[244] For the name-day feast of M. Jean-Baptiste Chicoineau,
June 24, 1800
MENTOR: leader of the local shepherds (M. Chicoineau)
DAPHNIS1: ([Frédéric-Auguste]2
Quesnel)
DAMON: ([Louis-Michel] Viger)
CORYDON: ([Louis-Marie] Cadieux)
Local shepherds accompanied by a band of other shepherds with their
instruments
TIRCIS: ([Guillaume] LeGuerrier) A foreign shepherd coming to see his friend, DAPHNIS. TIRCIS doesn't know MENTOR, but he has heard tell of him
TIRCIS: (Entering, he meets DAPHNIS with a bouquet and a garland
of flowers, etc.)
Where are you running to, Daphnis? What's with this festive mood?
Why do I see the local shepherds here in this spot,
Flocked together, and neglecting the care of their flocks?3
Tell me, I beg you, what's keeping them here?
DAPHNIS: (indicating MENTOR)
Tircis, there is the one who unites our hearts,
We're just about to crown him with flowers.
Come with us, take part in the delights
Which this day brings us,
A day gratefully dedicated every year
To professing our love for him. 10
TIRCIS: Heavens!... What dignity, sweetness, and clemency
Are in his manner... What respect his presence inspires!
Oh lucky shepherds!... So this is the Mentor,
Who among you, as people say, brings back the golden age?
DAMON: What! Mentor is known even where you come from?
They speak of him?
TIRCIS: Certainly, and even further afield;
People everywhere talk about the virtues of Mentor.
DAMON: What do they think of him, Tircis?
TIRCIS: Opinions are divided: 20
Some say that once again Jupiter's father4
From the land of Latin has come to hide,
Others believe Apollo has turned shepherd again.
[245]
DAPHNIS: You've come just in time to clear up a mystery
Which has been worrying us. We can not figure out
Who this amiable shepherd is, and how he has come to us;
I readily see at present that the true image
Of Saturn's reign renews itself here:
His presence is like an everlasting springtime for us:
Everyone prospers, everyone is happy in our setting: 30
He bestows his goodness on everyone without limit.
No, I no longer doubt it: he is the Father of time.5
What's your opinion,
Tell us, dear Damon?
DAMON: It seems to me rather that he is the image of Apollo,6
Not in the way that, in the Empyrean,
While pulling a radiant chariot,
He lit all the stars with his fire;
But in his exile, sheltered with Admetus7,
He taught the shepherds, while keeping their flocks, 40
To appreciate village delights without care.
Each day was changed for them into a holiday;
And so, through innocent pleasures,
Mentor knows how to cheer our leisure time.
TIRCIS: Is it true that, fleeing afar through town after town8
From persecution of guilty men,
He chose this place to live,
To shelter himself from their affliction?
DAMON: So the story goes...
TIRCIS: I believe I see, in this man of years, hidden 50
Persecuted justice;
Can it be Astraea or Themis9?
DAMON: You suggest a delightful notion!
His love for peace, his horror of vice,
Could well be the sign of Astraea or of Themis.
[246]
TIRCIS: But who is this shepherd
Whose modest countenance
Suggests his discretion?
Why does he not speak?
DAPHNIS: Please enlighten us, 60
Corydon, help us.
CORYDON: I'm afraid to say what I think
And oppose your ideas with a contrary sentiment.
DAPHNIS: Speak; have no fear; be so good as to help us out;
What is your opinion of this precious treasure?
CORYDON: I've heard tell that Mentor
Presided for many years
In the temple of wisdom,10
a long time ago:
From him, many youths,
Who were attracted at once 70
By his charms and his kindness,
Came to receive their lessons
In virtue and science;
And through his uncommon wisdom
His pupils flourished.
Since he came to make his home,
And to reign in our region
(I believe to prove the influence
Of Minerva11 and her
gifts),
Do you see with what skill 80
He has managed to unite our hearts,
With what delicacy
He has refined our spirit, cultivated our morals?
DAPHNIS: What! He might be Minerva!
CORYDON: Yes, Minerva, herself,
Who long ago disguised herself in another Mentor12.
DAPHNIS: I am very surprised!
[247]
TIRCIS: Happy shepherds!... May Heaven preserve him for you!
DAMON: But out of this division, who will lead us to agreement?
Is he (A) Saturn? Is he (B) Minerva? 90
Is he (C) Apollo? Is he (D) Themis?
Can you settle it, finally, Daphnis?
DAPHNIS: Enough, friends, enough of this useless debate;
Let's all say that in this haven,
Peace (D), justice (A), wisdom (B), and love (C),
Brought together in Mentor, have taken up their lodging.
(to the shepherd choir)
Now to you who are impatient to express your enthusiasm,
Tune your horns, fill your pipes,
Sing him new melodies:
May the euphony of your voices be true to your heart. 100
(Giving the bouquet in the form of a sceptre, and crown)
And you, whoever you really are, who alone in your person
Unite so many virtues and conceal so much greatness,
Receive the sceptre and the crown,
Symbol of the power which binds our hearts to you.
SONG: (Tune: "honneur, hommage, etc...")
Let's sing without pause
Of our pastor:
His virtues, his wisdom
His love, his gentleness. (everyone repeat)
Here everything radiates
His blessings. 110
Let's give him the Empire
Of our hearts.
Let's sing without pause (etc)
May he rule forever
In these parts!
May all of us strive to make
Him happy here!
Let's sing without pause (etc.)
[fin]
NOTES
1 The names of the shepherds in both of these plays
are drawn from two general sources. The names are either those of shepherds
or other pastoral figures from Greek or Roman mythology (eg. Palaemon,
Tityre), or they derive from pastoral poetry, especially Virgil's Eclogues
(eg. Tircis, Corydon).
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2 The original text includes only the family names.
Maurault's (1967) "Liste chronologique des élèves" (194-6)
allows us to fill in the complete names. With the exception of Cadieux,
who was in the class of 1794-1802, all the players here were in the same
1796-1803 class. One of their more distinguished classmates was Louis-Joseph
Papineau.
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3 "Flocked" and "flock" attempt to catch the flavour
of the pun in the original: "Attroupés" and "troupeau."
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4 Saturn.
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5 [original footnote] M. Chicoineau was quite old.
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6 [original footnote] An exile like Apollo.
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7 Admetus was a mythical King of Thessaly and one of
the Argonauts. While in exile, Apollo cared for Admetus' flocks.
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8 [original footnote] Emigrated twice.
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9 Themis was the Greek goddess of Justice and mother
(with Zeus) of Astraea, also associated with justice and fairness.
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10 [original footnote] M.Chicoineau had been Chair
of Philosophy for many years.
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11 Roman version of Athena, goddess of wisdom.
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12 Friend of Odysseus and teacher of Telemachus. Traditional
myth is that Athena took the form of Mentor in order to teach Telemachus.
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