THE HISTORY OF THE HAR LE Q U I N AD E

BY MAURIC E SAND AV

LONDON : MARTI N S ECKE R NUMBER FIVE JOHN STREET ADELPHI

C ONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION HARLEQUIN POLICHINELLE

THE CAPTAIN

COLUMBINE

PIERROT

LELIO RUZZANTE

L IST OF IL L USTRAT IONS

HARLEQUIN

F ACI NG PAGE HAR LEQUIN POLICHINELLE THE CAPTAIN

LELIO RUZZANTE

THE HISTORY OF THE H A R LE Q U I N A D E

INTRODUCTION

THE mi comic actor first me , or rather the first , was he who leapt upon a bench or table to delight the assembly by his Im singing , his dancing or his relation of an amusing story .

rovisa ion p t prompted all such early attempts . Some of these primitive comedians assemble in Icaria under

di Susarion the rection of , who gives a form and a sequence to

bufiooneries il hs their , and they set out to tra their boot and chariots through the cities of Greece (800

h un They represent a slave wit shaven head, a dr kard

un rubic d of face, brutalised by libations , an obese glutton ,

e who tumbles incessantly . Soon comic poets , such as Magn s ,

a Tim ocreon e Ach eus and , conceive for them p rformances

cordaces m mingled with comic dances (termed ) and panto imes .

a h 61 Thespis , born in Icari , sets up a t eatre , assigns r es to his e mimes , dresses them grotesquely, parad s them in chariots , wi h their faces smeared t dregs or soot, and sets about m wi presenting little dramas and comedies ingled th music . u He detaches from the chor s an individual , assigns to him

r 1e E sch l a 6 and thus creates the corypheus. y us the 393 Athenian ( adds a second one . Thenceforward no comic or tragic performances are given without music . 9 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

In Athens and in Sparta Charlatans set up their trestles in

s r public places, and by mean of thei displays attract a crowd , to whom they then proceed to sell their unguents (400 hi u Here we behold among others a t eving rog e , or a foreign doctor who Speaks a ridiculous dialect . Whilst Aristophanes is performing his comedies in the great theatre , the streets of Athens are encumbered by

- diviners , sorcerers , fortune tellers , jugglers , equilibrists , rope dancers and prestidigitators , amongst whom are cited

Eur clid es Theodorus and y . ui In the theatre we behold eq librist performances , such

l - - inflate d as the leap on that ear iest of spring boards , the air goatskin . From these performances were derived the rope

schcm obates acrobates dancers, called by the Greeks and , and L ' unambulz . later , by the atins, f

fin d etholo ues Among the Greek actors we several classes , the g ,

as famous in Magna Gr cia and in Alexandria , who display

biolo ues the lowest and most corrupt of manners ; the g , who portray and parody the personages of their day ; the cinedolo ues sim odes l siodes r Susim g , also called and y , f om of L Magnesia and ysis , the authors of their pieces , who perform

hilarodes hi and utter Obscenities ; the , dressed in w te , shod

with sandals and wearing golden crowns on their heads , who act and sing to the accompaniment of string instruments ;

ha llo hores ul s and the p p , a name f ly ju tified by a part of their costume , as is to be seen in all the monuments that have

i ia r . S c on hallic su vived At y , where the p choirs and the scenes

e isodes called p are more ancient than in Athens , the actors

al h preserve this name of ph lop ores.

L hallo hore ater this Sicyonian p p , his countenance blackened 10 INTRODUCTION

with soot or concealed under a papyrus mask , is transformed into a pla ni in Rome and becomes in the sixteenth century

Ber am ese the g Harlequin . All these actors performing on the orchestra very close to the spectators found it unnecessary to increase their height by

s the aid of the bu kin with elevated heels . They played without masks , their countenances merely smeared in various colours

din hi accor g to the types w ch they represented . Women , too ,

the performed on orchestra , singing , miming and moving in did hi the pieces that duty as interludes , much after the fas on

c of our modern a tresses . These female mim! passed from the Doric countries into

as Sicily and Magna Gr cia , and finally found their way to

Rome .

E us The tr cans were , in the art of the theatre as in many other things, the preceptors of the Romans . Having long been in communication with the Greeks they possessed stone R theatres such as that at Tusculum , long before the omans had 442 so much as wooden booths . In the year the youth of

di i L v Rome stu ed Oscan literature , accord ng to Titus i y , much

his as in own time it devoted itself to the study of Greek letters .

'

- Between Naples and Capua , Atella (to day Aversa) was one of the first ancient cities to possess a theatre , and above all a particular style of comedy thus she gave the name of Atellanae di h to the first comedies performed in Rome , come es w ich derived largely fr om the satirical and bufioon pieces of the

Greeks .

w s These comedies , interlarded ith dancing, inging and

scenario pantomime , in which the actors improvised upon a , ul or agreed subject , were f l of pleasantries and quips , and 11 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

ui S atm'w u they very q ckly eclipsed the , the indigeno s and national comedies of Rome . The Roman youth appropriated this style of piece and the

Atellanae right to perform it . The actors of the alone enjoyed exemptions and liberties without limit . Later these pieces

Atellanae became licentious and obscene , and the name of was given to all those which were written in a ribald style . They

' were also called exodzce from the custom of playing them after other pieces or at the end of the spectacle . They were per

on formed the orchestra under the proscenium, hence the name

' ’ ’ com cedzae lam edzw i of p p , because the actors d spensed with

i wi s buskins . They d spensed also th those enormou masks termed persome .

' tabernamw The comedies , the subjects for which were drawn f f rom the lower orders and from tavern li e , were sometimes

’ played in the same manner as the planipedcw ; this was also

to atce hi the the case with the g , in w ch actors appeared arrayed

The other styles of comedy were designated variously as

— a follows mixed comedies , p rtly developed in Speech , partly

The Eunuch Mot iaa in mimetic action , such as of Terence ; or

di hi The Am hitr on come es , in w ch all was action , such as p y

Palliataa d hi of Plautus ; come ies , in w ch the subject, the

the Praatextatw d characters and costumes were Greek ; come ies , in which the subject and the characters were drawn from the nobility ; Latina; or comic-lachrymose comedies invented by

Rhinthonus f S tatamfaz di hi h , a bu foon of Tarentum ; come es , w c contained a great deal of dialogue and little pantomime , such

Asinariw of Hec as the Plautus and the ym of Terence . In the performance of some pieces theatrical declamation 12 INTRODUCTION

d a was share between two ctors , one of whom spoke whilst the

du his other gesticulated . The Abbé Bos in critical reflections upon poetry and paintin g offers the following explanation

h s u on L of t is , ba ed p the writings of Titus ivy

L s ivius Andronicu , a celebrated poet who lived in Rome some five hundred and fourteen years after its foundation and

r h m some sixty yea s after the opening there of theatres , i self

his performed in one of pieces . It was then the custom for h dramatic poets to show t emselves upon the stage, there to take

The part in their own works . people, who took the liberty still taken to - day in France and Italy to demand the repetition of

a w hi bis pass ges ith w ch they were pleased , by dint of crying caused the poor Andronicus to recite so long that he grew hoarse . Out of all condition to continue to declaim , he induced his audience to consent that a slave placed in front of the

r h l instrumental performer should recite the ph ases , and , w i st

t ur the slave reci ed , Andronicus went through the same gest es hi h w ch he had made when reciting imself . It was observed then that his action was very much more animated because he

all employed his energies in gesticulation , whilst another was

us di entr ted with the labour of enunciation hence , accor ng to L d Titus ivy , was born the custom of ividing the declamation

between two actors , and of reciting , as it were , to the rhythm

r di of the gestu es of the come an .

c . C Of all the Roman spe tacles , says M harles Magnin , none was more appreciated than pantomime it became even peculiar to this people to whom the masterpieces of the Greek

’3 s ui tragedie were foreign . They req red shows , but shows

a ntom ime f contrived for the eyes . This term p , signi ying 13 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

all had imitator of things , suggests that these actors the art

r of rendering all manner of subjects by gestu e alone . Lucian says that sometimes the subject of the piece performed by the pantomime was sung , and that at other times he performed,

in silence , expressing the verses by his mute action .

C i hi m e This Spectacle , says M . harles Magn n , w ch ad itt d

w as s no words , better suited than any other to the su picious politics of the emperors ; and it possessed moreover the inap preciable advantage of supplying a sort of language intelligible and common to all those nations so diverse in their idioms and customs that composed the Roman empire .

And further on he says

Nonnus Observe in what terms of Panopolis , a poet of the time of Theodosius , speaks of the pantomime in Book VIII . of his Dion siaca y there are gestures that have a language ,

’ hands that have a mouth , fingers that have a voice . Although the use of the mask permitted the Roman 61 mimes to perform either male or female r es , nevertheless,

mi r female mes were al eady in existence in the fourth century . The incredible licence of this epoch rendered the presence of women necessary to the enjoyment of the crowd . They

a n e — appe red with u covered heads , and oft n incredible state

— n ment entirely ude . They swam thus before the spectators i in a sort of vat or bas n placed upon the large orchestra . The number of the Roman mimes in the fourth century lli is hardly credible . Ammianus Marce nus reports , as a thing shameful to the Romans , that in the reign of Constantius , when the fear of famine compelled the authorities to expel from 14 INTRODUCTION

s Rome all strangers practi ing the liberal arts , six thousand

r mimes were suff ered to remain there undistu bed .

unambuli Already , before the Christian era , the f or rope dancers were a source of sensation in Rome . The Romans

ms preferred their spectacles to all others . Terence hi elf experienced this ; and he laments that during the performance of one of his pieces the appearance of a new funambulus so attracted the notice of the spectators that they could give

l I a lus studio . t o u no thought or attention to anyone e se p p ,

ecta ul t sp c i cupidus in funambulo animam occupavem . The celebrated perfection of the ancient mimes amazes hi us when we consider the masks they wore , w ch must have deprived them of all power of expression and even of

r n the natu al character of their countenances, u less this super; W as contrived with such art and scenic experience ff di . as to render it e ective at a given stance These masks , however, were less deformed than those of other actors , since at least they were not equipped with those enormous mouths — whose aim was to increase the volume of the voice a measure

in necessary the vast theatres of antiquity . It may be well to enter into some details of the uses of the ancient mask , with which the mask worn by the actors of the

Italian comedy is undoubtedly connected . We know already that the chief advantage of those ancient

s in scenic mask was to enable men to appear female miles . This mask was a kind of great helmet covering the entire head di of the actor and representing, in ad tion to the features of

the countenance , the hair, the ears and even the ornaments

hi in h w ch women might employ their eaddresses . 15 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

a ersona aedr This mask was c lled p ; it is thus that Ph us , h Horace and other authors ave named it in their works . It appears that the earliest were contrived of bark ; later they were made of leather, lined with cloth ; but as their shapes were liable to distortion it became the custom to make them all of a light wood, and it was conceived , moreover, that they should be constructed in a manner calculated to increase the

’ volum e of the actor s voice ; this was accomplished either by lining them with plates of bronze or other sonorous material, or else by fitting to the interior of the mouth a sort of

hi a f trumpet w ch was to h ve the ef ect of a megaphone . Hence is it that a large number of these masks have mouths of a size and an extent that render them hideous at close quarters but it should be considered that this deformity

ni w was no doubt dimi shed when they ere seen from a distance , the spectator then being able to perceive no more than a very strongly marked expression .

- Gellius o E Aulus , who wr te under the mperor Adrian , gives us the following account of the effect of these masks in increasing the voice The entire head and face of the actor being enclosed within the mask , so that the voice could issue by only one restricted opening , it follows that the voice thus confined must be greatly increased in volume and distinctness . This is

L ersona why the atins have given the name of p to these masks , because they cause the voices of those who wear them to ” resound and reverberate .

It was natural to provide different sorts of masks according

C o to the employment for which they were destined . ons 16 INTRODUCTION

a quently they were divided into comic , tragic and satiric m sks . i ul These last in part c ar were horribly overcast , and no doubt

h h n very muc larger t an the others, because , bei g intended to h represent fauns , satyrs or cyclops , whic poetical imagination

e h wi s depict d as super uman beings , the actors entrusted th the e

1 had r6 es to appear as men very much above the natural . Consequently they never failed to increase their stature in proportion to the size of their masks . Only the masks designed for feminine miles or those worn

n by dancers were , far from bei g deformed , of pleasing and

. L regular features They were called , according to ucian , mute or orchestric masks . h aim We also know that among the Greeks, w ere the of comedy , more free than amongst the Romans , was to depict

r living citizens , the actors wore masks displaying the featu es h h of those persons w om they portrayed . It is t us that Aristophanes in his comedy of the Clouds gave one of his actors a mask which so perfectly resembled Socrates that the spectators thought to behold the man himself upon the

The hi stage . Romans corrected t s abuse , and it seems that in the comedies of Terence the masks of the actors expressed i the age, the cond tion , the manners and the nature of the ff character, but without ever o ering to the Spectators any h u features with w ich they were acq ainted . hi h E The name of strion , w ich is derived from the truscan hister c E w , ame from truria to Rome together ith scenic perform ances ; it became the designation of all actors . These were for the most part slaves or freedmen who did not enjoy the

hi v privilege of Roman citizens p . Moreo er, any citizen who should have been so ill advised as to appear upon the stage to 17 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

perform or declaim would thereby have forfeited his civic t hi righ s . For the rest, only the law was rigorous with strions

custom dealt with them tolerantly . We know that an actor

ul f his co d become rich , and ree if he were a slave, when by

is genius and h talents he attained celebrity . R R 129 B . C Quintus oscius , a famous oman actor, born . ,

earned from five to six hundred thousand sesterces , and the

E his his his actor sopus , contemporary, left to son , on death 1 a e u bed , fortune of twenty million s sterces acq ired entirely

in the theatre .

Sorix Metrobius his r and were contempora ies , and shared

him sh with the friend ip and favour of Sylla .

Graecia The city of Tarentum , in Magna , was famous for its

actors , who came to Rome after the conquest of their city . Cleon performed his mim etics to the sound of the flute ; he was the most celebrated actor in all Italy and played without

N m hod orus his I stom achus mask , like y p , rival . , who , at first

a charlatan , followed later in the ways of Cleon , began by

n his performi g farces in the public squares ; afterwards , when

he had acquired a certain celebrity , he set up a theatre for his shows . E li sopus , according to Quinti an , was considered one of the hi R greatest tragedians of Rome, w lst oscius excelled as a comic

C s actor ; he was the friend of icero , and as e teemed for his his talents as for probity . He had brought that art of gestur e which the Latins called saltatio to such a point of perfection that Cicero often challenged him as to which of them ul wo d render the same thought with the greater eloquence,

ur the one by gest e , or the other by word .

1 About of our prese nt mone y . 18

THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Herodotus relates that the origin of puppets on wires is of the greatest antiquity ; but he claims to have seen the women of Egypt bearing in procession , in the religious festivals of

h lls hi h Osiris , w om he ca Bacchus , images w c sometimes were

od W n veritable statues , certai parts of whose b ies ere moved

s hi by cords . The Greek appropriated t s mechanism , but they did not confine the uses of it to religious ceremonies ; they employed these automata in the theatre . i Similarly in the religious ceremony , wh ch in Rome pre

in ceded the games the circus and the triumphs , wooden hi statues were carried which were equipped with dden strings .

ri L a Amongst them were the Af can ghouls , known as ami e, and

- Manducus the sharp toothed , the eater of children , a monster with a human head (undoubtedly the primitive type of Mache

u a cro te and Croquemit ine) , which opened , says Rabelais , in “ Pa nta ruel di g , large and horrific man bles , armed with teeth , hi above and below , w ch by means of the device of the little h terrificall idden cord , were made y to clash the one against ” the other . The identical custom of promenading monsters and colossal di figures is to be found again in the Middle Ages , with the ffer ence , however , that instead of being paraded in the triumphs of emperors they are now seen in the anniversa ries of the holy bishops , canonised for delivering the country of awesome monsters , or just simply for having curbed idolatry ; even

the n e in processio s of our own day we may behold monst rs ,

ho h h w se jaws are armed with orrible teeth , or a giant Goliat

ri and a Saint Ch stopher moving arms and legs .

hi ma rionnette Maria Mariola T s name of is derived from , , a diminutive which the young girls in the Middle Ages gave to 20 INTRODUCTION

the little figures of the Virgin exhibited in churches and by the

wayside . Our fathers have drawn therefrom various deriva

tives m arote mariotte m a riole m ariette m arion , , , , , , and lastly

m ario nette n . All these infantile names , given at first to

young girls , were appropriated afterwards by mountebanks

o hi marmoz ets for their wo den puppets , w ch they called and

ma as L d riottes . , they are still called in angue oc

1550 ba atelli ma atelli In , in Italy , they were called g and g TT but when BURA INO , one of the masks of the Italian comedy ,

came to be personified among the marionettes , he bestowed his

n name upon them , and they came generally to be k own as burattini , from the end of the sixteenth century onwards . The names of bum ttini and fantoccini are given to those whose

e h l bamboccie limbs are articulat d and moved by wires , w i st applies to those that are worked by a string stretched

’ r s horizontally from a stick on the one side , to the performe knee on the other ; these are still in use among the little

’ la ata rina Pa i a nd savoyards who make C dance . pp pupazzi describe those whose hands and heads only are of

o o hi wood . The body is merely a cloth p cket , int w ch the hand is introduced ; the thumb and the middle finger work

x h the arms , the inde moves the ead , being thrust into the hollow neck . These marionettes , simple in their structure , go a — long way back . It was by means of them easy of transport

r and maintenance as they are , and as is also their theat e, a mere booth of a primitive simplicity revealing no more than — the upper half of their bodies that the traditions of farce

v r and satire were preser ed th oughout the Middle Ages . In Spain the marionettes bear the name of titeres but they are more commonly called bonijm tes because in their masque 21 THE HISTORY OF THE HARBEQUINADE performances they always represent hermits and saintly char ”

. acters. The crowd , says M Charles Magnin , has ever shown itself greedy of scenic amusements , and when it has not been possible to obtain comedians , the people themselves have ff been their own comedians and bu oons . Well might the

Chur ch condescend to the mimetic inclinations of the multitude and strongly endeavour to satisfy the bizarre fancies of the

us crowd by serio , and sometimes comic , representations mi well might she give to the laity a le in the sacred ceremonies . But there remained ever outside the Church a surplus of hi unsatisfied mimetic passion w ch demanded , notwithstanding all inhibitions , the maintenance of comedians and dancers in the public places .

li dr In the fourth and fifth centuries the little fami ar amas , similar in manner to the later Italian subjects , were greatly in vogue in the Greek and Roman theatres . Women took part in them . As for the subjects of the pieces , they were always , say

r mis the Fathers of the Chu ch , intrigues of gallantry and the

of adventures guardians or betrayed husbands . Philosophers and doctors are always ridiculed in them . We behold more or less the same subjects and the same characters as those ” which passed later into the Italian comedy .

560 the Cassiodorus , writing in , says that performances of

s his mimes and pantomime are still flourishing in day . The Fathers of the Church sought to extinguish the last traces of paganism by forbidding comedies and all histrionic performances , upon the ground that they were impious and sacrilegious . But the taste and the passion for the theatre ul being inherent in the Italian , the new religion co d not succeed

r s— in abolishing this art . The Chu ch Victoriou leaving out of 22 INTRODUCTION

the Chr h consideration spirit of the early istians , w ich contented itself with the Catacombs of Saint Agnes for only temple felt the need of monuments and luxurious churches and of

pomps calculated to strike the imagination . Thus we can see certain dr amas and religious representations intermin gling

- - with the mise en scéne of Catholicism Triumphant . It is in

h fi The the very Churc itself that dramatic art nds refuge . theatres had ceased to be places of pleasure and entertain

The ment . majority had been converted into citadels and

i the n the fortresses to res st constant invasions of the Hu s ,

L d the V . andals , the Goths , the ombar s and Normans Although the people of Italy had no leisure in which to Occupy themselves with farces and show-plays when the avalanche of the Northern people descended upon their cities and overran

n the cou tryside now desolated by famine , no sooner was a moment of respite conceded to this poor land than the taste for comedy and spectacles was born again of its own ashes . ui 1224 Saint Thomas Aq nas , who lived in , speaks of the comedy of his day as of a spectacle which had existed for many

him a l histrionatus ars centuries before . He c l s comedy and

s t n comedian hisrio es. t When the feudal and barbarous nobili y was compelled , E under a pious pretext, to bear arms in the ast to stem the incessant wave of Saracen invasion which threatened

Ch E v ristendom , the whole of urope traversed the ci ilisation E of the empire of the ast , and it was upon their return from i the Crusades that the pilgrims , their imag nation fired by the

ur marvels of Byzantium , performed the remarkable advent es

i - of the kn ghts errant , miracles of saints and religious legends ,

. of first in Italy, and later in France These were the sources ! 23 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

hi our theatre . In Italy the strionic art began to assume two l distinct manners : the sacred and re igious mystery plays , and the comedies , which continued to be what they had been in

t e L — the hands of h ancient atin mimes that is to say , burlesque

farces , improvisations mingled with tumbling , dances and scraps of ancient pieces which the Italian dancers have

us our preserved , often unconscio ly, down to own days .

a V uestions sur It is to the It lians , says oltaire , in his Q

’ ’ l Enc clo edie the y p , that we owe vicious style of drama called mystery plays. They began in the thirteenth century and perhaps earlier, by farces drawn from the Old and New Testa ments : an unworthy abuse which soon passed into Spain and France It was a vicious imitation of the attempts which Saint Gregory of Naz ianz a had made to oppose a Christian h E theatre to the pagan theatre of Sop ocles and uripides . Saint Gregory of Naz ianz a infused some eloquence and some dignity into his pieces ; the Italians and their imitators ff introduced into theirs nothing but bu ooneries .

ur era With the fo teenth century Italy enters upon a new ,

reflorescence upon the epoch of , the renaissance of arts and letters which was not experienced in France until a century

e later nevertheless , in the beginning of the fourte nth century L Italian influence inspired uco , the Provencal poet, to compose k a satirical piece against the Du e of Anjou , King of Naples .

Parasolz Towards the middle of the same century , , another

r l P ovenca poet , composed a series of five pieces , or rather a I J . e piece in five chapters , against eanne , Queen of Napl s ; if therein her l e , her adventures , her crimes , were dragged into

’ L Andreasse La Tarenta La the light of day under the titles of , , 24 INTRODUCTION

’ A La Johanella Mahor uina L llemande . q , , This satire was per

- II at V . formed Avignon , before the anti pope Clement (Robert of Geneva) , who was so pleased with the work that he appointed

aso Par lz Canon of Sisteron .

The li u Ita an lang age , having been purified by Dante , f Petrarca , Boccaccio , and Ariosto , the fi teenth century was in

r Italy an epoch of taste , of art and of letters . Whilst in F ance

n the theatre was the monopoly of the religious confrater ities , jealous of their privileges , in Italy it was always open to the

it ni di is productions of w and of ge us . Two stinct styles ex ted

: di there the noble tragedies and come es written , memorised

I l Pastor Fido La Calandra and recited , such as of Guarini , of the d La Mand/ra o m h I Car inal of Bibbiena , g of Macc iavelli ,

’ l L Aminta S imi i . etc of Giorgio Trissino , of Tasso , etc , . and

the free theatre of the improvisers given over to singing , dancing, raillery and facetiousness . Whilst in France one i might take del ght only in mystery plays , into which had been

r int oduced , it is true , many profane and gross pleasantries , l or in the plumed mountebanks , who swal owed swords and df d canes , walked on their hands or with blin olde eyes , to the

s ll n - ound of tambourines , and performed what is sti know to day

as la danse des car s a h r dis d , in It ly the t eat e was re covered,

honoured and cultivated . h i W ilst the Zingar , Bohemians or Gypsies , that errant race

i sondras E of H ndu , overran urope , and sometimes took the

risk of displaying their pupazz i or m agatelli- which caused

‘ them in certain countries to be taken f or sorcerers and got — them condemned by sentence to be hanged and burnt troupes ff ’A l of comedians and of bu oons , such as Martino d m e ia and

Gian Manente , went about Italy performing plays written by 25 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Poliziano , Macchiavelli , Ariosto , the Cardinal of Bibbiena ,

o hi Fedini Nicol Secc , Tasso , , Guarini , and others , dramas ,

tragedies and pieces in which tragedy , comedy and satire

tra isatirocom edie were mingled , called g , improvisations upon

’ c commedie dell arts commedie given subje ts , termed , and lastly ,

sostenute . In speaking of the Italian comedies Montaigne says I have often conceived a fancy to write comedies such as those

of the Italians who are so felicitous in that art . They find in everything something to excite their laughter ; they are in no

ms need to tickle the elves .

ur Throughout the sixteenth cent y , down to the seventeenth , two distinct theatres were therefore in existence : one occupied

’ by comedians who played impromptu (commedia dell arte) with Harlequin and other masked actors ; the other occupied by

c the academicians , or a ademic actors , who performed written

and regular pieces (the commedia sostenuta) which sometimes

o- passed into the theatre of the bufi comedians .

E c o R T It was Angelo e l o , surnamed UZZAN E , who was the first 28 to open a career to the Italian dialects . In 15 he presented ff his first prose comedy, in which each character spoke a di erent di t alect . This enter ainment became extremely popular . E very locality desired to have its own type represented in it . hi Hence its infinity of characters and of names , w ch may be summed up into a few principal types Harlequin , Pulcinella , the Captain , Scaramouche, Brighella , Pantaloon and the

I octor ) . Pulcinella had never ceased to exist from the days of the

Atellanae hi mimus , in w ch he went by the name of Maccus , the

a lbus.

26

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

r Cantat ice included in all Italian troupes , who , in the manner

of the ancient chorus , came to sing and to explain the scenes .

la ni es Narcisino Then the modern p p , the Bolognese , who still f comes , by way of interlude, to chat with the public and scof

at the manners of the day ; finally and chiefly the method of a performing impromptu , the actors having memorised no r les and playing after merely having read an outline of the subject

nailed up in the wings . These resemblances and many others

’ would prove that the Commedia dell Arte is no more than the ‘ continuation of the theatre of Atella with its improvisations

and its free and often licentious scenes , mingled with songs

and pantomime .

We have said that every province desired to be represented .

Thus Bergamo provided Harlequin and Brighella ; Milan supplied Beltrame and Scapino , who are merely varieties of Brighella and Meneghino ; Venice contributed Pantaloon and

Zacom eto his lackey ; Naples gave us Pulcinella , Scaramouche ,

el his Tartaglia , Capitan (who became metamorphosed under

Spanish designation) and the Biscegliese . From Rome came

- - Cassandrino hi Meo Patacca , Marco Pepe and , t s last a more

monsi nore li modern ty pe , a sort of g ; Florence supp ed

arcisino Stenterello ; Bologna , the Doctor and N Turin ,

Giandu a Gian ur olo j ; Calabria , Coviello and g g ; Sicily, the

- Baron , Peppe Nappa, etc . , etc .

Harlequin , Brighella , the Doctor and Pantaloon may be

flm d amental called the four modern masks . — Salvator Rosa indicated seven namely, these four, and i Pulcinella , Tartagl a and Coviello .

Why are these set apart to - day ? Perhaps they are so old

Me e . n o that they have fallen into disfavour Where are the g , 28 INTRODUCTION

Trufl a hi Ba atino C r Guaz eto the , the Zaccagnino , Cavicc o, g , iu lo and many others But then

where are th e sn ows of yeste rye ar ?

When Flaminio Scala travelled through Italy with his dl troupe , towards the mid e of the sixteenth century , a few

Ecolco years after (Ruzzante) , he found the personages of the C h ommedia already established , and the greater part of t em h him baptized . Not ing remained for but to bring them Ch into action . Since the advent of the ristian era women had disappeared from the theatre ; with the Renaissance they re- entered it again .

’ Flaminio Scala s company played in Italy from the second half of the sixteenth down to the beginning of the seventeenth

’ century ; chiefly they performed commedie dell arte upon sub ect a j s very succinctly sketched . Sc la did no more than con tinue the performances of fables and farces which had been fif played long before his day . He has left us some ty sub ects 16 1 1 . j , printed in Among the personages in these are

h Pedrolino ur Fritellino Arlecc ino, (Pierrot) , B attino , , Capitan

Mez z etino il C Spavento , , Pantalone, Dottore , avicchio , and

Flaminio Scala himself under the name of Flavio . Thus in the middle of the sixteenth centur y we find a considerable number of our Italian masks named and performing .

h ni Riccoboni his Histor T is same Flami o Scala , says (in y o the I talian Theatre his f , written in caused plays to di be printed ; they contain no alogue , but merely expound the subject in simple scenaru which are not as concise as those which we use and attach to the walls behind the 29 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

wings of our theatres , nor yet so prolix that one may de rive from them the least hint of the dialogue : they explain h merely w at the actor is to do and the action in question ,

and no more .

E di varisto Gherar , on the subject of performances upon scenaru and the improvisation of the actors in the Commedia

’ dell Arte , writes as follows

i The Italian comed ans learn nothing by heart , and to perform a comedy it suffices them to have glanced over the

subject for a moment before entering the stage . Therefore the chief merit of their pieces is inseparable from the action the success of their comedies depends absolutely upon the di actors, who render them more or less amusingly accor ng to the measure of their personal wit and as a result of the advantages of the situation in which they are placed when hi playing . It is this necessity of spontaneous performance w ch

n renders it so difficult to replace a good Italia comedian . There is no one who mav not learn by heart and declaim on the stage what he has learnt ; but it is a very different affair in

the case of the Italian comedian . He who speaks of a good di Italian come an , speaks of a man of solid qualities , of one who performs from imagination rather than from memory ; w ho in the course of performing invents all that he utters

w ho knows how to support his fellow ~ actor on the stage ; in

his s short , one who so perfectly weds actions and his word to

those of his fellow- actors that he enters at once into the play and action demanded by the others to such an extent as to

make it all appear to have been preconcerted . 30 INTRODUCTION

Further, on this same subject , here are the sentiments of

Riccobom

‘ 7 One may not deny that it has graces peculiar to itself such . ff as the written comedy may never boast . Impromptu a ords opportunity for such variety of performance that although you may return again and again to see the same scenario per

a i . c formed, you will always witness d fferent piece The a tor who performs impromptu performs in a more lively and natural manner than he who discharges a mile which he has learned by heart . The actor feels more deeply and consequently gives a better delivery to words proceeding from himself than it were possible to give to those borrowed from another by the aid of memory ; but these advantages of the impromptu comedy are purchased at the price of great drawbacks it is necessary that the actors shall be ingenious ; it is essential that they shall be more or less of equal talent , because the weakness of impromptu lies in the fact that the best of actors depends absolutely upon those who are his partners in the dialogue ;

how with ecis1on the to seize r _ moment of retort or who _ p n s f m ~ fi s u m u n F - H w u m -

vi aci of h s y ty j Face , voice , sentiment even, m

suflice act r MhQ GI iQP Q I Om u ; e w - q Ar u may not the " C T ill ‘k i E ‘ “ m P fl u M FQ L h v th L i m u - N" a “ ) a n not ex”ce unless hi ima ination is lively and fertile and a-m a gw ‘h ’ «f L s m W m “ M W M fi W m W

e lace h s h g d . in which i b ”, role p a W ! a s y i w w “ r fl THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE The opinion of the witty and very artistic Président de Brosses (1740) may be added to the foregoing

This method of performing impromptu which renders the

h h r style very weak , renders the action on the ot er and ve y lively and very truef The Italians are natural comedians even among men of the world you will find in their conversation a

hi c n . firew ch does not existwith us , lively though we are a cou ted

The gesture and the voice inflexion are always wedded to the subject in their theatre ; the actors come and go , they speak hi and move as in their own homes . T s action is natural in a very diff erent sense and wears an air of truth very diff erent from that which is seen when four or five French actors, ar

- o the ranged in line , like a bas relief , on the foregr of stage, ” his recite their dialogue each speaking in turn .

Enough has been said to show tha t the Italian comedy is directly descended from the performances of the ancient Latin

’ mimes ; and the genre called cornmedia dell arte in particular

tellan is none other than that of the A ae . It is the only theatre E hi di in urope w ch has preserved the tra tions of antiquity . The theatre in France did not begin to take form until the Italian influence came to soften and to abolish the rudeness

of the marvellous and grotesque French mystery plays . It is often wondered how it could have been possible to play h di such scenes as that in w ich two actors, fin ng themselves on

the stage , seek each other and speak without seeing each other

or sometimes five or six characters perform at the same time ,

hr forming nevertheless two or t ee groups, who again do not

. hi see one another These scenes , w ch are constantly to be R found in the plays of Plautus and uzzante, are to be explained 32 INTRODUCTION by the shape and construction of the theatres of antiquity and hi i of the Renaissance , of w ch a very beaut ful specimen , the

work of Palladio , is still to be seen at Vicenza . The auditorium is constructed in the shape of a semicircle

supplied with steps . It is surrounded by a colonnade , the

intervals between the pillars forming the boxes , and by stairs

leading to a gallery which crowns the whole . The stage con

s ni ul si ts of two parts , the prosce um , a semicirc ar platform

which reaches to the foot of the steps , and behind this the stage

e proper, b aring the scenery . But the scenery was hung very di f f f erently rom that in our modern theatres . The stage was di vided into three arcades , and under each arcade one saw ,

upon a sloping ground, a real street with wooden houses ; di these streets , procee ng from the back of the stage , come to hi debouch upon the proscenium , w ch is deemed an open

square . The actors may therefore perform and circulate

”

through all the streets , conceal themselves , spy upon one

n ur another, listen , or very at ally surprise secrets and mysteries

our in such a manner as is often impossible in modern theatres .

A further great advantage was that the actors performing ,

whether on the proscenium or the stage , might be equally well heard in any part of the auditorium owing to its circular con struction and to the fact that the stage was not raised as is hi the case with us . T s theatre , called the Olympic , built by l di Pal a o at the beginning of the sixteenth century, is an hi arc tectur al gem . On the occasion of the fetes with which the city of Lyons

. di 1548 received Henry II and Catherine de Me cis in , the Florentine merchants established in that city brought at their own expense a troupe of Italian comedians to perform the — 3 I . C 3 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

’ Cardinal of Bibbiena s La Cala ndra beforethe King and Queen of France . But the Italian comedy theatre was not seen in 1570 li C Paris until , when it was estab shed there by one anasse

anassa or Juan G . Here both tragedy and comedy were per

formed , and The charge of admission was up to five or six

’

. Ganassa s sous for each person troupe, authorised by letters i patent from the k ng , does not appear to have made a long

Ganassa sojourn in France . had been in Spain in the early hi years of the reign of P lip II . managing a company of Italian comedians , who performed farces in the Italian language . In

o this company were included Harlequin , Pantaloon , the Doct r ,

Tabarino m Pagliaccio , Burattino , and whose homony enjoyed

‘ later on so great a vogue in the Place Dauphine in Paris . The performances of these personages and their costumes h achieved a great success in Spain , where t ey made a pro tracted sojourn before going to France .

Porbus shows in one of his pictur es a ball or divertissement

ur hi 1 2 . at the Co t of Charles IX . in 57 In t s the king and all his courtiers are to be seen in the costumes of various Italian bufioons uk ui le o . The D e of G se ( Balafré) appears as S ara

uk . mouche , the D e of Anjou (Henry III ) as Harlequin , the L di Cardinal of orraine as Pantaloon , Catherine of Me cis as

V s Columbine , and His ery Chri tian Majesty is seen cutting l capers under the mask of Brighella . Singu ar prelude to the horrible tragedy of the 24th August of the same year !

1571 k I Comici In the Italian troupe , nown under the name of

Con denti— d s fi that is to say , the confident come ian (confident, ul — it was understood , of the ind gence of the public) journeyed hi through the provinces of France . The performances of t s 3 4

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE and the king permitted them to charge a half testoon to all who ” should come to see them play .

19 sur On Sunday the th of May , the Italian comedians ,

li elosi named g , began the performance of their comedies at the 6 H tel de Bourbon , in Paris they charged the members of their audience a fee of four sous per head, and such were the crowds they attracted that the four best preachers of Paris had not amongst them all as many present at their sermons when they ” ur disco sed .

27th li On Saturday , the July , the Italian comedians ,

elosi ur g , after having presented at Co t letters patent accorded t i di hem by the king , permitt ng them to perform their come es

hs di hi notwit tan ng the pro bition of the Court , were dismissed under plea of objection with prohibition ever to obtain and to present such letters to the Court subject to a penalty of ten

- Notwithstand thousand livres , to be paid into the poor box .

hi wi ing t s inhibition , in the early part of the follo ng September they renewed the performance of their comedies at the HOtel

’ de Bourbon , as before , by the king s express command ; the ff corruption of these times being such that comedians, bu oons , ” f u harlots and mignons enjoy the llest credit with the king .

h But t is company did not long remain in Paris .

L ur s ong sojo ns ( ays M . Charles Magnin) were not the custom of these itinerant troupes , and moreover the magistrates ,

a the m being little in f vour of establish ent of new theatres , sus tained with rigour the monopoly of the ancient confraternity

la Passion h ri of , w ich was then being inf nged by professional ” Hé tel comedians at the de Bourgogne . 36 INTRODUCTION

The Gelosi troupe returned therefore to Florence in 1578 ; and it was there that Flaminio Scala brought together the most famous Italian company of the sixteenth century . This com

n pany visited France on several occasio s . It had for its device

- a two faced Janus with this legend , punning upon the word gelosi

’ V u a a e d n no ser e s . irt , f m o or g lo i

The principal actors engaged by Flaminio Scala , who him

un self played lovers der the name of Flavio , were a young V actress named Prudenza , born at erona , who played second 1577 lady , and who had already formed part of the company in ul at Blois and in Paris ; Gi io Pasquati , of Padua , who played

il Ma nifico Pantaloon and g ; Gabriello, of Bologna, creator

- of the character of Franca Trippa ; Simone , of Bologna , the

r Harle uino Salim beni fi st to bear the name of q ; Girolamo , of

Zanobio Florence , under the name of (an elderly citizen of

R a Piombino) Signora Silvia onc gli , of Bergamo , who filled L soubrette parts under the name of Franceschina ; odovico ,

Andreini of Bologna , who played Doctor Graziano Francesco , “ w ho us of Pistoia , performed upon all m ical instruments and

spoke six or seven languages Francesco Bartoli , an able

Andr eini comedian ; and Isabella , who married Francesco

(Captain Spavento) . From 1584 to 1585 the troupe called the Confidenti was in di m France . Fabrizio For aris gave a pastoral play and then

An elica a comedy ( g ) , which was first performed impromptu

o in Italian at the house of the Duke of Jy euse . The author

h réle C l imself played the of Captain rocodile, who spoke on y h Spanish . T is new troupe established itself at the H6tel 37 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

de Cluny , but it was driven out by the Confraternity of

la Passion . In 1588 there was a fresh attempt by the Italians to establish themselves in Paris . On the subject M . Charles Magnin says

One may read in a remonstrance addr essed to the king

n S econds Eta ts on the occasion of the ope ing of the , at

Blois , amongst many other plaints , that the performances of the Ita lian strangers are a great evil which it is wrong to ’ l 0th hi tolerate . Further , a warrant of the of August of t s i di year renews the inh bition to all come ans , whether Italian

anvw here Hfitel or French , to give any performance but at the E i de Bourgogne . vil times rather than th s inhibition compelled the Italian actors to return beyond the Alps . During this sad

i s epoch , indeed , there was no room in France for the bl the frolic

ui - of Harleq n , Pantaloon , the Bolognese Doctor, Franca Trippa ,

hi a . e r Francesc na , and Capt in Spavento The Sixt en and thei ” diff e adherents were giving very erent spectacl s to France .

f 1600 IV . In Henry , a ter the peace of Savoy , at the time of t his marriage with Mary of Medicis , in roduced from Italy a

hi c n new troupe w ch , ac ordi g to some authors , was none other

Gelosi i than that of the , under the direction of Flam nio Scala . They were lodged in the Rue de la Poterie at the HOtel

’ Ar ent d . g , and were salaried by the king They came to an

i 6 d e r arrangement with the comed ans at the H tel Bou gogne, and played alternately with them in the theatre of the Rue

nseil Mauco .

The beautiful and famous Isabella Andr eini was the queen

hi 1604 its of t s troupe , and her death in was the signal for 38 INTRODUCTION

is . e d bandment Flaminio Scala retir d, worn out by twenty eight years of work and occupied himself thereafter with the

scenaru publication of . In the beginnin g of the seventeenth century Italy possessed

: Cornici Uniti several companies of comedians the , a troupe formed in 1583 by Adriano Valerini of deserters from the

Gelosi Con denti di camp of the the fi , who were slowly sappear

Gelosi ing ; the , whom we have seen disbanded after the death l of Isabel a , and a new troupe , inheritor of the glory of the

Gelosi - , which was known and applauded for forty seven years throughout Europe under the name of the Com ici Fedeli (the

ful e n An dreini faith com dians) . Giovan i Battista , the son of 1605 i hi hi Isabella , assumed in the direct on of t s company, w ch , di l 1652 several times renewed , did not sband unti . Its princi

- pal actors were Gian Paolo Fabri , who had already performed un der the name of Flaminio in the troupe of the Uniti Nicolo

i n 1625 Barbier , k own by the name of Beltrame , who became in

Andreini joint director of the troupe with G . B . ; Virginia

An reini 1601 . d w Ramponi , married to G . B in , and kno n by

Gavarini the name of Florinda ; Girolamo of Ferrara , known by the name of Captain Rhinoceros (Capitan Rinoceronte) ;

L i his L s Margarita ucian , wife idia , an actre s of great merit,

And reini 1635 ni who married G . B . m , after the death of Virgi a

Ramponi and Bularia Coris .

1613 di um - I In , Mary of Me cis s moned to Paris the troupe of the Andreini Fedeli . . , under the direction of G B , who had just de

’ L Adamo dicated his religious piece to the queen . He remained

' 1618 Gelosi there until , presenting the old repertory of the and playing now at Court and now in the theatre of the HOtel de di Bour gogne by arrangement with the French come ans . 39 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

In 1621 Andr eini was again called to Paris and he remained

h ni n . C . n v there , accordi g to M Mag n , until the end of car i al

1623 to of , having , during these two years, performed great

his applause and published five or six pieces of own in Paris .

After a short journey beyond the Alps , he comes yet again to ” 624 n 1625 spend the year 1 and the begin ing of in Paris . The performances given by his various troupes consisted of di di come es , both improvised and memorised , trage es , and plays i d of the comic opera and pastoral var ety . The ialects of o Venice, Naples , Bergam or Genoa , besides French , German and

C a his astilian , were sometimes employed , in cert in pieces of ,

n e h such as La Peri d . It is fairly certain t at the French public u cannot have nderstood them to any great extent, and the author himself would have to compensate them on the morrow of such performances by giving them such works

L enta wra di as a C (dedicated to Mary of Me cis) .

c mi This equestrian pie e presented an entire fa ly of centaurs, father, mother , son and daughter . In the first act they prance in a comedy, in the second they graze happily in a pastoral hi l N and in the t rd they gal op and rear in a tragedy . um erous

and picturesquely bizarre adventures pivot about the father, the son and the mother centaurs , in the course of their combat to recover the crown of the island of Cyprus . Despairing of success in their design , they resolutely kill themselves . This

l the ff accomp ished , o er of that crown so ardently desired is u made to them . The little female centa r, an orphan , sees

r l hi he se f compelled to ascend the throne , w ch she does at the gallop .

bufl o The influence of these Italian comedies , farces and on

s the r erie , pictu esqueness of the costumes , the impromptu of 40 INTRODUCTION

h s oons t is clas of play, soon begat in France comedians and bufl hi who sometimes even surpassed their models . W lst borrowing

n the the mask , the mantle and the liveries of the Italia s , French comedians very quickly created in the theatre of the H6tel de Bourgogne—fallen into discredit on account of the tiresome

— a - - pieces presented there characters , h lf French , half Italian , f u - Guillaum e ll of originality, wit and mirth , such as Gros , l

n ul -Gar uille Gor u J Turlupi , Ga tier g , Guillot j and odelet , whilst from 16 18 to 1625 Tabarin performed in the Place

his Dauphine , in company with Mondor, farces in Italian ,

e in Spanish or in French according to the types present d . This was a field in which Moliere had the ability to glean as well as in that of the Italian comedy .

1639 L . In ouis XIII summoned from Italy a troupe of players, h half singers , half improvisers , w ich remained but a little while

Fiurelli in France . It included the celebrated Tiberio , who

s went by the name of Scaramouche . The e short visits were

An i several times repeated , as we gather from the works of dre ni

s and Beltrame . They tell us that these troupe of Italian comedians were not settled in Paris . They were sent for and the expenses of their journeys were defrayed ; they remained in Paris or attached to the Court for as long as ff f they a orded entertainment , and , a ter some years , they were given a sum sufficient to meet the expenses of their return journey .

