{ 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. SAN DIEGO 
 
 3 182 02753 6077
 
 JN VERS TY OF CAL FORNIA SAN DIE 
 
 3 1822 02753 6077 
 
 r 
 
 VT
 
 Social Sciences & Humanities Library 
 
 University of California, San Diego 
 *se Note: This item is subject to recall. 
 
 Date Due 
 
 Cl 39 (5/97) 
 
 UCSD Lib.
 
 THE FARCE OF 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN
 
 $ai(irepterrepat|)elm 
 
 The emblem of Pierre Ltvtt
 
 THE FARCE OF 
 
 MASTER PIERRE 
 PATELIN 
 
 Composed by an unknown Author about 1469 A. D. 
 
 Englished by RICHARD HOLE ROOK 
 
 Illustrated with facsimiles of 
 the woodcuts in the edition of 
 PIERRE LEVET, Paris, ca. 1489 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW TORK 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 THE RIVERSIDE PRESS CAMBRIDGE 
 
 MDCCCCV
 
 COPYRIGHT 1905 BY RICHARD HOLBROOK 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published November /00f
 
 To my friends 
 WILLIAM LYON PHELPS 
 
 and 
 WILLIAM ALBERT NITZE
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Preface ....... ix xv 
 
 Setting of the Comedie Francaise . . xvii xix 
 Introduction ..... xxi-xxxviii 
 
 The Text 1-94 
 
 Notes on the Text ..... 95-112 
 Notes on the Cuts ..... 113-116 
 
 LIST OF ILL USTRATIONS 
 
 The emblem of Pierre Levet . . . Frontispiece 
 
 Patelin, counting on his fingers .... 7 
 
 It is too much ...... 15 
 
 The Draper visits Patelin . . . . -33 
 
 The Shepherd comes to explain . . . 61 
 
 The court scene . . . . . 7 1 
 
 Patelin tries to collect his fee . . . . 91 
 
 [vii]
 
 PREFACE 
 
 ALL that I have to say of Patelin as a 
 work of literature will be found in the 
 Introduction or in the Notes on the 
 Text. It is not amiss therefore to make here cer- 
 tain remarks of a more dry and technical nature. 
 This translation was made from my manuscript 
 copy of the only known extant exemplar of the 
 Patelin printed by Guillaume Le Roy* at Lyons, 
 about 1486. Before December 20, i49O,f Le Roy's 
 Patelin was faithfully reprinted, with six excellent 
 illustrative woodcuts, by Pierre Levet, a celebrated 
 Parisian printer and publisher. Of Levet's Pate- 
 //, also, only one exemplar is now believed to ex- 
 ist. This book, which is preserved at the Biblio- 
 theque Nationale in Paris, is a beautiful specimen 
 
 * Lent me by its generous owner, M. Albert Rosset of Lyons, 
 France. 
 
 } See my essay on 'Mai (re Patelin in the Gothic editions by 
 Pierre Levet and Germain Beneaut,' in Modern Philology for 
 June, 1905. 
 
 [V]
 
 PREFACE 
 
 of early printing, and is fortunately in perfect con- 
 dition. I say * fortunately ' because several pages 
 have at some indefinite period been lost from the 
 older Patelm by Le Roy. These are now replaced 
 by pen-and-ink counterfeits, probably derived 
 from Levet, and executed so skilfully as almost to 
 escape detection. 
 
 From the fifteenth century only one manuscript 
 has come down. Whether or not this manuscript 
 is earlier than Le Roy's edition, it offers a less 
 authoritative text, and only one of its readings has 
 been followed in this translation. But, since Le 
 Roy's edition is probably the first, and as it is 
 hardly more than seventeen years younger than the 
 farce itself (ca. 1469), there is no reason to suppose 
 that it differs essentially from the author's manu- 
 script, which, no doubt, was long ago thumbed 
 out of existence by the first actors who performed 
 his masterpiece. 
 
 It may be interesting to know how Fournier's 
 version of this farce is arranged for production at 
 the Comedie Franaise. It is divided into three 
 acts. The first ends with the Draper's soliloquy, 
 Scene iv (lines 344-351). The second act begins, 
 therefore, with Scene v. Scene vi, except the 
 words f Hello! Master Pierre!' spoken by the 
 Draper a moment after he has knocked at Patelin's 
 door, must be omitted. The Draper's soliloquy 
 
 [*]
 
 PREFACE 
 
 at the end of Scene vui will be uttered before he 
 quits Patelin's bedroom. 
 
 Pursuing this system, we must omit Scene x and 
 Scene xn, though we hear the Draper pounding 
 angrily on Patelin's door, and distinguish the words 
 1 Ho, there! mis'ess : where are you hiding?' 
 Next, the Draper must speak the lines of Scene 
 xiv, not in the street, but at Patelin's, as a kind of 
 soliloquy. 
 
 Act in begins with Scene xvi. As the Shepherd 
 leaves him, the Draper disappears within his shop ; 
 then the Shepherd, instead of going to Patelin's 
 house and calling, c Is any one within ? ' meets 
 Patelin as that worthy comes strolling across the 
 market-place, and accosts him because he recog- 
 nises by Patelin's dress that he is a lawyer. We 
 must now give the Shepherd an exit after his last 
 lines in Scene xvn ; he will reappear, somewhere 
 in the crowd, about as the Judge asks, ' Where is 
 the defendant ? Is he present in person ? ' shortly 
 after the beginning of the trial scene. From this 
 point onward the piece proceeds precisely as it did 
 when it was first performed. 
 
 In the text of my translation hardly any of these 
 suggestions for rearrangement occur ; for they are 
 purely modern and would often contradict the 
 other set of stage-directions which are reasonably 
 derived from study of the text. These are largely 
 [xi]
 
 PREFACE 
 
 my own, though many of them are due to my 
 notes on a performance of Fournier's version at 
 the Comedie Francaise in August, 1904. 
 
 Elsewhere (pages xvii-xix) will be found a pretty 
 accurate description of the stage-setting adopted 
 by the Comedie Francaise. Absolute accuracy is 
 something I am far from claiming ; for while the 
 play was in progress the pit was rather dim, and 
 I was too fascinated to be taking notes. 
 
 In the oldest texts of Patelin there is but one 
 stage-direction (see Notes on the Text, Note v), 
 and there is no division into acts or scenes ; nor 
 are the verses numbered. 
 
 As to costume nothing need be said ; for 
 M. Boutet de Monvel's sixteen dry-point etch- 
 ings show admirably how the various personages 
 in our farce would have been dressed about the 
 year 1470. In the fourth volume of his work on 
 Le Costume Historique, Racinet gives a lithographic 
 reproduction of a fifteenth-century miniature show- 
 ing what colours might be worn by a Judge, his 
 Clerk, a Lawyer, and a Bailiff (or Sergent a verge), 
 etc., in the second half of the fifteenth century. 
 This lithograph is a copy of a French manuscript 
 marked 'Ancien fonds 9387' and preserved at 
 the Bibliotheque Nationale. The miniature is no 
 doubt an accurate representation of a court scene 
 of that period. But the court scene in Patelin 
 [xii]
 
 PREFACE 
 
 may reasonably be supposed to occur in a market- 
 place. 
 
 As we learn from the opening conversation be- 
 tween Patelin and Guillemette, their clothes are 
 threadbare ; and as the Shepherd says (to Patelin), 
 f even though I be ill clad/ we may safely assume 
 that his apparel was mostly in rags. 
 
 The six illustrative woodcuts which Pierre Levet 
 published with his Patelin about 1489 are offered 
 in facsimile with this translation. These woodcuts 
 were undoubtedly made especially for Levet's 
 edition, and were not borrowed, with little or no 
 sense of fitness, from some earlier work, as com- 
 monly happened in the infancy of printing. They 
 are valuable for two reasons : in the first place 
 they are almost contemporaneous with our farce, 
 and show, however crudely, what the illustrator, 
 or illustrators (for there may have been two), 
 fancied to have been the looks of five characters 
 whose likes could be observed at any time ; in the 
 second place, these woodcuts are no doubt the first 
 that were ever made to illustrate for the printing- 
 press a comedy composed in a modern tongue. 
 Do they prove anything as to the use of stage 
 scenery ? Or are we to believe their setting is 
 purely conventional, chosen merely because the 
 engraver did not care to sketch figures in the 
 air ? The question is hard to answer, yet I am con-
 
 PREFACE 
 
 vinced that the farces were not performed on empty 
 platforms ; the ( serious drama ' was staged with 
 complicated machinery, and it is hardly reasonable 
 to suppose that the farces, which grew out of the 
 * serious drama ' and were often performed with it, 
 could have lacked all scenery, or that they had, 
 forsooth, no other setting than a wall, a floor, a 
 bench and a chair. No archaeological proof exists 
 to compel conscientious moderns to adopt a scene- 
 less stage in performing medieval comedies ; on 
 the other hand, art does not require that they be 
 elaborately staged, with gorgeous scenery such as 
 is generally used to make Shakespere's plays seem 
 more plausible to persons whose imaginations can 
 not perceive the temple-haunting martlet amid 
 his lov'd mansionry. 
 
 Now, as to this translation. To the best of my 
 belief no other English translation of Patelin has 
 ever been printed. Thus there was no model, 
 either to help or to harm ; nor was there, further- 
 more, any adequate dictionary to quicken the 
 pace. I cannot say, as Shelton said of his Don 
 Quixote, that I did this work in forty days. It 
 has taken nearer twenty months, and in this case it 
 is not at all true that 'le temps ne fait rien a 
 I'affaire ' ; for Patelin teems with difficulties, 
 some of them so great that perhaps they may 
 never be solved, while others yield their secret 
 
 xiv
 
 PREFACE 
 
 only after one has ransacked a dozen volumes for 
 the answer. Of course the commentators* help, 
 especially when they are scholars like Mr. Kris- 
 toffer Nyrop or the late Gaston Paris, but in the 
 main the translator has had to make his way alone, 
 then retrace his steps a score of times, smoothing 
 his path little by little, until he concludes at last 
 that further efforts on his part are vain. He is 
 a pioneer and knows perfectly well that some day 
 the work will be better done. 
 
 * Genin' s edition, published in 1854, should not be forgotten. 
 Genin put forth several theories whose falsity could hardly have 
 failed to be evident to some of his contemporaries, and not only 
 his text, but also his commentary, contains many inaccuracies ; 
 yet Genin, despite his whimsies, was a clever man, and his edi- 
 tion deserved the recognition accorded to it by Littre and Renan. 
 Ample allowance must be made for the fact that Romance philo- 
 logy was at that time a new science. 
 
 Paul Lacroix published his edition of Patelin in 1859. Lacroix 
 made some improvements in the text, but his notes, often derived 
 from Genin, show no great advance, and are marred by their 
 facetious abuse of Genin. 
 
 [xv]
 
 THE STAGE-SETTING OF 
 THE COMEDIE FRANQAISE 
 
 (With some stage-directions} 
 
 ACT: i 
 
 AM ARKET-PLACE, such as one might 
 have seen in a small French town about 
 the year 1469. To the left, a low build- 
 ing of which two sides are partly visible. This 
 is the shop of the draper Guillaume Joceaulme, 
 whose name is written in large Gothic letters over 
 the heavy double door. Behind this shop, but 
 separated from it by a lane, stands a dwelling 
 whose roof rises from several gables to various 
 peaks, joined by decorative ridges. A little further 
 to the right, in the distant background, stands a 
 church tower, skirted on the left by a narrow street 
 which is lost to view among the houses that lean 
 over it and straggle along its sides. In the fore- 
 ground, half concealing the church tower, is a 
 [ xvii ]
 
 STAGE-SETTING 
 
 stone canopy, or market-cross, whose roof rises 
 steeply to a stone tuft, like the finial of a cathedral. 
 
 In each of the four sides of this structure is a 
 niche with a stone seat. The only seat visible will 
 be occupied by the Judge during the trial scene. 
 The whole canopy rests on masonry so disposed 
 as to form six or seven steps on all four sides. 
 
 In the foreground to the right, facing the shop 
 of Guillaume, is a stone dwelling, and beyond it, 
 in the background, are other buildings through 
 which runs a street so narrow and tortuous that it 
 is soon lost to view in an uncertain mass of houses 
 which separate it from the church. 
 
 In the foreground, between the market-cross 
 and the Draper's shop, stands a short thick post 
 on which rests a box with a slot in it to admit the 
 God's-pennies of those who trade in the market- 
 place. 
 
 When the curtain rises on this Gothic scene 
 the townsfolk are just beginning to bestir them- 
 selves for the day's business and the glow of 
 morning is visible over the housetops, though 
 the light has not illuminated the crooked lanes. 
 There are vague noises ; an apprentice opens the 
 Draper's shop, brings out a table, and upon this 
 counter he sets about arranging some of his 
 master's goods in orderly piles. Presently Master 
 Pierre Patelin emerges from the street to the left, 
 [ xviii ]
 
 STAGE-SETTING 
 
 followed by his wife Guillemette. The lawyer is 
 bent in meditation. As he slowly enters the mar- 
 ket-place he begins to speak to Guillemette. 
 
 ii 
 
 A room in Patelin's house. In the left wall is 
 a door opening on the street. Against the rear 
 wall stands a bedstead with a tester whose curtains 
 reach the floor and may be drawn so as to hide the 
 bed completely. Near the bed and the door is 
 a great armchair. In the wall to the right is a win- 
 dow through which enters a rather dim light. Be- 
 fore this window stands a heavy wooden table, 
 very plain, and close to the table is an ordinary 
 chair. Though the room looks tidy enough, 
 everything about it bears witness to poverty. 
 
 ACT: in 
 
 The Draper's shop is closed ; otherwise the 
 same setting as for Act I. 
 
 xx
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 PA'TELIN belongs to a series of farces 
 which had come mysteriously into being 
 as early as 1277, when a little piece called 
 'The Boy and the Blind Man was performed at 
 Tournay.* Most of these farces have been lost, 
 but the hundred and fifty or so that happen to 
 
 * If not in 1277, at all events about that time. This tiny 
 farce was discovered by M. Paul Meyer some forty years ago. 
 Of the farces extant two score were found by some one rummag- 
 ing in a Berlin attic about 1 840. The Boy and the Blind Man 
 owes its preservation to the happy chance that some scribe saw 
 fit to copy it at the end of a manuscript containing the Roman 
 d ' Alexandre. 
 
 This farce is no shapeless embryo, but shows, on the contrary, 
 that farce-makers must have been plying their trade as early, at 
 least, as 1250. The theme of The Boy and the Blind Man is 
 picaresque. An urchin offers to lead a blind man, whose trust- 
 fulness he rewards by robbery and violence ; but, like Moliere's 
 Scapin, the boy contrives to make his victim believe that some 
 third person is guilty. 
 
 Two comic plays by Adam de la Hale belong to the same 
 period, but they could scarcely be called farces.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 survive show clearly enough what must have been 
 the character and range of all. 
 
 The old farces breathe the scandal and mockery 
 of their time. Seldom if ever do they rise to a 
 height from which man can be seen in his relation 
 to the world. They reek of a cold sensuality into 
 which love never enters. They are nearly all de- 
 void of the humour which accompanies a Moliere's 
 insight into the weaknesses of man and the vagaries 
 of society. Like most modern farces they deal 
 with fads, rather than with the great movements 
 of their time. No extant farce alludes unmistake- 
 ably to Jeanne d'Arc : she belonged to an earlier 
 age than that in which she was born ; but women 
 with almost no redeeming quality abound, and 
 are portrayed with a coarseness of feeling and an 
 indelicacy of language for which occasional wit 
 cannot atone. Graceful irony, irony like that of 
 the Franc-archer de Bagnolet, is rare. There are no 
 heroes and no heroines, no brave actions and no 
 leaders ; but plenty of rogues and fools, whose guile 
 and folly give rise to those situations which pica- 
 resque literature swarms with and which had once 
 delighted the makers of fabliaux. But these situa- 
 tions are realistic, almost invariably, and modern. 
 Whether the farces are base or not, we of the 
 twentieth century should find it easier to talk 
 with their authors than with the bards who two 
 [ xxii ]
 
 I INTRODUCTION 
 
 or three centuries earlier had sung of war and 
 romance. 
 
 When the farces began to flourish, chivalry was 
 rapidly going out of fashion ; the modern world of 
 business and practical ideas was coming in ; the 
 bourgeois had ousted the knight, and having money 
 to spend, he spent it on purveyors who were ready 
 to tell him about himself and his neighbours. The 
 town-crier gave him some news, but that was not 
 highly spiced ; real journalists were still unknown. 
 At the theatre, and there only, could he get reflec- 
 tions of life. It mattered little whether these 
 reflections were false ; whether they were due to 
 sheer second-hand glimpses, so to speak, cast into 
 disreputable corners, never resting on life's broad 
 avenues ; he craved sensation, he liked heightened 
 scenes based on contemporary gossip or contem- 
 porary facts, flavoured with scandal, something 
 credible but seemingly not commonplace. 
 
 In the long-winded mysteries he could witness 
 the spectacular performance of biblical scenes from 
 the Creation to the Crucifixion, or of scenes de- 
 rived from later history and legend. The miracle- 
 plays manifested the power of Our Lady or of 
 some saint, intervening in behalf of a medieval or 
 earlier celebrity on the brink of perdition. In both 
 these types thoroughly popular scenes abounded. 
 Many specimens of the f serious drama ' contain 
 [ xxiii ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 comic episodes, different, however, from those of 
 the farces. In the Middle Ages the Devil in- 
 spired terror, but he was also closely akin to the 
 mountebank. Hence his presence on the medieval 
 stage. Clad in skins of beasts, or in other fan- 
 tastic garb, he and his imps performed antics both 
 fearful and grotesque. 
 
 The moralities were commonly didactic, and 
 dealt, like Everyman, with abstractions, such as 
 Gluttony and the five senses, Lust, Learning, 
 or Better-than-before ; the softies are mainly clap- 
 trap satirical dialogues showing little or no plot 
 and composed for clowns or sots, who enlivened 
 their garrulous banter by performing acrobatic 
 feats. These softies were written in verse, but 
 otherwise they closely resemble the medleys of 
 dialogue, song, and gymnastics to be found now- 
 adays at almost any music-hall. 
 
