringthose one minute truces, la gourmande cueillait en hte encore un brin de sa chrethe greedy goatpicked hastily one more blade ofherdear herbe ; puis elle retournait au combat, la bouche pleine grass;thenshe went back to the fight,her mouth full Cela duratoute la nuit. De temps en temps la chvre deThatwent on all night. From time to timethe goat of M. Seguin regardait les toiles danser dans le ciel clair et elleMr. Seguin looked atthe starsdance inthe clear skyand she se disait : Oh ! Pourvu queje tienne jusqu laube ! told herself, "Oh!If onlyI can hold outuntildawn!" 1 y aller de bon cur = to go at it ( with all ones heart, with all ones might) FluentFrench.com Lune aprs lautre, les toiles steignirent.One after the other,thestars went out. Blanquette redoubla de coups de corne, Blanquette struck harder with her horns, le loupde coups de dents the wolf (struck harder) with his teeth Une lueur ple parut dans lhorizon Afaint light appearedon the horizon Le chant du coq enrou1 monta dune mtairie. A hoarse cockcrowcame up from a farm. Enfin ! dit la pauvre bte, qui nattendait plus que At last!said the poor animal, who was now waiting only for le jour pour mourir ; et elle sallongea par terre dans sa belledaylightto die;and she lay downon the ground, inher beautiful fourrure blanche toute tache de sang white coatallbloodstained Alors le loup se jeta2 sur la petite chvre etThenthe wolf pounced upon thelittlegoat and la mangea. ate her. (TRACK 4 ENDS HERE) Adieu, Gringoire ! Farewell,Gringoire! Lhistoire quetu as entendue nest pasThe storywhich you haveheard is not un conte de mon invention. Si jamais tu viens en Provence, a tale ofmy invention. Ifeveryoucometo Provence, nos mnagers te parleront souvent de la cabro de moussuour farmerswill often tell you about the goat ofMister 1 Le chant du coq enrou : literally, the song of the hoarse rooster. 2 se jeter = to throw oneself. La chvre de M. Seguin 19 Seguin, que se battgue tonto la neui err lou loup, e piei Seguin,who foughtallnight against the wolf,and then lou matin lou loup la mang. in the morning the wolfate her. Tu mentends bien, Gringoire. You hear me all right, Gringoire. La chvre de M. Seguin 21 LE CUR DE CUCUGNAN (THE BEGINNING OF THIS LETTER IS NOT ON THE RECORDING.) Tous les ans, la Chandeleur, les potes provenaux Every year,atCandlemas, the Provenal poets publient en Avignon un joyeux petit livre rempli jusquaux publish in Avignona lovelylittle book filled to the bords de beaux vers et de jolis contes. Celui de cette anne rimwith beautiful poems andprettytales.This years book marrive linstant, et jy trouve un adorable fabliau que has just arrived hereand I find in it an adorable fablewhich je vais essayer de vous traduire en labrgeant un peuI will tryto translatefor you,abbreviating it somewhat Parisiens, tendez vos mannes. Parisians,hold out your baskets. Cest de la fine fleur de farine provenaleIt isfine Provenal flour quon va vous servir cette fois that we willserve you thistime TRACK 5 Labb1 Martin tait cur de Cucugnan. Father Martin was the priest of Cucugnan. Bon comme le pain, franc comme lor, il aimait As good as bread,as honest asgold, he loved paternellement ses Cucugnanais ; pour lui, son Cucugnanhis people of Cucugnan as a father;to him hisCucugnan 1 Abb= used to be the title of any member of the secular clergy. They were referred to or addressed as, monsieur labb. Now, the title is pre. FluentFrench.com aurait t le paradis sur terre, si les Cucugnanaiswould have beenheavenon earth if the people of Cucugnan lui avaient donn un peu plus de satisfaction. Mais, hlas !had given himalittle more satisfaction. But alas! les araignes filaient dans son confessionnal, et, le beau jourspiders spun websinhis confessionaland, the blessed day de Pques, les hosties restaient au fondde son saint ciboire. ofEaster,thehostsremained in the bottom ofthe holy ciborium. Le bon prtre en avait le cur meurtri, et toujoursThe good priest had a heart wounded by it, and always il demandait Dieu la grce de ne pas mourirhe asked God for the grace of not dying avant davoir ramen au bercailson troupeau dispers. beforehaving brought back into the foldhis scattered flock. Or1, vous allez voir que Dieu lentendit. Well,youwill see that God heard him. Un dimanche, aprs lvangile, M. MartinOne Sunday,after (reading) the Gospel, Mr. Martin monta en chaire. went up to the pulpit. Mes frres, dit-il, vous me croirezsi vous voulez :"Brethren,he said, youwill believe me if you want to: lautre nuit, je me suis trouv, moi, misrable pcheur,the other night, Ifound myself,me,poor sinner, la porte du paradis. Je frappai : saint Pierre mouvrit ! at the gateofheaven.I knocked: Saint Peteropened for me! Tiens ! cest vous, mon brave monsieur Martin !Well! it isyou,my dear Mister Martin! 1 or = yet; whereas; but; now. La chvre de M. Seguin 23 me fit-il ; quel bon vent1 ? et quy a-t-il pour votre service ? he said to me; what good wind (brings you)?and what may I do for you? Beau saint Pierre, vous qui tenez le grand livre etGreatSaint Peter, you whokeep thebig book and la clef, pourriez-vous me dire, si je ne suis pas trop curieux,the key, could youtell me, ifI am not being too inquisitive, combien vous avez de Cucugnanaisen paradis ? how many people from Cucugnan have you in heaven? Mais je nai rien vous refuser, monsieur Martin ;Why, I have nothingto refuse to you,Mister Martin; asseyez-vous, nous allons voir la chose ensemble. do sit down, we are going to examine this together. Et saint Pierre prit son gros livre, louvrit, mit sesAnd Saint Petertookhisbigbook, opened it, put on his besicles : spectacles: Voyons un peu : Cucugnan, disons-nous. Cu CuLets see now:Cucugnan,we said.CuCu Cucugnan. Nous y sommes. Cucugnan Mon brave monsieur Cucugnan. Here we are. CucugnanMydear Mister Martin, la page est toute blanche. Pas une meMartin, the pageis completely blank.Not a soul Pas plus de Cucugnanais que dartes dans une dinde. No moreCucugnan residents than fish bonesina turkey. Comment ! Personne de Cucugnan ici ? Personne ? What! Nobody from Cucugnan here?Nobody? Ce nest pas possible ! Regardez mieux This is not possible! Take a better look Personne, saint homme. Regardez vous-mme Nobody, holyman.Lookyourself 1 This is an abbreviated version of Quel bon vent vous amne ? (What good wind brings you?) FluentFrench.com si vous croyez que je plaisante. ifyouthinkthatI am joking. Moi, pcare ! je frappais des pieds, et,Me,alas! I stamped my feet,and, les mains jointes, je criais misricorde. Alors, saint Pierre : with my hands clasped,I begged for mercy. Then, Saint Peter (said): Croyez-vous, monsieur Martin,Do believe me, Mister Martin, il ne faut pas ainsi vous mettre le cur lenvers,1 car vous you must not get so upset,foryou

pourriez en avoir quelque mauvais coup de sang. could have some bad stroke. Ce nest pas votre faute, aprs tout. Vos Cucugnanais, Itis not yourfault,after all. Your people of Cucugnan voyez-vous, doivent faire coup sr2 leur petite quarantaine you see,must surely be serving their time en purgatoire. in purgatory. Ah ! par charit, grand saint Pierre ! Ah!out of charity,greatSaint Peter! faites que je puisse au moins les voir et les consoler. make it so that I can at least see them and comfort them. Volontiers, mon ami Tenez,Gladly,myfriendHere, chaussez3 vite ces sandales, car les chemins ne sont pasquickly put on these sandals,for the paths are not beaux par iciVoil qui est bien Maintenant, cheminezgood around here There you are, fine Now, walk along, 1 Literally, you must not in this way turn your heart upside down. 2 coup sr = surely. 3 chausser = to put on shoes, sandals, etc. La chvre de M. Seguin 25 droit devant vous. Voyez-vous l-bas,au fond, en tournant ?straight ahead of you.Do you see, over there, in the distance, when you turn? Vous trouverez une porte dargent toute constelle de Youwill finda silver door all adornedwith croix noires main droiteVous frapperez,black crosseson the right-hand side You will knock, on vous ouvriraAllez, adessias !1