A company summoned to Paris in 1645 by Cardinal Mazarin

- h played at the Petit Bourbon T eatre . It was made up of

Mez z etin Trivelino C Pantaloon , Harlequin , , , Isabelle , olum h L bine, the Doctor, Scaramouc e , Aurelia , Gabriella ocatelli ,

Ba la z i li rto z . Giulia Gabriel , and Margarita 41 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE Here is the title of a piece performed in this theatre

Explanation of the scenery and action of the piece ’ La Folle S u oses La Finta Paz za entitled pp ( ) , the work of the a celebrated Giulio Strozzi , most illustrious It lian poet, to be a performed by the grand royal troupe of It lian comedians ,

his - entertained by Majesty at the Petit Bourbon , by command hr i u I of the Queen Mother of the Very C stian King [Lo is X V . ]

1645. printed in Paris , November “ Flore will be played by the graceful and pretty Louise Gabrielle Locatelli L , named ucile, who by her vivacity will prove herself a true light of harmony . e l Giulia Gabrielli Th tis wil be played by the signora , named Diane , who will marvellously portray her choler and her love . The prologue of this piece w ill be spoken by the very Mar uerite Bartolaz z i excellent g , whose vo”ice is so ravishing t that it is impossible wor hily to praise it .

Further on we read on the subject of another scene

Note : w h This scene ill be entirely wit out music , but so admirably performed that the harmonies dispensed with will

not be missed . The first act of the piece concludes with a ballet by four us bears and four apes , performing a very am ing dance to the

sound of little drums . l a And ostriches wi l appe r and in the course of low”ering l their necks to drink at a fountain wi l perform a dance .

Here is the argument of the eighth and last scene of the third act

icom ed es N recognises Pyrrhus for his grandson , and his meanwhile there arrives an Indian , who , having made bow un to the king , anno ces that among the merchandise aboard his nt ship which the tempest has driven i o port , there are five 42

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Agostino- Constantino Lolli (of Bologna) the parts of Doctor

Rom a nesi u Baloardo ; Marco g , nder the name of Orazio , the

V r parts of first lover ; Turi the son , under the name of i ginio , those of second lover ; Beatrice Adami , under the name of

Diamantina , the parts of soubrette ; Jean Doucet appeared in the character of a zany ; Tiberio Fiur elli in that of Scara mouche ; Brigida Bianchi played the parts of leading lady or amoureuse L under the name of Aurelia , and Domenico ocatelli

Trivelino was seen as . The performances were held between two and five o’clock in the afternoon , the choice of hour being governed by considera tion of the mud and thieves encumbering the badly lighted streets of Paris after dark .

This troupe left the Petit- Bourbon in 1660 and found w e ’ accommodation , by order of the king , together ith Moli re s

- company, at the theatre of the Palais Royal . Performances

nf e were given on alternate days and the company, rei orc d by several other actors and actresses from Italy , was made up as follows

TT V V . ALERIO , O A IO , Andrea Zanotti E LARIA U s . , Orsola Cortez , wife of Domenico TI An w L . DIAMAN NA , Patricia Adami , ife of gelo olli I - Biancolelli Dom HARLEQU N , Giuseppe Domenico , called

CINTEI O c - Rom a nesi , Mar o Antonio g . Fiur e lli. SCARAMOUCHE , Tiberio T FLAU INO , Giovanni Gherardi MEZZETI NO , Angelo Constantini B Biancolelli COLUM INE , Catarina , daughter of Domenico, E T s Giaratone PI RRO , Giu eppe Tortoretti PASQUARIELLO , Giuseppe I AUREL O , Bartolomeo Ranieri 44 INTRODUCTION

TT wi Tortoretti MARINE A , Angelica Toscano, fe of . PULcrNELLA Michel- s , Angelo da Fraca sano GRADELI NO i , Constant no Constantini

TT V - C O A IO , Giovanni Batista onstantini E i HARLEQUIN , varisto Gherard .

E - Rom a nesi L . ANDRO , Charles Virgile g de Belmont TT G T SPINE A , BRI HELLA and the CAP AIN , whose real names

are not known . T T E Danneret Bahet LA . CAN A RICE , lisabeth , called

1697 In the troupe was expelled from Paris , and the theatre ! A c it .‘ La Fa usse Prude hi closed as the result of a comedy ( ) in w ch 5x r61e ui Constantini , who filled the of Harleq n , permitted him

ri self sati cal allusions to Madame de Maintenon .

’ “ U Thedtres de la Foire fia t nder the designation of were comprised , K . O I down to the end of the eighteenth century , the performance halls established on the sites of the markets of Saint - Germain

-L hi and Saint aurent , w ch had begun their existence with rope dancers , trained dogs , etc . It was then that the actors of the

ai s for n theatre appropriated the Italian repertory , establishing themselves upon that suspension of privileges and upon the exemptions granted to the traders of the fairs of Saint- Germain

- and Saint Laurent .

- F But the actors of the Comédie rancaise , anxious to secure

Re nie the maintenance of their rights , obtained from M de la y , L the ieutenant of Police , a sentence including prohibition to all oxee tin the French come to erform in comedy or ” farce in the city of Paris under pain of fine . 1 hi The forain players appealed against t s sentence , and continued their performances pending judgment . There was

1 — I . e. la e s in th e T ea res d e la F e a is sa la e s p y r h t oir th t to y , p y r who se t u e e s s p th ir th atre a t public fa ir . 45 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

renewed opposition from the French comedians . M de la (Reynie again forbade the forain players to perform any lspectacle in which there is dial gue M q Obedient to this mandate they declared that they would

r e perform no more dialogues , and two or th ee days lat r they

announced : S caramouche and the or lo Peda nt a comedy i M a w m ono ues. When a comed an had -Ki?» ky

spoken his part he withdrew to the wings , and he who was to deliver the answer came to take his place to disappear again in

his r his turn and make room for the fi st one . In t fashion seven actors took part in this comedy .

Derided by the public , and exasperated by the forain players,

e - the actors of the Com dic Francaise and the magistrates ,

s accompanied by several squad of the watch , by forty archers ,

e two parliamentary ushers and two constabl s , invaded the forain theatres on the 20th Februa O the ‘ l QM w ’ —v m w y ' cU—u -n l M m z fl

s booths , the benche and the scenery , after which the with - e W'M w a i r a w n y M m fi a “ w e dr

ew extremely ro‘ ud of havi made an end of these y fl M ‘M w u‘ N " ng” p “ ? m ‘ m z’ “fir -V ”, v ” recalcitrant folk .

di ms But the forain players d not account the elves beaten .

No sooner had the archers departed than , with the aid of the

d r public , they restore the damage in a few hou s , and on the morrow they billed a play and performed it as if nothing had

re happened . But on the next day the ushers and archers hi appeared , and t s time they did not confine themselves to breaking up and pulling down ; they delivered eve to the fire, and for several days twelve archers were on guard over these ruins of farce with no other occupation but that of burning and annihilating . The forain actors were therefore compelled to submit ; but 46 INTRODUCTION

re - m they again found means to establish the selves , for some years later they were to be heard singing the following verses of Panard in their theatres

’ Les lois no sont qu un e barriers vaine Que le s homme s franchissent tous

Car ar - ess s le s an s asse sans e n e , p d u , gr d p nt p i ,

- Les e s ar e ss s. p tit , p d ou

The directors of the Opéra soon came to understand that no successful opposition could be made to the development of

to these little theatres , and they sold the right to sing the theatre of the fair of aint-Laurent since the Theatre -Fran ais “ S N W WW “

Amid the enterprises of the forain theatres were the per form ances wi of Bertrand , Alard , the dow Maurice and Decelles , associated and primarily the sole proprietors of the shows given

L and L at the fairs . ater on they admitted Dolet aplace to

h wi . a s are this right th them Then c me Ottavio and Domenico , to -E m be succeeded by Saint d e and Madame Baron who , in i rivalry with the Cheval er Pellegrin , came to replace Francisque

Lalauz e n and , and fi ally by Ponteau , who obtained the privilege of the Opéra - Comique from the Royal Academy of Music in

1728 1742 . , and kept it until

0 French A lar e number r" authors L worked for the forain the tre , such as esage , Fuzelier, ’ d Orneval Favart e Carolet , Panard , , Diderot, Piron , Vad , ,

Sedaine B La ffichard ( a let Dallainval , orville , , iél , Fagan , , Boissy ,

ul 1772 Who wo d believe , asks Grimm , in , that the opera

the u and the two comedy troupes, the French and Italian , sho ld 47 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

un be perpetually ited to persecute by virtue of their privilege , the theatre of the fairs 2 From the moment that a manager

conceives a good idea to attract the public , and from the hi hi moment that he attempts somet ng w ch is tinted by success , h that successful thing is forbidden . In the hope of indering

the better classes from patronising these performances , the managers have been forbidden to charge more than twenty

r fou sous for the best seats , so as to compel decent people to

nf be mingled and co ounded with the populace . Preach toler ance and flatter yourselves to see it reign in a coun try in which hi f u Henry IV . and Polic nelle were persecuted with equal ry The theatre of the fairs introduced actors and actresses of

recognised merit to the public , and the public have applauded — i these the comical and singular performances of Domen co , the

n na1veté son of Harlequi , the of Belloni as Pierrot , the voice

s d e L 61 and the slyne s of Mademoiselle isle in soubrette r es , the

us am ing gibberish of Desgranges as Scaramouche , the grimaces

Pa hetti r6les C r of g in the of Pantaloon and assand e , and the

modest air of Mademoiselle Molin as leading lady . Harlle uinad es and pantomimes were also played from 1759 fl q

1771 Am bi - h si t en , tuatgd on to at the Comique w ich was q k h gE ‘ M . Boul ard du w h t t ea the ey Temple , ils a the Th tre Gaudon , in

9 w ere to e fo m anc s l fle e uin , b s en lichine g fl arl , p fi hy jp q 116 e er r eu g g

oth r I ia haracters e a al n . Isab ll and g m t i

The four halls of the fair of Saint- Germain were open from

3rd the of February to Palm Sunday . Those of the fair of Saint-Laurent were open from the 1st July to the 30th Septem

ber l h - w as , as was a so t at of the fair of Saint Ovide , which made

up chiefly of mountebanks and marionette shows .

Some of the Italian types preserved their original form, and 48 INTRODUCTION were played in costum es adopted long since and remaining invariable . Others , however , underwent changes of name, of m character and of costu e . Pierrot became Gilles , Pantaloon

L dr r came to be called Cassandre , ean o became a ridiculous love ,

b C eannot h a coxcom , a poltroon , a sort of aptain ; J , w ich in the Italian companies had been no more than a very sketchy mi character, became a complete and important le, and attracted

t héatre - Ha a on Fran ais ; t , , u Crispin m gg g s —i m W - a - ‘ h M

anarelle - mi Sg , and Gros René came to be ngled with the Italian tW Wm ation which endured until the se.) of the f a 1a Lss i aa ssa rulen u n a mw ssm . , - ,

m fa e ud e 1789 . d i uet and out of fashion z in The last of the Italian troupes seen In France was that l 1716 which the regent, Phi ippe of Orleans , summoned in , under the direction of Louis Riccoboni (named Lelia) it was housed

6 Mauconseil if H , at the old tel de Bourgogne in Rue and was “ an ? composed as follows T ‘K ‘ s

Lur r Riccoboni . s . LEL O , J. I g i Baletti 4 MARIO , Giuseppe 45 “i i T a n v U t hom ssi . HARLEQ IN , Vicpp/ ig , called l r hetti T A bo . PAN ALOON , g tteraz z i THE T Ma . DOC OR ,

Bissoni. SOAPINO, Rauz z ini SCARAMOUCHE , Giacopo . letti I E Ba . FLAM NIA , lena i V Gianetta Benoz z . SIL IA ,

V TT . IOLE A , Margarita Rusca ' Co B er B no lelli LELI O - ni Rom a si 1725 z Giovanni Anto o gng ( ) Francesco Riccoboni

Bertinaz z i HARLEQUIN , Carlo 49 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

L -L Baletti ELIO , Antonio uigi

CORALINE , Anna Veronese 1744 E s ns CAMILLE , Antonia Veronese ( ) li abetta Co tantini B b 0 Mademoiselle Belmont . and Mademoiselle e esse ( 173 ) Marie Laboras de Mezieres ( 1734) Madame Riccoboni Madame Favart ( 1749) Madame Bognioli GE ll Foul uier Catinon 1753 AN LIQUE , Mademoise e q , named ( ) ini Billoni Vesian Bacelli Zam ar . Mesdames , , ,

The company of 1716 was called the New Comédie

’ is Italienne , or the Regent s Company, to distingu h it from that

i - 1653 hi h . of , w c it was agreed to name the Old Coméd e Italienne

The several Italian troupes that played in France , down to

1716 us . that of incl ive , presented plays of various kinds They

of others that were entirely improvised , of scenes that were

in played throughout dumb show , and of dances and singing ,

‘ m ise- en -scene l all with scenery and such as was then possib e .

IFireworks were never absent from the opening of a season, the Italians being anxious to preserve their ancient pyrotechnic

reputation . That which in Italy was called opera (a work) was nothing

s l hi more than thi interming ing of various genres , of w ch an

Le Gelose Politiche e Amorose r instance is afforded by , of Piet o

Za uri Angelo g , performed in the house of Giovanni Battista

Sanuto 1697 . , in Venice , in The prologue of this opera took

n E place in an entirely imagi ary country , inhabited by olus , to

s whom the Tiber , accompanied by Nymph , came to pay a

dr n visit ; it was at once a ballet , a ama , and a tragedy, mi gled

with couplets and dances . The troupe of 1653 was chiefly concerned with the per

form ance hi s of pieces without much production , in w ch mu ic 50

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

has collected a number of these scenam (designated a la fran

oise c ) , we are able to judge what French wit could accomplish

- - h crippled by a sort of half and half language , whose Frenc

li n and Italian components were a ke incorrect , offeri g, couse

quently, a piquant babble , which combined perhaps better than would have been possible to any other form of speech the

cene

ds dl t Nevertheless , towar the mid e of the eighteenth cen ury , and conse u nge g fth l grs u p , probably n g fl I q auq r singing M g p o w n-A f lpw i d di Com edie came l ttle by little entirely to isplace alogue . The Italienn e was no more th thgat tin mi ag afl gq prese g co c operas ’n ’ d Alainval Lafli or written pieces from the pens of Marivaux , ,

L i Favart Sed aine chard , egrand , Bo ssy , Delisle , , , Desportes ,

eaum e adé L Ans V . anoue , Fuselier , , , etc French actors were not slow to invade a theatre in which no one any longer spoke

-L of Saint aurent) , and the troupe was made up as follows

Dehesse A Lacke Ciaverelli S ca in l Bertinaz zi , y ; , p ; Car ino ,

Harle uin Baletti L Lovers Cham ville A q ; and ejeune , ; p ,

R iculous Lover Zanucci Lelia Colalto Pa nta loon id ; , ; , ; Caillot ,

u Laruette Cassandre Clairval Leadin La d Col s ; , , g y ; Madame

Favart S oubrette Riviére Des lands Bo nioli , and Mesdames , g , g , l aruette e . L , B rard , Beaupré , Carlin and Mandevi le Inj fl fl t he administra tion dismissed the Italian players and 52 INTRODUCTION

The Comedie perform any more

a h It lian pieces , has replaced t ese by others of its old repertory which it had entirely abandoned after its amalgamation with

era a the Op Comique . Therefore all our ultramont ne actors have been dismissed with the exception of Carlino Bertinaz z i

his h mi and double , who continue to perform t eir les of Harle quin in the French pieces (Grimm , April

In e t e of the Comedic- Italienne assumed the name of Theatre des Italiens notwr hstandm there

e a srn le Itahan w 1th no lon r g actor connected - It . " ” W co 1783 nsh? In , when e ll n began to show signs of falling into ruin , a theatre was built on the side of

HOtel the de Choiseul , on the Boulevard des Italiens , and the

Theatre des I ta liens Theatre-Favart assumed the name of the . Necessary repairs compelled the company to abandon it and to transfer themselves to the theatre of the Rue Feydeau , which

r h was destined for a company coming f om Italy . T is company 1789 ’ arrived in under the protection of Monsieur , the king s brother . After this rapid sketch of the history of the Italian comic

e style and of its types , let us say with the l arned M . Charles

i the Magnin , whose researches are so prec ous , that popular and plebeian drama along the open roads and in unroofed spaces has never failed to lighten the sadness of the serfs and the brief leisur es of the rustics ; it is an indestructible theatre which lives again in our own day in the open-air performances

ur h n of Deb au , a theatre w ich li ks together the ancient and the

E di oculatores modern stages . ru tion may discover for these j ,

delusores oliardi our for these , and for these g of own times and 53 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

dl of the Mid e Ages the most honourable ancestry in Greek,

L E s atin , Oscan , tru can , Sicilian and Asiatic antiquity, from [E sop the wise Phrygian hunchback down to Maccus, the

di ui l Atellanae jovial and sg sed Ca abrian , the hero of the farces , who has since become in the streets of Naples , by the simple ”

r his . t anslation of name , the very sprightly Master Pulcinella

Pierrot , Harlequin , Pantaloon and Columbine are the only

mi ur - Italian types of panto me s viving to day , and each has

r re un been thoroughly t ansfigu d . In Italy they are to be fo d only in the lesser theatres or among the marionettes .

mi Chaum fleur A propos of the witty panto me of M . p y that

ul Théo hile was performed at the Funamb es , M . p Gautier writes as follows

’ com edic hum aine Pantomime is the true , and although it

does not employ two thousand characters like that of M . de

Balzac , it is no less complete . With four or five types , it i e . suffices for everyth ng . Cassandre [i. Pantaloon] represents

i Le dr the fam ly an e , the stupid and wealthy fop , favoured by e parents ; Columbine , the ideal ; B atrix , the dream pursued ,

the flower of youth and of beauty ; Harlequin , with the face

his of an ape and the sting of a serpent , with his black mask ,

- many coloured lozenges , his shower of spangles , represents li love , wit , mobi ty , audacity , all the showy and vicious

s qualities ; Pierrot , pallid , slender, dre sed in sad colours ,

always hungry and always beaten is the ancient slave , the

modern proletarian , the pariah , the passive and disinherited l being , who , glum and sly, witnesses the orgies and the fol ies

his of masters .

None must expect to find here a history of the Italian theatre 54 INTRODUCTION

hi we shall make no mention of the mystery play, w ch , in Italy E li dl and in urope , was essentially re gious throughout the Mid e

Ages , nor of the academic and classic drama and comedy, fif which , from the teenth century onwards , amused the courts

r of the Italian princes . Nor yet shall we occupy ou selves w ith

r i the serious d amas and comed es , in verse or in music , per formed in Italy in later times , and largely derived from the

n modern French theatre . Our researches are concerned o ly with that which sets forth the real character of Italy ; with

sui eneris im that art g which is only to be found there , the

rom tu At ellanae p p comedy begotten of the , the masks full of

t bufl oons originali y , the full of wit and spontaneity , as much at their ease in the public square as in the Court of Versailles it

’ Comm edia nti dell Arte is in short of these , and of their successors

orn i along the same road, that we are g g to attempt to d sclose hi the story and to trace the types with the aid of our drawings , — given to the light as was said of old , in speaking of engravings

by our friend Alexandre Manceau .

55

HARLEQUIN

IRS t e S , I was born in Bergamo, but so long ago that I

f in h o . member not ing it I was called those days Ah , ! but wait I can no longer remember my name , by

! he Bacchus Forgive me if I appeal to Bacchus , but is the h only god w om I ever take to witness .

h us Sirs , I was well acquainted of old wit one Macc , whose e t mper was not always amiable , and it also happened that I

L e to had more wit than that coarse brute , at r I was lackey a

so doctor who in reality was but an apothecary , and miserly that for clothes he gave me no more than such old rageof his ul own as co d no longer be employed to repair less seedy ones . 72 .

‘ ur o l I end ed a noble p ert and for long . You are looking at b a 1 my hat ! It is almost new . It was given to me by Henry III . He did not care about hats ; he gave me one that proved too

’ his k h rs i small for mon ish head . T is rabbit s tail the emblem t 4 “ $44 his of courage and of mine , not the courage of the lamb , but “ a . Q M r bare u the cou age of the , to run ickly and long . “ w q ! i I was very na ve, not to say stupid , my masters ; but w a d ith age, experience and wit came to my assist nce, and to ay m I have all that I need and so e to spare . I said to myself at h first, when I left my old apothecary , t at I should be well — advised to imitate my brother Brighella M t 4 h “ V 6 myself a Situation w ege one may eat well . Therefore I h chose hostelries . But , alas if shoemakers are the worst s od, 57 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

- eating house lackeys are the worst nourished . I abandoned

bp e l er that profession and pam sqfi a poor condition , believe pfl

d - me ; later I turned come ian , tumbler , dancer, merry andrew - — w v m M m ~m " m - l- t m t w m m N w one nk t . a m 0 ‘ W‘Mand the same im , and mounteba M But perceiving " . \w M M 'm M t e did I h ht that my rags not make a good impression at Court , ug / q

ellow new cloth ofwall colours red blue re lace the tattered m ik hi pieces of little arment , the l e of w ch is not to be h y g w m , “

W ‘ M W holidays I put on my satin clothes ; but they wear out too ui — q ckly and are too dear . And the fact is must I confess it

—I a sirs never have a h lfpenny . That , however , does not prevent me from being gay, or from being pleasing to beauty

- i upon waiting maids , now , I exert a pecul ar attraction . I understand perfectly how to contrive certain delicate love hi affairs into w ch fathers, husbands and guardians have no

s us i n busines to be thr t ng their noses . I am , for the mome t,

di om o le r a lackey of con tion to some y , whose pu se is M p p ‘A g e A M fi g n alw ii te s i ra hi t ins . o m r b S a hgp w , ys“ as gm a w In hort w lst iw p pyw h pfi a o m ow a ir ransa ct _ t “ fl fia s , w iting u y h t tran-h . sacmt those of others a . . and I fl say m h x p d g end Polic lle I e good n m l hin wl wen m

I contrive so well that I now go to Cour t ; I am the

Marquis of Sbruffad eli ; I overlook the waiting- maids ; I

m and I as ire to court their istresses , p the hand of Isabella . But what is that ? Who strikes me ? Ah me Where h ? ! Shall I ide myself I cry you mercy , my master I will

ur restore you yo garments . Do not beat me to death ; let me die of old age ! I resume my rags , my bat and my mask ; I return to Columbine, and I shall avenge myself ” upon Pierrot . 58

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

hm ri s h rhyt by va ed ongs w ich were not made for virgins . We do not repeat old songs ; the hymn which we addr ess to thee

has never yet been sun g .

h hallo hores lani es In Rome t ese same p p take the name of p p . This name comes to them from the fact that having no need — for the high tragic buskin to increase their size since they performed quite close to the public on the thym ele in the

— flat - orchestra itself they played , as it were , footed . These actors performed only little pieces and improvisations of the

Atellane farces .

Quid enim si choragium thymelicum possiderem num ea: 60 ar umentare etiam uti m e consuesse tra eodi s rmate histrionis g g y , ” t imi centunculo croca a m . , , says Apuleius in his apology

Mimi centunculo indicates the garb of Harlequin , composed as it is of an infinity of pieces of various colours . His black

uli ine aciem obductam mask is described by f g f , and his shaven

S anniones mim um a ebant rasis head , according to Vossius , by g caritibus (Ag ra w a mw m w with shaven heads) .

ui z anni z ani Harleq n and Brighella are called in Italy , or sanni Latrn sanni o bufloon sannium , from the , a , a mocker ; ,

sanna e m m ace . , mock ry , fl eg , gé ” Riccoboni his Histor o the I ta lian I have sought , says (in y f

Theatre zanni n ) , the origin of this name of , and I thi k that it is

fir a a change in the st letter th t has given rise to doubt . We

s Z see that our predecessors very often u ed in the place of S . All the most approved Italian authors have said zambuco for

mbuc na am o na za nna sanna sa o z am o s . , p g for p g , for Quid enim potest tam ridiculum quam sannio esse qui 60 HARLEQUIN are vultu imita ndis motibus voce dani ue car are ur o , , , , g p ridet ips

De t Ora ore . (Cicero , , lib ii . )

Pla ni es raece dicitur mimus idea autem latine lani es p g , p p

uad actores lanis edibus id est nudi roscenium introirent q p p , , p

iom d D e . . ( lib . iii )

IS foot ear of Harle uimn indicated ? H m not” the there is M g q M i i ce p ot Is simply enveloped m a p g of leather without a heel .

, H From top to toe then , the dress of arlequin is precise X that j

' Lat hi of the m mime . I have found a book which , w lst not h being as ancient as I might have desired, yet contains enoug to Show the difference between the costume in those days and the present one . I i In the time of Henry V . a troupe of Ital an comedians came to Paris . The Harlequin of this troupe sought to induce him the king to present with a gold chain and a medal . He

conceived the notion of writing a book , of printing it , and

addressing it to the king . On the front page there is a figure

of Harlequin of the height of some three inches .

The costume of this Harlequin which Riccobonihas engraved

in d consists of a jacket open front , and lace with Shabby

in - ribbons , and sk tight trousers, covered with pieces of cloth

h . of various colours , placed hap azard The jacket is similarly

c f pat hed . He wears a stif black beard , a black half mask, a

is the Fran o . Slashed cap, in fashion of the time of g I and no

n l d li en ; he is equipped with a gird e , a pouch ap a wooden

his in l Sli are sword , feet are shod v , covered at the t nkle b th 6 ch taas a ai er .

ch e As for the mask with whi Harl quin appeared pp France,

- h h and which he wears still to day, it is said t at it was Mic el 61 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

An elo him g who restored it , Wcopying it from the mask of an y in ancient sat His costume the seventeenth century , l ike his character , underwent a metamorphosis ; we still find

him arrayed in the same pieces of cloth of different colours ,

a e but henceforward they g symmetrically placed . ni hi 1 From the time of Dome co , who was the transformer of t s

type , the costume has changed but very little . The jacket

l t u hr has grown , little by ittle , whilst the ro sers have s unk , L diff returning to their primitive form . ozenges of erent

colours have lengthened ; but the mask , the chin ieee the

That rabbit’s tail which adorns the head of Harlequin is a

di us further tra tion of antiquity . It was the c tom to attach the tail of a fox or the ears of a those upon whom it was di x41sought to draw ri cule . An innovation lies in the spangles which render the modern i Harlequ n a sort of streaming fish in gold and silver scales .

In the first Italian troupes of the Sixteenth century- nomad troupes which derived as much from the Bohemians and the

i — w e fin d Triv elino mountebanks as from the comed ans , Mesto

f Guaz eto Ba atino lino , Zaccagnino , Tru faldino , and g , who are

un of the same type under various names , and often der the

same costume . It w S n til e III . t a zany of

this type appeared in Paris .

has M ) It been pretended that as this zanm doubt ” r hi 7a; fi st resid t of Parliament , Ac lle de

c m r e no s fifi ca i , meaning ” p g g k to call m a e p m‘ hi é l gi xrv q fi gl r é é f Harla sriam e li . Thi remained to nt y g g mp p otfi ‘fl him m and to his successors in the type . But its ety ology is 62 HARLEQUIN

V ictoriously refuted in an interesting passage of the learned

r ohann eau Esm an ard commentato s of Rabelais , J and g

Donat inf orms us that the procur ers (lenones) in the i ancient comed es were dressed in variegated costumes , no doubt after the manner of Mercury their patron , which per suad es us that that character in comedy which we call Harle i quin , is none other than Mercury , th s being the reason why he is given a variegated costume, made up of pieces of different

arle uin o or of Hercules . In Italy he is called H q in the anti

e Harle uinus Raulin chopin he is call d , and in a letter of in ” q 152 1 Herle uinus q .

Harlequin’s performance down to the seventeenth century (says Ricc oboni) consisted of just a series of extravagant

r capers, of violent movements and of out ageous blackguard

m at is s . He was once insolent , mocking , clownish and , above hi mi all, obscene . I think that with all t s he ngled an agility of body which made him appear to be always in the air, and I ” might add with assurance that he was an acrobat .

Our modern Harlequin is , above all , a dancer and a tumbler, in which he is in affinity with the most ancient type . In the background of some of his drawings Callot Shows us several Harlequins who are leaping and dancing and turning

’ backward somersaults . So that in Callot s day Harlequin was l stil a dancer .

t 1560 w n Never heless , from onwards , see Harlequi , the U e u ‘ n m -n . ‘M M v sheddi e st i had native of Be mo , of the d that ngu u i a s v g pi y n l pm rga w I M .“ m 63 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

l e s him . charact ri ed until then He sti l remains a glutton , and he is always a poltroon , but he is no longer that type of farm a serv nt from the neighbourhood of Bergamo , seeking every hi where for the donkey upon w ch he was mounted .

Marm ontel His character , says , presents a mixture of i li e . ignorance , na vet , stupidity and grace He is ke a mere sketch of a man , a great child visited by flashes of reason

awkw ardn esess and intelligence , in all of whose capers and there is something Sharp and interesting . The model Harle quin is all suppleness and agility, with the grace of a young

ui e c cat, yet eq pp d with a superficial oarseness that renders his r61e performances more amusing ; the is that of a lackey, hf ul ul patient , fait , cred ous , gluttonous , always in love , always

’ di his in fficulties either on his master s account or on own , afllicting himself and consolin g himself again with the readiness

h s hi . of a c ild , one whose sorrows are as amusing as joys Such

s ur a part demand a great deal of nat alness and of wit , and a great deal of physical grace and suppleness .

the the hi ll At time that zany Arlecc no was a fool , Brighe a ,

Ber am ese Sl the other g , was y and astute . Harlequin and

Brighella are both from the town of Bergamo . This town is built like an amphitheatre on the hills between the Brembo

alte hi s and the Serio in their courses from the V lline ll . It is said that the inhabitants of the upper and lower town are

r ff enti ely di erent in character . Those of the upper town ,

e n the h ll p rso ified in character of Brig e a , are lively, witty and h dl active ; t ose of the lower town are i e , ignorant and almost

a in entirely stupid, like Harlequin . I crave the p rdon of the hi habitants of the lower town for t s statement, made upon the 64

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

1659 his In Cardinal Mazarin , desiring to increase Italian

di Biancolelli company, sent for several actors , inclu ng , who

Tabarini hi was then performing at Vienna in the troupe of . T s

Tabarini had already been in France during the reign of Louis mi L ui XIII . and the nority of o s XIV . In response to the

’ Biancolelli cardinal s summons , then , young went to France

Eularia in the following year, together with , Diamantina and

Ottavio . At the time an actor named Locatelli was playing the r61es

Trivelino hi of , a sort of Harlequin , in the company w ch Bian colelli ui went to recr t , This , however , did not hinder Bian colelli from playing Harlequin , as second comic, alongside of

rivelino 16 1 T 7 . , until the death of the latter in From that moment the stage was dominated by Domenico , as he was generally known . He acquired the reputation of being the ul greatest actor of his century , and rendered pop ar the name

di - of Arlecchino . He ed at forty eight of pneumonia contracted i whilst dancing before Lou s XIV .

L ui The Sieur Beauchamp , dancing master to o s XIV . and

his composer of ballet , had performed before his Majesty a very Singular and greatly applauded dance in a divertissement which the Italian comedians had attached to one of their

pieces . Domenico , who danced very well , gave forthwith an

’ extremely comical imitation of B eauchamp s dance . The king manifested so much delight in these parodying capers that Domenico persisted in them for as long as it was physically

s him b po sible to . He was so overheated that , being una le to change his linen upon leavin g the stage (because he had to

ur edi r61e he cau ht ret n to it imm ately in his own ) , s g a severe 66 HARLEQUIN

h h . c ill w ich ended in pneumonia He lay ill for only eight days ,

renounced the theatre di when , after having , he ed on Monday the

’ 2nd 1688 Six of August , , at o clock in the evening , and was

ur -E i b ied at Saint ustache , behind the cho r, opposite to the chapel of the Virgin . He dwelt in the Rue Montmartre near 6 6 the old H tel Char t .

The loss of Domenico was a shattering thunderbolt upon the Italian comedy . His comrades closed the theatre for a month , and when they reopened it they put up the following announ cement

We have long marked our sorrow by our silence , and we should prolong it further if the apprehension of displeasing you did not influence us more profoundly than our legitimate

our d pain . We Shall reopen theatre on We nesday next , the

I st 1688 of September . In the impossibility of repairing the ff loss we have sustained, we o er you of the best that our

a application and our c re is able to supply . Bear us a little ul i ind gence , and be assured that we shall omit noth ng that ” will contribute to your pleasure .

1662 Cortez e Domenico had married in Paris , in , Orsola , who

l Eularia p ayed under the name of . She bore him twelve children , five of whom survived him . They were

s Biancolelli 1664 the 61 Francoi e , born in , who played r es of Isabella ;

Biancolelli 1665 réles Catherine , born in , who played the of Columbin e ;

L Biancolelli h -L the ouis , knig t of Saint ouis, captain of royal 67 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

regiment of marines , military engineer , and director of the di 1729 forts of Provence, who ed at Toulon in ; he was a

L . godson of ouis XIV , and the author of several pieces

’ di - di played at the Comé e Italienne , and included in Gherar s collection ;

’ i e Biancolelli BoiS - 1672 Ph lipp de Morand , born in , king s

un - co cillor , elder councillor to Saint Domingue , and marine commissioner

- Biancolelli 1681 Pierre Francois , born in , who , under the

i i Trivelino di name of Dom n que, played parts at the Comé e

ho 1 4 73 . Italienne, and in forain theatres , and w died in

n s Anecdotes abound concer ing the famou Domenico . It is related of him that being present one night at a royal supper

fix L he ed his eyes upon a certain dish of partridges . ouis

XIV . , observing this glance of his , said to a lackey

Let hi ni t s dish be given to Dome co . 3 And the partridges also inquired Domenico .

And the partridges also , replied the king , appreciating hi di t s readiness of wit . The sh was of gold .

L X ni ouis IV . retur ng one day from a hunting expedition went incognito to attend the performance of an Italian piece l that was being given at Versail es .

“ That is a bad piece, he said to Domenico , as he was

Whisper it , replied Arlecchino , because if the king were to hear you he would dismiss me together with my

r t oupe . i Domen co was of short stature and comely face, but some ten years before his death he had become rather too stout for

the part of Harlequin . At the foot of his portrait painted 68 HARL EQUIN

n by Ferdinand , and engraved by Hubert , the followi g quatrain is to be read

B n e est m a a e at Pa s m on S olog p tri ri éjour , ’ Jy ré gn e a ve c écla t sur la scene comique ; A e s us la as e a e D ni e rl quin o m qu y c ch omi qu , t la c Qui réforme en riant e t lo pe uple e our . After Domenico’s death a book was published by Florentin

elaulne n — Arle uiniana or the D beari g the following title q , Quips and Pleasant and Am using S tories culled from the Con

Harle uin 1694 ersatians o . v f q , The work begins thus

30th On Saturday last , the of the month , as I was leaving i my room on the stroke of m dnight , Harlequin appeared

his his before me . He was wearing little hat , mask and the coat in which he performed . At first I was surprised to see

im r h ; but I was at once reassu ed , being persuaded that I had nothing to fear from a man for whom my affections had i survived h s death .

’ Do not be apprehensive , he said to me ; I am charmed

’ to see you . m Thereupon I ran to embrace hi .

’ No , not that, he said , my body is now no more than ul abstract matter, ill calc ated to receive such marks of your i friendship . What folly induced you to publish th ngs uttered between us when I was alive ? Do you think to gladden the world with my stories ? Was I so well known that my name l Shou d not yet be forgotten etc .

his The author answers him that his name is immortal , that person is beloved and esteemed throughout Europe ; that in 69 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE the r61es which he un dertook he never played other than with justice and honesty .

k When you portrayed the naveries of the practitioners , i the d stortions of women , the trickiness of bankrupts , or the impertinences of the bourgeois , do you think to have done them any harm

The conversation continues thus between the author and

ni hr u the deceased Dome co t oughout the vol me . Into this con versation are brought amusing stories , scandalous anecdotes

a m oralisin s of the time , quips , faceti e, g , philosophic disserta

- tions , etc . It is a pot pourri on the subject of Domenico .

In one of the comedies played by Domenico Harlequin

his seeks to sell house . Having found a buyer, he protests that as he does not wish him to buy a pig in a poke he will

Show him a sample of the goods , and he produces from

his under jacket a large piece of plaster .

ui Ottavro In another scene Harleq n appears as a beggar . questions him upon various matters ; amongst other things he asks him how many fathers he possesses . ! l I have only one , rep ies Harlequin . But how does it happen that you have only one father demands Ottavio , losing patience . ul What wo d you is the answer . I am but a poor man , ff di and I have no means of a or ng more . Elsewhere Pasquariello seeks to lead Harlequin to a tavern ui but in this piece Harleq n is of sober habits , and replies

’ ” The glass is Pandora s box out of it come all the evils . 70 HARLEQUIN

Let us cite a few further traits of the character drawn by

n him Domenico in the various Harlequi s performed by . Mez z etin promises Harlequin that he shall wed Columbine

, if he will second him in a fresh piece of knavery . Whilst

Mez z etin ui is considering his project , Harleq n counts the

a nd buttons of his doublet , at each button says I shall have

Columbine , I shall not have her ; I Shall have her , I shall not have her ; I shall have her, I shall not have her ; I shall have

her, I Shall not have her ; I Shall have her , I shall not have

her (he bursts into tears) I Shall not have her

E T M ZE IN . What ails you Why are you crying wee in s HARLEQUIN ( p g) . I hall not have Columbine ! hi ! hi ! hi ! E ZETI N M Z . Who has said so t n u Buttonom anc HARLEQUIN (indica i g his b ttons) . y !

’ L Homme a Bonnes Fortunes i In , Harlequ n , disguised as a i marqu s , is the recipient of many presents from women whom

has r he has contrived to please . He al eady received and

- h i donned two dressing gowns , w en a th rd one is brought to him on behalf of a widow who comes to judge for herself of the

es effect produced by her pr ent . There is a knock at the door .

he ui hir It is S . Harleq n has no more than time to slip this t d

tw o gown over the other , whereby he is given the appearance

of an elephant . The widow enters , notwithstanding that i adm ssion has been refused her .

n l HARLEQUIN (a gri y) . Morbleu, madam ! Did I not bid them tell you that I was not visible to - day

THE . r o WIDOW To find you , sir , it is necessa y to come up n you as you leave your bed ; thr oughout the remainder of the

day you are un approachable . 7 1 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

HARLEQUIN . It is true that I have not an hour to myself . I am so exhausted by these adventures which the vulgar call bonnes fortunes that my superfluity would be enough for twenty idlers of the Court . ir THE . S . WIDOW But , , I find you very fat What is the matter with you hi ni HARLEQUIN . Not ng, merely that I overate last ght at supper . E are TH WIDOW . There must be some other reason ; you perhaps dropsical U ! HARLEQ IN . Indeed no

et She ulls o hi n - L . s dressi o THE . wns WIDOW us see ( p fi g g , t one after the o her . ) de endin himsel A . ! H RLEQUIN ( f g f) Fie , madam What are you about ? This isn’t decent !

- TE E . ! WIDOW One , two , three dressing gowns That is to ! ! ! say , three mistresses Ah Traitor It is thus , then , that you betray me And you say that you love none but me attem tin to seek re u e in the war drobe HARLEQUIN ( p g f g ) .

Madam , I can bear no more

E . TH WIDOW . Now I know the worth of your oaths ’ s t HARLEQUIN . Madam , I mu t go If I don ! THE WIDOW . Rascal I dis HARLEQU N . Madam , I can no longer answer for the cretion of ? THE WIDOW . Are you shameless I will have no more - w She attem . t to do with you . Return me the dressing go n ( p s to dra her dressin - ow n rom him the ht g g g f y fig , HARLEQUIN knocks o her headdress she loses one o her etticoats and fl , f p ,

m On the subject of the ety ology of the name of Harlequin , it is explained thus by Domenico

R CINTEI O to his lacke . ( y , HA LEQUIN) By the way, since you have been in my employ it has never occurred to me to inquire your name 72

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

hi since he has been in fas on to treat gout . He has amassed dr more than two hun ed thousand francs , and he knows no more about the gout than you do .

HARLEQUIN . Then of necessity he must know very little , for i I know noth ng . ul h PASQUARIELLO . That sho d not inder you from being a clever doctor . ! HARLEQUIN . Parbleu, you mock me I can neither read nor write .

PASQUARIELLO . No matter, I say . It is not knowledge that makes the successful doctor, it is impudence and wordiness . I HARLEQU N . But how, then , do they manage with their patients i PASQUARIELLO . I will tell you . You beg n by having a di hr mule and promena ng t ough Paris on it . First comes a man who says Sir doctor , I beg of you to come and see my parent who is ill . Willingly , sir . The man goes ahead ll ul e AS AR I ELIL and the doctor fo ows on his m e . (Her P QU O imitates the m an who w a lks he turns round and says to HARLE QUIN who follows him trotting) What are you playing at

HARLEQUIN . I am playing the mule .

PASQUARIELLO . You arrive at the house of the sick man .

Your guide knocks , the door is opened , the doctor alights his from mule and together they ascend the staircase . ? HARLEQUIN . And the mule Does the mule also ascend the staircase ? AR ul PASQU IELLO . No , no , the m e remains at the door, it is the man and the doctor who ascend the stairca se . Behold ’ them now in the patient s antechamber . The man says to th”e doctor, Follow me , sir, I am going to see if my parent sleeps . Here w alks on ti toe stretche s out his arms ( PASQUARIELLO p , , nd r w a p etends to dr a aside the curt ains of a bed . )

HARLEQUIN . Why do you step so softly AR PASQU IELLO . On account of the sick man . We are now

his . in chamber, besid”e the bed Sir , the patient is not asleep , di a you may approach . Imme ately the doctor t kes the arm e : chair by the b dside, and says to the patient Show me your

74 HARLEQUIN

ut o to ue a . uts o a n en rmous n nd tongue (PASQUARIELLO p g , imitatin the atient sa s ill g p , y Oh , sir, I am very ’ E n Eh HARLEQUIN (considering PAS QUARI LLo s to gue) . ! what an ugly illness dr PASQUARIELLO . That tongue is very y and very heated .

R . HA LEQUIN . It must be put on ice H ds to e Let . e reten el PASQUARIELLO . us feel the pulse ( p f the ulse o the sick m a n p f . ) Now here is a pulse that goes devil u Let ishly q ick us feel the stomach . Now here is a stomach that is very hard . ll HARLEQUIN . Perhaps he has swa owed iron . H Let . e PASQUARIELLO . me have paper, pen and ink ( d t t n nt - reten s o wri e . hi laveme p ) Recipe t s eveni g a , to morrow

- - d morning a blood letting , and to morrow evening a me icine . (All this is m im ed by PASQUARIELLO as if he were a dministering

- medic ne a or a blood lettin or sw allowin a i . lavement , g, g ) Then u you take yo r leave of the patient , and you depart saying ,

- Sir , to morrow I shall come at the same hour , an”d I hope in a short time to restore you completely to health . Then the man who has introduced you reconducts you again , and slips a golden half- louis into your hand ; you mount your mule once more and depart .

HARLEQUIN . But how may I be able to guess whether he has the fever or not

PASQUARIELLO . I will show you . When the pulse is equal , that is to say when it goes tac , tac , tac , there is no fever , but when it is intermittent , and when it goes quickly , ti, ta , ta ti, ta , ta ; ti , ta , ta , there is fever . h . : HARLEQUIN Now t at is quite simple tac , tac , tac , no fever ; ti , ta , ta ti , ta , ta ti , ta , ta , fever .

PASQUARIELLO . There you are , as learned as the doctors ; let us go .

all . HARLEQUIN . Ti , ta , ta ti , ta , ta I am for ti, ta , ta

ui w Harleq n , having become a doctor , prescribes as follo s him for the C”aptain , who has asked for a remedy for toothache . Take , says Harlequin , some pepper, garlick and vinegar,

75 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

i and r”ub your back with them that w ll make you forget your Pam .

C him . As the aptain is about to depart , Harlequin calls back

Sir , sir, says he , I was forgetting the best ; take an apple , h cut it into four equal parts , put one of t ese in your mouth , r and then thrust you head into an oven until the apple is baked , and I ”will answer for it that your toothache will be entirely cured .

In the very cur ious pictures possessed by the Theatre

Fran ais : Farceurs g , bearing the inscription in gold letters

ran ois et italiens de uis soixante ans f e , p , we find Domenico in his costume of Harlequin together with several other Italian types Brighella , Scaramouche , the Doctor, Pantaloon ,

Mez z etin — , Matamoros mingling with the French types

- - Gar uille ui - Gor u Turlupin , Gros Guillaume , Gaultier g , G llot j ,

J - e . odelet , Gros René and Moli re

In 1689 Evaristo Gherardi took up and continued the per form ances o of the r les of Harlequin . He was the son of

Giovanni Gherardi , born at Prato , in Tuscany . He made his

Divorce o first appearance in the revival of , in the r le of Harle quin created by Domenico in the preceding year . Here is what he himself has to say of it

h T is comedy had not succeeded in the hands of M .

