Romance - From the opera "Mr. Patran"

Ayako Takagi's CD "Sicilienne"Ever since I heard this song, I thought it was a good song but never really looked into it properly, so I decided to do a bit of research.

Francois Bazin¹The comic opera "Mr. Patran"²"(1856) is an opera that is rarely performed in modern times, although "Romance" is still performed occasionally. The original work of this opera is by an unknown author.³Medieval French comedy⁴This is "The Farce of Master Pierre Pathelin". It is a masterpiece that incorporates the sadness of people who are left behind by the flow of time into laughter.⁵It is three times longer than any other farce, and is a masterpiece of medieval comedy in terms of quality.⁶It is said that.The Japanese translation was published by Iwanami Bunko.⁷It's out of print. This time I got a second-hand copy..

Mr. Patran is a poor lawyer from a small village in the Lower Normandy region of France. At that time, the national system was gradually being established and lawyers with formal education were beginning to appear. Unfortunately, Mr. Patran belongs to the previous generation of lawyers who did not receive such specialized education. Naturally, he was losing his job to properly educated people and lived a poor life, and both he and his wife were wearing clothes with holes in them. So Mr. Patran came up with a plan and went to Guillaume Joceaulme, a cloth merchant, to flatter him and persuade him to sell six yards of high-quality fabric on credit.

Mr. Patran immediately returns home with the fabric and tells his wife Guillemette that Guillaume is coming to collect the money, and tells her to act as if Mr. Patran has been bedridden for three months. When Guillaume comes to collect the money, he finds Mr. Patran confused from his long illness, so he gives up on collecting the money and goes home.

Then, a shepherd named Thibaut comes to M. Patrin for help. He has stolen and eaten Guillaume's sheep, and is found out and sued. He comes to M. Patrin to defend him. It's been a while since he's had a job like this, and of course M. Patrin accepts. He orders Thibaut to only say "meh" in court, like a sheep bleating. He plans to get through the trial by pretending to be a madman.

At the trial, Guillaume discovers that Thibaut's lawyer is Médecin Patrin in disguise. He tries to tell the judge both that Médecin Patrin cheated him out of his fabric and that Thibaut stole his sheep, but his story gets mixed up and doesn't go well. Meanwhile, when asked to testify, Thibaut only says "Mée." Médecin Patrin's ploy works perfectly, and Thibaut is acquitted safely (?). Médecin Patrin then demands Thibaut's legal fees. However, Thibaut still only says "Mée." Realizing that Médecin Patrin's groundbreaking tactic is now being used against him, Médecin Patrin gives up and goes home.

There are five characters in this original story.

• Maître Pierre Pathelin, a fallen lawyer, shrewd and eloquent.
• Guillemette – Mr. Patrin's wife. She pretends that Mr. Patrin is ill and deceives Guillaume.
• Guillaume Joceaulme - A tailor who sells fabrics to Mr. Patrin. He is a very dishonest man, but this time he is deceived.
• Thibaud l'Agnelet – A shepherd who seeks the help of Master Patran, but ends up deceiving him.
• The Judge (Le Juge) – Presides over the trial between Guillaume and the shepherd.

However, Bazin's opera adds additional characters.⁸.

• Angélique – Professor Patran's niece (meaning "angelic")
• Charlot – A boy under the guardianship of Guillaume the clothier
• Bobinette – Maid to Professor Patran. Fiancée of the shepherd Ranier.

The Romance de Charlot is not sung to Professor Patrin, but to Angélique by Charlot. Although he loves her, their love is not going well. Charlot's feelings overflow.

French lyrics:

Je pense à vous quand je m'éveille
Et de loin, je vous suis des yeux.
Je vous revoie quand je sommeille
In a mystery song.
Le seul bonheur auquel mon cœur aspire,
C'est d'obtenir un « à vous » les plus doux :
Voilà, voilà ce que je veux vous dire,
Mais hélas, j'ai trop peur de vous

Quand je guette votre passage,
Lorsque j'espere enfin vous revoir,
I am in a foreign language:
« Aujourd'hui je venais vous voir ».
Je veux, je veux dans un brûlant délire
Dire « Je t'aime » en tombant à genoux :
Voilà, voilà ce que je veux vous dire,
Mais hélas, j'ai trop peur de vous

In English: :

I think of you when I wake up
And from a distance, I am your eyes.
I see you again when I drowse
In a mysterious dream.
The only happiness to which my heart aspires,
It is to acquire one « to you » the softest:
Here here is what I want to say to you,
But alas, I am too much afraid of you

When I waylay for your passage,
When I finally hope to see you again,
I say in a soft language:
« Today I came to see you ».
I want, I want in a burning frenzy
To say « I love you » by falling to knees:
Here here is what I want to say to you,
But alas, I am too much afraid of you

Private Japanese translation:

When I wake up I think of you
From afar, I see your eyes
I see you in my nap
In a mysterious dream
The happiness my heart desires
Just a sweet whisper of "you"
There's something I want to say to you
Ah, I'm too scared to say it

I'll ambush you on your path
When I finally met you
I whisper sweetly
"I came to see you today."
In the midst of burning madness
I want to get on my knees and say "I love you"
There's something I want to say to you
Ah, I'm too scared to say it

That's so pure (distant look).

Ah, but I once sat next to Ayako Takagi at an okonomiyaki restaurant in Miyazaki.⁹I guess I was a lost cause I couldn't even say, "I'm a fan, please give me an autograph" (laughs).

Now, please enjoy the performance by Piotr Beczala.

1. Born in Marseille on September 1816, 9. Died in Paris on July 4, 1878.
2. Maître Pathelin
3. There are various theories, but perhapsRene of Anjou The clown Triboulet It is believed to be
4. A verse drama written in 1457. It is considered to be the first French comedy. It was first published in 1464. "It is a great masterpiece of medieval drama that not only influenced 16th century authors and playwrights such as Rabelais, but has even left its mark on modern French." (Takashi Kuroiwa, Associate Professor, Tohoku University)Issues surrounding "Mr. Pierre Patran""The judge's line in the extremely chaotic courtroom scene, 'Let's get back to the sheep', is apparently an idiom that means 'Let's get back to the main subject.'" (Hitsuji News) From "Professor Pierre Patran"）
5. It was very popular at the time and is still performed today, with many versions performed by children uploaded to YouTube.
6. Yasushi Sato: "Various Aspects of Medieval Drama"http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~ysato/moyen.htm
7. Translated by Kazuo Watanabe: "Professor Pierre Patran" Iwanami Bunko (1995th printing 1965 [XNUMXst printing XNUMX])
8. André Tissier, “Recueil de farces (1450-1550)”, P.135
9. Ayako Takagi: Sicilienne~It doesn't really matter, but I once happened to sit next to Takagi-san, who had a big belly, at the counter of an okonomiyaki restaurant... It was at the after-party after I performed Stravinsky's "The Fox" at the Miyazaki International Music Festival. I wish I had gotten his autograph... I've been a fan ever since I heard Takagi-san's "Winter in Buenos Aires" on FM radio in the car when he was probably still a student.