they will open for youGo,farewell! Tenez-vous sain et gaillardet. Keep healthy and happy. TRACK 6 Et je cheminai je cheminai ! Quelle battue !And I walkedIwalked!What a search! jai la chair de poule, rien que dy penser. Un petit sentier,I have goose pimplesjust thinking about it.Anarrow lane, plein de ronces, descarboucles qui luisaient et de serpents full ofbrambles,ofcarbuncles that shone, and ofsnakes qui sifflaient, mamena jusqu la porte dargent. thathissed, led meto the silver door. Pan ! pan ! Knock! knock! Qui frappe ? me faitune voix rauque et dolente. Who is knocking? (says to me) a hoarse and doleful voice. Le cur de Cucugnan. The priest of Cucugnan. De ? Of? De Cucugnan. Of Cucugnan. 1 The Provenal form of adieu. FluentFrench.com Ah ! Entrez. Ah!Come in. Jentrai. Un grand bel ange, avec des ailesI went in.A tall, handsome angel, with wings sombres comme la nuit, avec une robe resplendissanteas dark as night, with agown as bright comme le jour, avec une clef de diamant pendue sa asthe day,witha diamond keyhanging from his ceinture, crivait, cra-cra, dans un grand livre belt, was writing, scratch, scratch, inabigbook, plus gros que celui de saint Pierre bigger than thatofSaint Peter Finalement, que voulez-vous et Actually, whatdo you wantand que demandez-vous ? dit lange. what are you asking for? says the angel. Bel ange de Dieu, je veux savoir je suis bienGood angel ofGod, I want to know Iam quite curieux peut-tre si vous avez ici les Cucugnanais. inquisitive, perhaps if you have here the people of Cucugnan. Les ? The? Les Cucugnanais,les gens de CucugnanThe people of Cucugnan, the residents of Cucugnan que cest moi qui suis leur prieur. and I am their prior. Ah ! Labb Martin, nest-ce pas ? Ah!Father Martin, arent you? Pour vous servir, monsieur lange. At your service,Mister Angel. Vous dites donc Cucugnan So you say"Cucugnan" La chvre de M. Seguin 27 Et lange ouvritetfeuilleta1 son grand livre,And the angel opened and thumbed through hisbig book, mouillant son doigt de salive pour que le feuillet wetting his finger with salivaso that thesheet glisse mieux could slide better Cucugnan, dit-il en poussant2 un long soupir Cucugnan,he saidwith a deep sigh Monsieur Martin,Mister Martin, nous [n]avons en purgatoire personne de Cucugnan. we have in purgatory nobody fromCucugnan. Jsus ! Marie ! Joseph ! personne de CucugnanJesus! Mary! Joseph! nobody from Cucugnan en purgatoire ! grand Dieu ! mais o sont-ils donc ? in the purgatory! Oh Dear Lord!butwhere arethey then? Ah ! saint homme, ils sont en paradis.Ah! holy man,theyare in heaven. O diantre voulez-vous quils soient ? Where in the world would you expect them to be? Mais jen viens, du paradis But I came from there, from heaven Vous en venez Eh bien ? You come from there So? Eh bien ! ils ny sont pas ! Ah ! bonne mre des So! they are not there!Ah! holy motherof anges ! angels! 1 feuilleter un livre = to leaf through a book. 2 pousser un soupir = to let out a sigh. Literally, to push a sigh. Compare to pousser un cri (to let out a shout). FluentFrench.com Que voulez-vous, monsieur le cur ! sils ne sont ni What can I say, Father!if they are neither en paradis ni en purgatoire, il [n]y a pas de milieu, ils sont inheaven nor inpurgatory,there is noin-between, they are Sainte croix ! Jsus, fils de David ! A ! a ! a ! est- Holy cross!, Jesus,son of David!A! a! a! Is il possible ?Serait-ce un mensonge du grand saintthis possible?Might it be a lieof the greatSaint Pierre ? Pourtant j[e n]ai pas entendu chanter le coq1 ! Peter? YetIhave not heardthe cock crow! A ! pauvres nous ! Comment irai-je en paradis si mesA! poorus!How will I go to heaven if my Cucugnanais ny sont pas ? people of Cucugnan are not there? coutez, mon pauvre monsieur Martin, puisqueListen, my poor Mister Martin, since vous voulez, cote que cote, tre sr de tout ceci, et voir you wish,at all costs, to be certain of all thisand to see de vos yeux de quoi il retourne2, prenez ce sentier,with your own eyeswhat this is about,takethislane, filez en courant, si vous savez courir Vous trouverez,run, if you know how to runYou will find gauche, un grand portail. L, vous vous renseignerez suron the left, a huge portal.There, youwill inquireabout tout.Dieu vous le donne ! everything. God gives it to you! Et langeferma la porte. And the angel closedthe door. 1 entendre chanter le coq : a reference to Peters hearing the cock crow after denying that he knew Jesus. 2 de quoi il retourne = what it is all about, what the situation is. La chvre de M. Seguin 29 TRACK 7 Ctait un long sentier tout pav de braise rouge.It wasalonglaneallpaved with red embers. Je chancelais comme si javais bu ; chaque pas, I staggeredasif I had been drinking; with each step, je trbuchais ; jtais tout en eau, chaque poil de mon I tripped;I was drenched, eachhair ofmy corps avait sa goutte desueur, et je haletaisde soif bodyhad itsdrop of perspiration and I was panting from thirst Mais, ma foi, grce aux sandales que le bon saint PierreBut, actually,thanksto the sandalsthatthe good Saint Peter mavait prtes, je ne me brlai pas les pieds. had lent me,I did not burn my feet. Quand jeus fait assez de faux pas clopin-clopant,After I had stumbled enough times, hobbling along, je vis ma main gauche une porte non, un portail, I saw on the left-hand sidea door no, a portal, un norme portail, tout billant, comme la porte dun grand a hugeportal, gaping, like the door ofabig four Oh ! mes enfants, quel spectacle !oven. Oh!,my children, what a sight! L, on ne demande pas mon nom ; l, point de registre.There, theydo not ask for myname;there, no (list of names.) Par fournes1 et pleine porte,on entre l, mes frres, Inbatches and rushing through the door, you enter there,my brethren, comme le dimanche vous entrez au cabaret. as,on Sundays, you enter a tavern. Je suais grosses gouttes, et pourtant jtais transi, I was sweating in large drops,and yet Iwas cold, 1 une fourne = a batch. From le four (the oven). FluentFrench.com javais le frisson. Mes cheveux se dressaient. I was shivering.My hairwas standing up. Je sentais le brl, la chair rtie, quelque chose comme Ismelledburning,roasted flesh,somethinglike lodeur qui se rpand dans notre Cucugnan quand loy,the odorthat spreads out through ourCucugnan whenloy, le marchal, brle pour la ferrer1 la botte dun vieil ne.the blacksmith,burns, in order to shoe it, the hoofof an old donkey. Je perdais haleine dans cet air puant et embras ; jentendaisI was getting out of breath inthat smelly and burning air;Iheard une clameur horrible, des gmissements, des hurlements eta horrible clamor,moaning,yelling and des jurements. swearing. Eh bien, entres-tu ou nentres-tu pas, toi ? me fait,Well,are you coming in or not?says to me, en me piquant de sa fourche, un dmon cornu. while sticking me with his fork, ahorned devil. Moi ? Je nentre pas. Je suis un ami de Dieu. Me? I am not coming in.Iam afriend of Gods. Tu es un ami de Dieu Eh bien, You are a friend ofGods.Well, espce2 de teigneux ! que viens-tu faire ici ? you scoundrel!what are you here for? Je viens Ah ! ne men parlez pas, Icome Ah! dont talk to me about it, je [ne] peux plus me tenir sur mes jambes Je viens I am no longer ableto standonmyfeetI am coming 1 ferrer = to shoe (an animals hoof.) un fer cheval = a horse shoe. 2 une espce de = 1) a species of; 2) a sort of, a kind of, a type of. La chvre de M. Seguin 31 je viens deloin humblement vous demander si si,I am coming from far awayto ask you humblyif if par coup de hasard vous nauriez pas ici quelquun by stroke of chanceyou might not have here someone quelquun de Cucugnan someone fromCucugnan Ah ! feu de Dieu ! tu fais la bte,toi, comme si tuAh!fire of God!you act like an idiot, you,as if you ne savais pas que tout Cucugnan est ici. Tiens, laid corbeau1,did not knowthat all of Cucugnan is here.Here, you ugly crow, regarde, et tu verras comment nous les arrangeons ici,look, and you will seehow wetreat themhere, tes fameux Cucugnanais yourpeople of Cucugnan Et je vis, au milieu dun pouvantable tourbillon deAnd Isaw,amidst afrightful whirlof flammes : flames: Le long Coq-Galine vous lavez tous connu,The tall Coq-Galine you have allknown him, mes frres , Coq-Galine, qui se grisait si souvent, mybrethrenCoq-Galine, whogot drunk sooften et si souvent secouait les puces 2 sa pauvre Clairon. and so often gave a rough time to his poor Clairon. Je vis Catarinet cette petite gueuse avec son nez I sawCatarinet thatlittle beggar with her nose en lairqui couchait toute seule la grangein the air whosleptallalone in the barn 1 un corbeau : a crow. This is a reference to the priests clothes. 