 With the softies and the moralities the farces 
 have a great deal in common, so much, some- 
 times, that one can hardly distinguish between 
 them ; but the farces are generally more like life, 
 and there are some reasons for believing that they 
 were more popular.* In them the bourgeois saw 
 
 * This Introduction merely glimpses into the history of medi- 
 eval drama. Mr. E. K. Chambers has gathered an immense 
 mass of information in his two volumes on The Medieval Stage, 
 Oxford, 1903, and Mr. J. Mortensen's very readable book on 
 [ xxiv ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 images of his existence, and though the reflection 
 of reality often resembles the distorted figures 
 beheld in some old-fashioned mirror, never before 
 had literature come so near to the facts of life in 
 its homely phases. Like some modern reprobate 
 who was flattered to find a grossly realistic carica- 
 ture of himself in a comic paper, many a citizen 
 of the fifteenth century, happening to find himself 
 travestied in a farce, could have said, Get ignoble 
 individu, cest moil The farces were, in fact, the 
 only form of art that enabled him to witness house- 
 hold or other familiar scenes, and little as the aver- 
 age truth was like the theatrical representation, his 
 enjoyment was immense. Through eye and ear 
 he could relish depravity with nothing more than 
 a mental participation in the sin. Here was an 
 offset to the humdrum round. At church he could 
 hear the parish priest chant psalms and pray for 
 the cure of souls ; at the theatre he might catch 
 him in merrier business, conniving with crafty 
 housewives to gull their husbands, and sinning as 
 often as he could get a chance to sin. Here foolish 
 rich men were regularly bamboozled by sly c ga- 
 lants' ; merchants cheated and were cheated in their 
 turn; fools gave rein to their folly; everybody was 
 tempted and fell. The whole middle-class world, 
 
 Le theatre frarifais au may en age, Paris, 1903, also deals with 
 facts. 
 
 [ XXV ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 and sometimes nobles or churls, had an opportun- 
 ity to be vividly ridiculous. 
 
 In these old farces vice almost always gets the 
 better of virtue; thinking is mostly scheming; love 
 is mere feigning ; truth is boldly sacrificed to mirth, 
 and mirth is the aim of all. No wonder that Bos- 
 suet, finding the same old esprit gaulois alive in 
 Moliere, called him an ' infamous histrion.' Nor 
 is it in the least astonishing that a parish priest, 
 and later the Archbishop of Paris, refused to 
 allow Moliere's body to be buried in consecrated 
 ground. These ecclesiastics were merely keeping 
 up a tradition which their predecessors had estab- 
 lished when the farce-makers, indifferent as to the 
 morality of their dramatis personae, were charged 
 with undoing the work of the Church. There is, 
 indeed, no reason to suppose that the old farces 
 increased either piety or goodness, however much 
 they may have amused their hearers and sharpened 
 their wits. 
 
 He who seeks to build a history of manners 
 out of such material must be wary indeed; for 
 the farces display a perverted interest in special 
 aspects of vice and folly in the lower and middle 
 classes, or their familiars, rather than in all con- 
 temporary life. But they record the every-day 
 language of their time. Without them to help 
 us, we should not know a wide variety of oaths, 
 [ xxvi ]
 
 I NTRODUCTION 
 
 slang, saws, superstitions, and so forth; had the 
 specimens that survive been lost, the habits and 
 everyday thoughts of the fourteenth, fifteenth, 
 and early sixteenth centuries would be even further 
 beyond our ken than now. 
 
 The old farces were always composed in octo- 
 syllabic rime, are written in a conversational style, 
 and they are never poetical. They are for the most 
 part brief, not a third as long as Patelin. Some- 
 times one finds a neatly constructed plot, and in- 
 genious situations are not lacking; but in general 
 they are flimsily constructed and seem more like 
 dramatised anecdotes than like true drama ; natural 
 motives are too often absent, and their psychology 
 is not so accurate as that which our modern farces 
 commonly display, yet the dialogue js often lively 
 and produces an adequate illusion... 
 
 From what has been said it need not be sup- 
 posed that shallowness was universal ; for Villon 
 knew himself, at least, and embodied his wayward, 
 passionate, will-less life in lyric verse which for 
 vividness and sincerity surpasses all other lyric 
 poetry written in his time or in the Middle Ages. 
 He is the most gifted poet of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, as the author of Patelin is its most gifted 
 dramatist. The historian Commines was another 
 shrewd observer of his fellow men, and these are 
 not all. Great, too, though the defects of the 
 [ xxvii ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 farces are, they show a keener appreciation of re- 
 ality and a greater gift of natural expression than 
 had been shown by any other form of medieval 
 literature composed in France, save, perhaps, the 
 realistic passages in certain nouvelles, in the * serious 
 drama,' in Villon, and in Adam de la Hale. 
 
 The farces must have arisen pretty early in the 
 thirteenth century ; in the fourteenth century, and 
 even till the middle of the fifteenth, they seem to 
 have languished ; for farce-makers could not thrive 
 amid war and waste. The relatively prosperous 
 times that followed the Hundred Years' War were 
 their Golden Age; but the Renaissance, with its 
 Plautus and Terence, who for some twelve centu- 
 ries had been preserved by monks more capable 
 of copying manuscripts than of understanding 
 them, brought new ideals. Playwrights began to 
 forsake the market-place and the farces grew fewer 
 and fewer, though the writing of them never wholly 
 ceased. When they lost their hold, most of them 
 perished ; hardly a manuscript is left, and only 
 a few were chosen when the early printers began 
 to search for entertaining matter amid the ruck of 
 the Middle Ages. 
 
 Patelin distinctly belongs to the genre, but in 
 
 every regard it excels all other extant farces. The 
 
 author of this piece, whoever he may have been 
 
 and wherever he may have lived, was a genius, and 
 
 [ xxviii ]
 
 I NTRO DUCTION 
 
 when he wrote it he was inspired. Remote as he 
 must ever remain from us, we know that he was 
 not remote from his own time. He catches its spirit 
 and embodies that spirit in forms whose first words 
 cast the spell of illusion which is essential to all 
 dramatic art. 
 
 Whether the author of Patelin cared deeply 
 about morals is an unsolvable riddle. Michelet 
 declares somewhere that Patelin is the c epic of 
 an age of rogues ' ; unquestionably rogues are its 
 heroes and their rascality is its theme. If that 
 'practical' monarch Louis XI* ever saw Patelin 
 performed and nothing undemonstrable is more 
 likely how keenly he must have relished its com- 
 mon sense, its mirthful and remorseless roguery ! 
 We may imagine his laughter as he saw one rascal 
 outwit another, until a mere lout, a 'sheep in cloth- 
 ing,' outwits them all. That was something after his 
 own heart. We need not regard the five worthies 
 of our farce as disciples of Louis XI : they are 
 more than that, for they express what is unloveable 
 in that century more plainly than does the King. 
 They represent in several distinct and ludicrous 
 phases the poverty, the greed, the cynical cunning, 
 the selfishness, and the grinning depravity charac- 
 teristic of the fifteenth century, at least in France. 
 
 * See Ernest Kenan's essay on Patelin in his Essais de morale 
 et de critique, 1859. 
 
 [ xxix ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Patelin is a shabby pettifogger; his successful 
 fellow barristers are arrayed, as he says, in silks 
 and satins, de camelos ...<?/ de camocas ; but the 
 apparel is nothing : the lawyers are mostly rogues. 
 And so is our Judge : he cares little about dealing 
 out justice and he invites Patelin to sup with him, 
 though that lawyer has spent a Saturday in the 
 stocks. The Draper is both greedy and sly ; the 
 Shepherd is a numbskull with a highly developed 
 bump of villainy. And what is Guillemette t A 
 receiver of stolen goods. Not one of these types 
 has any sense of right. Their morality, as Renan 
 says, is to succeed ; their greatest weakness, their 
 only absurdity, is to be outdone. Philippe de 
 Commines sums up their ethics in a maxim : 
 * Ceulx qui gaignent,' says he, ' en ont tousjours 
 1'honneur.' 
 
 Patelin scored an immense success. It had two 
 sequels, both worthless, and was often quoted. If 
 that merry friar Guillaume Alexis is not the first to 
 allude, by citation, to our farce, the earliest known 
 record of it may be found in a legal document. 
 This document, a grant of pardon issued by 
 Louis XI before Easter, 1469, recites that one 
 Jean de Costes, who had been employed in the 
 King's chancellery, was drinking one day with sev- 
 eral companions at an inn kept by Glaude Sillon 
 at Tours. After supper Jean de Costes stretched 
 [ xxx ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 himself out on a bench by the fire, saying, * By God, 
 I am ill ! ' ; and, as the document tells us, he 
 addressed these words to the wife of the aforesaid 
 Glaude Sillon and said, s I would fain sleep here, 
 and not go back to-day to my lodgings.' Here- 
 upon the aforesaid Le Danceur [who seems to 
 have started the quarrel in which he was killed] 
 went and spoke to the aforesaid suppliant as 
 follows : * Jehan de Costes, I know you well ; you 
 fancy to play Patelin and to feign illness, because 
 you are planning to sleep here ' (Jeban de Costes, 
 je vous cognoys bien : vous cmdez pateliner et faire 
 du malade, pour cuider coucber ceans]. 
 
 In a short time the name Patelin had become 
 proverbial and the Farce of Patelin had attained 
 a vogue unparalleled in the history of the early 
 stage and rarely equalled since. Of five edi- 
 tions printed between 1485, or thereabouts, and 
 1 500, five unique exemplars are known to survive ; 
 several other editions must have existed. Two or 
 three editions published shortly after 1500 are also 
 represented by only one exemplar ; at least a score 
 appeared during the sixteenth century, and the 
 popularity of our farce scarcely waned till French 
 playwrights began, as we have seen, to be ashamed 
 of what had once delighted the common folk, 
 and set learnedly about imitating Roman comedy; 
 but the esprit gaulois could not be quelled, and 
 [ xxxi ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 we find it once more, more vigorous than ever and 
 lifted out of its wallow of lubricity, though not 
 yet angelically pure, in the comedies of Moliere. 
 
 Patelin is not the starting-point of any school, 
 but it would be a long task to narrate the history 
 of its influence on literature in and out of France. 
 Some of its phrases are used by Guillaume Alexis, 
 Coquillart, and others. In 1560 Estienne Pas- 
 quier, having read and reread this sample ' of the 
 old farces, declared it equal to any Greek, Latin, 
 or Italian comedy. Marot had no doubt read it, 
 and Rabelais quotes it again and again. He speaks 
 of the f noble Patelin,' who was evidently a rascal 
 after his own heart, and we may be sure that Ra- 
 belais's famous scene between Panurge and Panta- 
 gruel was inspired by Patelin. f Epistemon said, 
 " Parlez vous Christian, mon ami, ou langaige pate- 
 linois ? " ' (n, 9.) 
 
 It was not Rabelais, however, who first carried 
 Patelin's fame across the Channel ; for not later 
 than 1535, and probably ten years earlier, A Hun- 
 dred Mery 'Tales and )uicke Answers contained 
 an anecdote ' Of hym that payde his dette with 
 crienge bea.' * In 1700 a dull dramatist named 
 Brueys composed, or, to speak more descriptively, 
 he manufactured his Patelin y comedie, composee en 
 trois acteSj avec un prologue, et trois intermedes y 
 
 * See Notes on the Text, Note xxxv. 
 [ xxxii ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 mesles de declamations , de chants et de danses : Et 
 re-presentee pour la premiere fois sans Prologue &? 
 sans intermedes le 4. Juin z/o6* 
 
 Had Monsieur de Brueys been born a humorist, 
 he would either have written better comedies, or 
 none. With Palaprat's assistance, the abbe pleased 
 for a while ; that is the best that can be said for 
 him. Brueys and his contemporaries liked literary 
 monsters. They borrowed and muddled, very 
 much as the compilers of mysteries had done 
 in the Middle Ages. Unfailingly commonplace, 
 Brueys tells his readers that he had culled from the 
 old farce as one might gather gold from a dung- 
 hill. We need not wonder that the abbe decor- 
 ated his comedy with a Prologue wherein some 
 worn-out deities air his theories of the drama. Yet 
 Brueys's hybrid succeeded, and gave birth in its 
 turn, contra naturam, to 'The Village Lawyer, the 
 second version of Patelin to be made in England. 
 
 This curtain-raiser, ascribed without evidence 
 to the elder Macready,t was performed at The 
 Haymarket in 1787. 'The Village Lawyer, whose 
 hero is called not Patelin but Scout, was printed 
 
 * See V Avocat Patelin. Translated by S. F. G. Whitaker, 
 London, 1905 ; reviewed in The Evening Post, New York, 
 June 12, 1905, and in The Athenian, London, August 26, 
 1905. 
 
 f See the Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xxxv, p. 277. 
 [ xxxiii ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 at Dublin in 1792, having been received, so the 
 title-page declares, with ' Universal Applause ' in 
 London and in Dublin. 
 
 Was this little piece published, without regard 
 for its author, from one of those unsigned manu- 
 scripts which actors use ? Or is it possible that the 
 author had a scrupulous conscience ? Whatever 
 the truth may be, T'be Village Lawyer is by no 
 means so absurd as Brueys's hotchpotch of 
 modernised medieval folk and pseudo-antique 
 divinities. 
 
 'The Village Lawyer was performed at the Park 
 Theatre, in New York City, in November, 1801, 
 and again in 1808. The elder Jefferson (1774- 
 1 832) * played the part of Sheepface, who is merely 
 Thibaut Agnelet (or ' Lambkin '), in his second 
 reincarnation. In 1 863 one James Maffitt, a pirate 
 by nature, but a playwright by trade, on some 
 marauding voyage, fell upon The Village Law- 
 yer. Mrs. Scout and her daughter Kate, being 
 no longer useful, were made to walk the plank. 
 Scout, known in other days as Master Pierre 
 Patelin, or Lawyer Patelin, became Benjamin 
 Hardcrust. Maffitt was thus rid of any necessity 
 of seeing Kate wedded to Charles, the son of 
 
 * Jefferson left England about 1795. Probably he included 
 The Village Lawyer in his repertory because it was still popu- 
 lar. 
 
 [ xxxiv ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Snarl (Brueys's Guillaume), and he needed no 
 more than a week or so to shear the legal epi- 
 sode out of T'be Village Lawyer. 
 
 The Mutton Trial* for thus Maffitt named 
 his plagiary, was performed by four members of 
 a troop of minstrels, at the American Theatre, 
 a New York playhouse, in 1863. The cast of 
 characters was as follows : 
 
 SHEEPFACE, a Shepherd .... Charles White 
 BENJ. HARDCRUST, a Lawyer . . Nelse Seymour 
 OLD SNARL, a Farmer .... Billy Burke 
 JUSTICE James Wambold 
 
 These four actors were probably blackened to 
 look like negroes, and perhaps they remained so 
 throughout the long and varied performance in 
 which 'The Mutton Trial was but an interlude last- 
 ing < twenty minutes.' That they imitated negro 
 manners or negro speech is inconceivable. 
 
 A notion as to the quality of Maffitt's style may 
 
 * The Mutton Trial \ An Ethiopian Sketch, in Two Scenes \ 
 By James Maffitt \ Arranged by Charles White \ The Cele- 
 brated Ethiopian Comedian \ Author of \ Magic Penny \ Jolly 
 Millers [here follows a list of two score pieces] etc. , etc. | As 
 first Produced at the American Theatre, No. 444 Broadway | 
 New York \ etc. , etc. A copy of this rare farce, whose exist- 
 ence was made known to me by Mr. Brander Matthews, is 
 preserved at the Library of Congress, where it was deposited 
 to obtain copyright in 1874. 
 
 [ xxxv ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 be derived from the following citations. c Well/ 
 says Hardcrust, f here I am, Lawyer Hardcrust, 
 with scarcely enough money in my clothes to buy 
 a meal of victuals/ And on advising Sheepface 
 how to outwit the law, Hardcrust speaks as fol- 
 lows: * Well, now understand my plan. Any ques- 
 tion asked you by the Judge, the Court (sic], or 
 the jury (sic\ you must answer it in the language 
 of the old ewes when they call their young.' As in 
 'The Village Lawyer, Sheepface responds, * That is 
 my mother tongue.' In 'The Village Lawyer, when 
 Scout attempts to collect his fee but gets nothing 
 save baa!, he cries out angrily, < What, again! 
 braved by a Mongril Cur, a bleating Bellweather, 
 a ' ; in the American piece Hardcrust exclaims, 
 f What ! am I to be outwitted by a country weth- 
 erbull ! ' Further examples from Maffitt's plagiary 
 would only serve to show that the original Patelin, 
 cheapened by Brueys, and afterwards by an un- 
 known British hack, fell almost to the level of 
 a buffoon, on his third and final reincarnation. 
 
 To retell a long story in few words, the farce of 
 Patelin came into being in France before 1469, and 
 assuredly it owes nothing to the story of Mak, the 
 Thief in what is called f The Shepherds' Play,' in 
 the Towneley Mysteries ; its origin is lost in the 
 same darkness as envelops its author. Patelin is 
 [ xxxvi ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 wholly French and wholly medieval ; it alludes to 
 nothing c classic/ and has nothing whatever to do 
 with ancient comedy. Its popularity was immense ; 
 by 1520 it had been freely translated into Latin by 
 Connibert ; by 1535 it was known in England (per- 
 haps, too, in Germany) ; about 1787 some name- 
 less British playwright borrowed or stole from 
 Brueys's hotchpotch (1700) all the plot and many 
 details of 'The Village Lawyer ; about 1863 James 
 Maffitt plundered I'be Village Lawyer and called 
 his booty T'be Mutton tfrial ; this final version of 
 Patelin was performed by f Ethiopian ' minstrels 
 in New York City, some four centuries after the 
 original farce had first appeared in France. 
 
 No other farce written in the Middle Ages, and 
 naturally no later comedy, can claim so long and 
 varied a history ; yet in a mere sketch not half that 
 history can be told, but the popularity of this farce 
 is no puzzle: its author hit upon an extraordin- 
 arily clever plot,* and, unlike his contemporaries, 
 
 * This plot, like most others, was doubtless not ' created. ' 
 As early as 1370, or thereabouts, Eustache Deschamps had 
 composed the so-called Farce de Mestre Trubert, a dramatic 
 satire aimed at pettifoggers, or, one might say, at lawyers in gen- 
 eral ; for the Bar was in ill repute throughout the Middle Ages. 
 