Domenico . It had been struck out of the catalogue of the hi plays w ch were revived from time to time , and the parts had been burnt . Nevertheless (notwithstanding that I had never

been on the stage in my life , and that I had but left the college 76 HARLEQUIN

La of Marche , where I had just concluded my course of philo Bublé sophy , under the learned M . ) , I chose it for my first

hi l st 1689 4 appearance , w ch took place on the of October The piece was so successful in my hands that it gave pleasure

di conse to everyone , was extraor narily well attended , and quently earned a great deal of money for the company . If I were the man to derive vanity from the theatrical

a has un t lents which nature given me , either with face covered mi o ul or under a mask , in the leading serious or co c r les , I sho d have in this the most ample grounds upon which to flatter

- I ul my self love . sho d say that I did more in my beginnings and in my fir st years than the most illustrious actors have been able to do after twenty years of experience , and in the

l e fu l prime of their lives . But I prot st that very far from

a having ever become elated by these rare advant ges , I have

ul o always considered them to be the res ts of my go d fortune , rather than the consequences of my merits ; and if anything has been able to flatter my soul in this connection , it is the pleasur e of seeing myself universally applauded after the in

mi ni i table M . Dome co , who went so far in the expression of — — the naiveté that which the Italians call gofiagine of the char

his e acter of Harlequin , that all those who witnessed p rform anoes must always find some fault with the most famous

Harlequin of any later day .

ai It will be seen that Gherardi praises himself quite n vely .

- It is true that this self praise was not exaggerated, that he

had great talents , and that he was attended by constant success until the theatre was closed in 1697 He hoped to bring about

its reopening by his protectors at Cour t ; but in this he was 77 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

disappointed . He then produced a very interesting collection h of the memorised French scenes, w ich were frequently

scenaru interpolated into the Italian .

hi c Some months before the publication of t s ollection , in the

- course of a show given at Saint Maur , with Poisson and la

i his a Thorill ere . , Gherardi happened to fall upon he d He

h his ur neglected to ave h t properly cared for, and on the very day on which he had been to present his book to Monseigneur he was holding between his knees his son (borne him by

E i Danneret l zabeth ) when he had a seizure , and suddenly

3 1st 1 00 That was on the of August 7 .

’ Il é ta it ni e ui m l n bi n a fa it,

G a mi e s as ue a e . r nd p tit, plu gr q m igr I l a a l c r s a e v it s o p fort llegr ,

’ Le i a oe a e a s V if . front h ut, l l f ibl , m i

Le z tr s- si nifi tif n e é g c a .

E t e a d s ll s qui prom tt it e me rve i e . La c e a e le s e s bou h tt ignait or ille .

’ S on te int éta it d homme d e f e u S on me nton se doubla it un p e u S on e c e asse z e n olur , p tite

Le m en a a it d e r s e e mo t ubit .

From an engraved portrait he resembles this description

his . hi but little His forehead is gh , it is true , but eyes are

his his very large and lively , nose aquiline and sensitive , mouth small and well formed , and not a gash from ear to ear ; the jaw is strongly outlined . In short, it presents a very intelligent countenance , full of finesse , advertising a lively and caustic spirit .

Here are some passages from the book of Gherardi—that is

c to say, from the scenes ollected and performed by him 7S HARLEQUIN

DESPAIR OF HARLEQUIN I N L ’E’M PER E UA’ DANS LA L UN E

nf ! HARLEQUIN . Ah u ortunate that I am The doctor wants to marry Columbine to a farmer, and how can I live without ? o 0 Columbine I shall die . 0 ignorant doct r ! inconstant Columbine O knavish farmer ! O extremely miserable l w Harlequin ! Let me hasten to die . It sha l be ritten in hi H ui di ancie”nt and modern story arleq n ed for Colum bine . I shall go to my chamber ; I shall attach a rope to a beam I shall get upon a chair ; I shall fit the rope roun d my neck ; I shall kick away the chair ; and behold me hanged M m icr o ha n in hi ( i g f g g. ) It is done ; not ng can stop me let us hasten to the hanging crutch ? hi To the hanging crutch Fie , sir, you must not t nk of ur it To kill yo self for a girl It were a great folly .

Yes , sir ; but for a girl to betray an honest man is a great wickedness . I agree ; but when you shall have hanged yourself shall you be any fatter hi No , I shall be t nner ; I desire a slender shape What have you to say to that ? If you want to join me you have but to come . ! Oh as for that , no you are not going .

Oh ! but I am . ! Oh no , you are not He d i am . raws h s sword strikes But I going , I tell you ( , himself a nd then excla ims There ! I am rid of that tire h some fellow . Now t at there is no one to interfere with me I He e i wi . ma k s as to de art a nd then sto s ll go hang myself ( f p , p

short . in ) Ah but no To hang is a very ord ary death , the et sort of death one sees every day there is no glory in it . L i us seek some extr”aord nary death , some heroic death , some i e n n . H co Harlequi c death ( siders. ) I have it ! I will stop up my mouth and my nose , so that the air m”ay not pass through

. He e . sto s his nos and thus I shall die Behold , it is done ( p a nd m outh with both ha nd s and a ter rem a inin thus or some , , f g f “ time he sa s y No the air still escapes ; it is not worth while . ub Alas what a tro le to die Sirs , if any amongst you would 79 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

die ff be so good as to , so as to a ord me a model , I should be li ! hi infinitely ob ged . Faith , I have it We read in story il by that there are people who have been k led laughter . I am most sensitive to tickling ; if some one were to tickle me for

die . long they would make me ”of laughter I shall go and tickle ie He tickles himsel u h a nd d . la s myself . and thus I shall ( f, g fa lls down . )

In the same piece , a few scenes later , he goes to visit the hi lf ’ Doctor, and announces mse as Colin , the farmer s son his who is to marry Columbine . The Doctor is dupe until ’ the arrival of the carrier, who announces that the farmer s ur son is ill and cannot come . The Doctor t ns upon Harle him him quin , eyeing from top to toe , and says to You are not Colin

Forgive me , sir , replies Harlequin , I thought I was . a n c Ch grined at not yet havi g su ceeded , he seeks a new way r to obtain Columbine . He runs backwards and fo wards across m the stage until he is out of breath , when he exclai s Will some one of his charity inf orm me which is the residence of Doctor Grazian Balouard (He puts his ha nd to his m outh d i it t sou t u u u an m ates he nd o a r m et . ! f p ) Pu, p , p Doctor Balouard t , a doctor at fif een sous HE T a i i ? To T DOC OR (aside ) . Wh t is the mean ng of th s ( Balouard ? HARLEQUIN . ) Doctor Grazian He is here , sir ; what do you want with him

HARLEQUIN . Oh sir , you are choicely found . Address me your best compliments and bows . I am ambassador extra ordinary , envoy from the emperor of the world of the Moon , and I am come to ask of you the hand of Isabella in marriage .

THE T . DOC OR Address yourself to others , my friend . I am ! A ide not so easily taken in . An emperor in the moon ( s ) Yet such a thing might be possible since the moon is a world

. like ours , presumably there , must be some one to govern it To R I ( HA LEQU N . ) Are you really from that country , my friend I HARLEQU N . No, sir, I am neither from that country nor 80

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

never be able to find my way there , because I do not know ” ”

hi . w ch way I came Do not let that embarrass you , he ll replied , I sha send you to Paris by means of an influence that di I am sen ng thither, laden with rheumati”sm , catarrhs , pneu trifles monias and other little of that kind . Further he said o I reserve for the doct r one of the best places in my empire . T THE DOC OR . Is it really possible Did he tell you what it was d a N . HARLEQUI . Indee yes He s ys that about a fortnight on e di di ago of the twelve signs of the Zo ac, the Scorpion , ed

and he wants to put you in its place .

The Doctor believes everything , asks a thousand questions i e concerning th s lunar sovereign , inquir swhat like are the if in houses , the cities and the habits of l e the Court of that him country . Harlequin gives details of the manner in which 18 f the emperor eats . His food shot at him rom arbalists , and ”

18 . ur he given to drink from a syringe It is very c ious , savs ’ he . One day an awkward arbalister missed the emperor s his . H mouth and fired a buttered egg into ey”e ence such eggs teu s ochés hi have ever since been called f p . After t s he in e him w duc s the Doctor to give a purse and some je els , and he E departs , to return presently dressed as the mperor of the

Moon . The Doctor addr esses several questions to him concerning his t his empire and subjec s .

HARLEQUIN . My subjects They are almost without t defects , because they are governed solely by in erest and ambition . B COLUM INE . That is exactly as here . E him HARLEQUIN . veryone seeks to do the best he can for his hi self at the expense of neighbour , and the ghest virtue in my empire is to be wealthy . T t HE . T DOC OR That is exac ly as here .

HARLEQUIN . In my country there are no executioners instead of dispatching people in a quarter of an hour on a ff i sca old , I hand them over to be k lled by the doctors , who do them to death as cruelly as they do their patients .

82 HARLEQUIN

B COLUM INE . What , sir Do the doctors up there also kill the people That is exactly as here . B ISA ELLA . And in your empire , sir , are there any wits ur HARLEQUIN . My empire is the so ce of them . For over di seventy years , now , we have been working upon a ctionary which will not be finished in two centuries .

B . COLUM INE . It is exactly as here And is justice properly adm inistered in your empire

HARLEQUIN . It is administered by hanging . B ISA ELLA . And the judges , sir , do they not permit them selves to be corrupted ?

HARLEQUIN . Women there, as elsewhere , importune them . Sometimes presents are made to them ; but in general they behave properly . T THE . . DOC OR It is exactly as here Sir , in your empire , are husbands accommodating ? l HARLEQUIN . That fashion arrived there a most as soon i as in France . At the beg nning we had a little trouble in our mi making up nds to it , but at present all the world is proud of it .

B . COLUM INE . It is exactly as here And the women in your empire, are they happy

HARLEQUIN . It is they who handle all the money and spend it all . The husbands have no concern save that of paying the taxes and repairing the houses . B COLUM INE . It is exactly as here .

HARLEQUIN . Our women never rise until the afternoon . They invariably take three hours over their toilet ; then they i enter a coach and repa r to the comedy, to the opera or to the r promenade . Thence they go to sup with some chosen f iend .

After supper they play or they attend an opera , according to ’ the season ; and , towards four or five o clock after midnight, they return home , so that a poor devil of a man may sometimes i go for weeks without meet ng his wife in the house , and you him maysee hangingaboutthe streets on foot, what time madam employs the coach for her pleasures . ALL ! . It is exactly as here

83 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

e When a new Italian troupe , summon d by the Regent , arrived . 1716 in Paris , in , Antonio Vicentini (styled Thomassin) made

his a e first appe rance in the r le of Harlequin , supported by the 8 entire troupe , on the th of May of that year, in the theatre of

’ - L I n anno F tuna or te . the Palais Royal , in g h The famous Domenico , who had made imself so great a

his i reputation in France , had a defect in voice to wh ch he had so thoroughly accustomed the public that it was never after wards conceived that a Harlequin might be endurable who did

in r f not speak his th oat , and af ect the tones of a parrot . Riccoboni and Thomassin were very un easy as to the manner in hi i w ch the publ c wou d receive a new Harlequin , gifted with a clear and natural voice There were several night - scenes

’ F una ur in L I nganno ort te . One of these occ red at the com m n em t e c en . L of the piece elio called his lackey Harlequin ,

who at first did not answer, and who then answered at intervals , L appearing to fall asleep again after each reply . elio went in

e him hi quest of him , and dragg d on to the stage w lst still asleep ui though on his feet . Harleq n , awakened , answered and,

f off hi r . then letting msel fall down , would d op to sleep again ui l His master would awaken him once more . Harleq n wou d

’ then go fast asleep upon his master s arm . The public were

um ur hi put in a good h o by t s scene , and after having laughed and applauded for a quarter of an hour without the new

’ Harlequin s having uttered a single word , they had not the courage to censure him upon his voice when at last they heard it .

Vicentini was born at Vicenza , and had long been playing in 84 HARLEQUIN

Italy when Riccoboni made him offers to induce him to come

to Paris . Marivaux wrote several pieces for Thomassin ,

’ La S ur rise de l Amowr 1722 Le amongst which were p , in , and

T ve t 1 24 im Prince ra s i 7 . , in It was no longer a question of

’ rovisa tion p , but of memorised comedy , and Harlequin s busi ’ nesm ssolely to et f l e u of the author s wit . Mari

i hi his vaux , wh lst preserving to t s type original colour, causes

ll en him to appear sometimes scinti ant with wit, sometimes

tirel S anarelle y stupid . He is a mixture of g , Sancho Panea ,

Pr nce T ac t ui . i r es i Crispino and Figaro In the , Harleq n is the

lackev L of the Prince of éon , who conceals his identity under

L . Barcelone the name of elio He meets the Princess of , who L is in love with elio , and who puts questions to him on the i subject a his master .

THE ? PRINCESS . What do you seek , Harlequin Is your master in the palace

. i i HARLEQUIN Madam , I implore Your Pr nc pality to pardon the impertinence of my stupidity ; had I but known of your presence here I Should not have b een so foolish as to have

brought my person hither . THE PRINCESS . You have done no harm . But tell me , are you seeking your master

E . HARLEQUIN . xactly You have guessed it, madam . Since he spoke to you a while ago I have lost him in this plaguey house r and , saving you presence , I have lost myself also . If you would show me the way you would be doing me a kindness there are here so many chambers that I have been travelling

r wi Pa la for an hou thout coming to the end of them . r m ardi ! if you prize all this it must mean that it brings you a lot of

. u i money Nevertheless , what a jumble of furnit re , of odd ties , and of kickshaws A whole village might live a year upon the value of it all . It is so beautiful that one does not dare to look at it ; it instils fear into a poor man like me . How rich 85 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

you are , you princes , and I , what is it that I am by comparison with this ! But surely it is another impertinence on my part to reason with you as with an equal Your companion is hi i s laug ng , perhaps I have said someth ng fooli h . T n HOR ENSE . You have said nothi g foolish ; on the con

trar . y , you seem to me of an excellent wit di ul HARLEQUIN . Par ! I laugh always what wo d you hi I have not ng to lose . You amuse yourselves with being rich , I— I you others , and amuse myself with being gay ; to every hi one his own amusement in t s world .

With his master Harlequin shows himself to be no less critical and profound .

di LELi o . I am sposed to confide in you that I am a person f di f n o . con tion , who amuse mysel by travelli g incognito I am young ; it is a study that will be useful to me some day . t HARLEQUIN . My faith, it is a s udy that will teach you nothing but poverty ; it was hardly worth while to travel a post for the s ke of studying all this rubbish . What will you make of all this knowledge of men ? You will learn hi but poor t ngs .

LELIO . But they will cheat me no more .

HARLEQUIN . That will spoil you .

LELIO . Why dl HARLEQUIN . You will no longer be so kin y when you are learned on that subject . By dint of seeing so many scoundrels ,

- ! in truth , you will become a scoundrel yourself . Good bye Which is the way to the kitchen

C ui e r omical scenes follow between Harleq n and Fr de ick , an ambitious courtier who seeks to seduce Harlequin . The latter thereupon becomes again the loutish lackey, opposing

’ to Frederick s attack the ponderous and ingenious probity of the peasant .

di HARLEQUIN . Par ! You treat me like your own child . 86 HARLEQUIN

There is no boggling at that . Wealth , employment, and a hi pretty girl ; that means a whole s pload of victuals , money

and delicacies . It is clear that you love me very dearly K Yes FREDERIC . ; your physiognomy pleases me ; you are a good lad !

. ! HARLEQUIN Oh as for that , I am as droll as a box ; leave it to me and we shall laugh like mad together ; but let us be hi hold at once t s wealth , these employments and this pretty

girl , for I am in haste to be rich and at ease . r him Frederick has a small se vice to ask of . It is that of his spying upon his master , and to report to him words and f actions . Observe all very care ully , and as an earnest of the recompense ultimately to be yours , here is some money for you

in advance . ’ HARLEQUIN . Can t you advance me the girl also We will deduct her from the rest . K hi FREDERIC . A service , my c ld , is never paid for until it is rendered that is the custom . i HARLEQUIN . A v llainous custom I prefer to give you my note of hand to the effect that I have received this girl on Of account . But , when I come to think it , I am afraid you want me to do dirty work for you . What do you want wi L th the words of my lord elio , my master K FREDERIC . Mere curiosity

HARLEQUIN . Hum . There is malice under all this .

You have a sly look . I will bet you ten sous that you are a worthless fellow . Get along ! you should not tempt a poor lad who has no more honour than is necessary to him, and r in who is fond of gi ls . I have all the trouble the world to pre vent myself from being a scoundr el . Must my honour be the r uin of me , to deprive me of wealth , employment and a pretty P a wench . ar l m ardi you are very wicked to have invented hi t s girl . K FREDERIC . Consider that I am offering you your fortune, and that you are losing it .

HARLEQUIN . I am considering that your commission smells hi r fortifies r of trickery, and luckily t s tricke y my poor honou

87 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

which was wavering . Bah your pretty girl is no better than a drab your employments are concerned with some dogs’ traffic . That is my last word, and I am going straight to find the princess and my master to relate to them my disaster and a s all your propos l . K FREDERIC . Wretch ! are you resolved then to dishonour me

HARLEQUIN . Good ! when one has no honour is it necessary to have reputa tion

Thomassin would execute at times highly extraordinary turns of strength and of agility .

He would run round the outside of the boxes of the first , i second and third tiers ; but the publ c , too deeply interested hi mi him in the life of t s a able actor , compelled to cut out a tur n so dangerous which invariably had the effect of frightening

a the spect tors far more than it amused them . His natural gaiety and the graces of his clowning would

in themselves have sufficed to have charmed the public , even him had not nature made an excellent actor, which is to be taken in the widest sense of the term as meaning that he was i natural , na ve , original and pathetic .

Amid the laughter excited by his bufl oonery he would at di times suddenly surprise his au ence into tears . Often , after beginning by laughing at the manner in which he ex pressed his pain , one ended by experiencing the emotion by ” hi w ch he was penetrated . L ike Domenico , in the matter of pupils , Thomassin produced hi only very bad copies , and one saw not ng but pitiful attempts in the rOle of Harlequin until the day when Carlo

Bertinaz z i came to succeed him .

Thomassin had married Margarita Rusca , who played 88

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

l 0th 1741 C Bertinaz z i At last , on the of April , arlo , born at

1713 his Turin , , made début, and was received into the troupe 1742 in the month of August , after having played with success

the famous character of Harlequin for more than a year, and having surpassed the hopes which had been founded upon his

l Mercure talent . This bri liant début was thus chronicled in the

10th 1741 On Thursday , the of April , the Italian comedians opened their theatre with an Ita lian piece in prose

C i Bertinaz z i and in three acts , in which the Sieur arl n , born

- r at Turin , some twenty eight years ago , performed for the fi st

e uin . time the r le of Harleq , the principal character in the piece

The Sieur Richard , who had addressed the public on the closure

of the theatre , addressed it again on the opening , and expressed hi ll hi hi mself in the fo owing terms Gentlemen , t s day, w ch ff renews our e orts and our homage , was to have been marked

by the novelty which we had prepared for you ; but the actor who is going to have the honour of appearing before you for

the first time was too deeply interested , and too impatient to

his ul learn his fate , to permit us to postpone début . Sho d

your novelty fail , said he , I shall learn how your public

his hi ul ses, and that is somet ng that I do not want to learn ; sho d

dr it succeed I shall know how they applaud , and I shall aw,

perhaps , a sad comparison between its reception and that which hi may be accorded to me . So as not to give t s new actor any

grounds for reproach , we have conformed entirely with his

wishes . He knows , gentlemen , not only what he has to dread l in appearing before you, but also in following that excel ent 90 HARLEQUIN actor whom we have lost (Thomassin) in whose rfile you are about to see him . These just causes of apprehension would be counterbalanced in his mind if he were aware of the resour ces which await him in your indulgence ; but it is in vain that we have endeavoured to reassure him on this score ; he can u be convinced of the tr th of it only by yourselves , and we

w hope, gentlemen , that you ill be disposed to fulfil the promises which we have made to him on your behalf . They are founded upon an experience so long and so happy that we are as assured of your kindliness as you must be of our zeal and profound respect .

It was in such terms that the public was flattered in

. C those days And being thus flattered , it received arlin with an indulgence of which he was very far from standing in need .

’ r mi Carlin s pe formance was easy , natural and co cal .

w hi Garrick , seeing him in a scene in ch he had just received a

his correction from master, menacing this last with one hand, hi w lst rubbing his side with the other, was so charmed by the

“ his n naturalness of mimi g that he exclaimed Behold, how the very back of Carlin has a physiognomy and an expression

n B ertinaz z i bufl oons Carli was , like Domenico and all great , of a very melancholy character he depended upon his wit and

not upon his temperament .

n Of Domenico it is related that , bei g intensely troubled

with his spleen , he went to consult Dumoulin , a celebrated

doctor , who prescribed for him as a remedy that he should

- go and see Domenico at the Comedic Italienne , because 91 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E ” Domenico made all the world laugh . Alas ! replied the

poor actor, I am Domenico , and from now onwards I ” must look upon myself as a lost man . To his histrionic talents Carlin united considerable know ledge on various subjects and all the qualities that go to make

o a good member of s ciety .

It is related that on a lovely summer evening , when the heat

“ ff n was su ocating, and Carli was to perform in two plays ,

Cam erani , the manager , came to inform him that there was but

one spectator in the theatre , and that there was no occasion to

give a performance . Carlin laughed , and replied that it was

necessary to play none the less since there was a public (un

his ublic . p ) The curtain rose ; Carlin appeared, drew wooden

sword , took a turn round the theatre, and after a thousand capers which provoked great bursts of laughter from a fat

gentleman seated in a corner of the orchestra , he advanced to the footlights and addr essed him

s - ul Mon ieur Tout Se , we are desolated , my comrades and hi I , to be compelled to play in such weather as t s to one

single spectator ; nevertheless , if you demand it , play we

The spectator entered into conversation with the actor, him informed that he was from the country , and that he had come to Paris for no other purpose but that of seeing him per li him form , and implored Car n to grant this favour . Carlin

his resigned himself and began performance . All at once the sky became overcast , thunder rumbled and rain came down in torrents . The theatre filled itself as by enchantment, and in

ni less than an hour the receipts rose to ne hundred livres , an hi enormous figure at t s epoch . At the end of the second and 92 HARLEQUIN

i last piece , Carlin came forward again to the footl ghts and sought his fat gentleman , who had been convulsed with laughter

hr r - t oughout the performance . Monsieu Tout seul , are you 2 still there he cried . The man from the provinces rose to reply Yes , M . Carlin , and you have made me laugh very

Tout o seul much . Monsieur , I come to thank you for having compelled us to perform ; as a consequence our receipts are

- enormous . Thank you then once more , Monsieur Tout seul . i I am enchanted, M . Carl n . Au revoir, replied the fat

n i hi cou try gentleman , strid ng across his bench to depart , w lst i the aud ence shook with laughter .

When there was hesitation to announce a performance,

n either on accou t of the heat or from any other cause ,

Cam erani Let Carlin would say to us put up our bills ,

— - l none the less . Who knows perhaps Monsieur Tout seu ” i will come th s evening . hi Carlin died in Paris in 1675. He was still playing wit n a very short time of his death . His advanced age had robbed f him his . of none of vivacity, mirth and suppleness The ollow ing epitaph was written in his honour

e lo s De Ca rlin pour peindr ort , Tres p eu d e mots doiv e nt suffire il a e Toute sa v ie a f it rir , ” 11 a fa it pleurer a sa mort .

’ As author he has left us Les Metamorphoses d Arleguin .

Modern literature has made of him an historical personage . L A very remarkable novel of M . de atouche attributes to him

in a regular correspondence with Pope Clement XIV . , who was

is fact an old schoolfellow of h . MM . Rochefort and Gustave Lemoine wrote some years ago a very pretty piece on this 93 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

lin subject . Car , ignorant that the new pope was that same

L Gan anelli orenzo g , the friend of his youth , received a visit him him from , addressed familiarly in the second person

ul Gan an elli sing ar, and performed with him a scene of which g

t hi t held the manuscript , laughing so hear ily the w le tha he

his kept forgetting to take up cues . On the subject of the début of a Harlequin at the Theatre

his Journa l Histori ue Italien , Collé , in g , speaks as follows of the masters of the burlesque art

2 . On Monday, the lst inst (June I went to the Comédie to see a new Harlequin who has been playing there for several days . He is a very nimble rascal , a mountebank ,

ff and di a sort of rope dancer , a bu oon a sound come an i as he is merely a bird of passage , the Ital ans would not have been so ill - advised as to have permitted him to appear t upon the stage if he had been better han , or even the equal of Carlin , their present Harlequin . The latter, who for

a hi r Ole some ye rs now has been in possession of t s , does not hi acquit mself at all badly , although he is sometimes ponderous

his in his action and always stupid in subjects , whatever may be said to the contrary by the partisans of these paltry spec taeles . But we may say at least that Thomassin , his pre li decessor was quite as stupid as Car n , and even perhaps more

- min unfla in so , although he repaired his short co gs by an gg g

energy and inimitable grace . This comedian even went so far as to endow his Harlequin with a singular attribute ; he gave him a pathetic side he could move his audience even to

La Double I neonstance Timon tears in certain pieces such as , ,

’ L I sle des Esclaves , and others ; this has always seemed to me a prodigy to perform under the mask of Harlequin . 94 HARLEQUIN

1 77 Bi ottini In 7 g took up the reles of Harlequin . Grimm refers to him as follows

r A young Harlequin of sixty odd summers , the Sieu

Bi ottini Com edie g , has made his début on the stage of the

A le uin E t F llet r s ri o . Italienne in a piece of his own , entitled q p The performance of the Sieur Bigottini has no analogy with that of the actor he is replacing ; he has not the same grace

naiveté nor the same subtlety , nor yet the same nevertheless his metamorphoses are ingenious and varied , and his move i hi ments , w thout having the suppleness w ch characterised the l i slightest gestures of Car in , are of extraord nary precision and li h hi ghtness . Not ing could equal the swiftness with w ch he changes his costume and his mask ; his talent on this point di approaches pro gy , but it is a style of merit which must fail to amuse for very long . It is only wit that may be infinitely varied , it is only grace whose charm never stales .

At the end of the eighteenth century , one of the most cele brated olinetti Harlequins of Italy was G .

un The character of Harlequin , which derwent as many variations in its type as in the orthography of the name, which

Harle uino ‘ Arlechino Arlichino d from q became , and, to ay,

A l h no hi r ecc i . , has more or less passed from fas on in Italy

Meneghino and Stenterello have taken his place . Nevertheless he is still to be found in the marionette theatres . There he is dressed in garments broken into squares of yellow , red and

his hi - green . He still wears his mask and black c n piece to

his simulate a beard ; but, perhaps to indicate great age , his

his moustachios and eyebrows have become white . 95 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

In France the type is more or less extinct . The wit which he developed in the eighteenth century has descended once more di mi to his legs . He is no more than a tra tional me , more or less graceful . His last successes were leaped and danced by

errud er Cossard and D .

In Ita ly the principal actors who filled the part were Fre 1624 1625 1630 meri , in Belotti , in Girolamo Francesco , in

1720 1730 i Astori of Venice, in Bertoli , in ; Ignaz o Casanova ,

1734 . of Bologna , in

TRI V ELI NO in d ff is , under another name and a i erent costume , what Harlequin was before Domenico gave him that attribute

hi is e of subtlety w ch h successors have always preserv d .

s In tead of lozenges arranged symmetrically , we find small triangles over the seams of his garments and sun s and moons scattered here and there upon his coat and breeches . He too

- wears the soft hat with the rabbit tail , but he does not carry hi a bat . For the rest his name , w ch signifies a wearer of

a r gs , is perhaps the real name borne by Harlequin before the t sixteen h century . We have said that in 1635 Domenico Locatelli (Trivelin )

di - was performing on the stage of the Comé e Italienne in Paris , when Domenico Biancolelli went there to make his début under

Arlechin o . the name of They were both lackeys , and they portrayed more or less the same character . They presented a sort of duplicated r61e and they were known as fir st and l second zany, for in many of the pieces of the Ita ian troupe which went to Paris in 1716 the reles of zanies are played 96

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

u was an excellent comedian . He wrote a very spectac lar

Rosaure I m ératrice dc Consta ntinO le French piece entitled , p p , di which was performed in 1658 . After a brilliant career he ed 71 in March of 16 .

- Biancolelli 1681 Pierre Francois , born in , and known under

hi his the name of Domenico, w ch had been borne by father, was U educated at a Jesuit college . pon leaving school he joined

Giuseppe Tortoretti (Pasquariello) who was then touring the

riv elin o provinces . He made his début with success as T at

Toulouse . He then went to Montpellier, where he married

’ Tort oretti s d aughter, with whom he had become enamoured in Paris , and for whose sake he had turned comedian .

di his He repaired imme ately to Italy with wife, and per

in formed Venice , Milan , Parma , Mantua and Genoa , returning f a terwards to France , where he played in the provinces until 10 1 17 17 . He returned to Paris and performed until 7 at the

- - L hi fairs of Saint Germain and Saint aurent , after w ch he

i Biancolelli entered the Italian company of the Regent . Th s was the author of more than eighty pieces for the Italian

34 . repertory . He died in Paris in 17

The fir st creation of TRUFFALDINO took place somewhere about 1530 in the troupe of the famous Angelo Beolco

(Ruzzante) . He represents the sly and lying servant under T u hi i the name of r fla (the crafty) . T s type ach eved l i t mi popu ar ty in I aly, and towards the ddle of the seven

teenth ur u cent y it became one of the varieties of Harleq in ,

r fl al under the diminutive of T u dino . 98 HARLEQUIN

La Vaccaria Trufl a In of Ruzzante, is the servant of Flavio ,

La Rhodiana a young lover, and in by the same author, he is

his the servant of Roberto , whom he aids in amours .

r be You may trust me entirely (he assu es his master) ,

s cau e , although you see me in these peasant garments, I am di m nevertheless of anything but low extraction . I sclose y self to you alone , assured that you will not betray my secret .

L so n earn that my real name is Gasparo , and that I am the of

Roberto San- Severino I was compelled to flee my country on account of a love aff air with a beautiful lady whose relatives E sought my life . I have travelled in Italy , in the ast and

e in the West, and I have learnt several languag s that have proved very useful to me . Finally, being in Venice , I fell in i L love with the daughter of my m stress , named ucretia , and so

un wi that I might comm e th her in secret , I assumed the gar ff ments of a peasant . Do not be o ended if , whether alone with you or in company, I employ a language that corresponds wi r th my d ess .

1738 hi Towards the actor Sacc was playing in Italy , and par ticularl e y in Venice, r les Similar to that of Harlequin , under the

Tru aldino Ber am ese ur ni name of fi , a g caricat e . Goldo and the Abbé Chiari had boasted that they would drive the Commedia ’ hi dell Arte and the leather masks from the theatre . Sacc ,

di e seeing the national company sappearing, quitt d Venice with

his his troupe and friends , Brighella , Tartaglia and Pantaloon ,

his to seek fortune beyond the seas . But the great earthquake L h hi at isbon drove t em out of Portugal . Sacc then returned

his 1761 to Venice with troupe, and, in , the theatre of San h h Samuele , w ic had been closed for five years , was put into 99 THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

’ L Am our des Trois Oran es repair and reopened with g , a fable in ll five acts , by Carlo Gozzi . The marve ous genre being sup ported by Gozzi , became a subject of enthusiasm in Venice until

’ 1769 e e c , in which year a rival troupe appropriat d S cchi s pie es

’ and actors , opened the theatre of Sant Angelo , and brought

w di r about his ruin , not ithstan ng the endeavou s made by

m co m e e u hi in iv m di sosten te . Sacc g g the public But , says

M . Paul de Musset , the decadence and the dispersion of ’ ff i Sacchi s company was none the less inevitable . Tru ald no was growing old and infirm . Further to complicate matters

’ La Goz z i s the old fool fell in love with Ricci ( mistress) , and

di our . notwithstan ng his seventy years , he gave umbrage to poet One day Gozzi discovered La Ricci in the act of cutting out hi t some w te satin to make a gown . The material was a presen hi i from Sacc , and the young lead ng lady would have desired ,

i e a with Italian na vet , to have retained at one and the s me time

ir the lengths of satin and her v tue . So much was decidedly ” impossible . She kept the satin . hi The character as performed by Sacc was that of a poltroon ,

e . who is beaten and d ceived Bombastic , very proud of his l birth , and cal ing all others low born , he was nevertheless the hi butt of the piece . Sacc was an admirable improvisor , and the reles destined for him in the plays of Carlo Gozzi are

in exten o not written s .

t e Trufl aldino No one , says Gozzi , may wri e the r le of ,

in either in prose or in verse . It suffices Sacchi to know the him tention of the author, so as to enable to improvise scenes ” hi superior to any w ch a writer might have prepared him . Those passages which are intended to be performed by Truffaldino are merely indicated as follows Truffaldino 100

POLICHINELLE

------B B R R R R . R R R R R . R ! Yes , my children Here hi w ! I am ! I , Polic nelle ith my big stick Here I am The little man is still alive , you see . I come to amuse you , as

uidam s pleasantly as I can , for certain q have told me that you ul are sad Now , why sho d you be sad Is not life a pleasant hi thing , an idle jest , a veritable farce, in w ch all the world is

the theatre and where there is plenty to excite your laughter, if you will but take the trouble to look ? It is getting on for hi di four thousand years , my c ldren , that I have been para ng

w ho my humps about the surface of the globe , among men are no whit less ferocious and savage than tigers and crocodiles and it is getting on for four thousand years that I have been

laughing , sometimes until I have had a pain in my back . Is it

l dr l not drol , is it not very oll , tel me , to see upon such a little

h - space as that w ich we call the world, this ant heap of creatures ,

each of which , taken separately, conceives itself to be privileged by all nature ? Ask one of these atoms if it would change its

skin with its neighbour . Ah no , be easy , its own skin pleases ul h it too well . But ask it if it wo d change its purse wit

’ his that of its neighbour . Oh yes , if is fatter than mine ,

it will answer you . And each one strives , comes , goes , amasses ,

t s - s irs up , rolls , grovel , and gives more thought to to morrow ul than to yesterday . You wo d suppose to look at them that l h they must ive for ever . They are all mad ! Observe me t is 103 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

one, he amasses and piles up ducat upon ducat, waiting

hi un until the hour of his death to make use of t s fort e . His t son makes haste to scat er it all, and goes to a deal of trouble to ruin himself in body as well as in purse ; sometimes he dies

the before having succeeded . That is law ; to make and to

his his unmake . Behold me t fellow , who plagues brains to discover some means of attracting the attention of some other unfortunates who do not wish to be turned aside from the road which they follow , which their fathers followed , and which their children will follow . He has had some sort of a notion to dis

his him him him turb neighbours they seize , shut up , or have ? burnt or drowned . Is it not droll Ah ! you would have laughed to have seen thousands of human carcasses hangin g from the trees by the roadside after I know not what jest had gone through the minds of some lunatics . I never laughed so much as some fif teen centuries ago . There were whole roastin gs of people whose tort it was to be weaker than those who were the stronger at that time . It was very amusing to see

’ ni them rent and devoured by wild a mals . You re going to l l ll call me a dul fe low , a fool , and to te me that I have not under

hi is stood what I have seen . Pish ! my c ldren ! it best to

n i laugh at thi gs , for the children of these d sembowelled

s wretches avenged them elves later on .

r h n But d oller still , the drollest t i g of all , is woman . Ah ! ! now there we have a strange animal Oh , the vanity, the i malice of these l ttle beings , for whom I am still capable of committing follies ! By Pluto or by Satan ! (they are both ’ k one , and I don t thin much of either, for after all they are but human inventions) it is good to watch men and women

e h d siring each other, deceiving each other , hating each ot er . 104

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

t than when I am in a good humour . You do not deserve hat e I should waste my merry words upon you , becaus that which

ul n . ! sho d make you laugh seems , i stead , to annoy you What would you weep because everything goes wrong ? Look at ! ff me I have su ered as much as any man , but I cover my

hump and my heart with a cuirass . I am laughter incarnate ,

laughter triumphant . So much the worse for those rows of paper capuchins which are to be overthrown by the first

breath that blows . I am of wood and iron , and as old as the world !

Polichinelle is right to say that his heart is as dry as his

cudgel he is an egotist in the fullest acceptance of the term .

Under a good - humour ed exterior he is a ferocious being : he

a r works evil for the ple su e of it . Caring no more for the li fe of a man than for that of a flea , he delights in quarrels ,

making a point of seeking them , and takes great pleasure d in bloo shed . Far from being a boaster he does not always

his his speak of evil actions , and whenever you hear laughter l crackling , you may be sure that he has ki led his man . He

fears neither God not devil, for he has beheld too many civilisations and religions come and go un der his hooked

and warty nose .

— his ff us After his cudgel sta of credit, as he calls it , beca e it — is the money with which he pays his debts his chief predi

lections are women and the bottle . It is very true , as he says hi mself , that for women money is necessary , and he has no

Al he s nl money . though pretend that he has o y to stoop to take

f ri his what he needs from the cof ers of his f ends , friends are not quite so simple ; they hide themselves and their riches on his 106 POLICHINELLE

r approach . Without money it is necessary to be pe suasive

w his his towards the fair sex, and , not ithstanding humps and t unat ractive figure , he is so caustic, so cajoling , so enterprising wi and so insolent, that he is not thout his successes . I have no illusions on the score of my physical appear ” di ance, he declares , and I shall not sclose to you my secret ,

because I do not know it ; on the other hand , can you explain women to me ? He who pleases them does so because he

pleases them there are no other reasons . Woman is a bizarre

n h in and mysterious being she is the o ly good t ing this world, ” n after wi e and hard knocks . He loves all women alike because there is not one w ho may m boast that she held hi long .

the 540 Of It would be somewhere about year Rome, that the Romans introduced the style of improvised pieces known as

Atellanae Casnar , with Maccus , Bucco , Pappus , and as the

L . principal types , speaking Oscan , Greek and atin

Their subjects were nearly always rustic , setting forth the di manners of the peasants of the Campagna , and the od ties

Pa a . us rceteritus of the inhabit nts of the little cities It is pp p ,

dis s or, as it were, Pantaloon mis ed ; Maccus the soldier ;

us Macc , the testamentary legatee , the doctor, the painter,

A lla . te nae the baker ; Pappus agricola , etc The possessed

dis bufl oons sanniones : l two tinct , two Maccus , who was ively, witty , insolent and a little ferocious ; and Bucco, who was

- h satisfied flatterer . a self , boaster, t ief and coward In the modern PULCINELLA these two characters are combined ; he 107 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE is a mixture of bravery and cowardice , of stupid vanity and witty insolence . It is pretended that these opposite traits of character were similarly attributed to Maccus , the Oscan peasant, who in his day was as well known and loved as is Pulcinella now .

di n Maccus , the Oscan character, says M . Fer na d Fouque ,

un has a character compo ded of stupidity, impertinence , and

‘ di a xxo ézdfla z sorder, as his name indicates , because in Greek , n

n r a sig ifies to play the buffoon , to d ivel , to be mad . M ccus of

Atellan ae the corresponds sometimes to Harlequin , but more ll often to Polichine e . The image in metal preserved in the

n museum of the Marquis Cappo i is a Maccus . He wears a

hi his she d sort of cloak , w ch descends to knees , and he is in sandals . His head is shaved , his nose is large and hooked . Another Maccus is to be seen upon a cornelian he is dressed in

his his l purple , feet are naked , his head shaven , pendu ous nose

hi him his covers his mouth and c n , giving a stupid expression hl face is p egmatic , and his arms , crossed upon his breast , are hi hi entwined into his coat . He represents a p losop c Maccus

akin to the Pulcinella of the comedy entitled Pulcinella the

o Pu nel a F nto Do e Pretended D ctor ( lci l i ttor ) .

n Bucco is of Oscan origi . In name and countenance he

resembles the parasites of comedy . His character is com

e pounded of loftinesses and meanness s , of oddities and of

c d l . fol ies He can be pleasant at need, impertinent ac or ing to

s oflicious wn the circum tances ; subtle , , insinuating, clo ish , gar

rulous : he s , indolent , greedy and familiar has all the vice which go with the manners of a corrupt nation also he pos sesses the secret of pleasing the great and rendering himself 108

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

further says This bizarre figure is copied from an ancient bronze foun d in Rome in 1727 The original is preserved in the

ni hi Cappo Museum , together with the story of this character, of whom it is impossible to deny that the titles and the genealogy are of the greatest antiquity

r natus Es uiliis re r us Vetus histrio pe so in q pe t an . 1727 ad m a nitudinem a archet i ex r essus st utro ue g eri yp p , cui oculi in q ae ar entaei oris angulo Sann seu globuli g sunt . Gibbus in in u di Hu us et e . pectore in dorso , q pe bus socci j generis et ludiones esti ue m ov endum moriones , verbis g q ad risum habuerunt ocularibus fabulis Atellanis compositi , locum in j , Oscorum o id o i Ca uam et Nea olim ab Atella p , nter p p , ubi c ae erun t es U r primum agi p denominat . nde homines absu do et reli ui ca chinnos ur habitu oris q corporis a nat a excitantes , etiam num prod eun t ; huic nostro persim iles et vulgo Pulli cinellae dicuntur Pulliceno fortasse : v oe e Lam ridius , a qua p Alex andr e l in Severo , Pullum gallinaceum appellat . Pu li c inellae s eciatim ex cellun t rominenti ue autem p adunco”, p q naso , t i ionum rostrum pullorum e p p imitante .

’ Louis Riccoboni gives at the end of his Histoire du Thedtre i I ta lien a reproduction of this same l ttle image . It is to be observed that in each corner of the m onth there is a little ball

h e - which can only belong to a sort of sg erl or bird call .

r Histor o the I ta lia n Theatre In the cou se of writing my y f ,

Mim us Centunculus he says , speaking of the , I had entered into conjectures on the score of the character of the Neapolitan

hi him Mim us Albus n Polic nelle , and I had supposed a , givi g him a derivation as ancient as that of Harlequin but as I failed to fin d proofs that should in any way support my opinion I suppressed that chapter when the book was on the point of

n u going to press . If at that time I had bee acq ainted with the 110 POLICHINELLE monument of which I speak (the little bronze image) I should ul have worked on Diomedes and Ap eius , to arrive at the con cl ions i us which have been reached by Ital an scholars . No further proof is needed to assur e me that I was not mistaken when I believed Polichinelle to be a dir ect descendant of the ” M u A u im s lb s of the Atellane comedies . In an article upon the Italian comedy written by George

1852 : Sand in , is the following statement

The most ancient of all the types is the Neapolitan

d di r Polichinelle . He descen s in rect line f om Maccus of

the Campagna , or, rather, he is the same character . The ancient Maccus did not appear in regular comedy but in

Atellan ae that very ancient kind of satirical drama called , hi from the name of the city of Atella , w ch had given it birth . di 1727 A bronze statue, scovered in Rome in , can leave no doubt

on the score of the identity of Maccus and Polichin elle . The

Polichinelle of the Atellanse is equipped like his descendants

wi th two enormous humps , a nose hooked like the beak of a hi bird of prey , and heavy shoes , tied about the ankle, w ch are

n li not u ke our modern sabots . His air is mocking , sceptical and evil two little silver balls placed at the corners of his lips increase the size of his mouth and lend his countenance some hi t ng false and base , an expression entirely foreign to that of hi i diff the modern Polic nelle . Th s erence between the externals of the two personages seems to me to indicate a profounder diff c erence between the characters . The an ient type must have been somewhat baser and more hateful than the modern

li hi his Po c nelle ; provoking laughter chiefly by deformities ,

I imagine that I can see from afar a sort of Thersites , popular 111 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

in the struggle with the oppression of slavery and ugliness . Polichinelle personifies the accomplished revolt ; he is hideous but he is terrible , severe and vengeful ; neither god nor devil can make him tremble when he wields his great cudgel . By

hi hi r ul means of t s weapon , w ch he f eely lays about the sho ders

his f of master and the heads of public o ficers , he exercises a sort of summary and individual justice which avenges the weak side and the iniquities of official justice . I am confirmed in this opinion by the fact that in the Neapolitan farces two

i u a v erit Pol chinelles are to be fo nd one is b se and doltish, the

son : able of Maccus the other is daring, thieving , quarrelsome ,

Bohemian and of a more modern creation .

di When the pagan theatres were destroyed , and the trage es

die and the come s suppressed with them , we know that the

llan Ate ae continued to be performed in the public places . Polichinelle took part in them as well as Harlequin who also was beloved by the Romans . dl hi Throughout the entire Mid e Ages , an epoch in w ch

l hi w as the theatres saw none but mystery plays , Po ic nelle

e . never s en He had disappeared . It is only in the sixteenth

r centu y , upon the renascence of the theatres , that a comedian named Silvio Fiorello wreste d this character from oblivion and ll introduced Pulcinella into the Neapolitan Shows . Fiore o

r di was the leader of a t oupe of come ans . He himself played e under the name of Captain Matamoros , and entrusted the r le

Pulliciniello dr of (as it was then called) to An ea Calcese , a s Ciuccio ometime tailor, surnamed , who imitated to perfection the accent and the ways of the peasants of Acerra , near

Naples . 112

POLICHINELLE The costume of Pulcinella has varied but little since the days

r Pulliciniello—it of this And ea Calcese . is thus that he is still — called in the begininng of the seventeenth century wears a

hi his sort of ample w te blouse, gripped about waist by a leather belt which carries a wooden sabre and a purse .