2 secouer les puces (to shake the fleas) = to give someone a rough time, to scold. This could mean that he beat his wife. FluentFrench.com Il vous en souvient, mes drles ! Mais, passons, You remember her,yourascals! But, lets pass on to other things, jen ai trop dit. I said too much. Je vis Pascal Doigt-de-Paix, qui faisait son huile avec I sawPascal Doigt-de-Paix,whomade his oil with les olives de M. Julien. theolives of Mr. Julien. Je vis Babet la glaneuse, qui, en glanant, I sawBabetthe gleaner,who, while gleaning, pour avoir plus vite nou1 sa gerbe,in order to have her sheaf tied more quickly, puisait poignes aux gerbiers. drewby the handful from the stacks. Je vis matre Grapasi, qui huilait si bien la roue de I saw Master Grapasi, whooiled so wellthe wheel of sa brouette. his wheelbarrow. Et Dauphine, quivendait si cher leaude son puits. And Dauphine,who charged so much for the water from her well. Et le Tortillard, qui, lorsquil me rencontrait portantAnd old Tortillard who, when he saw me approaching carrying le bon Dieu, filait son chemin, la barrette sur la tte etthe good Word, went his way,his cap on his head and la pipe au bec2et fier comme Artabana pipe in his mouthand proud as a peacock comme sil avait rencontr un chien. asif he had encountereda dog. Et Coulau avec sa Zette, et Jacques et Pierre, etAnd Coulauwith hisZette,andJacquesandPierre,and 1 nouer : to tie a knot 2 le bec : literally, the beak. La chvre de M. Seguin 33 Toni Toni" TRACK 8 mu, blme de peur, lauditoire gmit, en voyant,Touched, pale with fear,the audiencemoaned,seeing, dans lenfer tout ouvert, qui son preetqui sa mre,in wide open hell, sometheir father and some their mother, quisa grand-mre etquisa sur some their grandmotherand some their sister Vous sentez bien, mes frres, vous sentez bien que "You can sense, my brethren,youcan sense that ceci ne peut pas durer. Jai charge dmes,1 et je veuxthiscannotgo on. I have the cure of soulsandI want vous sauver de labmeovous tes tous en train de2 roulerto save you from the abyss where you are all in the process of rolling tte premire. Demainje me mets louvrage, pas plus tardhead first.Tomorrow, Ill set to workno later que demain. Et louvrage ne manquera pas ! Voici commentthan tomorrow.And there will be no lack of work!Hereis how je my prendrai3. Pour que tout se fasse bien, il faut tout faireI will go about it.In order that all can be done well,we have to do it all avec ordre. Nous irons rang par rang, comme Jonquires4

with method. Wewill go rowbyrow, like in Jonquires 1 avoir charge dmes = to have the cure of souls; to be responsible for the souls of parishioners. Lme = the soul. 2 tre en train de faire quelque chose = to be doing something; to be in the process of doing something. See another example of en train de on page 13.3 sy prendre = to get started; to set about doing it. se prendre faire quelque chose = to start doing something. ils sy prennent lavance = they come early (they plan ahead). 4 Jonquires : a city in southern France, near Avignon FluentFrench.com quand on danse. whenthey dance. Demain lundi, je confesserai les vieux et les vieilles.Tomorrow, Monday, I will hear old men and women in confession. Ce nest rien. This is nothing. Mardi, les enfants. Jaurai bientt fait. Tuesday, the children. I will finish quickly. Mercredi, les garons et les filles.Wednesday, theboysand thegirls. Cela pourra tre long. That may take a long time. Jeudi, les hommes. Nous couperons court. Thursday, themen. We will cut it short (for lack of time.) Vendredi, les femmes. Je dirai : pas dhistoires ! Friday, the women. I will say, "No nonsense!" Samedi, le meunier ! Ce nest pas trop dun jourSaturday,themiller!One day will not be too long pour lui tout seul forhimallalone Et, si dimanche nous avons fini, nous seronsAnd if we finish by Sunday,we will be bien heureux. verylucky. Voyez-vous, mes enfants, quand lebl est mr, You see, my children, when the wheat is ripe, il faut le couper ; quand le vin est tir,1 il faut le boire. Voilwe must harvest it; whenthe wineisdrawn, we must drink it.There is 1 This is often said to remind people that when they start something, they must finish it, that sometimes it is too late to change ones mind. La chvre de M. Seguin 35 assez de linge sale, il sagit de1 le laver et de le bien laver. enoughdirty laundry,its the time for washing it and washing it well. Cest la grce que je vous souhaite. Amen ! This is the grace that I wish for you. Amen!" Ce qui fut dit fut fait. On coula la lessive2. What was said was done.They did the laundry. Depuis ce dimanche mmorable, le parfumSincethat memorable Sunday, the fragrance des vertus de Cucugnanse respire dix lieues lentour.ofvirtues inCucugnan can be smelledten miles away. Etlebon pasteur M. Martin, heureux et plein dallgresse,And the good shepherd Mr. Martin,happy and joyful, a rvlautre nuit que,suivide tout son troupeau, dreamed the other night that,followed by all of his flock, il gravissait, en resplendissante procession, au milieu deshe walked up, in a brightprocessionamidstthe cierges allums, dun nuage dencens quiembaumaitlit candles, (and) acloud of incense that gave off a pleasant smell et des enfants de chur qui chantaient Te Deum,and choir boys whosangthe Te Deum, le chemin clair de la cit de Dieu. thebrightly-lit pathto the cityof God. Et voil lhistoire du cur de Cucugnan,And such is the story of the priest of Cucugnan, telle que ma ordonn de vous le direas I was toldto tell it to you by ce grand gueusard de Roumanille, qui la tenait3 lui-mmethatbigrascal, Roumanille, who himself had heard it 1 il s'agit de = it is a question of, it is a matter of, it has to do with.De quoi sagit-il ? = What is it about? or Whats the matter? 2 couler = to flow, to let flow. 3 tenir une histoire de quelquun = tenir (to hold) une histoire (a story) de quelquun (from someone). FluentFrench.com dun autre bon compagnon. from another goodcompanion. La chvre de M. Seguin 37 LA MULE DU PAPE TRACK 9 De tous les jolis dictons, proverbes ou adages, dont Of all the lovely sayings,proverbsor adages, with which nos paysans de Provence passementent leurs discours,ourpeasants of Provenceadorn their speech, je nen sais pas un de plus pittoresque ni plus singulier que I do not know of any more picturesque or more singularthan celui-ci. quinze lieues autour de mon moulin, quand this one. Fifteen leagues around mymill, when on parle dun homme rancunier, vindicatif, on dit : they speak of agrudging, vindictive man, they say : Cet homme-l ! mfiez-vous1 ! Il est commeThat man! Beware!He is like la mule du pape, qui garde sept ans son coup de pied. the popes ginny mule,which saves for 7 years her kick. Jai cherch bien longtemps do ce proverbeI have searched for a very long time (to know) where this proverb pouvait venir, ce que ctait que cette mule papale etcould come from,what it was,thatpapal mule and ce coup de pied gard pendant sept ans. Personne icithatkick (which was) savedfor seven years. Nobodyhere na pu me renseigner ce sujet,pas mme Francet Mama,has been able to inform me on this subject,not evenFrancet Mama, mon joueur de fifre, qui connat pourtant son myfife player,whoknows nevertheless his 1 se mfier de quelque chose = to be wary of something; to be distrustful of something. FluentFrench.com lgendaire provenal sur le bout du doigt.1 Francet penseProvenal legends perfectly.Francet thinks comme moi quil y al-dessous quelque ancienne chroniqueas I dothat there isbehind this someancient chronicle du pays dAvignon ; mais il ne la jamais entendu parler2