 Trubert is hoodwinked by his client Entroignart ( = Cheat- 
 em) , who asks his advice about the thett of an almond, a trifling 
 fact that had led to serious consequences. Having got his re- 
 tainer, Trubert, not altogether unlike Patelin, proceeds to enumer- 
 [ xxxvii ]
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 he had the genius to tell his fable dramatically in 
 charming verse. Like a precocious child that has 
 aroused laughter by some show of wit, he repeats 
 his jests until they begin to stale; but his insight is 
 keen, and his characters are drawn so firmly that 
 each is a type, possible in nature, but nowhere else 
 to be found in literature. Although close examin- 
 ation reveals more than one inconsistency, the 
 illusion that he creates betokens a rare imaginative 
 power, a clear vision, and so objective a portrayal 
 of that vision that the author nowhere gives 
 a genuine clue as to his own personality. We may 
 agree with Renan in thinking the author of Pate/in 
 a low and heartless jester; but he betrays nothing, 
 except, perhaps, a tendency to delight us with 
 humour wantonly cruel ; he is not a moraliser but 
 a dramatist, and the best dramas are surely those 
 that seem to tell the most about other men and 
 the least about their authors. 
 
 ate some of the many wiles by which he knows how to evade 
 the law. He then suggests a game of dice which results in his 
 losing his money and his clothes. Similar stories about the Bar 
 were popular, and it is likely that the author of Patelin, perhaps 
 himself a lawyer, built his legal episode on a like anecdote, and 
 that he welded it to the story of some scalawag who had cheated 
 a creditor by shamming illness or insanity, a frequent occurrence 
 in real life. See vol. vn, pp. 155-174, and vol. xi, pp. 293 
 and 294, of the works of Deschamps, in the edition published 
 by the Societe des Anciens Textes fra^ais. 
 [ xxxviii ]
 
 THE FARCE OF 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN
 
 SCENE I 
 
 (At Lawyer Patelin s dwelling] 
 
 PATELIN, GUILLEMETTE 
 
 Master Pierre begins 
 
 BY Saint Mary ! Guillemette, for all my 
 pains to pick up something, or bag a little 
 pelf, not a penny can we save. Now, I 
 have seen the time when I had clients. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Aye, true enough ! I was thinking of the tune 
 your lawfolk are warbling. No, you are not 
 thought so able by any manner of means as you 
 used to be. I Ve seen the day when everybody 
 must have you to win his suit ; now you 're called 
 everywhere the Briefless Barrister. 
 [3]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin \as if he had not heard~\ 
 Again, I don't say it to brag, but in the circuit 
 wh^-e we hold our sessions there 's no one abler, 
 except the Mayor. 
 
 Guillemette [naively'] 
 
 Aye, but he has read the Conjuring-book, and 
 he studied a great while to be a scholar. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Whose case ever lags, if I set hand to it ? And 
 yet I never learnt my letters, save a little, but I'll 
 venture to say that I can chant by the book with 
 our priest as well as if I 'd been as long in school 
 as Charlemaine in Spain ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 What is that worth to us ? Not a rap ! We 're 
 all but starved ; our clothes are downright sieves, 
 and there 's no telling where new ones are to come 
 from. Ha ! a fig for all you know ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Tush, tush ! Upon my conscience, if I care to 
 
 set my wits at work, I shall find a way to get some 
 
 finery. Please God, we shall see better days and 
 
 be up again in no time. Oh, God's deed is done 
 
 [4]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 with speed. If it behooves me to stick to business, 
 they '11 not be able to find my peer. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Aye, that they will not ! At cheating you 're 
 a masterhand. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 At regular law ! by the Lord who made me ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Upon my word, at gulling, you mean. Oh, 
 I know what I am talking about ; for, to tell the 
 truth, though you Ve neither education nor com- 
 mon sense, you are reckoned about the greatest 
 slyboots in the whole parish. 
 
 Patelin 
 Nobody is so good at handling cases. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Heaven save me ! You mean at plucking gulls. 
 They say so anyhow. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 So they do of those who sport their silks and 
 satins, and talk of being barristers ; but they 're 
 not ! Enough of this prattle : I 'm going to 
 market. 
 
 [5 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette \_astonished~\ 
 To market? 
 
 Patelin [mimicking her~\ 
 
 Yes, to market, my gentle pricer. Now, what 
 if I buy a strip of cloth, or some other trifle for 
 household use ? . . . Our clothes are nothing but 
 rags. 
 
 Guillemette 
 You have n't a copper. What can you do there ? 
 
 Patelin \laying his forefinger on bis nose and 
 winking craftily] 
 
 That 's telling ! If I fail, my dear, to fetch you 
 cloth enough for both of us, and to spare, then 
 I 'm a fibber ! \Playfully surveying Guillemette.~\ 
 What colour suits you best ? A greenish grey ? 
 Or Brussels cloth ? Or some other sort ? Tell 
 me that. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Whatever you can get. Borrowers must not be 
 choosers. 
 
 Patelin [counting on his finger s~\ 
 For you, two ells and a half, and for me, three, 
 or rather, four. That makes . . . 
 [6]
 
 iftte pierce commence 
 
 pout quefque pae quc i 
 Bca6a([etnaramafftt 
 
 nousncpouoneriet) amaffcr 
 
 Pate/in, counting on his finger i
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Who the mischief will trust you with this cloth ? 
 You are counting your chickens before they 're 
 hatched. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 What do you care ? They '11 trust me, beyond 
 a doubt, and be paid on Doomsday ; for it 
 won't be sooner. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Go along, my lamb ; by now somebody else 
 may have it on. 
 
 Patelin \_almost to himself, as he walks slowly away~\ 
 
 I will buy either grey or green, and for an un- 
 dergarment, Guillemette, I want three quarters, or 
 a whole ell of fine dark goods. 
 
 Guillemette [shaking her head~\ 
 
 God help me ! so you do. Be off with you ! 
 [Calling, as he disappears^] And don't forget your 
 dram, if you can come by it for nothing ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Take care of everything ! [.X7/.] 
 
 [8]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette [giving vent to her excitement with an 
 exclamation half oath, half sigh~\ 
 
 What merchant . . . ? \_Brightening.~\ If he 
 only might be stark blind ! 
 
 SCENE II 
 
 (At the shop of Guillaume Joceaulme, Draper) 
 
 PATELIN, THE DRAPER 
 
 Patelin \_peering into the Draper's shop~\ 
 Not there ? . . . I have my doubts. . . . Aye, 
 by Saint Mary, so he is. He 's fussing with his 
 goods. \While Patelin is reconnoitring, the Draper 
 emerges and lays several rolls of goods on his counter. 
 'Then, on looking up, he spies the Lawyer, who greets 
 him with a beguiling smiled] My worthy sir, God 
 bless you ! 
 
 Guillaume Joceaulme, Draper 
 And give you joy ! 
 
 Patelin \_leaning his hands on the counter] 
 I have been really longing to see you, Guil- 
 laume. How is your health ? You 're feeling tip- 
 top, eh ? 
 
 [9]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 'The Draper 
 Aye, that I am ! 
 
 Patelin [holding out his hand~\ 
 Here ! your fist ! How goes it with you ? 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Why, first rate, really and yours to command. 
 .... And how are you ? 
 
 Patelin [giving the Draper a friendly clap on the 
 shoulder~\ 
 
 By the Apostle Saint Peter, your humble serv- 
 ant is as happy as a lark ... So you 're feeling 
 merry, eh ? 
 
 The Draper 
 
 To be sure. But merchants, you must know, 
 can't always have their way. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 How is business ? It yields enough, I trust, to 
 keep the pot a-boiling ? 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Afore Heaven, my good sir, I scarcely know. 
 [Imitating the cluck of a driver to his horse.~\ It 's 
 always gee up ! go along ! [He sighs.~\
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin [in a reminiscent revery] 
 Ah, he was a knowing man ! your father was, 
 I mean. God rest his soul ! [Scanning the Draper 
 with amazement.] When I look at you, I can't 
 believe I 'm not looking at him ! What a good 
 merchant he was ! and clever ? . . . [Heaving bis 
 hand in such a way as to suggest the almost limitless 
 ability of the elder Joceaulme.~] I swear, your face is 
 as like his as a regular painting. ... If God ever 
 took pity on any being, may he grant your father 
 his soul's pardon ! [Fakes off his hat and glances 
 piously toward heaven. 'The Draper follows suit.] 
 
 The Draper [sanctimoniously] 
 
 Amen ! Through his mercy ! And ours, too, 
 when it shall please him ! [Both replace their hats.~\ 
 
 Patelin [with a touch of melancholy] 
 
 My faith ! Many a time and most copiously he 
 foretold me the days that we are come to. Again 
 and again the memory has come back to me. 
 \After a slight pause.] Then, too, he was deemed 
 one of the good . . . 
 
 The Draper [interrupting Patelin s reminiscences by 
 offering him a seat] 
 
 Do sit down, sir. It 's high time I asked you 
 to [self-reproachful] , but it was just like me to forget. 
 
 [ r
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin [as if anything concerning his own welfare 
 were of no importance] 
 
 Tut, tut, man ! I 'm comfortable. . . . Reused 
 to ... \_Another interruption by the Draper, who, 
 in his zeal to show good manners to a prospective 
 customer ', leans over his counter as far as he can, 
 grasps Patelin by the shoulders, and endeavours to 
 force him to sit down.~\ 
 
 'The Draper 
 Now, really you must be seated. 
 
 Patelin [yielding] 
 
 Gladly. \A short pause, after which Patelin 
 blithely resumes his yarn, .] Oh, you shall see what 
 wonders he told me ! ... I '11 take my oath ! in 
 ears, nose, mouth, eyes, no child was ever so 
 like his father. [Pointing,'] That dimpled chin ! 
 Why, it 's you to a dot ! And if anybody told 
 your mother that you were not your father's son, 
 he 'd be hard up for a quarrel. I really cannot 
 imagine how ever Nature among her works made 
 two so similar faces. Each marked like the other ! 
 Why look ! If you had both been spat against a 
 wall in the self-same manner and in one array, you 
 would n't differ by a hair. But, sir, good Laurentia, 
 your step-aunt, is she still living ? 
 
 [ I*]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Draper \mystified~\ 
 Of course she is. 
 
 Patelin [rising] 
 
 How comely she seemed to me, and tall, and 
 straight, and full of graces ! . . . Od's dear mother ! 
 you take after her in figure, as if they had copied 
 her in snow. No family hereabouts, I think, comes 
 up to yours for likenesses. The more I see you, 
 . . . Bless my soul ! [Pointing to a mirror .] 
 Look at yourself. You 're looking at your father ! 
 [Clapping Joceaulme on the back with jovial famil- 
 iarity.^ You resemble him closer than a drop of 
 water, I '11 be bound ! . . . What a mettlesome 
 blade he was ! the worthy man, and entrusted 
 his wares to whoever wished them. Heaven for- 
 give him ! He always used to laugh so heartily 
 with me. Would to God the worst man in the 
 world resembled him ! There 'd be no robbery 
 or stealing, as there is. \_Feeling a piece of cloth.'] 
 How well made this cloth is ! how smooth it is, 
 and soft, and nicely fashioned ! 
 
 I'be Draper \_proudly~\ 
 
 I had it made to order from the wool of my 
 own flock. 
 
 Patelin [overflowing with admiration] 
 You don't say so ! What a manager you are !
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 [Jocularly. ~\ It 's the pater all over again. Blood 
 will tell ! . . . [Awestruck."] You are always, 
 always busy. 
 
 'The Draper [solemnly} 
 
 Why not ? To live, a body must be careful and 
 put up with trials. [He looks at Patelin y who nods 
 assent.~\ 
 
 Patelin [handling another piece of goods'] 
 Was this one dyed in the wool ? It 's as strong 
 as Cordovan leather. 
 
 'The Draper [showing off the weave of his goods'] 
 That is good cloth of Rouen make, and well 
 fulled, I promise you. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Now, upon my word, that 's caught me ; for I 
 had no thought of getting cloth, when I came ; by 
 George, I had n't. I 'd laid aside some four score 
 crowns for an investment; but twenty or thirty of 
 them will fall to you ; I see that plainly, for the 
 colour is so pleasing it gives me an ache. [Sighs, 
 as if feeling a rapture akin to pain^] 
 
 'The Draper [eagerly] 
 
 Crowns, you say ? Now can it be that your 
 borrowers would take an odd sum ? 
 [ 14]
 
 comment fe&apeffmdjed 
 fre(hwffe6e|!atf eft peri 
 reft piter par fa 0cartt ftoiffute 
 
 // 'f
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Why, yes, if I chose. It 's no odds to me what 
 sort of money 's paid. [Picking up the cloth again.~\ 
 What kind of goods is this ? . . . Really, the more 
 I see it, the worse I dote. I must have a coat of 
 that, to be brief, and another for my wife, as 
 well. 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Cloth costs like holy oil. You shall have some, 
 if you like. Ten or twenty francs are sunk so 
 quickly ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 I don't care : give me my money's worth. 
 [Whispering in the Draper s ear.~\ I know of an- 
 other coin or two that nobody ever got a smell of. 
 
 'The Draper 
 Now you 're talking ! That would be capital ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 In a word, I 'm hot for this piece, and have 
 some I must. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Well then, first you must make up your mind 
 how much you want. To begin with, though you 
 had n't a brass farthing, the whole pile is at your 
 service. 
 
 [ 16]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin \_gdzing rather absent-mindedly at the cloth~\ 
 I know that well, thank you. 
 
 The Draper 
 
 You might like some of this sky-coloured 
 stuff? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 First, how much is a single ell to cost? \_On 
 saying this, Patelin holds up a penny so that the 
 Draper may get a good look at it.~\ Here is a penny 
 to seal the bargain in God's name; God's share 
 shall be paid first : that stands to reason, and let 
 us do nothing without calling him to witness. 
 [Piously doffs his hat, strides solemnly to a box set up 
 in the market-place for receiving God's pennies, drops 
 the coin in, and returns to the Draper.~\ 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Upon my word, you speak like a g o o d man, 
 and I 'm glad to hear you. Shall I set the very 
 lowest price ? 
 
 Patelin 
 Yes. 
 
 The Draper [decisively] 
 It will cost you four and twenty pence an ell. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Go to! Four and twenty pence! 
 Heaven save the mark ! 
 
 [ '7 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 'The Draper \laying his hand on his hearf\ 
 By this soul ! it cost me every whit of that, and 
 I must lose nothing by the sale. 
 
 Patelin 
 ^ Excuse me! it's too much. 
 
 The Draper 
 
 You 'd never believe how cloth has risen ! This 
 winter the live-stock all perished in the great frost. 
 
 Patelin 
 Twenty pence! twenty pence! 
 
 Draper 
 
 And I swear I will have my price. Wait till 
 Saturday and you shall see what it 's worth. Wool 
 on the fleece, of which there used to be a plenty, 
 cost me on Saint Maudeleyne's day eight good 
 blanks, my oath on it, for wool I once got 
 for half as much. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Od's blood ! Then I will buy, without further 
 haggling. Come, measure off! 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 And pray how much must you have ? 
 [ 18 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 That is easy to answer. What is the width ? 
 
 'The Draper 
 Brussels width. 
 
 Patelin \_as if to himself, and cocking his head with- 
 out looking at the Draper. On saying ( she 's 
 fall,' he makes a gesture as if he were laying 
 his hand on the head of an imaginary Guille- 
 metfe] 
 
 For m e, three ells, and for her (she 's tall), 
 two and a half. In all, six ells . . . Why, no it 
 is n't ! What a dunce I am ! 
 
 The Draper 
 There wants but half an ell to make the six. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Give me the even six, then. I need a hat as 
 well. 
 
 The Draper \_pointing to the other end of his strip 
 of cloth'] 
 
 Take hold there. We '11 measure. Here they 
 are, and no scrimping. \He measures^ One, . . . 
 and two, . . . and three, . . . and four, . . . and five, 
 . . . and six !
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Saint Peter's paunch ! Measured fair and 
 square ! 
 
 'The Draper [looking at Patelin, then turning bis 
 
 ell in the other direction. Naively] 
 Shall I measure back again ? 
 
 Patelin [with cheerful disdain} 
 
 Oh, h no ! In selling goods there's always 
 
 a little gain or loss. How much does it all amount 
 to? 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Let us see. At four and twenty pence, each, 
 for the six ells, nine francs. 
 
 Patelin [aside] 
 Hm ! Here goes ! [To the Draper. ~\ Six crowns ? 
 
 'The Draper 
 So help me! Yes. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Now, sir, will you trust me for them ? . . until 
 anon, when you come ? [The Draper shows symp- 
 toms of suspicion] Nay, 'trust' is not the word, 
 for you shall get your crowns at my door, in gold, 
 or, if you like, in change.
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATE LIN 
 
 'The Draper [ungraciously] 
 Oh thunder ! that 's off my road. 
 
 Patelin [with playful irony] 
 By my lord Saint Giles, now you 're telling 
 gospel truth ! Off your road ! That 's it ! You 
 are never ready to drink at my house, but this is 
 the time you shall. 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Good Lord ! I scarcely do any thing but drink ! 
 \_After a moment's hesitation^] I '11 come, but let 
 me tell you it 's bad policy to give credit on a first 
 sale. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 What if I pay for it, not in silver or copper, 
 but in good yellow coin ? [CraftilyJ] Oho ! and 
 you must have a bite of that goose my wife is 
 roasting ! 
 
 The Draper [aside] 
 
 The man drives me mad. [Aloud.] Go on ! 
 Away ! I will follow you then, and bring the 
 cloth. 
 
 Patelin [nimbly seizing the bundle of goods~\ 
 Nothing of the sort ! How will it burden me ? 
 Not a whit, beneath my eJLbow . . so.
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Draper [trying to recover his property} 
 
 No, indeed, sir ! it would look better for me to 
 bring it. 
 
 Patelin [tucking the cloth into his long gown] 
 
 I '11 be hanged if you go to such pains ! See 
 how snug it lies, here, under my elbow. What 
 a jolly hump it will give me ! Ah ! now it 's all 
 right ! \With mock hilarity .] We '11 have a fling 
 before you leave. 
 
 arrived. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 I will that, and by gracious I '11 see to it you 
 eat heartily. I 'd be sorry to have anything about 
 me to pay with now. \Very archly ^\ At least you 
 will come and try my wine. When your late 
 father went by my house he used to sing out, 
 c Hullo, old pal ! ', or, f What 's the good word?', 
 or, c How do you do ? ' But you don't care a straw 
 for poor folk, you rich men ! 
 
 'The Draper \Jlattered but deprecatory^ 
 Oh, now, I say ! it 's we who are poorer . . . 
 
 [22 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin \laughing incredulously^ 
 Whew ! Well, good-bye, good-bye ! Turn 
 up soon where I told you, and we '11 have a good 
 drink, you can count on that. 
 
 The Draper 
 
 I '11 do so. Go ahead, then, and see that I get 
 gold ! [Patelin starts homeward.~\ 
 
 SCENE III 
 
 (In the market-place) 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Gold! To think of it! Gold! The devil! I 
 hit the nail on the head that time ! [Overcome 
 by a sense of immense absurdity, .] No ! gold ! I 'd 
 see him hanged. [Chuckling. ,] Pshaw ! He sold to 
 me not at my price, but at his own ; he shall be 
 paid, however, at mine. He must have gold ; he 
 shall get it in the sweet bye and bye! Would 
 he might run without stopping till he is paid ! 
 By Saint John, he 'd travel further than from 
 here to Pampeluna ! [Enters an alley and disap- 
 pears^ 
 
 [ 23 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 SCENE IV 
 
 (At the Draper's shop) 
 
 I'he Draper. 
 
 Those crowns he 's going to pay me sha'n't 
 get a peep at sun or moon this year, unless they 're 
 stolen from me. It takes two to make a bargain. 
 That trickster is a big gull to buy at four and 
 twenty pence an ell cloth not worth twenty ! 
 