His trousers are wide and pleated ; his shoes are of leather . He wears no collar and a rag of white material with green embroidery serves him as a tabaro he wears a black half-mask with long moustachios ; his head is covered by a white skull cap and an enormous grey hat whose brim is looped up on either side into the shape of an enormous cap such as was still worn under Louis XI .

Ar ieri R It was thus that he was presented by g , born in ome ,

Po chine n and known in Paris as li l remai . At the foot of a him picture of is to be read Burlesque mask , speaking the language of the Neapolitan peasants and dressed in white linen feigning stupidity . In the middle of the seventeenth century at the Com edie Italienne in Paris Pulcinella suddenly effected a change in

’ Barban ois Pulcinella Maz arin s his costume . e , the of troupe ,

u illes o 0 a J P lichinel 164 . imit ted p , the French of He assumed doublet and breeches of red and yellow , laced with green , but he continued to wear the hat and mantle of the Italian di tra tion . In 1697 Michael Angelo da Fracassano exaggerated the two

hat humps of the costume , assuming a grey felt adorned

’ his by two cock s feathers , and thus rendering appearance

Polichin el absolutely similar to that of the of the fairs . It is ui in this g se that he has been represented by Watteau . In the beginning of the eighteenth century we find Pulcinella 113 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE succumbing in Italy to the French influence ; under the name

Pulcinelle of , Coleson , who enjoyed a great vogue in the forain

r theat es of Florence , Venice , Milan and Paris , represents him with a stomach which entirely fills his ample coat buttoned

r - f om top to bottom . He wears the black half mask with a

e protuberant nose, surmount d by a great wart , the collar and

- - the high crowned , wide brimmed great hat ; his trousers are

dr wide and rather short . He is still essed in white linen and l h . n wields a eavy cudgel This character, ca led in Bolog a

Purricinella , seems to me to be Roman rather than Neapolitan , for the costum e of the Neapolitan type has been but little

i Ricco o mod fied since his creation . According to b ni this fat l and heavy personage was the second Neapolitan Pulcinel a , the stupid type .

i ns The Neapolitan comed es (he says) , i tead of a Scapin l and a Harlequin , have two Po ichinelles, one cunning and the other stupid . It is the common opinion of the country that these two opposite characters were drawn from the city of

Beneventum n L . , the capital of the Sam ites of the atins It is

to hil said that this city, the half of which is on the p of a l , the t d f other half at the foot, produces men of en irely if erent

h a c ar cters .

Beneventum is built like Bergamo , where , as we have seen , di ui the same tra tion existed , the stupid Harleq n representing h the in abitants of the lower town , and the witty Brighella h hi t ose of the gher . ul P cinello , then , is to be accepted as the type of the stupid

di h s and the coarse, a rect descendant of Maccus ; w il t the

wi t s Neapolitan Pulcinella , t y and astute , may be con idered 114

THE HIS’I ORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE a ll their scenes ull o biz arre ha enin s , f f pp g , pieces which owe their success entirely to Pulcinella Let us analyse one or f hi two , selecting preferably rom those w ch best reveal the

Neapolitan character .

Pulcinella Bri and - Chie , g f

ul The scene is laid in Calabria . P cinella , whose business ff hi a airs have been going badly , devotes mself to a fresh line i u all of industry he exploits the h ghways . P lcinella has the

- attributes that go to make an excellent brigand chief . He is wi without scruples and thout mercy , and he professes a most f hi sovereign contempt for human li e . The new c ef has designs upon the wife of a miller of the neighbourhood of icastro i N , who , in add tion to her personal attractions, has , if ur li public rumo is to be be eved , a great sack of ducats in her cupboard . Pulcinella leaves his band in a neighbouring wood and , accompanied by a single follower , he goes to visit the ’ us ill . m er s wife So as not to aro e her suspicions , he conceals his l t fo lower behind a bush , and presen s himself alone upon her threshold . The day is Sunday , and the brigand has chosen it because he knows that the miller will be at Mass in the neigh bouring township and that he will have left his wife alone with i her child at the mill . Pulcinella represents h mself as a ’ m . . iller s boy out of work He is well received Suddenly , hi r seizing a moment in which the c ld has gone apart, he d aws ’ a knife and thr eatens to cut the woman s throat unless she gives

him . a”t once all the money she possesses My money is up there , she say”s , in my cupboard . Come with me and I will ul n hi rum m a give it to you . P ci ella follows her . W lst he is g ui ing in the cupboard , the woman slips q ckly out of the room , shuts the door and turns the key . The windows are equipped

- with iron bars ; the door is a half foot thick . Pulcinella is ’ li m s k . taken in a gin li e a star ng The iller s”wife lose no ls i R time ; she cal her ch ld un to Nicastro, she bids him ,

and fetch your father and the carabineers ; run quickly, tell 116 POLICHINELLE him that there is a brigand in the house . The child sets out , ul ’ but P cinella s companion , hearing the cries of his chief, ’ ’ a z mi wif bars the lad s pass ge and sei es him . The ller s e , however, does not lose courage . She bolts the doors and barri cades the windows . Her situation is most critical . She hears Pulcinella who , by means of a hammer, is beginning to l hi demolish the cei ing over her head , and she sees her c ld r th eatened with death by the other brigand unless she opens . E is him ventually th brigand pinions the child , casts into a seeld n ni corner, and sets about g some door or ope ng by hi his hi w ch he may enter the house to deliver c ef . Presently the idea occurs to him to slip dow n the wheel of the mill and through the opening left by the axle of the sails ; but at the same moment the miller’s wif e conceives the notion of setting r this wheel in movement . The brigand is already half th ough the space between the wall and the axle when the miller’s wife draws back the bolt which holds the wheel ; this begins to move , and before it has turned twice the brigand is crushed hi as if by a pestle in a mortar . Meanw le Pulcinella has completed his hole in the ceiling and is about to dr op through into the chamber below when the miller arrives with a a ul det chm ent of carabineers . P cinella does not lose courage . As these ascend the staircase leading to the chamber in which he is locked , he jumps down through the hole in the ceiling , escapes by another staircase , and climbs on to the roof of the house . The remainder of the piece is merely a sort of burlesque di hi ’ di vertissement , in w ch we see the miller s wife , the sol ers ur i and the peasants p su ng Pulcinella , who displays his address u him to rs de orce . and performs all sorts of f We see , for ni hi instance, taking the place of the vane , and tur ng t s way and that in the wind but in the instant in which the carabineers are hi un aiming at t s extremely metallic vane , he leaps to the roof , r hi and from the roof to the gardens , and th usts mself into a di corner, where he pretends to be a pillar . A sol er climbs upon this pillar to look thr ough a window ; the pillar comes to life and takes to its heels then Pulcinella slips under a winnow

117 THE HISTORY OF THE HAREEQUINAD E

n ing basket , and attempts to reach the wood , crawli g like a the tortoise . In end he is taken and conducted to Nicastro his to be hanged . The tory of his hanging is well known . ul hims P cinella permits elf calmly to be led to the scaffold, but when the rope is ready he plays all sorts of tricks upon the hangman ; he feigns stupidity and pretends not to be able to f e e l . Y ! . find the noose ou cries the impa”tient hangman Look ! It is thus that the noose is adjusted . And he slips hi u his own head through it . Pulcinella seizes t s favo rable

moment , takes hold of the rope , and strangles the hangman , “ crying to him : How now ? Am I still a fool ?

Le Ruine di Pom eia In p , Pulcinella , who is in love with di the daughter of one of the custo ans of the place , has attached h us imself to a group of foreign visitors , whom he am es with his f sallies , and at whose expense he regales himsel , stealing the r lin best bits of their dinner, and for eve jugg g away the coin ’ which they place in the custodian s hand . The visitors end by his di a seeing through game , are sple sed with it , and seek to seize i e his him by the collar . Pulcinella grows angry ; he ra s s voice indignantly to protest that anyone should suspect an honour a his able man such as he, person of importance . He pretends

u E oflicer . n to be , by t rns , an nglish lord and a French Soo , ur however, being convicted of impost e, and closely pressed, he his plies cudgel , takes to flight through the ruins , and suddenly disappears at the very moment in which his pursuers believe

they have captured him . He is found at last m one of the di i a newly scovered caves , ly ng amid a litter of empty amphor e ’ di E r i in company with the custo an s daughter . ve yth ng is

arranged , and the piece concludes with a marriage which r r appears to be ext emely necessa y . The characters taking part in these pieces of an entirely

national type are , in addition to Pulcinella and Scaramouche ,

and i the peasant , the Roman woman the sold er .

Polliciniella , as he is called in the Neapolitan dialect , wears w dl a sort of short and very ample blouse, ith or without gir e , 118

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

o ns vict rious campaig , after having been decorated by the

E ur ur mperor Napoleon , when the Bo bons ret ned to Naples , he donned—either out of necessity or caprice—the coat of

his un Pulcinella , and in t amassed a very handsome fort e . He was the idol not only of all Neapolitans but of all who

c understood the diale t . Restrained in his movements , cold ,

a sluggish , full of awkwardness , spe king as little as possible , but seeing to it that the few words he uttered bore the imprint of

hs n the liveliest and most biting wit, he contrived, notwit tandi g

hi his miracul the mask w ch covered the half of countenance , a

e f hi on ly expressive physiognomy . One of the buf ooneries w ch

l ni he repeated frequently, especial y during car val (because in this season Polliciniella is forbidden to wear either mask or

um ns hi cost e) was to eat mountai of macaroni , of w ch the di cantare . character is tra tionally very fond , out of an enormous You might see him dr awing forth these long macaroni and causing them to descend into his mouth from the full height

his di of his arm , to the peals of laughter of au ence . C Speaking of Pulcinella , M . harles Magnin says

ul The P cinella of Naples , a tall fellow , as straight as

s anyone else, noisy, alert , sen ual , with his great hooked nose

a - his his and bl ck half mask , pyramidal grey bonnet , white

mi h e ir ca sole, his wide w ite pantaloons , gather d and g t about hi his waist by a rope from w ch hangs a little bell , may well

i Mimus Albus l br ng to mind the , and the sti l more remote

us his - his Macc ; but , with the exception of beak like nose and

- bird like name , he has no connection with , nor does he resemble ,

our French Polichinelle . For one trait of resemblance that is perceptible ten contrasting ones may be pointed out . 120 POLICHINELLE

I i POLICH NELLE , says M . Charles Magn n , such as we have l made or adapted him , represents in the highest degree Ga lic humour and physiognomy . I might even say that under the compulsory obligation of a loyal caricature , Polichinelle permits I n V . us to perceive the popular type , I dare not say of He ry but u at least of the Gascon officer , imitating his gait in the g ard

- rooms of the castle of Saint Germain or of the old Louvre . As for the hump, Guillaume Bouchet reminds us that from time immemorial it has been the appendage of the jester es farees of

i e France . In the th rte nth century Adam de la Halle was called the hunchback o Arras f , not because he was a hunchback , but on account of his mocking Spirit

’

On m a elle b oehu a s e n e ls su s m ie . pp , m i j i

As for the second hump , it brings to mind the bright and ul di b ging cuirass of the sol er , and the pigeon breasts so much the

hi mi cu m fashion in that time w ch i tate the curve of the .

E tricorne ven the hat of Polichinelle (I do not refer to his modern , but to the felt with turned - up rim which he wore in the seven teenth century) was the headdress of the cavaliers of the time ,

a H n I L the hat la e ri V . astly there is even in certain character istic ur features , even in the jovial , daring , amorous humo of a

s good soldier , something that remind me of the qualities and

- s short comings of the Béarnais . In short , notwith tanding his i Neapolitan name, Polichinelle seems to me to be a type ent rely

French , and one of the most spontaneous and vivacious creations

of Gallic fantasy .

1630 r It was in , they say , that Polichinelle passed f om the 121 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

trestles to the marionette theatre . But in any case it is quite certain that in 1649 Polichinelle had his theatre on the left bank

Briocci of the Seine , at the house of one Brioché or .

I am Polichin e lle Wh o stand as sentin e l h sle Be fore t e Ga te of Ne .

in h t l . C s A tradition w ich s i l survives , says M harle Magn , i hi the learned h storiographer of Polichinelle , and w ch the true

hi is c ldren of Par , of Chartres and of Orleans transmit from one

to another, has preserved for us the air and the couplets of the famous song of Polichin elle

Je s is le a e Mi n ole t u f m ux g , e r l d s s n ole s G n e a e E p ag t .

a e a c e la e e e e Qu nd j m r h , t rr tr mbl ’ C e s c is le s e t moi qui ondu ol il , ’ E t je n e crois p as qu e n ee monde O sse v e a e n pui trou r mon p r il .

Le s mura ille s d e mon p ala is S ont batie s d e s 0 8 d e s Angla is Toute s m e s sa lle s sont dallée s ’ De té tes d e se rge nts d arm é e s

’ u a le s Q e d ns c omb a ts j a i tués.

’ ‘ J6 v e a v a s n ui ux , nt qu il oit mi t, A se e e P moi tout ul pr ndr a ris.

Par - e ss s le s s N e - D a e d u tour otr m , La Se in e je fe ra i p asser ;

De s a e s d e s fille s d e s e e s l ngu , f mm ,

S a n - O e e i t m r je f ra i p av er .

This song places Polichin elle as belongin g to the reign of I V . Henry and the epoch of our long quarrels with Spain . The real home of Polichinelle was in the fairs of Saint-Germain

-La r and Saint u ent , at Bertrand and at Francisque, where for

t all over a cen ury he jested , making a mock of all people and 122

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

ms revenge upon the executioner and upon the devil hi elf . He began again to beat and hang the pair of them as before and

from the same rope . 1819 mi In , Arnault , speaking of the le of Polichinelle played at

El - the Opéra by y and at the Porte Saint Martin by Mazurier, wrote

o a He is an imp rtant ch racter ; he is the man of the day .

During his quarter of an hour no one will dispute with him his hi public favour unless it is himself ; for Polic nelle is double , as

hi here was Amp tryon in other days, and like that he combats

hi s also against m elf , to the great satisfaction of the public . When one thinks of all the qualities that a perfect Polichinelle

us un diflicult m t ite in himself, it is too greatly to congratulate

ur the cent y which produced in duplicate such a model . In the matter of deformity Polichinelle should be what Apollo is in the matter of perfection . Humped , in front and behind , perched li ’ ui upon legs ke a heron s , eq pped with the arms of an ape , he must move with that nerveless stiffness , with that suppleness without springs which characterises the steps of a body deprived

r of the p incipleof movement , whose limbs , set in action by a cord ,

nk ul s are attached to the tru not by artic ation but by rags . The aim of the actor in this rOle is to imitate the machine with e ul the greatest fidelity which , in another r le, this machine wo d hi employ to imitate the man . It is in this that the Polic nelle

- of the Porte Saint Martin (Mazurier) is marvellously successful . There is nothing human about him ; from the nature of his movements and his tumbles one cannot believe him to be

- flesh and bones ; he seems of cotton wool and cardboard . ul His countenance is tr y wooden , and such is the illusion that 124 POLICHINELLE

- u he creates that children take him for a grown p marionette , ” and perhaps they are right .

in El Speak g of y , at the Opéra , he says

What is there more clever than his gestur es and his

' attitudes , whether when leaning against one of the wings he seems suspended from it rather than supported by it, or when collapsing upon himself he appears to have been abandoned

hi s h by the hand w ch su tained him , or the nail from w ich he ul li hung ? It is tr y sublime . Po chinelle has been accorded the honours of lithography . One may inscribe according to one’s predilection for one or the other of these virtuosi the

r l name either of Mazu ier or of E y .

Cham fleur Towards the middle of the nineteenth century M . p y presented several very original pantomimes at the theatre of the

un F ambules . He sought to restore to light the character of

hi scenarii him Polic nelle, and in his he gave something more to do

him s than perpetually to break elf . He sought to rejuvenate l the personage ; but the ancient tradition was a ready lost, and

Vauthier w ho u , was an admirably wooden Polichinelle, co ld l h — render on y that with w ich he was acquainted namely , the El traditions of Mazurier and y .

r in l l . Nodie O Po ichinel e, exclaims M Charles , orig al and capricious fetish of children ! grotesque Achilles of the people ! modest and powerful Roscius of the highways ! inappreciable philosopher of the unfortunate ages which did not know Shakespeare !

i ul O Polichinelle , animated S m acrum of natural man given over to his naive and ingenuous instincts eternal type of truth 125 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E of which the indolent centur ies were slow to seize the deformed hi ll but witty and agreeable outline O Polic ne e, whose original theme so often enchanted the leisures of Bayle and revived more than once the indolence of La Fontaine ! hi h O Polic nelle, inexhaustible orator, imperturbable p ilo

ri mi c s sopher , intrepid g d vigorous logician , ghty pra tical morali t, in ! infallible theologist , able and unerr g politician

O Polichinelle, thou whose wooden head contains essentially in its compact and inorganic mass all the knowledge and all the common sense of the modem s

Should we not be well - advised to reawaken Polichinelle asks M . Ch . Magnin . Above all do not suggest that he is hi di dead . Polic nelle never es . Do you doubt it You cannot

is know , then , what Polichinelle . He is the good sense of the

al . people, he is the alert s ly, he is laughter irrepressible Yes , Polichinelle shall laugh and sing and whistle as long as there

li . are vices , fol es and eccentricities in the world You see then

hin that Polichinelle is very far from being dead . Polic elle is immortal .

1688 hi It was in , after the Stuarts , that Polic nelle passed into

E E r ngland . His nglish name of PUNCH is clearly de ived from

hi l his ns L Punc nel o, for in the early days of i tallation in ondon

i n hi n he was called ind fferently Pu c nello and Pu ch . There, as

in Paris , Punch became the king of the marionettes . This

o c n Neap litan , after having been French , be ame, whe he

ur h ms E l h di nat alised i elf ng is , a fficult fellow to manage, of a 126

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE and jovially rascally habits of the English Punch and the

n Parisian Polichi elle . In Germany Hanswurst has had several

rivals . He has been compelled to give way more than once to

l Pickelharin Harlequin , to Polichinel e and to g. In the eighteenth century this character was played in the

Prehauser German improvising troupes by , who made of him a

sort of lackey having some points of resemblance with Brighella . But the improvisation theatre of Vienn a having been forced to

ur give way to the classical theatre , Hansw st was supplanted

rle Cas e . by p , the joyous Austrian peasant

In Rome the inhabitants of Trastevere possessed two types — which are certainly of the family of Polichinelle types which

nevertheless have aged a little they are Meo -Patacca and his

hf - fait ul companion Marco Pepe .

ME - T ms e o PA ACCA is a native of Trastevere . He clai d scent fi h s . like Pulcinella from Maccus , in w ich very possibly he is ju ti ed

L e f ike Maccus he is witty and insolent , and no bett r able to su fer

his his d . contradiction , most persuasive argument lying in cu gel

ns l his He begi by striking , and having fel ed man to earth he then

s him proceed to explanations with . He has a bright and lively fil eye , a tanned skin , a pro e exaggerating the ancient Roman

nh type . He is the personification of the i abitant of Trastevere ,

the descendant of Nero or of Maccus , whose blood has been

slightly mingled in the course of time . He speaks the Roman

d t wi s ialec , and never utters a sentence thout repeating its mo t ” - - — h : se se I . energetic word, t us I want you to do and want it 128 POLICHINELLE

' Thécitre en I ta lie He swallows , says M . Mercey in his , all

his infinitives sa e sa ere the final syllables of . He says p for p , and fa for fare or else he replaces the last syllables of these

ne words by the particle , which he uses on all occasions he thus i ane are sa ene sa ere chine chi uine u . says f for f , p for p , for , g for g It also pleases him to transpose his ls and rs ; thus when he

loria rolia . speaks of his glory he does not say g but g , etc

Giuseppe Berneri has written an entire poem of twelve cantos,

di - in the popular alect of Rome , on the subject of Meo Patacca, 1685 and this poem , printed in Rome in , would perhaps have

ll r fa en into oblivion if Bartolomeo Pinelli, the Roman d aughts

us 1823 . man , had not happened to ill trate it in

’ Berneri e poem begins as follows I sing the glory of the bravest young Roman plebeians , the most redoubtable of all the chiefs of their band I l cape -truppa della gente sgherra — hi hi w ch is to say, the c ef of the quarrelsome, brawling and more or less assassin troupe .

Meo - Patacca is irritated by the audacity of these inf amous sons of dogs of Turks who dare to besiege the Christian city of

V . ienna He conceives the project of going to its deliverance, and halting before the statue of Mark Antony , whose hand is

r raised in Sign of t iumph , he considers it and says Who kn ows but that one day you will see another statue standing here ? Who knows but that a man whom I call I will not show himself worthy of the honour ? His companions to the mi number of ten , who follow as sheep follow their leader, ad re him d and already bow down before him . He lea s them thus through the ruins of ancient Rome , and fires their courage by

- w war like speech . To drive out the Turk all that he ill need, he 129 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

n un e says , is a compa y of five hundred yo g Trasteverin , well

e ul armed with arquebuses , pik s , hangers and slings . He wo d continue to talk to them , but that the company, weary of

i Viva Mao- Patacca say ng nothing, interrupts his harangues with

Viva I rendered in tones that might disturb the ashes of the

accin ancient Romans of the Campo V e . Amid the acclamations

n of the mob , he is carried in triumph to his lodgi gs .

At the beginning of the second canto , all these heroes are ui ready to set out . It is the hour at which the grocers , the fr t

set sellers and other victuallers , up upon poles their linen sun blinds before their shops so as to protect them from the heat

- which to the profit of the iced water sellers , becomes intolerable .

It - is noon , and Meo Patacca is surrounded by a crowd of women who loudly give tongue to their despair . They are the more or less legitimate wives of the heroes who are about to follow Patacca . After several speeches he comes triumphant hi out of this contest, w ch he considers the most severe he

hi his was ever engaged in . Not ng now can arrest valiant arm . They are about to set out when the news arrives of the

- deliverance of Vienna by Sobieski . Meo Patacca is by no means sure that he has not had something to do with the rout of

ur s his the T k . He convokes followers and they deliver them

r hi selves to great rejoicings . Du ing t s they learn that Bude has been taken by assault by the Christians and that the Jews

‘ un a have ited with the Turks to repel the ttack. Vengeance

n m l Ve geance upon the Jews This phrase, flung into the idd e

se e n a - of the mob , is no less th n a battle cry and the entire army

hetto hi of Patacca hurls itself upon the g , w ch it attacks and pillages to the greater honour and glory of God .

is a l - h It m the the tre of Pal a Corda , says M . Mercey, t at 130

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE they wear upon their shoulders a sort of scarf which serves for ornament and which is tied in a large rosette upon the breast .

A broad girdle once carried a dagger, but weapons having been forbidden , this is now replaced by a stout cudgel . The sleeved waistcoat is buttoned at the side . The breeches are open at the knee as in the time of Berneri ; but the garters seem to us i more modern as well as the shoes with their steel buckles , wh ch

- Meo Patacca can never have worn in the seventeenth century .

- i un o He wears also the wide br mmed f g and the mantle . Pinelli certainly found his types among his fiiends and com

- patriots of Trastevere , and Meo Patacca in the dress we have described has the air rather of a brave than of a Pulcinella in

a rags , such as he was but a few years e rlier .

- l In the poem of Berneri , MARCO PEPE is the on y one who

- dares to stand before the face of Meo Patacca . He plays

a - him the rele of tr itor . Meo Patacca provokes ; they fight ;

- but from the combat Marco Pepe gets nothing but dishonour .

- f In the dramas of Palla Corda , Marco Pepe is the riend and

his - mi i the sympat er of Meo Patacca . He seeks to i tate h s

him - hero , who walks behind , for Marco Pepe is a boaster, a

li ll ul a braw ng , boisterous fe ow, whom one wo d suppose cap ble

of swallowing everything ; his air is very much more terrible than that of his companion ; his voice is very much louder ;

-Pattacca his but if Meo becomes angry , or merely clenches fist ,

- - Marco Pepe disappears as if by enchantment . Meo Patacca

- hi fears nothing ; Marco Pepe fears everyt ng . These types were still to be seen in Rome in the Emilian 132 POLICHINELLE

e M1 the Theatre (Triat ]ani) in the middle of nineteenth century . i Taccon , a hunchback , leader of the troupe , performed one day

h ls di in the dialect of the il , another in the alect of Trastevere ,

c the pie es of which he was always the author . The dramas or

Here e Lea ndra Francesca da Rim ini heroic pieces , such as , ,

ul etta e Romeo Gi i , were all arranged by him and adapted to the

taste of the public .

Giulietta 6 Romeo R dr In , for instance, we find omeo , essed

hi Mao - after the fas on of Patacca , wearing a plumed hat , and

l s trai ing a great cavalry abre , replying as follows to Juliette , who has reproached him in no very choice terms with the

death of her cousin - german

Silence , child , I will make you understand . Know that

a yesterday , as I was leaving you at the foot of the stairc se, I

r lighted a cigar . At the corner of the st eet I heard this foul

: Te la umi word You are smoking it , you ugly carrion ( f , l brutta caro na . u g ) Having received this ins t, I returned at k once , I drew my sabre , and but you now the rest , etc .

The Neapolitans have a very popular type which they name

L S NN IL GUAPo and I I TO O (the lad) . He represents the popular

l dr u . b ly He is essed like a Neapolitan of the lower classes, still

n to be fou d in certain quarters of the town a round, wide

- waistcoat , of cinnamon coloured cotton velvet , a sort of cap over

ur n one ear, light colo ed breeches with a red belt rou d the waist

he carries a long stick , and struts in an insolent and provocative

a he h h f shion speaks of not ing but blows , be t ey of knife, stick, 133 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

us h stone or carbine , and he es an emp asis full of menacing i . r a reticences Neve theless , although he is not ent rely a cow rd,

his ds his dee correspond but little with words and , more

hr s often than not , his t eats and quarrel terminate , not in the

e shedding of blood, but in the shedding of wine in the near st

tavern .

Beolco 1530 In the Piovana of Angelo (Ruzzante) , , an amorous

young pea sant bears the name of Siton . That beyond doubt

m Sitenne is the pri itive type of , who again is a type of peasant,

has ur s but one who become suburban and denat ali ed .

ff I can find no di erence between a lover and a young calf ,

w d ha h to hich the her sman , to amuse himself , s ll ave bandaged

them hi the eyes and thrust a into its tail , so that it runs ther and w thither without kno ing where it is or whither it is going .

ds I am the calf ; love is the her man , the thorn is the sorrow h w ich I have in my heart , and the bandage over the eyes is my hi bewilderment . I do not know w ther I am going , for I am not ul where I am . I am here and my heart and so are with Nina .

In Bologna the marionette theatres have yet another type

ersonifies acchini which p the f , the young men of the lower class

s BI RRI CHINO of the town ; thi , according to the annotations of

o Bertehle Bertoldino e Ca casenno the p em of , is derived from a l hi certain id e and mendicant class, w ch lives by petty thefts

in t ll and trickeries , exercis g in Bologna a s i uglier trade . The

bur icus L borrico word is probably derived from of the atins , or

the ds k (donkey) of Spaniar , because , li e the gypsies , they 134

THE CAPTAIN

Diga usd Do you know me No You do not know me ? Head and Belly ! Blood and fir e ! I am who I am ! Italy trembles at the name of Captain Spavento Spain reverences me under the name of Matamoros , and I terrify France , when I ll — wi , under the name of Fracasse for I can assure you I am a All most redoubtable man . love me and all fear me , in peace

n i as in war . I thi k no more of chewing up a pr nce than an omon .

his - hi f This Captain , with tiger cat moustac os, his colossal ruf

us and his plumed hat, audacio without courage and ostenta

us di tio without generosity was born , accor ng to some, on the

s to the bank of the Guadalquivir, according others , on banks of the Garonne . But he is older than he seems . What should he have done on the banks of either of these rivers in times when they were still inhabited by savage tribes It was in

Athens and in Rome under the Caesars that he first saw the i E his l ght . ver since those days it has been claim to put whole armies to rout by a strokeof his sword ; with a glance he will

h r the Al demolish walls , wit a breath overth ow ps or the

r Py enees .

the him He drove goddesses mad with love of , and betrayed

his Mars himself . He has changed shape in the cour se of

uri his . cent es , but not nature He is always the same boaster,

h he s h so mendacious t at impose even upon imself . 137 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

et e PYRGOPOLINI CE S . L it be s en to that my shield is brighter di sun h than is or narily the in fine weather, so that w en I use it in battle, by opposing it to the enemies I shall dazzle and lin b d them . I burn with desire to comfort this poor sword ; she complains that she is downcast at having so long been dl m w t i e , she who is consu ed ith impa ience to hack the enemy Artotro into pieces . But where then is gus ? the ARTOTROGUS (a parasite) . Here he is : he has honour to ha attach himself to a man who is as mighty as he is ppy, a man of royal beauty and heroic valour . Not even the god Mars would im dare to draw a parallel between h self and you, or to compare with yours his warlike qualities . I E dis PYRGOPOLIN C S . Do you refer to that fellow whom I hr Gor onid onia dained to overt ow on the field of g , where Bum bom a chid es Cl tom estorid sarchid es y y , the grandson of i ? Neptune, was the ch ef commander of the forces

ARTOTROGUS . I remember the occasion perfectly . You refer

r . to that general whose t oops , so remarkable for their gilded armour, you scattered by a single breath from your lips ; you s scattered them, I say, as the wind scatters leave and thistle down . P E was PYRGO OLINI C S . By the temple of Pollux ! that a

R S how n ARTOT OGU . By Pollux ! I remember by a si gle blow of the fist you broke in two the arm of an elephant in

E ? PYRGOPOLINIC S . How ? The arm

A TRO US . RTO G . No , no I mean the thigh OP LINICES PYRG O . And yet I struck it but lightly . Do you remember nothin g else un ARTOTROGUS . If I remember ! There were a h dred and fifty men in Cilicia a hundred Cryphiolathronians thirty ds d Sar and sixty Macedonians , of all of whom you isencumbered the earth in a single day . E a PYRGOPOLINI C S . Wh t is the sum total of all those men us ARTOTROGUS . Seven tho and at least . P LINI ES E h u PYRGO O C . xactly ! I see t at you are q ick and 138

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

ho favourite of Venus. Wknows but that the goddess herself may be enamour ed of me ?

IPPA a waitin ma L i MILPHID id . ( g ) My ord Beaut ful , I greet you very humbly .

PYRGOPOLINI CES . Who told you my surname May the gods love you , my child , and may they give you what your heart desires ! I do not for a moment doubt but that the girl is in love with me herself . All f MILPHIDIPPA. . my wish is to spend my li e with you, sir NI E PYRGOPOLI C S . You aspire too high ! Your pretensions go too far . I IPPA lf MI LPH D . It is not for myse that I speak ; it could not ul please the gods that I sho d be so daring . I speak for my mistress , who is dying of love for you . E PYRGOPOLINI C S . There are many others besides her who de sire the same happiness and may not attain to it . But who is your mistress ? For I am pestered by such a number of women r that I cannot remembe them all . Speak out, then . Tell

- me what you want , little love messenger . A h MILPHI DIPP . ! Ah my famous Ac illes , lend an ear to my prayer ; grant what I ask of you ; generously save a loving and

a beautif ul woman . Draw upon your heroic heart for some

sentiments of softness , of tenderness and of compassion . Do l s n a 0 s . th t , great demoli her of cities , i lustriou slayer of ki gs E hi PYRGOPOLINIC S . By Hercules , t s becomes tiresome and To . e importunate ( his lackey . ) How oft n have I forbidden you to promise thus easily and commonly my services to

I PALE STR O (lackey) . None but brave warriors are born of the woman whom he honours with his love ; and his children i l ve at least eight hundred years . i MILPHI DIPPA. h M sfortune catch t ee , fool and mocker P LINI E GO O C S . PYR He is not mocking you . My children live a thousand years by computations made from the first century to

E TRI O h s PAL S . I was afraid to state their number lest t i 140 THE CAPTAIN child should have thought that I was indulging in a gross and impudent falsehood . P PYRGO OLI NICE S . Do you know, child , that I was born on the morrow of that memorable day on which the goddess Ops gave birth to Jupiter ?

PALE S TRI O . e That is the fact , and if the lord my mast r had l arrived but one day ear ier, the empire of the heavens would have been his.

After all his be ast and brag of his exploits he is seized

‘ l Peri lectom ene f by the scu lions of p , receives rom them an

s ignominious correction , and departs beaten , yet atisfied .

’ ERIPLEC N c if P OME US (to his la keys) . Bring him away he won t l i h m . fol ow you carry Bear him between heaven and earth , him hr or else tear into pieces , cut him into s eds . P GOPOLINI E Peri lecom enus YR C S . ! L Oh my ord p , I implore you in the name of Hercules ! E I LE ul P R P COMENUS . There is no Herc es to help you ; your e if kn prayer is usel ss . See, Cario, your ife is sharp . PYR POLI NI E GO C S . ! I am lost , I am dead To a scullion . ! CARIO ( ) Not yet , you say that too soon ( r l ? his m a ste . a ) Sh l I get to work , sir Shall I commence the operation PERI PLE OME r him C NUS . No , fi st I want beaten back and

front . He CARIO . I will set my hand to it with the best will . (

PYRGOPOLI NI CE S . ! ! Mercy mercy, I implore you you have

beaten me enough . ? h CARIO (to his master) . Shall I cut Shall I carve ? S all I set my knif e to the business

PYRGOPOLINI CES . so My lord , before he does , before he opens

my belly, have compassion to hear me . e CARI O . It would b best to let him experience another shower of blows and then show him the door and give him

141 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

PYRGOPOLI NIOE S . s e May the god bl ss you, who plead so well in my favour In truth this cudgelling has entirely softened me

I am metamorphosed into a lamb let me go , I implore you . PE E U RIPLE OM N S . C U nbind him . PYRGOPOLI NI E S C . I am most deeply indebted ! I thank you

with all my heart . T e Br C t T ( h aggart ap ain . PLAU US . )

’ The modern Captain s utterances are very simila r

- di To day some lackeys , fin ng me alone , belaboured me with

cudgels~ an affront which put me in such a passion that I

ll . devoured the wa s of a bastion At last , swollen with vexation ,

r rancour, rage and fury , I broke Fortune on the wheel , scou ged ” Hazard and burned Misfortune .

“5 L" You see him strutting in the sun along the flagstones of a

his r palace , nose in the air , his eye on the t ail of roast meat ,

his his hand on terrible rapier , dangerous only to the eyes of

w ho him those follow . To see him bestride the ground you would suppose that the whole earth belongs to him that if he ui fli wished he could overthr ow the b ldings by a ck . But he is

ul he magnanimous . How many ins ts and canings has not permitted to fall into oblivion

It is night ! Who goes there A rival beyond doubt .

! s The Captain will fell him with a glance . No He despi es him too much he does not consider it worth while ; the man is but a simple mortal after all ! If i t were Jupiter now !

l fin e ot We shou d see things . N one but two men are approach

Let ing, and their gait is peculiar . him withdraw ; it is the

more generous behaviour towards these poor fellows who

might die of terror at the simple sight of him . Thus I save 142

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

the stateliness of Spain , and corrects as far as possible his hi poltroonery . Not a day passes now on w ch he does not slay a Moor, confound a necromancer or seduce a princess . His lackey’s garments are made from the material of the turbans

infid els of the whom he has decapitated .

- u To day , after having undergone a f rther transformation ,

his he still loves to entertain us with prowess . One day, at the e siege of Tr bizonde, he penetrated alone into the tent of the him Sultan , and , seizing by the beard, he dragged him through

hi his di off his the camp , w lst with sengaged hand , he held assailants and compelled the entire infidel army to keep its

s his ui di tance . When he entered the city c rass bristled so with arrows that he might have been mistaken for a hedgehog . The hedgehog device on his coat of arms dates fr om that event .

s his His gallantry equal valour , and when beauty is the object of his onslaught he has such marvellous means of conquest

s i that he never find her unyield ng . He overthrows towers, bursts through iron doors or, like a Greek god , descends

his upon her in the form of a golden rain . Many of feats of u gallantry have fo nd imitators . Once , for instance , when he galloped along the banks of the Garigliano in the company

’ Gil m e d A rem ont his of the princess y p , she , being weary of amorous insistence, said in jest The fire that consumes my knight is very ardent then ?

Cruel, can you doubt it

n . Not at all , but I know a mea s of relieving you Fling

’ yourself into the river .

’ Not all these waters could extinguish my flame .

That is but a gallant figur e of speech ; and I shall not 144

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

to his character, needed no more than to translate into verse i the prose of th s great duellist .

ul ul It wo d be necessary , I think , sir, that God sho d accomplish something as miraculous as the wish of Caligula

if he would make an end of my quarrels . If the entire human ul race were assembled under a single head , or when but one sho d

all l l remain of living men , there wou d stil be one duel left for

s me . In truth it mu t be that your departure having made a i desert of Paris the grass is spread ng in every street , since wherever I go I find myself always on a lawn . Sometimes I conceive that I am become a hedgehog ; since no one may

n l approach me without bei g pricked . Had you not a so noticed that there is at present more shadow on the horizon than at the

time of your departure It is because , since then , my hand has

r so peopled hell that it regu gitates upon the earth .

In the encounter in hell between Gaultier Garguille and

i Gar uille Tabar n , Gaultier g says

If you wer e still in the other world you would split your

wi t l d sides th laugh er to see the proud fo k of to ay who , striding

l i m oustachiousl superbly hand on hip , ike pots w th handles , y i f l disda n all whom they meet , whilst their u minating swords li ll are fil ng all graveyards ; and, what is sti worse, by their

un l eyes , glowering fiercely der a trai ing plume, they cause Jupiter to tremble until he is on the point of abandoning to

his them lightning and his eagle , that he may have peace, and this notwithstanding that they inspire fear in none but snails ” and flies and frogs . 146 THE CAPTAIN

No type was so successful in Eur ope in the sixteenth

s century, and more particularly at the beginning of the even tenth , as that of the Captain , both in improvised and in E written comedy . In Italy , Spain , France and ngland , the

c f number of pie es in which the Captain , under very di ferent

e . names , played the principal r le was very considerable Scarron wrote round this character a sort of tour de force in — — verse in one act and in one rhyme m ent entitled

Boutades du Ca itan Matamere 1646 p ,

MATAMORE

’ ’ J ai de l amour infinim ent un o ui ui Pour bel eil q , p ssamment, Me trouble impérieusement ; Il ce demeure en logement,

- Marchons y délicatement . a! hativem ent Hol sortez , ! Sinon , parbleu robustement ’ le a J écraserai b timent .

ANGELIQUE Hé que frappe si rudement ! MATAMORE

’ ’ un i C est fa seur d égorgement .

fir a ur The st Italian Capt ins date from the fifteenth cent y, and their costumes have varied according to their epochs . At ff first they wore bu jackets , a long sword, a steel helmet or morion , and they were always masked . These masks were

flesh- coloured , with a prominent nose and terrific moustachios .

L Riccoboni The ancient Italian Captain , says . , was

C who h the succeeded by the Spanish aptain , dressed imself in 147 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

L t fashion of his coun try . it le by little the Spanish Captain i overthr ew the ancient Ital an Captain . At the time of the hi passage of Charles V . into Italy t s character was introduced uff into the French theatre . Its novelty earned it the s rages of the public our Italian Captain was silenced and the Spanish i t Captain remained master of the battlefield . was his character to be boastful ; but he was destined in the end to ” ui receive a cudgelling from Harleq n .

In Italy and in France the Captains bear such Hispaniolised

: cl cl names as Capitano Sangre y Fuego , Capitano Cuerno

Corn az an el Escobombard on l Pa irotond a de , Capitano de la p , l el C e . apitano Rodomonte , Capitano Parafante The Germans in the seventeenth centur y also had their

Herribilicribri ax Captain , f , who was but a copy of the Milanese

Captain Spavento , the Castilian Matamoros , and the French

Capitaine Fracasse .

C - n In the sixteenth century the apitan Spezza Monti , k own

- in France under the name of Tranche Montague , closed his

his e eyes when fighting enemies , so as not to see their sever d

off limbs as he sliced them .

C his Petits Danseurs us allot, in , shows some of these Italian Captains of the sixteenth century among others is the Capitan

- ni Taglia Canto , dressed in tight garments , wearing an enor m ousl she d in cann on y plumed hat , and boots , adorned with

s uis lace on the in ide . His Captain Zerbino is disting hed by a triumphant panache and a mask adorned with spectacles . His C i Captain erimon a is represented with one leg advanced , and

his so h h his his hand on rapier , t at, entirely t rusting up cloak b hin n e d, the point of it menaces heave . He is extremely 148

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

S e ur cala ; but as the troup was ret ning to Italy, Isabella died

L - suddenly at yons Sorrow stricken and inconsolable , Francesco Andreini quitted the theatre with his son the l di atter , however , went back to it in the capacity of rector

An dreini in the following year . the elder never returned to

his the stage , nor concerned himself further with art save as

160 Le B a u e de a ano . 7 r v r l C it an author He produced , in , p

S avento p , which was translated into French under the title of

’ er du a ita ne E ou Andreini Braeach ies C p i l p eante . Francesco

was a member of the Societa degli Spensierati of Florence . Whilst a comedian in the troupe of Flaminio Scala he was the ’ f author of the preface of Scala s book , which contains some fi ty

scenaru Andreini di His son , Gian Battista , scharged the

e n u L r les of juve ile lovers nder the name of elio , as we shall see .

Andr eini Francesco died in 1624 .

Fornaris 1560 Fabrizio de , a gentleman of Naples , born in , was renowned for his comic spirit and his wit under the name

oc r ll of Capitan C od i o . He went to France with the troupe of

La Fiamm ella Con denti 1584 1585. the fi in and He caused ,

a pastoral play by Bartolomeo Rossi , to be performed by his 1 84 5 . comrades , and he published it in In the following year

s his own An elica he publi hed a comedy of , entitled g , which

ad n h been performed impromptu , scoring co siderable success ,

ula us o euse partic rly at the ho e of the Duke of J y , to whom it

Fornaris tu was dedicated . Fabrizio de re rned to Italy , and died there in 1637 1618 d In , the charlatan Mondor, born at Milan , who performe

his farces on the trestles of the Place Dauphine with his associate

mi Tabarinic Tabarin , played the les of Captain in certain

farces , under the name of Rodomonte , an anagram upon his 150 THE CAPTAIN

. r own name As all the world knows , it was Ariosto who fi st

t gave to the world the terrible Saracen Captain Rodomon e .

T RODOMON . Cavaliers , musketeers , bombards , canons , ! ! morions , corslets Hither, comrades I am Captain ur Rodomont , the bravery , the valo of all the world ; my sword

has been triumphant throughout the whole universe . B TA ARIN . It is true , by my faith ; there is none who can

- ply a two legged sword better than he . T n . ? RODOMON What are you doi g in this house , Tabarin ? What are you doing , coward I want to speak to you . ! ! Hither, coward Hither, pig I want to kill you ! Be dead 1

Mondor was a man of handsome presence , who expressed h imself extremely well , and who had received a good education , as may be judged from the lessons in science and philosophy which he delivered to his public in the form of dialogues with his lackey Tabarin .

In the Opuscules Tabarinigues is the fellowing passage

Mondor is a kind of wit and a man of some letters , capable l if he should wish it of a more honourable vocation . He is wel

ur his h bred and co teous , removing hat very gracefully and wit i a gentle smile when he returns a handkerch ef or a glove .

’ 1 Mondor s diction in the se perform ance s in Pa ris w as a n e xtra ord inary e F e c I a a a n d S a is c is nl ss e mixtur of r n h , t li n p n h , whi h it o y po ibl to appre cia te by a glimpse a t th e origin al R D ON T v lli re s m ous ue ta d re s a as a s O OM . Ca a e é ne , q , bomb rd , c no , s c or sele te s A ui v e illac o S on il Ca it an io R morion , q , p odo ’ la avur a la a e d e el d la m ia S a d a s e s re e monté , br , v lor todo mon o p t ndu d l s triomphante e toto univ e r o . “ ’ l s TAB ARIN . Il e st vr a ar m a i n a e n n e e y , p foy y p r o qui jou ’ l es é e e s ue mie ux d e p e a d ux j amb q luy . illa o R OD M ON T . ue s e n st a c asa a ue as v e c O Q fa to , Ta b rin Q f to 7 ? I o te e a blar . A v eilla con A ui oe r co I o te e qu ro qui , q , p qu ro a a e e s m oe rt o m t r, r 151 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Fedeli 162 1 In the troupe of the , which came to Paris in and

Andr ini 1624 di . . e mi again in under the rection of G B , the les of

Gavarini Captain were played by Girolamo , of Ferrara , known

no inoceronte C n in the theatre as Capita R ( aptain Rhi oceros) . Niccolo Barbieri (Beltrame) relates in his S upplica the death

hi di 2nd 1624 of t s come an on the October , and says that upon

- hi hi his body was found a very coarse hair s rt , w ch occasions i some surpr se , for whilst we were well aware that he was pious

to and devout , we had no suspicion that he went such lengths ” hi as t s . He adds that people should not risk inconsiderately di h to speak evil of come ans , remembering t at frequently there h are very onourable men in their ranks and , better still , even

Ardélion saints at times , such as Saint Genest , Saint , Saint ” Sylvain and San Giovanni Buono . Abraham Bosse performed the part of Matamoros from the

n r begin ing of the seventeenth centu y , armed to the teeth , in

- fittin hat slashed and tight g garments , and under a plumed of

r g ey felt , similar to that worn by Spavento .