of the region of Avignon; but he has never heard of it autrement que par le proverbe exceptthrough the proverb Oh ! Vous ne trouverez cela quOh! Youwill findthatonly at la bibliothque des Cigales,3 ma dit le vieux fifre en riant. the "Cicada Library,"the old fifer said to me,laughing. Lidema paru bonne, et, commeThe idea seemed good to me,and, as la bibliothque des Cigales est ma porte, je suis allthe"Cicada Library" is close to my home,I went my enfermer pendant huit jours.4 to shut myself in there fora week. Cest une bibliothque merveilleuse, admirablementIt is a magnificent library,admirably monte, ouverte aux potes jour et nuit, et desservie par stocked, opento poetsday and night, and served by de petits bibliothcaires cymbales qui vous fontlittle librarianswith cymbalswho make 1 sur le bout du doigt (literally, on the tip of his finger), meaning, thoroughly, by heart, completely. 2 entendre parler de quelque chose = to hear (people) speak of something, to hear about something. 3 The cicada library is of course an expression, like, Go ask the wind. Next the author claims to have this library right outside his door and to have spent a few days on his back, listening to the cicadas make their music. We understand that, in the end, the author had to make up the story. 4 In French, it is common to refer to a week not as seven days, but as eight days. La chvre de M. Seguin 39 de la musique tout le temps. Ah ! Jai pass l quelquesmusicall the time. Ah!I spenttherea few journes dlicieuses, et, aprs une semaine de recherche delightful days, and, aftera weekof research sur le dos , jai fini par dcouvrir ce que je voulais, onmy back I finally discoveredwhatI was looking for, cest--dire lhistoire de ma muleet de ce fameux that is to say the story of my ginny mule and of thatfamous coup de pied gard pendant sept ans. Le conte en est joli kicksavedforseven years. Thetale is pleasant, quoique un peu naf, et je vais essayer de vous le dire tel que albeitsomewhat naive, and I will try to tell it to youas je lai luhiermatindans un manuscrit couleur du temps,Iread it yesterday morning ina time-faded manuscript quisentait bon la lavande sche et avaitthatsmelled wonderfully of dried lavenderandhad de grands fils de la Vierge pour signets. large gossamer threads as bookmarks. Qui na pas vuAvignon du temps des papesHe who has not seen Avignon in the days of the popes na rien vu. has seen nothing. Pour la gaiet, la vie, lanimation, le train des ftes, Forgaiety,living,liveliness,and rhythm of festivals, jamais une ville pareille. Ctaient, du matin au soir,(there was) never a city like it.It was, from morning until evening, des processions, des plerinages, les rues jonches de fleurs,processions, pilgrimages, streets strewnwith flowers, tapisses de hautes lices, des arrivages de cardinaux parcoveredwith tall banners, arrivalsof cardinals via le Rhne,bannires au vent, galres pavoises,les soldatsthe Rhne river, banners in the wind, galleys dressed with flags, the soldiers FluentFrench.com du pape qui chantaient du latin sur la place, les crcellesof the pope whosungin Latinonthe square,the rattles des frres quteurs ; puis, du haut en bas des maisons quiof the mendicant friars; then, from top to bottom, houses that se pressaient en bourdonnant autour du grand palais papalhurried hummingaround thehuge papal palace comme des abeilles autour de leur ruche, ctait encore like beesaroundtheir beehive,it wasalso le tic-tac des mtiers dentelles, le va-et-vientdes navettesthe tick-tack of lace-making looms, the coming and going of the shuttles tissant lor des chasubles,les petits marteaux des ciseleursweaving the gold of the chasubles, thelittlehammers of the engravers de burettes, les tables dharmonie quon ajustaitofcruets,thesoundboards being adjusted chez les luthiers,les cantiques des ourdisseuses ;in violin makers shops, the hymns of thewarpers; par l-dessus le bruit des cloches, et toujours quelques above it allthe soundof bells,andalways some tambourins1 quon entendait ronflerl-bas, du ct du pont.Provenal tabors that you could hear humming over there, toward the bridge. Car chez nous, quand le peuple est content,Because in our region, when the peoplearehappy, il faut quil danse, il faut quil danse ; et, they have to dance, they have to dance;and comme en ce temps-l les rues de la ville taient tropsincein those days the streets of thecity weretoo troites pour la farandole,2 fifreset tambourins se postaient narrowfor the "farandole," the fifes andtabors stood 1 tambourin (Provenal tabor): a small kind of drum used as accompaniment to fifes. 2 La farandole is a French traditional folk dance. La chvre de M. Seguin 41 sur le pont dAvignon, au vent frais du Rhne, et jour et nuiton the bridge of Avignon, in the cool wind of the Rhne and day and night lon y dansait, lon y dansait Ah ! lheureux temps !they danced there, they danced there Ah! what a happy time! lheureuse ville ! Des hallebardes qui ne coupaient pas ;what a happy city! Halberds thatdid not cut; des prisons dtat o lon mettait le vin rafrachir.state prisons wherethey put wineto cool. Jamais de disettes ; jamais de guerreNever any food shortages;never any wars Voil comment les papes du Comtat1 savaient gouverner leur That washow the popesof the Comtatknew howto rule over their peuple ; voil pourquoi leur peuple les a tant regretts ! people;that iswhy theirpeople missed them so much! TRACK 10 Il y en a un surtout, un bon vieux,quon appelaitThere was one in particular, a good old man whom they called Boniface Oh ! celui-l, que de larmes on a verses BonifaceOh! that one,so many tears were shed en Avignon, quand il est mort ! Ctait un prince si aimable,in Avignon,when he died!He wasa prince, so kind, mais si avenant ! andsopleasant! Il vous riait si bien du haut de sa mule ! Et, quand He laughed so heartily from up there on his mule! And when vous passiez prs de lui fussiez-vous un pauvre petit you passed nearhim whether you were apoor little 1 le Comtat : a part of Provence, located between the Rhne, Mont Ventoux and the Durance (related to comt = county) FluentFrench.com tireur de garance ou le grand viguier1 de la ville ,madder pullerorthe great provost ofthecity il vous donnait sa bndiction si poliment ! Un vraihe would give you his blessingsopolitely!Atrue pape dYvetot,2 mais dun Yvetot de Provence, avec popeof Yvetot, butof an Yvetot of Provence, with quelque chose de fin dans le rire, un brin de marjolaine sasomethingrefined inhis laughter, a sprigofmarjoramon his barrette, et pas la moindre Jeanneton3 La seule Jeannetonberetta, and notthe least (ladyfriend) The onlyJeanneton quon lui ait jamais connue4, ce bon pre, ctait sa vigne that anyone knew this good father to haveit was his vineyard une petite vignequil avait plante lui-mme, trois lieues asmallvineyard that he had planted himself,three leagues dAvignon, dans les myrtes de Chteauneuf. from Avignon, amidst the myrtles of Chteauneuf. Tous les dimanches, en sortant de vpres,EverySunday,after Vespers, le digne homme allait lui faire sa cour, et quand il taitthe noble manwentcourting it, and when he was l-haut, assis au bon soleil, sa mule prs de lui,up there, sitting in the warm sun,hisginny muleby his side, 1 viguier: from the Latin vicarius = vicar (substitute) In Southern France, an official whose functions were similar to those of a provost, a magistrate. 