 SCENE V 
 
 (At Patelin s. Guillemette is sitting near the window 
 and facing it, so as to get all the light that en- 
 ters through its small and somewhat murky 
 panes. On her lap lies a garment which she is 
 patching. Presently the door is softly opened 
 and Patelin looks in. Seeing that Guillemette' s 
 back is turned, and that she is unaware of his 
 presence, he steals toward her, grinning as he 
 thinks what a surprise she is about to get. 
 Suddenly, when he is quite close, she hears him 
 and turns round with a start. Then Patelin 
 begins to speak, archly and in a tone of triumph. 
 
 PATELIN, GUILLEMETTE 
 [ 24]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 Have I some? 
 
 Guillemette \_star tlecf\ 
 Some what ? 
 
 Patelin 
 What ever became of that old gown of yours ? 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Much need there is of telling ! What will you 
 do with it ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Nothing! nothing! Have I some? . . . . 
 I told you so ! Is this the cloth ? [He whips the 
 roll of goods from under his gown and flaunts it in 
 the face of the astounded Guillemette.~\ 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Holy Mother ! Now, as I hope to live, whose 
 chest did that come from ? \A little frightened^ 
 Heaven ! what scrape have we got into now ? 
 Dear ! dear ! and who 's to pay for it ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Who, you ask ? By Saint John, it 's paid for. 
 [25 ]'
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The chap who sold me that is n't crazy, my pet, oh, 
 no ! May I be hanged by the neck if he 's not 
 well fleeced. The rascally curmudgeon has caught 
 it across the bum. 
 
 Guillemette 
 But how much is it to cost ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Cost? Nothing! it's paid for. No need of 
 fretting over that. 
 
 Guillemette 
 Paid for? How? You hadn't a farthing. 
 
 Patelin 
 Oh yes, I had. I had a penny. 
 
 Guillemette [ironically] 
 
 Oh, very fine ! Fie ! You swore to pay, or you 
 gave a note of hand. That is how you came by it ! 
 And when the note falls due they '11 come and 
 seize our things and carry off everything we own. 
 
 Patelin [reassuringly] 
 Upon my word, I gave but a penny for it all. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Benedicite Maria ! A penny ? Impossible ! 
 [26 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin [leaning toward ber~\ 
 You may pluck out this eye, if he got more, or 
 if he gets more, bawl though he may. 
 
 Guillemette 
 But who is he, anyhow ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 A numbskull called Guillaume, whose surname 
 is Joceaulme ; since you must know. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 But how came you to get it for a penny ? What 
 was your game ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 It was for God's-penny ; and yet, had I said, 
 ' Let 's bind the bargain with a drink,' I 'd have 
 kept my penny. Anyhow, 'twas well worked. 
 God and he shall share that penny, if they care 
 to ; for it is all they shall get, no matter how 
 they carry on. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 How came he to trust you ? he 's such a surly 
 customer. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Dash me if I did n't make him out such a noble 
 lord that he almost gave it me. I told him what
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 a jewel his late father was. 'Ah, brother,' says I, 
 'what good stock you come of! No family here- 
 abouts,' says I, * compares with yours for virtues,' 
 but drat me ! what riff-raff! The most ill-tempered 
 rabble, I suppose, in all this kingdom. ' Guil- 
 laume, my friend,' says I, 'what a likeness you 
 do bear your good father ! and in every feature ! ' 
 God wot how I heaped it on ! And meanwhile 
 I interlarded something about woollens. 'And 
 then,' says I, ' heavens ! how kind he was about 
 trusting folks with his wares ! and so meekly ! 
 You 're he,' says I, 'his spitten image ! ' Yet you 
 might have hauled the teeth out of that rascally 
 old porpoise, his late father, or his monkey of a 
 son, before they 'd trust a fellow with as much as 
 that ! [snaps bis fingers] or even be polite. Any- 
 how, I made such an ado and talked so much that 
 he trusted me with six ells. 
 
 Guillemette 
 Yes, and he '11 never get them back. 
 
 Patelin [derisively] 
 Get them back ? He '11 get the devil back ! 
 
 Guillemette [suggesting by mimicry the action in the 
 
 fable of the Fox and the Crow] 
 I call to mind the fable of the Crow that had
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 perched on a cross, some ten or twelve yards high. 
 In his beak he was holding a cheese. A Fox 
 strolled along that way and spied the cheese. 
 Thought he to himself, 'Now, how am I going 
 to get it ? ' Then he stood beneath the Crow. 
 'Ah,' says he, 'how handsome you are! and 
 your song is so full of melody ! ' The Crow, like 
 a fool, hearing such praises of his voice, opened 
 his beak to sing. Down dropped the cheese, and 
 in a trice Master Renard had it tight between his 
 teeth and off he went ! That, I '11 wager, is what 
 happened to this cloth. You wheedled him out of 
 it, just as Renard got the cheese. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 He is coming to eat some goose, on a wild 
 goose chase, I mean. Now here 's our game. Of 
 course he will be braying to get money on the 
 spot ; so I 've hatched out a nice arrangement. 
 I '11 simply lie on my bed, and play sick ; then, 
 when he comes, you will say, 'Oh, do speak low !' 
 Then you must groan and pull a long face. 
 'Alas!' (you'll say) 'he fell sick these two 
 months past,' or say six weeks, and if he 
 cries, ' That 's all flim-flam, for he has just been 
 at my shop,' you must say, ' Alas ! this is no 
 time to romp ! ' Then let me pipe him a little 
 tune, for music is all he shall get. 
 [29]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Trust me to play the game, but if you slip 
 up again, you may smart for it : I bet you '11 catch 
 it a good bit worse than the other time. 
 
 Patelln 
 
 Hush now ! I know what I 'm about. We must 
 both do as I say. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 For goodness sake remember that Saturday they 
 put you in the stocks ! You know how every 
 one jeered at you for your trickery. 
 
 Patelln 
 
 Do stop your chatter : he '11 be here before 
 we know it. That cloth must stay with us Aid- 
 ing it under the mattress~\ . Now I 'm going to 
 bed. 
 
 Guillemette \laughing at his burlesque preparations^ 
 Go ahead ! 
 
 Patelin \under the bedclothes~\ 
 No laughing, now ! 
 
 Guillemette \_as she draws the bedcurtains together} 
 Well, rather not ! I '11 shed hot tears. 
 [ 30 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 
 We must stand fast, now. No flinching, or he '11 
 see what 's up. 
 
 SCENE VI 
 
 (At the Draper's shop) 
 
 The Draper 
 
 I must have a parting drink. Why no, I won't ! 
 for, by Saint Mat., I shall have some wine with 
 Master Pierre Patelin, and a bit of his goose. And 
 there I 'm to receive some funds. I 'm in for some 
 plum, there, at the very least, and at no expense ! 
 There is no use in staying here ; for I can make 
 no further sales. [Leaves bis shop ; knocks on 
 Patelin s door.~\ Hello ! Master Pierre ! 
 
 SCENE VII 
 
 (At Patelin' s] 
 
 THE DRAPER, GUILLEMETTE, PATELIN
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette [opening the door a chink and laying her 
 
 finger on her lips] 
 
 Oh, sir, if you have anything to say, for mercy's 
 sake speak lower ! 
 
 'The Draper 
 God keep you, mis'ess ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 Oh, not so loud ! 
 
 The Draper [astonished and puzzled] 
 Huh ? What is the matter ? 
 
 Guillemette [feigning amazement] 
 Bless my soul ! 
 
 The Draper 
 Where is he? 
 
 Guillemette 
 Alas ! Where should he be ? 
 
 The Draper 
 The ... Who? 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Ah, sir, how unkind ! Where is he ? May God 
 in his mercy know ! He has lain on the very same 
 spot, poor martyr, without budging, for eleven 
 weeks. 
 
 [32 ]
 
 <5uiffemetfe 
 
 pout 8iwfe Soue Soufes rieij Site 
 pacfeepfueBae 
 
 iDicu Sous gatt 8amc 
 
 Ouiffemcttc 
 
 Draper -visits Patelin
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 'The Draper [staring 0$ en-mouth ed~\ 
 Who 's this ? 
 
 Guillemette [whispering in the Draper's ear] 
 Excuse me : I dare not raise my voice. I be- 
 lieve he is resting. He is a little drowsy. Alas ! 
 he 's so done up, poor man ! 
 
 'The Draper [in amazement] 
 Who? 
 
 Guillemette 
 Master Pierre. 
 
 'The Draper [indignantly] 
 
 Whew ! And did n't he come to purchase six 
 ells of cloth, right now ? 
 
 Guillemette 
 Who? He? 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 He came from my shop not half a quarter of an 
 hour ago. Hurry ! I am wasting time. Come ! 
 No more fooling ! My money ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 Oh, no joking! This is no time for jokes. 
 
 'The Draper [waving his arms] 
 
 Here ! My money ! Are you crazy ? I want 
 nine francs. 
 
 [34 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Oh Guillaume ! It 's no time for gammon, nor 
 for making light of us. Go along and trifle with 
 your simpletons, if you 're out for a lark. 
 
 Draper \_angrily\ 
 I '11 have nine francs, or I '11 be damned ! 
 
 Guillemette \trying to keep from laughing^ while she 
 wipes away imaginary tears~\ 
 
 Oh dear ! sir, not everybody is so fond of laugh- 
 ter and clap-trap as you are. 
 
 The Draper [beseechingly] 
 
 I say ; please, no kidding ; do fetch me Master 
 Pierre. 
 
 Guillemette 
 Bad luck to you ! What ? To-day ? 
 
 The Draper gesticulating angrily] 
 Is n't this place, here, where I am, in the house 
 of Master Pierre Patelin ? 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Yes ! And may they stick you into bedlam ! 
 [crossing herself] but not me ! Sh ! 
 [35 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Draper 
 
 The devil and all ! \Waxing sarcastic^ Have 
 I no right to ask ? 
 
 Guillemette [crossing herself again, as if the devil 
 might really appear ; then laying her fingers on 
 her lips and glancing mysteriously t award Pat e- 
 lins hiding-place] 
 
 God bless my soul ! Sh ! Lower, if you wish 
 him to stay asleep ! 
 
 The Draper [very satirical"] 
 
 Lower ? How c lower ' ? Shall I whisper it 
 down in your ear ? at the bottom of the well ? or 
 of the cellar? 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 My goodness ! What a babbler you are ! Any- 
 how, that is always the way with you. 
 
 The Draper [in petulant protestation] 
 
 Damn it all ! Now, let me tell you, if you ex- 
 pect me to whisper .... \_Angrily, .] Say now ! As 
 for such wrangling, I 'm not used to it. [Bearing 
 on each word.~\ The truth is that Master Pierre 
 took six ells of cloth to-day. 
 
 Guillemette [shrilly] 
 
 Huh? Oh, come ! To-day? Well, I never! 
 [ 36 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Look here, now ! Took what ? . . . Hang me, 
 if it is n't the sober truth ! He is in such a plight, 
 poor man, that he has n't left his bed for eleven 
 weeks I believe you are making sport of us. 
 Now, is there any reason in it ? Law now ! you 
 clear out of my house ! [Wringing her hands^\ Oh 
 dear ! oh dear ! 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 You were telling me to speak so low ! Holy 
 Mother ! you are shrieking ! 
 
 Guillemette [almost in a whisper] 
 Upon my soul, it is you who are making all the 
 noise ! 
 
 'The Draper 
 Look here ! I must be off. Hand over . . . 
 
 Guillemette \_forgetting herself and letting her voice 
 
 rise to a high key] 
 Sh ! Speak low, will you ! 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 But it 's you who '11 rouse him ! Great guns ! 
 You talk ten times louder than I do ! [Emphatic- 
 ally.^ I want you to let me go. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Eh ? What is this ? Are you cracked ? or have 
 you been drinking ? In heaven's name ! 
 [ 37 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Draper 
 
 Drinking ? My word ! There 's a pretty ques- 
 tion ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 Oh dear ! Speak lower ! 
 
 'The Draper [meekly] 
 
 I ask payment for six ells of cloth, lady, for 
 pity's sake. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 It 's all in your eye ! And who did you give it 
 to? 
 
 'The Draper 
 To himself. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Fine trim he 's in for buying cloth ! Alas ! he 
 can't budge [begins to sob ; the Draper thinks hard. ] 
 He 's in no need of clothes ; never more will he 
 be drest in any garment but a white one, nor leave 
 the spot where he is lying, unless he goes feet first. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 This must have happened since sunrise, then ; 
 for I 'm sure I talked with him. 
 
 Guillemette [stopping her ears] , 
 Your voice is so shrill ! Be quiet, for pity's sake ! 
 [38]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 I'be Draper [in a perfect tantrum\ 
 It 's you, upon my oath ! It 's you ! Oh, damn 
 it ! Od's blood ! this is torment. If some one 
 paid me, I would go my way. Afore Heaven ! 
 whenever I have trusted, this is what I 've always 
 got for it. 
 
 SCENE Fill 
 
 PATELIN, GUILLEMETTE, THE DRAPER 
 
 Pat elm [as if he had just awakened] 
 
 Guillemette ! A little rosewater ! Prop me up ! 
 Tuck me in behind ! Pah ! No one 's listening. 
 The ewer ! A drink ! Rub the soles of my feet ! 
 
 I'he Draper 
 I hear him there. 
 
 Guillemette 
 You do. 
 
 Patelin [in a nightcap ; peers out between the cur- 
 tains and shouts to Guillemette~\ 
 Ha, wretch ! come here ! Who told you to open 
 those windows ? Come, cover me ! Drive these 
 [39]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 black men away ! Marmara, carimari, carimara ! 
 Away with them ! away ! 
 
 Guillemette \to Patelin~\ 
 
 What 's this ? How you behave ! Are you 
 beside yourself? 
 
 Pat elm [slowly getting out of bed and pointing, as 
 he does so, toward the rafters. 'To the Draper] 
 
 Thou canst not see what I perceive. There 
 is a black monk, flying. Catch him ! Give him 
 a stole ! ^Approaching the Draper, who retreats 
 backward, he spits like a cat, turning his fingers into 
 claws and striking as if he were going to scratch the 
 Draper s eyes out.~\ The cat ! the cat ! \Pointing, 
 and seeming to follow the flight of the imaginary 
 monk.~\ Up, up, he goes ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Oh what is this ? Ain't you ashamed ! La ! this 
 turmoil has upset him. 
 
 Patelin [returns to bed and falls back on his pillow, 
 exhausted. To Guillemette, who is bending over him\ 
 
 Those physicians have killed me with these 
 hotchpotches they have made me drink. And yet, 
 to believe them, it 's as simple as moulding wax. 
 [40]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette \_to the Draper] 
 Oh ! Have a look at him, sir : he 's such a 
 sufferer. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 You don't mean to say he 's fallen sick since 
 just now, when he came from market? 
 
 Guillemette 
 From market? 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Aye. By Saint John, I think he was there. [fTo 
 Patelin.~\ I want my money for the cloth I lent you, 
 Master Pierre. 
 
 Patelin [pretending to take the Draper for a 
 physician\ 
 
 Ho, Doctor John ! harder than stone : I have 
 .... two small lumps, black, round as balls. 
 Shall I take another clyster ? 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Huh? How do I know? What business is it 
 of mine ? It 's nine francs I want, or six crowns. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 These three black little pointed things, I be- 
 lieve you call 'em ' pills.' They have spoilt my
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 jaws. For heaven's sake, Doctor John, no more 
 of them ! Pah ! there is nothing so bitter ! 
 They Ve made me let go of everything. 
 
 The Draper 
 
 They have not ! by my father's soul ! You 
 have n't let go of my nine francs. 
 
 Guillemette \half aside] 
 
 Hang them ! these folks who are always med- 
 dling. [ c Shooing ' the indignant but helpless Draper. ~\ 
 Away with you, by all the devils ! as God has 
 nothing to do with it. 
 
 I'he Draper 
 
 By the Lord who made me, I will have my cloth 
 before I finish, or my nine francs ! 
 
 Patelin \to the Draper, still pretending to take him 
 for ' Doctor John '] 
 
 And my water, does it show, perchance, that 
 I am dying? \jTo Guillemette.~\ Alas, although 
 he stays, let me not die ! 
 
 Guillemette \to the Draper] 
 
 Begone ! Is n't it wicked to be splitting his ears 
 with your din ? 
 
 [42 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 'The Draper [throwing up both hands~\ 
 
 May heaven rue the day it runs foul of him ! 
 [To Patelin.~\ Six ells of cloth ! Come, now ! upon 
 your honour, is it fair for me to lose them ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Had you only been able to thin my .... Doctor 
 John ; it 's so hard when it comes out at my .... 
 , . . . that I don't know how I keep on living. 
 
 The Draper [shaking his fist\ 
 I want nine francs in full, I say, or by Saint 
 Peter . . . 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Dear me ! how you plague the man ! How can 
 you be so boisterous ? You see clearly that he 
 takes you for a physician. Alas ! the poor Chris- 
 tian has had ill luck enough. Eleven weeks 
 without a break he 's been lying there, poor soul ! 
 [Clasps her hands and looks like the most dismal hypo- 
 crite ; Patelin rolls over, with a groan."] 
 
 'The Draper [half to himself ~\ 
 Od's blood ! I can't imagine how this mishap 
 could have befallen him ; for he came this very day 
 and we struck a bargain, at least, it seemed to 
 happen so, if I 'm not mistaken. 
 [43 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 My good sir, there 's something amiss with your 
 memory. Really, I think you had better go and 
 rest a little; for lots of folks might gossip that you 
 come in here on my account. Go away ! The phy- 
 sicians will be on hand presently, and I would n't 
 have any one suspect some impropriety : I 'm not 
 that sort. 
 
 Draper 
 
 Oh, curse it all ! So this is the fix I 'm in. 
 \_Mopping his brow.~\ I '11 be bound ! I was still 
 thinking . . . You have no goose on the fire ? 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Hark what he asks ! Why, sir, that 's no food 
 for sick folks. Eat your own geese, and don't come 
 here to play your monkey tricks. I must say, you 
 make yourself very much at home. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Please don't take it amiss, for I verily believed 
 . . . [To himself. ~\ Still ... by the sacrament . . . 
 Pshaw ! now I am going to find out ! \Walks away 
 slowly, muttering as he goes.~\ I know full well that 
 I ought to have six ells, all in one piece ; but that 
 woman has clean upset my wits. He took them ; 
 no doubt of it! \_After reflection^ Nay, he did not. 
 [44]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The devil ! it will not tally ! I saw him in Death's 
 clutch or at least he 's shamming death. \_Ponders 
 again. ~\ Aye, by 'r Lady, he did ! There is no 
 doubt of it ; he took them and stowed them away 
 beneath his elbow ! \_After more reflection^ No, 
 he did not! It may be I am dreaming; yet, 
 whether I be asleep or awake, it is not like me to 
 give my goods to any man, however friendly he 
 may be with me. I would not have trusted any 
 one. [Angrily, ,] Od's bod ! he took them ! and by 
 the death . . . [Reflecting."] Nay, I have it ! He 
 did not ! . . Yet what am I coming to? ^Emphat- 
 ically."} He has them ! \_After a slight pause he 
 waves his arms desperately and bursts outJ] May a 
 pox take both his body and his soul if I know who 
 has got the best or the worst of it, they or myself! 
 I 'm all at sea. #//. 
 