CAPTAIN SPEZZAFER w e re at first the costume of a gentleman IV of the court of Henry a round , plumed hat , beard and ff moustachios , a heavy ru and doublet, and very wide breeches , 668 in keeping with the mode of the period . But in 1 he modified

the m shape of his costu e and his manner of wearing the sword, him very high up and suspended from a wide leather belt , gave

a certain similarity with Crispin of the French comedy . The

colours he affected, however, were very different . Whilst

C S ez zafer rispin is dressed from head to foot in black velvet, p 152

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE like simple mortals they are always tuned to a diapason far too high ever to permit them to descend to the necessities of existence .

ui s It is said, Harleq n tell him , that you do not wear a hi s rt .

That was once my custom , replies the Captain , because then , being of an extremely furious nature, when once I was hi enraged , the hair of my body , w ch was abundant , stood up ,

hi s piercing my s rt on every side , and putting so many hole in it that one might have taken it for a colander . But having become much more moderate since then , I now wear under clothing like any other fellow . After the departure of Harlequin Spezz afer approaches a shop .

SPEZZAFER . n Let Now here, opportu ely, is a linen shop . me see if they keep what I require . T c i A SEMPS RESS . Sir, we have very beautiful Dut h l nen and hi other t ngs . t unte SPEz z AEER (ta king up a shirt from he co r) . I shall be r A ide delighted to buy something f om you . ( s ) This girl is l Aloud hi pretty , wel made , and her eyes are blue . ( ) T s l shirt wou d do very well for me , but I think it is too small . E T hin I t TH SEMPS RESS . Too small ! you cannot t k that . is f three quarters and a hal long . EZZAEER SP . How much do you want for it T THE . SEMPS RESS It will cost you ten ducats , not to over charge you . AFER SPEZZ . Ten ducats ! T THE . . . SEMPS RESS Yes , sir I make only a livre on each sou

FER . SPEZZA . I will give you thirty sous ’ E T TH SEMPS RESS . Thirty sous ! It is easily seen you re s not used to wearing shirt . 154 THE CAPTAIN

SPEZZAEER f u . There There is a ducat , not to haggle rther .

Do not compel me to go elsewhere . THE T di SEMPS RESS . Oh , very well , take it then , on con tion that you will do me the honour to come again . This is the La Pucelle sign of .

In the middle of the eighteenth century the costume of the

Italian Captain resembles that of a soldier of the time . He

- wears a three cornered hat , long hair tied in a queue , and coat , hi waistcoat and breeches of military cut . The long sword w ch he carries pointing upwards gives him still a little of the air of his ancestors .

— — GiANGURGOLO which is to say Jack Glutton is the L Calabrian type of Captain . ike Matamoros he is passionately devoted to women ; but he is frightened of them ; he is di always afraid of scovering a man under the petticoat . Nevertheless he carries the great sword of the Captain and

L “ has adopted his soldierly gait . ike his primitive type he is mi boastful , a monstrous liar, ti d beyond all measure , and

wil moreover as famished as a savage . Yet he l go four days f without eating for fear of meeting with a rebuf , which would make it necessary for him to become angry and perhaps to

fi ht—in g other words , to be beaten . Thus he has recourse hi hi to theft to nourish mself , because he never has a fart ng . He prowls about the stalls of the macaroni merchants lif ting

his up great cardboard nose , he sniffs and nourishes himself l di upon the sme l of the e bles . If by good fortune he can put

his hand upon victuals , it is amusing to see the quantity 155 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

whose disappearance he can contrive . His stomach is a gulf .

shf But , for the sake of a few pounds of macaroni , a few di uls

salami of polenta , one or two , how much shame must he not

! un endure He is a compo d of Gargantua , Matamoros and

Pierrot . He is , moreover, foolish and vain and proclaims himself a Sicilian gentleman . The earth, he says , trembles ” h under me when I marc . him The members of the watch are a terror to . He has a guilty conscience , and at their approach , notwithstanding his

li his u ul titles , his nobi ty and redo btable arms , he co d gladly

- squeeze into a rat hole . When he is quite certain that he is dealing only with poor inoffensive people he causes himself to be served on a grand scale , and repays them by enraging fu his riously . If in the moment of fury a child to amuse itself ul him di sho d shout out behind , he will sappear so quickly and for so long that years may pass before he is seen again in the

country . He wears a long and pointed felt hat , a rapier, a

h his scarlet doublet whose sleeves , matc ing breeches , are of pale

FicOroni his e yellow striped with red . Francesco (in Dissertati de lareis scenicis et figuris cemicis) gives the reproduction of an hi ancient mime engraved upon onyx , w ch very much resembles

ian r olo G u . g g in headdress , long nose and ungainly posture

IL Y FF A O , or Smargiasso (fanfaron) , is a Neapolitan type, representing the spadassin of the end of the eighteenth century .

He is a great brawler, an excessive boaster, and above all an incredible poltroon , like the other varieties of the Captain .

- - - He wears an ample square cut riding coat, a three cornered 156

COLUMBINE

IN Mostellaria Philem atium the of Plautus , , a musician , has for

- waiting woman a certain Scapha , who converses with her in terms very similar to those in which Diamantine converses wi l with Aurelia , or Columbine th Isabel a . In the following scene we are permitted to be present at the toilet of a woman of antiquity .

T M hi PHI LEMA I U . w See , I beg you, Scaphe, whether t s go n Philolaches suits me . For it is my aim to please , who is at once my lover and my master .

SCAPHA . Why do you not seek to acquire provoking ways , since in yourself you are entirely lovely Lovers do not care ’ s for a woman gowns , but for what they contain .

PHI LEMATI UM. And now what do you say ni h ? SCAPHA . Concer ng w at M L PHI LEMATI U . ook at me closely and you will agree that this gown improves my beauty . r SCAPHA . The force of you beauty is greater and carries more influence than your raiment . All that you put on borrows grace and value from yourself . M LEMATI U . PHI I do not want you to flatter me . r SCAPHA . If I dared, my dear mist ess , I should say that you r t are very foolish , since you prefer to be w ongly criticised ra her than to be justly praised . Strange taste ! As for myself by Pollux ! I would rather receive praise which I do not ul hi deserve than reproaches for fa ts of w ch I am aware . M PHI LEMATIU . I detest people who seek to please me by falsehood . If you find me wanting in anything , have the goodness to correct me . 159 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

SCAPHA . I certainly think that you act grossly against your Philolaches interests when you give yourself entirely to . You him m count upon none but ; you are so sub issive, com plaisant and obedient to this young man that all other lovers count for nothing with you ; it does not become a courtesan to have but one intrigue ; she should leave that to ladies of hi gh degree . EMA M PHI L TI U . Since my dear lover has delivered me from shameful bondage I do no more than my duty in showing him a hundred times more tenderness than when I flattered him to obtain what he has done for me . him s SCAPHA . In that case consider as a hu band in conscience and in honour as well as in tenderness and , upon that footing, 1 allow your hair to grow like that of a married woman .

PHI LEMATI UM. dr See whether my head ess is well arranged . e Give me my whit .

SCAPHA . What for ? M M PHI LE ATrU . i To rub it into my checks to beaut fy me . k SCAPHA . It is li e whitening ivory with soot . M PHI LEMATI U . ur u u Give me also my rouge (p p rism m ) .

SCAPHA . With these colours you are about to spoil the r Confi ne r most beautiful work of natu e . you self to the

ur hi - bright tints of yo youth . You require no w te lead nor rouge of Melos nor any other sort of plaster . M PHI LEMATI U . Do you not think that I should do well to rub myself with scent , and to perfume myself ! s SCAPHA . Beware of doing it A woman smell best when hi she smells of not ng , for what can be thought of those women f m who per u e themselves , and proclaim themselves by their e scents They are treat d as toothless hags , who seek to fu disguise themselves under paint and per me .

E M . PHI L MATIU . Consider well my long robe and my jewels Do you fin d me well adorned ? Does everything suit me

1 C e sa s did a e a so a e i ourt n not llow th ir h ir to grow, th t th y m ght h k se e e dress in male a ttir e whe n t e fan c y too the m . But tho who w r faithful to the ir lov ers re taine d long ha ir as a sign of th e proprie ty of the ir conduct . 160

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

In 1530 we find waiting- women in the troupe of the I ntrona ti

Colum bina Pas uella under the names of , Oliva , Fiametta , q , l Ncepola and Spinetta . But the most famous actress in this ine was Silvia Roncagli , born at Bergamo , who , under the name

hi Gelosi of Francesc na , went to France in the troupe of the in wi 1578 . She returned to Italy th that company and played in Florence the reles of waiting- woman to Isabella (Isabella

Andr eini ) . She spoke French perfectly , and at times per

ted mit herself entirely French improvisations . The soubrette

F del hi e i . . in the troupe of the , w ch went to Paris with G B

And r eini ll e i , sti bore the name of Franc sch na .

wi The fe of Tabarin , who improvised on the trestles of the

’ hi de e e toile nem u rr . L E Place Daup ne , assumed also the same g claims that she was Italian he is certainly confusing her with

Silvia Roncagli . Her real name was Anne Begot , and her

o reputation was much better than was supp sed , for the stupid people of Paris took the farces and the follies which she ll uttered litera y as being expressions of herself .

mi 1635 k Patricia Ada , born at Rome in , was nown under T the name of DIAMAN INA . She played first in Italy and later 1600 mi in France . In , after the decease of her husband, Ada , di di a come an who ed young , she made her first appearance in

Paris , and her versatile talents caused the public very quickly 1653 to forget the actress who had preceded her in , summoned

di a to France by Car nal Mazarin . Of the latter no more th n

- his her theatre name of Beatrix is known , and t from the quatrain of Foret 162 COLUMBINE

Ma s en a e les e e s i pour ch nt r or ill , Pri e e e a e e e e s m r, pl ur r, f ir m rv ill , Ma de moise lle B éa trix

E - l l a cc a e . mport , jour , prix

Patricia Adami was of slight stature and rather brown of

n e ski , but extremely pretty , and of a gr at vivacity on the

. L stage Agostino olli , who played the parts of Doctor, fell

in love with her and they were married . She continued her successes and persevered in her employment until a youn ger — star rose to eclipse her that is to say, until the debut of

Biancolelli um 1683 Caterina (Col bine) . In , Diamantina , having

grown old , withdrew altogether from the theatre .

The type of soubrette remains always the same . From the

days of Plautus to those of Gherardi , and from those of Gherardi

down to our own , it has undergone but little variation ; but the soubrette became personified in the character of COLUM

B Biancolelli INE by Teresa , Caterina and the second Teresa — grandmother, granddaughter and great granddaughter . The most remarkable of the three by her versatile ta lent and

Biancolelli h her numerous creation is Caterina , daug ter of the

ni L Thorilliere famous Dome co , and wife of Pierre enoir de la ,

’ o r s ui s a pupil of M lié e and a disting shed actor in hi company .

She is sometimes soubrette, sometimes mistress, advocate , dancer, singer and swaggering gallant . It is said of her that

rOles she filled with equal ease all , and that she spoke fluently several languages , dialects and jargons . She appears to have

- been a very well educated woman of real talent . She was 163 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

un small and br ette , but of a very comely countenance . She

fin e had more than beauty she had physiognomy , a air , easy ” gestur e and a sweet and pleasant voice . Born in 1665 of

Giuseppe - Domenico Biancolelli and Ursula Cortez e (known

Eularia in the theatre under the name of ) , she took the surname

Colum bina hi of , a surname w ch had been in vogue in the theatre since 1560 ; her paternal grandmother had already din borne it and had been painted in walking costume, hol g a basket containing two doves (colombes) in allusion to this her stage name . This portrait was preserved in the house

i . inhabited by Domenico in the village of B evre , near Paris 11th 1863 Caterina made her début on the October , in

le u no P t Ar g i ro ée . She came on and in Italian addressed her father who was playing Harlequin I was told that your hi u lords p desired to speak with me . But what a droll fig re

’ - is your lordship s You have the air of a turkey cock . ? How Of a turkey - cock replied Harlequin ; I

- — am the chief comedian of a troupe of turkey cocks I di mean of a troupe of come ans . But I sent for you because

I know that you have great talent for comedy , and I am going

to give you a rOle in The Burning of Troy I will represent

the horse , you shall represent the fire, etc . Columbine

hi a rejects the piece , w ch , she s ys , would end in smoke and hurt

horce is the eyes of the spectators . C made of The Loves of

Titus a nd Be n c re ice . Columbine announ es that she is going

imberenice imberenicciarm i to herself ( ) , and Harlequin goes

off titusine hi intitusinarm i to mself ( ) . f She scored a great success , and rom the moment of her début she gave a free rein to her wit and audacity

rovisation p . As soubrette to Isabella she remonstrates with 164

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

’ I think— God forgive me -that you retrench your wife s ” expenditure in dress .

C On the subject of coquetry , olumbine thus admonishes Isabella

us Things m t never be allowed to go to extremes . But I assure you that a little pinch of coquetry scattered through the manners of a woman , renders her a hundred times more

lovable and desirable . I but repeat the words of my mother,

- nf i who was a marvellously well i ormed woman on th s subject . I have heard her say a hundr ed times that it is with coquetry as with vinegar when too much is put into the sauce it becomes sharp and detestable when it contains too little it is so faint as not to be tasted ; but when you achieve that mediocrity which arouses appetite , it will induce you to eat your very fingers . It is the same with woman . When she ! is coquettish at the expense of her honour , fie , fie that is not worth a devil . When she is not coquettish at all, that is still worse ; her virtue seems conf ounded with her tempera ul ment , and you wo d suppose her merely a lethargic beauty . But when a beautiful woman has just so much sparkle as is required to please , faith , if I were a man , that should tell with me .

In Le Banqueroutier to prove to Isabella that her heart f hi is more tender than she cares to con ess , t s is what she imagines

B COLUM INE . Bring me a mantle , a scarf , a wig and a hat ’ w belonging to mademoiselle s brother . I ill beguile our of ' these leisure by counterfeiting one sighing lovers . 166 COLUMBINE

ISABELLA; But what shall I call you ? B e COLUM INE . You shall call me Ch valier . And be on l ? your guard , for, faith , I shal press you closely . You laugh Had God but made a man of me I should have been a dangerous he oes out to return dressed as a man . S . ! rogue ( g , ) Faith l mademoise le , it is not without trouble that one penetrates w ere to your apartments . If your brutal porter but laced breeches he would be taken for a Swiss . Do you know that

I have spent literally two hours at your door, and that this rascal would not have consented to open if it had not occurred to me to tell him that I am a relative of yours ? Count me a rascal if I do not speak the truth . By the way , have I told you that I love you ? B ISA ELLA . That statement has not yet reached me . B COLUM INE . We men of feeling are sometimes so inattentive that it is necessary to guess our meaning . I find you most mi touchingly blosso ng . B s ISA ELLA . Fie ! Chevalier, you mu t not look at me . d I am not personable to ay . These last two nights I have l n been so i l that I have not closed an eye . You will u der stand that one may not be beautiful after such a defeat to ’ one s health .

B . COLUM INE You have , perdition catch me , more health l than I have need of . My only fear is lest your il ness should L be of the heart . ovable as you are it is not possible that you

ul . Sho d not bear some passion in your soul Should it be so , conceal it from me , for I would sooner that five hundred devils Should seize me than B C ! ISA ELLA . How , hevalier Are you jealous B AS ! COLUM INE . the devil My beautiful , will you compel L ? me to Sigh for ever When will you sup with me , chez amy i B . ISA ELLA Cheval er ! You are wanting in respect . A lady of my quality in a tavern ! Little by little Columbine becomes impassioned and plays r61e so well her of a lover that Isabella sighs Alas , Colum bine what a pity that you are not a boy hi Columbine is frank , and calls all t ngs by their proper name . 167 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

But if at times her mistress does not listen to her She pretends that She desires to quit her service knowing full well that this mi will never be per tted . B hr COLUM INE . If you were to give me t ee times my present i wages , I would not rema n another quarter of an hour in your hi ul service . You may t nk that I am r ed by money . I love all my reputation , mademoiselle , and that is that matters . B ISA ELLA . I do not think , Columbine , that your reputation has run any risks with me . B COLUM INE . All that is very well , but I am going to leave you . B ISA ELLA . How ! without telling me the reason ? B COLUM INE . I leave you because my heart is in the right li place, and I am dying of Shame to see how ttle progress you ni have made in six months . From mor ng to night I wear myself out body and soul to teach you that beauty un adorned makes no dupes , and that a marriageable girl must adapt her e S he self to all sorts of r les if is to succeed . Instead of profiting by my lessons you remain tranquilly confident of your charms fin e and you leave the care of your fortune to your star . A way that to go about getting a husband !

B . . ISA ELLA You are wrong to scold me , Columbine Since you have been with me I have been no more than the echo of your remonstrances , and in company I never Speak save hi on the lines w ch you have indicated to me . B fin e COLUM INE . You go about it in a way Virtue of my f li e ! When marriage is the aim , more artifice is necessary . I have told you a hundr ed times to assume a severe and haughty air with those who seek you in marriage . Man is an e l animal that desires to be mast red . He attaches himse f only uls him to those who rep e . From the moment that you seem gentle and complaisant any fatuous suitor may suppose your his heart to be garrotted by charms . But when you treat him diff with in erence , you will see him supple , arduous , ri attentive , Spa ng no pains or expense to succeed in pleasing you . B ISA ELLA . It seems , then , that I am still a novice , for I had 168

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

hi think marriage is agreeable . A fine t ng to have a husband who is always grumbling ! A fine thing to have the care of servants ! A fine thing to suff er the inconvenience of preg nancy That alone were sufficient to make me renounce marriage for ever . You are not fit for marriage . It is not a ’ child s game . B m COLUM INE . And I tell you that I a as fit for marriage as you are . And although I may be wrong , if I were married at die once I am sure I should not of it . B hi r to ISA ELLA . Really ! I t nk I am ve y patient to listen all these expressions of your petty humour ! There is no one so bereft of sense as to desire to take charge of you . B Eh COLUM INE . la , la , it is not such a heavy charge , and L everybody is not afraid of it . ess than a week ago , in a di shop at the Palais , a gentleman of con tion told me how much he liked me , and how glad he would be to marry me . did 3‘ ISABELLA . And what you answer him B him r un COLUM INE . I told that I was still ve y yo g for that , but that next year ’ B ISA ELLA . You will be older and more foolish . Can t you see that he was mocking you , and that you are becoming ridiculous You ought to die of Shame . T i enter n . ! PIERRO ( g) How now, mesdemoiselles What a in n noise you are mak g . You seem to be flatteri g one another after the fashion of cat and dog . B COLUM INE . Pierrot , it is my sister who is angry . She ul wo d have no husbands but for herself . T PIERRO . The glutton ! B COLUM INE . My poor Pierrot . You who are so beautiful , tell me is it necessary that I should be a spinster all my life T l . ! L PIERRO Impossible ook now , gir s Should be married ’ when they are young ; youth is game that won t keep . B ISA ELLA . But then , is it just that I should resign my rights to a younger Sister T to Columbine PIERRO ( ) . It is true that so far you are but r an emb yo , and I have seen larger ones in bottles . B but COLUM INE . I admit, Pierrot , that I am still small , 170 COLUMBINE

B ISA ELLA . Silence ! There is no enduring your imper inences t . . I will leave you t um Af er the exit of Isabella , Col bine entrusts Pierrot with l the de ivery of a letter to the gentlem”an whom she met at the She Palais . Since I know how to write , says , why Should I not write ui l Q te so rep ies Pierrot , and he departs with the love i ur hi letter , excla ming A fine thing nat e It t nks of marriage whilst in the Shell Some scenes later Pierrot brings the reply from this gentle oi di man con tion whom Columbine already loves , and who is ui none other than Harleq n . B COLUM INE . Well , my poor Pierrot , did you bear my letter to this V iscount ? T t PIERRO . I did, and he sends you a little note in re urn . B e COLUM INE (snatching th letter from him) . Give it me ui q ckly .

T - PIERRO . Peste ! How Sharp set you are upon the quarry B a n L COLUM INE (re di g) . ove is like an itch ; there is no concealing it . Wherefore may the plague catch me if I do

- — T F TT G . not come and see you to day . VISCOUN O BER AMO E T r PIERRO . Now there is a man who w ites tenderly . B COLUM INE . He loves me, for he says so , and I hope that we Shall soon be married .

ui It is always Harleq n who is , will be, or has been the lover or the husband of Columbine . But Harlequin is not set upon ul being faithf . He courts other women, and goes even so mi l far as to introduce one into the conjugal do ci e , pretending hi s mself a bachelor . But his duplicity is di covered , and

n An eli ue Columbine comes to an understandi g with g q , her l rival , and they both avenge themselves by cudgel ing the

- r too pe fidious Harlequin .

Sometimes Harlequin has abandoned her in Venice, to go to seek his fortune in Paris under the dr ess and style of the 171 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Sbruffad elli him Marquis . Columbine pursues with her

i u ri vengeance, and assumes all manner of d sg ises to f ghten

him S he us , for she has given out that is dead, thereby ca ing ui great joy to Harleq n , who is in haste to marry Isabella .

Columbine unites herself with Pasquariello , and they vie with each other as to which shall play the more tricks upon the

n ungrateful Harlequi . First she comes as a Spaniard, address ing Harlequin in Castilian he does not understand a word of

She his hi f it, and interprets what says in own fas on A ter

him r She : Per de putting in a age , discloses herself, crying fi

’ ’ traditore m aorai ne li occhi se non m hai nel cuore I , g , (Per

fidious traitor, you shall have me in your Sight if not in your ui heart) . Harleq n , terrified , cries for help . She runs away to

a return as a soubrette and enter the service of her rival , Is bella ,

There Harlequin attempts to flirt with her, and implores her to come and mend and starch the only three shirts that di him he possesses . Columbine , preten ng not to know , speaks

’ him of Harle uin di to q , allu ng to him as a wretch, a villain ,

- who caused the death of a certain heart broken Columbine .

a vi In truth , says Harlequin , there are gre t llains in the

‘ world ! But is She really dead 2

Alas , it is but too true , she replies . Whereupon Harlequin makes philosophy upon love and death

Columbine interrupts him by revealing herself Perfide

’ ’ traditore m aerai ne li ecchi se non m ka i nel cuore i , g , Th s thr eat comes up again and again ; it is the dr op of water

hi . w ch , falling incessantly upon the rock , ends by piercing it She reappears as a girl from Gascony and Speaks its dialect

n She agai as a Moorish girl , in which character dances and u pulls the beard of Harlequin . She t rns up as a master of 172

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

1716 In , Margherita Rusca went to Paris as a member of ’ li the Regent s Ita an Company . Wife of the famous Harlequin Antonio Vicentin i (Thomassin) she played the parts of waiting

ds TT mai under the name of VIOLE E . She was born at Bologna 1691 di 28th 1 1 73 . in , and ed on the February , in Paris Violette’s character is practically the same as that of

’ L i mi Columbine . ike Columb ne she is Harlequin s stress , but

e in point of malice she returns him as good as h gives .

TT ui VIOLE E . Good morning , my dear Harleq n . What sort of a night have you had 2‘

HARLEQUIN . I do not know , for I was asleep , and therefore hi 7 can tell you not ng about it . And you ! TT ’ VIOLE E . Oh , as for me , I don t know whether I slept , for I did ’ but dream all night, and when you dream you don t know what you are doing . 2 HARLEQUIN . And you dreamed of me, no doubt TT VIOLE E . No , I dreamed of that great baker lad who was your rival in Rome . did hi HARLEQUIN . Traitress And what you dream touc ng this baker boy 2 TT him VIOLE E . I dreamed that I received a letter from in mi L hi t . yons , in w ch he pro sed to come ins antly to Paris ’ ! r HARLEQUIN . Fie I don t like it at all . Such d eams are ' cornutz .

In the eighteenth centur y we find the soubrettes taking the

Zerbinette Genevotte names of , Olivette , Tontine , Mariotte , ,

Babet Finebrette , Farinette , Perette , , Fiametta , Giannina ,

h cchin a di C C e . Catte , hitta , , Smeral na, etc Amongst the principal actresses performing these parts in the Italian 174 COLUMBINE

comedy in Paris was Hippolyte de la Tude , known by the name

ea - of Clairon , who made her début at the Th tre Italien on the

’

8th 1736 r61e L I sle des Esclaves. January , in the soubrette in Of the début she speaks herself in the following terms

I was taken to the house of my benefactress , where

di - Deshayes , an actor of the Comé e Italienne, gave me a hearing . He was so pleased With me that he presented me to all his

associates . I was admitted to this theatre , and I was given

a a part to study . Permission for my début was obt ined , and

finally ' I made my appearance on the stage before I had

reached the age of twelve . The applause which I received reconciled my mother to

the career which I had chosen . I was given preceptors in

s writing , dancing , mu ic and the Italian language my industry ,

r my ardou and my memory amazed my teachers . I devoured hi everything ; I retained everyt ng . But my excessive youth ,

my short stature , the lack of protection , and the fear enter tained by the famous Thomassin lest my talent should be

his hurtful to daughters , who were not yet established, com

elled the n p me at end of a year to seek my fortu e elsewhere . I was engaged in the company of Rouen to perform all the parts t suitable to my years , and to sing and dance . I was inten i upon play ng comedy and nothing else mattered to me .

6th 1744 On the May , Anna Veronese, having adopted the

fir stage name of CORALINE , made her st appearance as a

soubrette . She was born in Venice , and was a daughter of 175 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Pantalo Carlo Veronese ( on) . Both made their debut in the

’ ’ Le Double Maria e d A le u n r z . same piece, g q The father was

- about forty two years of age , and the daughter hardly

e fourt en ; they gave the greatest possible satisfaction , and k both were equally well applauded . The talents , li e the

beauty of Coraline , increased from day to day , and she was

in long without a rival the theatre .

Marm ontel i Jean ~Ja c ues Her gifts inspired , wh lst q Rousseau has the following to say of her in his Confessions

( 1743 - 1744)

None would suspect that it is to me that lovers of

r ll the theatre in Pa is owe Coraline and her sister Cami e . u Yet , nothing could be more tr e . Veronese , their father,

his hi was engaged , together with c ldren , for the Italian f troupe and, a ter having received two thousand francs for the

e journey , inst ad of setting out, he remained coolly in Venice , at the theatre of San Luca (or possibly it may have been San hi Samuele , for proper names elude me) . T ther Coraline, no hi more than a c ld at the time , was drawing a large number

le of people . M . duc de Gesvres , as first gentleman of the

r i chamber , w ote to the ambassador, claim ng the persons of

n father and daughter . M . de Montaigu , in givi g me the

e L lett r , gave me no instructions beyond saying , ook at

’ that .

le him I repaired to M . Blond to beg to speak to the L patrician who owned the theatre of San uca , and whose name ,

hi Zustiniani he dis I t nk , was , to the end that might miss V eronese, who was engaged for the service of the King of

e Le diff Franc . Blond performed the commission in erently, 176

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

ar e fatuous , ridiculous and bad , and that they never know S a word of their parts ; Harlequin is cold , capin has but one scene and some grimaces ; the women inspire horror

with the exception of Coraline , who has the graces of youth di and of beauty and some Spirit, but who , notwithstan ng

has that , is of no intelligence , and the bad habit of giggling when she is on the stage . Sylvia is old, and Deshayes

r - ext emely mediocre . None the less theirs is to day the best ? frequented spectacle . What can one say to it Although the French comedians have fallen low , and are impossible in

r tragedy , they are at least endu able in comedy by comparison h wit the Italians and to say this is to say much, for they are worth very little .

thstandin Nothwi g the judgment of Collé , the vogue of C oraline was enormous , and we are compelledWto think that she had more than youth and beauty, since a hole series of plays w as written specially for her . A great number of pieces appeared one after the other, bearing such titles as

' line Ma ieienne Coraline Jardim ére Cora line Protectrice Cora g , ,

’ ’ e Cor a line Fee Coraline I ntri ante Coraline de l I nnoeenc , , g ,

E r it Follet Les Folies de Cora line Arle uin- Com line sp , , q ,

’ ’ ’ ' oir d Arle uzn et de Cora line . L Heureux Desesp g , etc 1750 Anna Veronese left France probably in , for, under the

name of Coralina , she was playing in the comedies of Carlo

1751 1752 . Goldoni at Venice in the years and Camille , who had been for several years playing the same parts , quitted i the company and entered that of Sacch , in which she shone until 1769 in the improvised fairy spectacles of Carlo

Gozzi . 178 COLUMBINE

It will be seen that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the type of soubrette , daring in her language and fi in her actions , is to be confused and identi ed with that of

- hi the waiting woman of Moliere and his successors . T s type

- retains to day in Italy nothing peculiarly its own .

The frank speech and the free ways of the woman of the people were personified in Naples in the character of LA

GUAI AS SA , a type speaking and acting like the matronly women

n of that class and country . She was compou ded of triviality and a certain natural wit which reminds us of the chatterings h of the ancient Citeria of the Latin farces . But the c ief

characteristic of La Guaiassa was a real and great goodness

of heart under a gross exterior ; ignoring everything that is

micolo beyond the narrow horizon of her alley ( ) , and never

ur having jo neyed beyond the neighbouring street, hers was i o the good sense of honesty . Th s r le was played in the first hi t rty years of the nineteenth century by a celebrated woman , who captured the hearts of the Neapolitan public fully as d mi much as di Pulcinella . She expressed herself ad rably in

di s the alect of the Neapolitan streets . Though hand ome,

r her countenance lent itself ma vellously well to her role . She

was a Roman , and off the stage spoke the purest Italian . The news of her death in the fif ties carried with it a sense of

loss to the entire kingdom of Naples . The unlimited licence allowed to the Italian soubrette and to La Guaiassa was never fully admitted in the French theatre not even in the days when the public taste itself was least 179 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

l refined and its ears least prudish . Mo iere and Gherardi are

a contemporaries , but it is e sily seen how much the Columbine udi of the latter exceeds in cr ty the Dorine of the former . It is not only to the superiority of the talent of Moliere that hi we must attribute his inferior audacity the same public w ch, in the same theatre, on alternate days attended the perform

o a ul an es of the It lians and the French , wo d never have tolerated in the French Company the same freedom of speech which they permitted to the Italians . hi T s is the more remarkable because , by a singular but verified anomaly , the morals of the Italian actresses , singers and dancers have always been superior to those of the French,

’ ui d Ar ens and their domestic conduct better . The Marq s g , in his very philosophical—as the word was understood in his — day letters , gives the following certificate of good conduct to the Italian actresses

There is a greater difference between the characters of the Italian and French comédiennes than there is between our

E c di re opera and theirs . du ation, preju ce, custom and m uneration are the four things which produce the difference existing between the morals and the habits of life of the two . It has been one of our affectations to cast ignominy and infamy upon those who by their talents render our country

r illustrious . The Italians are very far f om having any such f ridiculous prejudices . True lovers of art , they are care ul

Senesini a not to wither those who produce it . , Scal i and Farfalini are beloved and cherished in Rome ; not only are they not considered unworthy of burial , but , when one is h compelled to render them the last onours , to the sorrow of 180

PIERROT

THERE was in the sixteenth century , in Bologna , a sort of

ul - s improviser, or pop ar poet , named Giulio Ce are Croce who sang in the public places to the accompaniment of stringed hi instruments , w ch caused him to be given the surname of

la Li u his Del ra . The b rden of songs was a lament on the life and adventures of a fictitious personage named Bertoldo . Perceiving that the crowd listened attentively and took

his ur pleasure in b lesque epic, he conceived the notion to f print his songs in prose and to o fer them for sale . The public snatched at these books with enthusiasm, a circum stance which led to his incr easing the Life of Bertold o and

' i Bertold zno e add ng that of his son , which latter njoyed no less success than the former . C 1550 roce was born in in the Bolognese village of Persiceto .

his w At the age of seven he lost father, and went to live ith an

- e uncle , a farrier at Castel Franco . After having been admitt d

his as a master of trade of blacksmith , he settled in Bologna, i was twice married, and became the father of fourteen ch ldren . It was there that the spirit of improvisation seized him

' him his and brought great reputation . The Cava liem of

him ensmn in Bologna paid a p his old age, and he died in 1609 .

' Cr Della Lefra Some years after the death of oce , Camillo

Della Frata d Scaligero compose a third volume , containing 183 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

Li e o Cacasenno hi the f f , the son of Bertoldino . T s series enjoyed such a success in Italy that it ran into a large number

of editions , and at the end of the seventeenth century the C l Bolognese painter, J . M . respi , i lustrated various passages of these popular ballads ; these were engraved by Lodovico t u di Ma tioli , and , instead of iss ing a new e tion of the romance

ms in prose , several wits shared among the elves the labour of

- composing a poem in twenty cantos . Twenty six authors , all

L ds cc - of them Bolognese , Ferrarese or ombar , operated in

hi in ua to . r t s task The result was a superb volume q , adorned

r n u with pictu es and accompa ied by notes , arg ments and

s allegories , with Tu can and Bolognese texts and a Bolognese

his 1 6 vocabulary . T work appeared first in 73 and then in ” 40 is 17 L V . , publ hed by elio della olpe , At the Sign of the Fox hi 1747 V i A t rd edition appeared in in en ce , printed in Bolognese hi and in Venetian . Such was the vogue of t s little poem that it was translated into modern Greek and enjoyed the greatest hi ff success in Greece and in Turkey . The fame of t s bu oon creation has not yet ceased to this day in Italy all who can

’ La Vita dz Bertoldo r read have read , and nu ses relate it to

r t n their nurslings . Be toldo is bet er k own in Italy than Blue l beard or Tom Thumb e sewhere . In general the principal

s La Vita feature , sallies , retorts , witticisms or episodes of dxi Bertoldo are so celebrated that they have become pro ” r ial Marcolfa v e b . , like the peace of

’ Marcolfa Bertold o s was wife, a good woman, who , after li quarrel ng during the day with her husband , made the peace

him hi - with in the evening , and she found t s peace making so ul pleasant that, so as to provide occasion for it, she wo d

frequently set up little disputes . 184

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

king was enthroned . There were some other seats , placed his s below and destined for the greater of lord , who , never theless ull di , remained respectf y stan ng . Bertoldo sat down n without ceremony . Some courtiers , observi g the imper tinence his un of the peasant , and grotesque co tenance, admonished him that it was indecent to sit in the presence of

the king . o wn Why so 2 demanded Bert ldo . I sit do in church in the presence of God But do you not know that the king is a personage elevated above all others hi cook our Per Bacco , he is not as gh as the on village ’ i d o steeple, wh ch even tells us what the weather is going to . ki These words are reported to the ng , who then questions Bertoldo s Who are you 2 he demand . ’ A man . When did you come into the world ?

When it pleased the good God to send me , and my

parents to bring me into it , for it is a matter with which I ’ was not concerned . What is your country ’ The world . m l ’ These replies sti u ated the good king s curiosity . ’ ‘ ? What, he asked, is the fleetest thing in all the world ’ Thought . Which is the best w ine hi ’ That w ch is drunk in your neighbour s house, for it hi ’ costs not ng . ’

ki . The ng s fool was named Fagotto He became extremely . jealous of the friendship which the king began to show Bertoldo di hi and of the cre t w ch the latter began to enjoy at court . hims him hi in He had the audacity to pit elf against , t nk g to Wit sur pass him in . ’ How, quoth the fool, would you set about carrying water in a sieve ’ I should wait until it was frozen . 186 PIERROT

How would you catch a hare without running ul u ’ I sho d wait ntil it was on the spit . Fagotto set him no riddle which he could not answer on the spot . In the heat of the dispute Bertoldo desired to spit . in He begged permission of the k g . li ’ I grant it wil ngly, said the king , but choose a place ’ hin in my palace where there will be not g to spoil . hi Bertoldo , after having sought aw le, spat upon Fagotto . Alboin the Debonnaire conceived a friendship for did Bertoldo , perhaps because the latter not conceal the truth him him di from , and set about inducing by facts to contra ct hi the t ngs he had said the day before . f Bertoldo , to af ord the king a proof of the inconsequence, the indiscretion and the inquisitiveness of the fair sex whispered in the ear of a woman of the town that the king had di pronounced a decree accor ng seven wives to every husband .

The revolted sex came in a crowd , shouting, screaming and n insulti g the King Alboin , to demand the revocation of his in absurd decree . The k g had a great deal of trouble to make s f f him el heard, but he contrived it in the end , and in ormed them that they had been misinformed . On another occasion the ladies of the court claimed the exercise of political rights .

Bertoldo gave them a box inclosing a bird , with the pro

on ll n - hibiti to open it within the fo owi g twenty four hours . l Two hours later the bird had taken f ight . Thus Alboin proved to them that their in quisitiveness and their disobedience ff L excluded them from a airs of state . But the ombard ha d t monarch a proud and haugh y wife , who determined to avenge herself upon Bertoldo . Bertoldo was summoned to the presence of the queen ult m and , after ins s and blows ad inistered by the ladies of the us hi court , he was thr t into a great sack , w ch was tied at the hi ft neck , and in w ch he was le , the intention being to throw n him into the river that ight . A guard was set to watch him . The unf ortunate Bertoldo ransacked his mind for a way out a hi of the worst p ss in which he had ever found mself . He persuaded the guard that he was thus imprisoned for 187 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

ul very singular reasons , and that he wo d explain them if the l him his fellow wou d untie the sack , and permit to whisper in car him the truth of the matter . The guard believed and permitted him to put his head out of the sack . Bertoldo him then told that he was a great nobleman , that it was desired to compel him to marry a lady who was rich and beautiful , but of suspected chastity ; that he preferred to drown sooner than make such a marriage, and that he had been imprisoned by way of compulsion that in the evening him they would come again to seek to drive into this marriage , ul but that he wo d prefer to drown . The guard answered him that he was a fool , and offered to take his place and marry the damsel . Bertoldo got out of th”e sack , tied up the guard in it and departed from the palace .

This farce of the sack has since been transported into many

scenarii e Les Four Italian and French farces , and Moli re , in

' ben es de S capin has written round it a whole scene in the a It lian manner .

o Bert ldo was recaptured and taken back to the palace . ’ The queen obtained her complacent monarch s consent that i her enemy should be hanged, and the king announced th s his to dear Bertoldo, excusing himself by the fact that he l t i was compel ed to the s ep so as to be agreeable to his w fe . ’ a ur Sir, said Bertoldo , I underst nd yo reasons . It is necessary that the little should suff er for the caprices of the ur : great . But , since I am to hang , I ask a favo It is that I myself shall have the choice of the tree ; for after all if a hi ’ man is hanged to s own taste he is in part consoled . The ‘ king consented . him Bertoldo found fault with every tree proposed to , hi hi and discovered none that suited him . T s one was too gh, that one too low . The branches of this one were too weak, e the branches of that one too strong . The leaves of a cypr ss were of too sombre a green, and those of a lime too bright . 188

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

him Marcolfa di had rendered , brought and Bertol no to court . He had them properly dressed and presented them with a c r little farm at the gates of Verona , adding to the gift a ofl e fil led with gold pieces . Near the farm there was a pond in which the frogs made i Berta nana a noise such as Bertold no had never heard in g .

He conceived a desire to silence them , and looked round for hr something to t ow at them so as to scare or kill them . He f n came upon the cof er, took the gold pieces , and flu g them into ' l the pond at the aggravating beasts . Some few were kil ed , but the others croaked more loudly than ever . Thus he him Marcolfa flung away all the gold that had been given to . , him perceiving what was done , reproached bitterly , saying , amongst other things, that if men were to be silenced with money , such was not the case with frogs . hi Bertoldino , reasoning from t s that animals preferred to be fed rather than paid , took all the provisions of the house e and flung them into the pond . Fr sh remonstrances from Marcolfa Since we have no more flour we shall be forced to eat the chickens , and we have but few hens , and they can ’ n o ly hatch a few eggs at a time . L ’ di eave it to me , said Bertol no . I am bigger than a ’ hen , I shall be able to hatch more . And driving away all the hens from their eggs , he gathered the lot into a heap , sat upon it, and reduced it to a horrible omelette . ni Although admonished and sermo sed by the king , who perceived that the son was as stupid as the father had been

mi . shrewd , Bertoldino continued to com t folly upon folly fli He whipped himself with nettles to drive away the es . Wishing to hinder a hawk from taking little birds from a nest he tied them all together ; as a consequence the bird of prey , i i wh ch had been tak ng but one every now and then , carried ff ur o the lot at once . Having seen at co t some little pug dogs r whose ears had been clipped to improve thei appearance, he his cut the ears of donkey , and paraded it with ostentation , mi hi that it might be ad red . T s last deed was the cause of his his Marcolfa being sent back to village . followed him thither, 190 PIERROT

r di e and they lived there very happily . Be tol no marri d a Men hina peasant girl named g , who bore him Cacasenno , the hi third hero of t s history . Alboin the Debonnaire , curious to know whether the grandfather’s wit might not have skipped

a generation , summoned Cacasenno to court with the good Marco fa ds l . But the gran on was no greater success than his father . He was lazy and greedy , and all that is related of him ul turns upon these two fa ts . His last feat , and that which hi brings the epic to a close , was his eating a plate of glue w ch i he mistook for broth . He d ed of it , or was reduced to the point of death .

There is nothin g surprisin g in the success scored by this

his Wit hi s i peasant Bertoldo , who , solely by and na ve simple

his ur a sense, makes fortune at the co t of a gre t king , soars

all i ul h above the rid c e w ich it is sought to heap upon him , issues cleverly and wittily from all the traps that are set for him s his - his , and urmounts by wit the short comings of education . Is it possible that Cervantes was acquainted with the doings of Bertoldo when he created that other type

‘ i n G of na ve good se se, Sancho Panca Bertoldo was not long in being transferred from fiction i his di nto life . The types of Bertoldo , of son Bertol no, and

n eve of his grandson Cacasenno , passed on to the trestles of

ur Italy towards the end of the sixteenth cent y . In Florence, in Bologna and in Lombardy there was no troupe of actors

Bertoldo s without a , a sort of lackey , a famous utterer of truth but Bertoldino appears to have had a much more enduring vogue

in the theatre . This type, entirely doltish in the original, d becomes , according to the actors by whom it was playe , a mixture of rustic artlessness and shrewdness ; he displays a

’ t Bertold o s senten iousness akin to , whilst at the same time 191 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

i his fl nging gold to the frogs to silence them . For the rest, the adventures of our two heroes have furnished a goodly

u scenarii hr un n mber of scenes , and even of , in the t ee h dred years during which they have been reaping success under f di ferent names , such as Pirolino and Bigolo .

In the sixteenth century the Comedic -Italienne performed

mi Befl holde ala Ville in Paris a co c opera entitled , drawn from

er ldo in hi an interlude entitled B to Corte . T s was sung by the 1753 Italian Company at the Opéra in . Nicole Zeccha was playing these naive r61es under the di name of Bertol no at the end of the sixteenth century . o him Nicol Barbieri (Beltrame) says , in speaking of , that he l was a young man of great courage , very ski led in the use of

fin e l weapons, and a dancer . He was skilled too in ki ling

nn birds on the wing , and so fleet a ru er that he had many

sta e Am dée times brought down g by pursuing them . Victor é

I him a his . , Duke of Savoy, invited often to t ke part in hunts , hi ull and accorded to him , in addition to t s honour , f per mission to take such horses from his stables as he might l desire, and to hunt when or where he shou d please in the

all ducal preserves , with the right to banish from them those

him Zeccha who enjoyed this privilege before . was still a 630 member of the Fedeli troupe in 1 .

PAGLIACCIO first made his appearance in the troupe of

C e hr Juan anass , and travelled t ough Italy, France and Spain 0 in 157 . l h The name of Pagliaccio ( iterally, cut straw) , w ich has 192

PIERROT

a become the synonym of madc p or giddy fellow, is no more than a corruption of Bajaccio (a bad jester) it is the pejor

‘ i ba a raileries at ve of j (mockery) , signifying an utterer of , good

or bad . In one of the Ita lian troupes that passed thr ough Florence 1598 at the end of the sixteenth century, in , there appeared l a personage named Gian Farina , his countenance white ike

’ Pa liaccio s dr g and essed in very ample linen garments , but

wearing in addition the ta baro and a wooden sword . We hi cannot ascertain the real name of t s actor, who , under his

sobriquet of Gian Farina , enjoyed a certain celebrity as a L comedian and was the director of an itinerant troupe . ike

hi his — Pagliaccio he was dressed in w te, and face as his name — i implies was wh tened with flour . That it was also the custom of the French comedians thus to whiten their faces so as to

give more character to their grimaces, we may gather from Montaigne

These men of vile condition who seek to recom mend themselves by dangerous leaps and other strange mountebank movements were compelled to whiten their faces

and to indulge in savage grimaces to induce us to laugh .

w as 1502 The custom anterior to Montaigne, for as early as u we find Jean Serre, and his son Aug ste Serre, parading

s l under costumes analogou to those transmitted to us by Ca lot .