2 Yvetot: a city in Normandy, whose inhabitants could call themselves king with privileges that amounted to very little. Un pape dYvetot is a pope of lesser importance compared to the popes of Rome, just like the roi of Yvetot, who possibly took himself seriously but was not very important.3 Jeanneton is a name that occurs in traditional folk songs and is often synonymous with lady friend (flame). 4 connatre quelque chose quelquun = to recognize someone as having. La chvre de M. Seguin 43 ses cardinaux tout autour tendus aux pieds des souches,his cardinalsall aroundlying at the foot of the tree stumps, alors il faisait1 dboucher un flacon de vin du cru thenhe would order a flask of fine wine opened ce beau vin, couleur de rubis, qui sest appel depuisthat beautiful, ruby colored, winethathas since been called le chteauneuf-des-papes , et il dgustait par petits coups, Chteauneuf-des-papes and he would enjoy it in small sips, en regardant sa vigne dun air attendri2. Puis, le flacon vid, contemplating his vineyardwith emotion. Then,his flaskempty, le jour tombant, il rentrait joyeusement la ville,suivi deand the day closing, he would return happily into town,followed by tout son chapitre ; et, lorsquil passait sur le pont dAvignon, all of his chapter; and whenhe passed over the bridge of Avignon, au milieu des tambours et des farandoles, sa mule,in the midst of drumsand"farandoles," his ginny mule, mise en train par la musique,prenait carried away by themusic,would assume un petit amble sautillant, tandis que lui-mme il marquaita bouncy little walk,whilehe himself would mark le pas de la danse avec sa barrette, ce qui scandalisait fortthe beatofthe dance with his beretta, whichreally shocked ses cardinaux, mais faisait dire tout le peuple :his cardinals, but (which)caused all the people to say, Ah ! le bon prince ! Ah ! le brave pape ! Ah!what a good prince! Ah! what a great pope! Aprs sa vigne de Chteauneuf, ce que le pape After his vineyard of Chteauneuf,what the pope 1 faire faire quelque chose = to have something done. Here, faire dboucher = to have opened, to have uncorcked. 2 dun air attendri = with a tender look. attendri comes from tendre (tender). FluentFrench.com aimait le plus au monde, ctait sa mule. Le bonhomme loved most in the world,washis ginny mule. Thegood man en raffolait de cette bte-l. Tous les soirsadoredthatanimal. Every evening avant de se coucher, il allaitvoir si son curie tait bienbefore going to bed,he would go and see ifthestablewasindeed ferme, si rien ne manquait dans sa mangeoire1, closed, (and make sure) nothing was missing in her trough, et jamais il ne se serait lev de table sans faire prparerand never would he have left the table without having prepared sous ses yeux un grand bol de vin la franaise, avecbefore his own eyes, alargebowl ofFrench-style wine,with beaucoup de sucre et daromates, quilallait lui porter a lot of sugarand spices,that he would go bring to her lui-mme, malgr les observations de ses cardinauxhimself,in spite of thecommentsof hiscardinals Il faut dire aussi que la bteen valait la peine. It should also be said thatthe animal was worth the trouble. Ah ! Ctait une belle mule noire,mouchete deAh! It wasa beautiful black ginny mule, dottedwith rouge, le pied sr, le poil luisant, la croupe large et pleine,red, sure-footed, with a shiny coat,a wide and full rump, portant firement sa petite tte sche toute harnache decarrying proudly her smalldry head alldecked out with pompons, de nuds, de grelots dargent, de bouffettes ; pompoms, bows,silver bells,rosettes; avec cela douce comme un ange, lil naf, et deux longuesin addition,sweet asan angel, an innocent eye, and two long oreilles, toujours en branle, qui lui donnaientears, always inmotion, that gave her 1 rien ne manque = nothing is missing. He is making sure that she has everything she needs. La chvre de M. Seguin 45 lair bon enfant Tout Avignon la respectait, et, quand ellean easy-going look All of Avignon respected her, and when she allait dans les rues, il ny avait pas de manireswent through the streets,there was no fussing quon ne lui ft ;carchacun savait que ctaitthat they would not do for her; because everyone knew that that was le meilleur moyen dtre bien en cour et quavec sonthe bestwayto be in favorand that withher air innocent la mule du pape en avait men plus duninnocent look the popes ginny mulehad led more than one la fortune, preuve Tistet Vdne etto good fortune, the proof being Tistet Vdneand sa prodigieuse aventure. his fabulousfate. Ce Tistet Vdne tait, dans le principe,ThisTistet Vdne was, in principle, un effront galopin, que son pre, Guy Vdne,an impudent scamp,whom his fatherGuy Vdne le sculpteur dor, avait t oblig de chasser de chez lui,the gold sculptorhad been forced to kick out ofhis home, parce quil ne voulait rien faire et dbauchait les apprentis.becausehe did not want to do anything andled the apprentices astray. Pendant six mois, on le vit traner sa jaquette1 dans tous lesForsix months, they saw himhanging around allthe ruisseaux dAvignon, mais principalement du ct de gutters of Avignon,butmainly near la maison papale ; car le drle avait depuis longtempsthe papal residence; because the rascal had had fora long time son ide surla mule du pape, et vous allez voir que ctaithisidea about the popes ginny mule, and you are going to see that it was 1 traner sa jaquette: traner = to drag; une jaquette = a jacket. he was hanging around questionable places. FluentFrench.com quelque chose de malinUn jour que Sa Saintetsomething maliciousOnedaywhen His Holiness se promenait toute seule sous les remparts avec sa bte,was walkingalonebelow the fortifications withhis animal, voil mon Tistet quilaborde,et lui dithere is my Tistetwho goes to him, and tells him, en joignant les mains dun air dadmiration : putting his hands togetherwith an air of admiration: Ah ! mon Dieu ! grand Saint-Pre,Ah! my goodness! greatHoly Father, quelle brave mule vous avez l !what awonderful mule youhave there! Laissez un peu que je la regarde Ah ! mon pape, la belle Allow me to look at herAh!my pope, such a pretty mule ! Lempereur dAllemagne nen a pas une pareille. ginny mule! The emperor of Germany doesnt have one like it. Et il la caressait, et illui parlait doucementAnd he was petting her, and he was speaking to her softly comme une demoiselle. as (one would) toayoung lady. Venez , mon bijou, mon trsor, ma perle fine Come here,myjewel,mytreasure,my fine pearl Etle bon pape, tout mu, se disait dans lui-mme :Andthe good pope, quite moved,said to himself, Quel bon petit garonnet ! Comme il est gentil avec ma " What a good boy!How nice he istomy mule ! ginny mule!" Et puis le lendemain savez-vous ce qui arriva ? TistetAnd then thenext day,do you knowwhathappened?Tistet Vdnetroquasa vieille jaquette jaune contre une belle Vdneexchanged his old yellow jacketfor a beautiful La chvre de M. Seguin 47 aube en dentelles, un camail de soie violette, des souliers lace alb,a cape of purple silk,shoes boucles,et il entra dans la matrise du pape, owith buckles and he entered intothe popes choir, where jamais avant lui on navait reu que1 des fils de nobles etbefore him had been accepted onlythe sons of noblemen and des neveux de cardinaux Voil ce que cest que lintrigue ! nephews of cardinals That is really scheming! Mais Tistet ne sen tint pas l2. ButTistet did not stop there. Une fois au service du pape, le drle continua le jeu Once in the service of the pope,the rascalkept upthe game qui lui avait si bien russi. Insolent avec tout le monde,which had been so successful for him.Impudent witheverybody, il navait dattentions ni de prvenances que pour la mule, ethe had no attentions or considerationexcept forthe mule, and toujours on le rencontrait par lescours du palais avecalwaysone would meet himinthe courtyards of the palacewith une poigne davoine ou une bottele de sainfoin,ahandfulofoats or asheafof sainfoin, dontil secouait gentiment les grappes rosesfrom whichhegently shook thepink clusters en regardant le balcon du Saint-Pre, dun air de dire :while watchingtheHoly Fathers balcony,as if to say: Hein ! pour qui a ? See!Who is that for? 1 jamais avant lui on navait reu que : from jamais avant lui (never, before him) + on avait reu (they had accepted) + ne...que (only). Note that recevoir (to receive) can be used to mean to accept.2 ne sen tint pas l = didnt stop there. sen tenir l = to stop there, to be content with what one has. FluentFrench.com Tant et tant qu la fin le bon pape, qui se sentaitSo much sothatfinally the good pope, who felt himself devenir vieux, en arriva lui laisser le soin1 de veiller surgrowing old,came to trust him with the task ofwatching over lcurie et de porter la mule son bolde vin la franaise ;the stable and takingto the muleherbowlof French-style wine; ce qui ne faisait pas rire les cardinaux. which did not amuse the cardinals. TRACK 11 Ni la mule non plus, cela ne la faisait pas rire Nor the ginny mule, that did not amuse her Maintenant, lheure de son vin, elle voyait toujoursNow,at the time of herwine, she saw always arriver chez elle cinq ou six petits clercs de matrise quicoming to her quarters five or six minor clerks of the choir who se fourraient2 vite dans la paille avec leur camail et leurs would quickly dive into the strawwith their capeandtheir dentelles ; puis, au bout dun moment, lace; then, after a while, une bonne odeur chaude de caramel et daromates emplissaitadelicious warm smell ofcaramel and spices would fill lcurie, et Tistet Vdne apparaissait, portant avecthe stable andTistet Vdnewould appear,carrying with prcaution le bol de vin la franaise. Alors le martyre de precautionthe bowl of French-style wine.Thenthetortureof la pauvre bte commenait. thepoor animal would begin. 1 lui laisser le soin de = to let him take care of, to leave him with the charge of 2 se fourrer dans = to put oneself into or under. La chvre de M. Seguin 49 Cevin parfum quelle aimait tant,That perfumed wine that shelikedso much, qui lui tenait chaud, qui lui mettait des ailes, on avaitthatkept her warm,thatgave herwings, they had la cruaut de le lui apporter, l, dans sa mangeoire,the cruelty to bring it to her,there,in hertrough, de le lui faire respirer ; puis, quand elle to have her smell it;thenwhen she en avait les narines pleines, passe, je tai vu !had her nostrils full of it, all gone, now you see it, now you dont! la belle liqueur de flamme rose sen allait toute dans le gosierthe beautiful glittering wine went all down the throat de ces garnements Et encore,of those rascals And whats more, sils navaient fait que lui voler son vin ; mais ctaientif they had only stolen her wine !But they were comme des diables, tous ces petits clercs, quand ils avaientlikedevils, all those minor clerks,when theywere bu ! lun lui tirait les oreilles, lautre la queue ; Quiquetdrunk! onewould pull her ears,the other hertail; Quiquet lui montait sur le dos, Bluguet lui essayait sa barrette, climbed on her back,Bluguetwould try his hat on her, et pas un de ces galopins ne songeait que dun coup de reins1

and not oneofthose rascals imagined that with one heave ou dune ruade la brave bte aurait pu les envoyer tous dansor with onekickthegoodanimal could have sent all of them into ltoile Polaire, et mme plus loin Mais non !the North Star,andevenfarther But no! On nest pas pour rien la mule du pape,One isnt the popes ginny mule for nothing 1 un coup de reins : literally, a blow of the kidneys. FluentFrench.com la mule des bndictions et des indulgencesthe mule ofbenedictions and indulgence Les enfants avaient beau faire,1 elle ne se fchait pas ; As hard as the children tried,shedid not get mad; si ce ntait qu Tistet Vdne quelle en voulait2 Celui-l, were it not for the fact that she resented Tistet VdneThat one par exemple, quand elle le sentait derrire elle, son sabotactually, when she sensed him behind her,herhoof lui dmangeait3, et vraiment il y avait bien de quoi4.would itch, andtruly, there was reason enough. Ce vaurien de Tistet lui jouait de si vilains tours5 !That no-goodTistetplayed such ugly tricks on her! Il avait de si cruelles inventions aprs boire ! He invented such cruel tricks afterdrinking! Est-ce quun jour il ne savisa pas de la faire monterDidnt he one day decide to make her climb avec lui au clocheton de la matrise, l-haut, tout l-haut,withhim to the pinnacle of the choir,up there, all the way up there la pointe du palais ! Et ce que je vous disl nest pasto the top of the palace! AndwhatI am telling you now is not un conte, deux cent mille Provenauxlont vu. a tale, two hundred thousand Provence inhabitants saw it. Vous figurez-vous la terreur de cette malheureuse mule,Can you imaginethe terrorofthatpoorginny mule, lorsque, aprs avoir tourn pendant une heure laveuglettewhen, after havingturned for an hour blindly 1 avoir beau faire = to try as hard as one can (to get no result). 2 en vouloir quelquun : to be bear a grudge or to be angry with someone for something. Sen vouloir = to be angry with oneself. 3 dmanger = 1) to cause to itch; 2) to cause a great desire. 4 il y a de quoi : there is enough. Il y a de quoi manger. = There is plenty to eat. 5 jouer un tour quelquun = to play a trick on someone. La chvre de M. Seguin 51 dans un escalier en colimaon et grimp je ne sais combienin a spiralstaircase and climbed I dont know how many de marches, elle se trouvatout coup1 sur une plate-forme steps, she found herselfsuddenlyonaplatform blouissante de lumire, et qu mille pieds au-dessous dellethat was dazzling with light,and at 1,000 feet below her elle aperut tout un Avignon fantastique, les baraquesshesawa fantastic view of Avignon, thebooths du march pas plus grosses que des noisettes, les soldatsof the market no biggerthan hazelnuts, thesoldiers du pape devant leur caserne comme des fourmis rouges, etof the pope before their barracks likered ants,and l-bas, sur un fil dargent, un petit pont microscopique oover there, ona silver thread, a little microscopic bridgewhere lon dansait, o lon dansait Ah ! la pauvre bte ! quellepeople danced, where people dancedAh! the pooranimal!such panique ! Du cri quelle en poussa, toutes les vitres panic! From the crysheuttered, all the windows du palais tremblrent. of the palace trembled. Quest-ce quil y a ? quest-ce quon lui fait ? scriaWhat is the matter? What are they doing to her? cried out le bon pape en se prcipitant sur son balcon. the good pope, rushing ontohis balcony. Tistet Vdne tait dj dans la cour, Tistet Vdnewas alreadyin the courtyard, faisant mine de pleurer et de sarracher les cheveux : pretending to weep and to pull his hair: Ah ! grand Saint-Pre, ce quil y a !Ah!great Holy Father, what is the matter! 1 tout coup = suddenly. le coup = the hit, the blow, the stroke. See other examples on pages11 and 13. FluentFrench.com Il y a que votre mulemon Dieu ! quallons-nous devenir ?The matter is your ginny mule Dear Lord!What will become of us? Il y a quevotre mule est monte dans le clocheton The matter is that your mule has climbed to thepinnacle Toute seule ??? By herself??? Oui, grand Saint-Pre, toute seule Tenez !Yes, great Holy Father, by herself Here! regardez-la, l-haut Voyez-vous le bout de ses oreilleslook at her,up there Do you see thetips of herears qui passe ? On dirait deux hirondelles thatshow? It looks like twoswallows Misricorde ! dit le pauvre pape en levant lesMercy! said the poor popeas he raised his yeux Mais elle est donc devenue folle ! Mais elle vaeyes (to see her)But she has gone mad, then! But she will se tuerVeux-tu bien descendre, malheureuse ! kill herselfPlease come down,little fool! Pcare ! elle naurait pas mieux demand, elle,Alas!shewouldn't have asked for more, que de descendremais paro ? Lescalier,than to come down but through where? The staircase, il ny fallait pas songer1 : a se monte encore ces choses-l ; it could not be considered: you can climb those things; mais, la descente, il y aurait de quoi but coming down, it would be possible se rompre cent fois les jambes Et la pauvre muleto break your