 SCENE IX 
 
 PATELIN, GUILLEMETTE 
 
 Patelin \_still in bed; low to Guillemette~\ 
 Is he gone ? 
 
 Guillemette [at the door] 
 
 Be still ! I 'm listening. He is humming some 
 [45 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 little tune or other under his breath. By the way 
 he mutters, one might suppose he was losing his 
 mind. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Have n't I lain here long enough ? \_After a 
 pause."] He dropped in so punctually ! 
 
 Guillemette [still listening^ 
 
 Maybe he will return. [Patelin starts to rise.~\ 
 Nay ! Heaven forbid ! Lie still a while. It would 
 be all up with us if he found you out of bed. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 He met his match, the distrustful skinflint ! 
 Served him right ! 
 
 Guillemette [leaving her posi\ 
 
 Of all the rank hucksters that ever were baited 
 he is the gem ! Oh, this is what he gets for un- 
 godly stinginess. [She titters loudly.~\ 
 
 Patelin 
 
 For heaven's sake, stop laughing ! If he came 
 back he might play the mischief, and, let me tell 
 you, we have n't seen the last of him. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 I declare ! Let anybody who can, keep from 
 laughing ; I can't help it ! [Laughs uproariously^] 
 [46]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 SCENE X 
 
 (At the Draper's shop) 
 
 The Draper 
 
 By the holy light that shines ! For all the bab- 
 blers, that freshwater barrister shall see me again. 
 Pooh ! That income some of his cousins or his 
 aunts were going to furnish him ! A likely yarn ! 
 Now, by Saint Peter, he has my cloth, the false 
 swindler ! I gave it him right here. [Starts for 
 Patelins in a fury.~\ 
 
 SCENE XI 
 
 (At Patelins} 
 
 PATELIN, GUILLEMETTE 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 When I think of the face he made as he looked 
 at you . . \_Laughs.~\ He dunned so fiercely ! 
 [Laughs again.'] 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Quit your cackling ! God [crosses him- 
 
 [47]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 self] . . . bless my soul, if some one should over- 
 hear you we might as well decamp : he 's such a 
 crusty customer. 
 
 SCENE XII 
 
 (Mostly in the market-place) 
 
 'The Draper \_witb bitter scorn] 
 Ha! a boozing pettifogger! \_Sneering.~\ A quack 
 who knows but three lessons and three psalms ! 
 \_Ironic ally. ~\ The rest of us are brainless clowns, 
 forsooth ! By gad, no one was ever fitter to be 
 hanged ! He has my cloth, or I '11 be damned, and 
 he has tricked me with this game ! [Rapping angrily 
 at Patelin's door.~\ Ho, there ! mis'ess : where are 
 you hiding? 
 
 SCENE XIII 
 
 (At Patelins) 
 
 THE DRAPER, GUILLEMETTE, PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 My word ! he 's heard me ! [Looking through thtf 
 key hole. ~\ He seems to be going mad. 
 [48 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin [in bed ; draws the curtains together] 
 I '11 make believe I 'm delirious. Let him in. 
 
 Guillemette [opening the door and trying to look 
 serious} 
 
 How you yell ! 
 
 'The Draper [entering noisily] 
 Ah ha ! you are laughing, eh ? Here ! My 
 money ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 My stars ! What do you think I 've got to 
 laugh about? There isn't an unhappier creature 
 under the sun. He is passing away. Never did 
 you hear such a storming, nor frenzy. His mind 
 is still astray ; he raves, he sings, and then he 
 babbles and mutters in so many languages ! He 
 will not live half an hour. Upon my soul, I laugh 
 and weep in the same breath. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 I know nothing about your laughter or your 
 weeping. To cut it short, I must be paid ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 For what ? Are you daft ? Are you beginning 
 to rant again ? 
 
 [49]
 
 'The Draper \haughtily\ 
 
 I am not wont to be thus spoken to when I am 
 selling my cloth. Would you have me believe the 
 moon is made of green cheese ? 
 
 Patelin \standing on his bed, with his head between 
 
 the curtains~\ 
 
 Now then ! the Queen of the Citterns ! Quick ! 
 Fetch her here ! I know well she has given birth 
 to four and twenty gitternkins by the abbot of 
 Ivernaux : I must stand godfather for him. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Alas ! Think about God the Father, my dear, 
 not about gitterns or gitternkins. 
 
 I'he Draper \aside~\ 
 
 Ha ! What a pair of humbugs ! [Exploding^ 
 Quick now ! Plank down hard cash for the cloth 
 you got of me. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 La ! * If you made one mistake, are n't you sat- 
 isfied ? 
 
 T'be Draper \_app ealingly~\ 
 
 Do you know how it is, dear friend ? So help 
 me God ! I 'm not aware of a mistake . . . [/#- 
 [50]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 dignantly.~] Come now ! Shell out, or be hanged ! 
 \WhiningI\ How do I wrong you if I come here 
 to ask for what is mine ? For by Saint Peter . . . 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Alas ! How you rack the man ! [Inspired."] I 
 see by your looks that you are not sound. [Scan- 
 ning him closely. ~\ As sure as I am a sinner, if I had 
 help I 'd tie you fast, for you 've gone stark mad. 
 
 Draper [desperately] 
 
 Oh dear, oh dear ! I am beside myself at not 
 getting my money. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Oh what witless talk! Cross yourself! Bene- 
 dicite ! [Insisting."] Make the sign of the cross ! 
 
 'The Draper 
 Damn me if ever I trust anybody with . . . 
 
 [be begins to speak brokenly ', hearing noises from the 
 bed, where Patelin is about to have a fresh frenzy] 
 . . . cloth . . . this . . . year . . . Godamercy ! 
 What an invalid ! 
 
 Patelin [leaping down from his bed and striding 
 
 about) performing, meanwhile, various antics 
 
 which the Draper observes with amazement^ 
 
 Mere de diou, la coronade, par fye, y m'en
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 voul anar. Or renague biou, outre mar. Ventre 
 de diou ! zendict gigone, castuy carible et res 
 ne done. Ne carillaine, fuy ta none, que de 
 1'argent il ne me sone ! If it 's ducats, mum is the 
 word. [To the Draper.~\ Have you understood, 
 fair coz ? 
 
 Guillemette \_to the Draper] 
 He once had an uncle near Limoges, a brother 
 of his aunt-in-law. That, I take it, is why he 
 jabbers in the gibberish of Limousin. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Out on you ! He stole away with my cloth 
 under his arm-pit. 
 
 Patelin [taking Guillemette by the hand and starting 
 to lead her away in princely fashion] 
 
 Venez ens, doulce damiselle. [Pointing to the 
 Draper .] Toadspawn ! what 's it after ? \_Haughtily 
 commanding the Draper to draw back.~\ Avaunt, 
 scullion, avaunt ! \While the Draper stares, Patelin 
 strides across the room, snatches up an old gown of 
 Guillemette s, and in very short order gets himself up 
 as a priest ; he then addresses his bewildered visitor 
 in exclamative or questioning tones, ,] Hither ! Has- 
 ten ! Devil, come en chelle vielle monkery. Heh ! 
 fault il que ly prestre rie, quant il deust canter se 
 messe ? 
 
 [ 52 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Alas ! alas ! it will soon be time to give him the 
 extreme unction. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 But how does he happen actually to speak the 
 Picard tongue ? Whence comes this foolishness ? 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 His mother was raised in Picardy ; so he speaks 
 Picard now. 
 
 Patelin \_going toward the Draper] 
 Whence comest thou, merry reveler ? Wacarme ! 
 liefve godeman. Henriey, Henriey, conselapen. 
 [Takes the Draper's hands and goes dancing about 
 the room, singing.~\ Grile, grile, scohehonden, 
 zilop, zilop, en mon que bonden, Disticlien 
 unen desen versen, mat groet festal ou truit 
 den hersen. \As he gives the astounded Draper a 
 final twirl, Patelin trips himself, falls, and lies on 
 his back with only enough strength left to gasp, but 
 in this posture he soon gets breath to continue his 
 linguistic antics.~\ Vuste vuille pour le frimas ! 
 \Kneels as if at a confessional.~\ Faictes venir sire 
 Thomas tantost qui me confessera ! 
 
 The Draper 
 
 What is this ? He will keep on all day talking 
 [53 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 foreign languages. If he would only give me 
 a security, or my money, I would go. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Bless my soul ! . . . Oh, dear me ! You are so 
 outlandish. What will you have ? How you can 
 be so stubborn passes my understanding. 
 
 Patelin \to the Draper] 
 
 Or cha, Renouart au Tine ! Be dea, que ma 
 couille est pelouse ! [The Draper, determined to get 
 his money by hook or by crook, takes hold of Patelin s 
 gown and gives it a pullJ] Les playes dieu ! qu'esse 
 qui s'attaque a men coul ? Esse une vaque ? 
 
 une mousque ? ou ung escarbot ? \fThe Draper 
 retreats, Patelin crouches behind a chair, with only 
 his head visible^ Be dea ! j'e le mau saint Garbot ! 
 
 Suis je des foyreux de Baieux ? 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 How can he stand the strain of so much talking ? 
 ^Witnessing fresh antics \\ Ho ! he is losing his 
 wits ! But how does he come to speak Norman ? 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 His schoolmaster was a Norman ; so in his 
 last hour the memory of it comes back to him. 
 [Further capers by Patelin.~\ He is giving up the 
 ghost ! 
 
 [ 54]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Draper \_in dismay] 
 
 Thunderation ! This is the worst raving that 
 ever I ran foul of. [To Guillemette] I never should 
 have thought he was not this day at market ! 
 
 Guillemette [astonished] 
 You thought so ? 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Yes, hanged if I did n't ; but I see that is n't 
 what happened, at all. 
 
 Patelin [listening, as if he heard some noise in the 
 street] 
 
 Sont il ung asne quej'os braire ? [Sputtering, 
 
 as if another frenzy were coming on] Ha oul dan- 
 daoul en ravezeie Orf ha en euf. [Behind a chair 
 Patelin changes his costume so as to resemble an old 
 hag. Meanwhile Guillemette and the Draper, cling- 
 ing to each other, await the next occurrence with a 
 horror in one case shammed, in the other real. Hear- 
 ing a weird sound from behind the chair, Guillemette 
 cries out, with clasped hands] 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 God help you ! 
 
 [55]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin [picks up a broom, and with the handle makes 
 cabalistic figures on the floor, draws a circle 
 round the Draper ; then sits astride his broom 
 and goes prancing off like a witch, continuing his 
 mutterings~\ 
 
 Huis oz bezou drone nos badou Digaut an 
 tan en hoi madou Maz rehet crux dan holcon 
 So ol oz merveil il grant nacon Aluzen archet 
 epysy Har cals amour ha coureisy. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Alas ! Blest Heaven ! Hearken to it ! He is 
 sinking. How he gurgles ! [To Guillemette.~\ But 
 what is he sputtering about? How he mutters ! 
 Od's bodykin ! he mumbles so I cannot catch a 
 word of it. This is not Christian, or any other 
 tongue, apparently. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 It 's Breton. His grandmother on his father's 
 side came from Brittany. \_Patelin shows signs of ex- 
 haustion^ He is dying ! This shows that he needs 
 his last sacraments. 
 
 Patelin [still astride the broom ; to the Draper] 
 
 He par Gigon, tu te mens. Vualx te deu, 
 
 couille de Lorraine ! \_Starts to explain the cabalistic 
 
 figures to the Draper, who retreats in alarm. Pate- 
 
 [ 56]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 tin pur sues him, whacking the floor and furniture with 
 his broom. Finally r , as the Draper, breathless, takes 
 refuge behind a chair, Patelin addresses him in Latin. ~\ 
 Et bona dies sit vobis, magister amantissime, 
 pater reverendissime, quomodo brulis ? que 
 nova ? Parisius non sunt ova ! Quid petit ille 
 mercator ? Dicat sibi quod trufator, ille qui in 
 lecto jacet, vult ei dare, si placet, de oca ad 
 comedendum. \Fallsonthefloor. 'The Draper, who 
 has regained some of his courage^ helps Guillemette to 
 put Patelin to bed, bolstering him up with pillows. 
 Patelin continues to mutter.~\ 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Upon my word, he will die a-talking ! How he 
 froths ! [To the Draper.^ Do you not mark how 
 he is steaming ? [Casting her eyes aloft, .] Now his 
 human part is going to its heavenly home. \Hiding 
 her face in her hands^\ Now I shall be left alone, 
 poor and forlorn. 
 
 Draper [aside~\ 
 It were well for me to go away before he breathes 
 his last. [To Guillemette.~\ I fear he might be loth, 
 at his decease, to tell you any secrets in my pre- 
 sence, though he would in privacy. Pardon ; for 
 I take my oath I thought he had got my cloth. 
 Good bye, ma'am ; may God forgive me ! 
 
 [57]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Guillemette [showing him ouf\ 
 Heaven bless you and his poor mournful 
 wife ! 
 
 SCENE XIV 
 
 (In the street] 
 
 The Draper 
 
 By all the saints ! I 'm flummuxed worse than 
 ever. \_After a short pause.~\ The Devil, in his 
 stead, took> my cloth to tempt me ! Benedicite ! 
 [Crosses himself. ] May he leave me in peace ! And 
 since the case so stands, I give the cloth in God's 
 name to whosoever took it. \_Reenters his sbop.~\ 
 
 SCENE XV 
 
 (At PateMs] 
 
 PATELIN, GUILLEMETTE 
 
 Patelin [jumping out of bed and waving his hand 
 
 after the departing Draper~\ 
 Go along with you ! [To Guillemette~\ How do 
 you like me for a teacher ? \_Peeping into the street '.] 
 [58]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Crackbrained Neddie is making for home. [Taps 
 bis head significantly '.] Heavens ! he has plenty of 
 rooms to let ! ... At night, when he 's in bed, he is 
 likely to see spooks. 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 How he was bamboozled ! And did n't I do my 
 
 part well ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Od's bodykin ! You 're an angel ! We Ve got 
 cloth enough, I think, to have some clothes ! \With 
 this, Patelin pulls the stolen cloth from the bed, where 
 it has lain bidden, wraps one end round his body and 
 flings the whole strip so that it lies unfolded when it 
 reaches Guillemette' s feet. She grasps her end and 
 whirls so that she and Patelin are close together 
 when the curtain falls, .] 
 
 SCENE XVI 
 
 (At the Draper s shop) 
 
 THE DRAPER 
 Later, TIBALT LAMBKIN, a Shepherd 
 
 The Draper 
 
 That 's the way ! Everybody stuffs me with 
 lies. Everybody carries off my goods, and takes 
 [59 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 what he can get. Of all unlucky men I am the 
 king. The very shepherds cheat me ; but mine, 
 whom I have always treated kindly, shall be sorry 
 for flouting me ! By the blessed Virgin, he shall 
 smart for it ! 
 
 The Shepherd \appearing unexpectedly from the left 
 of the market-place; on being seen by his master^ 
 he removes his cap and bows ; then begins to speak 
 with the thick dull drawl of a born yokel~\ 
 
 God give you a good day, sweet master, and 
 a good evening ! 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 Oho ! So it 's thou, foul churl. A good fellow 
 thou art ; aye, good for the gallows ! 
 
 The Shepherd [resting his crook on the ground and 
 stopping, about five feet from the Draper] 
 
 I ax your pardon, master, but some one or other 
 in striped hosen, which were right disorderly, and 
 he had a rod in his hand, yet no lash on it, said 
 to me, says he . . yet I remember not at all well 
 what it may be, to tell the truth. He spoke to 
 me of you, master, and of some summons or other. 
 As for me, holy mother ! much I know what it 's 
 all about. He muddled me a-talking about ewes 
 and court in the afternoon. And he raised a great 
 hullaballoo for you, master . . . 
 [ 60]
 
 Jefitappict 
 quop Sea djafcutj me patfl 8e foBee 
 djafcutj ma) pottc morj auoic 
 et pient cc quit ct) pcufl auoit 
 or fuie it ft toy 8ce mefcfjatte 
 /nefmcrtt fcs6ccgicre 8cs c^ampe 
 imcca6ufcnf otcefemiet) 
 lqui ia j> toufioute fatt 5u 6ictj 
 if ne ma pae pout Bterj ga66e 
 
 Z4 Shepherd comes to explain
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Draper [shaking bis fist in the face of Lamb- 
 kin, who cowers against the wall~\ 
 
 If I do not have thee hauled forthwith before 
 the judge, may I be drowned and blasted ! Never 
 shalt thou kill one beast, by my oath, but thou 
 remember it ! Anyhow, thou shalt pay me for the 
 six ells .... I mean for slaughtering my sheep, 
 and the havoc thou hast wrought me these ten 
 years past./ 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 Don't believe the slanderers, my good master ; 
 for, upon my soul . . . 
 
 The Draper 
 
 And by Gog's bones, before Saturday thou shalt 
 give me back my six ells of wool . . I mean what 
 was taken from my sheep. 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 What wool ? Ah ! master, I believe you are 
 angry over some other thing. By Saint Lupus ! 
 master, I fear to speak when I look at you. 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Leave me in peace ! Out of my sight ! if thou 
 art wise. And thou hadst better be on hand. 
 [ 62 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 I'he Shepherd 
 
 Master, let us agree. For God's sake, don't go 
 to law about it. 
 
 The Draper [waving him off~\ 
 Begone ! Thy business is in a pretty pass ! 
 [ Telling and shaking his fist in Lambkin s face.'] 
 Begone ! I say. I '11 make no agreement, nor set- 
 tle anything, save as the judge shall do. [He drives 
 the Shepherd out.~\ Yah ! Unless I 'm waty, every 
 one will be swindling me from now on ! 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 God be wi' you, sir, and give you joy ! [Cross- 
 ing the market-place ; to himself. ~\ So I must de- 
 fend myself. [Knocks at Patelin's door.~\ Is any one 
 within ? 
 
 SCENE XVII 
 
 PATELIN, GUILLEMETTE 
 Later, THE SHEPHERD 
 
 Patelin 
 Hang me, if he is n't coming back ! 
 
 Guillemette 
 
 Nay, he is not ; mercy on me ! that would be 
 the very worst. 
 
 [ 6 3]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Shepherd \_as Patelin comes out~\ 
 God be with you ! God bless you ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 God keep thee ! What wilt thou, my good 
 fellow ? 
 
 'The Shepherd 
 
 They will fine me for default unless I appear for 
 trial. And, if you like, you will come, sweet mas- 
 ter, and defend me ; for I know nothing. And I 
 will pay you well, even though I be ill clad. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Come hither, now. Speak up ! Which art thou ? 
 plaintiff? or defendant ? 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 I have business with a dealer do you under- 
 stand, sweet master? whose ewes I have for a 
 great while led to pasture and watched for him. 
 Now, sir, upon my word, I saw he paid me scantly. 
 . . Shall I tell everything ? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 To be sure ! A client should hide nothing from 
 his counsel. 
 