In point of costume , Pagliaccio is but a variant of Pulcin ella ; his pointed ha t of white wool and his garment of white linen seem to be no more than the undress of the Neapolitan

a . f macaroni e ter His character, however , is quite di ferent . 193 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE R Salvator osa , who was deeply interested in the theatre and in its costumes , has left us the following description

Pagliaccio is dressed in a coat that is extremely full and

his pleated , and fastened by enormous buttons ; hat is soft and white and capable of assuming any shape ; he wears a

his r mask, yet face is covered with flou . He is stupid , giddy

ur and awkward , and whilst for ever ging others to the most

n r dari g measu es , he is himself the greatest poltroon on earth ; ff he a ects agility , merely to tumble incessantly and drag down wi him his th old master , whom he has the air of endeavouring ” to support .

His flour - covered face and his white mask particularly distinguish him in point of external features from theNeapolitan dif ll Pulcinella . In point of character he fers to a sti greater

c degree . Paglia cio , the stupid lackey , is no more than a

r61e um trestle jester , whose consists in cl sily imitating, like

E is w the ngl h clo n , the gestures and movements of the other

mi c mes, and in receiving onstant beatings , to the great i amusement of the aud ence . li fil In Italian pantomimes , Pag accio ls the place occupied

r by Pierrot in France ; he no longer wea s a mask, his

face being merely covered with flour . He is the rival of

ui . Harleq n , and the lackey of Pantaloon He is in love with

C — ik —he s olumbine, but l e the French Pierrot is never succe s

i off ful in carry ng her from Florindo , the lover who is always

e dr essed in the latest fashion of his time and place . In th se pantomimes the roles of father fall to the lot of the Doctor or

a arino old T b . 194

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

- - - u ul fin d fair, an all the year ro nd market . Here you wo d matter for laughter and amusement by day and by night ; it was the rendezvous of the best society a crowd of brilliant equipages were constantly stationed there . Cold and heat were braved for the sake of listening to a Paillasse who, in spite of Deburau, hi e was not without merit . T s Paillasse, who was named P re hi f Rousseau , had made msel a reputation by singing in the open air

’ C e st dans la ville d e Borde aux ’ ’ e st z ri é s Q ar v trois gro va isse a ux ,

Le s a e s s e ans m t lot qui ont d d , ’

Ce s m a d s s. ont, foi e bon e nfant

hi I myself have beheld the remains of t s good fat Paillasse, f and I have bowed respect ully before him . I can affirm that never was there a Paillasse more com plete or more amusing it was not a case of the pale and livid countenance of Debur au it was not his wise and grave

his e a . p rform nce nor artistic poses , nor his expressive winks

a ul n Here inste d was a f l , red , plethoric cou tenance ; it l symbolised the gaiety of the popu ace at its fullest . It was

’ impossible not to laugh like a king s fool at the sight of his

grimaces , at the sound of his hoarse and broken voice ; he hi achieved in song what Deburau ac eved in pantomime , for l this Paillasse of mine was a so a great actor . Do not suppose that he recite d like a pupil of the Conservatoire ; he knew how to be witty and mordant in his declamation his physiog ul nomy was of an astounding mobility . We wo d remain e by the hour watching P re Rousseau , that classic Paillasse

We hardly dared to breathe, such was our fear of missing

his one of gestures , one of his contortions 196 PIERROT

The farces performed by Rousseau in public at the close of the eighteenth century were very much what they are still i d . to ay, a tissue of imbec lities and gross ineptitudes

PAILLASSE . Sir, since you are so kind , I beg of you to do me a service . ! CASSANDRE . What service wi PAILLASSE . To compose me a compliment for a lady th whom I am madly in love .

CASSANDRE . It is first necessary that I should know her ul qualities . Is she lovable , beautif

PAILLASSE . Oh , as for her beauty , there can be but one opinion . First of all , let me tell you that she has only one eye n but the one that remai s is so engaging , so witty , so seductive , k that it is without equal, and I really thin that if it is alone ur it is because Nat e was incapable of producing such another . l N . ! CASSA DRE She has on y one eye Well , well , that at least is one charm .

. ! ! PAILLASSE Oh , and her mouth , sir Oh you cannot r pictu e it . She can thrust a whole apple into it without the least trouble .

C . wi ASSANDRE Another advantage so that , when she shes to tell herself a secret , she can whisper it in her own ear .

. . ! PAILLASSE True , sir And then her nose It is a model hi nose , a curiosity it has something of the pear, somet ng of l hi the mu berry , and somet ng of the beetroot .

CASSANDRE . Ah , I see it is a rarity .

. ! PAILLASSE Oh , and then her feet They are so small that I assur e you I can hardly get her shoes on over my own boots . 2 CASSANDRE . And her figure ? PAI LLASSE . Her figure he is built like a tower ; she is S . sir quite round . I beg you , , to compose me this compliment, which I am burning to address her .

CASSANDRE . I consent but first invite the present company to come inside and see the extraordinary spectacle which we are going to give this evening . 197 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

I brus uel . ! PA LLASSE ( g y) Hey, there, you others ! come inside n CASSANDRE (kicki g him) . Animal ! Is that the way to address polite society ?

PAILLASSE . You are right . I made a mistake . Hi , there, you others ! come inside ! chases i o (CASSANDRE h m fi. )

’ At the end of the sixteenth century the French enfarine or

’ barbouille e the , as he was then called , was Robert Gu rin ,

La eur GRo s- named fl , but better known as GUILLAUME . o He was a comedian of the H tel de Bourgogne, then managed

Valeran Pica rd by , named the , which was as much as to say , a jester and a wit . ’ L Valeran s . real name was ecomte He was , says Talle

mant , a tall handsome man . He was the head of the troupe

s and very generous toward its members , and he himself took the money at the door .

Gros - Guillaume was more than a jester ; he was a remarkable actor, greatly esteemed by Henry IV . and by

n m , L r Richelieu , and ofte com anded to the ouv e to amuse i the Béarnais, who enjoyed performances wh ch ridiculed

afl ectations his the language and of the gentlemen of court ,

ul con partic arly those of the Marshal de Roquelaure , cerning whom Tallem ant des Réaux relates the following anecdote

One day the king held him between his kn ees whilst witnessing a command performance by Gros - Guillaume of the

n E Gentilhomme Gasco . farce of the very now and again , to

us am e his master , the Marshal pretended to want to get away 198

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Pedr olin o Pierr , Piero and are all one and the same U personage . nder the designation of Piero , a lackey, he was seen on the Ita lian stage as early as 1574 in a comedy of Cristoforo Castelletti ; we find him filling the same character in

I Bernardi 1563 , by Giovanmaria Cecchi, in , and in the plays of

La Altiera 1587 U L . uigi Grotto , amongst others , in nder the name of Ped rolino we find him playing roles of naive lackeys

Zeccha Gelosi . 1578 with Bertolin ( ) In the troupe, from to

04 o Pedr olino 16 inclusive , the r les of lackey are played by ,

Burattino and Arlecchino .

PEDROLINO r is a ve y complex type , presenting, in point of character, the greatest resemblance to the modern

his his French Pierrot ; especial characteristic is honesty . In the fif ty scenarii of Flaminio Scala he is almost hi always the preferred lover of the soubrette Francesc na ,

who , none the less , receives the homage of Pantaloon without prejudice to that of Arlecchino and Burattino . Sometimes

us o he is the h band of Franceschina , and then he plays the r le

S anarelle di of a g ; betrayed by his wife and scovering it, he

ni l rebukes her coquetry , but ends by recog sing that the fau t hi is his own , and begs her pardon , w ch he obtains only after a deal of trouble . fu Lackey to the coquette Flaminia , he re ses to undertake the delivery of her love letters to her lover Orazio . Flaminia him and Orazio abuse him and call a rascal . He becomes furiously enraged , whereafter he weeps upon the bosom of

his ui n . Harleq n , bewaili g the loss of reputation As the lackey of Pantaloon and trusted to keep watch over PIERROT

his Pedr olino the wife of master whilst the latter sleeps , also

n falls asleep , or else he drinks with Captai Spavento and the

hr Doctor, and all t ee , drunk as monkeys , commit the l wildest extravagances and end by fal ing to the ground , ” u where they remain . On the morrow, Pantaloon , f rious

s his w re to learn that whil t he slept ife has been abroad ,

roaches Pedr olino p , who is still somnolent and weary from

’ Ped rolino yesterday s drunkenness . , remembering nothing ,

’ hi his understands not ng of master s complaints . Pantaloon , beside himself with anger , beats him and bites him , to wrest him his a him from torpor , and ends by le ving in tears ; but

fir Pedrolino the st pangs of sorrow being over, swears ven

anc ge e . He contrives so cleverly that all the characters of the piece mystify Pantaloon , and persuade him that his breath is very unpleasant . Pantaloon ends by believing it, and submits to the extraction of four excellent teeth . After that

Pedrolino he understands that he has been fooled, and that

Ped rolino is the author of this practical joke . simulates hi him madness to escape the blows w ch threaten .

He is a poltroon and a boaster . Bent upon avenging the

wrong done him by Harlequin , he arrives armed to the teeth ,

perceives his enemy and hurls himself upon him with dr awn

- . him weapons Harlequin , armed with a door bar, receives ml fir y . Then , face to face , they heap abuse each upon the

i r other, wh lst depending upon those p esent to hinder them mi a from co ng to blows . The Capt in seeks to separate them ,

whereupon they strike out furiously , with the result that it is

the Captain who receives this shower of blows .

E s hi l ewhere , after having boasted that he fears not ng ,

Pedrolino hi perceives Harlequin covered by a w te garment , 201 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E lantern in hand ; at sight of him he interrupts his conversa him tion and flees as fast as his legs will carry . ff His sorrows do not a ect his appetite . We behold him

c weeping and complaining after having re eived a beating .

n him a He meets Harlequin , who bri gs on behalf of the Capt in

edrolin o a plate of macaroni . P accepts it and continues to

l l o ui weep uninterruptedly whi st eating ike an gre ; Harleq n , him deeply affected , weeps also and begins to eat with . Burat tino arrives and , beholding them eating and weeping, he too

his dis bursts into tears and puts hand into the h . Not one

e of them says a word . The macaroni , water d by their tears,

Pedr olino is soon swallowed , whereafter , weeping, turns to

’ s Harlequin . Kiss the Captain s hand for me, he says , and

off goes . Burattino entrusts Harlequin with a like commis

sion on his own behalf and makes his exit on the other side ,

ui r off also weeping . Harleq n , bu sting into fresh sobs, goes

licking the plate . hil di i Ped rolino is utterly the slave of fear . W st n ng under

uin e a tree with Harleq and the beautiful Dorinda , the r past is hi interrupted by a gigantic bear w ch advances upon them .

Pedrolino leaps up ; the bear does the same ; and whilst

r Harlequin , to hold its attention , th ows at it one by one all the

apples of the dinner, which the bear very adroitly catches in

Pedrolino u its jaws, decamps ; Harleq in follows him and the

off lf bear carries Dorinda , who lends herse without protest

to this abduction .

i and Arrayed in a long wh te shirt, wearing a straw hat carry

Pedrolino u ing a huge staff , is entr sted by his master with a love letter which he is to deliver to Isabella but as a result

of his habitual absent - mindedness he loses the letter ; he 202

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

di present in hi ng, After many amorous proposals between the two cozened old men they finally recognise each other and

’ almost come to blows . In some pieces he is an intriguer and a lackey in the service

u his of yo ng people . But even then real nature is preserved and he conforms to his type by his mischievousness and his buflooneries , when , for instance , morion on head and sword at his side , he imitates the roaring furies of Captain Spavento . Such is the role of Ped rolino in the collection of Flaminio l ui Scala . It wi l be seen therefore that it is q te wrong to attribute to the type of Pierrot a modern and entirely French

dl Down to the mid e of the seventeenth century, says E M . douard Fournier in a recent article on the subject of ie Mol re , the Italian comedy had but one doltish character,

M C . “ k m - n fi “ Harlequin : it was always he who was the butt of practical - M ”M H “ ut jokes , it was alwa s he who received the beatings . j hi . with the advent of”Domenico , all t s was changed As you m . W ar s e layed them like t bjfl fl Q p

- d the man of wit that he was well rea , and the friend of men

im ssible 5 m k of letters , he found it , even under as , to - pp “ m W a n M M M M M accommodate himself to a character of impertur bable doltish w w W W . n ness . Moreover he recog ised , as has been wisely remarked L by éris in his Dramatic Dictionary , the humour of the French public , which insists upon wit in all performances . Therefore

nf s o n he i u ed wit into the r le of Harlequi , and from then onward Harlequin was a completely metamorphosed character .

hi his Since Domenico justified mself by success , none inter him fered with . Thus Comedy gained a character ; but 204 PIERROT

on the other hand it also lost one , and one very much mi more indispensable than this char ng intruder . How,

t o without the necessary fool , was it possible sustain Comedy’s repertory ? Obviously an imbecile was essential

b - to the repertory , to the y play of the characters and to the lesser pleasures of the public . A fortunate chance , the i e insp ration of Moli re , gave him to the world one fine day in the person of Pierrot .

It was under these circumstances that Pierrot arrived ,

Es t it was thus, as has been well said by des sar s , that this

ul his - sing ar character made appearance , French born , in the

’ Italian theatre .

e his Don Juan ou la Festin ale It was Moli re who , first , in ,

P e e i rr . , gave a peasant the name of Pierrot He based this

I l Convitato di Pietro piece upon an Italian scenario entitled,

’ hi lr (Peter s Guest) , w ch had a eady been performed in Paris

1659 ur ot in by the Sie de Villiers , a comedian of the H el de

Bourgogne , and elsewhere by others .

Mo E here . was tempted , says M douard Fournier , by

of i his Don Juan the success the Ital an piece , to write . The success obtained by his comedy again in its turn tempted the

Italians . He was inspired by them , they were inspired by him 1673 . In the early part of February , , a bare fortnight m before the death of that great author , the Italians perfor ed in their theatre a new plot made up of the best scenes of their

I l Conoitato di Pietro ul old piece , , and , partic arly, of the most amusing passages appropriated by them from the comedy hi dl e . of Moli re T s comic me ey , made up like the dress of

A iunta a l Conv tato di Piet o Harlequin , was entitled gg i r . 205 THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Among the characters transformed and adapted by the

- Italians in this extraordinary scenic hotch potch was Pierrot ,

his i with his simpleton ways , na ve love affairs and his unaltered

L hi - name . ittle attention was paid to t s new comer, so that , haphazard and , as it were , out of charity , the part was entrusted to a low- salaried member of the company named

Giaratone did . He marvels . The others had the good sense t not to be jealous and thus , in one s roke and by the one success , the character and the comedian alike acquired rights of citizen

From this moment Pierrot never again left the Italian

s his Comedy . In spite of his newne s , in spite of French name ,

Mez z etin he became as much a type as any of the others , as ,

L l r ui ms e io , Cassand e, or even Harleq n hi elf , whose emancipa

his wi tion was justified by advent , and who very llingly accepted him as the inheritor of his old- time stupidity and the victim of his malice of more recent date . Since there was hi not ng to show that he was a character of recent importation , so quickly and usefully was he employed in all the pieces i as a type now acquired and naturalised for all t me , Pierrot had his his his flour successes and actors , who appropriated hi di covered mask and the doltishness w ch became tra tional .

Ham oche Amongst these was , who did marvels somewhere 1712 hi about , and for whom I am inclined to t nk was composed

Au Cla ir de la Lune the air , always attributed , but without the

L . least evidence , to ulli The costume of Pierrot was already that with which we

e his Don Juan are acquainted . Moli re , in , had given him the

hi s t b n w te blouse of a French pea ant , such as is s ill worn yColi ,

n U the sleepy boy in the last scenes of Georges Dandi . pon

THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

his - u his dr informed on the score of make p , and ess as for his ll Ga icised appellation , it is beyond doubt the same name , for in the scenar u of Gherardi the characters addr ess him indifl erentl y as Pierrot or Piero . It would therefore seem tha t Giaratone did no more than rejuvenate and adapt to the Franco - Italian theatre the

Pedr olin o character of the old , taking for his performances those shades of character dominant in the greater number of the scenarii of Scala and abandoning the intriguing qualities him sometimes , but exceptionally , attributed to . He di hi approached the type of Bertol no , a type w ch , long before his un Ped rolino day , had been confo ded with that of . He

his hi ba dins floured face after the fas on of the old French , who

— i hi his themselves like Pagl accio with his w te mask and flour , ul ui P cinella and Harleq n with their black masks , Pantaloon and Brighella with their brown masks , Coviello and the

a i — Doctor, e ch with his mask of a d stinctive colour derive from the ancient mimes with their countenances blackened , browned , reddened or whitened , who are alleged to have been resurrected during the Renaissance , but who in all probability di had never sappeared from the Italian boards .

Just as Pedrolino had been the inca rnation of the Italian peasant , so Pierrot was that of the French peasant , and he became with the French public the most popular type after

Polichinelle .

scenaru i In the and theatrical pieces of Gherard , Pierrot is

the Brocantin Cinthio always a servant of Doctor, of or of , just as in French pieces and pantomimes he is always the servant i of Cassandr e . He is a fellow who always says what he th nks i and who recognises no soc al distinctions . This privilege PIERROT

of speaking his mind , accorded to the finesse and astuteness of the soubrette , is similarly granted to the simplicity and

his awkwardness of Pierrot . He never fails to lecture master .

T PIERRO . Sir, sir , I come to tell you once for all that I am very pleased with you and that I have always loved you better than you deserve .

CASSANDRE . I am much obliged to you for the honour . T ’ i. e . PIERRO . Put on your hat ( don t stand on ceremony] . You have paid me my wages promptly and I have consumed hi them in your service in like fas on .

CASSANDRE . That is not my fault . But , Pierrot , what ails ? d you I fin you entirely changed . T ff PIERRO . That is not your a air . I shall be changed if I wish and I shall not be changed if I do not wish .

CASSANDRE . I beg you to pardon me for having presumed to take an interest in your concerns . T w PIERRO . What I want to know , sir, ithout all this pre amble , is , what do you intend to give me by way of reward

C . ASSANDRE But you confess , yourself, that I have paid you all your wages .

T . PIERRO . Agreed But have I not also told you that I have consumed them

CASSANDRE . That is not my fault . T PIERRO . Oh , sir, let us reckon up the services out of the ordinary which I have rendered you , and you will see how stupid you are . Firstly , I have not told your wife that you have a love affair in the town upon which you are spending r the best part of you income . I leave it to yourself to put a price upon my discreetness .

C . . hi ASSANDRE It is just That deserves somet ng . T dl . un PIERRO Secon y, you have been ten times dr k with am out my permission . I not compelled to put up with you in such disorders .

CASSANDRE . That is well reasoned . hi OT . h PIERR T rdly, I have fallen in love w ilst in your service . — 209 I . O THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

. a CASSANDRE That cert m deserves a recompense . T PIERRO . As the total sum of the extraordinary expenditure a to which I have been subjected in your service, p y me ten

thousand livres , and I will give you a quittance in full .

CASSANDRE . Your accounts seem to be in order . But

whilst awaiting a settlement , go as far as the post to see if

there are any letters for me . T oes and retur ns at the end o an hour H (PIERRO g f . is master

is busy when he enters. ) T PIERRO . Yes , sir . ? CASSANDRE . What do you want T . PIERRO I have come to tell you , sir , that I have seen them . ? CASSANDRE . Seen what T PIERRO . Your letters at the post .

CASSANDRE . Where are they T PIERRO . At the post . E CAsSANDR . And have you not brought them ? T PIERRO . No . You told me only to go and see if there were any . I have seen them and I am come to tell you so .

CASSANDRE . Heaven give me patience with you ! I ul sho d be better advised to have gone myself . T PIERRO . Really, sir , if you have not the wit to express ? yourself properly, what can you expect

Again Pierrot is the valet of Cinthia (an old man) in the

u e des Femmes i hi Ca s he believes h mself to be alone w lst, as his hi his hi a matter of fact , master is finis ng supper wit n ear shot close by . T PIERRO . When I come to consider what a woman is , frankly my poor wit goes all to pieces . However I may shut us ul the door, our ho e is always f l of counts and marquises . A lackey brings a letter ; his master comes to demand an answer ! All night at a ball ! All day in merrymakings or at the comedy ! What a life for a man of my master’s age ik Ah , you may do as you l e , but you will never be taken for anything but what you are . ? risin . CINTEI O ( g) What do you mean , lackey 2 10

THE HISTORY OF THE HARDEQUINADE

ur hi h neighbo hood of Paris . It was t ther t at he retired, and there that he died . Antonio Sticotti made his d ebut in peasant parts and as

1729 - Pierrot in at the Comédie Italienne . He retired to

x h Meau , w ere he occupied the position of postmaster . He i hi left several comed es w ch were played with success . In the theatres of the fairs the most remarkable Pierrots

Prévot 1707 Ham oche 1712 were in and in . The latter left his theatre to attempt to join the company of the Comédie

he 1725 Italienne , but was not received there . In he repaired

-L to the fair of Saint aurent, and his introduction was couched in the following terms Scaramouche came to announce him to a personification of the Fair and sang

H am och e v ous prie De le rec e v oir I l e e e il e t mp t , cri , V oul ez - v ous le v oir The Fair replied

’ C es son en e t ici c tr , ’ ’

en e e e . Qu il tr , qu il ntr

di But the forain au ence, by no means flattered at being

Ham oche looked upon as a last resource , hissed by way of

hi n teaching him a lesson . T s pu ishment so wounded the poor di Pierrot that he withdrew from the theatre and ed of grief . 1715 1721 From to Belloni , remarkable for the extreme simplicity of his performance and for the naivete and truth of di i . his d ction , was another Pierrot of stinction Then came

172 1 e Ma anox B u 1741 Dujardin in , Br on , g , o rdet, in , and Pietro

r Sodi , a native of Rome , who was a dancer and mime of ve y 49 17 . great talent, and the author of many pantomimes, in 212 PIERROT

The name of Giglio is mentioned for the fir st time in 153 1

I ntronati in the Italian troupe of the but this personage, 61 filling the r es of servant and sometimes of lover, is but very slightly related to the Giglio played in Naples in 1701 by

Fabienti Filipo and . The French GILLES of the eighteenth century is a lineal descendant of Pierrot . His floured countenance assumes under the brush of Watteau that elegance of line and that charm

i i at once na ve and com c with which we are all acquainted . 1702 In Maillot , the forain actor, played , under the name of 61 Gilles , r es identical with those of Pierrot , but, no longer with the same simplicity and good sense with which Giaratone ui hi L 1780 had eq pped t s character . ater, towards , we see the actor Carpentier (Gilles) appropriating the scenes and the business which had been played by Carlin Bertinaz z i at the

e - Com dic Italienne .

HE T ! T MAS ER . Hola Gilles ! Hola ! I am always com elled p to shout myself hoarse when I want that rascal . Gilles Gilles GILLES ( arriving very softly a nd shouting very loudly into his

ear . . . ) Here I am , sir I am not deaf E T n TH MAS ER (recoili g) . A plague on the rascal ! Does he want to frighten me to death 3‘ But then ik GILLES . , sir, you were shouting l e a stick that I has lost its blind man . . was conferring with the post t him man ; he has just brough me a letter, and I was asking to read it to me when you called me . T hi THE MAS ER . Whence is t s letter ’

I LLE . . G s I don t know I barely had time to unseal it .

Here it is, sir . 2 13 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

E r din TH T ea . the MAS ER ( g) From country . What country

L . GILLES . imoges, I suppose E T H . T MAS ER Then they ought to say so .

. ! L GILLES Oh but they are not so wise as that at imoges .

C . ontinue to read , I beseech you HE T r ad T e s . hi MAS ER ( ) My cousin Gilles , t s is to advise you that my aunt your mother is dead .

wee in . ! GILLES ( p g) My mother is dead Oh , sir, behold me ? an orphan . Who will take care of me henceforth E T r TH MAS ER . But you are big enough to take care of you f am sel . I delighted to see your good natural feelings for t . Le your mother But we are all mortal . us proceed with H ea d e r s. fif s the letter . ( ) She has left you ty crown fif ? GILLES . My mother has left me ty crowns Now that a ui is wh t I call a good woman . Sir , are you q te sure that is

HE T . e T MAS ER Quite sure . But it s ems to me that you are very soon consoled for the loss of your mother . he E . S . GILL S Oh , was very old T n e . H r s. THE MAS ER . I u derstand ( ead ) I inform you that your little sister Catine has become a child of pleasure ur H w e GILLES . My sister Catine a child of pleas e ( e e ps. ) I shall kill her ! I love honour a hundred times better than reputation . T mf THE . . MAS ER There, there, be co orted Sir f u GILLES . No , ; I re se to be comforted . T L H s HE e read . T MAS ER . isten . ( ) In four months she amassed six hundred livres . la u hin un dr ! GILLES ( g g) . Six h ed livres But that is very di good . My Sister Catine was of a saving sposition . T He d s E rea s. TH MAS ER . It looks like it . ( ) I mu t tell u you , cousin , that in the co rse of a quarrel a fortnight ago u h d she ”received a wo nd in the face w ich horribly isfigured her . i t wee in . GILLES ( p g) Oh , my poor l ttle Catine , how I pi y

! . you Alas , that is the fate of nearly all of her kind 214

THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE dressing- room without saying a word to anyone and assumed h hi h the costume of a Gascon airdresser, a part in w c he was remarkable .

his - un The comb over ear, holding a powder box der his - his h r n arm , and a razor case in and , he came to the f o t E and saluted the audience . veryone present recognised him and universal laughter pealed from the spectators ; then

s l applau e broke forth not on y in front , but even in the wings .

Thereupon poor Carpentier began to weep , exclaiming to his

ri s comrades , with as much joy as modesty, My f end , my f ds rien , they have recognised me . They have recognised me !

A few days later he committed suicide by throwing himself r f om a window .

PEr r E - NAPPA is a Sicilian personage who , save for the colour

his a of dress , is absolutely the s me as Giglio or Gilles ; and there is no Italian mask which in character so closely resembles hi the French Pierrot . W lst Giglio is dressed in white flannel,

’ - like the Gilles of Watteau , Peppe Nappa s livery is pale blue .

He does not cover his face with flour , although he is very pale

l - he , like Gilles , wears a white Sku l cap , a white or grey hat, and shoes of white leather . He is of a surprising agility ,

l i di s his continual y danc ng and boun ng . His eye and wan countena nce are extremely remarkable and expressive . He

his r V his is equally lively in gestu es . ery swift in movements

he m and very supple, he seems , when collapses upon hi self , 216 PIERROT to be no more than a heap of garments that can never have been filled by flesh and bones .

He is nearly always a servant , sometimes, for instance , to

h his the Barone (the Sicilian old man) , upon w om he visits

’ - ul stupidity . But gluttony is Peppe Nappa s greatest fa t ; he has a predilection for kitchens ; if he may not always eat h him in such places , at least he may always inhale w at to is f the most delicious of all per umes .

In a comedy - ballet which is closely related to the S cuola di

S alerno - m , Peppe Nappa is the servant of a school aster, a sort hi of doctor, who gesticulates in his chair in the course of teac ng his i h pup ls . Amongst these, on the sc ool forms, there are some very big girls , towards whom the Doctor shows more ul ind gence than towards the others . The class is at an end ;

his the schoolmaster wants to go out , and requires black robe

- and his tall pointed hat . He rings for Peppe Nappa , who ,

He his after a long delay, comes in yawning . approaches

his his master to learn orders , but falls asleep on feet , leaning

w - up against him . The latter ithdraws and Peppe Nappa

n r falls down without waki g . The fu ious pedant lifts him up

n by the ski of his back and, by kicks and blows , contrives to arouse him from his Slumber ; thereafter he sends him for

- his robe . Peppe Nappa goes off and returns dragging the robe hi him n U be nd ; he the helps his master to assume it . pon

his master complaining that the garment is covered with dust,

- Peppe Nappa goes to fetch a bucket of water and a broom,

his and , before the pedant is aware of intentions , he washes

him down from head to foot as he would wash a wall . This

done , the good servant , worn out by so much labour, seats

hi his The himself apart and fans mself with hat . furious 217 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

his r schoolmaster seizes ferrule to correct the se vant, who

n the adroitly evades the blows , causi g them to fall upon hands

hims - l of the schoolmaster elf . Peppe Nappa has a singu ar

his n way of giving his master hat . He brings a ladder and lea s

’ it against his master s Shoulders to enable him to put the hat

his on head .

r ur Afte the depart e of the schoolmaster, the class is given

over to gaiety . The little boys fight , the little girls cry, and the d older girls run to the doors to a mit their young lovers , who

- come to dance with them . But Peppe Nappa , who has been

his re - to accompany master to the end of the street , enters

’ wearing the professor s long black robe , with his head buried

in the enormous hat . There is great terror among the ui mi youngsters , but they are q ck to perceive their stake , and

they are about to fall upon Peppe - Nappa when he threatens

to call the master ; then two of the more astute ones bring i li hi him some macaron and some eggs to conci ate him . W lst

n i he is devouring these , and contracti g an ind gestion , the whole

e re - e di c class disappears , the p dant ent rs and s overs Peppe

o Nappa torpid from excess of food . Hereup n follow remon strances di ur w and sco ses upon frugality , seasoned ith blows .

The poor servant attempts , by way of Showing his repentance

his his his s of past conduct , to assist master to rediscover pupil . The piece ends in the marriage of all the schoolgirls with their

- lovers . Peppe Nappa is the only one who can find no wife .

The Fu 1816 Theatre des nambules , founded in by Bertrand,

presented spectacles of performing dogs , farces , rope dancers 218

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E for this type ; but since he was generally recognised for him Pierrot , that name is to be preserved .

h Théo hile Wit him [Deburau] , says M . p Gautier, the rfile of Pierrot was enlarged and widened it ended by occupying the entire piece, and , be it said with all the respect

due to the memory of the most perfect actor that ever lived , i by entirely departing from its orig n and being denaturalised . l Pierrot , under the flour and the tunic of that i lustrious actor, assumed the airs of a master and an aplomb unsuited to the a character ; he no longer received kicks , he gave them ; H rle quin now scarcely dared to touch his Shoulders with his bat

h n Cassandre would t ink twice before boxi g his ears . He would kiss Columbine and pass an arm about her waist like a seducer of comic opera he caused the entire action of the piece to revolve about himself, and he attained such a degree of insolence and audacity that he would even beat his own good genius . The strong personality of the great actor ” overbore the type .

E t d u P e a a d san le as e i rrot bl f r bri t m qu étroit, r i d Le front d e Debur au p e ca t en main t en roit .

M . Jules Janin has published a biography of Deburau

’ B Histoire du Thedtre a uatre - S ous p our entitled , DE URAU , Q

’ T - F 1 33 aire suite a l histoire du hea tre ran ais 8 . f g ,

Being unable to develop enthusiasm for the Theatre

e Francais , he says , we will b come enthusiastic where we ul can ; for instance , in the bo evard theatres . It is in one

h e of t ese ignored theatres , in the mean st and the most infected,

220 PIERROT by the light of four wretched candles and in a mephitic atmos

here hi p , Situated alongside of a menagerie which bellows w lst

d sc the actors are singing , that we have i overed, admired and

r applauded with all our strength the g eat comedian , who is also the great clown , Deburau .

i - The greatest comed an of our age, Jean Baptiste Deburau , 1 96 was born on the 3 lst July 7 . How he comes to be Deburau

has his I cannot tell you . The fact is , that he revolutionised art . He has in truth created an entirely new race of clowns when it was supposed that all the possible varieties had been exhausted . He has replaced petulance by calm , enthusiasm ll by good sense . In him we no longer see the Pai asse agitated h and ither thither , without reason and without aim ; we behold instead a stoic who allows himself mechanically to

wi follow all the impressions of the moment, an actor thout w u passion , without words and almost ithout co ntenance i one who says everything , expresses everyth ng , mocks every

hi of t ng ; capable playing , without uttering a word , all the comedies of Moliere ; one who is informed of all the follies of

if n his day, and who reproduces them to the l e ; an i imitable genius who goes and comes , who looks , who opens his mouth, who closes his eyes , who causes laughter and tears , who is enchanting

- h His fate to day is as brilliant as it was erstw ile sad .

- M . Nicolas Michel Bertrand , the Director of the Funambules , him has given his Gilles an engagement worthy of . After many useless labours and many fruitless researches in the

hi had arc ves of the kingdom of Comedy, we have the good fortune to discover the following important document bearing upon the history of this art 221 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

SPE CTACLE DES FUNAMBULES

Agreement

un - Between the dersigned, M . Nicolas Michel Bertrand, d u 18 of the Boulevard Temple , No . , Paris , Director of the n ul e Fu amb s Theatre, of the one part ,

- d u And M . Jean Baptiste Deburau , of the Faubourg

28 - mi . : Temple , No , Paris , artist me , of the other part It is agreed between us as follows

First , I , Bertrand , engage by these presents M . Deburau , to perform in the troupe the parts of Pierrot , and generally all the rfiles which may be assigned to him by me or my manager .

- Second , I , Jean Baptiste Deburau , engage myself to 61 di perform all r es , to dance and take part in the ballets, ver tissem ents o w , pantomimes and all other pieces , t gether ith the com an e e , p y wherever sent for f tes , privat or public , without exacting any extras beyond the expenses of transit . I consent to conform to the rules established or to be i l establ shed for the performances , and to content myse f with such lighting , heating and costumes as may be supplied me m by the ad inistration . In case of illness the Director reserves himself the right to suspend the salary of the artist until the day of his reappearance .

The artist is under obligation to supply, according to

his i - his costumes , own l nen , stockings, foot wear, gloves and

- mi grease paints . The ad nistration will supply the costumes and properties , etc . , etc . ul Subject to the above clause being faithf ly executed , ; 35 M . Bertrand undertakes to pay M Deburau the sum of francs weekly throughout the present engagement . The ll present engagement is for three years . It wi begin on 183 1 E 1828 . aster Monday of , and conclude on Palm Sunday, The parties hereun to desire mutually that this agree ment shall have the same force and value as if drawn before 222

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

’ he is sniffing round a pastrycook s shop and at last decides to enter it ; within he discovers his mistake ; the shop is a

’ us milliner s . Having no e for the bonnets that are offered him , he goes out again in quest of the pastrycook , whose

the shop is on other side of the square . But the shops perform

a cha ssé- croisée di a fant stic , and Pierrot scovers himself once lli ’ more at the mi ner s . This being several times repeated ,

Pierrot is worn out and ends by being amused . He loses his h a ’ e d and performs incoherences . He upsets the Shoemaker s stall and then assumes such absur d and ridiculous poses before the customers of a vintner that they depart scandalised .

Af s ter several plea antries , some of them of a distinctly coarse

order, he draws down punishment upon his head . His dupes him unite against and, being ten to one, they valiantly pursue

Pand ol he ul Lea dr his Pierrot . p and the beautif n e come to

- aid and a battle royal is fought with broom sticks .

e thre w his In the next sc ne Pierrot , to enemies off the scent ,

conceals himself under the garments of a mountebank . He

ds et arrives in the mi t of a village f e , and there, assisted by

Pand ol he l Le dr p , who plays the fidd e, and an e , who plays the

his ur . trombone, he beats a big drum as if aim were to b st it ll The vi age folk begin to dance , but presently become angry ,

for no apparent reason . Pierrot and his acolytes have little h chance against them, and they escape before the blows t at

’ Next, Pierrot s head is cut off in a tavern . It is glued

on again . The doctor, who is none other than Harlequin ,

his his demands fee , but Pierrot pretends that head is not

- h f properly re attac ed , and receives a Shower of blows rom the

false doctor . PIERROT

w uis In the follo ing scene he is disg ed as a woman , no doubt with a view to escaping from the ill intentions of Harlequin . hi t He is about to do his was ng when , af er the fashion of i E hi pantomim c fantasy, an nglishman with red w skers and an impossible collar comes to order Pierrot to wash some soiled

n linen . Pierrot fi ds the task disgusting , refuses it , and ends E by throwing the nglishman into the tub , whereupon he runs away .

wi He is again in a tavern , and , after an adventure th a

hs thief , he finds himself in need of a bath . He seeks the bat , but in that country there are no baths except for women .

He assumes a bonnet and a petticoat , and enters one of those establishments , wherein he is badly received , for under a stroke of the fairy’s wand the baths are changed into a roasting hi house and Pierrot finds mself roasting on a grille .

Delivered from this , and having no longer any garments, he i enl sts and becomes a soldier that he may be clothed . He quarrels with the corporal and fights a duel with pistols .

his hi Pierrot loads own weapon with not ng but a candle, but

hi dl his i he plants t s can e full in the face of adversary . Th s remarkable feat of arms causes him to be appointed drum major on the spot . He immediately holds a review of the drummers , the oldest of whom is not four years of age . The piece ends by an apotheosis inwhich we behold the rout

Le his of andre, who has lost talisman . Harlequin and Isabella

ni wi are u ted by a cupid with cardboard ngs, arrayed in a

- e garland of roses, and a sky blue tunic he extends his prot ct ing arms over the tw o lovers and promises them a lif e of eternal happiness . — r. P 225 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Cham fleu . r It has been pretended, says M p y , that

ul l n Deburau died as the res t of a fal at the Fu ambules . hm Deburau died of ast a , which had been undermining his health for five years . His medical advisers had prescribed for him a long period li of rest ; but he thought only of his pub c . For five years he

his un was afflicted by a cough that tore l gs . But the moment he appeared on the stage the affliction would leave him ; he ul wo d become once more for a quarter of an hour young , happy him and healthy . The terrible disease, however, awaited in mi the wings , and would lay its claws on the breast of the me

his every time he made exit . The cough became so tyrannical that Deburau was ll e . compe ed to rest . One day he felt bett r The bills announced his r reappearance . At most , he had been absent for th ee weeks , but as a consequence there was a long impatient queue that would have filled five theatres .

Le Noces Pierrot Be it noted that the performance was s de , a farce which had been played six hundred times at the

ul o theatre of the Funamb es . The shouts and roars f the spectators during the first half of the evening may be imagined .

e Outside , those who had been unable to ent r shouted still

more loudly . After the three vaudevilles the usual three

knocks were heard .

e his hi The curtain rose slowly . Deburau appear d in w te

- o h his . c stume , a posy in his button ole , a pretty girl on arm It is impossible to conceive an idea of the enthusiasm in the

un theatre ; it was frenetic . In the gods four h dred faces were alight with joy eight hundred eyes devoured the mime four hundred mouths roared Bravo ! ’ The heights of 226

THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

i A little while before th s last performance of which M .

Cham fleur p y writes , an incident took place in a performance

’ of the Hpreuves which Showed the public s affection for Deburau ; it was the occasion of the fall to which his death

has been wrongly attributed . At the end of the tenth scene Debur au was to disappear

hr - hi t ough a trap door, and t s was not working properly . He

stamped impatiently with his foot upon the trap , and it was hi precisely at t s moment that it gave way . His body had lost its poise and , as he went through , his head was thrown back

and struck the stage . The scene being changed , the manager

n came forward to announce that M . Deburau was wou ded . di The au ence was about to withdraw , after having expressed

mi hi e its sympathy with the me, when Deburau mself appear d E ! ! and wished to continue . nough enough was cried on

every side by the idolatrous public , but by a gesture Pierrot made them understand that he was too deeply touched not

to continue, and the theatre shook with the applause and the

bravos of the spectators .

the i George Sand, who was in one of stage boxes , hav ng perceived him in the wings holding his hea d in an attitude of

ui . pain , went on the morrow to inq re his condition He wrote her his thanks for the inquiry and at the same time for an article in praise of him which she had published in the

Constitutionnel

— MADAME , Permit me to address you my double thanks for the interest you are kind enough to take in a little

accident which has had no serious consequences for me , and lis Constitutionnel i for the kindly article pub hed in the , in wh ch ,

concerning yourself benevolently for my future, you extol 228 PIERROT my poor talent with a warmth and a spirit that are really irresistible .

I hardly know in what terms to express my gratitude . l My pen is like my voice on the stage, but my heart is ike my countenance , and I pray you to accept its Sincere expression .

I have the honour to be your servant , B DE URAU .

P — It S . . was my intention to go to thank you in person , but rehearsals have prevented this . Be good enough , I beg you , to excuse me . F 8 6 9 eb. 1 4 . PARIS ,

s Deburau was charming in all hi ways . He would never be tempted to the least drop of champagne, out of fear , he said , for his nerves , and because he required the completest self t possession for his performances . I have never seen an ar ist who was more serious , more conscientious , more religious in

He his art . loved it passionately , and spoke of it as of a grave hi thing , whilst always speaking of mself with the extremest modesty . He studied incessantly and was never weary , not w ithstanding continued and even excessive playing . He did not trouble to think whether the adm irable subtleties of his play of countenance and his originality of composition

s hi were appreciated by arti ts . He worked to satisfy mself and

his to realise fancy . This fancy, which appeared to be so

us di di spontaneo , was stu ed beforehand, with extraor nary

: Histo re de M care (George Sand i a Vie) .

’ ’ Deburau s his 1847 son took up father s career in . He was perhaps the handsomest and most elegant

his . s Pierrot that was ever seen By supplene s, his grace 229 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

ui and charming fantasy , he rightly acq red an enormous

vogue . L 1820 d Paul egrand , born at Saintes in , playe at first in ea ul the Th tre des Funamb es , comic parts in vaudeville and mi Le i the les of andre in pantom me . It was only in 1845

un r6les that he dertook the of Pierrot . A pupil of Deburau , him hi 1847 he succeeded in t s character in . He sustained in that theatre and afterwards with honour in the Folies

Nouvelles his double rivalry with the memory of Deburau and

’ Deburau s the deserved success of son . He was less elegant in shape than the latter , but none the less pleasing to the eye

his f r by attitudes . He was ull of resou ces , gifted with a hand

r ul some countenance , and a very characte istic expression , f l — of comical and bizarre notions and inventions , and and this — in particular distinguishes his talent he had a peculiar power ff L of producing pathetic and dramatic e ects . ike the cele brated Thomassin , he drew laughter and tears at one and the same time ; so that he may be reckoned as a mime of the very first order . The fir st creations of Paul Legrand at the Funambules were

’ ’ u Rou e et l CEu Bla ne Pierrot Va let de la Mort Pierrot L Gi f g f , ,

Cham fleur Pierrot Recom ensé Pierrot Pendu . , by M p y p ,

Mar uis . g , etc Summoned to London in December 1847 by Madame hi Céleste , who was managing the Adelp Theatre , he remained E i E . for a year in ngland But the ngl sh , accustomed to the l much more exaggerated performances of their clowns , cou d make nothing of the subtle and witty expressions of the French L ul 1849 Pierrot . egrand returned to the Funamb es in , to find

’ eburau s t himself replaced there by D son . But all Pierro s 23 0

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

his t admiring streng h and his adroitness , and without laugh

his ff ing at versatility and bizarre e ects .

E Cham fle r . u To define the nglish clown , M p y cites the following pa ssage borrowed from Baudelaire

The English Pierrot is by no means the personage pale as the moon , mysterious as silence , supple and mute as the

hi s serpent , lean and long as a pole, to w ch we were accu tomed E by Deburau . The nglish Pierrot enters like a tempest, falls h hi like a bale , and Shakes the house w en he laughs . T s f l laughter resembles a joy u thunderstorm . He is a Short

h ll a his l t ick fe ow, who has incre sed bu k by a costume loaded with ribbons which fill upon his person the same office as the f eathers on a bird , or the hair upon a Persian cat . Over the flour on his countenance he has plastered crudely, with

dis r out gradation or transition , enormous cs of pu e ' two ul scarlet . His mouth is increased by a sim ated prolongation of the lips carried out in two carmine strokes, so that when he

hs r laug this mouth of his seems to open f om ear to ear. As

s for the character, at bottom it is the ame as that which we know : egotistical heedlessness and neutr ality ; hence the

n s accomplishme t of all rapaciou and gluttonous fancies , to

ri r the det ment now of Harlequin , now of Cassand e, and of

dr hi ff e . L an e But with t s di erence, that where Deburau thrust mi in the point of his finger that he ght afterwards lick it, the

hrus ds hi clown t ts in both han and both feet , and t s may express

all that he does ; his is the vertigo of hyperbole . This Pierrot passes by a woman who is washing her doorstep after having emptied her pockets he seeks to cram into his own the ” sponge , the broom , the soap and even the very water itself . 232 PIERROT

This exaggerated personage of the English pantomime is a direct descendant of the clownish peasants of the theatr e of Shakespeare . No dramatic author ever understood his public as did he . He knew not only how to captivate the attention of Queen Elizabeth and her court by presenting

h his such eroes as no longer existed in day, but he knew dl also how to amuse and satisfy his coarse groun ings , who dr ank and smoked throughout the performance . He knew how to put into the mouth of his clowns exactly what each naive spectator would have said under Similar circumstances . E He knew , in short, how to adapt to the nglish stage the eternal type of Bertoldo .

r At the beginning of the eighteenth centu y a dancer, acrobat and mime named Grimaldi made his appearance on the stage

- of the Comédie Italienne in Paris . Dancing one day before

s the Turki h ambassador, he gave such a leap in honour of his Excellency that he struck his head against the crystal lustre

n suspended above it . One of the gira doles , detached by the blow, struck the ambassador of the Sublime Porte on the nose mi and narrowly ssed putting out one of his eyes . The Turk

his in a passion laid a complaint before ministry, demanding no doubt the bastinado as a punishment for the clum sy dancer . But the minister condemned Grimaldi merely to make a public apology to the inviolable representative of the

ur Grand T k .

us d Grimaldi had a son , Gi eppe Grimal i , who had a long career in the fairs of Italy and France , dancing and singing 1755 E in pantomime . In he went to ngland to play in the ballet pantomimes at the Theatre Royal , Haymarket . The critics of the time found only one fault with this Italian 233 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE bufl oon who E , became an nglish clown , that of being too di 1 88 7 . comical . He ed in

his S r di One of ons , Joe G imal , enjoyed great celebrity in England at the beginning of the nineteenth century as a mime did at Drury Lane . Charles Dickens not to edit

his and publish Memoirs .