legs a hundred timesAnd the poorginny mule se dsolait, et, tout en rdant sur la plate-forme avec seswas worried,andwhile roamingon the platformwithher 1 songer quelque chose = to think of something; to reflect on something. La chvre de M. Seguin 53 gros yeux pleins de vertige, ellepensait Tistet Vdne : big eyes fullofdizziness,she was thinking about Tistet Vdne: Ah ! bandit, si jen rchappe quel coup de sabot Ah!you rogue, if Isurvive this what a kick demain matin ! tomorrow morning! Cette ide de coup de sabot lui redonnait un peu de Thisidea of a kick was giving her back a bit of cur au ventre ;1 sans cela elle naurait pas pu se tenir courage; without that she could not have held out Enfin on parvint 2 la tirer de l-haut ; mais ce futAt last they managedto pull her from up there; butitwas toute une histoire, toute une affaire. Il fallut la descendrea real fuss,quite an affair. They had to bring her down avec un cric, des cordes, une civire.Et vous pensez quelle with awinch, ropes, a stretcher. And imaginewhat humiliation pour la mule dun pape de se voir pendue humiliationforthe muleofa pope to find herself hanging from cette hauteur, nageant des pattes dans le vide comme un thatheight, swimming with her legs in theairlike a hanneton au bout dun fil. Et tout Avignon qui la regardait ! beetleat the endofa string. And all of Avignon was looking at her! La malheureuse bte nen dormit pas de la nuit.Theunfortunate animaldid not sleep all night. Il lui semblait toujours quelle tournait sur cette mauditeIt seemed to her that she was still turningon that cursed plate-forme, avec lesrires dela ville au-dessous, puis elleplatform, withthe laughter from the city below,then she 1 du cur au ventre : another way of expressing the notion of having courage. (Literally, some heart in her stomach) 2 parvenir = to succeed in FluentFrench.com pensait cetinfme Tistet Vdne et authought about that infamous Tistet Vdne and about the joli coup de sabot quelleallait lui dtacher1

goodkick that she was going to give him le lendemain matin. Ah ! mes amis, quel coup de sabot !the following morning. Ah!my friends,what a kick! De Pamprigouste on en verrait la fume From Pamprigouste they would see the smoke from it Or2, pendant quon lui prparait cette belleWell, while (the mule) was preparing for him thisbeautiful rception lcurie, savez-vous ce que faisait Tistet Vdne ? welcomeat the stable,do you knowwhatTistet Vdne was doing? Il descendaitle Rhne en chantant sur une galre papale etHe was going down the Rhne singingon apapal galleyand sen allait la cour de Naples avec la troupe de jeunes nobles was going to the court ofNaples with the group of young noblemen que la ville envoyait tous les ans prs de la reine Jeannethatthe citywas sendingevery yearto Queen Jeanne pour sexercer la diplomatie et aux belles manires. Tistetto practicediplomacy andgood manners. Tistet ntait pas noble ; mais le Pape tenait 3 le rcompenser des was not noble;butthe popeinsisted onrewarding him for the soins quil avait donns sa bte, et principalement de care he had given to his animal and mostly for lactivitquil venait de4 dployer pendant la journethe activity that hehad justdeployed during the day du sauvetage. of the rescue. 1 lui dtacher : literally, to detach for him.2 or = yet; whereas; but; now. 3 tenir = to insist upon 4 venir de = to have just La chvre de M. Seguin 55 Cest la mule qui fut dsappointe le lendemain !It was the ginny mule who was disappointed thenext day! Ah ! le bandit ! il sest dout de1 quelque chose ! "Ah!the rogue!he suspectedsomething! pensait-elle en secouant ses grelots avec fureur Mais she thoughtas she shook herbellsangrilyBut cest gal, va,mauvais ; tu le retrouveras au retour,that does not matter, bad boy; you will find it upon your return, ton coup de sabot je te le garde ! your kickI am saving it for you!" Etelle le lui garda. And she saved it for him. TRACK 12 Aprs le dpart de Tistet, la mule du pape retrouva After Tistets departure,the popes ginny mule resumed son train de vie tranquille et ses allures dautrefois. Plus de her calm way of life and herformer ways.No more Quiquet, plus de Bluguet lcurie. Les beaux joursQuinquet,no more Bluguetin the stable.The good days du vin la franaise taient revenus, et avec eux la bonneof French-style winehadreturnedandwith them the good humeur, les longues siestes, et le petit pas de gavotte quandmood, thelongnaps,and the little gavotte stepwhen elle passait sur le pont dAvignon. Pourtant, depuis sonshepassed over the bridge of Avignon.Yet,sinceher aventure, on lui marquait toujours un peu de froideur dans la ordeal, she was given the cold shoulder in the ville. Il y avait des chuchotements sur sa route ; les vieilles city. There were whispers as she passed; theold 1 se douter de quelque chose = to suspect something. FluentFrench.com gens hochaient la tte,les enfants riaient en se montrantpeople noddedtheir heads,thechildrenlaughedas they pointed le clocheton. Le bon pape lui-mme navait plus autant deto the pinnacle.The good pope himself no longer had as much confiance en son amie, et, lorsquil se laissaitaller faire unconfidenceinhisfriendand,when he allowed himself to go and take a petit somme sur son dos, le dimanche, en revenant de lashortnapon herback, on Sundays,coming back from the vigne,il gardait toujours cette arrire-pense :vineyard, healways keptthis thought in the back of his mind. Et si jallais me rveiller l-haut, sur la plate-forme ! "What if I were to wake up up there, on the platform!" La mule voyait cela et elle en souffrait, sans rien dire ;The ginny mule saw that and she suffered from it without saying anything; seulement, quand on prononait le nom de Tistet Vdne only,when theymentionedthe name ofTistet Vdne devant elle, ses longues oreilles frmissaient, et ellein front of her,her longearsshuddered and she aiguisait avec un petit rire le ferde ses sabots sur le pav. honed withashort laugh the iron of her hoofs on the pavement. Sept ans se passrent ainsi ;puis, au bout de1 cesSeven years passedin this way;thenat the end ofthose sept annes, Tistet Vdne revintdela cour de Naples. seven years,Tistet Vdnereturned from the courtof Naples. Son temps ntait pas encore fini l-bas ; mais il avait appris Histimewas notyetdonethere; but hehadlearned que le premier moutardier du pape venait de mourirthatthefirstmustard maker of the pope had just died subitement en Avignon, et, comme la placesuddenlyin Avignonandsincethe position 1 au bout de = after. Literally, at the end of. le bout = the end; the nub. La chvre de M. Seguin 57 lui semblait bonne, il tait arriv en grande hte seemed good to him, hehad arrived with great haste pour se mettre sur les rangs. to place himself in the lineup. Quand cet intrigant de Vdne entra dans la salleWhen thatschemerVdne entered the hall du palais, le Saint-Pre eut peine le reconnatre,of the palacethe Holy Fatherhad difficulty recognizing him, tant il avait grandi et pris du corps. Il faut dire aussi quehe had grown and developed so much. It should also be said that le bon pape stait fait vieux de son ct, et quilthe good pope had become oldforhis partand that he ny voyait pas bien sans besicles. did not see well without spectacles. Tistet ne sintimida pas. Tistet was not intimidated. Comment ! grand Saint-Pre, vous What!great Holy Father,you ne me reconnaissez pas ? Cest moi, Tistet Vdne ! do not recognize me?Its me, Tistet Vdne! Vdne ? Vdne? Mais oui, vous savez bien celui qui portait Why yes, you knowthe one who took le vin franais votre mule. the French wineto yourginny mule. Ah ! oui oui je me rappelleAh!yes yesIremember Un bon petit garonnet, ce Tistet Vdne ! Et, maintenant,A good boy, thatTistet Vdne!Andnow, quest-ce quil veut de nous ? what is itthat he wants from us? FluentFrench.com Oh ! peu de chose, grand Saint-Pre Je venaisOh!very little,great Holy Father I was coming vous demander propos, est-ce que vous lavez toujoursto ask you By