 'The Shepherd 
 
 It is true, sir, beyond denial, that I basted 'em 
 [<*]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 on the skull for him, so that time and again they 
 went into a swoon and fell dead ; no matter how 
 strong and sound they were. And then, lest he 
 should lay it to me, I gave him to understand that 
 they died of the scab. c Ho ! ' quoth he, { take the 
 * scabby one away from the others ; off with her ! ' 
 1 Right willingly ! ' quoth I ; \leering\ but that was 
 done otherwise ; for, by Saint John ! I ate them, 
 knowing well what they wanted. Well, sir, this 
 went on so long, and I slaughtered so many, that 
 he found it out. And when he saw he was being 
 deceived, God help me! he set somebody to 
 spy; for they hear them bleat very loud, you 
 understand, when it 's going on. So I have been 
 caught red-handed ; I can never deny it. Now I 
 beseech you for my part I have money enough 
 that we two steal a march on him. I know well 
 he has the law on his side, but you will find some 
 loophole, if you try, so as to give him the worst 
 of it. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 By your faith, shall you be glad ? \Wmsomely '.] 
 What will you give me if I upset the plaintiff's 
 case, and you are acquitted ? 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 I will pay you not in copper, but in fine gold 
 crowns. 
 
 [65]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Then your case shall be a good one. And were 
 it twice as bad, so much the better ! and the sooner 
 I shall do for him ! As I am going to apply my 
 wisdom, how you shall hear me spout, when he 
 has set forth his suit ! Come hither ! By the holy 
 precious blood ! Art thou crafty enough to under- 
 stand a trick ? What is thy name ? 
 
 The Shepherd 
 By Saint Maurus ! it is Tibalt Lambkin. 
 
 Patelin \jocularly~\ 
 
 Lambkin, hast thou filched many a sucking lamb 
 from thy master? 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 My word ! it is quite likely I have eaten above 
 thirty in three years. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Ten yearly to pay for dice and candles. \Aside^\ 
 I believe I shall let him have it fair! [AloudJ] Dost 
 think he can find any one forthwith to prove his 
 facts ? That is what the case hinges on. 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 Prove, sir ? Blessed Mary ! By all the saints 
 in Paradise ! instead of o n e he '11 have a dozen 
 witnesses against me ! 
 
 [66]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 
 That 's a bad feature in thy case. [Slight pause,"] 
 Here is what I had in mind. I '11 feign to know 
 naught of thee, that I never laid eyes on thee before. 
 
 'The Shepherd [in dismay] 
 Lord, no ! not that ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 No, then I won't. But here is what you must 
 4o. If you talk, they will trap you every time, and 
 in such cases confessions are most prejudicial, and 
 so harmful that it 's the devil and all. Here is the 
 trick ! As soon as they call on you for trial, an- 
 swer nothing but ba-a-a [mimicking a sheep's bleat] , 
 whatever they say to you. And if they happen to 
 curse you, saying, f Ha, stinking fool ! a pox on 
 thee, villain ! Art thou flouting the court ? ' go 
 ba-a. ' Oh ! ' I '11 say, ' he is half-witted ; he thinks 
 he is talking to his sheep ! ' But even if they split 
 their heads with roaring, not another word ! Be- 
 ware ! 
 
 'The Shepherd 
 
 I take it to heart, and truly I will be wary, and 
 I will do it properly, I promise and affirm. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Now heed ! No flinching ! And whatever I say 
 or do, give me no other answer.
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 I ? By my sacrament ! call me a fool outright 
 if I utter to-day another word, to you or to any 
 one, whatsoever they say to me, but only ba-a> as 
 you have taught me. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 By Saint John ! There is the prank to outwit 
 your adversary ! [In a tone between wheedling 
 and threat.~\ But when it is done, pay me a right 
 good fee. 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 Master, if I do not pay as agreed, never trust 
 me. But I pray, look carefully to my business. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 By 'r Lady of Boulogne, the Judge must be 
 holding court ; for he always is on hand by six 
 o'clock, or thereabouts. Now come along with 
 me, but we will not take the same road. 
 
 I'he Shepherd 
 
 Quite so ! \_shrewdly\ they must n't see that 
 you 're my lawyer. 
 
 Patelin \_thre at eningly\ 
 
 By 'r Lady ! Mind your eye, if you don't pay 
 generously ! 
 
 [68]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 Why ! as agreed, sir ; do not doubt it. [Sets 
 out.~\ 
 
 Patelin \_aloni\ 
 
 Oh, well, half a loaf is better than no loaf at 
 all. I shall hook a minnow, anyhow ; and if he is 
 lucky, he will give me a crown or so for my pains. 
 [Follows the Shepherd into the market-place, ,] 
 
 SCENE XVIII 
 
 (In the market-place] 
 
 (Enter Judge, followed by a clerk, a score of archers, 
 bailiffs, and loiterers, who range themselves to the 
 right and left of the market-cross, so as to leave 
 an open space before the Judge s seat. The Judge 
 sits down and surveys the crowd] 
 
 THE JUDGE, PATELIN, THE SHEPHERD, then THE 
 
 DRAPER 
 Patelin [removes his hat ; to the Judge~\ 
 
 God bless you, sir, and grant you your heart's 
 desire ! 
 
 'The Judge 
 
 Welcome, sir ! But cover yourself. There ! 
 Take a seat. 
 
 [69]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin [biding in the crowd, to avoid being seen by 
 the Draper y whose breathless approach brings 
 to him the sudden realisation that the Shepherd's 
 adversary is the very person whom he has him- 
 self beguiled~\ 
 Oh, I am all right, sir, if you please ; there 's 
 
 more room here. 
 
 The Judge \brusquely\ 
 
 If there is business, have done with it, in order 
 that the court may adjourn. 
 
 'The Draper [arrives much flurried, just as the Judge 
 
 has spoken] 
 
 My lawyer is coming, your Worship. He is 
 finishing a little work that he was at, and it would 
 
 be kind of you to wait for him. 
 
 / 
 
 The Judge \_testily~] 
 
 Come, come ! I have business elsewhere. If 
 the offending party is here, set forth your case at 
 once. Are you not the plaintiff? 
 
 'The Draper 
 I am. 
 
 'The Judge [casting his eyes about\ 
 
 Where is the defendant? Is he present in per- 
 son ? 
 
 [ 70]
 
 SouefetfceflicijSefafcrtSze 
 
 jdeiugt 
 
 & c Sea it aif feuce a entente 
 e Sofac at tic cf iectif c 
 
 et rteflce Sous pae 8emau5cuc
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Draper [pointing at the Sbepherd~\ 
 
 Yes, there he is, keeping mum ; but God knows 
 he has something to think about. 
 
 The Judge [to the Draper] 
 
 Since you are both here, make known your 
 suit. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 This, then, is what I am bringing an action 
 against him for. Your Worship, the truth is that 
 for the love of God, and out of charity, I reared 
 him in his childhood ; and when I saw that he 
 was strong enough to work in the fields, to cut 
 it short, I made him my shepherd and set him to 
 watching my flock ; but as true as you are sitting 
 there, your Worship, he has wrought such havoc 
 among my ewes and wethers that, no mistaking, 
 he ... 
 
 I'he Judge [officious] 
 Now listen ! Was n't he in your hire ? 
 
 Patelin [breaking in, ostensibly to show that the 
 Judge has made a good point] 
 
 Aye, that 's it ! For had he kept him for pure 
 sport, without hire . . . 
 
 [ 72 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Draper [recognising Patelin^ who bides bis face 
 
 behind his band~\ 
 
 The devil get me ! If it 's not you, and no 
 mistake ! 
 
 The Judge \_to Patelin~] 
 
 How is this ? You are holding your hand up. 
 Have you a toothache, Master Pierre ? 
 
 Patelin \_wincing~\ 
 
 Yes, my teeth are raising such a row that I 
 never felt worse pains. I dare n't lift my head. 
 [Heaving one hand.~\ For God's sake, make him 
 proceed ! 
 
 The Judge [to the Draper] 
 
 Goon. Finish your charge. Come! Conclude 
 promptly. 
 
 The Draper [aside, and staring at Patelin] 
 By the holy rood, 't is he and no other ! [To 
 Patelin.'] It was you I sold six ells of cloth to, 
 Master Pierre ! 
 
 The Judge [to Patelin] 
 What is he saying about cloth f 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge"] 
 
 He's rambling. He means to come to the 
 [ 73]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 point, but he can't find his way to it, for he lacks 
 the training. 
 
 I'he Draper \half choked with indignation} 
 Hang me if anybody else took my cloth, by 
 the bloody throat ! 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge~\ 
 
 How the wretched man lugs his inventions in 
 to make out a case ! The pig-headed fellow 
 means, of course, that his shepherd had sold the 
 wool that went into the cloth that made my gar- 
 ment, by saying that he is robbing him, and that 
 he stole the wool of his sheep. 
 
 The Draper \_to Patelin} 
 Damn me, if you have n't it ! 
 
 I'he Judge \to the Draper} 
 
 In the devil's name, be still ! You are twaddling. 
 Can you not return to the subject, without delay- 
 ing the court by such drivel ? 
 
 Patelin \with one hand still on Ms jaw] 
 
 My teeth ache so ; yet I must laugh ! [Looking 
 toward the Draper^} He 's already in such haste 
 that he does n't know where he left off. We must 
 set him right again. 
 
 [ 74]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Judge [to the Draper} 
 Come ! Let 's stick to those sheep ! What hap- 
 pened ? 
 
 'The Draper [is about to return to bis sheep, when 
 Patelin, by stepping in front of him, diverts his 
 attention ; whereupon he shakes his fist at 
 Patelin and at the same time appeals to the 
 Judge-] 
 He took six ells, worth nine francs ! 
 
 'The Judge [bawling] 
 
 Are we greenhorns ? or tomfools ? Where do 
 you think you are ? 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge\ 
 
 Od's blood ! He takes us for ganders, I sup- 
 pose ! Oh, he looks so very good ! but let me 
 advise that his opponent be examined a bit. 
 
 "The Judge [regaining his composure] 
 Very true ! He is familiar with the man ; he 
 must needs know him. [To the Sbepherd.~] Step 
 forward. Speak. 
 
 'The Shepherd [shambling forward and looking very 
 
 duir\ 
 
 Ba-a! 
 
 [ 75]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Judge 
 
 Hoity-toity ! Here 's a mess ! What is this 
 ba-a ? Am I a goat ? Speak to me ! 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 'The Judge 
 A murrain on you ! Ha! Are you flouting us? 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge~] 
 
 Believe me, he is crazy, or stupid, or he fancies 
 he 's among his sheep. 
 
 I'he Draper [wildly ', to Patelin~\ 
 Damn me if you are not the very man that took 
 it, my cloth, I mean. [To the Judged] Oh, you 
 can't imagine, sir, by what deceit . . . 
 
 'The Judge [threatening 
 
 Hold your tongue! Are you an idiot? Leave 
 that matter alone, and let 's come to the point ! 
 
 The Draper 
 
 True, your Worship ; but the circumstance 
 concerns me ; yet on my faith I '11 not utter an- 
 other word about it. Another time it may be dif- 
 ferent. I shall have to swallow it whole. Well, 
 as I was saying, I gave six ells \_the Judge starts 
 ' [ 76]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 up] ... I mean, my sheep . . . pray, sir, forgive 
 me . . . this nice master [Pierre] . . . my shepherd, 
 when he ought to have been in the fields . . . 
 [Shaking bis fist at Patelin and appealing frantically 
 to the Judge]. He told me I should have six 
 crowns in gold, as soon as I came . . . [as the 
 Judge threatens^ ... I mean, three years ago my 
 shepherd gave me his word that he would watch 
 over my flock loyally and do me no damage to it, 
 nor any villainy, and then . . . \_seeing Patelin] 
 now he denies me outright both cloth and money. 
 [70 Patelin] .Oh, Master Pierre, truly . . [Catches 
 a warning frown from the Judge.~\ That scoun- 
 drel robbed me of the wool of my sheep ; and 
 healthy though they were, he killed them, and 
 made them die by pounding out their brains . . 
 [Again Patelin distracts his attention.'] When he 
 had tucked my cloth under his arm-pit he hurried 
 off, saying I should go and get six gold crowns at 
 his house. 
 
 'The Judge 
 
 There is neither rime nor reason in all your 
 railing. What does it mean ? Now you interlard 
 one thing, now another. In short, fore God, I can 
 make neither head nor tail of it. [To Patelin.'] He 
 muddles something about cloth and prattles next 
 of sheep, helter skelter. What can he be driving 
 at? 
 
 [ 77 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Now, I undertake that he is keeping back the 
 poor shepherd's wage. 
 
 I'be Draper \to Patelin} 
 
 By heaven, you might hold your tongue ! My 
 cloth . . as true as gospel . . I know where my 
 shoe pinches better than you or any one. Od's 
 bones, you have it ! 
 
 'I'be Judge \_to the Draper] 
 What has he ? 
 
 The Draper 
 
 Nothing, sir. [Again bursts oufJ] Upon my 
 oath, he is the greatest swindler . . \*The Judge 
 threatens.] Oh, I '11 be silent about it, if I can, 
 and not speak of it again, whatever happens. 
 
 I'be Judge 
 No ! But remember ! Now finish speedily. 
 
 Patelin {to the Judge] 
 
 This shepherd cannot answer the charge with- 
 out counsel; yet he is afraid, or knows not how 
 to ask for it. If you were willing to order me to 
 take his case, I would. 
 
 [78]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 'The Judge \_ironic ally~\ 
 
 H i s case ? You 'd get cold comfort out of that, 
 I should imagine. It 's hardly worth while. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 But, honestly, I don't care to make anything out 
 of it ; let it be done for charity ! Burning toward 
 the Shepherd.~\ Now I 'm going to find out from 
 the poor lad what he will tell me, and whether, 
 perchance, he may afford me matter for his defence. 
 He would have a hard time getting out of it, if 
 nobody came to his rescue. [70 the Sbepberd.~\ 
 Come hither, my friend. \With an utterly 'vacant 
 expression the Shepherd slouches forward a step or 
 two, with his crook in one hand y and his cap in the 
 other^\ If any one could find . . . dost thou 
 understand? 
 
 The Shepherd 
 
 Ea-a ! 
 
 Patelin [feigning astonishment] 
 
 Ea-a ? The devil ! What ba-a ? Zounds ! Art 
 thou crazy ? Tell me thy business. 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ea-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 How ba-a? Dost thou hear thy ewes a-bleat- 
 ing? Mind, it is to thine interest. 
 [ 79 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 Patelin [entreating] 
 
 Now speak ! Say yes, and no. [_Whispering.~\ 
 Well done ! Keep it up ! 
 
 The Shepherd [softly] 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Louder, or it may cost thee dear. 
 
 'The Shepherd [very loud~\ 
 Ba-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin [as, with a despairing gesture, he appeals to 
 
 the Judge~\ 
 
 The maddest man is he who drives such a born 
 fool into court ! Oh, sir ! send him back to his 
 ewes : he is a fool by nature. 
 
 'The Draper [to Patelin~\ 
 
 A fool, you say ? Saint Saviour of Asturia ! he 
 has more sense than you ! 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge~\ 
 
 Send him away to watch over his flocks, 
 never to return. Cursed be whoever cites such 
 a lackbrains into court ! 
 
 [80]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Draper [to the Judge~\ 
 And he is to be sent away before I can be heard ? 
 
 Patelin [to the Draper] 
 
 So help me ! Yes ; since he 's out of his mind. 
 Why not ? 
 
 Draper [to the Judge] 
 Oh now, sir ; at least allow me first to have my 
 say. What I have to say is no trumpery, nor 
 scoffing. 
 
 Judge 
 
 Vexation is all that comes of having dolts on 
 trial, either male or female. Listen ! To cut the 
 matter short, the court will adjourn. 
 
 The Draper \wistfully\ 
 
 Shall they go away without ever having to 
 appear again? 
 
 The Judge [gathering up bis robe~] 
 Well, now what . . 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge~\ 
 
 Appear again ! You never saw a madder man, 
 neither in his acts nor in his answers. [Pointing to 
 the Draper I\ And h e is not a whit better. Both 
 [ 81 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 are brainless fools. I '11 be blessed ! between them 
 they have n't a pennyweight of brains ! 
 
 I'he Draper [shaking his fist at Patelin] 
 
 You carried it off by lying, that cloth, I 
 mean, and without paying for it, Master Pierre. 
 Fore God, that was the work of no upright man. 
 
 Patelin [to the crowd~\ 
 
 Saint Pintle of Rome! If he isn't mad al- 
 ready, he is going mad. 
 
 I'he Draper [to Pate/in] 
 
 I know you by your speech, and by your dress. 
 I am not mad : I am sound enough to know who 
 does right by me. [*To the Judged] I will tell you 
 the whole matter, my lord ; upon my word I will ! 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge] 
 
 Oh, sir ! Bid him be still ! [To the Draper^] 
 Ain't you ashamed to wrangle so with this poor 
 shepherd over three or four measly sheep not worth 
 two buttons ! [*To the crowd.~\ He makes more 
 ado . . . 
 
 I'be Draper [storming and shaking his fist s~\ 
 What sheep ? \With an expression of weariness 
 and indignation he gives a couple of turns to an 
 [ 82 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 imaginary crank.~\ A hurdy-gurdy ! Always the 
 same old tune ! [Shaking bis finger in Patelin s 
 face.~\ It's to yourself I am talking, to you! 
 and by all that 's holy you shall give it back 
 to me! 
 
 "The Judge 
 
 Look you ! I am lucky ! [To the crowd.'] He 
 will never stop bawling ! 
 
 1"he Draper [to the Judge~\ 
 I ask him . . . 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge] 
 
 Make him be still ! [*To the Draper."] Oh good- 
 ness ! Give that song a rest ! Suppose he has 
 lammed six or seven, or a dozen, and eaten 
 them. Hell's bells! That is hard on you! You've 
 earned more than that while he 's been keeping 
 them. 
 
 The Draper [to the Judge"] 
 
 Mark, sir ! Mark ! When I talk to him of 
 cloth, he answers with his shepherd fooleries ! 
 \jTo Patelin.~] Six ells of cloth that you put under 
 your arm-pit and walked off with where are 
 they ? Do you mean to give them back to me ? 
 
 Patelin [jo the Judge"] 
 
 Oh, sir ! Would you have him hanged for six 
 [83]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 or seven sheep ? At least, sir, take time to catch 
 your breath. Don't be so harsh to a forlorn shep- 
 herd, who 's as naked as my nail. 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 A pretty way to change the subject ! It was 
 the devil made me sell cloth to such a customer ! 
 \jTo the Judge.~] Oh now, your Worship, I ask 
 him . . . 
 