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

us his he knows m ic and takes manners from the court , Flavio im agin es that he will be able to hold the love of Fiorinetta But wha t will he do when he perceives that money conquers everything ? He will curse the contrariness of Fate and the ” mercilessness of Heaven .

di Polidoro represents the rich , scourteous and overbearing ul lover . But the beautif , the elegant gentleman of this epoch , he who , without money , pleases women , who is the hi mirror of fas on and the flower of wit , is not without being i l rid cu ous upon occasion , and we suspect Ruzzante of having designedly shown him under an efleminate aspect in his

Ancon na comedy ita .

Two young gallants of the epoch , sons of a good Sicilian family , are reduced by romantic vicissitudes to the necessity of earning their living , and all that they are capable of doing

w is to seek service ith some noble lady . One of them does so in the capacity of a poet, promising to praise her eternally in prose and in verse

I shall study how to sing the praises of her charm s in choice rhymes , and I shall laud, I shall extol adoringly, now

s her enchanting eyes , now her blond tre ses , now her lovely

hi her neck , now her w te hand, now soft glance , her words , her

u her gest res , her grace, her virtues , her garments , movements and that in various manners , in chapters , in epistles , in epilogues , in eclogues , in songs , in impromptus , in sonnets , ” a in madrigals , in st nzas , in odes , and in ballads .

The other brother , contemning the frivolity of such employ f ment , of ers himself in the capacity of a valet and perfumer 236 LELIO The ladies to whom I shall give my services need not fear those pomades and unguents which are plastered on to the

ds lips of their husban when they kiss them . I know how to distil perfumes from plants and trees which not only beautify

r the face and neck , but further steep the flesh in sweet odou s di I can stil waters to render tresses curly and golden , waters to smooth the brow, waters to darken the eyebrows , waters l t to tint the cheeks , waters to render the ips rosy, the eeth dazzling, the neck white , the hands soft . Their virtues ,

ff r employed on the di erent parts of the body , will last th ee days and three nights, and they will not be succeeded , as is

un the case with vulgar guents , by that pallor mottled with various colours which disfigures the countenance on the morrow . I have scents of musk , of ambergris, of lavender, hi of styrax , with w ch I mingle the juices of certain other herbs or flowers , producing essences so sweet that I consider ul these aromas capable of preserving body and so . Waters of jasmine , of orange flowers , of citron , I repute of no account because I shall distil essences fr om unknown plants which will be infinitely preferred to all those that are considered most ” d admirable and most precious to ay .

1576 comico acceso In Flaminio Scala (Flavio) , (impassioned comic , or lover) , being then in the prime of youth and the

e Gelosi fuln ss of his talent , placed himself at the head of the

- troupe and , for twenty eight years , was able to command the hi applause of Italy and France . T s troupe , reconstituted 1576 1577 in Venice in , went to Blois in to perform before o King Henry III . later the company was seen at the H tel de

Bourbon , which at the time was no more than a chapel with 237 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE a gallery where a theatre was set up upon occasion for the ~

di Gelo court fetes . The or nary headquarters of the si com

pany were in Florence . Thence it went out to tour the

principal cities of Italy and of France . From 1576 to 1604 the actors playing the roles of lover

hi : l in t s remarkable troupe were F avio (Flaminio Scala) ,

Cinthio Cintio Fid enz i Oratio (Orazio Nobili , born at Padua) , ( ) ,

Valerini Fabrizio, and Aurelio (Adriano , a Veronese gentle

al rini L . V e man , doctor of law and a fairly good atin poet) left the Gelosi troupe in 1579 to undertake the direction of the

Co ici n w as m u iti. At the head of this troupe he received in

1583 din i by Car al Carlo Borromeo in M lan ,

The leadin g ladies (or amour euses) in the Gelosi during that

: And reini mi l period were Isabella (Isabella ) , Fla nia , Arde ia ,

L An reini d L . idia (second wife of G . B . ) and aura hi i The soubrettes were Francesc na (Silvia Roncagl ) , Vittoria

Ba ardi in Antonaz z oni (Antonella j ) , Ricciol a (Maria ) , Olivetta ,

Ortensia , and Nespola . The old women were played under

Pas uella the name of q .

Pedrolino e t l The lackeys were , Arl cchino , Burat ino, Gri lo ,

Mez z etin o hi Ciccialboncio , Cavicc o (a peasant) , (a peasant) ,

Memm ei Bigolo , , Piombino .

e The old men were Doctor Graziano , Pantalone , Z nobio ,

Cassandro d . , Cornelio , Tosano , Adorne, Claudio and Catal o Captain Spavento was played by Francesco Andreini and Sireno was one of the fir st parts played by Domenico Bruni ul 94 15 . (F vio) , who joined the company in

son di Bruni , who was the of an old come an , was then fourteen years of age ; he was starved and almost naked when given shelter by Scala and engaged to improvise odd 238

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE ing lucidity and continuity of theme ; they deserve indeed to be recognised as his own work . He performed them L all over Italy as well as the comedies of Groto , of asca ,

hi Beolco di of Cecc , and of , and even some trage es and some

- i opera ballets . Th s method of playing in the two styles , the impromptu and the academic , was continued until the eighteenth century by the companies that travelled in Italy ,

France and Germany . Flaminio Scala’s collection is prefaced by an interesting speech to courteous readers written by Francesco Andr eini

Ca ita n S avento (known as p p ) , in which there is proof that Flaminio Scala was the first serious author and editor of scenarii properly so called .

The man who is born into this world must , in his youth , ur apply himself to ways of merit that he may live hono ably , content him self and please others ; for an ignorant man is his vicious and evil to himself and noxious to neighbour . Thus he who would arrive at any sort of perfection must make choice of one of the seven liberal arts and practise it . L I shall not speak of ysippus and Roscius , of Socrates , of

Titus , of Varro , nor of many others who , from coarse and n ig orant that they were, rendered themselves great and I will i . mmortal by means of knowled ge and of virtue . a confine myself to saying th t the Signor Flaminio Scala , known n as Flavio in the theatre , co forming to these maxims of his conduct , devoted himself from youth to the noble exercises of comedy (a thing not degrading to his noble birth) and in this practice he made such progress that he deserved to be placed in the front rank of good comedians . That is why the

Signor Flavio, after long years consecrated to playing in e com dy , wishes to bequeath to the world not his beautiful nifi his d e words, not his mag cent conceits , but come i s, which in all seasons and in all places have brought him the greatest 240

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE costumes for nymphs several painted trees two live babies i ul one beaut f ship one earthquake etc . , etc .

It may throw a usef ul light upon a theatrical epoch of which but little is known to translate as a Specimen one of the scenarii iornate or days (g ) of Flaminio Scala , not as a work of d any value to ay, but as a proof of the relative ability already attained by the authors and the comedians of the Commedia

’ dell Arte .

THIRD DAY

THE WILES or ISAB ELLA

Argum ent A pretty widow of quality persuades her own brother to conduct her lover to her upon the pretext that she wishes to marr y him to a young girl whom he has betrayed and di abandoned . The brother, scovering the ruse , and knowing his the lover to be worthy of Sister, consents to their marriage .

Chara cters in the Comedy

T PAN ALONE , a Venetian .

PEDROLI NO . , his lackey

FLAvro . , the lover of FLAMINIA

ORAz ro B . , the brother of ISA ELLA B ORAz ro T ISA ELLA , a widow , sister to , in love with CAP AIN

SPAV ENTO . ORAz ro B ARLECCHINO , servant to and ISA ELLA . ’ T SPAV ENTo B CAP AIN , ISA ELLA S lover . SPAV ENTo FLA I V o . FLAMINIA , sister to , in love with

BuRATTINo . , an innkeeper

FRANCESCHINA , his wife . PEDROLI N r O . Two rogues , f iends of

Two thieves , acting on their own account . 242 LELIO

Properties for the Comedy

A good deal of coin ; costum es for thr ee beggars ; a Sign for an inn a pair of shoes ; a knife to cut ; a basket with edible victuals ; a lantern ; a kitchen spit ; a long stick .

S cene Perugia

ACT I

T SPAV ENTo m o a nd later CAP AIN , FLAMINIA

Spavento relates to his friend Flavio that he is in love with ’ Isabella , a widow of quality and Orazio s sister . Knowing him ’ him to be a friend of Orazio s , he begs to Speak to the latter and to endeavour to obtain for him the hand of his sister

Isabella . Flavio promises to do his best and in his turn discovers to the Captain that he too is in love and that he has just written a love letter . Flaminia shows herself at her window, calls her brother the Captain and bids him come l i him him inside , te l ng that letters have just arrived for ;

i . thereupon she w thdraws Flavio, having observed that she his had a book in her hand, asks the Captain what it is that

Sister studies so assiduously . The Captain replies that from morning till night S he does nothing but read romances of is chivalry and h tories of love . Flavio begs the Captain to i in correct the letter , wh ch he has written , before despatch g his a it to beloved . The Captain takes it , s ying that he will his give it for correction to sister Flaminia , who is better i f educated than h msel . He goes indoors after reminding i him i Flavio of his prom se to Speak of to Oraz o . Flavio rejoices at the good fortun e which thus places his letter in the

his . He oes o hands of adored Flaminia ( g fi. )

PANTALOON a nd PEDROLINo Pantaloon confesses to his lackey that he is in love with Isabella and asks his advice as to how to go about making 243 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

his w a w ould her wife . The yfi be to marry her, replies P dr olino a e . be Pant loon then relates how, after having tra ed - h n y his waiting woman Francesc i a , he married her to Burattino the innkeeper with a dowry of 500 livres and that further he has promised to present her with 1000 ducats on t a Pedr olino hi l the bir hd y of her first boy . gh y praises such his a work of charity and extols the generosity of master . him m unificent ll dl him his Knowing so , he wi gla y assist in endeavours to obtain Isabella in marriage . Whereupon they off go .

BuRATTINo and then B and the T FRANCESCHINA , , ISA ELLA CAP AIN ff They enter chatting of their little household a airs , of their h ul position , w ich is none too brilliant, but which wo d be hi greatly improved if Francesc na were to give birth to a boy , Since Pantaloon has promised to pay her 1000 ducats on that ur l his hi day . B attino tel s wife that t s depends upon herself . hi ul Francesc na replies that the fa t is his , etc . They mutually in reproach each other and end by quarrell g . The noise they l uk make brings Isabe la to her window . She reb es Frances hi li c na for quarrel ng thus with her husband . But Burattino di answers her insolently , bid ng her to mind her own business . i The Captain , entering at th s moment , takes up the defence of his adored Isabella and threatens to strike Burattino . Isabella implores mercy for Burattino and sends him away together with Franceschina after giving them money so that s in they Shall cea e quarrell g .

The C T B then and FLAvro AP AIN , ISA ELLA , HARLEQUIN

a l The Capt in , after extravagantly saluting Isabel a , craves i news of her brother and of Flavio . Isabella repl es that she has not seen them and receives the homage of the Captain , who is extremely gallant , and utters a thousand honeyed phrases . But the amorous interview is interrupted by Harle u us q in , the servant of the ho e, who becomes angry with him Isabella and compels her to go with , threatening to 244

THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

w they take their leave ith extreme politeness , and depart . ur wi s him B attino , recovering from the be lderment cau ed by i i his n their flow of speech , d sposes h mself to resume eati g ; di hi his scovering , however, not ng but emptiness , he enters inn weeping . This closes the first Act .

ACT 11

FLAVI o ORAz ro I and then the T , , HARLEQU N , CAP AIN

Flavio begs Orazio to put aside all rancour and out of ri hi his n f ends p for him to make peace with the Captai , who dl di e is much more frien y spos d than he supposes . Orazio ui consents . The Captain arrives . At sight of him Harleq n un wi r s away , enters the house and from the ndow desires to be ’ u his reass red that enemy s choler has abated . Flavio pre sentl ur him y reass es and then , having restored peace between

Orazio and the Captain , they all depart rejoicing in this i sound friendsh p .

T PEDROLI No then B and PAN ALOON , , ISA ELLA FLAMINIA

ur Pantaloon , who has witnessed the depart e of the young e ink p ople , th s that the moment may be favourable to speak a to Is bella . He coughs , scratches the door , and performs his other antics to draw attention to presence . Isabella Shows herself at her window and out of coquetry announces that l mi she is going for a wa k . At the same time she signs to Fla nia , who is at the window of her house opposite , to join her in the mi street . Isabella and Fla nia enter the stage and allow

Pantaloon and his servant to chat with them . Isabella , his pretending to find eloquence irresistible , confesses herself in drolin o wi i Pe . love th Pantaloon , and Flamin a does the like by ui But Isabella req res a proof of affection , and begs Pantaloon ni to come and serenade her that same eve ng . Pantaloon

re - promises three serenades , whereafter each lady enters her Pedrolino n own house , and Pantaloon , with , both i toxicated i wi . th joy , leap and dance like a pair of fools Th s brings out 246 LELIO

hi ul Francesc na and Burattino , who deride their sing ar capers . a off P ntaloon goes .

BuRATTI No PEDROLI No , FRANCESCHINA ,

his Pedrolino Burattino and wife continue to jest with .

The latter ends by being angry and threatens vengeance . As ’ l hi Pedrolino the innkeeper s laughter is on y increased by t s , r him cornuto th eatens to make a . Burattino laughs at the i l threat , but Francesch na fetches a broom and fal s upon

Ped rolino re - , who runs away . Thereafter the couple enter , his discomfiture rejoicing in .

m o a nd ISAB ELLA

i r n his Flav o ente s , complai ing of uncertainty on the score him of whether Flaminia loves or not , and seeking a pretext for addressing her again . The letter which he has written and hi w ch is in her hands is a means . Isabella , from her window , h u us has eard the entire monolog e , and , to am e herself, asks him has if he met Orazio and the Captain , who are seeking him n to i vite him to their nuptials , as Orazio is going to marry mi hi Fla nia and the Captain is going to marry herself . T s wi n said , she thdraws , laughi g in her sleeve . Flavio is over him come by this unexpected news . Burattino , seeing him he preoccupied , accosts and asks him if , by chance , knows of any means for the getting of male children . Flavio turns wi off di and , thout uttering a word , goes . Burattino, stressed

an - his in at not having received answer, re enters .

T PEDROLI No three musicians B and PAN ALOON , , , ISA ELLA FLAMI NIA

Pantaloon and Pedrolino station their musicians under the ll windows of Isabe a and Flaminia , commanding them to play di and dance . The la es show themselves and graciously thank Pedr olino the performers of the serenades for their attention . i and Pantaloon withdraw joyously w th the instrumentalists .

Isabella , remaining at her window after their departure, begs 247 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Flaminia , who is also at her window , to honour by her presence the marriage which she is about to contract with Flavio , who f has long been her lover . The a fair , she says , has been a arranged and concluded by her brother the Capt in . Flaminia, wounded to the heart , declines the invitation and withdraws in tears . Isabella , after this fresh trick , and after having wounded the hearts of Flavio and Flaminia , but knowing full r well how to heal them , withd aws well pleased .

T PEDROLI No BuRATTI No PAN ALOON , ,

Pantaloon Shows Pedrolino a pair of new Shoes which he has ba iocchi Pedr olino bought for twelve (Sixpence) . , after having examined them , declares them to be old Shoes , and that it is f ik shame ul for a man l e Pantaloon to buy such things . Burat tino , who is on his way to consult a doctor, asks Pantaloon if he will sell him the shoes for the twelve baiocchi he has paid ui for them . Pantaloon is q te willing . But on one condi ” r tion , says Bu attino, that is that each each of you shall h h stake a halfpenny w”it me , and t at the first to repent shall lose his halfpenny . This is agreed . Burattino takes a knife and begins to cut through the sole of one shoe, saying , lf He who retracts will lose his ha penny . Having cut up one shoe, he takes the other one and begins to perform upon hi it the same operatio”n . Thereupon he asks them , W ch of you two retracts ? and as each replies that he will not ur retract , B ”attino says, If neither of you retracts then I will retract . Whereupon , throwing down the two shoes , he Pedrolino continues on his way . Pantaloon and look at each other and perceive that Burattino has fooled them . They go i off . indignantly, and th s ends the second Act

ACT III

B and then ORAz I o ISA ELLA , HARLEQUIN ,

Isabella tells Harlequin that She is going to talk with her ul ui brother Orazio , and sho d he question Harleq n , Harlequin 248

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

old and ill though he may be, a statement which is but

. off i very little flattering to the latter Flavio goes angr ly . ur Pantaloon , left alone with his fut e wife, attempts to caress her . He is rudely repulsed . Burattino goes mockin gly to k w her aid , and Pantaloon , not nowing upon hom to vent his n ul off anger, i s ts Burattino and goes .

BuRATTI No PEDROLI No then two ro ues and , , g FRANCESCHINA

off di his Burattino watches Pantaloon , deri ng stupidity, Pedrolino di ui di when , sg sed as a men cant , with a long false n beard , and a patch over one eye , enters beggi g . Burattino ' i him b ds . Pedrolino go to the devil, and seek work replies that it is through having worked too hard that he has been his driven out of own country . At this moment a rogue , a Pedr olino u friend of , arrives disg ised as a merchant , pretends him him to perceive for the first time , salutes him , thanks and gives him money to recompense him for the great service him him rendered in procuring an heir . The false merchant i s announces h m elf delighted at having found him , and departs . hi n Burattino , having overheard t s conversation , is a xious to a underst nd the subject of it more clearly , when a second rogue , Pedrolino r also in agreement with like the fi st , comes to his ul announce to him that secret , whence it res ts that none e but boys are born , has once more been p rfectly successful . Pedrolino Thereupon he also departs . Burattino then detains , who pretends to wish to go . He summons his wife , and e behold the two of them qu stioning this mysterious operator . Pedrolin o l cannot reveal his secret , but te ls them that they his are free to experience the excellence of occult knowledge . s dr Hu band and wife having consulted together, they aw

Pedr olin o by cajoleries into the inn .

The T ORAZI o B CAP AIN , , ISA ELLA

Orazio having taken the Captain into his confidence on the ’ subject of Isabella s love for him , the latter is enchanted and

l . consents glad y to the marriage Isabella , summoned by her 250 LELIO

r brother , and having manifested her joy in mar ying the him ’ Captain , conducts upon Orazio s permission into the house . She returns to tell her brother that she has had the

Captain taken to her own chamber, where he will find the n you g Neapolitan girl whom he so little expects . Orazio and laughs heartily at the farce played upon the Captain , goes him in quest of Flavio , to advise of the good success of this l affair . Isabel a , who wishes to kill two birds with one stone , ni calls Flami a .

B and Ni ht ISA ELLA FLAMINIA . ( g )

s di Flaminia expre ses her surprise at fin ng Isabella in th”e street at such an hour . The reason is a very Simple one , i r repl es Isabella . My poor b other Orazio is there in the house weeping and lamenting because you will not have him” him for your husband . Be generous , come and console . n l Flami ia , sti l angry with Flavio , resolves to go . They enter l ’ Isabel a s house .

FLAvro then I a nd B , HARLEQU N ISA ELLA

his Flavio , at the height of anger against Flaminia , wishes to marry Isabella out of Spite ; he hopes that Orazio will i i read ly consent to their un on . Harlequin , sent by Isabella , comes to beg Flavio to wait a moment for his mistress, who him l s desires to speak to . Isabel a arrives , dismi ses her confid enc s l servant and makes false e to Flavio . She tel s him wi that she is to marry the Captain against her ll , and that ul she would very much prefer Flavio if he wo d consent . She is a widow and may marry again as she pleases, whilst Flavio is free , since Flaminia is marrying another . Flavio , persuaded,

s . consents to wed her . They enter the hou e arm in arm

T BuRATTINo PAN ALOON ,

his Pantaloon , lantern in hand , is seeking house when Burattino comes on to tell him that he had better prepare the 251 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

r mi hi un hund ed ducats pro sed to Francesc na , because she is t t doubtedly going to give bir h to a boy for hwith . Pantaloon,

t e - very happily , goes to seek the money . Burattino enters

Z then I and the CAPT ORA IO , HARLEQU N AIN di Orazio , becoming impatient at not fin ng Flavio , makes hi k hi s ft to enter his house , and nocks loudly at the door, w ch he finds closed . Harlequin appears , carrying an enormous ds di t lantern and bi Orazio make ”less noise, or he will s the young married people . Ah , he cries , your sister Isabella n f us is a clever woman , to have k own how to get h”ersel a h band i and to marry Flam nia at the same time . The Captain , ’ ms w also lighting hi elf ith a lantern , comes to grasp Orazio s him him his hand and to thank for having given sister to wife . hi Orazio understands not ng of all this .

FLAvro B a nd the recedin ones , FLAMINIA , ISA ELLA p g

Flavio and Flaminia enter hand in hand , having made the ul peace , and they congrat ate Isabella upon having so adroitly carried through this intrigue . Orazio inquires where is the youn g Neapolitan lady . Isabella confesses that the young

Neapolitan lady and herself are the same person , and announces that the story which she invented was no more than a ruse to i induce her brother h mself to give her to the Captain , whom his she loves . Orazio , having conquered astonishment , finds the Captain of a rank equal to his own and announces his consent . A great noise is heard in the inn .

' PEDROLINo BuRATTI No FRANCES OHINA and the recedin ones , , , p g

ed rolino P runs on , chased by Burattino , who is armed with hi the kitchen spit and seeks s life . The others separate them Pedrolin o and demand to know the reason of this quarrel . l n him exp ains that , Buratti o having mocked , he , to aveng”e him himself , had sworn to make a cuckold of . That, then, 252

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE as the labour of bees ; the flowers did not bloom on French soil ; the flight of these ingenious and mighty spirits crossed the Alps and the Pyrenees, to gather the precious nectars and return with the honey . France is rightly proud of them , e i but it is necessary to be just . Before Moli re , before Corne lle , L before Calderon and ope de Vega , and forty years before the

of Beolco birth Shakespeare , Angelo (termed Ruzzante) had — l — as we shal see created the modern theatre .

- Andreini Andreini Giovanni Battista , the son of Francesco 79 15 . and the famous Isabella , was born in Florence in He seems to have been the fir st actor to bear the name of LELIO

Gelosi in the theatre . In the troupe he replaced Domenico ul Bruni (F vio) in the capacity of lover .

Andr eini 1604 Gelosi After the death of Isabella in , the

di Andreini 1605 troupe was sbanded . G . B . undertook in the

Fedeli management of the troupe , which was recruited by more

r ini elosi. 1601 . And e than one of the old G In G B . had married in Milan Virginia Ramponi , a young and beautiful Milanese ,

Andreini known by the name of Florinda . After her death

married in second nuptials the celebrated actress Lidia .

In 1613 Andreini wrote a blank verse piece in five acts

di Médicis de cated to Marie de , which was performed in that

' a hi same ye r in Milan . T s piece, of a religious character

ra resentazione sacra Ada mo . ( pp ) , is entitled , The characters

in Eve E it are Adam and , the ternal Father, the Archangel L f Michael , Satan , ucifer, the elementary In ernal Spirits , the

hi the Seven Deadly Sins , the Serap m , Angels , Death, Hunger, 254 LELIO

e the Flesh and the Serpent . In short , it is a myst ry play of the fifteenth century . di 1613 The Milanese e tion of is extremely curious , with its engravings by Procaccini interposed in every scene . Its dedication to the Queen of France stirred in her the curiosity to know the author and the company . He went therefore

1613 his to Paris in , and remained there , playing several of

u 6 6 , 1 18 . pieces, ntil He was installed at the H tel de Bour

6 his gogne from 1 2 1 until 1625. He lost father in that year and bade farewell to France in a work half theatrical , half T eatro Celeste . mystic , entitled

“ o Teatro Celeste hi l , in w ch we see Divine Mercy cal ing several penitent and martyred comedians to the ranks of the

blessed in Paradise , in which those who practise the profession of the theatre are poetically exhorted to follow their art without offending virtue , and not only to leave upon earth an honoured name , but further not to close against themselves

dic by vice the path which leads to Paradise . De ated to my most illustrious and most reverend lord and very respected

Andreini patron the Cardinal de Richelieu . By Gio Batt . of L Florence, known in the theatre as elio .

An dreini s di In this work sings the praises of piou come ans .

his his He puts forward claims in favour of profession . One

i Ard elion of his sonnets is in pra se of St , a pagan actor, a

ni martyr like St Genest . Another is in honour of Giovan

l n Buono of Mantua , who, retiring to a cloister, ived in pe itence and was considered a saint he who so long excited laughter ” is transformed into a fount of tears .

beatification h Again , it is the of Brother Jo n the sinner,

di dr the ancient come an of A ia , who , in his conventual cell, 255 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

aff ords the angels the spectacle of his m ortifications and his ” piety . Fur ther on we have the praise of comedians who lead virtuous lives in the practice of their art . A whole sonnet

his Andr eini is consecrated to the memory of mother, Isabella . He compares human life such as it is in the world’s theatre to a mad theatrical performance . The poet exhorts actors of

i re - disordered l fe to enter the path of good conduct . Then ,

s in his last sonnets , he bid farewell to the theatre and to the world and aspires to do penance . Deceiving stage, I go

Never again Shall I tread thy boards , tricked out and proud . I abandon all that vain lustre even as I withdraw from the lovely land of France .

And reini his Fedeli departed , in fact, with troupe (the ) ;

i 1652 w but he remained nevertheless their D rector until , hen

- at last he retired at the age of seventy three, honoured by the uk favour of princes , appointed master of the hunt of the D e ” ensierati of Mantua and a member of the society of the Sp .

a He wrote so great a number of pieces, p storal plays, comedies

scenam h and , t at no biography has yet been able to include l a complete ist .

’ 1622 La S ultana L Amor In the year he published in Paris ,

Nello S ecchio La Ferinda I/ iDue LeliSimili La Centaw m. p , , , and His pieces are redolent of the taste of the epoch they are full

Riccoboni : of Obscenities . says of him

Andr eini Giov . Battista was a man of wit and of letters , and I am sure that had he lived fif ty years earlier he would have followed the path trodden by others and would have left

us some good comedies ; but afte r all he was both author and 256

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

’ Orazio s costume consists of a pale green doublet , a colour

s hi in the very best of taste breeche of w te satin , laced with silver and decked with ribbons tied into a knot in the hi place of the old garters , which had now passed out of fas on i Silk stock ngs , and shoes with large pale green rosettes . A white baldric embroidered in silver carried his long rapier ;

r he leaned upon a cane, and was cu led , pomaded and perfumed . There you have Orazio marching to the assault of the heart of

li s i Aure a or I abella , and , like the lover conceived by Sa nt Amant in his enumeration of the reformations which he

’ considers to be a lover s due , he no longer smokes .

wi hs his Not t tanding this extreme care of person , and under

f s this ef eminate exterior, Orazio is a cavalier as dangerou to

his L his rivals as to the ladies who have caught eye . ike Don d Juan, fathers , tutors , husban s , brothers and servants cannot

s turn him aside from hi enterprises . He has always a sword

his f his e thrust ready for rivals , a cuf for lackeys , and flatt ry

ha t t is honeyed , persuasive, and fraught with a dash of raillery ,

i dernier bien mis s . for h mistresses He is a gentleman of the , as the phr ase ran then one who knows of life nothing but its ui u s . lux ries dress , horses , duel and women He q ts the arms

hr s of Aurelia to run and t ow him elf at the feet of Isabella , and if on the way he meets the soubrettes Beatrix or Diaman

his tine , he forget latest passion to dally with them , and to li his . AS betray even valet prodigal of his fe as of his purse ,

e s he is brave to the point of t merity, and his rival all give way h before him . The type of Orazio is somet ing more than a lover he is a hero of gallantry whose device is Fais ce que

veux , advienne que pourra LELIO

Rom agn esi played these parts down to the time of his death 1660 in . 1653 In , Turi , born at Modena , a son of the actor who played

’ the roles the parts of Pantaloon , was to be seen in of second Af lover under the name of Virginio . ter the death of his father he left the theatre at the age of forty and w ithdrew to

Modena , where he took the habit of the order of barefoot

t his Carmelites . A few days af er having pronounced vows he

in died , and he was interred the convent 1660 In , the Italian company being definitely established

in Paris , the cardinal summoned from Italy a leading lover

(primo inna morato) to make good the loss which the company

s Rom a nesi had ju t sustained in the person of Marco g . An actor whose stage name was Valerio ca me to take up this 1667 position and occupied it until .

Andrea Zanotti of Bologna , known in the theatre under the

his name of Ottavio , made début in Paris on the Italian stage

- h 1660 n 1667 in second lover parts , w ich he played from u til ,

d s 168 when he was promoted to lea ing lover . Toward 4 Zanotti retired from the theatre and returned to Italy with his

Was . family . He an excellent comedian He was surnamed

the old Ottavio, to distinguish him from Giovanni Battista 1668 Constantini , who played in also under the name of

Ottavio .

Af r Rom a nesi ter the departu e of Ottavio , Marco Antonio g di 1694 took up the lea ng parts , and played them until under

CINTHI o h l the name of , w ich was a ready in existence . A lover 259 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE whose real name we have been unable to ascertain had 0 already borne it in Rome in 155 . It is un der the pompous name of Cinthio del Sole that Marco

Rom a nesi his fir Antonio g , born at Rome , made st appearance in Paris in 1667 He was the son of Marco Rom agnesi and

Bri hid a . g Bianchi He succeeded Valerio , whose family name him is unknown . We behold , in the collected plays of

Gherardi , dressed after the fashion of a young man of quality i e L u . at the end of the sevent enth century , with the huge o s XIV

g , the pointed lace collar , waistcoat and coat of a long cut , l a sash round his midd e , a round hat slightly cocked , the i crown encircled by feathers . Th s is the classic costume of

e Léa ndre . the young men of Moli re , of , Ottavio and all lovers

In Colombine Avocat Cinthio , , passing in front of Harlequin , hl who , pretending to be a marquis , is ric y but grotesquely

ur him and him dressed , s veys from head to foot then takes by

IS a the sleeve to ask him , that the f shion

Sir a hi HARLEQUIN . Yes , , the f s on . What has it to do with you I HI o coldl C NT ( y) . Are you not called the Marquis Sbrufad elli ?

the Sbruf ad elli HARLEQUIN . Yes , sir , Marquis is my name . What have you to say about it ’

CINTHI O . And you are to marry Isabella , the Doctor s

ll hi . l HARLEQUIN Certain y , and none sha nder me . I am a

gentleman of quality, and a man of heart , by heaven de CI NTHI o ridin him . ! ( g ) Ha , ha , ha the lovely fellow thrustin down his hat with one hand a nd lacin HARLEQUIN ( g , p g u on the hilt o is the other p f h sword) . What To a man such as I By death ! By I h CINTH O (dr i g) . What are you going to do with that sword

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

2nd 1688 ni- C i On the November , Giovan Battista onstantin ,

n a t Mez z etin a you ger brother of Angelo Const n ini ( ) , who had

left his native place, Verona , made his first appearance in

TT V Paris under the name of O A IO .

On the 2nd November 1688 the Italian comedians per formed for the first time a comedy entirely in Italian entitled

’ -rfil La Folia d Ottavio. e The title , which is that of a lover, was filled by a young man who is a son of Grad elin and a brother

in Mez z et . of He was applauded by the entire assembly . He

iff n — performed on seven d ere t kinds of instruments namely,

the flute, the theorbo , the harp , the psaltery, the cymbal , the

e guitar, the hautbois, and to th se he added on the morrow

the organ . He sings agreeably and dances very well . He is

o M de T a e Note . la of a very good shape ( f r g ) .

Ottavio succeeded Aurelio in the parts of second lover . In

1694 61 Cinthio he assumed the leading r es , when abandoned 1697 them for those of doctors and fathers . In , after the i di L X IV expulsion of the Ital an come ans by order of ouis . ,

Constantini returned to Verona , and rendered important 1701 services to the French generals during the war of . The

t s ll Imperialis s avenged them elves by pi aging his property .

C Lisliere The hevalier de , sent by the King into Italy to

reconnoitre the positions , encampments and movements of the

enemy, attests that the Sieur Constantini Ottavio , a gentle

has his man of Verona , given essential proofs of his zeal and of 262 LELIO attachment to France ; he undertook several journeys by

the s order of generals , and he was so u eful that he was the first to bring them news of the advance of the enemy in Italy .

h he did his in T is at own expense, refus g the emoluments ff hi which the generals o ered him the enemy, learning t s , and

his being informed of his zeal for France , have wrecked pro perty in the neighbourhood of Verona . He has asked me to

h and give him t is certificate , as I was frequently charged with him communicating to in the orders of the generals , I am unable to refuse m y testimony of the zeal and attachm ent

a of the s id Sieur Constantini to the interests of France, and of the disinterested manner in which he has afforded proof of this .

- L 12th Given at the camp of Saint Pierre de inage, the 01 June 17 . S i ne LI LIE E ( g d) S R .

ur in 1708 Ottavio ret ned to Paris completely ruined , and in recompense for the services which he had rendered to the army before Verona he received from the King , through the

Tessé interest of the Marshal de , the post of inspector of all the barriers of Paris . This important office enabled him to set up a sort of Italian theatre at the fairs of Saint- Germain and

- L 1712 . Saint aurent in But , as he was an extravagant man L and of but little method, he did bad business . ater on , when the Italian troupe was summoned to France by the Regent

Orleans 1716 ff his in , he went to o er services to his compatriots ,

who accepted them with pleasure . But whether through i d sorder, or the incapacity of the people he employed to set up the machinery and carry out the repairs at the Palais 263 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

di Royal , his comrades spensed with him at the end of a

month .

a 173 1 He died at L Rochelle in . He was a man of wit

l Grad elin his and of talent but , ike his father and brother

Mez z etin dle t , the unbri d love of women and of the table lef him in indiff erent circumstances throughout his lif e and in

misery at the end of it .

Giovanni - Battista Constantini married in Italy a very

a Sabolini be utiful woman named Teresa Corona , who played

un der the name of Diana . But she never accompanied her

husband on his journeys into France .

1694 - Rom a nesi In Carlo Virgilio g , the grandson of Aurelia

and his di - Orazio , made début at the Comé e Italienne under

ds the name of Leandre . Gifted with a han ome countenance and

’ a an innate t lent for the dramatic art , he played all the lovers

69 - parts until 1 7 . When the Comédie Italienne was closed he

Tortoretti him joined the troupe of , and toured with through wi El France . He fell in love th isabetta , the daughter of

- Giovanni Battista Constantini , who was also touring the him L country , went with to orraine and then returned to 0 d 17 7 . 173 1 Paris in , where he married the lady He die in .

L Riccoboni L uigi , who played under the name of elio, 16 4 was born at Modena in 7 . He was the son of a celebrated

’ di Riccoboni l come an , Antonio , and, fol owing in his father s

w as w h r6les profession , he seen , always it success , in the of

a . le ding lover, under the name of Federigo He joined the

- Con company of Signora Diana , the wife of Giovanni Battista 264

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Histor o the I ta lia n Theatre y f ) , I began to frequent the theatre .

Almost all the comedians of those days were ignorant fellows ;

’ lovers parts were played by the sons of comedians , men of no education , or else by young people who embraced the ” profession out of principles of libertinism .

Riccoboni hi h l speaks , in t s istory , of an actor who , ike hi bonne comédie — mself , sought to uplift the that is to say ,

by the classical comedy written in verse and learnt heart .

all d As in professions , he says , there is often to be foun in this one a m an of wit and of ta ste who detaches himself from the others ; during the last days in which the comedians were still at liberty to go to perform in Rome during carnival , a young man of that great city was attracted to comedy , and followed the troupe . He had the good fortune to fall into the hands of Francesco Calderoni (Silvio) and Agata C alderoni (Flaminia) , his wife , the grandmother of my own ,

vi s h who, ha ng pre erved a remnant of t is art (classical comedy) , him opened a good door for and showed him the good path .

hi his n T s young man, in quest of disti ction , passed through

c and his l all the degrees of omedy , by app ication and study,

h the succeeded in becoming the ead of a troupe, and greatest

his . actor of day He of whom I speak is named Pietro Cotta , sur named Lelio he has always been accounted a man of i u great probity, the avowed enemy of all equ vocal tho ght and hi of all that licence w ch , at the end of the last century, was so ” very much in evidence in our disordered theatres .

’ if C w as . In fact, otta s aim to upl t comedy in every sense It

’ fir L Aristodemo was in Venice that he produced , for the st time, 266 LELIO del Dottore he his h , and took care to inform public t at there

a was no Harlequin in the piece , but th t the subject was very h moving . T is new species of spectacle attracted only a

mi Rodo une I hi énie en Aulide small number of ad rers . g , p g d di not amuse the great public . Some other directors sought h to imitate t is new classical school , but without success .

a The public dem nded Harlequin , Brighella , and Pantaloon ,

- ff G i cudgel blows and broad bu ooneries . Pietro otta ret red

us in disg t . Riccoboni went to France imbued with this mania for

e n trag dy, but in France there was no need of Italian comedia s

Ricco oni . b to provoke tears ; laughter was wanted Therefore ,

having missed his aim in France , withdrew to Parma , where he gave performances of tragedies and French classic comedies translated into Italian ; in these Pantaloon and the Doctor ul u became tr y noble fathers, and the lackeys , Harleq in and

r c Scapino , similarly lost thei original characteristi s .

Riccoboni um , it is plain , was cons ed by the singular desire

’ the C to destroy Italian comedy, this ommedia dell Arte to

hi his wh h w ch he owed best successes , and of ic he speaks in

his book like a competent and intelligent man . Perhaps his him sombre physiognomy, which aided to depict terrible and

extravagant passions , suggested to him the idea of throwing

himself into the serious and tragic style . Nevertheless he

had enjoyed a real vogue in his real line .

’ The success of L I ta lien Mame aParis and the liveliness of the dialogue in the scenes between Lelio and Flaminia caused

many to doubt that they were really being played impromptu . The enemies of the Italian company and French comedians 267 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

hi added weight to these suspicions . T s question was con tinuall dis us Grad ot y c sed in Paris , especially at the Café , ” h w ere literary people then assembled .

Riccoboni resum tu The two volumes of , entitled , a little p p

' ousl Histozre da Theatre I talien hi y , , form a work w ch it is ul usef to consult on the subject of the Italian theatre , although

in difierentl it is very incomplete , and written y , yet agreeably,

e by an Italian who employs a Fr nch entirely his own , but who

in wit e is wanting neither nor good sense . He appr ciates with h t exactness and subtlety the art of the t ea re, although in the

application of his theories he is very often wanting in taste , a circumstance which goes to prove that criticism is very much easier than practice .

Lui Riccoboni him gi took with into France as second lover,

1716 Baletti 1720 in , Giuseppe , surnamed Mario , who , in ,

- Benoz z i n un married Giovanna Rosa , very well k own der the

Baletti i . name of S lvia Giuseppe , who was born in Munich ,

died in 1762 .

13th 1725 - Rom a nesi On the April , Giovanni Antonio g , the son of Gaetano Rom agnesi and grandson of Marco -Antonio

Rom a nesi Cinthio Com edie g ( ) , made his first appearance at the

i r61e L Ital enne in the of elio , was well received , and continued o hi to appear in lover r les under t s name . He was born at 1690 Namur in . His mother, Anne Richard , after the death

Cinthio . of , married again , in Brussels , a man named Duret

- his This man ill treated his stepson , who had already made

’ début in his mother s company with considerable success . He

his was then fif teen years of age . Incensed by the harshness of

a - mother, and in desp ir under the ill treatment of Duret , he 268

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

hi who did not know a soul in the city , and who had not a fart ng

his inn in pocket . He went to an , demanding supper and a

his nfi bed , but shabby appearance inspired no co dence in the

Rom a nesi hostess ; she demanded payment in advance . g then confessed that he was without money , but assured her mi that he would receive a re ttance on the morrow , and be able ul mi to repay her . The f filment of such a pro se seemed doubtful it was in vain that he employed all his eloquence

w as i e it was wasted labour . He on the point of being d smiss d

e when a neighbouring baker, touch d by the speech which he

his him had overheard, undertook to pay bill for , should he hi fail to do so mself .

om a nesi On the morrow the baker went to the post with R g . They found a letter from Quinault in which he announ ced his arrival that evening . In effect , he arrived , and it would be

iffi ul Rom a nesi h d c t to express the joy of g , w ich he expressed ” whilst tenderly embracing Quinault and weeping for gratitude . Quinault kept the baker to supper when he learnt the service hi w ch the man had rendered to his protégé . ui On the morrow , having eq pped his new friend more suit

’ u ul t r ur Rom a nesi s se him . ably, Q ina t out with for St asb g As g

ni desertion was occasio ng Quinault some uneasiness , he thought it prudent to inform the Commandant of the place and the Intendant of the city . He related to them in detail the adventur es of young Rom agnesi in the most favour able him possible light . Protection was accorded , with the assurance that Quinault could cause his actor to make his

ni début whenever he thought fit . At the end of a fort ght

m a i Ro nes his . g made first appearance, and scored a greatsuccess m hi His uneasiness ceased entirely, thanks to an a nesty w ch 270 LELIO

di his was published and to a formal smissal from captain , who

r had received the order to issue it . After two years in St asburg

’ ’ Rom agnesi quitted Quinault s company to enter Ottavio s performing in Paris at the fairs of Saint- Germain and Saint

- Laurent which had become known as the Opera Comique .

u a 61 He ndertook there , and lways with success , the r es of

1716 wr lover . It was there , in , that he began to ite pieces for the forain theatres .

bad his r . Ottavio, having done business , gave up theat e

Rom a nesi 1718 g then went to tour the provinces until , when he returned to Paris and appeared at the Theatre-Frangais ;

e u us but h was not received there . He went to Bordea x , Br sels , 1725 Cambrai ; whence he returned to Paris again in , and

’ -l talienn L u appeared at the Comédie e in es S rprises de ZAmour . hi He was accorded a good reception in this theatre , of w ch he long sustained the glory as much by his talent for declama h tion as by the success of the pieces w ich he performed there ,

- which amount to some sixty two . Rom agnesi was tall and well made his voice was a little fl muf ed , and he appeared to labour when he had to recite any

all rather lengthy couplet . He was a good actor in lines , but excelled particularly in dr unken miles and in impersonating

di nl Swiss and Germans . He ed sudde y at Fontainebleau in e 11th 1742 . the arms of Mademoisell de Belmont, on the May

r f his The cu é of Fontainebleau having re used him burial , body

t r - was in erred in Pa is in the church of Saint Sauveur .

e Riccoboni L Riccobo a Franc sco , the son of uigi ni nd. of 1707 Flaminia , was born in at Mantua . He took up the parts

his i played by father under the same name of Lel o . His first

a 10th 1726 1729 appe rance took place on the January , and in 27 1 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

his re - he left the theatre together with father . He entered it 173 1 l d with his mother in , and there p ayed and anced with 1736 success intil . He then went to tour the provinces ,

- i returned to the Comédie Ital enne in the following year, 0 and left the theatre for good in 175 . He was the author of 1 2 h 77 . several Italian pieces , and died in He occupied imself

- L also with alchemy . He married Marie Jeanne aboras de

e i c M z eres , who was at on e an actress and the author of many esteemed romances .

- Lui Baletti Antonio gi , the son of Mario and Silvia , was , on

l st 1741 - un the February , received at the Theatre Italien der the name of Lelio to declaim and dance . On the occasion of his début his mother Silvia addressed a speech to the public in

hi ul notwith w ch she craved their ind gence for a child who , standing maternal representations , had insisted upon facing

of the dangers a first appearance . He was well received,

e ina z i together with Carlo B rt z .

23rd 1670 i On the February , the comed ans gave a benefit

his S erva Padrona performance in favour of the , to compensate him as far as possible for an accident which he had suff ered in the theatre .