the way,do you still have her, votre mule ? Et elle va bien ?Ah ! tant mieux ! Je venais yourmule?And is she doing well? Ah! good!I was coming vous demander la place du premier moutardier to ask you for the postof thefirst mustard maker qui vient de mourir. who has just died. Premier moutardier, toi ! Mais tu es trop jeune.Firstmustard maker, you! Butyou aretooyoung. Quel ge as-tu donc ? How old are you, then? Vingt ans deux mois, illustre pontife, juste cinq ans Twenty years and two months, illustrious pontiff, just5years de plus que votre mule Ah ! palme de Dieu, la brave bte ! older than yourmuleAh! goodness,the good animal! Si vous saviez comme je laimais cette mule-l ! commeIfyouknew how I loved her, thatginny mule!how je me suis langui delle en Italie !I missed herin Italy! Est-ce que vous ne me la laisserez pas voir ? Arent you going to let me see her? Si, mon enfant, tu la verras,fit le bon pape Yes,my child,you will see her, said the good pope tout muEt puisque tu laimes tant,cette brave bte,with emotionAnd since you love her so much, that good animal, je ne veux plus que tu vives loin delle. Ds ce jour,I do not want you to live away from her any more.As of this day, je tattache ma personne en qualit de premier moutardier.I engage you personally in the capacity of first mustard maker. La chvre de M. Seguin 59 Mes cardinaux crieront, mais tant pis ! jy suis habitu1 My cardinals will scream,butno matter! Iam used to it Viens nous trouver demain, la sortie des vpres, nousCome to us tomorrow, after Vespers,we te remettrons les insignes de ton grade en prsence de notrewill give youthe insignias of your position in the presenceofour chapitre, et puis je te mnerai voir la mule, et tu viendras chapter,and thenIwill take you to see the mule, and you will come la vigneavec nous deux h ! h ! Allons ! va to the vineyard with both of usHey!, Hey!, Come on! go Si Tistet Vdne tait content en sortant de la grandeIfTistet Vdnewashappycoming out from the big salle, avec quelle impatience il attendit la crmonie hall, withwhat impatienceheawaited the ceremony du lendemain, je nai pas besoin de vous le dire. Pourtantof the next day,I dont need to tell you. Yet il y avait dans le palais quelquun de plus heureux encore et there was in the palace someone who was even happierand de plus impatient que lui : ctait la mule. Depuis le retour de moreimpatient thathe;it wasthemule. From thereturnof Vdne jusquaux vpres du jour suivant, la terrible bte Vdne untilVespersthe next day,the fearsome animal ne cessa de se bourrer davoine et de tirer au mur avec sesdid not ceaseto stuff herself with oats andto hit the wall with her sabots de derrire. Elle aussi se prparait pour la crmonie hind hoofs. Shetoo was preparingforthe ceremony TRACK 13 Et donc, le lendemain, lorsque vpres furent dites,And so, the next day, when Vespers were said, 1 tre habitu quelque chose = to be accustomed to something. FluentFrench.com Tistet Vdne fit son entre dans lacour du palais papal. Tistet Vdnemade his entrance inthe courtyard of the papal palace. Tout le haut clerg tait l,les cardinaux en robes rouges,All of thehigh clergy was there, the cardinals in their red habits, lavocat du diable en velours noir, les abbs du couvent avecthe devils advocate inblack velvet, the abbots of the monastery with leurs petites mitres, les marguilliers de Saint-Agrico, theirsmallmiters,the church wardens ofSaint-Agrico, les camails violets de la matrise, le bas clerg aussi,the purple capesofthe choir, the low clergyalso, les soldats du pape en grand uniforme, les trois confrries dethe popes soldiers in their fine uniforms, the threebrotherhoods of pnitents, les ermites du mont Ventoux avec leurs penitents,the hermits of Mont Ventoux with their mines farouches et le petit clerc qui va derrire en portantfierce appearance and the minor clerk who followsholding la clochette, les frres flagellants nus jusqu la ceinture,the bell, the flagellant brothersnaked tothe belt, les sacristains fleuris en robes de juges, tous, tous, jusquauxthesextonssporting judges robes,all of them,eventhe donneurs deau bnite, etceluiqui allume, et celuiqui givers of holy water, and the one wholights,and the one who teintIl ny en avait pas un qui manqut Ah ! ctaitextinguishes There was not one who was missing Ah!it was une belle ordination ! Des cloches, des ptards, du soleil, agreatordination! Bells,firecrackers, sunshine, de la musique, et toujours ces enrags de tambourins qui music, and alwaysthosewildtabors that menaient la danse, l-bas, sur le pont dAvignon ledthedance,over there, onthe bridge of Avignon Quand Vdne parut au milieude lassemble, When Vdneappeared in the middle of the assembly, La chvre de M. Seguin 61 sa prestance et sa belle mine his eleganceand his fine demeanor y firent courir1 un murmure dadmiration.Ctait uncaused a whisper of admiration to spread through the crowd. He was a magnifique Provenal,mais des blonds,avecmagnificent-looking Provenal, but of the blond type, with de grands cheveux friss au bout et une petite barbe follettewithlong hair that was curly at the end and a tousled little beard qui semblait prise aux copeaux de fin mtal tombsthat seemedcast from chips of the precious metal fallen du burin de son pre,le sculpteur dor. Le bruit courait que2

fromthe chisel of his father, the gold sculptor. Rumor had it that dans cette barbe blonde les doigts de la reine Jeanne avaientinthatblond beardthefingers ofQueen Jeannehad quelquefois jou ; et le sire de Vdne avait bien, en effet,sometimesplayed;andLord Vdne did have,in fact, lair glorieux et le regard distrait des hommes que les reinesthe glorious air and the dreamy lookofmenwhom queens ont aims Ce jour-l, pour faire honneur sa nation,have loved That day, to honor his nation, il avait remplac ses vtements napolitains par une jaquettehe hadreplaced his Neapolitan clothes with ajacket borde de rose la provenale, et sur son chaperon tremblaitbordered in pink, Provence style, and onhishoodquivered une grande plume dibis de Camargue.3 a bigfeather froma Camargue ibis. 1 y firent courir : from y (there) + firent (caused) + courir (to run, to spread). 2 le bruit courait que = rumor had it that; the noise spread that 3 La Camargue is a marshy region in the south of France, located between the two main arms of the du Rhne Delta. FluentFrench.com Sitt entr, le premier moutardier saluaAs soon as he had entered, thefirstmustard maker greeted dun air galant et se dirigea vers le haut perron, o le papein a courteous manner and headed forthe high front steps where the pope lattendait pour lui remettre les insignes de son grade :was awaiting him to give himthe insignia ofhis position: la cuiller de buis jaune etlhabit de safran. La mule taitthe yellow boxwood spoonand the saffron-colored outfit.The mulewas au basde lescalier, toute harnache et prte partir pourat the bottom of the stairs, allharnessedand readyto leavefor la vigne the vineyard Quand il passa prs delle, Tistet Vdne eut un bonWhenhe passed nearher, Tistet Vdnegave a kind sourire et sarrta pour lui donner deux ou trois petitessmile and stopped to give hertwoor three little tapes amicales sur le dos, en regardantdu coin de lilfriendly pats on the back,while looking out of the corner of his eye si le pape le voyait. La position tait bonneto see if the pope saw him.The position was good La mule prit son lan : The mule gathered momentum: Tiens ! attrape, bandit !Here! catch this, you rogue! Voil sept ans que je te le garde ! I have been saving it for you for seven years! Etelle vous lui dtacha un coup de sabot si terrible,And shegave him a kick that was so terrible si terrible, que de Pamprigouste mme on en vit la fume,so terriblethat even fromPamprigousteyou could see the smoke, un tourbillon de fume blonde o voltigeait une plume dibis ; awhirlofyellow smokein which flew the feather of an ibis! La chvre de M. Seguin 63 tout ce qui restait de linfortun Tistet Vdne !