 'The Judge \_to the Draper] 
 I acquit him of your charge and forbid you to 
 proceed. A great honour it is to have a lunatic in 
 court ! [70 the Shepherd.~] Away to your beasts ! 
 
 "The Shepherd 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 The Judge \_to the Draper] 
 You show well what you are, sir, by 's death ! 
 
 The Draper 
 Oh, my lord, upon my soul, I wish . . . 
 
 Patelin \_to the bystanders'] 
 Could he stop ? 
 
 The Draper [turning upon Patelin] 
 And my business is with you! You cheated 
 [84]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 me and carried off my cloth by stealth and with 
 your smooth talk . . . 
 
 Patelin [to the Judge] 
 I cross my heart ! Why, do you hear him, sir ? 
 
 'The Draper [to Patelin] 
 
 God help me, you 're the most arrant trick- 
 ster . . . [To the Judge.~\ Your Worship, what- 
 ever they may say . . . 
 
 'The Judge 
 
 You are a pair of idiots, both of you ! It 's 
 naught but wrangling. [He rises.~\ Yah ! It is 
 about time to be leaving. [T0 the Shepherd.~] Get 
 thee gone, my friend, and never return, whatever 
 bailiff serves a warrant on thee. The court acquits 
 thee. Dost thou comprehend ? 
 
 Patelin [to the Shepherd'] 
 Say c I thank you, sir.' 
 
 'The Shepherd 
 Ba-a! 
 
 'The Judge [to the Shepherd~] 
 
 I mean it. Never mind ! Begone ! \Half to 
 himself. ~\ It is just as well. 
 [ 85 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Draper 
 Is it fair that he should go away like this ? 
 
 Tbe Judge [with a snort of disgu sf\ 
 
 Huh ! I have business elsewhere. [Both to 
 Patelin and to the Draper .] You are by all odds 
 too fond of jibes. You shall keep me no longer : 
 I am going. [T0 Patelin.] Will you come and sup 
 with me, Master Pierre ? 
 
 Patelin \j>uts his hand over his mouth and winces, 
 
 as if his teeth were still aching} 
 I cannot. 
 
 [Exit Judge, followed by the throng of 
 archers, bailiff's, loiterers, etc.} 
 
 SCENE XIX 
 
 (Still in the market-place) 
 
 THE DRAPER, PATELIN, THE SHEPHERD 
 
 I'be Draper \_to Patelin} 
 
 A downright robber ! that 's what you are ! Say ! 
 Am I going to be paid ? 
 
 [ 86 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin 
 
 For what ? Is your mind wandering ? Why, who 
 do you think I am ? By my heel ! I was wondering 
 who you took me for. 
 
 'fhe Draper 
 Pah! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 My dear sir, wait a bit. I '11 tell you right now 
 who you think you take me for. Maybe it's for 
 Brainless ? \With one hand Patelin removes his hat ; 
 with the other he points to his bald spot.~\ Look ! 
 \_Deprecatingly.~] Nay, nay ! He is n't bald, as I 
 am, on top of his pate. 
 
 Draper 
 
 You mean to take me for a blockhead, eh ? 'T is 
 you, as sure as I 'm alive, you yourself. Your 
 voice proves it, and I know it 's so. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 What! Me myself ? Nay; truly it is n't. Try 
 another guess. Might n't it be Jean de Noyon ? 
 He 's shaped like me. 
 
 Draper 
 
 Ugh ! He has no such boozy, sodden face. 
 [ 87 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Did n't I leave you sick in bed a short while 
 since? 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Ho ! There you have it ! Sick ? And with what 
 malady ? Own up to being a jackanapes, as 
 clearly enough you are ! 
 
 'The Draper 
 
 It 's you ; by Saint Peter's bones ! You ! and 
 nobody else ! I know it for a fact. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Now, don't you believe anything of the sort ! 
 For it 's not me, at all. I never took an ell, nor 
 even half an ell, from you. It 's likely I would 
 do such a thing ! 
 
 'The Draper [looking blank~\ 
 
 Hm ! I 'm going to have a look at your house, 
 to see whether you are there. There 's no use in 
 our worrying our heads about it any longer here, 
 if IJind you there. 
 
 Patelin 
 
 By 'r Lady ! Now you have it ! That is the 
 way to find out. 
 
 [Exit Draper.~] 
 [ 88 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 SCENE XX 
 
 (Near the front of the market-place) 
 
 PATELIN, THE SHEPHERD 
 
 Patelin 
 Say, Lambkin ! 
 
 'The Shepherd 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 Patelin [beckoning] 
 
 Come hither. Come. Was thy business well 
 done ? [The Shepherd does not move ; Patelin starts 
 to approach him~\ 
 
 The Shepherd [edging off~\ 
 Ba-a! 
 
 Patelin [stops, apprehensive lest Lambkin may take 
 to flight} 
 
 The plaintiff's gone, now. Cease thy ba-a: it's 
 no longer needed. \Winsomely r .] Did n't I trounce 
 him ? Did n't I counsel thee just right ? 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ba-a-a ! 
 
 [89]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Patelin [drawing a step or two closer] 
 
 Come, come ! Nobody will overhear you. Speak 
 right out. You need n't fear. 
 
 'The Shepherd [looking for an outlet] 
 
 Ba-a I 
 
 Patelin [firmly] 
 
 It is time for me to be going. Pay me ! 
 
 The Shepherd [just audibly] 
 Ba-a! 
 
 Patelin [patting the Shepherd, and in a beguiling 
 tone] 
 
 To say truth, you did your part prettily, and 
 your behaviour was first rate. What left him in the 
 lurch was the way you kept from laughing. 
 
 The Shepherd [bleating a little louder] 
 
 Ba-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Why ba-a ? It 's not needed any longer. 
 [Holds out his hand.~] Come! Pay me well and 
 nicely. 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ba-a! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Why ba-a ? Talk sensibly, and pay me ; then 
 I will go my way. 
 
 [ 90 ]
 
 
 
 Itfogte 
 
 ta6efottrtecfteffe0ie?jfaicfc 
 
 Pattlin tries to collect tit fee
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 T'be Shepherd [still louder] 
 Ba-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Let me tell you something. Can you guess what 
 I am going to say ? Please pay me without further 
 railing. I Ve had enough of your ba-a. [Holding 
 out his hand.~\ Pay me, quick ! 
 
 T'he Shepherd [backs off, with a -prolonged bleat] 
 Ba-a-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin [reproachfully] 
 
 Is this mockery ? Is this the most you intend 
 to do ? [Growing fiercely eager. ~\ Upon my oath, 
 you shall pay me, unless you can fly ! [Corner- 
 ing the Shepherd.~\ Do you understand? Here! 
 My fee ! 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 This is a jest ! \With a shade of pathos~] What ! 
 Is this all I am to get ? 
 
 'The Shepherd 
 Ba-a! 
 
 Patelin [half in jest, but persuasively] 
 You are riming; but this is prose. Hm ! Is 
 [ 92 ]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 there any green in my eye ? Are you aware whom 
 you are trying to take in ? Babble to me no longer 
 with your ba-a I and pay me my fee. 
 
 The Shepherd [growing restless] 
 Ea-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin [keeping him corner ed~\ 
 Is that the only cash I am to get ? With whom 
 do you fancy you are playing ? [Regretfully.] And 
 I was to take such pride in you ! Now let me be 
 proud of you. 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 Patelin 
 
 Are you feeding me on goose? [Fiercely] By 
 Gog's arms ! Have I lived to see myself jeered at 
 by an oaf, a sheep in clothing, a filthy churl ! 
 
 The Shepherd 
 Ba-a ! 
 
 Patelin [in gentle reproach] 
 Is this the only word I am to hear ? If you are 
 merely fooling, say so, and spare me further argu- 
 ment. \_A slight paused] Come to my house for 
 supper, Lambkin. 
 
 [93]
 
 MASTER PIERRE PATELIN 
 
 Shepherd \_glances at Patelin cunningly ; then 
 
 gives a loud bleat] 
 Ea-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin [half to himself] 
 
 By Saint John, you are right ! The goslings 
 take the geese to pasture. [70 himself, ,] I thought 
 myself the master of all deceivers, here and else- 
 where ; of the old stagers, too, and of such as pay 
 their debts on Doomsday ; but a mere shepherd 
 leaves me behind ! [To the Shepherd, who is trying 
 to make good his escape^ By Saint James ! if I 
 could find a bailiff, I 'd have you nabbed ! 
 
 'The Shepherd \_dodging about, while Patelin endeav- 
 ours to head him ojf\ 
 
 Ba-a ! Ea-a-a ! 
 
 Patelin [trying to get hold of the Shepherd~\ 
 Hm ! Ba-a! Hang me if I don't go after a 
 good bailiff! Bad luck to him if he doesn't put 
 you into gaol ! 
 
 'The Shepherd [feeing] 
 If he finds me, I '11 forgive him ! 
 
 EXPLICIT 
 [94]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 Page 4. 'The Conjuring-book.' Guillemette means le gri- 
 maire, a derivative of grammatica ( = ' Latin grammar ' ) . For 
 several centuries the superstitious regarded le grimaire (English 
 ' gramary ' ) as a work having some occult connexion with the 
 Devil. See, for instance, the fabliau of Martin Hapart, vol. ii, 
 p. 176, in the Recueil general et complet des fabliaux. In the 
 fabliau of Le rot d ' Angle terre et le jongleur d* 'Ely, ib., p. 242, 
 grymoire seems to mean 'rigmarole.' In Rabelais (iv, 45) we 
 read: < Autour de luy estoient trois prebstres bien ras et tonsures, 
 lisans le grimoyre et conjurans les diables.' To give in modern 
 speech the exact connotation of le grimaire is quite impossible. 
 
 II 
 
 Page 4. ' Charlemaine in Spain.' The first verses of the Song 
 of Roland state that Charles the Great spent full seven years 
 in Spain. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Page 5. 'Slyboots.' Le Roy reads cbaudes testes ; Levet 
 changes cbaudes to saiges. Levet' s alteration seems to indicate 
 that cbaudes testes was no longer clear in 1489, or thereabouts, 
 and had, therefore, to be replaced by a more familiar expression. 
 In my opinion, cbaudes testes was slang, and meant something 
 not very different from the translation that I have offered. At all 
 
 [97 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 events, to think of this wily barrister as ' hot-headed ' would 
 be to endow him with a characteristic scarcely in keeping with 
 his personality as it is portrayed in the remainder of the piece. 
 A dare-devil he is, but self-controlled. It was trickery, not anger 
 or violence, that caused Maitre Pierre to spend a Saturday in the 
 pillory. 
 
 IV 
 
 Page 5. ' Silks and satins,' a rough equivalent of camelos 
 . . tt . . camocas. Camlet, or chamlet, to give the English 
 forms of camelot and cbamelot, seems to have been a thick, 
 wavy material, originally composed of camel's hair or goat's hair, 
 but later, apparently, of silk and wool. ' Of fees and robes 
 hadde he many oon,' says Chaucer of his Sergeant of the Law, 
 and Rabelais scoffingly mentions ' 1'avocat, seigneur de Came- 
 lotiere,' uncle of ' le medecin d'eau douce, feu Amer' (Prol. 
 Book v). Camoca was probably a silken stuff, also sumptuous. 
 
 Patelin's envious thrust at the gorgeously robed lawyers strikes 
 home ; for they, as well as the half-starved throng of pettifoggers 
 to which Patelin belongs, were bent upon filling their wallets by 
 hook or by crook. Commines (vi, 5) was indignant at their 
 corrupt practices ; generations later they aroused the scorn of 
 Montaigne and excited the sarcasm of Moliere. 
 
 V 
 
 Page 6. ' \_Counting on his finger s\ ' the only stage-direc- 
 tion to be found in any known fifteenth-century text of Patelin, 
 
 VI 
 
 Page 8. 'Undergarment.' The original seems to contain a 
 complicated pun on blanchet, which may be taken as the dimin- 
 utive of blanc (English 'blank'), a small coin; or may mean 
 ' blanket ' for a bed, or a ' petticoat ' ; or even be the antonym 
 of brunet, the masculine of brunette. The actor who performed 
 
 [98 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 the part of Patelin was no doubt made up to look pale 
 and boozy (Jiotatif}, as we shall see further on (pp. 48 and 
 87). If Patelin is both pale and boozy, he is blancbet. This 
 farce contains several puns of varying merit ; but the reader will 
 pardon the translator both for his inability to do them justice, and 
 for passing them henceforth in silence. 
 
 VII 
 
 Page 17. ' God's-pennies.' The system of giving a trades- 
 man earnest-money still survives ; but nowadays we call it a 
 ' deposit,' rather than ' God's-penny,' as it was commonly 
 called by our medieval ancestors. 
 
 In the Middle Ages it seems to have been customary to give the 
 God's-penny to the purveyor, or to his agent (see Du Cange), 
 as a token of religious obligation to pay the whole debt within a 
 certain period, not on Doomsday, in the manner of Master Pate- 
 lin. Often, if not always, the denier a Dieu {denarius Dei) was 
 dropped into a box somewhere near the church, or either in or 
 near the market-place. There it remained till removed by a serv- 
 ant of the Church. My stage-direction follows closely the tradi- 
 tion of the Comedie Francaise, and is probably not a contradiction 
 of history. 
 
 VIII 
 
 Page 1 8. ' Saturday. ' Market-day regularly fell on Saturday. 
 See Note xiv. 
 
 IX 
 
 Page 1 8. 'Saint Maudeleyne's day.' Magdalen College at 
 Oxford, despite its spelling, preserves the Middle English pro- 
 nunciation. I have chosen the popular form because of its eu- 
 phonious nature and its more popular, less sacred air. Saint 
 Maudeleyne's day is the 22 July. 
 
 [99]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 Page 21. ' That goose. ' Patelin says, in the original, Et 
 si mengeres de mon oye,' a grimly humorous phrase; for, 
 in the first place, Master Pierre has no goose, and, furthermore, 
 manger de I* oye, or de I'oue, was a proverbial expression, mean- 
 ing approximately ' to get something not bargained for,' or, as 
 we say, 'to go on a fool's errand,' or on ' a wild-goose chase.' 
 Imagine the pleasure with which an early audience would have 
 listened to this bit of dramatic irony. 
 
 XI 
 
 Page 24. 'That trickster,' etc. These few words damn the 
 Draper. He makes himself fair game, and his subsequent mis- 
 fortunes are justified from an artistic point of view, however little 
 they are justified by morality. 
 
 XII 
 
 Page 27. ' Guillaume.' In the fifteenth century ' Guil- 
 laume ' meant not only 'William,' but also 'dunce' or 'gull.' 
 It would be easy to cite many similar applications of English 
 baptismal names. Jack-pudding, Jackanapes, Tomfool, Willy, 
 Neddy, Johnny (a town fop who haunts green-rooms, or any 
 effeminate man-about-town), Miss Nancy, and Ralph Spooner 
 will do for examples. ' Chaque nation,' says Montaigne (i, 
 46), 'a quelques noms qui se prennent, je ne scay comment, 
 en mauvaise part : et a nous Jehan, Guillaume, Benoit. ' Mon- 
 taigne goes on to say that at a banquet given by Henry Duke of 
 Normandy the guests were grouped at table according to their 
 names. At the first table sat one hundred and ten knights named 
 Guillaume. 
 
 XIII 
 
 Page 27. 'Let's bind the bargain with a drink.' The im- 
 [ 100 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 plication is obvious ; but could Patelin have got any publican to 
 trust him ? See page 8 of the text. 
 
 XIV 
 
 Page 30. 'That Saturday they put you in the stocks.' 
 Saturday was chosen because it was market-day (see Note vin). 
 The prisoner's ignominy would thus be known, not only to his 
 fellow townsmen, but also to the crowds who flocked in from the 
 neighbouring country. Here we encounter, therefore, one of sev- 
 eral flaws or inconsistencies in the plot of Patelin. Even so dull 
 a fool as the Draper could hardly be ignorant of Patelin' s repu- 
 tation ; indeed he calls him a trickster, as we have seen ; never- 
 theless he trusts Patelin, and actually expects to receive payment 
 and have a bite of Patelin' s goose. 
 
 XV 
 
 Page 31. ' Saint Mat. ' Mathurinus was a saint in Gasti- 
 nois (Gatinais), a district lying southwest of Paris. Saint Mathe- 
 lin, to give his popular name, was ' held to be the Physitian, or 
 Patron of mad fooles ' (Cotgrave). 'Saint Vitus's dance' is one 
 of the few English phrases left over from a time when various 
 saints supplied names for as many kinds of maladies. The liberty 
 of abbreviating the name has been taken because ' Mathelin ' 
 would rime disagreeably (in prose) with ' Patelin,' and because 
 ' Mathelin ' is in any case a name without meaning, so far as most 
 persons are concerned. 
 
 XVI 
 
 Page 38. ' This must have happened since sunrise, then,' etc. 
 On page 68 we learn that the trial takes place about six o'clock. 
 In the fifteenth century the hours had come to be reckoned as 
 they are now. Therefore the whole action of Patelin consumes 
 some ten or twelve hours of daylight, and the first great comedy 
 C 101 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 composed in a modern tongue observes the Unity of Time, if we 
 understand that term according to traditional canons. In reality 
 the imagination needs only about an hour and a quarter to learn 
 a series of events which occupy, with intervals not altogether easy 
 to determine, a period lasting approximately from rather early in 
 the morning till dusk. 
 
 Now, as to the Unity of Place. On the medieval stage the 
 various scenes of a story were visualised, not by the shifting of 
 scenery, but by the juxtaposition of all the structures necessary to 
 the performance of a given piece. From the beginning of a play 
 to its close the stage-setting remained unchanged. Such, at any 
 rate, was the character of the 'serious drama,' and there is no 
 good reason for supposing that a wholly different arrangement 
 obtained in the performing of farces (see Preface, pages xiii and 
 xiv). We may assume that on one side of a broad stage stood 
 the Draper's shop, or some structure intended to represent it. 
 On the other side stood Patelin's abode, designated, perhaps, by 
 hardly more than a wall with a door in it (see the woodcut, 
 page 33), and that this door opened upon an area representing 
 a market-place, or, at all events, a space wide enough to lend some 
 plausibility to the events set forth in Patelin. If we grant this 
 to be true, the Unity of Place, also, is observed in Patelin. The 
 setting adopted by the Comedie Francaise is unquestionably very 
 different from that of the Middle Ages, and does not observe the 
 Unity of Place, if by that term we mean one and the same local- 
 ity completely visible at a given moment. 
 
 In Patelin the Unity of Action is not marred by any irrelevant 
 digression, though certain entrances are too timely. But this same 
 flaw is common in Moliere, whose characters often appear on the 
 scene with no better warrant than a ' Mais le voila qui vient,' 
 or some other similar phrase. As late as Labiche unjustified en- 
 trances are still common; but the most modern playwrights, when 
 they are genuine artists, avoid this defect in dramatic construction. 
 