Camille Ma icienne a In the last act of g , Pant loon leads on some soldiers to force an entrance into a tower in which Camille has imprisoned Lelio and Flaminia it was customary hi to discharge several shots against t s tower . One of the ul hi soldiers who was to take part in the assa t had , w lst waiting,

' placed his gun besid e that belonging to the sentry of the

h his . t eatre, who had quitted post The scene being reached

inad ver~ sooner than was expected, the soldier was called ; a the t utly he took weapon of the sentinel , which was loaded, 272

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

ff hr ru , his sword pointing upwards behind him and t eatening the eyes of his neighbours or becoming entangled in the legs of his ul lackey, it wo d seem that we have not here a lover, but f ul a sort of Matamoros . And as a matter of fact , this beauti L eandro is always the son of some captain , a great slayer of Saracens ; he too is in love with Isabella or Columbine ; he deigns to condescend even to this soubrette when she is the daughter or ward of Cassandre but notwithstanding his

ul r his f his beautif cu ls , lace ruf les , doublet , peaked like that of hi Polic nelle or of Matamoros , the sword of his ancestors , his hm i him titles, and the parc ents wh ch he always bears upon , he never succeeds in receiving anything but kicks aimed at his his stomach , but , thanks to the promptitude of evolutions , always delivered at another address . hi He is a Spaniard, a dalgo of the old rock . He is no

his doubt rich , to judge by the silver embroideries upon pink

i dr be or yellow garments , and the s mple Cassan e never fails to imposed upon by his exterior . When he speaks , he bleats

f - horribly . He holds himself as sti fly as a pine tree (it is sup posed that he wears corsets) he boasts to her whom he desires

bonnes ortunes hi to marry of his f , for w ch he has never failed to pay dearly ; he submits to beatings from Harlequin , and flees at the approach of any danger . He is totally ignorant of

i . everyth ng , with the sole exception of the art of heraldry ff Awkward and very susceptible , he never su ers anyone to pass in front of him ; he frequently carries his hand to his

rapier, but no one can remember ever to have seen its blade . i ui L ui Somet mes he is dressed like a marq s of o s XV. , but he i i possesses all the v rtues of the h dalgo , whether under his hempen wig or under his short red hair . 274 LELIO

Cassandre a ux I ndes b ul h In , a farce of the o evard t eatres

his Leandro is in love with Isabella . Cassandre on departure for the Indies had confided his daughter to the guardianship of Harlequin ; the latter permits himself to be L bribed by eandro , who desires to penetrate to the presence of

Isabella . After having ransacked the pockets of the lover, the lackey finds there A book to learn to read ; a paper snuff box a book of puerile civility ; a solar quadrant and a chain ” - r a patch box in white metal ; a cur ycomb a leather glove . All i ui th s is not worth very much , so that Harleq n demands that he shall write him a note for ten crowns in exchange for which Leandro may have speech of Isabella .

L o e eandro, who is unable to write , makes a cross up n a pi ce of paper . The conventional jests on the subject being ex hausted ui , Harleq n goes in search of Isabella .

L EANDRO . I am going to pay her a little impromptu ll compliment carefu y prepared . B enters ollowed b LEANDB it . o w h (ISA ELLA f y HARLEQUIN , out rem ovin his hat addresses her the ollow in com liment g , f g p . ) L ady , the admiration of your beauty has filled my heart with love of your fine eyes and should you feel a reciprocity for your very humble servant , there is no happier man upon in earth than I should be all the world . B ISA ELLA . Sir , it would be impossible to find a compliment s more gallantly expre sed , and I tell you frankly that you would i hi su t me very well as a follower, were it not for a detail w ch is di but a bagatelle , namely, that I am stressed to see that you ff are su ering from scurvy . i l o s LEANDB o his hat st l n hi head . L a ( ) ady, I ssure you

. e that is no longer the case I was cured at the age of sixt en . A scur vy gentleman would be an impossible thing !

B . r a ISA ELLA Sir , I have the honou to tell you th t I perceive h are i from my window t at you mak ng eyes at me . It might 275 THE HISTORY OF. THE HARLEQUINAD E

be fitting that I should be moved to love you , but I have noted s hi hi omet ng w ch stifles my tenderness in short , if you are not f rv f suf ering from scu y, you are clearly su fering from ringworm . LEANDB O still without takin o his hat ( g fi ) . If a man were to f ul his of er me that ins t, I should cut face in two but since hi f it is you, lady, the respect w ch I must bear to my a fections compels me to respect you . B A dro in a curts to Lea o nd/r . ISA ELL ( pp g y ) Farewell, sir .

I found you an ass , I leave you an ass . R la u hin a nd mimickin S B A n HA LEQUIN ( g g g I A ELL ) . I fou d Exeunt you an ass , I leave you an ass . ( . ) ’ LEANDRO (alone) . What does it mean 2 I don t un der h did . ! stand Oh , eavens, I not take off my hat Behold me i l off lost for all t me Is it possible that I , who wou d take my ofi m hat to a dog , should not have taken if to my char ing fu mistress She will desire no rther commerce with me . f r I am in a u y , which causes me the greatest sorrow . There is nothing left for me but to go and drown myself ; if only I ul had poison at hand, I believe that I sho d pass my sword through my body

u Polidoro , the ridic lous lover of the fifteenth century , in a

Beolco L comedy of (Ruzzante) , is the true modern eandro,

n h ugly, u gracious , unhealthy, but ric and confident of the power of his ducats .

cc ” he r i In short , says , money is the t ue means of obtain ng hi everyt ng . I have taken my precautions to monopolise the

r favou s of my beautiful lady, because I am not one of those who consent to be alone in the expense and accompanied in the ” r him the Cele a pleasu e . To enters little servant of g , the

Forbin o l th o . Pomnon Go ahead, , and tel y mistress that

I am coming . Make haste Bm hi the FOB o . I go , but at least give me somet ng for good 276

RUZZANTE

ur THERE is no such thing as useless labo . However arid or trivial a subject may seem , from the moment that you embark

ur w upon a study of it , yo researches ill always lead you to some serious discovery that will compensate you for your trouble .

Our thanks are due to thee , brave and good Ruzzante , thou mighty dead whom we have found lying in the dust of oblivion

s thou whose work , rare in Italy and unknown el ewhere, has permitted us at last to look upon the Commedia dell’ Arte as a Muse of the same blood and the same nobility as those e of Shakespeare and Moli re . Of the life of Shakespeare very little is known nothing is

n Beolco known of that of A gelo , surnamed Ruzzante, born at 1 52 5 . Padua in Was he an actor by profession , or was he no more than an amateur in the pursuit of his avocation ? The only inform ation of any consequence in existence is that afiord ed Scard eon by a page of Bernardino in his work,

De a nti uitate urbis Pataeii 1560 q ,

E c o Angelo e l o , known under the name of Ruzzante, was in Padua wha t Plautus was in Rome as an author and Roscius as an actor . He has even surpassed them , for there is

rceteaztce to atce m ixtce atellance no comedy of antiquity, p , g , , or ,

s di that can su tain comparison with the come es of Ruzzante , which were played throughout Italy, afforded so much pleasure 279 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

and attracted such crowds of men and women . As for him self , he was so superior to other actors that whenever he was on the stage the public neither saw nor heard anyone but

It might be added by us that Ruzzante surpassed Plautus in

i his the composition of comed es , and as for having been superior 1 to Roscius as an actor, we are compelled to admit it , judging from the incomparable naturalness of his compositions

his and language .

’ Ruz z ante s h was a brilliant epoch . It was in the our of the awakening of comedy in Italy that he too awakened in all the

r n n V st ength and freedom of his emi ently origi al genius . ery inferior to him on the score of individuality and novelty are his

w illustrious predecessors Ariosto , who at the age of t enty (in 1494) had already produced at the court of the Duke of Ferrara

I S u ositi h his comedy entitled pp Niccolo Macc iavelli , author of La Mandragora ( 1504) and La Cliz ia which latter

eo be L X . commanded to performed before him in Rome by the sem iterni introna ti a p or the , the ac demic actors of Florence and

Doviz i Siena and Bernardo , Cardinal of Bibbiena , author

La Ca land/ra w 1490 of , ritten in . These did not create a new style ; they revived a dead one . They walked in the ways of hi the masters of antiquity, and w lst they may have overtaken

ur s h them they did not s pa s t em . Ruzzante , far more daring

i all and creative, completed and embell shed the subjects to

h h his h a c w ic he set and . He cre ted a omedy of realities in the

1 Ge nn a in his S a io stori o sulle a ad em ie a e 2 1 alls him th e ri , gg c cc , p g , c n ew R s s his d a an a d a e m an a d us a and th e o ciu of y , mir bl , pro igio ctor a uthor of v e ry c lev er come die s

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

Ul hi timately, however, t s inscription having been found too — profane w e do not know by whom- it was removed; Bernardino Scard eon tells us that Ruzzante was of a joyous and amiable character, invariably pleasant and affable . His

him hi r e face, to judge from the portrait of w ch su vives , denot s a fine wit , gifts of observation and satire, and a firm and melancholy character . Almost all the characters of his comedies bore surnames

hi ln w ch afterwards became generic names, and so remained the theatre . i In the performance of his comed es , his stage com

a n n t p nio s were you g people of the nobili y of Padua ,

Alvarotto Menato such as Marco Aurelio , called ; Girolamo

Vezzo Caste nola ll Bilora Zanetti , called ; g , ca ed ; and some others who were able to imitate the language of the ” peasantry .

’ l Alo sio hi Ruz z ante s It is even possib e that y Cornelio mself , splendid protector , took part in their performances , and may have been , by antithesis , the characterof the miserlyPantaloon , l who , under the name of Cornelio, fil s so large a number of

’ uz ante s roles in R z pieces .

hi The Histor o Benedetto Varc , the famous author of y f

Florence d , speaking of the various kin s of comedy, writes on the subject of the ancient plays

If one may judge from experience and give faith to con

ectures hi z anni i j , I t nk that our are more com cal than were mi di their mes , and that the come es of Ruzzante of Padua ,

ur e treating of rustic subjects , s pass thos which the ancients called atella nce . RUZZANTE

Our best writers (says Riccoboni) have been loud in L praise of Ruzzante . His comedies , superior to the atin atellanee dm di e in comicality , a it all the alects of the corrupt d L languages of ombardy . It was he who settled for the

h r t eat e the character and the language of Scapin , Harlequin ,

the Pantaloon and Doctor .

In truth Ruzzante was the first to open the doors of comedy ul diff to pop ar dialects . All his characters Speak erent

m Ber am ese languages , fro Paduan , g , Bolognese, Venetian and i us L . T can to at n , Italianised Spanish and modern Greek V But it is the dialects of Padua , enice and Bergamo that are hi him c efly employed by . f His early ef orts were in the academic manner, and he

his sought to rival by the purity of style Bembo, Speroni

his w di and the other authors of epoch . Not ithstan ng that he had quite as much talent as his colleagues he was dissatisfied

his with success . Perceiving too that he remained far below him the level at which he aimed , he devoted self to the study di of rustic alects , and of the customs , manners and characters

a of the peas ntry . So admirably had he acquired their language

did he i e and their ways , so exactly seize all their na vet ,

r us originality and humou , that he deceived the very r tics , him d who , when they saw isguised , assumed him to be one of

Baclco u ul di themselves . manifested a q ite pec iar pre lection

for them , and criticised for their profit the manners of the

great , the learned and the luxurious .

Would you not be a hundred times more worthy (he

his asks in one of prologues) , if you were to content yourselves 283 THE HI STORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE as we do in our coun try homes with eatin g good bread and good solid cheese , and drinking an honest red wine , rather than consume sauces and all sorts of dishes which swell your stomachs ? You would be fresh and rosy as apples instead of withered as you are . I dare swear that if one of your gentlemen came to grips with one of our women he would be

‘ worsted ? Why l Because our women are not nourished

s upon sweetmeats but upon natural food, and becau e, living as

h the h l nd t ey do in open air, t eir imbs are stronger a their thews ” s more vigorou . Ruzzante never misses an occasion to exalt the uses of

t wr u rus ic language . In a letter itten in Pad an , addressed to the s R C di e hi Mo t everend ar nal Cornaro V cc o , he says

c h I do not see why , sin e I take my peasant c aracters and h ul present them on the stage , I s o d expect them to use Tuscan

o co E (in lenguazo fl rentines ) rather than gyptian . At present l the world is all awry , and everyone seeks to ift his head

0 higher than is possible to him . N longer is anything done according to nature ; every man permits him self to be dazzled by the pretensions of his neighbour instead of remaining in a

e stat of simplicity . It is also sought to change our language rather than to allow us to speak in the language which is

his e . pr per to us Instead of keeping to own straight road, hi him everyone runs to that w ch dazzles , and that , as I say, is

h the she a bad . S all I do same, I who am a Paduan of Italy ( son Pe can della I talia 2 , ) Shall I go and convert myself into h 2 a Tuscan or a Frenc man No , by the blood of the scorpion

l the No, I shall not . It is my desire to remain and to wa k in way of truth and of naturalness . 284

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

’ It seems to us that the whole raison d titre of comedy

s improvised in free dialect is to be found in these few word . E verywhere , whether from personal instinct , whether from

o contagion from the past ral mode , Ruzzante presents apologias of the rustic life . Nevertheless it must not be assumed that he was a writer of bergeries like Florian he is a realist in his pictures of the miseries and passions of the precarious and

his savage life of the peasants of day . The brutal passion

hi him La Fiorina ofi w ch induces , in , to carry by force a young girl , gagging her by the aid of a friend , is probably an instance f copied rom nature in those days of war and rape and violence .

But if he d ares to present such dramas upon the stage with m an al ost ferocious recklessness , he also makes heard the di voice of in gnation or of pity . ” By the blood of the ill of the cripple ! (exclaims old — Teodosia w e cannot undertake to explain this bizarre

- malediction) , we see strange things to day . Ill living is the hi hi fas on , and I t nk that before long we shall know no safety

n in our huts . Co sider what a surprise awaits this poor father and this unfortunate mother ! I am overwhelmed by the desire to weep .

In a letter which he addressed un der his stage name to k Cardinal Francesco Cornaro , he than s Rome for having sent to the city of Padua this noble prelate who revives his failing

i e hopes . These letters , written in the old Paduan d al ct , are his inditin s i masterpieces . They are the g of a na ve peasant hi who has the right to say anyt ng . Therefore they are gay , because to ensure their being read it was necessary that they

should excite laughter . But this laughter is fraught with 286 RUZZANTE

t hi tears . They are not the let ers of a storian paying his court , they are those of a brave and generous man who loves his country and speaks the truth . Here are a few brief — fragments very brief lest we Should be charged with too gf eat a digression from our subject

our a 0 Rome , gr ndmother, who gave you your hat , good did cardinal , not give it you to shield you from the sun , and

to save your complexion , but so that it may shelter us all ; and under your purple cloak it is your duty to gather us all to e hi your heart as a hen gath rs her c ckens . Restore to us our

our s un . trust and peace . Con ider what this co try has become N0 longer are young men and maidens to be heard singing on hi the ghways and in the fields . The very birds sing no longer, and I believe—may the plague choke me — that the voice of the

ni ul 0 ghtingale is no longer as beautif as of yore . N longer do

- ha we see games and merry makings . Such is the misery t t has fallen upon our land that one may truly say blessed are the i dead who are beyond the touch of war , of ru n and of pestilence

off d a s We are worse than in the y of the great slayings , days in hi i di hi w ch men saw ncre ble happenings , days in w ch fathers

- butchered their sons . To day the times are so ill that husband l and wife will go each a separate way to seek a live ihood . And

.

love too has departed hence . Seek to find me a lover ! There

is no longer anyone who will take a wife . Wives must be nourished and how may that be done when there is nothing in

? a the house So that , inste d of sighs of love one hears naught C but groans of hunger . harity goes knocking from door to door,

l r and none wil give her shelter under his roof . We no longe dare so much as to weep when following the bier of a beloved 287 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

dk h dead , lest we should drench too many han erc iefs . (Then, i adopting a tone of pleasantry, he proceeds Be our fr end,

for I am well disposed to be yours . You may invite me as

wi h f s hi often as you ll to dine wit you ; I can re u e you not ng , ” o not even g od advice .

It is necessary to remember that Ruzzante lived in the

early days of the sixteenth century , amid the wars of Francis I .

V . d and Charles , who were isputing for the possession of

r Italy, when the terrible invasion of the Ge man army was

n o R hi descendi g up n ome, leaving be nd it a country devastated

and in ashes . The holy city was taken by assault, sacked and

ll n L given over to two months of pi agi g by the utherans .

’ Florence was ravaged by the plague ; and Ruz z ante s own

un his co try , Padua , was desolated by famine . And so , in

fu ur o comedies , he pours rious c ses up n Spaniards and

n May the plague co sume them all , he cries , wars and ! soldiers , soldiers and wars But we must laugh nevertheless , we my friends , must render ourselves numb to our sufferings It is also noteworthy that in the midst of the liveliest bufl ooneries Ruzzante will often confront us suddenly with a

s un terrible situation , a fla h of real passion , a profo d reflection

s his or a cry from the heart . The erious side of spirit reveals itself in the most concise, but also the most energetic manner, and in the truest and most touching terms ; un fortunately these are often untranslatable because the dialects are insepar

a able from the ch racters . He was a thousand times right in his contention that had he given these another language they would have been no more than conventional types .

RUZZANTE

Chiefl bufl oon y to concern us here , however , is the side of

hr Ruzzante , for it is t ough this that he belongs to the Commedia ’ t dell Arte . His gaiety is very of en bitter, tragic and hideous , some of his pieces bea r no title they are printed simply under the designation of dialogues .

B BILO A . Who could have foretold that love would so rudely have thrust me out of my own house , to throw me amid people whom I do not know It is said that love will not or cannot hi do anyt ng . But I see instead that it does what it likes . As for me , it is love which has compelled me to come to seek my i w l h dden wife . Had it been other ise I shou d not have tramped ni all yesterday, all last night and all this mor ng through woods and fields . I am so tired that I can scarcely stand . A lover is drawn by his love more irresistibly than by three a p irs of oxen . There are those who say that love lodges with r young people and d ives them mad . For my part I see that it can also haunt old men , for had it not pierced the heart of — — that old gossip may a scorpion eat him he would not have brought my wife into this town . Could not that old usurer have taken pleasure in his ducats without seeking it in my wife By the blood of the scorpion ! it was an ill turn to have served me ! But I shall so contrive that in some way him I shall wrest her from . Ah , but who knows whether I shall so much as get a glimpse of her ? I should have d one well to have gone to his house . I am dying of hunger i and I have neither bread nor money with wh ch to buy it .

If I but knew at least where she is living , that is to say where he has lodged her , I should so move her that at least she would give me bread .

(He is about to withdraw when he meets an old acquaintance . barba This is Pittaro , an old peasant whom he qualifies as , ul as who wo d say bearded . ) Eh a a ue ’ Bilora PI TTAB O. c as n . ? , g g Is it What are you seeking here ? ff BILOBA . I am come about the a air of Messer Andro

1 — T 28 . 9 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE — e Androtene Ard ochene help me to pronounce his nam or , off that old foreign gentleman who carried my wife . TT PI ARO . You were wrong to come . What do you expect of ur ? yo wife , who seems to have forgotten you It will hardly suffice just to go and ask for her to ensure her returning with you . She is leading a pleasant life with him , without care or trouble ; she eats and drinks as much as she pleases and she is well served , for there is a lackey to wait upon them both .

’ He relates that old Andr onico is madly in love with Bilora s wife and that she appears to manifest some attachment for him Bilora him . He advises to depart , assuring that there is hi Bilora not ng to be done , but does not heed the advice . Would it not be better that S he should return home with ? him me If I were to meet the old man I might strike . I want so much to see my Dina ! Is she alone at the house e him Pittaro repeats that no course is op n to but to depart . r Bilora That he must not be seen the eabouts . But consigns w him to the devil ; he is so tormented ith love , fear and rage , e that he cannot r sist his desire to behold his wife . He knocks at the door of the house ; Dina appears at the window .

? ? DINA . Who knocks Who is there Is it you , poor man Depart in peace . B BILO A . Yes , I am very poor , but that is no reason why I i ul r . . sho d depart . I am your f end ; approach , Dina It is I ? ? DINA . And who are you What friend The master is not at home . Begone

B . BILO A . Ah , Dina come here a moment , it is I Is it possible that you don t recognise me ’ DINA . I tell you to be gone , and that I don t know you , that the master is absent . He went out upon business and

I have no wish to gossip .

B d ear o Dina ! ! BILO A . Oh , my Do come here I wish to

Speak to you sincerely . It is I , Dina . Do you not see that Bilora ? I am , your husband 290

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

Bilora him After further threats from , Dina tells that she t will advise him when the old man returns home , so hat Bilora him wi may demand of her return , whether he shes it

or not . Dina will do what her husband wishes . After that Bilora asks her for a piece of bread , saying that he is dying of hunger because he has not eaten since he left home . But r Dina , saying that she can abstract nothing f om the house , him gives money to go to an inn , where he may eat and drink ' his re - Bilora at ease . She enters the house , and goes off , after

some reflections upon hunger and love , and after cursing the hi old man and considering the coins w ch Dina has given him , whose efligies supply him with witticisms that it would be

difficult to translate . di i Messer Andronico then enters , scours ng alone upon

women , and upon love at a ripe age . He knocks at the door ,

saying Open , my pretty , my beauty . The door opens , and he is about to embrace her when he discovers that it is his

lackey , Tonin , who has received his honeyed praises , and

whom he now denounces for a brute and a donkey . Thereupon i both go with n . ra re him Bilo and Pittaro enter . Pittaro asks whether he Bilora has fared well , if the wine wa”s good , and so forth . , l him di after replying that he is ful , begs to be the me ator

between himself and Messer Andronico , whom he continues to Ar oche l call d You will tel him that Dina has a husband , and

that he must let her go , whether he desires it or not , because

him - she desires it . And that I will kill if he refuses that I am

a soldier, and a bravo , which will intimidate him . If he him hi surrenders her all will be well if not , let look to mself . Bilora off a goes , and Pitt ro , after having knocked at the door, us m and undergone the ual interrogations fro Dina , is per to s dr mitted to speak Me ser An onico .

l TT s E . PI ARO . Good evening , Me ser and xcel ency ANDRONI CO ? . What brings thee , Pittaro

' Prr r AB o . I want ten words with you in confidence . Come

this way, sir . RUZZANTE

AN DBONIc o . ? What is there , then , so interesting TTA n li PI RO . You shall learn . You k ow without my tel ng off Bilora you that you carried Dina , the wife of that poor lad . his f E l He has lost head over the af air . I beseech you , xcel ency , us in your own interest , to let her depart with her h band .

For reflect , my very dear sir, that it was highly imprudent in off wi you to have carried the fe of another . And further let me tell you as a friend that she is far from old , whilst you are too advanced in years to have so young a woman . Forgive me , Messer , the frankness of my speech . ANDB ONI o c . Do you want the truth I shall do nothing of ou what you ask because I cannot give her up . Do y under stand I am resolved to spend my life with her . What the

' devil ! Do you think I Should let that girl return to the wi Bilora country to suffer th that great coward , who gives ? ! her more cudgellings than bread No , no I want her for w hr myself . I ill not t ow nutmeg to swine . Do you suppose that I should have carried her off as I did to let her go again ? ui so easily I , who have worn a c rass and carried a shield i ? w ho all summer , l ke a Rodomont I , have gone armed f day and night , who have su fered so much fatigue to save her Bilora trouble Bid seek elsewhere what he requires . TT ? him PI ARO . But what is he to do Do you want to go mad ? ANDRONICO . And what of me Do you want me to die of ? Let him ? despair go mad , how can I help it You are tiresome . You begin to anger me . Go to the devil And not another word on this subject Let t PI TTAB O e . Le . Do not become h ated sir us be wise . us call Dina , let us question her , and let us see what she will She say . If wants to go , let her go if she does not, keep her and do as you please . What do you say

ANDRONICO . No doubt you are right . But do not suppose that she will be of the same way of thinking . She has just told me that she will never leave me for any other man in the her world . I cannot believe that she could so quickly change s a mind . Still I will do as you ask , and thu you shall le rn 293 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINAD E

He ca lls the truth . ( . ) Dina , my pretty listen ! come here !

DINA . Did you call me , my master NI L hi ANDB O co . : isten , my pretty t s good man is seeking f you on behal of your husband, and we have agreed that if you want to leave me I shall let you go , that if you want to remain l you shal remain . You know that you are happy with me , and ll i that I sha never let you want for anyth ng . Do as you will and as you please , I say no more . ? ’ DINA . To go with my husband I don t want to To be ul beaten My faith , no I wo d to heaven that I had never him known , that greatest of all the cowards that eat bread ! ’ him I say it once for all , I don t wish to return to . ll Ar e ? . ! s ANDRONICO We , well , well you sati fied When his ul i I told you t you wo d not bel eve me . ! r PI TTAB O . Bilo a But listen , girl She herself told , not

- an - u half ho r ago , that she wanted to return to him , but that y oudid not wish it . ? hi DINA . I I never said anyt ng of the sort . To whom ? i did I say it As the good w fe says , I leave that lie to him who invented it . e ANDRONICO . Go in , my dear, and do not trouble yours lf

' To PI rr AB o . further . ( ) What do you say now What further can you ask TT S ir hi PI ARO . I , Not ng further . I want what she Bilora wants . But let me tell you that is a man to be feared ll his he bears you no good wi , and you would do well to return him w ife to . N NI d o E A DRO CO. What you mean by that xplain at once . Do you threaten me Do not anger me . I am

ui . q te cool , and I tell you frankly that you are a fool l Begone at once . Once for all I wi l not surrender Dina . Do you un derstand I am going home . See to it that I do not Let find you here when next I go forth . that suffice .

n Pittaro promises to depart and never to be seen , agai . Bilora has dr . Af ter An onico has gone in , enters Probably he 294

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

mercy ! To me ! to me ! help ! fire ! fire ! fire ! I am being murdered ! Treason ! Fire ! fire ! To me ! I die ! H l I am dead ! ( e fa l s. ) B A — BILO A . Fire ! y into the fire of hell shalt thou go . ur i ? Ret n me my w fe now . Did I not tell you to let her be ! But he is dead, he does not move a limb . Ah you have ’ ? laughed your fill , eh Didn t I warn you , eh

ds dia lo ue This en the piece . This g , whose energy and colour

is lost in translation , is , as will be seen , a tragedy, but a real tragedy ; just so might it have been in reality upon some

tra hetto i Venetian g , one of those fl ghts of steps so often

drenched with blood , to be washed a moment later by the

waters of the canal as they bore away the body . The original E is most arresting . It contains no fiction, no ideal . ach hi character t nks and speaks as in actual life . But how

extraordinary the humour and how rude the fibre of a public that could laugh at these scenes of despair and murder that were seasoned by the most frightful jests !

’ Bilora s monologue is remarkable for its truth to life in an epoch in which dramatic convention was surcharged with emphasis : we behold an assassin who premeditates and does

’ did He not premeditate ; one who desired and not desire .

sul di wanted to beat and to in t his man if the man ed , so much the worse . The peasant is neither brave nor evil ; he is not proud and he has not the honour of the gentleman ; he loves his criminal wife , he regrets her, he desires her, he will have her, hi he will beat her and he will love her again . That is the c ld

u One intelli of nat re . can understand how much an actor of gence might extract from such a situation , fraught with laughter, tears and terror . 296 RUZZANTE

The dialogue we have just indicated seems a sort of revenge taken by the fancy of Ruzzante upon that which follows , in which he plays the part of a poltroon , or rather of the soldier

captain .

MONO LO GUE OF RUZ ZANTE RETURNING F ROM THE WAR S

Behold me at last arrived in Venice . I was as impatient to get here as the lean mare is impatient to see the grass s Sprouting in springtime . At last I am going to see my Gnu (Genovefla ) ! To hell with camps and wars and soldiers ! I shall no longer be disturbed by rolling of drum s and braying

m hi n . of tru pets w ch se”t me trembli g I shall no longer hear the cry To arms ! I shall no longer be afraid ! When the cry To arms rang out , it was as if I had a press upon

- m v stomach . And then the musket shots ! I tremble no longer ; I am brave now I shall be able to sleep and dream as k much as I like . I shall eat when I li e , what I like , and too much if I like . I Shall digest . I shall go as I please . Saint ! Mark ! Saint Mark I am at last in safety . I travelled w m s iftly ; I have done more than sixty iles a day . I came hither in three days from Cremona It is not as far as people say . They will tell you that from Cremona to Brescia it is forty miles ; it is but a stride . From Brescia to Peschiera i they say it is th rty . From Peschiera here , what can the distance be I came in a day although it is true that I walked hi all night . Faith my legs are ac ng , although I am not tired .

The fact is that fear drove me and hope sustained me , and my shoes bore the burden . I want to look at them . May the ! scorpion eat me Now here is one with no sole left . That hi must have been in the war . If I had had the enemy be nd me I could not have walked faster . I look like a thief in these clothes , which I stole from a peasant . But the clothes

do not matter . I am in safety . Then I took a boat at

Fusine . If I had been killed in the war and I were no more than a ghost I should not be here now . Ah , but no ghosts 297 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

’ don t eat . I am myself . I am alive . I must go and look for Gnua and my gossip Menato , who has also come to live in i . e Ven ce But here he comes . Heh gossip , it is I , Ruzzant MENA' ? ul r o . Is it you , gossip I sho d never have known you . You are so changed But be welcome . Do you come from the wars Have you been sick or in prison But what

! . an evil countenance , gossip You have the air of a brigand

Forgive me , but I have seen more than a hundred men who were hanged , and never one with so evil a countenance as yours . ZZ T ff RU AN E . That is the e ect of misery and war, of bad h drinking , bad eating , hunger and t irst . Had you but been where I have been !

' MENAr o . . You talk like a book , my friend Have you then learnt to speak Florentine Z T RUZ AN E . He who travels the world must make haste to r learn . I speak French too , but were I to add ess you in that language of a certainty you would not understand me . I learnt all through fear in a day, and I glory in it .

Hereupon follow several untranslatable pleasantries upon alleged Florentine and French words , with explanations di n in the Paduan alect a d interpretations by Ruzzante . z Menato then turns to the subject of the rags worn by Ruz ante . z e him h Ru zante t lls that he conquered them , sword in and , from a peasant whom he had wounded . A plague on

- - these good for nothing peasants , he says .

T MENA O . But , gossip , now that you are a soldier, you no r us ? longer believe you self a r tic, eh Are you become such a roarer that you would eat iron Z T h RUZ AN E . Had you been where I ave been , you would ns also have learned to eat not only iron , but weapo and m hi baggage as well , for having no oney by w ch to live I sold all that I possessed at an inn . h MENATo . Is that all that you ave brought from your assaults upon the enemy 298

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUI NAD E

w his man, and that he ill kill t one even if he should be four men . T nua G . RUZZAN E . But here is , gossip Here she comes , w faith ! Now we shall see whether she ill caress me . Hola ’ tell me , then , pretty one , don t you see me It is I . A ? GNU . Ruzzante ! Is it thou Alive But in what ! rags , and what a piteous countenance You have profited nothing then T RUZZAN E . I have profited enough for you since I bring s you my carca s safe and sound as you can see . A AS can GNU . for your carcass I do very well without it .

I had imagined you would have brought me some fine robe . e Let I must go . I am expect d . me go . T RUZZAN E . To the devil with the love I bore you ! No a sooner have you seen me than you want to go ag in . I , who ur have ret ned from the wars on purpose to see you . A GNU . You have seen me enough . To tell you the truth I ’ don t want you to be a cause of trouble , for there is someone f who is entertaining me very com ortably, and who knows hi our r not ng of past adventu e . Ruzzante inf orm s her that he is as capable of entertaining her but Gnua wi as this other one ; has no sh to die of hu”nger with him . After four months of business in the wars , she mi says , you ght at least have brought some money back . ’ But I don t believe you were ever at the war . You have the face of a liar , and you probably spent your time in some ’ apothecary s shop . I should prefer you if you had returned ur short of an arm or a leg , and perhaps blind or with yo nose mi , . H slit anxious ”to earn money for me as you pro sed e swore to me, she says to Menato , to die or to return rich , and you see in what condition he returns”; that is proof enough of how little he thought about me . Z T nf RUZ AN E . I tell you that I was u ortunate .

GNUA. That is very possible , but I who have not been , n and who do not want to be, unfortu ate , am not going to be m a L f tched with you . Go ! ook after your own a fairs , and ’ I ll look after mine . I am going back to my man . 300 RUZZANTE

r RUZZANTE . To the devil with you man I know no man of yours other than myself .

N A Let - - G U . ! me go , wretch , rascal, liar, good for nothing

T . e RUZZAN E Come with me , I t ll you . Do not make me angry . I have changed , and you shall no longer lead me by the nose as you used to do . T L . ! MENA O isten , my good girl , come with me He is kil capable of l ing you . A ’ m ? hi . GNU . He Don t mind He is equal to killing

nothing but a flea , the boaster ‘ ’ Bra 'vo Gnua s The (it is thus that lover is named) enters , s l s fall upon Ruzzante and beats him unti he fall . The Bravo nua carries off G . When he has gone Ruzzante raises his head and addresses Menato Z T ui . ! RU ZAN E Have they gone , gossip Make q te sure T MENA O . Be at ease, gossip ; they have gone , there is none

here . T RUZZAN E . But the others, have they gone too T ? MENA O . What others I saw only one . Z T RU ZAN E . You are blind ! There were more than a

hundred of them . T MENA O . Oh no , by the scorpion T . ! RUZZAN E Oh yes , by the scorpion Do you pretend to

know better than I They were a hundred against one . If I hadn’t pretended to be dead so quickly they would have made me so in reality T MENA O . You told me that you were so brave that in

battle you knew neither friends nor relatives . T C n RUZZAN E . ertai ly ! But what do you expect of one

ul . man against all the world . You sho d have come to my aid Do you think that I am a Roland T MENA O . I assure you, gossip, that there was only one man , but I imagin ed that you allowed yourself to be ill - treated so as to rise up and fall upon him when he should have thought him off you dead . I expected you to prevent from carrying ua ? Gn . Do you understand, gossip ’ ’

Z T hi . . e RUZ AN E I don t , gossip ; I didn t ven t nk of it I 301 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

flung myself down , I pretended to be dead as I used to do in battle so as to save my life . It is the safest way when so many enemies fall upon you . T . Was MENA O Gossip , on my faith , I tell you that that man ’ alone . Why didn t you defend yourself with your lance T ? is hi RUZZAN E . One against a hundred There not ng to do but run on those occasions . T ! MENA O . Gossip , there was only one , I tell you T RUZZAN E . Very well then , if there was only one it is some Gnua treason or some enchantment of . What do you think Do you think she is a sorceress In the old days She led me to suppose that She was the most beautiful girl in the world ; f yet that is not true . There are many more beauti ul than she . Now She contrives that one single man shall seem a hundred to — — me ; therefore may the scorpion eat her I will get her r burnt for a witch . You are very su e that there was only one You see what a valiant man I must be to have been able to bear so many blows MENA'ro . By the scorpion , there were blows enough to kill n t a donkey I could o see the sky , they rained so fast . Are you not hurt ? I don’t understand how you happen to be still alive !

T s . . RUZZAN E . Habit , go sip I am accustomed to it I feel nothing . I have but one regret , and that is not to have known that there was only one . I should have performed the most beautiful drowning that was ever seen . I should have taken him and her and flung them together into the

. ! canal Ah , scorpion That would have been droll , and we should have laughed a little ! I don’t say that I should have beaten him ! The love of Guna is not worth so much trouble . ul him But I sho d have flung into the water . Do you under ? l stand , gossip And of a certainty there wou d have been matter for laughter . Oh ! oh ! oh ! oh ! We will conclude our quotations with an admirable letter of

’ Ruz z ante s to his friend and comrade in the theatre, Marco

Alvarotto Mene o- ( g Menato) . Being in possession of no 302

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

ui remain in it for ever, or at least to be one of the last to q t it .

Knowing full well , however , that it is no more the privilege of honest men than of any others to enjoy an existence which shall be more than an existence , I have indulged myself at 1 length upon this subject in my little books ; these assure me that it is possible to live very long and even eternally , but that first it would be necessary for me to find a certain lady whom some call Modesty and others Wisdom , who has it in her power to bestow as long a life as one may ask of her ; for some great personages long since dead are still living in their : works . To this I answered Oh , my brothers , my little ik books , you are trifling with me ; this lady is l e that herb hi w ch has the virtue of rendering invisible whoever wears it , ’ t did but which is nowhere to be found . Never heless I not hf ul insist , knowing my books to be trut and akin to honest ul s men , who wo d not tell a falsehood for a thou and ducats . hi Thereupon I firmly resolved to seek t s lady , and even though she were more hideous than Envy so truly to pay her my wi cour t as to persuade her promptly to come th me . But i a i after hav ng rans cked all my world of writ ng matter , after having sought and after having voyaged in my mind farther the shi s than p of pain , without even finding a track of her l S e footsteps , I fell one day into d spair , like the gambler who is unlucky at the first throw . I cursed all writings , and in a passion I went to seek repose in the country . I was left alone by the hunt on one of our little hills E hi called ste , awaiting the return of my dogs from be nd another hill where they were chasing a hare . They were already so far that I could no longer hear their voices . It i seemed to me that all th ngs fell silent about me , and , whether i as a result of th s silence , or whether from weariness of mind , sleep entered gently and unperceived into my eyes , and he wi hi o was no sooner t n than , as it were , he set a chain up n the door and drove me out of myself . I desire to be , and I ought to f l him be , grate u to all my life , however long it may be , for the sweet and pleasant dream which caused me to see and hear

1 Th e manuscripts were not prin te d until seve ral ye a rs a fte r his de a th . 304 RUZZANTE things so lovely that it will be lovely to repeat them and even

- more lovely to believe them . Thus closed and double locked as

I have said , I beheld first of all our good and brave old Polo did as he was in other days , so clearly that I not have the l courage to ask him whether he was iving or dead . He was dressed in a festal robe , and seemed to be coming from the ’ barber s , with a countenance which announced rather that he hi had dined well than that he had fasted . I cannot t nk how he came by his knowledge of my desire to live for ever (I believe l hi the sou to be a t ng divine) , but , after wishing me a good day and a happy year , after having rubbed his nose on the right and left , after having twice drawn breath , he began to speak Ruzzante , you have wearied yourself more over s your books than ever I wearied my arms upon animal , and you will never be able to find the woman you seek unless I assist ni you and point her out to you . It is your ma a for calling things by names which do not belong to them that lead s you nk into error . You thi her name is as you say . You seem to me much in the same case as that fellow who read Ba lotta upon hi Checarello a book on w ch was written . But come with me fin d and I will lead you to her court , where you shall many good companions to move you to laughter, even as you move others to it with your com elies or com egies (con le to ’ b ie ie comielie com . , g ) , I know not what you call them

It would take up too much space to transla te here the entire di r P0 10 i f scou se of the old peasant to Ruzzante . He n orms s him , in short , that she whom he call Wisdom is named Gaiety, and that he will be so happy upon beholding her, so joyous wi s hi and so gay, that he ll find by her that future exi tence w ch w f his he seeks . No longer ill he suf er dreadful pangs ; no longer will he know pain he will be able to breathe with

his - o all lungs . An hour, a minute of this well understo d existence is better than a thousand years of a life which is his shi unperceived . The peasant describes in rustic fa on the to happiness of existence . For him , to sing , to dance , drink

- as much as he thirsts , to have apples , well cooked beetroots 305 THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

and good chestnuts , to saunter and do nothing but look on , is not that the way of happiness , of gaiety and of joy rather than for a man to dribble his brains into books ? They go un along talking thus in quest of Gaiety , and their way r s through a fresh and smiling countryside, to which Polo draws ’ Ruz z ante s attention : Have you ever seen a more lovely hi country , so surrounded with flowering lls and shaded woods , ui n turning a q cker green from the last rai s , these little streams bubbling over stones and losing themselves among herbs and his ha iro flowers Do you hear that little bird singing song , , hair o ha iro hi i , Across t s earthly parad se , before the eyes of Ruzzante , is unfolded a whole world of allegorical

figures , which come and go ; these Polo explains to him after his own fashion

u fill Look yo r we are in the land of Gaiety . Consider hi ’ i . first th s woman , here at my side T s is Prudence , Gaiety s e di principal cook . Then come Cont ntment and Pleasure, ri ng h . L on horseback , in a carriage or in a boat ook at t is one rolling along the ground with his mouth so widely open that him L one may deem on the point of bursting ; this is aughter . f ul Look at that woman , beauti l y attired and bejewelled ; she is Fate . At her side is her brother Dance , who has removed

his . shoes that he may leap the better Behold, he is dancing

These two ladies who come hand in hand are Mirth and Joy . e The latter seems unable to contain herself , so constantly do s she desire to sing , to dance , to gambol or play the lute .

ur off . F ther is Kindness , embracing Friendship Here are L u Peace and Charity . ook q ickly that you may behold the Passing Hour which never more returns . There is one who goes before her whose name is Cock . He is the first L h r . e . to hear He advances , greeting her with song ook f at that one who is separated rom the company, dressed in C black . She is orruption ; it is she who spoils existence as the beasts destroy the plants . And there is Sadness : with folded hands , her head upon her knees to behold her glassy eye you might conceive her dead . Take no heed 306

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

There you have my divertissement laugh over it with some ds m good companion . I kiss your han and co mend myself to you and to our friends , to whom I augur happiness and an e h in existence as et rnal as that w ich I was seek g . ZZ T RU AN E .

Fr Padua on the east o the E i han 1 5 om 53 . , f f p p y ,

It would be wrong for the comm edia sostenuta to claim Ruzzante ; he belongs to our subject every whit as much as

i his Gozz and Goldoni , those ungrateful successors of who

his never mention name, and who very possibly never read his h works . In accordance wit the ancient Italian custom ,

Beolco wr ote his comedies after he had played them with his gay and clever comr ades ; he performed them at least partly

his in impromptu . Moreover in some of pieces many scenes are no more than indicated in a few words , to be played and improvised by the actors for instance

l The Bravo enters and fa ls upon Ruzzante , etc .

They now sing , and when they have done , Nale enters , his Mene o and drawing sword , advances upon g saying o ! Mene o r e Draw, trait r g , f ight ned d”oes not draw but runs h hither and t ither receiving many blows . Elsewhere : Hereupon the priest makes a few signs and hi Mene o Duoz z o noises are heard w ch terrify g and , whom r the priest reassu es , etc .

Some of the works of Ruzzante were preserved in the i family of his protector Cornel o others were published , some

in their original text , some translated into Italian . Five of

his di 1551 come es printed severally for the first time in , and 1563 some of them reprinted more than once , were , in , col

adi lected into an octavo volume in Venice by Giovanni Bon o . 308

THE HISTORY OF THE HARLEQUINADE

’ L Anconitana hi , a comedy which treats of love and w ch

cannot fail to give pleasure .

La Rhodiana , a surprising and very laughable comedy, ul f l of very piquant sayings in various languages , by the very ” celebrated Ruzzante .

hi r C V T s last comedy is attributed to And ea almo , a enetian

’

Ruz z ante s. actor and author , a contemporary of There is reason to believe that it was written by Ruzzante after having

been played from a scenario supplied by Calmo . That at least is what appears to be proven by the following fragment of the prologue It is the custom in Carnival time to amuse you with

e hi divertissements and p rformances of t s style , but we should have been unable to have done it this year without the assist

un ance of one of our companions , who , although able to leave his hi own troupe, suggested to us and brought us the work w ch

you are going to see performed this evening . We have been

l his hi compel ed , then , to have recourse to good memory w ch hi hi has given us t s work , a work w ch will undoubtedly please ” you if you will not make too much noise .

La Vaccaria . , a comedy no less witty than amusing

La Fiorina . , a comedy no less piquant than delectable

La Moschetta . , a comedy no less amusing than agreeable

r us Three discou ses by Ruzzante , written and recited in r tic language . Works full of wit and sallies , and marvellously amusing .

Two dialogues in rustic language , moral , witty and

agreeable .

A dialogue very facetious and very droll , played at the 1528 hunt in . RUZZANTE

The characters in the plays of Ruzzante are : In the roles

e h s ds of fathers and of ridiculous and batt red u ban , Messer i Andron co , Messer Cornelio (old men of Venice) , Demetrio

Thom ao Sivello Placido , Diomede , Ser , Pittaro , , Pasquale ,

Mare ale Tura and g ; the lovers are Tancredo , Theodoro , i Gism ond e l ridicul , Flavio , Roberto , Federico , and Po doro (a

di di Fiorinetta ous lover) the lea ng la es are Ginevra , Isotta , ,

a Gnua s and Beatrice his pe sant girls are , Fiore , Betti , Nina ,

his Ghetta and Dina ; soubrettes are Besa , Gita , Betta and o Maddalena in the r les of mother he has Theodosia , Ruspina ,

Cele a ra a na Resca , Sofronia , Felicita , g and Prudentia ( ffi ) , and

t his Doralice (a cour esan) ; rustic types are Ruzzante ,

Mene o- Duoz z o Marchioro Bilora g Menato , , , , Bedon , Truffa ,

V L Forbino his ezzo, oron , , and Siton ; intriguing lackeys are

ni Ber am ese Slavero Garbuio Daldura To n the g , Nale, , , ,

Garbin ello Bertevello , Zane, , Campeggio, Naso and Corrado

(the German) . In addition to these his comedies includes a notary and Piolo , a singer.

END OF VOLUME ONE

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