 I02
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 XVII 
 
 Page 39. ' Rosewater,' etc. In the Middle Ages rosewater 
 was supposed to be efficacious in restoring persons who felt faint, 
 or who had fallen into a swoon. Recipes for distilling this remedy 
 have been preserved by numerous works on medicine. 
 
 In his essay On Three Good Women ' (n, 35), Montaigne 
 speaks of rubbing the feet as if that had been a common way of 
 restoring life or vitality. 
 
 XVIII 
 
 Page 40. ' Marmara, carimari, carimara.' This gibberish 
 seems to parody some weird formula once used by priests in per- 
 forming exorcisms upon persons supposedly possessed. We have 
 much the same sort of thing in the mild incantation ' Ena, mena, 
 mina, mo ! Catch a nigger by the toe,' etc., or in ' Fe, fi, fo, 
 fiim ! I smell the blood of an Englishmun ! ' As Patelin is being 
 plagued by ' black men,' the conjecture that ' marmara, carimari, 
 carimara ' is a burlesque of some formula of exorcism, seems 
 highly plausible, though these particular syllables may imitate some 
 rigmarole in the patter of fifteenth-century trick-performing mounte- 
 banks. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Page 40. 'Away with them! away!' The text reads, 
 ' Amenes les moy, amenes ! ' In the so-called Chronique scan- 
 daleuse (A. D. 1460-1483 ), and in various other medieval texts, 
 amener is more than once used for emmener. My translation is 
 warranted, therefore, by pure philology as well as by common 
 sense. 
 
 XX 
 
 Page 40. 'A stole.' When a priest had occasion to drive 
 away the devil, it was desirable, if not indispensable, that he 
 should use a stole, the symbol of obedience. For a detailed de- 
 [ 103 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 scription of this custom, which is still common in the Roman 
 Catholic Church, see my ' Exorcism with a Stole,' in Modern 
 Language Notes for December, 1904. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Page 42. 'My water.' Medieval physicians set great store 
 by the examination of urinal symptoms. A large number of manu- 
 scripts treating of this subject have come down, and literary allu- 
 sions are common as late as the eighteenth century. 
 
 XXII 
 
 Page 44. 'No goose.' At this period geese were a luxury 
 not often relished by persons like our Draper, and one may im- 
 agine how he had set his heart on eating this delicacy at Pate- 
 lin's table. See Note x. 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Page 48. 'Three lessons and three psalms.' Between the 
 eleventh and fourteenth centuries the Franciscans began to feel 
 that the Breviary required them to recite too many lessons and 
 too many psalms. So they reduced the number from nine to 
 three, at least, on certain occasions only three lessons and three 
 psalms were required. In the thirteenth century it became cus- 
 tomary in France to recite only three psalms at matins throughout 
 Easter, nor was this easy-going way characteristic merely of the 
 Abbey of Fecamp, as a famous passage in Rabelais might lead us 
 to suppose. ' " According to what usage," said Gargantua [to the 
 monk], " do you say these beautiful hours ? " " According 
 to the usage of Fecamp," said the monk, "with three lessons 
 and three psalms, or, for those who are unwilling, nothing at 
 all." ' (Gargantua, i, 41.) 
 
 Before the days of printing, breviaries were so costly that they 
 were often chained to a bench in the choir, and each monk or 
 
 [ I0 4 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 priest had to learn the minimum by heart. That those who knew 
 only the minimum should have excited the pity or scorn of their 
 more diligent brethren, and that their feelings should have been 
 expressed in such a manner as to give rise to this proverbial taunt, 
 is not contrary to the tendencies of human nature. The Draper 
 could hardly have hit upon a more ludicrously appropriate phrase 
 to express his contemptuous indignation and his self-esteem. 
 
 XXIV 
 
 Page 50. 'The Abbot of Ivernaux.' The Abbey of Iver- 
 naux, or Hivernaux, was situate near the hamlet called Brie-Comte- 
 Robert, which lies some twenty miles southeast of Paris, in 
 whose archbishopric was the Church of Ivernaux. The Abbey of 
 Ivernaux was sadly weakened by the wars of the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries. 
 
 But to what Abbot of Ivernaux is Patelin alluding ? 
 
 In a lease dated 1441, and in another dated 1451, one Nico- 
 las Bottelin is spoken of as ' abbot. ' Another lease, dated 1 46 1 , 
 applies the title to a Jean d'Arquevilliers. Philippe seems to have 
 been the name of an Abbot of Ivernaux who signed a lease on 
 31 March, 1468. 
 
 Whatever may be the advantage of knowing these names, 
 very barren things at best, it is worth our while to learn that 
 in 1468, the year before Patelin first entered an extant record, 
 the Abbot of Ivernaux was no longer a power, for his abbacy 
 had sunk into poverty ; yet even a certain wealth and influence 
 would hardly have saved the Abbot of Ivernaux from being the 
 butt of Patelin' s somewhat lewd jocularity, and we may be sure 
 that our lawyer in his sham delirium was not shooting an arrow 
 at the moon. The abbot was doubtless a gay fellow, and a worthy 
 contemporary of Huguette du Hamel, who, notwithstanding her 
 intimacy with Francois Villon and other reprobates, and although 
 she had been guilty of inciting a hireling to murder, could still 
 [ 105]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 hold her position as Abbess of Port- Royal. Yet the real import- 
 ance of this allusion to the Abbot of Ivernaux is that it seems to 
 show that our farce was composed to be performed in the region 
 round about Brie-Comte-Robert ; for it is unlikely that this par- 
 ticular abbot's fame had spread very far beyond the bounds of his 
 abbacy. 
 
 XXV 
 
 Page 51. 'Mere de diou,' etc. In this and the following 
 passages of dialect or jargon the translator was confronted by a 
 problem of serious difficulty. Three courses seemed possible : 
 (<) to transform Patelin into an out-and-out English farce, chang- 
 ing the names of the characters, and transplanting the scene to 
 medieval England ; (^) to preserve the point of Guillemette's 
 explanations by leaving Patelin's reveries untranslated ; (r) to 
 adopt the plan chosen by Albrecht Count Wickenburg, who, in 
 his excellent verse-translation into German (Vienna, 1883), 
 leaves no foreign words save the Latin, substituting for the other 
 dialects and jargons certain passages of his own invention, in 
 which Patelin is made to rave, now like a delirious alchemist who 
 talks incoherently of quicksilver, sulphur, etc., or like a dying 
 man who pretends to see the flames of hell, as well as other phe- 
 nomena unnecessary to mention. 
 
 Similar approximations will be found in Fournier's version 
 (1871) and in a later (undated) version by Eudoxie Dupuis. 
 The present translation, however, aims at the highest degree of 
 literality consistent with the use of idiomatic, comprehensible Eng- 
 lish, and aims, furthermore, to be loyal to what is not merely a 
 farce, but also a document of historical importance. I doubt that 
 the retention of these passages will destroy the reader's illusion : 
 he will probably understand the obscurest of them quite as well 
 as they were understood by Patelin's first audience ; the others 
 will simply be somewhat less intelligible than they seemed to 
 Frenchmen in 1 469. It may be added that the author of Patelin 
 
 [ 106 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 has made these passages so long as to render them rather boresome 
 from a modern point of view ; for, even if one understands them 
 pretty well, they lack a certain charm which brevity imparts. 
 I have not hesitated, therefore, to shorten them slightly ; but a 
 comparison with any fifteenth-century edition will show the reader 
 how the cutting was done. It seemed undesirable to attempt here 
 in the Notes what would be a fragmentary and not very interest- 
 ing series of translations. 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Page 54. * But how does he come to speak Norman.' Not 
 in the original; added for clearness. 
 
 XXVII 
 
 Page 57. ' Quid.' Qui in the original. A mistake due, per- 
 haps, to the fact that d final in French is generally silent. 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 Page 57. The original text of Guillemette's speech is corrupt. 
 My translation is based on a temporary attempt at restoration. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Page 58. ' How do you like me for a teacher ? ' in the 
 original, Avant vous ay je bien aprins. Fifteenth-century syntax 
 allows a so-called masculine past participle to go with a feminine 
 antecedent. Vous means not the Draper, but Guillemette. 
 
 XXX 
 
 Page 59. The long stage- direction describes how this episode 
 of Patelin is wound up at the Comedie Francaise. The medieval 
 stage had no curtain, and we have no means of knowing how 
 Patelin and Guillemette made themselves inconspicuous at the 
 close of this scene. 
 
 [ 107 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Page 60. The Shepherd.' The Shepherd's entrance is too 
 timely. Nothing in the plot warrants his appearance at precisely 
 this instant. Similar unjustified entrances are common in Moliere, 
 who, as has been said (Note xvi), often uses some stock formula 
 to keep a character from seeming to blunder in. 
 
 XXXII 
 
 Page 60. 'Some one or other in striped hosen.' This was 
 a Sergent a verge, an officer empowered to make arrests, effect 
 seizures, etc. 
 
 XXXIII 
 
 Page 62. 'By Saint Lupus.' The Shepherd's oath is well 
 chosen ; for wolves were still a pest at this period. Saint Lupus 
 (Saint Wolf, to translate his name) was called Saint Leu in Old 
 French. As late as 1633 there was standing near that Noyon 
 which is mentioned on page 87 a monastery dedicated to Saint 
 Leu, who was honoured, also, at Troyes in Champagne. 
 
 XXXIV 
 
 Page 64. 'A dealer.' The Shepherd does not name the 
 ' dealer ' ; Patelin, on his side, neglects, or the dramatist, for his 
 own convenience or through carelessness, neglects to have Patelin 
 inquire as to the dealer's identity. So Patelin, on arriving at 
 the trial, is astonished to confront the very individual whom he 
 has himself cheated. The Draper, as we have seen, had lied to 
 Patelin by telling him that his whole flock had perished in the 
 great frost (page 1 8). That our crafty lawyer should fail to make 
 the Shepherd divulge his master's name seems incredible ; it is to 
 this flaw in characterisation that we owe one of the most comic 
 features of the trial scene, namely the unexpected meeting of the 
 Lawyer and his dupe. 
 
 [ 108 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 XXXV 
 
 Page 67. ' Answer nothing but ba-a,' etc. In the second 
 part of his edition of A C. Mery Tales and S>uicke Answers 
 (Shakespere Jest Books, page 60), Mr. W. Carew Hazlitt has 
 reprinted the anecdote ' Of hym that payde his dette with crienge 
 bea. ' In this version the Shepherd is replaced by a spendthrift ; 
 otherwise the anecdote is nothing more nor less than a kind of 
 disguised summary of the plot of Patelin from verse 1067 (in 
 this translation, from Scene XVH) to the end. Whether this par- 
 ticular anecdote figured in the edition of the C. Mery Tales 
 printed by John Rastell about 1525, Mr. Hazlitt does not say. 
 It entered, at all events, into the collection printed by Thomas 
 Berthelet about 1535. Assuming this date to be nearly correct, 
 we may assert that our French farce must have been known in 
 England a century before Rabelais. It was, therefore, not through 
 Rabelais that Patelin began to influence English literature. 
 
 The legal episodes of Patelin, as they appear in the C. Mery 
 Tales, might be conceived to occur at almost any time and in 
 almost any country ; for no names are given. In Pasquil' s Jests 
 (see Hazlitt, op. fit., vol. in, pp. 45, 46), of which several 
 editions were printed in the first half of the seventeenth century, 
 we find almost exactly the same story, slightly shortened and 
 with the scene laid in London. The version in Pas quit's Jests 
 is derived, without doubt, from the earlier English version, and 
 not from the French text. There can be no question of folklore 
 in this matter : what we have is a loan, made through a literary 
 channel. 
 
 To sum up : The last third of Patelin was epitomised for Eng- 
 lish readers in the first third of the sixteenth century. But, to go 
 further, I will venture the opinion that Patelin, in one or more 
 of the many editions printed in France and in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, had crossed the Channel before i 500, and it was no doubt 
 
 [ I0 9 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 from one of these original texts that some more or less literary 
 person derived his summary. Yet it was probably through Rabe- 
 lais that the wily Patelin became known for the first time to a 
 considerable number of people in England. See Introduction, 
 page xxxvi ff. 
 
 XXXVI 
 
 Page 69. ' Welcome, sir ! ' The Judge has no reason to sup- 
 pose that Patelin has a client, but he knows that lawyer. See the 
 beginning of the piece and notice that the Judge invites Patelin 
 to supper (page 86). 
 
 XXXVII 
 
 Page 75. 'Come! Let's stick to those sheep!' 'Sus ! 
 Revenons a ces moutons ! ' cries the Judge, and he coins one of 
 those neat and useful phrases which soon make their way from 
 country to country, entering the every-day speech of persons quite 
 unaware to whom or what they are indebted. In his essay on 
 Marlowe ( Old English Dramatists^) James Russell Lowell says, 
 ' But it is high time that I should remember Maitre Guillaume of 
 Patelin, and return to my sheep. ' The mention of ' Guillaume ' 
 indicates that Lowell had read Patelin, and that he was not 
 merely borrowing the words ' to return to our sheep ' from Rabe- 
 lais. In the first chapter of Gargantua, Rabelais says, ' Retour- 
 nant a nos moutons, je vous dis . . .'; but it is likely that the 
 nos had been substituted for the less convenient ces (a homonym 
 of ses) a good while before Rabelais read Patelin. Owing to 
 facetiousness rather than to ignorance, moutons is usually rendered 
 not by 'sheep,' but by 'muttons,' a mistranslation which 
 neatly indicates the proverb's Gallic origin. 
 
 XXXVIII 
 
 Page 87. 'Brainless' (Esservele) figured, no doubt, in some 
 farce or morality no longer extant. In ' Mr. Golightly,' ' Dob- 
 
 [ "0 ]
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 bin,' etc., not to mention many allegorical names in the older 
 comedy, English furnishes parallels. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 Page 87. Of Jean de Noyon nothing is known save what we 
 may infer from the text of Patelin, Assuredly he was a real 
 character, contemporary with the audience for which Patelin was 
 first performed, and one may surmise that he was more or less 
 notorious, and that he bore a strong, perhaps a comic, likeness to 
 the actor who first played the part of Patelin. But this is guess- 
 work. Whatever the truth may be, it is highly improbable that 
 this Jean belonged to the noble family having its seat at Noyon ; 
 for this family seems to have died out before the fifteenth century ; 
 nor do I find a Jean de Noyon among the few Fools whose names 
 have been handed down. 
 
 XL 
 
 Page 89. Why has the Shepherd remained ? Simply to fur- 
 nish another scene, one of the best scenes of all ; but obviously 
 Lambkin had a good chance to escape when the Judge dismissed 
 him. In real life so canny a rogue would not fail to make him- 
 self scarce as soon as possible. 
 
 XLI 
 
 Page 94. Here occurs the first bit of moralising in Patelin; 
 but the Lawyer is not repentant ; he is crestfallen at being 
 outwitted by a shepherd : that is all. His chagrin is followed 
 by a touch of anger, yet it is only a touch, and we may fancy 
 a sardonic grin passing over his lean countenance as he looks again 
 at the ' sheep in clothing ' who has so admirably carried out his 
 own instructions. 
 
 Genuine moralisations, such as one finds in the younger Du- 
 mas and in certain plays by Mr. Bernard Shaw, are exceedingly 
 rare in the old French farces.
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 XLII 
 
 Page 94. ' If he finds me, I '11 forgive him ! ' These are the 
 last words in all the old editions. They break the Shepherd's 
 promise (page 67), but our dramatist, knowing human nature 
 and drawing it with a sure hand, leaves his work with no weak 
 or awkward ending. It is a skilful stroke to have the Shepherd 
 behave like a man, after he has so ably behaved like a sheep. 
 What becomes of him ? We imagine that he continues his mis- 
 deeds till, after a while, he is nabbed, brought to book, and, hav- 
 ing no Patelin to defend him, is properly hanged.
 
 NOTES ON THE CUTS
 
 NOTES ON THE CUTS 
 
 THE edition of Patelin published by Genin in 1854 contains 
 inaccurate reproductions of five of Level's illustrative woodcuts: 
 to wit, the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth. But with 
 characteristic whimsicality or carelessness Genin borrowed 
 the first and fourth from an inferior edition of Patelin by Jehan 
 Treperel.* The trial scene Genin got from Beneaut's Patelin 
 (A. D. 1490), though he could have copied the original cut in 
 Level's edition. Beneaut's two almost identical cuts of the trial 
 scene were not made from the block used by Level, as some 
 writers have stated ; for Level's cut has not the same dimensions 
 as the two in Beneaut's edition. 
 
 In 1 870 Baillieu, * marchant libraire sur le quay des grads augus- 
 tins a Paris,' to quote his pseudo-archaic colophon, published in 
 the so-called ' Bibliotheque gothique ' whal he apparenlly in- 
 lended lo pass off as a facsimile, or, al any rale, as a reprinl of 
 Level's Patelin. Nol only does Baillieu' s edition conlain many 
 gross lexlual blunders, bul it so distorts Level's culs as lo give 
 
 * The Treperel Patelin, from which Genin seems to have borrowed his 
 cuts, must have appeared after 13 October, 1499 ; for its colophon reads thus : 
 Imprime a Paris par Jehan trepercl demourant a la rue sainct Jacques pres 
 sainct yues a lymaige saint laurens. Treperel had been obliged to remove to the 
 above address after the fall of the Pont Nostre Dame on the 13 October, 
 1499. 
 
 [ "5]
 
 NOTES ON THE CUTS 
 
 a wholly false impression. In a word, Baillieu's Pate tin is an 
 out-and-out imposture and even worse than worthless. 
 
 Inasmuch as no one else has attempted in modern times, in so 
 far as I am aware, to reproduce Level's woodcuts, the facsimiles 
 in this volume can rightly be called the first that have ever been 
 made. They differ from the originals in the respect that no attempt 
 has been made to imitate Levet's paper, or to reproduce the marks 
 of age. Certain imperfections in Levet's cuts indicate, ap- 
 parently, either that the only known exemplar of his edition was 
 one of the last to be printed, or that the paper was not properly 
 wetted. I may add that Levet's sixth illustration, to judge by 
 the Shepherd's beard and other inconsistencies of drawing, can 
 hardly have been made by the engraver who executed the other 
 illustrations. See the Preface, page xiii. 
 
 The printer's mark of Pierre Levet appears on the first page 
 of his Pat elm, and serves as a frontispiece to the present volume. 
 Levet did not use the same block when he put this mark in his 
 edition of Villon in 1489. 
 
 As to the value of Levet's illustrations of Pate tin, see the Pre- 
 face, pages ix and xiii. 
 
 Levet's seven woodcuts are here reproduced by permission of 
 M. Leopold Delisle, former Head Librarian of the Bibliotheque 
 Nationale. 
 
 nrv
 
 (<Ebe fiifccrsibe prreS 
 
 Eltctrotyptd and printed by H. O. Houghton &* Co. 
 Cambridge, Mast., U.S. A.
 
 
 from which was borrowed.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 674 302 5